Recent Breakfast Speakers

Complete 2011 / 2010 Archive listing here.

“Purpose + Serendipity = Creating Your Own Luck” (February 2012)

 Featuring Rebecca Lovell, Chief Business Officer of GeekWire

When you reach one of those pivotal career crossroads and know you’re ready for a change—but you’re not sure what it is—sometimes the answer may come from committing to being purposeful but intentionally open to possibilities you can’t even imagine. Sometimes we may wonder, “How are some people so lucky?” Rebecca is one of those people. As she completed her MBA studies 5 years ago, three subsequent ideal career opportunities have been offered to her without her seeking them.

Rebecca is a Seattle native and life-long geek turned entrepreneur enthusiast. After a decade of operations management and business development in the corporate world, she caught the startup bug and served as the Program Director for the Alliance of Angels, then the Executive Director for the Northwest Entrepreneur Network. Addicted to tech and entrepreneurship, she is a mentor for Tech Stars and Founder Institute, a community advisor to Startup Weekend, and teaches a class on venture capital investing in the UW MBA program. She has been a judge in the International Venture Capital Investment Competition, currently serves on the Foster Business School Employer Advisory board, and has joined the Northwest Entrepreneur Network board of directors. 

A newly minted but proud Husky, Rebecca received her MBA from the UW in 2006, earned distinction as a Dean’s Scholar and was awarded the McGowan scholarship. A phi beta kappa, she received her BA in History from Carleton College, was a valedictorian at Garfield High School, and recovering mathlete turned shameless karaoke junkie.

"Get Your Brain in Gear for the New Year" (January 2012)

With Dr. Terri Gilbert, Application Scientist,  Allen Institute for Brain Science

 Post Event Reading Recommendations: 

Incognito:  The Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman

Brain Bugs: How the Brain's Flaws Shape Our Lives by Dean Buonomano

Your Brain At Work:  Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus and Working Smarter All Day Long, by David Rock

 
Strange but true—your brain doesn't really care about your dreams and goals! Rather, your brain is designed exclusively for your survival. It’s not wired to nurture the possibilities of your future. Consequently, to realize the magnificent vision you have for your life, you need to employ creative management to push through your brain's basic instincts.  

Terri Gilbert, PhD, Application Scientist from the Allen Institute for Brain Science, is an expert in understanding the incredible complexity of the brain. She has over 15 years of experience delivering technical presentations and training sessions to a variety of audiences, and has held positions in both academia and industry. She currently spearheads the user support program for the world’s largest brain atlas database, the Allen Brain Atlas resources, designing and delivering live trainings and webinars to global audiences. Her position at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, a nonprofit medical research organization dedicated to accelerating the understanding of how the human brain works, allows her to combine her love for communicating science and working with people who are passionate about what they do.

Dr. Gilbert has a Bachelor’s degree in physics from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, with a minor in environmental science. She received her Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of New Mexico, School of Medicine and has held postdoctoral fellowships at the University of New Mexico and the University of Washington. "Three Steps to an Enduring Vision" (December 2011)

With Dr. Doreen Cato, Executive Director at First Place School

For the past 15 years, Dr. Doreen Cato has served at the helm of First Place School—a non-profit organization that is both an elementary school and social service agency devoted to serving low-income families struggling with trauma. By trial and error, and by embracing the school motto, "Hope, Home, and Education for Every Child, One Family at a Time,” Dr. Cato has created a powerful method for bringing more success and an enduring vision to families in need.

First Place families deal with critical situations that lead to traumatic experiences for their children. Over the years, these experiences have changed First Place School, along with those who work there. Today First Place is not only a school, but a family that has experienced all types of family crises of their own. And along the way, they’ve established an educational model that promotes "thriving" in students both in Seattle and around the world. On December 8, we heard more about Dr. Cato’s own personal journey and learn what it takes to create an abundant, self-sustaining lifeand a legacy—as she speaks on the topic of “Three Steps to an Enduring Vision."

Dr. Doreen Cato, MA, Ed.D, Ph.D is an international advocate for children’s rights and has served 15 years as Executive Director at First Place, a school and social service agency for homeless and vulnerable children and families in Seattle.  Her passion to work with children and youth extends beyond the United States to Africa. Her work with Cultural Reconnection Mission and African American Kenyan Women Interconnect takes her to rural schools in Kenya and Ethiopia. Dr. Cato has a bachelor's degree in Art Education, a master's in Applied Behavioral Science with an emphasis on organizational and human systems, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership. In June of 2010, Dr. Cato received an honorary doctorate from LIOS graduate college of Saybrook University, and gave the keynote speech at their commencement exercises. She has received numerous national awards and other recognition, however, as the mother of Christina and Barron Cato—and grandmother to Benjamin Cato and Mya Charisse—Dr. Cato continues to believe that her children are her greatest accomplishments.

   

"The Sky is no Limit!"  (November 2011)

With Beverly Wyse, Vice President and General Manager, 737 Program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes

How can we recognize the barriers that we have created for ourselves? Where could we be if we removed the barriers? What if the sky is in fact, no limit? Beverly shared her journey from working engineer to leader of Boeing's largest, most successful commercial airplane program and what she believes it takes to move beyond doubt and self limitations.

Graduating from the University of Washington in Mechanical Engineering, Beverly began her career at Boeing in 1985 as an engineer. She left Boeing in 1989 to work for British Aerospace in Hatfield, England. In 1992 she and her husband, Steve and their then one-year-old son returned to Seattle where Beverly re-joined Boeing to support development of the 777 program.  When their second son was born six months later, Beverly and Steve learned the meaning of work-life balance, also known as “how to pretend to have an IQ above 4 without sleep.”  Subsequent responsibilities and achievement included: program management, an MBA, a stint in a Boeing start-up, leading the 767 program through the USAF Tanker campaign, to leading the 737 airplane program and the Renton site.  In addition to her career, Beverly is deeply committed to her family: her Boeing engineer husband Steve, and her two sons, Evan 19 and Elliott 18.