Freeman Means Business' Wonder Women in Business Podcast

Shawn Edwards’ professional career began in the U.S. Navy as a Data Processing Technician. Upon honorable discharge, she held various technical positions while attending college and law school. Shawn now has over eighteen years of experience in managing complex litigation and technology projects. She specializes in strategic planning and management of large eDiscovery projects and developing appropriate solutions.

Her expertise includes data retrieval and reconciliation and the design and maintenance of electronic discovery systems. In addition, Shawn specializes in facilitating processes, policies, procedures and automated workflows enhancing the quality of work product and controlling expenses.

Shawn began Parent Coordination and Parent Facilitation services in 2011 and started teaching CLE courses in 2012 to train other professionals in cooperative parenting using Parent Coordinators or Facilitators.

Shawn has a variety of interests including running, cooking for family gatherings, watching Premier League Soccer, sampling varieties of Scotch and recently took up baking pastries.

She earned her JD from South Texas College of Law, her BA from the University of West Florida and is admitted to the Texas Bar.

Robin Hauser is the director and producer of cause-based documentary films at Finish Line Features and President of Unleashed Productions.  Robin’s award-winning film, CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2015, and has caught the attention of the international tech industry and of policymakers and educators in Washington, DC and abroad.  Robin’s most recent documentary, bias, explores unconscious bias and how it affects us socially and in the workplace.  She delivered a TED talk about the impact of unconscious bias on artificial intelligence, and is a frequent speaker at major conferences on topics including diversity and inclusion, the importance of ethical AI and gender equality.  Robin has been featured in international publications: Forbes, Fortune, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Fast Company, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, USA Today, Wired, Marie Claire, San Francisco Business Times and has appeared on Bloomberg TV, CNN, NPR, CNBC.

Originally from El Salvador, Dr. Paz moved to southern California, with his wife Linda, shortly after graduation from the Eastman Dental Center at the University of Rochester, New York. He joined the orthodontic community and established a private practice in Beverly Hills followed by one in Marina del Rey. Believing that people prefer to minimize the orthodontic process, Dr. Paz specialized in Lingual braces, placed behind the teeth, where they don’t show. When Invisalign was introduced to SoCal he was one of the first orthodontists to jump on board. Dr. Paz is internationally known for practicing Lingual braces and is a Platinum Invisalign orthodontist.

Today Dr. Paz practices in a single office location, Marina del Rey, the community where he lives. On weekends one may find Dr. Paz fishing (his passion!), barbecuing Brazilian style meats or walking on the strand with his dog Rudy. Dr. Paz and Linda have two adult daughters. Each year Dr. Paz donates several Phase I orthopedic-orthodontic treatment cases to local schools to aid in their fund raising.

Education:

Dr. Paz graduated from the University of Rochester, Rochester, New York with a Masters in Dental Science. He received a Certificate of Proficiency in Orthodontics with special training in Lingual Orthodontics, and completed a fellowship in Temporomandibular/jaw Disorder. Dr. Paz completed his General Dentistry Residency at Eastman Dental Center, Rochester, New York and has had special training in the treatment of children with cleft palate and other craniofacial anomalies.

Dr. Paz holds memberships in:

Dr. Paz specializes in early treatment for children, fixed self-ligating labial braces, Lingal braces and the Invisalign system. His goal is to provide the best orthodontic care for an exceptional orthodontic result.

Terri E. Givens is a CEO/Founder, Political Scientist and a consultant to educational technology companies and educational institutions. In February of 2019 she founded The Center for Higher Education Leadership, a portal for professional development for higher education administrators. She was the Provost of Menlo College from July 2015 to June 2018.

From the Fall of 2003 until the Spring of 2015 she was a Professor in the Government Department at the University of Texas at Austin where she also served as Vice Provost for International Activities and Undergraduate Curriculum from 2006 to 2009, Director of the Robert S. Strauss Center’s European Union Center of Excellence, and Co-Director of the Longhorn Scholars Program.  She founded and directed the Center for European Studies and the France-UT Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies from 2004-2006. She was a faculty member in the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington from 1999 to 2003. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her B.A. from Stanford University.

She is the author/editor of several books on immigration policy, European politics and security, including Voting Radical Right in Western Europe, Immigration Policy and Securityand Immigrant Politics: Race and Representation in Western Europe. Her most recent book is Legislating Equality: The Politics of Antidiscrimination Policy in Europe (Oxford University Press, May 2014). Her textbook, Immigration in the 21st Century was published in May of 2020 (Routledge). Her most recent book is, Radical Empathy: Finding a Path to Bridging Racial Divides is scheduled for publication in February 2021 (advance excerpts are available).

A popular speaker, blogger and social media enthusiast, Terri is very active in the community as a member of several nonprofit boards and is a fitness enthusiast.

Alma Uldedaj is currently an Assistant Vice President with Deutsche Bank in Jacksonville, FL where she works as a corporate banking attorney. Alma previously worked as a global markets attorney, residential real estate and banking attorney in New York.  She is an active participant in Deutsche Bank’s Employee Resource Groups. She is the Co-Treasurer for the Multi Cultural Partnership and is a Committee Member for the Americas Diversity and Inclusion Council. She previously served as a mentor at the Tiger Academy Charter School in Jacksonville, FL. She also served as the Vice President of the New Albanian Generation Organization in Bronx, NY. Alma was born in Shkodër, Albania and immigrated to the United States in her early 20’s, settling in New York City. She obtained a Bachelor’s degree from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and earned her Juris Doctor from Hofstra University School of Law. She is admitted to practice law in New York. Alma enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling, volunteering, painting, playing volleyball and soccer.

Julie Baker is Sr. Counsel, Employment Litigation for Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).  JLL is a Fortune 500 professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management.  In her role, Julie manages the Company’s employment litigation across the United States.  This includes developing case strategy, managing outside counsel in lawsuits and agency charges, conducting internal investigations, and advising business partners to mitigate litigation risk.

Prior to working at JLL, Julie worked at Jones Day representing a wide variety of employers in labor and employment matters.  She graduated with her B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.  Although she has returned to her beloved Chicago (or at least a nearby suburb), Julie bounced around for a number of years – almost 5 years in London as a kid, a semester abroad in Santiago, Chile during college, and 2 years living and teaching fourth grade in Brownsville, Texas as a Teach for America corps member.

Julie and her husband, John, are busy raising their two daughters to be adventurous, open-minded, and empathetic.

Ari Kaplan, an attorney and legal industry analyst, is an inaugural Fastcase 50 honoree, a fellow of the College of Law Practice Management, and a finalist for the International Legal Technology Association’s Thought Leader of the Year award. He is the author of Reinventing Professional Services: Building Your Business in the Digital Marketplace (Wiley, 2011) and The Opportunity Maker: Strategies for Inspiring Your Legal Career Through Creative Networking and Business Development (West Academic, 2nd Ed. 2016). Kaplan serves as the principal researcher for a variety of widely distributed benchmarking reports, has been the keynote speaker for events worldwide, and is the founder of the Lawcountability® business development software platform and iPhone app. He is an avid swimmer, a self-taught, beginner-level python coder, and a two-time Ironman triathlon finisher.

As the President at Draper U, Asra has invested invests in early stage companies. DraperU alumni have raised $250M+ in investments and include companies like QTUM ($5B) and nVision ($275M acq).

Aside from investing, most of Asra’s work is directly with governments, universities and international incubators to establish local entrepreneurial hubs, investment opportunities and corporate innovation initiatives.

Before working at DraperU, Asra worked on product and market development for startups in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia.

She was an early employee and the first female product manager in Pakistan for rozee.pk (jobsite) and naseeb.com (matchmaking for Muslims). She later led Bayt.com's special projects team to build web infrastructure for government organizations and MNC's in the MENA region.

She frequently speaks globally to help teams and individuals innovate around the future of work, understand the basics of angel investing, build startup ecosystems and engineer an entrepreneurial mindset.

Asra can be found reading and funding researches to build vertical cities or inventing new recipes for world's best hummus.

Jenn Ocken in her own words…

“Love is always available, and it has an amazing story to tell us.”

Boy, did I stumble onto my purpose the first time I ever picked up a camera in 1991! I was 15 years old and was inspired by two of my (4) older brothers, who, at the time were just beginning their photo careers. I never put the camera down, even though I wasn't setting out to be a professional photographer.

My bachelor degree from Ball State University was in graphic arts with a minor in business. It wasn't until I moved to Arkansas in 2000 to work for my brothers that I realized that taking photos was my calling. Working with my brothers I had the freedom to really define my craft and create my own personal style of shooting.

I appreciate the inspiration my photo approach gives me and seek to find in my assignments:

·       The blessings expressed by the excitement of a loud laugh

·       The endearing eyes that speak of peace that can hit your soul

·       Those sweet tears of joy welling up inside before they hit the cheeks

·       The intimate look of a cherished embrace

·       The sweet smile that says “I am exactly where I want to be always,”

·       And AHHHH that moment right before a kiss where you can see light shining through the moment! SO GOOD!

After working for about seven years in Arkansas and then in Chicago side by side with my two brothers taking photos, I move to Baton Rouge, LA in 2007 I took a big step and ventured out on my own to start a business in the Gulf Coast area.

I rebranded myself as Jenn Ocken Photography and set my sights on capturing weddings, holiday portraits and my favorite, beach photography sessions, along with also photographing musicians specifically in the blues genre.

In 2015 I self published a book about The International Blues Challenge in Memphis TN, an event that I dedicated 11 years to photographing.

2020 I took the call to start The Front Porch Project in Baton Rouge during the stay at home ordinance earlier this year not only saved my sanity but it gave purpose to the people who showed up for a session, the other photographers who joined me and encouraged the businesses to keep moving forward. It has been the highlight of my career reaching about 900 porches. I hope the results and the photos taken remind us all to always do something, anything to help your community especially when we need it most.