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Wonder Woman in Business, Melissa Jones

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Melissa Jones

Managing Partner

Melissa Jones is a trial lawyer who provides experienced and practical counsel in complex business disputes, appellate matters and internal investigations. She has represented clients from a broad range of industries in complex civil litigation matters in both state and federal court, including the agribusiness, and oil and gas industries. Her practice includes an emphasis on Proposition 65 defense as well. Additionally, Melissa has held various leadership roles at the firm. She is the Firm Managing Partner and serves on the firm’s Executive Committee. Melissa is a former office managing partner for the firm’s three California offices and also recently served as the chair of the Partner Compensation Committee.

Melissa’s experience includes litigating claims for breach of contract, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, misappropriation of trade secrets, product liability, false advertising, and unfair competition. She has worked on internal investigations for both publicly traded and private companies on complex compliance and accounting issues and has represented companies in government enforcement actions, including matters involving the California Attorney General’s office and the Air Resources Board.

Melissa regularly defends companies in litigation claims related to California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act (Proposition 65) and Unfair Competition Law (17200) and advises companies on Prop 65 compliance. She leads the Firm’s Prop 65 defense and compliance team. Her Prop 65 clients range from large retailers to vendors and manufacturers, in industries including apparel, footwear, handbags, eyewear, fitness products, children’s products, furniture, electronics, hobby and crafts, automotive, personal care products and accessories, food and dietary supplements and natural foods. She has defended Prop 65 actions and advised clients in matters regarding listed chemicals including lead, Bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates (BBP, DBP, DINP, DIDP, and DEHP), carbon monoxide, cadmium, 4-MEI, crystalline silica, acrylamide, arsenic, trisphosphate (TDCPP, TCEP), Diethanolamine and Cocomide-DEA. She also advises clients on other California regulations.

Before joining Stoel Rives, Melissa was a litigation partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP, where she worked for 10 years. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Harry Pregerson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

She has been an active member of the legal community, serving as President to the Sacramento Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, as a Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, the Chair of the Eastern District Conference, a Board Member for Women Lawyers of Sacramento, and as a member of the Eastern District’s Judicial Advisory Committee.

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Enjoy the podcast.

Melissa Jones

Connect with Melissa

Website

https://www.stoel.com/people/melissa-a-jones

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissajonesesq/

Wonder Woman in Business, Ilanit Meckley

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Ilanit Meckley

Ilanit Meckley is the founder of Notable Projects, a project management consultancy focused on directing process improvement projects in the healthcare industry.  Ilanit has 13+ years of experience working for hospitals and academic medical centers in improving operational processes and outcomes, and is passionate about aligning stakeholders across an organization along shared goals with the ultimate goal of improving patient lives.  She has experience managing diverse teams and implementing changes, and uses systems and data to inform decisions and drive communications that will lead to sustainable improvement.

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Enjoy the podcast.

Ilanit Meckley

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Wonder Woman in Business, Lisa Lang, Esq.

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Lisa Lang, Esq.

General Counsel

Kentucky State University

Lisa K. Lang currently serves as the General Counsel for Kentucky State University, a role she has had for three years. Lisa first began her career as a lawyer working as an associate attorney specializing in insurance defense for a law firm in Louisville, Kentucky. She left that firm in 2008 to work for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. She first worked in the Office of the Attorney General as an Assistant Attorney General and then for the Kentucky Department of Education in a variety of in-house counsel roles until taking her current position at Kentucky State.

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Enjoy the podcast.

Lisa Lang, Esq.

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#Networked

If Giovanni Boccoccio Zoomed into 2020, was a lawyer instead of a writer, and spent copious amounts of time writing posts on LinkedIn rather than writing Italian Renaissance literature, The Decameron may have looked a lot different. Replace the bucolic Florentine countryside with a fast-paced social networking site, the ten carefree Italian youths with fifty ambitious, hard-charging women lawyers, and The Decameron may look a lot like #Networked, the first book of its kind to emerge from the COVID-19 global pandemic.#Networked is the much anticipated 20-chapter anthology written by 20 women lawyers who met through a networking group on LinkedIn in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Much like the framework of the Decameron, each chapter in #Networked is written by one woman describing both her individual and collective experience and role within the group. The women’s stories touch upon many of Boccaccio’s universal themes of the human condition: human will, love, virtue, and societal tension. Make no mistake, not all themes in #Networked transcend time, this is a modern anthology. The protagonists are all very much entrenched in 2020 with plenty of emphasis given to careers, work-life balance, and the best lighting for virtual calls. The multi-dimensional characters also dig deep conquering topics such as infertility, addiction, allyship, feminism, and mental health. Their stories are familiar. They are the stories of thousands of other professional women living during this era. They serve as inspiration and offer hope that the pandemic wasn’t a time of destruction at all, but rather a time of opportunity and growth. As one of the authors wrote “It was the birth of a whole new me, or rather a whole new we.”

