2026 Board-Ready Women’s Event
August 25, 2026 8:15 AM - 4:30 PM PDT
Women who have achieved great success in their corporate leadership role often look for other ways to expand their careers and experience and finding a great fit on a public board of directors may be one opportunity. However, finding the first public board is often a daunting task. We will bring together some of the most successful female directors to learn how they navigated this career path and are contributing to public boards.
Senior women (SVP and above) from the semiconductor industry who want to ultimately be on public boards. At this event, they can meet the most successful female board members and learn how they have navigated their careers.
📍 Location: Credo’s Offices in San Jose, California, 110 Rio Robles, San Jose, CA 95134
🏢Host Sponsor: Credo
Sponsors: Credo, Egon Zehnder, Bain & Company
Speakers
Welcoming Remarks
Diane Vanasse
VP of Marketing Communications
Credo
Diane Vanasse has over 20 years of Marketing Communications and PR experience in the semiconductor industry, where she has led the communications and brand efforts for two successful IPOs. She has worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies, both internally and as a partner. Prior to joining Credo, Diane served as a senior director of Marketing Communications and PR with Power Integrations. She has held various positions at Marvell, Audience (acquired by Knowles corporation), and Nvidia. Diane studied public relations at Mount Saint Vincent University.
Diane Vanasse
VP of Marketing Communications
Credo
Jon Carter
Board and CEO Leadership Advisory
Egon Zehnder
Jon Carter guides recruitment for global technology and communications clients and has particular expertise in the semiconductor, systems, enterprise software and networking sectors. He was a founding member of Egon Zehnder’s Palo Alto office and is active in the Technology & AI and Board Consulting practices. Jon specializes in board director search and board effectiveness reviews, as well as CEO succession planning.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Jon was Director of Europe for SuperMac, a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of computer graphics peripherals. Previously, he was a Senior Associate with Broadview, a leading technology investment bank. Jon began his career at Scicon, a global provider of IT services and software, where he held engineering and project management roles while based in London, Palo Alto, and Washington, D.C.
Jon has an MA in computer science from Cambridge University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is an avid traveler and has ridden his motorcycle across deserts and mountains on six continents.
Jon Carter
Board and CEO Leadership Advisory
Egon Zehnder
David Crawford
Chairman of Global Technology & Cloud Services
Bain & Company
David Crawford is the chairman of our Global Technology & Cloud Services practice. He is also
an active contributor to the Strategy and Private Equity practices. David has more than 20 years of consulting experience and is a trusted adviser and partner to clients.
Since joining Bain in 1993, David has worked with senior clients in industries including telecommunications, computing, software and services and manufacturing. This work includes software, systems and silicon design and manufacturing within PC, data center, cloud, high performance computing and networking environments.
David has particular depth in helping clients orchestrate company-wide transformations to their next stage of value creation including value creation plan, strategy, org and talent. His experience in private equity brings a sharp shareholder mindset to his work.
Prior to joining Bain, David was a research engineer at Exxon Production Research in Houston, Texas. He holds a Masters in computational mechanics from Stanford University and two bachelor’s degrees in materials science and engineering from Rice University, summa cum laude. David was awarded a National Science Foundation Ph.D. fellowship. He earned his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business with distinction as an Arjay Miller Scholar.
David Crawford
Chairman of Global Technology & Cloud Services
Bain & Company
Sarah Van Dyck
Global Consumer Practice Co-Leader
Egon Zehnder
Sarah Van Dyck co-leads Egon Zehnder’s Global Consumer Practice and is a core member of the Board and CEO Practice. She advises both industry leaders and growth stage companies on succession planning, leadership and team development, executive search, and board advisory services. She serves as an executive coach to c-suite executives and their teams. Sarah’s 25 years of experience as a marketing executive with consumer and technology companies have shown her that organizational capacity is built when courageous and compassionate leaders invest in the potential of their teams.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Sarah was VP of Global Brand Marketing at Rosetta Stone. Previously, she was a Marketing Executive at LivingSocial. She was also Managing Director of MODO Group, where she oversaw global brand strategy initiatives for clients including Microsoft, Starbucks, Grupo Modelo, and Sony Ericsson. Sarah began her marketing career at Procter & Gamble.
