WOMEN'S ADVOCATE AWARD

 A native of Los Angeles, Janedra has lived and worked in San Diego County for over 25 years. She co-founded Arboreta Group with a core value in mind, to create a space for women to do meangingful and profitable work in a supportive and flexible environment. Arboreta serves small businesses, government, and nonprofit organizations. 

LinkedIn

Company:  Arboreta Group 

 Michelle is the CEO and Co-Founder of Connected Women of Influence, a national association of professional women leading people, projects, teams and companies, and Co-Founder of SUE Talks™.  Michelle is a passionate advocate to advance women in business, and committed to designing platforms, programs, connections and collaborative opportunities that result in more women leading people, projects, teams, and companies. 

LinkedIn

Company:  Connected Women of Influence 

 Valerie A. Grant is the principal owner of Grant Consulting Services, LLC., a fundraising consulting firm. Valerie and her team work very well with non-profit organizations because they care about the people that the organizations care about. Ms. Grant is also a published author and an accomplished freelance writer. 

LinkedIn

Company:  Grant Consulting Services 

 Kimberly Ahrens is an award-winning employee rights attorney at Ahrens Law, APC who devotes her legal career to fighting workplace injustices including unequal pay and sexual harassment claims. In 2008, Ahrens founded her firm with the mission to provide legal services that advance both justice and equality by purposefully selecting each case and client the firm represents. During her career Ahrens has proudly represented over one hundred women in claims against their employers and/or sexual assault perpetrators. 

LinkedIn

Company:  Ahrens Law Group 

 Lisane Basquiat is the founder and CEO of Shaping Freedom, a personal growth company that trains individuals on how to gain empowerment through internal congruence and spiritual alignment with the goal of healthier and stronger familial dynamics and legacy. Shaping Freedom is also the parent to Shaping Sanctuary and Hera Hub Carlsbad. Shaping Sanctuary is a products line for the home and office/creative space. It launches in Fall 2020. Hera Hub Carlsbad is a female focused and gender inclusive community, co-working space, and business accelerator. Lisane is also the co-administrator (along with her sister) of the Jean-Michel Basquiat Estate, the role of which is to honor their brother by maintaining and caring for his legacy and to make his art more accessible to global audiences. Lisane is originally from Brooklyn, NY. She has been bi-coastal, living in both San Diego, CA and New Jersey since 2012.

LinkedIn

Company:  Shaping Freedom / Hera Hub Carlsbad 

 Earning your value through self advocacy is an act of social justice.” This is how, Skyler McCurine's mentor and colleague, negotiation expert and confidential advisor to some of our country’s most influential leaders, Ann Marie Houghtailing sparked her voracity to self advocate. Her own journey towards earning and advocating for her value began seven years ago when she started her consulting business, Le Red Balloon. It was in her business that she came to truly understand all of the ways she, a Black Woman, had internalized that she should be grateful for the opportunities that she had earned. The most radical action you can take as a woman of color is to ask for money versus accept what you're given. Learning the language, strategy, and skill of advocating for her value deeply transformed her own life and her immediate community; the need to not only do but bring others along and proselytize this work became her focus. She is a Performer, Negotiation and Self Advocacy Coach and Financial Advisor Trainee at Merrill Lynch. She has been co-leading a series of programs across San Diego, with a focus in Southeast, training leaders in the life saving work of self advocacy through negotiation. Her next goal is to train 500 leaders in earning $5million dollars in salary increases over five equal pay days. She is a native San Diegan and received her BA in Communication Studies from Loyola Marymount University and an MA in Organizational Management from Ashford University. 

LinkedIn

Company:  Le Red Balloon 

 De'Anna Nunez is a seasoned Professional Hypnotist, Coach, and Author who values championing others. She trains leaders on how to trust their inner voice and serve at their highest level while protecting personal health boundaries. With over 1,000 contracted Speaking presentations in her portfolio, she’s commanded the stage sharing High-Performance Hypnosis with the U.S. Marine Corps, Fortune 500 companies, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Knott’s Berry Farm, and large organization events. She credits family values for driving business decisions to get off the road and develop the propriety coaching models she uses today training high-level teams and individuals on values-based goal setting, releasing inner conflict, and living purpose-driven lives. 

LinkedIn

Company:  VitalMind