Past CEO Speaker Series
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Session Two:
Thursday, June 12, 2008 |
| About the Speakers: |
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Laura Scher
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Working Assets |
Laura Scher is co-founder, chairperson and chief executive officer of Working Assets, a company dedicated to building a world that is more just, humane and environmentally sustainable. Every time customers use their credit card, mobile or long distance services, Working Assets donates a portion of their charges to progressive causes, at no extra cost. Laura co-founded Working Assets in 1985 on the belief that building a business and building a better world are not mutually exclusive.
Under Laura’s leadership, the company has donated $60 million to progressive nonprofit groups such as Planned Parenthood, Human Rights Watch, Rainforest Action Network and Oxfam America. As CEO, Laura has helped Working Assets grow to more than $100 million in annual revenue. Laura is a lecturer at Stanford University, teaching “Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship” at the undergraduate level. Over the past 5 years, she and her colleagues have created a course series and a minor for the next generation of social entrepreneurs. She has authored chapters in several books, including The Business of Changing the World edited by Marc Benioff and Hands On! 33 More Things Every Girl Should Know edited by Suzanne Harper. Laura serves on the boards of eScrip, SalesForce.com’s Foundation, Lightfull Foods, and the Rosenberg Foundation.
Laura gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Yale and studied international economics at the Institute for International Studies in Geneva. She earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. Laura lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, daughter and son. She enjoys traveling internationally with her family.
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Marc R. Benioff
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Salesforce.com |
Marc Benioff is chairman and CEO of salesforce.com. He founded the company in 1999 with a vision to create an on-demand information management service that would replace traditional enterprise software technology. Benioff is regarded as the leader of what he has termed "The End of Software," the now-proven belief that multi-tenant, on-demand applications democratize information by delivering immediate benefits at reduced risks and costs.
Under Benioff's direction, salesforce.com has grown from a groundbreaking idea into a publicly traded company that is the market and technology leader in on-demand business services. For its revolutionary approach, salesforce.com has been lauded as one of BusinessWeek’s Top 100 Most Innovative Companies, named No. 7 on The Wired 40, and selected for the past two years as a Top Ten Disrupter by Forbes. The product has won the Software & Information Industry Association Codie Award for Best CRM for the past six years, and the Codie Award for Best On-Demand Platform in 2007, as well as multiple “Editor’s Choice” designations from PC Magazine. Benioff has been widely recognized for pioneering innovation with honors such as the 2007 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, the SDForum Visionary Award, Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year by the University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School of Business, and being ranked No. 7 on the Top 100 Most Influential People in IT survey by eWEEK. He was appointed by President George W. Bush as the co-chairman of the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee and served from 2003-2005, overseeing the publishing of critical reports on health care information technology, cybersecurity, and computational sciences.
Throughout his career, Benioff has also been committed to using information technology to produce positive social change. In 2000, he launched the Salesforce.com Foundation—now a multimillion-dollar global organization—establishing the “1/1/1 model,” whereby the company contributes one percent of profits, one percent of equity, and one percent of employee hours back to the communities it serves. In 2006, Benioff authored The Business of Changing the World, in which 20 great leaders reveal how businesses can go beyond writing a check and leverage the full scope of their resources to make a difference. Compassionate Capitalism, also authored by Benioff, is the first-ever best-practices guide for corporate philanthropy that illustrates the success of the integrated model. Acknowledging his commitment to building partnerships between business and society to improve the state of the world, the members of the World Economic Forum named Benioff as one of its Young Global Leaders, and in 2007 the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy presented Benioff with the coveted Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy Award.
Prior to launching salesforce.com, Benioff, a quarter century veteran of the software industry, spent 13 years at Oracle Corporation from 1986-1999. In 1984, he worked as an assembly language programmer in Apple Computer’s Macintosh Division. He founded entertainment software company Liberty Software in 1979 when he was 15 years old. Benioff received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California in 1986. |
About the Moderator:
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Louis P. Miramontes
Office Managing Partner, KPMG San Francisco |
Lou Miramontes is the Managing Partner for KPMG's San Francisco office. As Office Managing Partner, Lou's responsibilities include the office's Go-to-Market activities, client relationship management, and serving as audit partner on various accounts. He is the signing audit partner on several public and private clients including Building Materials Holding Corporation and Mervyn’s.
Prior to assuming this role, Mr. Miramontes spent five years as the Regional Executive Partner for KPMG's Latin American region, consisting of 22 member firms of KPMG International.
Mr. Miramontes has 31 years of experience with KPMG including 21 years as a partner. He started his career in the Northern California practice in 1976. He was admitted to the partnership in 1986. His client and management experience includes:
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Lead partner on public and private clients (2003 to present) |
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Regional Executive Partner – Latin America (1998-2003) |
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Member of KPMG Global Executive Team (1998-2001) |
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Senior Audit Partner – KPMG Mexico (1997 – 1998) |
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Leader for Northern California Real Estate Practice (1992-1994) |
Mr. Miramontes is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the California Society of CPA’s, and the Construction Finance Management Association. He is a member of the Corporate Advisory Board for the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting. He has served on the California State Board of Accountancy’s Quality Committee.
Mr. Miramontes’ Bay Area activities include participation in the Bay Area Council Board of Directors, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and Boy Scouts of America – San Francisco Bay Area Council. Mr. Miramontes has a B.S. degree in Business Administration from California State University, East Bay.
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Session One:
Thursday, October 11, 2007 |
About the Speakers:
Robert Hanson
President, Levi Strauss North America
Robert Hanson is the President of Levi Strauss North America, which includes accountability for the U.S. Levi’s® brand, U.S. Dockers®, U.S. Levi Strauss Signature®, Canada and Mexico businesses. Previously, he served as President and General Manager of the U.S. Levi's® brand, a position he held since 2001. As President and General Manager of the U.S. Levi’s® brand, Robert led all aspects of the brand’s U.S. business from strategic planning and product design to consumer marketing and sales.
Robert is a member of the company’s worldwide leadership team, which sets the company’s global strategic direction.
Robert began his career with Levi Strauss & Co. in 1988 as a advertising manager. Since then, he has held a variety of increasingly important positions in the U.S. and Europe including Director of Marketing, Levi's® Kids; Vice President, Marketing and Brand Development, Dockers®; Senior Vice President, Brand Development, Europe, Africa & Middle East; and President, Levi’s® Brand, Europe, Africa & Middle East. He was named President of Levi Strauss North America in October 2006.
Prior to joining LS&CO, Robert worked at the global advertising firm, Foote, Cone & Belding.
Robert received a bachelors of arts and a bachelors of science degree from Saint Mary’s College in California and attended the Executive Program of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business Consumer Marketing. He also attended Loyola University in Rome.
Sheryl O’Loughlin
Former CEO, Clif Bar & Co.
Sheryl O’Loughlin was named CEO of Clif Bar & Co. in June 2004. She was selected by Gary Erickson, Clif Bar’s owner and founder. After 10 years with the company, Sheryl left Clif Bar to pursue the next phase of her career. She plans to leverage what she has learned from her experience and help other organizations that are striving to create positive change.
As CEO, Sheryl has directed the company’s increasing use of organic ingredients, rapid expansion of its product portfolio and groundbreaking initiatives in the area of environmental sustainability. During her tenure, Clif Bar & Co. has expanded its product portfolio to encompass 16 unique brands, including the recent releases of LUNA Elixir™, the first organic drink mix formulated for women, and the CLIF Kid™ product line providing organic, nourishing snacks for kids in motion.
In addition to leading the rapid expansion of Clif Bar’s innovative products, Sheryl has become a champion for the company’s groundbreaking environmental sustainability initiatives and its commitment to nourish not only consumers, but also employees, the community, and the planet. During her tenure as CEO, Clif Bar & Co. has been recognized as a leader for environmental and social responsibility, addressing climate change, and going “beyond the check” for community service.
Under Sheryl’s leadership, Clif Bar made the Inc. 500 list of the nation’s “Fastest Growing Private Companies” for 3 straight years (after having first earned the honor in 1997). Sheryl has been named by the San Francisco Business Times as one of “The Bay Area’s 100 Most Influential Women in Business” for 3 consecutive years (2005, 2006, and 2007) and in 2006 she was selected by the Contra Costa Times as one of “The 10 Most Influential Women in the East Bay.” In 2001, Brandweek magazine named Sheryl one of the “Top Marketers of the Next Generation.”
Sheryl joined Clif Bar in 1998 as the head of brand marketing, spearheading the company’s 1999 launch of LUNA®, the first whole nutrition bar for women and one of the first foods of any kind to incorporate the specific nutritional needs of women. LUNA quickly became a best-selling bar and changed the face of the energy and nutrition bar category.
Prior to being named CEO, Sheryl served as executive vice president of brand at Clif Bar & Co., where she led marketing, sales and research and development. Before joining Clif Bar, Sheryl held management positions in brand management, sales and promotions with the Quaker Oats Company and General Foods.
Sheryl holds an Masters of Business Administration. from Northwestern University and a Bachelors of Business Administration from the University of Michigan. Passionate about the outdoors, she has run five marathons and remains an avid mountain biker and skier. Sheryl lives in Oakland, Calif., with her husband and two sons.
About the Moderator:
Honorable José Cisneros
Treasurer, City and County of San Francisco
José Cisneros was first appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom as Treasurer for the City and County of San Francisco in 2004 and was elected by the voters to a full term in November of 2005. Treasurer Cisneros serves as the City's banker and chief investment officer, managing all tax and revenue collection for San Francisco. He has 25 years of financial expertise in both business and public service.
In January 2005, Treasurer Cisneros, in conjunction with Mayor Newsom, launched the Working Families Credit Program, a local match to the Earned Income Tax Credit. Over 10,000 applications were submitted in the first year, double the number expected. These families received more than $20 million in federal money through this innovative public/private partnership. Now in its third year, the WFC continues to help thousands of low-income San Franciscans keep more of what they earn.
Treasurer Cisneros continued to expand his role as a financial educator and advocate for low-income San Franciscans through creating the Bank on San Francisco initiative, which aims to give all city residents access to a bank account and lessen the need for check cashers and payday lenders. Bank on San Francisco brings together community organizations, city agencies and fifteen banks and credit unions to help unbanked San Franciscans transition into the financial mainstream. Treasurer Cisneros launched the initiative in September 2006, in partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
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