ABOUT US

We are women and men from all walks of life who agree that leadership should reflect the gender of the population: women make up more than half of the U.S. population and should be equally included in boardrooms, elected offices, academia, and all public and private enterprises and endeavors.

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LEADERSHIP BOARD

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PAULINE FIELD, CHAIR An Ambassador for World Leadership Day in the United States of America , is the Founder and Chair of 50/50 Leadership, a nonprofit promoting women's equal leadership, and publishes the monthly women's issues emagazine, The Equality Standard. A consultant, executive coach and the former COO of International FieldWorks, Inc., a global management consulting agency, she is widely published on business practices and management skills, has appeared on a number of radio and television shows. She created and served as a Commissioner for the City of Glendale Commission on the Status of Women, was appointed to the City of Glendale 's Charter Review Committee, and has served on many nonprofit Boards. To support leadership growth, Pauline wrote a new book, Feisty & Fearless: Nice Girls CAN Be Leaders. Pauline believes that to be effective, we need to reach inside ourselves and realize that just as mothers would walk in front of a bus to save their child, so we each can find a similar passion and commitment that pushes us onward removing fear and doubt so we simply do what we know to be right.

CHRISTA TIPTON Christa Tipton is passionate about the intersection of social work and technology, particularly in the fields of aging and mental health. She is a Senior Social Worker at Adult Protective Services and committed to reducing elder abuse through technology. Christa has a Master's in Social Work from CSU Long Beach and BA in Psychology and Social Behavior from UC Irvine with minors in civic engagement and organizational psychology. Christa serves as the Co-Chair of the National Association of Social Workers-CA Technology Council as well as membership and professional development committees. Prior to entering the field of social work, she specialized in training older adults to utilize technology in meaningful ways. Additionally, Christa has served 15+ years mentoring young women and young men in multiple organizations, creating scholarship programs, teaching life skills and embracing resiliency.

LAURA LOFTSGAARDEN, V.P. Laura's career projects have been geared toward promoting education and conveying information to female and minority audiences. As the PSA Program Coordinator at Women In Film, a non-profit organization that promotes Women in the Film industry, she served as primary staff liaison to Women In Film's seven Committees: Business Affairs, Fundraising, Distribution, Personnel, Resources, Marketing and Submissions. While at Women In Film, Laura wrote and directed "Get Tech Kids," a Public Service Announcement for the U.S. Department of Commerce. The PSA was designed to encourage American youth, particularly girls and minorities, to study math and science in order to qualify for careers in Information Technology. The PSA debuted in Washington, D.C. and was later broadcast nationwide during various shows including "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." "Get Tech Kids" went on to win multiple awards for its creativity. As the Director of Marketing at Mariela Communications, a marketing and advertising agency that specialized in the Hispanic market, she wrote and directed the commercial for the California Nutrition Network's Bone Health Program. The result was a 32% increase in sales of 1% milk in the Hispanic market during the three month campaign, and a total of 66% increase after one year. To keep her production skills sharp she also creates projects that she considers labors of love -small pro bono projects for friends with small businesses. Laura has created music videos, corporate videos, internet and cable broadcast commercials as well as tribute videos for 50/50 Leadership's Women of the World events. Laura holds a Master's Degree in Communication Studies and a Bachelor's Degree in Radio and Television Broadcasting from California State University Los Angeles. As a student she achieved the following scholastic awards and distinctions: 1st Female to Graduate from CSULA's Communications Studies Graduate Program CSULA Special Recognition in Graduate Studies, 2 years CSULA Alumni Certificate of Honor CSULA Journal of Graduate Studies

