Ascend Seattle Chapter

Collaborative Inspiring Across Generations (IAG) Conference Jointly Hosted by Ascend NorCal and Seattle
Building Resilience as an Athlete/Professional
Speaker Bios:
Day 1 Speakers & Moderator
Moderator
Maureen Francisco
Co-Executive Producer
NW Productions,LLC
Maureen Francisco is the co-executive producer of NW Productions, LLC, a media and entertainment company that produces live events including the state qualifiers to Miss USA and Miss Teen USA for ID, MT, OR, and WA. Maureen has mentored more than 1000+ contestants. In addition, she is the co-founder of an awards show that celebrates the pageant community at the international level, The Global Beauty Awards show, which is in its 5th year, scheduled for Sunday, May 29, 2022. GBA has honored the first female CEO of Loreal’s history, Jamie Kern Lima, the President of the Miss Universe Organization Paula Shugart, ybf founder Stacey Schieffelin and many others.
Maureen is also a published author of an award-winning book, It Takes Moxie about going after your dreams fearlessly and boldly with the foreword written by Dr. Connie Mariano, the first Filipino military woman to become White House doctor to three US Presidents.
Maureen has been part of Ascend since 2010 with her most recent role as an advisory board member for the Seattle chapter.
Maureen’s favorite role though is being mom to her son and watching him go after his dreams.
Speaker
Dr. Bryan Cheng
Assistant Director of the Global Mental Health Lab at Teachers College
Columbia University
Dr. Bryan Cheng is the Assistant Director of the Global Mental Health Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University. His research interests continue to include the role of rumination in depression, the economics of mental health interventions in health systems, and the development and cultural validation of mental health measures in minority and underserved populations.
Speaker
Dr. Clayton Hoi-Yun McClintock
Neuroscience Researcher and Clinical Psychologist
San Francisco VA Health Care System and University of California, San Francisco
Dr. McClintock is a neuroscience researcher and clinical psychologist at the San Francisco VA and University of California, San Francisco, whose current interests include cultivating group mindfulness and body awareness practices to support resilience and post-traumatic recovery and growth. He graduated with honors from Dartmouth College with an A.B. in English, received an M.T.S. from Harvard University in religion and the social sciences, and recently completed a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Columbia University, with a focus on the neural circuitry of spiritual and stressful experiences. In his leisure, he enjoys hiking, qigong, and watching playoff baseball.
Speaker
Dr. Michael Ku
VP Global Clinical Supply
Pfizer
Dr Michael Ku has over 25 years of biopharmaceutical experience and currently provides strategic leadership in support of Pfizer’s clinical trials in over 70 countries. In 2020 he led the Pfizer-BioNTech teams to the successful Emergency Use Authorization for the world’s first mRNA Covid-19 vaccine. He also serves as Pfizer’s Executive Leader of the Global Asian Alliance Enterprise Colleague Resource Group. In 2018, he received the prestigious Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business Award.
Day 2 Speakers & Moderator
Moderator
Nicola Mcilwrick
Alliances Manager
Deloitte
Nicola is an Alliance Manager at Deloitte and is responsible for the IBM cyber and security risk relationship. Prior to this she advised on mergers & acquisitions transactions for tech clients such as Alphabet, PayPal, and Etsy. Her community impact work includes being the head of Deloitte’s Women’s and Allies Community in the Pacific Northwest, a Board member with Ascend NorCal, and a panelist on numerous anti-Asian violence and allyship events.
Workshop Advisor
Caleb McLaughlin
Sr Program Manager, Enterprise Leadership Development
Robert Half
Caleb McLaughlin is a Leadership and Organizational Development professional. He fell in love with the world of L&D as a recruiter and has spent the last 7 years helping individuals, teams, and organizations succeed by aligning their learning and professional growth initiatives with organizational values, culture, mission, and strategy. In his spare time, you can find him hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, snowboarding whenever there’s fresh powder, and binging the newest, hit Netflix show with his dog Liam.
Speaker
Amanda Chin
VP Brand Marketing
Golden State Warriors
Amanda Chin has been with the Warriors for 6 seasons and the NBA for 10. She has over 13 years in advertising and marketing and oversees all Warriors and Chase Center creative strategy and fully integrated marketing campaigns. Her previous experience includes work with New York-based advertising agencies Wieden + Kennedy and Young & Rubicam. Amanda also sits on the board of BAYCAT, a non-profit organization in San Francisco that works to address racial, gender and economic inequality by creating powerful, authentic media while diversifying the creative industry.
Speaker
Brad Kwong
CEO, Northern Lights Hockey, LLC; Managing Partner, Dubuque Fighting Saints
Brad Kwong is a strategic advisor to the private investment industry with a focus on sports and media. He is also the CEO of an investment company - Northern Lights Hockey, LLC, and he serves as the Managing Partner of the Dubuque Fighting Saints, a hockey team that competes in the United States Hockey League. Brad played professional hockey in Como, Italy and has worked internationally in Toronto, NYC, London and Zurich, Switzerland. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, he received his BA in Economics from Harvard University and MBA from the Harvard Business School. He currently lives with his wife and two children in Boston, MA.
Speaker
Eileen Coparropa
3X Olympian
Dir of Strategy and Business Optimization
Starbucks
Eileen Coparropa focuses on supply chain strategy, performance & inventory management, integrated business planning (S&OP), and demand strategy for Starbucks. Prior to joining Starbucks, Eileen led multiple supply chain teams in the telecommunications and automotive industries. A native of Panama, Eileen represented her home country in three consecutive Olympic Games as a swimmer, carrying the national flag during each opening ceremony. She finished an NCAA Div 1 All-American swimming career at Auburn University, with three national titles. Eileen lives in the Seattle area and is the proud mother of two boys.
Speaker
Rob Ohno
Sr VP International
PGA Tours
Rob Ohno is part of the PGA TOUR’s Executive Leadership Team. He is responsible for the International Tours in Latin America, Asia and Canada. Rob played professional ice hockey in Germany for a year after college. He currently lives in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL with his wife (Pam) and has two children. Rob serves on the Board of Directors at the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) and Life Care Pastoral Services (senior living community)