Sarah received an MBA from INSEAD and a BA in history from Brown University. She holds a certificate in Leadership Coaching from Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership and is a credentialed coach accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). Outside of work, she enjoys watching her young adult children develop their own passions and interests. She’s grateful they share their parents’ sense of adventure and curiosity so the family can explore the four corners of the earth together.
Sarah Van Dyck
Global Consumer Practice Co-Leader
Egon Zehnder
Sophia Marzouk
Technology & Semiconductors Practices Consultant
Egon Zehnder
Based in Palo Alto, Sophia Marzouk is a leader at Egon Zehnder’s Technology and Semiconductors Practices. She partners with boards, CEOs, and senior leadership on succession strategy, leadership transitions, and development of high-performing executive teams. Drawing on more than a decade in investment banking, she brings extensive experience across capital markets and M&A, combined with a grounded, thoughtful, and steady approach to client partnership.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Sophia was an Executive Director in Morgan Stanley’s Global Technology Investment Banking team in Menlo Park, where she covered the semiconductor sector and advised on over $250 billion landmark M&A and capital markets transactions. Earlier, she worked in investment banking at Citi in New York, covering Latin American clients. She began her career in consulting at Europraxis, followed by roles in corporate strategy and financial planning at Hypermarcas in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Sophia holds a degree in Naval Engineering from Escola Politécnica at the University of São Paulo and an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Outside of work, she is the proud mother of two young children and enjoys playing music and spending time by the water.
Sophia Marzouk
Technology & Semiconductors Practices Consultant
Egon Zehnder
Claudia Fan Munce
Venture Advisor, Board Member, Faculty
New Enterprise Associates, Best Buy, Arteris, BMO, Stanford University Graduate School of Business
Claudia Fan Munce is a corporate director, technology executive, Stanford lecturer, and venture investor with more than three decades of experience at the intersection of technology, innovation, venture capital, and corporate governance. Claudia currently serves as an independent director of Best Buy Corporation, BMO Financial Corporation, and Arteris, Inc. She also serves as a Venture Advisor at NEA, one of the world’s leading venture capital firms.
Claudia is a lecturer of Corporate Governance at Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford Law School. She is Chair Emeritus of NACD Northern California Chapter and a Certified Director in Cybersecurity Oversight.
Born in Taiwan and raised in Brazil, she holds a Master of Science in Computer Science from Santa Clara University School of Engineering and a Master of Science in Management from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Claudia Fan Munce
Venture Advisor, Board Member, Faculty
New Enterprise Associates, Best Buy, Arteris, BMO, Stanford University Graduate School of Business
Laurie Yoler
Partner, Board Director, Technical Advisor, Stanford
Playground Global, Church & Dwight, Voltera Power, NACD NorCal, Aptiv, Lecturer
Laurie Yoler is a board director and technology strategist known for guiding companies through major inflection points, scaling frontier technologies, and strengthening governance in areas such as cybersecurity, AI, M&A, and innovation oversight. She brings more than 25 years of experience advising CEOs and founders and has served on over 25 public, private, and nonprofit boards across
technology, consumer, financial, and automotive sectors.
Yoler was a founding board member of Tesla, helping guide the company from its earliest days
through its public offering. She also served on the board of Interactive Investor International in
London, supporting its IPO and subsequent acquisition by AMP Bank. She currently serves on the
boards of Church & Dwight (NYSE: CHD), Voltera Power, the NACD Northern California Chapter,
and on the technical advisory board of Aptiv, and is a venture partner at deep-tech venture
capital firm Playground Global.
A former AI software engineer, Yoler has spent her career at the intersection of advanced
technology and business strategy. She has played key roles in the development and launch of
breakthrough products at companies including Qualcomm, Visa, Sun Microsystems, and
Accenture, as well as at entrepreneurial ventures such as Zoox, DNA Direct, and Packet Design.
