Speakers

 GEMFEST Intention Setting Sesh

Self defense expert and 3rd degree black belt, Jennifer Cassetta, will kick off the day by guiding our GEMfest attendees in setting up their intentions for an exciting and empowering day!

Jennifer Cassetta

Jennifer Cassetta is one of the top nationally recognized self defense experts who speaks to audiences around the country on empowerment, self-defense and wellness. Equipped with her 3rd degree black belt and Master’s degree in Nutrition, Jennifer works as a health and empowerment coach to clientele that include CEO’s, celebrities and corporations. Her mission is steadfast: to help people feel more strong, safe and confident from the streets to the boardroom. 
Jennifer has been featured on The Today Show, The Doctors, Rachael Ray and The Real. She published her first book, Hear Me Roar: How to Defend Your Mind, Body and Heart Against People Who Suck in 2014 and was a featured expert on ABC's weight loss reality show, My Diet is Better Than Yours.

Fireside Chats!

Gorjana Reidel

​Co-Founder and Creative Director, gorjana

As a teen, Gorjana Reidel immigrated to the United States (Arizona) from the former Yugoslavia by way of Canada. Gorjana attended Arizona State University and earned her degree in Marketing. After graduating, Gorjana found her way to California.  Disenchanted with early roles, she got a job working as an assistant manager in the jewelry department for Neiman Marcus. Gorjana realized she had a passion for jewelry design and began working for a small local designer to learn all aspects of the business. She set out to design fun, versatile jewelry that all of her friends would want - at an accessible price point. 
At 26-years-old, Gorjana launched her eponymous collection alongside her husband, Jason Griffin Reidel, who helped to drive initial sales. The couple drove 50,000 miles to sell the initial collection. Orders were fulfilled from their apartment floor and they worked the tradeshow circuit as a team of two. The pair ultimately grew out of the apartment and into an artist’s studio in the canyon of Laguna Beach, California. 
Today, gorjana has grown into a multi-million-dollar powerhouse and even has Michelle Obama to tout as a customer. Recently shifting the focus to DTC, the brand has expanded the business online, and in the past three years has opened over thirteen retail doors across the country. The company, based in Laguna Beach, California, is still owned and operated by the couple and now employs over 150 people.

Sophia Amoruso

 Founder and CEO of Girlboss

Sophia Amoruso is the Founder and CEO of Girlboss, a professional network for ambitious women. Her 2014 New York Times Bestseller #GIRLBOSS, which chronicled her early life as well as her experience as the founder of fashion empire Nasty Gal, was adapted into a scripted TV series that premiered on Netflix in 2017. Sophia is also the author of Nasty Galaxy and the Girlboss Workbook. She has been featured on the Fortune 40 under 40, Forbes 30 under 30, Inc. 30 under 30, Fast Company Most Creative People in Business lists, and named one of Forbes’ Richest Self-Made Women, covering its June 2016 issue.

Closing Keynote Speaker

Kellee Kim

Survivor Season 39 Contestant

Kellee Kim (Sage '08) is currently living in Los Angeles, working in real estate. She graduated from Harvard, pre-med and History and Science. Right after school, she worked for a biotech-focused hedge fund, EcoR1 Capital where was the first analyst and helped launch the fund. Kellee then went to one of the fund's portfolio companies where she did business development and strategy. She got her MBA at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and career-switched into real estate. Recently, Kellee was on the Season 39 of the Emmy-winning CBS show, Survivor. For fun, she loves skiing, soccer, and playing board games like Settlers of Catan! 

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Workshops!

Special 2 Hour Workshop ~ Find Your Drive

Back by popular demand, one of our most inspiring workshops from GEMfest 2019 returns to help a new group of girls find their passion and purpose. Girl Possible is a non-profit organization founded to empower girls to become the leaders and change-makers of tomorrow through design thinking, a problem-solving tool that helps girls think outside the box and about ways they can help others and make an impact. From workshops to summer camps, Girl Possible has collaborated with over 200 schools, organizations, and communities in 12 different countries and in 4 languages, reaching thousands of girls around the world. In Find Your Drive, girls identify their strengths, discover their unique leadership style, and create their own mission statement for improving the world.
​Note: Girls who participate in Find Your Drive will not be able to attend the Market Place

