Cal Women's Network (CWN)

Upcoming Events

Strategies for professional community building and upward mobility for women* from underrepresented communities

Date / Time: November 1 from noon - 1:00 pm

Format:  Virtual (Zoom)

Registration (required):  https://bit.ly/CWNConnect

Description: 

Research shows that robust professional connections lead to more job opportunities, broader and deeper knowledge and faster advancement. There is a lot of information available discussing networking strategies but not much that specifically focuses on demographics who are not yet adequately represented at higher levels of corporate or institutional ladders. People from marginalized communities often face barriers and experience networking differently from those with dominant or privileged identities. Even the term “networking” has a different and somewhat negative connotation. 

Our guest speakers will explore what authentic and effective approaches to professional community building could look like for UC Berkeley staff from underrepresented communities. They will further discuss how supervisors can provide tangible support, and what staff with privileged identities can do to make professional community building more inclusive and accessible to everybody. The overall goal is to come up with strategies for creating a culture that focuses on humanity and supports access and advancement for all.

*All who experience life through the lens of a woman in body, spirit, identity - past, present, future, and fluid.

About the Speakers:

Patricia Juárez: With 30+ years of experience in the IT industry in both México and the U.S. Patricia is the Senior Business Systems Analyst for the Imagine team at Berkeley IT. The team provides enterprise document management system services to all campus departments. As the Senior BSA, Patricia has been instrumental in bringing campus departments towards paperless business processes through a series of complex projects. 

As a leader in her community, Patricia is the founder of two Native Higher Ed Institutions. She has been invited as a visiting scholar on Native Traditions to institutions, such as, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, Woodland Community College, California College of the Arts, as well as other institutions in the U.S.

Patricia participates with an essay in an anthology of Chicanx/Latinx traditions. The anthology was published in 2019 by The University of Arizona Press. Two of her  essays have been published by Ofrenda Magazine, a prestigious Latinx on-line magazine. Patricia has been spotlighted in the recently published book “The Curanderx Toolkit: Reclaiming Ancestral Latinx Plant Medicine and Rituals for Healing” by author and Bay Area herbalist Atava Garcia-Swiecicki. Patricia is also a frequent analyst and commentator on Latinx and Indigenous issues.

Michelle Hector Branner: Michelle is an exceptional business instructor with significant industry experience. She is currently completing a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership at the University of San Francisco. She has 14 years of successful experience in the financial industry in investment banking, training, human resource management, and leading teams of more than 250 people. Additionally, Michelle has worked in the small business sector where she was influential in supporting business owners to build their business infrastructure. She also has over six years of experience in leading high-performing teams in the technology industry.

Michelle has been teaching various courses for the past twelve years in the school of business. Currently, she teaches the following courses at UC Berkeley: Making Power Moves, Women in Business, Power and Influence, and Strategic Management Skills. Additionally, she teaches Management and Leadership at Golden Gate University and has taught Building & Leading teams at the University of San Francisco. 

Michelle’s extensive experience allows her to use her expertise to elevate small businesses to create, and enhance their infrastructure, and to teach graduate students business fundamentals in large lecture halls. Her passion exudes enthusiasm to motivate people to their greatest potential. This provides her audience with an exceptional experience for progression and for positive results.