As President of Qualcomm Labs and SVP of Business Development for Qualcomm, she led
internal innovation initiatives and forged complex strategic partnerships and joint ventures.
Earlier, as a founding managing director at GrowthPoint Technology Partners, she advised
technology companies on M&A, strategic alliances, and capital raising.
Yoler graduated summa cum laude from Washington State University with a degree in
management information systems and completed international business studies at the University
of Copenhagen. She has pursued extensive executive education at Kellogg, Stanford, and
INSEAD, and earned the CERT Certificate in Cybersecurity Oversight. She lectures at Stanford’s
engineering, law, and business schools and has published research on board governance and
technology oversight with Stanford and NACD.
Laurie Yoler
Partner, Board Director, Technical Advisor, Stanford
Playground Global, Church & Dwight, Voltera Power, NACD NorCal, Aptiv, Lecturer
Panel Discussion
Moderator
Deirdre Hanford
Semiconductor Consultant and Advisor
Deirdre Hanford served as Chief Executive Officer and Trustee of Natcast in 2024 and 2025. In this role, Hanford led Natcast as a purpose-built, non-profit entity designated to operate the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) by the Department of Commerce. Established by the US CHIPS and Science Act, the NSTC was a public-private consortium dedicated to semiconductor R&D in the United States, convening industry, academia, and government from across the semiconductor ecosystem to address the most challenging barriers to continued technological progress in the domestic semiconductor industry, including the need for a skilled workforce.
Prior to Natcast, Hanford served as an executive at Synopsys, a technology and market leader in electronic design automation and semiconductor design intellectual property. Over the span of thirty-six years, Hanford’s roles included Chief Security Officer, Co-General Manager of the Synopsys Design Group, and leader of a variety of customer engagement, applications engineering, sales and marketing groups.
Well known within the semiconductor ecosystem, Hanford has served on many industry advisory boards, including being a leader in the Department of Commerce Industrial Advisory Committee formed through the CHIPS Act.
Hanford is currently consulting and advising several firms in the AI, semiconductor and national defense domains.
In July 2024, Hanford was selected to receive the 2025 IEEE Frederik Philips Award “for visionary leadership in electronic design automation for secure and energy-efficient microelectronics.” Hanford was additionally awarded the 2024 Brown Engineering Alumni Medal (BEAM) within the Brown University School of Engineering. Hanford was a recipient of the YWCA Tribute to Women and Industry (TWIN) Award and the Marie R. Pistilli Women in EDA Achievement Award.
Hanford earned a B.S. Engineering (electrical engineering) from Brown University and an M.S.E.E. from University of California, Berkeley
Deirdre Hanford
Semiconductor Consultant and Advisor
Sylvia Acevedo
Professional Speaker, Lead Independent Board Director, Author
Qualcomm, Credo
Sylvia Acevedo is a Fortune 100 board director, (Qualcomm and Credo Technology) former CEO, and pioneering tech executive with leadership roles at NASA, Apple, Dell, and IBM. She serves on the boards of Qualcomm and Credo Technology and advises emerging tech founders. As CEO of the Girl Scouts, she led the organization’s largest program expansion in a century, championing STEM nationwide. A former White House Education Commissioner, she is the bestselling author of Path to the Stars. Her most recent book, The Trailblazer’s Playbook (Wiley, Sept 2025), distills decades of leadership into actionable strategies for turning adversity into strategic advantage. Sylvia holds engineering degrees from Stanford and New Mexico State University, and honorary doctorates from Duke University, Washington College, and Saint Mary’s College.
Sylvia Acevedo
Professional Speaker, Lead Independent Board Director, Author
Qualcomm, Credo
Ellen Barker
Independent Director; Chair of the Nominating, Governance and Sustainability Committee
Microchip
Ellen Barker is a senior technology and finance executive and board member with almost four decades of experience assisting semiconductor companies grow their business worldwide.
Ellen currently serves on the board of directors of Microchip Technology Inc, a publicly listed semiconductor manufacturing company. She currently chairs the nominating, governance and sustainability committee and is a member of the audit committee. Previously she was a member of the compensation committee.
Prior to her board role, Ellen retired as a senior vice president and chief information officer of Texas Instruments (TI), a fortune 500 global semiconductor manufacturing company with over $18B in sales. In this role, she managed the information technology (IT) strategies and operational management of applications and infrastructure worldwide that enabled TI’s changing business needs.
Throughout her career, she held several leadership positions within the company’s Analog, Embedded Processing, manufacturing and former defense divisions, including vice president and controller of several Analog businesses.
Ellen has been significantly involved in executing multiple acquisitions including a $6.5B acquisition of National Semiconductor in 2011, the largest in the company’s history. She is also known for her operational excellence and has had extensive experience in the supply chain environment from factories, to distribution, to customer engagement.
Ellen started her career at TI in 1984. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas, Austin and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Dallas.
Ellen believes in giving back to her community and helping others. She is currently involved as a United Way Woman of Tocqueville. Also, she served on the board of directors for High Tech High Heels (now known as High Tech Rising), a non-profit organization focused on increasing the number of girls entering a college degree program in science, technology, engineering and math, and Tech Titans, the largest technology trade association in Texas.
Ellen Barker
Independent Director; Chair of the Nominating, Governance and Sustainability Committee
Microchip
Judy Bruner
Board Member and Committee Chair
Applied Materials, Qorvo, Rapid7
Judy Bruner is a Corporate Board Director and former Chief Financial Officer with strong operating experience in technology companies. She has served across 8 public company boards and has chaired both Audit Committees and Nominating & Governance committees.
Ms. Bruner’s current board roles include: Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT), where she has served since July 2016 and is the chair of the audit committee and a member of the N&G committee; Qorvo (NASDAQ: QRVO), where she has served since May 2021 and is the chair of the audit committee and a member of the N&G committee; and Rapid7 (NASDAQ: RPD), where she has served since October 2016 and is a member of the audit committee.
Previously, Ms. Bruner served on the boards of:
Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX), January 2018 – October 2025
Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR), 2016 – 2021
Brocade Communications Systems (NASDAQ: BRCD), 2009 – 2017
SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK), 2002 – 2004
Ciphergen Biosystems (NASDAQ: CIPHE), 2003 – 2008
Computer History Museum (non-profit), 2014 – 2020.
In 2018, Ms. Bruner was recognized by Women Inc. magazine as one of the Most Influential Corporate Board Directors. In 2012, she was recognized by the Silicon Valley Business Journal as CFO of the Year for a large public company.
Ms. Bruner was executive vice president of administration and chief financial officer of SanDisk Corporation (SNDK), a global leader in flash storage solutions, from 2004 to 2016, when the company was sold to Western Digital.
Prior to SanDisk, from 1999 to 2004, Ms. Bruner served as senior vice president and chief financial officer of Palm, Inc. (PALM), a provider of handheld computing and communications solutions. Ms. Bruner executed the Palm separation from 3Com Corporation and the Palm IPO in 2000, which was priced at a $21 billion valuation.
Prior to Palm, Ms. Bruner spent 11 years at 3Com (COMS), with roles including corporate controller, vice president of business unit finance and corporate treasurer. Prior to 3Com, Ms. Bruner was chief financial officer at Ridge Computers, a privately held company, and she began her career at Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ).
In her executive roles, Ms. Bruner demonstrated an ability to drive results and value in fast growth and dynamic environments. Her operating experience includes:
Fortune 500 CFO; $21 billion IPO; capital structure optimization; extensive M&A; strategic planning & execution; investor communications; global ERP implementations; and oversight of legal, human resources, information technology, cybersecurity, corporate communications and real estate & facilities
Ms. Bruner earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1980 and a Master of Business Administration degree from Santa Clara University in 1986.
Judy Bruner
Board Member and Committee Chair
Applied Materials, Qorvo, Rapid7
Diane M. Bryant
Board Committee Chair, Independent Director, Former CEO
ScaleFlux, mmTron Inc., Haemonetics, Broadcom, UC Davis
Diane M. Bryant is a global technology leader with more than three decades of executive leadership in the global semiconductor industry, cloud computing services, software-as-a-service, artificial intelligence technology, and healthcare solutions.
Bryant served as the Chairman and CEO of NovaSignal. NovaSignal is a medical technology and data company focused on brain health. Applying robotics, artificial intelligence and cloud computing, cerebral vascular data is obtained, enabling diagnosis of stroke and other illnesses of the brain. Bryant raised three rounds of VC funding and exited with a sale of the company in 2023.
Prior, she served as the Chief Operating Officer of Google Cloud, responsible for accelerating the scale and reach of Google Cloud’s business, including industry engagement, enterprise cloud strategy, customer success, and global supply chain. Diane also led Alphabet’s $20B supply chain organization and the corporate IT organization.
Prior to Google, Bryant spent 32 years at Intel, the last five years as Group President of Intel’s Data Center Group, the worldwide organization that develops server, storage and network platforms for the digital services economy, growing it to $19 billion in revenue in 2017. Before becoming Group President, Bryant was Intel’s Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Officer, responsible for the corporate-wide information technology solutions and services that enable Intel’s business.
Bryant was elected to the Broadcom Inc. board of directors in January 2019 and serves as Chair of the Nominating and Governance committee and as a member of the Compensation Committee. She was elected to the Haemonetics Corp. board of directors in 2023 and serves on the Compensation and Technology committees. Diane is currently on the board of two VC-backed companies: mmTron and ScaleFlux. Diane served on the United Technologies Corp board of directors from 2016 to 2020 and was a member of the Audit and Finance committees. She is also the Chair of the UC Davis Chancellor’s Board of Advisors.
Bryant was named among Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2016, and is a tireless advocate for women and underrepresented minorities in the fields of engineering and technology. She established the Diane Bryant Engineering Student Center at the University of California-Davis, and the Diane Bryant STEM Innovation Center at the American River Community College. In 2020, Becker’s Heathcare named Diane one of 7 “shaker and mover” leaders affecting health IT. Business Insider ranked Ms. Bryant #6 among the Most Powerful Female Engineers in 2018. In 2016, World Affairs and its Global Philanthropy Forum honored Ms. Bryant with its Global Citizen Award.
Bryant received her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from U.C. Davis in 1985. She holds associate degrees in Physical Science and Mathematics, and Electrical Engineering from American River Community College (1980-1983). She attended Stanford Graduate School of Business, completing the Executive Program in 2011. Bryant holds four U.S. patents in mobile computing.
Diane M. Bryant
Board Committee Chair, Independent Director, Former CEO
ScaleFlux, mmTron Inc., Haemonetics, Broadcom, UC Davis
Patricia Kummrow
Board Member and Nom/Gov Chair, Board Member and Comp Chair
Synaptics, Napatech
Patty is an experienced board director and technology executive with over 30 years of leadership spanning general management, R&D, and public company boards. She currently serves on the boards of two public technology companies, Synaptics and Napatech, and holds committee chair roles in both. She brings deep operating experience in data center infrastructure, networking technology, and large-scale product-based businesses, combined with a track record of building high-performing teams and driving profitable growth. Patty’s board experience includes strategy development, global business, M&A, CEO transitions, board refreshment, corporate governance including emerging cybersecurity and AI practices, and Nominating & Governance and Comp committee leadership.
Patricia Kummrow
Board Member and Nom/Gov Chair, Board Member and Comp Chair
Synaptics, Napatech
Sponsors
Bain & Company is a global consultancy that helps leading organizations solve complex challenges and achieve enduring results. Founded in 1973, Bain operates across 67 cities in 40 countries, combining deep industry expertise, close client collaboration, and digital capabilities to help clients shape strategy, improve performance, and drive lasting transformation.
Host Sponsor
Host Sponsor
Credo’s mission is to advance high-speed connectivity solutions that deliver optimized performance, reliability, energy efficiency, and security for the next generation of AI driven applications, cloud computing, and hyperscale networks.
