Main Stage

Hidden Dimensions In Leadership

In this session, we’ll delve deep into the unique leadership journeys of our panelists—Jameeka Aaron, Surabhi Gupta, and Ronit—exploring the hidden strengths that have shaped their leadership styles.

Whether it is the courage to take risks, the self awareness to recognize and address biases, or the personal motivators that drive them, these dimensions are different for each one of us and crucial to effective leadership.

Our panelists will share candid insights into how they tapped into these hidden strengths to navigate challenges and grow as leaders. By understanding and leveraging these often-overlooked aspects, you’ll gain practical wisdom and inspiration to discover and harness your own unique strengths, helping you become a more well-rounded and effective leader.

SPEAKER
SPEAKER

Mallun Yen

PARTNER OPERATOR COLLECTIVE

Mallun Yen has devoted the past 20 years to changing the status quo and shifting industry norms, as a founder, operator, investor, and category-creator. In 2019, she founded Operator Collective, a $150M venture firm and community, to make venture accessible to a group critical to a startup’s success but largely left out: top operators from diverse backgrounds who have built and scaled the most admired companies in the world. Its 200+ limited partner investors are 90% women, 40% people of color; most of whom had never invested in venture before.

Prior to founding Operator Collective, Mallun was a VP at Cisco and at the forefront of other category-creating companies also rooted in community, including RPX ($0-$100M and IPO in 3 years), SaaStr (world’s largest b2b software community), and ChIPsNetwork.org (5,000 members and 25 chapters around the world). She is also a member of Pure Storage Board of Directors and the US Patent & Trademark Office’s Council for Inclusive Innovation (CI2), whose mission is to expand innovation by increasing opportunities and tapping into the strength of our nation’s diversity.

SPEAKER
SPEAKER

Jameeka Aaron

CHIEF INFORMATION SECURITY OFFICER HEADSPACE

Jameeka Green Aaron is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Headspace. She is responsible for delivery of enterprise technology while ensuring holistic security and compliance of Headspaces’s platform, products, and corporate environment. She is a recognized industry leader and brings 25 years of experience to the role, with a career that has spanned a wide variety of industries, including aerospace and defense, retail, and manufacturing, at both Fortune 100 and privately held companies—including Nike, Hurley, Lockheed Martin, and the U.S. Navy.

Jameeka lives in Irvine, CA, with her husband Amilcar who serves as Diversity Equity and Inclusion Commission for the City of Irvine. She is, a board member of Digital Brands Group, a member of Black Women on Boards and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She enjoys traveling and all things outdoors; hiking, snowboarding, and anywhere with a beach.

SPEAKER
SPEAKER

Surabhi Gupta

FORMER SVP OF ENGINEERING, ROBINHOOD

Surabhi serves on the board of GetYourGuide and advises early stage startups. Most recently, she was the SVP and Head of Engineering at Robinhood, overseeing technology areas including Data Science and Corporate Engineering. Prior to Robinhood, she spent seven years at Airbnb, leading Engineering for the core Homes business and managing teams focused on Search, Host, Business Travel, and Growth. Before Airbnb, she was a Staff Software Engineer at Google, contributing to web search ranking and predictive search for Google Now. She holds an MS in Computer Science from Stanford University.

SPEAKER
SPEAKER

Ronit Bohrer Hillel

ENGINEERING LEADER MICROSOFT

Ronit Bohrer Hillel is an Engineering Leader at Microsoft and the former VP of Engineering at Smartsheet. With over twenty years of experience in developing innovations and enterprise-level products, she has worked with a diverse array of technologies, including SaaS, AI, no-code, mobile, telecom, and big data, across both startup and enterprise environments. Outside of work, Ronit is a co-host of SheTO Seattle, a for-profit board member, a career coach, and is a passionate advocate for women in tech.