Our Women In Consulting Board of Directors

A dynamic team of volunteers leading our organization
with care, commitment, and connection.

An amazing opportunity to exercise leadership and teamwork.

Volunteering with Women In Consulting consistently helps our members expand their network of consulting colleagues, showcase their skill sets, gain exposure to new client opportunities, learn valuable skills in non-profit association management, create deeper relationships with members, and have fun in the process.

Joining our Board of Directors adds leadership experience to that list as well.

Please consider joining this dynamic team of volunteers. Whether you have a few hours to spend on a special project or would like to explore a functional team role, we have opportunities to fit your schedule and interests. Learn more about our volunteer opportunities here.

Many thank you’s for the ongoing support of these Women In Consulting members who serve on the Board of Directors.

Kathryn Gorges
Kathryn GorgesPresident
Business and Marketing Coach

I care deeply about women having a community to share business hopes, dreams, challenges, insights, and advice. I am committed to strengthening that community and expanding its impact beyond our membership. Women In Consulting offers a unique experience of connection that bridges business and personal with focus on the professional ambition of women. Our organization provides a haven for those connections and exchanges.

I have over 20 years of experience in marketing strategy, campaigns, and tactics in high tech, small business, and startups. I coach on business and marketing to entrepreneurs, consult on small business growth strategy as part of Inspired Success, am President of Women In Consulting, lead the Stanford Entrepreneurs, am a co-founder of game design company MonstRpreneur, and have taught marketing for UC Berkeley Extension and in startup accelerators for over 10 years.

I have held marketing and sales leadership positions at IBM, Amdahl, Stratus, and Tandem and have served in executive roles on nonprofit boards and community organizations, including president of San Jose/South Bay NOW. I co-founded a charter school and was president of its operating board.

I have a Masters in Philosophy from Stanford University, a BS in Mathematics from William and Mary, and an MBA from Santa Clara University.

Ellen Grace Henson
Ellen Grace HensonDirector, Past President
Managing Director & Founder, Marketing Mechanics

Ellen has been working in product management since the mid-’90’s and consulting for 15 years. A thought leader with experience across multiple markets and technologies, Ellen Grace brings a unique combination of analysis and creativity to business and product strategy, market and customer insight, product-delivery process design, and aligning cross-functional teams to deliver high levels of customer satisfaction and strong business results.

Deb Siegle
Deb SiegleCorporate Secretary, Director, Past President
Principal Consultant, Strategic Marketing Solutions

Deb has held numerous leadership positions with Women In Consulting, as President, vice president of membership, and director of strategic audiences, heading up Women In Consulting’s Executive Members’ Network, a role she held for six years.

The principal of Strategic Marketing Solutions, she is an astute marketing leader, problem solver and communicator who is an authority in market research, strategy, and customer loyalty and experience. Deb understands what drives buyer and customer behavior and is expert at hearing and translating the market and customer voice into actionable strategies and tactics that matter.

Deb was named one of the top 100 Women of Influence in Silicon Valley in 2016. Prior to founding Strategic Marketing Solutions, she held various senior and executive level corporate positions. Deb is a popular speaker on customer voice, building customer loyalty, and how research can reveal new insights into your customers, your product, and your brand.

Nancy Nelson
Nancy NelsonCorporate Financial Officer/Treasurer, Director
Principal Consultant, HRProse, LLC

Nancy is a returning board member, leading the team responsible for member advocacy and partner engagement.

Nancy is the principal of HRProse, LLC, an HR consultancy dedicated to building HR policies and practices that work for small businesses. She is also the program chair for the HR Management certificate program at UC Santa Cruz Extension in Silicon Valley.

In addition to her work for Women In Consulting, Nancy has held various volunteer leadership positions with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) at national, state, and local levels, including president of the Bay Area Human Resource Executives Council (BAHREC) and director of the California State Council of SHRM. She continues to be active in advocacy efforts for effective workplace policies at state and federal levels, and for the continuing advancement of the HR profession.

Shannan Herbert
Shannan HerbertDirector
EVP Chief Credit Officer, City First Bank

Shannan Herbert has dedicated her work to helping marginalized and historically underserved and underrepresented groups succeed. As a fierce advocate for women and women led organizations, she believes that an organizational culture that supports inclusivity and diversity of thought, is one where innovation and growth naturally occur. Serving on the Board of Women  In Consulting would allow her to bring her unique perspective to the member services offered and provide support around the strategic goals of the organization.

