Meet our Board of Directors

Maile Collmer

Chapter President

Maile Collmer is a seasoned business development strategist with a passion for helping small business owners thrive. As a co-founder of the Business Acceleration Group, she leads a dynamic mastermind experience tailored for driven entrepreneurs who are ready to scale, grow through collaboration, and stay accountable on their journey to success. With a rich background in sales and small business ownership, Maile brings a unique blend of expertise, enthusiasm, and practical wisdom to every endeavor, inspiring others to reach new heights.

Learn more at https://contracosta.asentiv.com

Lynell Green

President-Elect + Strategic Planning Chair

Lynell Green is a highly accomplished strategic management consultant and executive coach, renowned for her expertise in unleashing leadership potential and fostering strategic growth. With over 40 years of experience, Lynell has successfully worked with an impressive roster of clients, including industry leaders such as Meta, Netflix, Twitter, Microsoft, and Hilton. Her unique combination of skills, including accounting, corporate management, and teaching leadership programs, allows her to provide invaluable insights and guidance to her clients. Lynell's ability to understand complex business strategies, navigate organizational dynamics, and develop effective leaders has consistently resulted in transformative outcomes for her clients. Through her coaching, Lynell empowers leaders to inspire and unleash the leadership potential around them, creating a ripple effect of growth and success throughout their organizations.

Learn more here.

Allison Tabor

Past President

A pragmatic executive coach, speaker, facilitator, and the author of the best-selling book, Work Your Assets Off® -Stop Working So Hard in Business and In Life, Allison guides business owners, executives, and their teams in the areas of leadership, interpersonal communication (DISC), and strategic planning.  

Allison also facilitates for the international Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO), leading two San Francisco Bay Area and one National Platinum peer advisory group of women presidents and CEOs of multimillion-dollar companies and was honored with the WPO 2021 President’s Award for Facilitating Greatness.

Learn more at https://coppiaadvisory.com or https://www.workyourassetsoff.com

Gwen Bortner

Treasurer

Gwen Bortner is an entrepreneur, consultant, speaker, and trainer. During the past 35 years, she has owned multiple consulting companies, worked as a consultant for Ernst & Young LLP, ran the IT department for a regional phone company, and became a sought-out instructor on the national knitting circuit. As a natural educator, regardless of the role she is in, she approaches nearly every situation as an opportunity to share knowledge while also learning in the process.

Gwen describes herself as an operational strategist. With a focus on improved business operations, Gwen helps female entrepreneurs design a business that aligns with their deepest desires.

Learn more at https://everydayeffectiveness.com/

Nancy Giere

Secretary

Nancy Giere knows how to create training solutions that get results. 

After a lifetime in the corporate training world, Nancy knows how businesses operate. Her unique perspective, combined with 30 years of experience, has empowered her with fresh insight and the industry’s best-kept secrets that she’s ready to share with the world. She wields the power of storytelling with a light-hearted humor-edged sword to create engaging, fun, and interactive programs.

Learn more at https://nancygiere.com/

Srijata Bhatnagar

Membership Chair

Srijata believes setbacks are awesome! Do you think she's nuts? Well, turn the word around and let it stun you! 

That’s Srijata's secret. She turns around setbacks, and converts them into opportunities to thrive and grow beyond imagination. This is why she loves setbacks!

Since 2017 Srijata has been championing setback leadership to business leaders and corporates. Leveraging the power of the professional, personal and entrepreneurial setbacks she's experienced in the last three decades, she's designed a winning Setback SOP for leaders looking to bounce back stronger than ever. Srijata's work has resonated with over 50k business leaders worldwide, and many more through her books, podcasts, videos, blogs, and speaking.

Learn more at https://srijata.com/

Melissa Dinwiddie

Marketing/Communications Chair

Melissa transforms "impossible" into reality. At 16, she took her first dance class with a dream of attending Juilliard. Three years later, she was in. Now, she empowers leaders and teams to achieve breakthrough innovation through her Create the Impossible™ keynotes, workshops, and retreats. Drawing on her eclectic background—from calligraphy to jazz singing—Melissa designs interactive experiences that spark creativity, foster connection, and drive measurable results. She's transformed teams at companies like Google, Meta, and Salesforce, proving that professional development can be a blast. 

When not revolutionizing corporate cultures, Melissa's either wrangling rambunctious cats or attempting ukulele-and-bass duets with herself. Her mission? Equipping analytical minds with the mindset, skillset, and toolkit to turn the impossible into reality. Melissa holds degrees from UC Berkeley and the University of Birmingham, England, and is the author of "The Creative Sandbox Way™"—an adventure packaged as a book that Chris Guillebeau calls "essential for the bookshelf."

Learn more at https://melissadinwiddie.com/

Kathy Klotz-Guest

Member-at-Large

The human connection is the most important one. As a speaker and workshop facilitator, Kathy helps solve business challenges with design thinking, marketing and improvisation. That means increased collaboration, empathy, creativity and powerful storytelling.

Learn more at https://www.keepingithuman.com/

Kristy Rogers

Programs Chair

You can be happy, likeable AND productive in business. Honor who you are as you go through your workday.

Learn more at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristyrogersconnects/