The SHE Suite
Cristina Schaffer
Cristina Schaffer has a BA in Communications, an MA in Leadership Studies and has worked extensively in corporate and non-profit sectors. As the event co-founder and organizer for the SHE Experience - A Journey to Your Best Self Women's Conference, she is dedicated to supporting programs that empower all women to tap into their confidence and power. Cristina has worked over 30 years in marketing strategy, sales and training. When she is not facilitating leadership workshops, Cristina is a marketing consultant working with women-owned small businesses and is a freelance photographer.
Cristina is a first-generation Filipina American, a wife, a mom, a sister, a dog lover and a foodie.
“I believe that leadership is not just a position but an everyday practice. I try to live each day with curiosity and gratitude.”
Dr. Lorri Sulpizio
Dr. Lorri Sulpizio is the Director of the Conscious Leadership Academy at the University of San Diego, and the founder of the Center for Women’s Leadership at USD. Dr. Sulpizio’s leadership interests include 1) gender dynamics, specifically women, voice, and power; 2) application of group relations theory to the practice of leadership and building effective teams; 3) how authenticity and a balanced sense of self leads to effective leadership; 4) developing confidence, mental strength and team cohesion in athletes. Dr. Sulpizio created the Women in Higher Education Leadership Summit and the Cultivate Conscious Kids Program and is committed to creating and designing programs that meet the deeper needs of individuals and organizations.
Ashley Adams
Ashley serves as the community outreach and recruitment manager for the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate within the USD School of Business. While pursuing her Master's in Leadership Studies, she played an integral role in launching Grow Great Girls, a mother-daughter leadership experience that grew into Cultivate Conscious Kids. Her passion for leadership led her to pursue a variety of experiences, which include facilitating political dialogue within an improv comedy setting, coaching a group of women working through challenges within higher education, and leading a team of coaches to support transitioning military members. Ashley strives to navigate our complex world as her best and strongest self, and finds great joy in supporting others in doing the same.
Helena Zandstra
Helena has worked in Higher Education the last twenty years, and is currently Director for Continuing Medical Education at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. In her second year of the Masters of Arts in Leadership Studies program at USD she is enjoying the experiential learning process that the program offers and the ability to focus on her own growth and development. She is pursuing a coaching certificate and is passionate about helping others find their true “charism” or purpose in life. Mom to two boys, Helena is activated to cultivate consciousness in our culture about boys and within boys to drive change in future generations. Her leadership interests include group relations and building highly efficient teams, early gender roles and impact on culture, and organizational development.
Amy Levine
Amy has been working in college admissions for over 25 years, from evaluating and deciding admissions candidates for the University of California, to starting her own college admissions consulting firm. Amy enjoys helping high school students identify and gain admission to the colleges and universities that best match their values and goals. “I am extremely honored to be helping our younger generation with the next phase of their journey.” Amy has always been physically active and believes that running marathons has taught her that “You can achieve any goal when you can imagine it. Marathons are like life, they require training, passion, focus, and most importantly, belief in yourself.”
Molly Patrick
Daughter of two California educators, Molly learned from a young age that “Education is the great equalizer”. Passionate about supporting and creating channels for traditional and non-traditional students to succeed in today’s global society, Molly has a deep personal commitment to lifelong learning. She has served as facilitator and coordinator for local, national, and international leadership development programs. Going through an intensely personal discovery process in graduate school led Molly to more than a few huge “Ah-ha!” moments. The most important was, “We have the capacity to create our futures, and the work is never done”. Her specialty is in intercultural communication and finding better ways to engage in order to communicate what is important. “I believe communicating our values is an act of leadership.”
Stephanie Eikermann
Stephanie is the Lead Technology Support Analyst at the University of San Diego and has spent the last five years adeptly assisting the University community with resolving all of their technological challenges. Aside from her everyday responsibilities, she works within her department to cultivate a culture of positivity and empathy, focusing on fostering a safe environment for female employees in technology-related roles. Her compassion, empathy, and love for helping people, paired with her curiosity of what makes people tick, has driven Stephanie to complete USD’s coaching certification and she has recently graduated from USD with her Masters of Arts in Leadership Studies. This is her second year serving on the She Experience committee.
