2023 NOW Conference Presenters

Liesel Mendoza

Liesel lives for helping people. After three fulfilling decades of supporting managers and leaders solve business problems through information technology solutions, Liesel set out to assist people to find their path to meaningful work and become purpose-driven leaders. She believes doing meaningful work leads to success and happiness. And she believes mentors play a crucial role in this process. She founded The Mentoring Club in 2016. By establishing a global platform, The Mentoring Club has the bold intent of changing the world, one leader at a time by providing a mentor...

Lyndon Huling (he/him)

Lyndon Huling is the Manager for Leadership Recruitment, Temporary Staffing, & Diversity Services at UC Davis. He has a Doctoral Degree in Educational Leadership from UC Davis and completed his undergraduate education at UC Davis as well. In each of Dr. Huling’s roles, he has worked to advocate for the needs of diverse students, staff, and faculty. Most recently, he served as Chair of the African American Faculty and Staff Association at UC Davis Health. Additionally, he is a member of the Staff Diversity Administrative Advisory Committee, the Staff Advisory...

Michelle Hector Branner

Dr. Michelle Hector Branner is an exceptional business instructor with significant industry experience. She has 14 years of successful experience in the financial industry in investment banking, training, human resource management, and leading teams of more than 250 people. She also has over six years of experience in leading high-performing teams in the technology industry. Additionally, Michelle has worked in the small business sector where she was influential in supporting business owners to build their business infrastructure and now she is a professional coach where...

Monae Roberts (they/she)

Monae Roberts joined UC Davis Veterinary Medicine last week as the school’s first Chief Diversity Officer. They have previously served on the main UC Davis campus as Director of the LGBTQIA Resource Center and a program coordinator at the Cross Cultural Center. After a brief stint off campus, Roberts is happy to be back in an academic setting where they enjoy collaboration with like-minded people.

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Nicole Resch

Nicole Resch is a co-founder of Imperative, a relationship platform that helps people build meaningful connections at work through high-impact conversations...the kind that used to only be possible when face to face. She co-authored “Making Work Meaningful,” a joint research project with PwC, Imperative, and CECP, and has been a featured speaker for Higher Education, Fortune 500, and HR Conferences, including the University of Michigan, Microsoft, Sanofi, PwC, and HR Transform.

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Priyanka Karki

With an academic background in Social and Behavioral Sciences and professional experience in nonprofit technology program development, Priyanka embodies a deep passion and respect for community involvement in advancing meaningful and sustainable social impact solutions. Her efforts in empowering communities through resources and education have been demonstrated through her work in improving digital literacy training and access, advocating for mental health, and promoting collective impact initiatives. As the Program and Student Experience Advisor for the Fung Fellowship at...

Robbie (RobbieLyn) Tesnado

RobbieLyn Tesnado is the Chief Administrative Officer(CAO) overseeing divisional finance, operations, and human resources within the Vice Chancellor’s Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at UC Davis. As a key advisor to the vice chancellor and senior leadership, Robbie provides strategic analysis to develop divisional planning efforts. Prior to beginning her role in 2021, RobbieLyn served as the business operations manager for the Office of the Chancellor and Provost, and financial analyst for both the Department of Emergency Medicine and the School of...

Sasha Ann Keller

Sasha Ann Keller is the Assistant Director, Corporate & Foundation Relations in the College of Engineering. Sasha connects industry and individual partners with UC Berkeley's mission to educate inclusive leaders and create knowledge equitably to serve a diverse society. With over 20 years of experience as a storyteller and relationship-builder, Sasha places courage, gratitude, and health at the heart of her work.

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Sherri Gini (she/her)

Sherri has a B.S. in Speech Pathology from CSU Sacramento and a J.D. from Lincoln Law School in Sacramento. She has worked in a variety of industries ranging from automotive, to real estate title and escrow, to law firms, and now intellectual property and technology transfer. Sherri began her UC journey over 7 years ago as an Intellectual Property Analyst at UC Davis and worked her way up to a Licensing Contract Officer at UCSF. She makes it a habit to strategically take advantage of training opportunities that will move her forward. Aside from becoming an Officer at UCSF, one of her...

Tiffany Reardon

For over twenty years Tiffany Reardon has been working in higher education designing programs that support students pursuing degrees in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology (STEM). In 2012, she joined Berkeley by accepting a position in the College of Engineering. As a first-generation college student, Tiffany is driven to projects that broaden participation in higher education and connect students to research such as her website Reufinder.com.

In May of 2021, she published her first book “Rose Colored Lenses: A Survival Guide to...