With more than 20+ years of professional experience, Shannan has served in key leadership roles for most of her career, leveraging her expertise to direct enterprises in the strategic development and delivery of value-driven, user-friendly solutions in the commercial credit and financial services arena. For the last two years, her work has focused on providing capital to disadvantaged groups that have historically been denied access to funding. Her commitment to community development and small business lending has helped hundreds of minority-owned companies thrive. Additionally, she is the co-founder of DEI Solutions, a minority owned boutique consulting firm specializing in diversity, equity , and inclusion training and program implementation.

Shannan was born and raised in the Washington Metropolitan area and is an active member of her community, having partnered with various non-profits and other organizations to facilitate personal finance seminars for children and adults in low to moderate income areas. She is passionate about communicating the importance of credit and financial literacy to the next generation of leaders and has volunteered her time with a local high school to mentor and provide career guidance. Shannan serves as Vice Chair of the board of Beacon House, a nonprofit organization that offers one-on-one mentoring, educational support, and sports programs for children in the Edgewood neighborhood of Washington DC.  Further, she serves as an Advisory Council Member for The Women in Leadership at The George Washington University School of Business.

Shannan is a proud graduate of Howard University and holds an MBA from Loyola University Maryland.

Anna Brambilla, MBA
Anna Brambilla, MBADirector
Career Ownership Coach, The Entrepreneur’s Source

As a Career Ownership Coach, Anna provides a safe, pressure-free space for people to dream and plan, explore their income and lifestyle goals, determine if franchising and entrepreneurship is a fit, and then help them identify franchise vehicles that might get them to their goals. She is passionate about helping people recognize the strengths and transferable skills they don’t necessarily see in themselves and has mastered the art of listening to understand people. Her 20+ years of experience in the career transition field, help people uncover the options that are open to them. Working at my client’s place, Anna doesn’t have an agenda–she doesn’t sell anything, and her services are free.

Kate Stephenson, PhD
Kate Stephenson, PhDDirector
Innovation & Engineering Strategist for Medical Products, DYAD Engineering

I am deeply passionate about connecting individuals with the resources, education and networks that allow them to enter and excel in the profession of their choice. As a first-generation college student who would go on to obtain a PhD, and then start her own business, I am deeply grateful for the information that allowed me to pursue opportunities I would otherwise have never known existed.

Having discovered it only a few years ago myself, I firmly believe that independent consulting is one of the greatest opportunities for a passionate, intellectually driven individual to freely chart out their own professional path. Joining Women In Consulting’s board at this critical time in the organization allows me to act on my professional convictions through direct service. Women In Consulting’s goal aligns closely with my own: empower other women with the tools and opportunities to find their own professional freedom, defining success in whatever way matters most to them.

I am a lifelong scientist, engineer, writer, and all-around nerd. Over the course of 20 years, I obtained a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, a MS in Biomedical Engineering, and a BS in Product Design from Stanford University, filling in the equally educational time between working in the Silicon Valley Startup ecosystem. I have worked my way up through the ranks of engineering at multiple startups and design firms, having contributed to over fifty different product designs, gradually working my way into very early strategic roles. In spring of 2019, I launched my own consulting firm, Dyad Engineering, with the focus of bridging the gap between traditional management consulting and deeply technical consulting that frequently occurs in the early stages of disruptive innovation. My clients include investors, academic institutions, startup founders and Fortune 500 companies.

Brenda Swiney
Brenda SwineyDirector
Motivator, Influencer, Enabler, mieCFO

I believe that businesswomen have not had the same opportunity to find mentors or champions as their male counterparts. As a result, these women were required to forge their own way, making mistakes that someone may have made before, or worse, becoming discouraged. I see Women in Consulting as a collective of women who are ready and willing to help each other, and future generations of businesswomen, succeed by providing an environment that is safe to share challenges (both professional and personal) and seek support and advice. This community is a way for women to get mentorship and support and expand their networks which, in turn, strengthens the community further. I think this is fundamental to women’s continued success and want to support that in any way I can.

As a solopreneur with over 20 years of financial and operational experience in emerging, growth, and public companies, I provide CFO/COO level expertise to emerging technology companies. My finance leadership comes from companies that range from newly-funded companies (Aruba Wireless Networks, Iteratively) to established multi-nationals with hundreds of thousands employees worldwide (Lucent Technologies, DellEMC). Early in my career, I spent over eight years in financial consulting, including over six years at PwC. I maintain an active CPA license along with my CMA, CGMA, and CAMS certifications. I earned my B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Colorado, Denver.

I am a member of the following professional organizations – Accounting and Financial Women’s Alliance (lifetime), Rotary Club of San Jose, Financial Executives International, Humane Society of Silicon Valley (Audit Committee Chair), and the Past Treasurer of Rotary International District 5170.