RIA SEVERANCE Ria Severance is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She also serves as a Collaborative Divorce Coach, Child Specialist and Co- Mediator, and Executive Development Consultant. Ria brings a deep, personal commitment and honed clinical skill to her efforts to respectfully bridge the disparate concerns of couples, divorcing partners, co- parents and their children. In private practice since 1987, Ms. Severance uses research-based strategies in a warm and nonjudgmental way to redirect interactions and dial down intense emotions, in a process that helps couples enhance their skills and reach an honorable close to their marriage/partnership. Prior to couples therapy, Ria also offers 2-8, 2-hour sessions of Decision Counseling to help clients gain clarity and confidence about their decision to either: a) Preserve things as they are, b) Stay together and pursue intensive Couples Therapy for a minimum of 6 months, or c) Separate/Divorce, and explore divorce options most likely to sustain and honor relationships, if the family restructures.  Whether they stay together or part ways, couples completing Decision Counseling are more able to either commit fully to Couples Therapy, or, if they separate, to be more respectful throughout the divorce process, because they are more resolved and clearer about their own part in the ending of the relationship. Drawing from her experience working with hundreds of children and parents, Ms. Severance empowers separating or divorced parents to: develop a Co-Parenting plan, form an alliance and skill-set that puts the best interests of children first while addressing the needs of all family members, and keep their families out of court. Parents learn to recognize how even subtle pressure to align against or blame the other parent damages a child’s relational skills in the long run. When children are alienated by a favored parent against the other, Ria offers Reunification Therapy.  In addition, Ria provides In-Home Parent Coaching for parents needing to learn the skills to handle their children’s severe behavioral challenges. In divorce-related Individual Therapy, Ria walks a divorcing partner through the challenges of divorce, the restructuring of 2 the family and the creation of a new future, while teaching clients to manage their anxiety and depression. Regardless of her clinical focus, Ria is a validating context for growth. She empowers clients to build on their strengths and creativity, and facilitates leaving them inspired by who they are, as well as effective in their relationships and in the world. Clients learn to generate and live into their vision of a life truly worth living, regardless of their circumstances. A bilingual/bicultural Latina, Ms. Severance has 30 years of clinical experience developing empowering relationships with people of diverse cultures, classes, interests and needs. She has an exceptional ability to perceive, articulate and reflect multiple levels of a person’s experience and to communicate that in ways that enhance self-understanding, compassion, self-acceptance, inclusion and the motivation to build relationship skills. Warm and non-judgmental, Ria’s style is genuine and direct. Ms. Severance is an out-of-the-box, creative thinker – quick to envision win-win collaborations and solutions to relational challenges. She is a dynamic and engaging speaker and offers monthly free trainings in Pasadena, for clinicians and the public, regarding the pros and cons of Divorce Options, including those more likely to preserve respect and assets. Her fresh approach ignites and invigorates as it empowers. For the past two years, Ria has also offered professional trainings at annual conferences for the state’s Collaborative Practice California (CPCal), and the International Association of Collaborative Professionals (IACP). Ms. Severance is active as: Marketing Chair for Pasadena Collaborative Divorce, a Board Member for Los Angeles Collaborative Family Law Association (LACFLA), a Founding Member and Marketing and Training Committee Member for Civil Collaborative Professionals (CCP provides a collaborative practice approach to resolving Probate, Trusts and Estates disputes), and also volunteers as a Co-Mediator and Divorce Coach at Loyola Law School. Winner of the 2018 “Eureka Award“ by Collaborative Practice California at our annual conference earlier this year. The “Eureka Award” recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions and demonstrated an abiding dedication to establishing and sustaining Collaborative Practice.

SHILPA SHAH Shilpa Shah will be serving the role of a Treasurer. Shilpa has been passionate about empowering women to reach their infinite potential. As a form of gratitude, she feels strongly about giving back to the community and has volunteered for Special Olympics, Tournament of Roses float decorating, and Temple City School District. Shilpa was born and raised in Kenya and received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from England. She resides in California and is a licensed CPA in the state. She began her career in public accounting working for the big 4 accounting firm where she was responsible for financial and compliance audits for various industries. She then moved to healthcare and has spent the last 16 years performing various roles such as financial management, project management, compliance and risk management. Shilpa's diverse cultural background has provided her with the awareness of how important providing leadership skills to women is. In her spare time, you can find her practicing alternative medicine, real estate investing, cooking, dancing and working on crafts.

RACHEL YEGIAIAN Rachel is an IT manager for the Boeing company and has been in the aerospace industry most of her career focusing on how to optimize the business with applications and technical services. She received her undergraduate degree in Business as well as her MBA from USC's Marshall School of Business. In the past, she has worked for Bank of America, PPG, and Medtronic. Rachel hopes to use her technical and business acumen to support 50/50 Leadership. Rachel is married and has two sons. Her family enjoys outdoor activities including camping, and spending time at the beach.

MELISSA LEPORE I’m a strategist who collaborates and drives transparency across business functions to improve customer experiences. I thrive in ambiguity where I can collaborate cross-functionally, create transparency around customer needs, transform & optimize resources, and improve marketing and operational effectiveness. I have 15 years of experience building customer loyalty strategies and solutions at (2) Fortune 500 corporations and varied clients across experiential consumer brands in the casino gaming, hospitality, and restaurant industries. I'm passionate about aligning with purpose driven initiatives and supporting equality and education. In our changing times, I want to improve status quo and find new ways to add value to people's lives. With a mix of science, customer empathy, and ethics, I hope to help with responsible ways to evolve uses of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.

RACHAEL TOM Being an environmental and social advocate her whole life, Rachael Tom joined the nonprofit scene in 1998 as a volunteer and has been hooked on empowering communities ever since. She quickly realized her skill-based passions and enjoys blending left-brain methodologies with right-brain creativity to problem-solve and drive change. Rachael has worked for nonprofits, for- profits, and the Federal Government in organizations including the Smithsonian Institution and California Academy of Sciences. She has also served on the board for both local and national organizations. Rachael earned a B.A. in Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice from San Francisco State University and an M.S. in Communications from Purdue University.

JAIME HOFFMAN Jaime Hoffman comes to 50/50 Leadership after having served in leadership positions in higher education for over two decades. As the Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics at Occidental College (Oxy), Hoffman was the supervisor of twenty-one varsity athletic programs, club sports, intramurals, and the community wellness program. Over her fourteen-year stint, she was directly responsible for adding opportunities for female athletes by growing rosters through recruitment and developing two additional varsity women’s programs; Women’s Golf and Women’s Lacrosse. The growth extended to staff as well in that Hoffman was a fierce advocate for equity for female coaches and support staff. The progress is evidenced in annual reports submitted to the Department of Education. Although, Hoffman herself is the first to admit her work was far from complete in creating true gender equity. Hoffman developed a reputation at Oxy as one of the most effective partners of the Advancement Office. Early on in her tenure she created a volunteer board that was truly representative of the department’s sport sponsorship. By doing so, Hoffman tripled the annual giving to the athletic department in only three years. Many of the participants on the volunteer board ultimately went on to greater involvement in the college including roles on the Board of Trustees and a handful became seven figure donors. The level of cultivation and stewardship that is within Hoffman’s natural skillset proved to be an asset for Oxy. She was tasked with making the “case” alongside the President for major gifts toward multi-million-dollar athletic facility projects. Oxy proudly boasts a new aquatic facility, tennis center, locker rooms and athletic department offices on the heels of Hoffman’s fundraising successes. Prior to serving as the leader of the department, Hoffman had spent ten years leading women’s basketball programs. She enjoyed taking on teams with less successful competitive records and creating winning programs in a relatively short time. She had done this at each of her stops including Oxy. Prior to becoming Athletic Director, Hoffman inherited Occidental’s bottom tier women’s basketball program and in her third and final season won the conference championship. Hoffman is now committed to taking her leadership experience to helping women more broadly and could not have landed on a better board to do just that. Her willingness to help fill some of 50/50’s current vacancies speaks to her can-do approach to projects. Although, similar to Oxy, she will likely have a role in fundraising where 50/50 Leadership can capitalize on her previous fundraising success.

NADIA MALIK Nadia Malik is an experienced HR Director who works with organizations to help them attract and retain first-in-class talent in order to achieve their business goals. She has worked in a multitude of industries including the education, health, automotive and environmental sectors. Nadia believes that organizations can only continue to advance with equal partnership at the top of the organization and has made it her mission to help balance that scale. Currently Nadia works for Montrose Environmental Group, Inc., a company focused on supporting environmental needs around the world. In her role, she has secured a Leadership Development program which boasts a 50% female membership and has helped establish a Women’s Mentorship program. Prior to Montrose, Nadia worked for ZF North America, a subsidiary of a top tier one international automotive supplier. During her time there, her location was nominated for and won the Metro Detroit Best and Brightest Companies to Work For and has done so each year since. Nadia is an awarded holds a Master’s Degree in Human Resources and Organizational Development from Eastern Michigan University.

ADVISORY
​BOARD

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ELLEN SNORTLAND Ellen Snortland is a published author, broadcase and print journalist, performer, writing coach, and entrepreneur. Her book, Beauty Bites Beast: Awakening the Warrior Within Women and Girls, has been translated into Spanish and Portuguese and will shortly be published in Hebrew. An avid self-defense advocate, Ellen teaches IMPACT Foundation's full impact training and is currently creating a movie about the necessity for women and girls to learn about self defense. For every woman who has not had access to a dignified salary, there is a man forced to bear the economic responsibility of another human being.

RUBY GUILLEN Ruby Guillen is CEO and Founder of Humanistic Technologies, Inc. (HTI), leading and driving the organization's purpose to empower human dignity through technology. Ruby's captivating personal history of technical education in the US Air Force, and as a client and a professional within government systems of care, has given her the vision to unite the two typically disparate fields of Computer Information Systems and Social Work. After moving from military active duty to reserve status, in 1990 Ruby launched her social worker career based on a fierce dedication to being an advocate for the underrepresented. Through two decades as a technically-driven social worker partnering with emergency agencies to investigate severe injury/ child fatality cases, Ruby honed her deep knowledge of the social service system culture and complex data processing protocols, and its strengths and flaws. Ruby now expertly leads development of software-based solutions to address complex social service problems faced by government, nonprofit and private organizations. HTI's projects successfully replace non-tech-based methods in social services to vastly improve outcomes for client companies, as well as quality of life for society's most marginalized populations. Ruby is now a highly respected Hacktivist who has partnered to share her expertise and genius at hackathons that were sponsored by Facebook, Google, The White House, the US Department of Health & Human Services, county, municipals and other prestigious groups.

EDY ROSE-BERENS Edy Rose-Berens is an educator, fine artist, interior designer and color therapist. She has taught Fiber Optic Lighting Design, creating the first such curriculum for the Los Angeles Unified School District . She has also taught Function Art and interior Design as well as English as a Second Language (ESL). Edy has worked with children and adults of all ages and cultural backgrounds. Her interior design has been widely published and showcased and her fine art has been shown at the Pacific Design Center . She currently teaches art at the Children's Institute in Los Angeles as well as classes at her private studio.

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50/50 Leadership was incorporated in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1996.  We have a 501(c)3 classification from the Internal Revenue Service. Your contributions are tax-deductible in accordance with the law. Thank you for your strong support! ​