Brecia Kralovic-Logan
Brecia Kralovic-Logan is an artist, author, and advocate for creativity and women. She is a creative life coach and the author of “The Spiral of Creativity- Mastering the Art of a Spirited Life.” She founded the International Women’s Festival Northwest to honor women’s accomplishments and highlight issues facing women globally; and the Pebble Rebel Award which honors women making a positive difference in their communities. Kralovic-Logan serves as the Southern California representative for the Global Art Project for Peace, and is a member of UNA-USA San Diego. She is the founder of the Women’s Woven Voices project, an international art collaboration that empowers women through writing, weaving and sharing their stories.
Vickell John-Baptiste
Vickell is a USD alumnus and Technology Support Analyst, photographer, and aspiring yogini committed to social justice, arts and holistic health activism. Photography provided therapy and a deeper connection with her surrounding world while growing up as a 1.5 generation undocumented immigrant. Childhood experiences and yoga inspired her to capture the beauty of auras in movement. Thus, revealing stories in between worlds. Creativity and mindfulness practices of yoga, fuel Vickell’s passion to be an instrument of change for underrepresented youth. Professional photographer of 5 years and 200 HR Certified Yoga Teacher, Vickell is excited to share these tools in empowering youth to shift their reality into a self-determined counter-narrative.
Lia Bruce
Graduating magna cum laude from Loyola Marymount University, Lia worked for a Hollywood film producer before moving back to her hometown of San Diego. Lia currently supports furthering the programming and outreach activities of The Nonprofit Institute (NPI) at the School of Leadership and Education Sciences (SOLES) within the University of San Diego. Through her work, Lia manages San Diego Leaders 2020, a network for diverse, young professionals interested in advancing environmentally and economically sustainable solutions for the San Diego region. In her volunteer work, Lia is on the board of her community choir, a mural repair volunteer for The San Diego River Park Foundation, theater operations volunteer for the San Diego International Film Festival, and a volunteer judge for the Directing Change Program and Film Contest. She is also an award-winning painter.
Cynthia Fernandez
Cynthia is an Event Coordinator for The Nonprofit Institute. She graduated cum laude from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising with a degree in marketing. Born and raised in San Diego, Cynthia worked as the Cultural Arts Coordinator for the city of Chula Vista for approximately three years. She has experience in event coordinating, social media marketing, and community outreach. Cynthia loves working in high energy creative environments that allow for collaboration. Outside of work, Cynthia enjoys painting and spending time with her family.
Rachele Lopez
Rachele grew up in San Antonio, Texas and obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from Texas A&M University, with minors in Geography and GIS. She spent 3 years in the Peace Corps in Zambia working on the promotion of rural aquaculture in rural areas. She also created and facilitated projects involving girls empowerment and computer science education. Rachele is currently in the Masters of Arts program with the Kroc Insitute of Peace and Justice at USD. She has a passion for traveling, the outdoors, and gardening.
Maya Hood
Maya has her Master’s degree in Leadership Studies, is also a mom and a former student-athlete who played basketball at the University of San Diego. She played a year of Professional basketball in Germany, which gave her the unique opportunity to travel throughout Germany, Czech Republic and Italy. Maya is now working as a Member Services Representative at the Rancho Family YMCA, where she enjoys giving back to the community while staying connected to sports and fitness. As a female athlete who became a mom in college, she is passionately working on starting a business that will educate and support student-athletes and coaches pertaining to pregnancy and pregnancy-related issues in collegiate-athletics.
Elizabeth Laudert
Elizabeth is the founder of The Lucent Life: Coaching. She believes in a holistic approach to coaching utilizing tools such as meditation, reiki, crystal healing and tarot to connect the mind, body, and spirit. She is an avid traveler and enjoys spending time reading, practicing yoga and swimming. She graduated from The University of San Diego with a master’s in leadership studies and a certificate in leadership coaching where she studied intergenerational collaboration. She is excited about a career in learning and development and is inspired to use authentic leadership to help organizations attract and cultivate motivated and excited employees who love their jobs and continue to grow personally and professionally.
Yihe Yang
Yihe grew up with a family of educators in Xi’an, China. She obtained her BE in Software engineering from Xidian University and MA in Leadership Studies from the University of San Diego. Yihe is an educational program manager and a Chinese teacher with 5+ years’ experience. She is committed to cultivating students’ active learning competence and establishing lifelong learning awareness through interdisciplinary teaching methods. As an international student, Yihe gained an inclusive perspective on organizational leadership and intercultural awareness from SOLES. Yihe specializes in training and teaching, curriculum development, program management, and youth development coaching. She has a certificate in Leadership Coaching and is a Board Certified Coach (BCC) candidate.