Event Detail




Make AI a Powerful Ally: Navigate Change and Achieve Your Goals (Session 1)

Date: April 16, 2025
Time: 9:00 - 10:30 am PST
Location: Virtual

Join our dynamic workshop on the power of AI to achieve better life management, career advancement and leadership. Prepare to address the growing waves of change in the business environment and the nature of work.

Ticket price:

  • Public Ticket: $65
  • WCS Members: $45
  • Free for Champion-Level Corporate Members
  • Package of all three workshops: $175 (WCS Members: $121)
  • Interested in becoming a member? Please learn more here

Our multi-disciplinary panel will help you answer these questions:

  • Can AI be a powerful ally for you in this highly uncertain environment?  
  • Are you ready to be a strategic and critical thinker with AI as your partner to co-create productive and valuable solutions?
  • How can outsiders apply AI to address complex challenges to achieve goals?
  • How to spot and tackle the boundaries and risks of AI in our specialties and sustainability projects?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping industries, careers, and sustainability efforts at an unprecedented pace. AI has the potential to be a powerful ally in navigating today’s uncertain world. Yet, many professionals and sustainability leaders grapple with how to effectively integrate AI into strategy, implementation, work and career growth. As AI capabilities expand, now is the time to leverage AI as an important ally.

Join WCS for the first session in our transformative three-part workshop series: Make AI a Powerful Ally. This interactive session will help you understand how to harness AI for better life management, career progression, and sustainability leadership. You’ll engage with expert panelists to explore how AI can be applied to important needs, identify potential risks, and understand the importance of strategic thinking to make critical decisions. Walk away with insights on the the transformations you may need to prepare for as AI becomes embedded in different industries and professional practices. Consider how you can find opportunities to lead and act now and in the future in business, and/or sustainability.

Panelists include Paula Schmidlin, Performance Coach; Francesca Barrientos, Ph.D., Consultant, Human-Computer Interaction and Design Strategist; and Darlene Crane, WCS Advisor and Consultant in Strategy and Business Growth will facilitate this interactive session and share experience on transformational projects.  Don’t miss this opportunity to gain insight into AI and take charge of your future.

Speakers:

Sunita Kannan, Global Head of AI Strategy at Microsoft’s AI Platform

With over a decade of experience in data and AI strategy, Sunita brings deep expertise in digital transformation, organizational design, and ethical AI implementation. A sought-after keynote speaker and technology coach, Sunita is also a Microsoft Quantum Ambassador and previously led Data & AI Solutions across Asia Pacific and Japan.

 

 

 

 

 

 


Francesca Barrientos, Consultant

Design Strategist

Bio: Dr. Francesca Barrientos is an independent design strategist with a Computer Science PhD from UC Berkeley, where she specialized in AI and user interfaces. As a former NASA research scientist and strategic design leader at Cisco and ServiceNow, she applied design thinking and human-centered methodologies to partner with business and engineering stakeholders. At ServiceNow, she guided product leaders in building user trust in AI products. Francesca focuses on shaping AI solutions that solve real human problems while mitigating risks. When not working, she enjoys observing urban wildlife like hawks and squirrels in the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

 


Paula Schmidlin, Performance Coach

Founder & Principal Consultant, Schmidlin Consulting

Paula Schmidlin is an organization effectiveness consultant specializing in guiding companies through complex transformations and fostering resilient, agile cultures. With a background in HR leadership and management consulting, she partners with executives on organization design, workforce planning, and leadership development. As an executive coach, she helps leaders enhance self-awareness and navigate change, striving to create positive ripple effects that extend beyond the workplace to drive both business success and environmental sustainability.

 

 

 

 


Darlene Crane

President and Chief Value Creator, Project Concepts Inc. - The Crane Works

Darlene is a multi-disciplinary consultant who works at the intersection of business, people and technology. Her specialties are market research, growth strategy, planning, product development, funding readiness and raises.  She has a passion for bringing her decades of experience in transformational IT projects to values based small and mid-size businesses.  She works with clients to develop their value creation mindset and turn ideas into successful products and projects to become  market leaders.  She earned an MBA in Finance and M.A. in Information Science. 

 

 

 


Sponsor:

Product Rehab provides customer-centric strategic planning, growth, and market research services to help businesses make informed decisions and achieve their goals.

 

EVENT SPONSORSHIPS AVAILABLE! Please email us at info@womencleantechsustainability.org if you have any questions.