Women in Finance Celebrate International Womens Day by Helping Girls

San Francisco, CA, March 7, 2016 (Newswire.com) - ​​​Women in Finance To Celebrate International Women’s Day by Helping Girls Find Paths to Success

Empowering Women For The Future

"We are excited to bring together women from various parts of the financial world to celebrate International Women's Day. All of us have had women in our lives who've inspired us, and it is important to pass on that sense to the next generation."

Sharon Hayman, CFA, Advisory Board Member, BAFEF

Tuesday, March 8, 2016 from 12 Noon to 3:30 PM

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, 101 Market Street, San Francisco

The Bay Area Financial Education Foundation is proud to present “Empowering Women For The Future” – a volunteer event celebrating International Women’s Day, where more than forty women working in the Bay Area finance industry will spend an afternoon mentoring Bay Area middle and high school girls participating in the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship’s Business Plan Competition. The event is supported by our allied organizations including 100 Women in Hedge Funds, CFA Society San Francisco’s Women’s Initiative Network and the Financial Women of San Francisco. The event will include a networking luncheon and an inspiring address from Farah Champsi, General Partner at InterWest Partners.

The Bay Area Financial Education Foundation (BAFEF) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, formed in 2007 by leading volunteers from the Bay Area investment management community. Our mission is to improve the economic education and financial literacy of Bay Area youth and to promote professional certification in the financials services industry.

The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) Bay Area is one of BAFEF’s financial literacy program partners. Serving low-income students across 20 Bay Area high schools, the NFTE program inspires students to find their paths to success.  Students participate in a project-based learning program where they work toward completing a business plan, then go on to present and pitch it in a classroom competition. Winners continue to regional and national competitions.

Giving students the opportunity to hear from and interact with real-world entrepreneurs and business leaders is essential to the NFTE experience. In celebration of International Women’s Day, we are offering this inspirational event where women from the SF Bay Area financial community will offer coaching to NFTE students. Volunteers will help the girls develop a personal mission statement, review their business plans and practice their elevator pitch. The girls will also participate in a special session on presentation skills given by Executive Coach Surina Piyadasa, Founder & CEO of Dynamically Speaking LLC.

Sharon Hayman, BAFEF Advisory Board Member and Head of Relationship Management at Jackson Square Partners said “We are excited to bring together women from various parts of the financial world to celebrate International Women’s Day. All of us have had women in our lives who’ve inspired us, and it is important to pass on that sense to the next generation.” Hayman is one of more than forty women who have registered as volunteers for this event. The women who’ve volunteered represent a wide variety of roles in the business community, including Senior Financial Analysts, Portfolio Managers, Wealth Management Advisors, Marketing Directors, Company Principals, Investment Bankers and Business Development Managers.

Our keynote speaker, Farah Champsi is a leading venture capital investment manager specializing in biotechnology. Prior to joining InterWest Partners, Farah’s background included more than a decade serving as Managing Director at Alta Partners, where she played a key role in raising and managing over $1 billion in life sciences venture funds. Prior to joining Alta, Farah was an investment banker for 13 years at Robertson Stephens & Company, where she focused on biotechnology and other life sciences companies. She was elected head of the global life sciences investment banking group in 1995. During that time, she was responsible for building one of the most successful life sciences investment banking franchises on Wall Street. Farah received an M.B.A. from Stanford University and a B.A. in Economics from Smith College. She serves on the board of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals.

For a press pass to the event, please contact Tina Marchetti, Executive Director of BAFEF. Email [email protected] or telephone 415-497-5480.

International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. www.internationalwomensday.com