Buy the Book

Connect with Lisa:

Lisa K. Lang

LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisak-lang/

#LawyerLisaLang

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Wonder Woman in Business, Patrice Tanaka

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Patrice Tanaka

Joyful Planet

Patrice Tanaka is a best-selling author, public speaker on business and life purpose, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of three award-winning, PR & Marketing agencies and the consultancy, Joyful Planet, focused on helping individuals and organizations discover and actively live their purpose to unleash greater success, fulfillment and joy in their personal lives, workplaces and communities. Life and organizational purpose are the subjects of Patrice’s best-selling books, Beat the Curve and Performance360. Patrice has been honored by PRWeek (Hall of Fame inductee), PRSA Foundation (Paladin Award), PRSA (Paul M. Lund Award for Public Service), New York Women in Communications (Matrix Award), Working Mother magazine (“Mothering that Works” Award), Girl Scouts of Greater New York (“Women of Distinction” Award), University of Hawaii (“Distinguished Alumni Award), among others. Patrice has lived in New York City for most of her adult life, but calls Hawaii “home” and she is committed to living her life with the “Aloha Spirit.”

Patrice was born and raised in Hawaii then moved to NYC in her early 20’s. She considers NYC home, but even FAR AWAY from Hawaii tries to live her life with the ALOHA SPIRIT. After a 35+ year career in PR, co-founding 3 award-winning agencies she started her consultancy, Joyful Planet LLC. She is very involved in different “communities,” including Girl Scouts GNY, Dancing Classrooms, Phelophepa Train of Hope in South Africa, Diversity Action Alliance, NY Women in Communications, Women’s Forum NY

One of her favorite professional accomplishments is having lead a group of colleagues in a management buyback to start an employee-owned PR agency, PT&Co. and building it by focusing on our “business purpose” – to create GREAT WORK, GREAT WORKPLACE, GREAT COMMUNITIES THAT WORK. This business purpose-focused and drove our start-up agency to be recognized WITHIN 8 YEARS as…#1 MOST CREATIVE AND #2 BEST WORKPLACE among all PR agencies in the U.S.

Over the past 5 years, her proudest accomplishment has been:

  • Helping thousands of people gain greater clarity about their life and leadership purpose so they can leverage their talent, expertise, and passion in service of other people and our planet.

  • My vision is 7.7 BILLION PEOPLE living their life purpose and helping to create a more joyful planet. Joyful Planet is both my vision and the name of my consultancy

  • Because discovering and living your life purpose is a “competitive advantage” in business and life, I’m focused on helping groups that could REALLY BENEFIT from having a competitive advantage like WOMEN, GIRLS, COLLEGE STUDENTS, PEOPLE OF COLOR, YOUNG PEOPLE STARTING OUT IN THEIR JOBS/CAREERS.

Patrice considers Desmond Tutu, an Anglican cleric who won a Nobel Peace Prize as one of her greatest inspirations for his tireless work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. She had the pleasure of meeting him through my work for the Phelophepa Train of Hope in SA. Desmond Tutu and his wife Leah are Honorary Patrons for the Phelophepa, two 19-car trains that travel throughout SA delivering primary health care to REMOTE, underserved areas of the country. What she didn’t know until she met Desmond Tutu is how “overflowing with joy” he is as a human. He is the embodiment of JOY! He inspires me because although he’s EXPERIENCED AND fought AGAINST the brutality of Apartheid he is a bubbling, GURGLING fountain of JOY!

Patrice personally has the strongly held belief that women should lift each other up and believes that achieving GENDER EQUITY is the GREATEST CHALLENGE OF OUR LIFETIME. We must SEAT MORE women at every LEADERSHIP TABLE. We can best achieve this by creating a STRONG SISTERHOOD of WOMEN, helping one other obtain seats at these leadership tables. She is a big believer in “sisterhood” – women helping women to succeed. That is why she has always been involved in women’s organizations to foster a “sisterhood.”

  • Patrice belongs to the following organizations that lift women:

    • Girl Scouts (she has been a Girl Scout since she was 5 years old!)

    • Women’s Forum NY

    • New York Women in Communications

    • Asian Pacific American Women’s Leadership Institute/CAPAW

One of Patrice’s biggest challenges in starting and growing a business involved successfully winning new business. However, she has succeeded. She believes you can make this happen in two mutually reinforcing ways:

  • Building a reputation for doing great work and, at the same time

  • Building your network of support – and always be contributing to that network so when you reach out, support will be there for you. Most of the business she won at her PR agencies was through one and often BOTH of these MUTUAL REINFORCING strategies. She won some of our BIGGEST CLIENTS THIS WAY: Avon, Charles Schwab & Co., Dyson, Godiva, Liz Claiborne, Microsoft, Target, Wyndham Hotels, Wines from Rioja (Spain) 

FUN FACTS: a ballroom dancer and has won championships and she wrote a book about this called, “Becoming Ginger Rogers.” 

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Enjoy the podcast.

Patrice Tanaka

Connect with Patrice:

Patrice Tanaka l Founder & Chief Joy Officer

Joyful Planet LLC
One River Place  #2610
New York, New York 10036


Email Patrice@JoyfulPlanet.com

Social: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram


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Wonder Woman in Business, Joy Lyu Monahan, Esq.

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Joy Lyu Monahan, Esq.

AbbVie

Joy Lyu Monahan joined AbbVie in June 2020 as Associate Director, Legal Diversity and Outside Counsel Programs.

With her professional background in government, law firms, and nonprofits, Joy provides a unique combination of experience in philanthropy, private business, nonprofits, government, finance, law and other fields to this newly-created position.

Joy has been a frequent volunteer speaker on diversity and inclusion on organized industry panels and in informal settings and published author of several articles regarding this subject since she entered the legal profession in 1997.

In April 2019, Louisiana State University appointed Joy to serve on its National Diversity Advisory Board with 24 national industry leaders to advise the President’s office and to advocate and foster diversity and inclusion throughout the LSU system. 

Joy recently served as General Counsel and Director of Special Project for World Business Chicago, the public-private economic development arm for the city of Chicago for almost six years. Initially recruited to lead the formation of its Metro Chicago Exports initiative in July 2014, Joy remained at WBC in multiple roles to fundraise, raise awareness, and develop strategic initiatives and external partnerships to drive inclusive economic growth and job creation under WBC’s chairman, the Mayor of the City of Chicago.

Prior to joining WBC, Joy spent eight years in Chicago practicing law with Edwards Wildman Palmer and Kirkland and Ellis LLP. Joy and her family moved to Chicago in 2006, after Hurricane Katrina struck their home in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she first started her legal career as a judicial law clerk.

As an attorney, Joy has over two decades of experience counseling national and international clients in a wide variety of litigation, corporate restructuring and insolvency matters, and global and cross-border corporate transactions. Prior to her legal career, Joy served in various roles in the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Joy earned her J.D. from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University, her Master’s in Public Policy from Georgetown University, and her B.A. from Georgetown University. Joy also attended the London School of Economics and earned a General Course Certificate in International Politics and Economics.

 

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Enjoy the podcast.

Joy Lyu Monahan

Connect with Joy:

JOY LYU MONAHAN

Associate Director, Legal Diversity and Outside Counsel Programs

Legal Operations & DEI

1 North Waukegan Road, AP34

North Chicago, IL 60064-1802

Office: 847-932-7900

Cell: 224-361-1314

Email: joy.monahan@abbvie.com

Instagram: @joylyumon

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joylyumon



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Wonder Woman in Business, Dr. Alauna Curry a.k.a. "Dr. Alauna"

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Dr. Alauna Curry, MD

In her own words…

I’m Dr. Alauna Curry and I want you to know, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. In fact, you are far from alone; we are all connected in trauma. Through this site, I hope to offer you an effective path to emotional, psychological, and spiritual healing. As a Board-Certified Psychiatrist, specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of complex psychological trauma and related mental health conditions, I have diagnosed and provided intensive trauma treatment for US Military veterans for the last 12 years.

After years of studying and teaching the most evidence-based trauma treatment interventions currently available, I began to recognize that psychological trauma was present at the core of any mental illness. Whether you realize it or not, you and someone you know is experiencing the debilitating and life-altering impact of individual and collective trauma. Once I understood the predictable patterns of thoughts and behavior, and the impact of traumatic experiences on a few specific brain systems, it becomes clear that these numbers significantly underestimate the prevalence of trauma. Trauma has a 100% prevalence rate.

Well that’s pretty depressing, right? Well, yes and no! Because this is an opportunity to get rid of the stigma of trauma once and for all! What is the point of feeling shame for experiencing something that every person is experiencing, and feeling alone in, simply because we are too ashamed to share our stories and reshape them in a healthy way! This is where empathy, specifically having the mental skills to look at any situation from the differing yet equal perspective of another Creator, combined with a deeper knowledge of our brain’s design, can free us from the oppressive, judgmental, and traumatic beliefs about ourselves that keep us stuck in a mindset that continues to recreate our most painful experiences.

My hope today is that this transformative information will trigger an 'Empathy evolution’ in healthcare and beyond and a catalyst for a healthier, peaceful human species on Earth. Welcome, let’s get to work. The path to trauma healing is Empathy Skills Practice™ and the work begins here.

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Enjoy the podcast.

Dr. Alauna Curry

Contact Dr. Alauna

Email: dralauna@gmail.com

Website: https://www.dralauna.com/

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