Natalya Thakur

Natalya is currently pursuing her MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and MPP at the Harvard Kennedy School. She is passionate about the intersection of financial inclusion, innovation, and women’s empowerment. Previously, she was at BlackRock where she worked in their ETF division and in their fintech start-up. She also ran the design thinking program at BlackRock, served on the firm's Blockchain Working Group, and was Co-Head of the San Francisco Crypto Forum. Natalya also serves as a design thinking consultant and is the operating chairman for the Women's Club of Silicon Valley. She earned a BA in International Relations from Stanford University. ​

Rachel H. Chung

Rachel is a design strategist, passionate about crafting memorable and empowering product experiences for growing startups and global corporations. In addition to Girl Possible, she works at AngelList where she design products for venture capital and is an active advisor for Pair Eyewear, an online retailer of children’s prescription glasses. Previously, Rachel has started SAP New York’s in-house design consultancy where she advised multi-billion dollar companies on product innovation, led education strategy for intrapreneurship programs, and researched design cognition in the Stanford Psychology Language and Cognition Lab. She and these companies have been featured in Fast Company, Oprah Magazine, IDEO Futures, TechCrunch, Ms. Magazine and SXSWedu. Rachel is an alumna of Stanford University and currently lives in San Francisco.

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Intro To Coding

Did you know that by learning to code, you can create games for you and your friends to play, make your own websites, create apps and so much more?! Coding is a common language that can help you to connect with people all over the globe, and might even kick-start a cool career (college graduates with computer science majors earn on average 40% more than other university degrees – wow!) Spend a workshop falling in love with the world of code beginning with Ruby! This workshop covers the fundamentals of Ruby, from data types to if-statements, aiming to inspire the coder in every girl. Let's get coding! 

This workshop is led by twin sisters Miya and Hana Stauss, Sage Hill seniors and founders of the school’s OC Coder Club. Both are extremely passionate about helping girls learn to code and are eager to be your guides in this hands-on workshop.

Science Scoop

Science Scoop is a non-profit organization that fuels an interest in science among middle school students through interactive activities that identify and cultivate school and career aspirations. Ignite a passion for science with the Science Scoop workshop, through interactive activities that identify and cultivate educational and career aspirations. The workshop will introduce five fascinating areas of science: animals, cosmetics, medicine, nature, and technology. These five fields cover a plethora of interests, making it easy for each individual to identify with one of the hundreds of jobs in each field. This interactive seminar is complete with laughs, experiments, excitement, and a short, interactive quiz to show each student what career in science matches their current interests and can enable them to make a difference in the world one day. ​

Lexie Howell and Isabel Gomez (Sage Hill ‘22) are friends from elementary school who founded Science Scoop in order to spread their passion for science to younger students who may not have exposure to scientific career paths. In their free time, Lexie and Isabel both love to go to the beach, camp, hike, and travel to explore our beautiful planet. They enjoy working with young kids and love to see them become inspired. Follow them on Instagram (@science.scoop) for fun science facts.

Yoga and Mindfulness

Sage Hill School’s Wellness Coordinator and yoga instructor, Merja Connolly, will lead this workshop on how to use yoga and mindfulness to relieve stress, increase focus and memory, improve posture and discover your highest potential.

Empower HerFuture

Empower HerFuture Public Speaking specifically emphasizes the importance of public speaking for young women. We believe that, before all else, it is vital to analyze why public speaking is such a nerve-racking fear for so many people. The fact that women face different challenges than men when it comes to public speaking is rarely addressed. While exploring this idea, we will analyze how women and men are taught to behave differently in social settings, especially when it comes to body language. With this information, we can begin to change the ingrained ways we are taught to make our bodies small, and develop confidence to combat the fear of public speaking. During this workshop we will also break down what qualifies a good speech and how to implement these characteristics into our own speeches. Finally, we will put these skills into practice through different public speaking exercises.

Grow Through What You Go Through

In this one hour workshop, you will learn tips and tools on emotional intelligence and how to build mental strength and resiliency to go through what you go through. Learn what bullying is in today's world and how you can support your friends going through bullying and know how to respond with compassion and courage.

ANDI LONG

After experiencing cyberbullying herself in 2009, Andi researched bullying during her studies at the University of California Irvine. For over 10 years, Andi has studied bullying and how it affects both children and teenagers. In 2017, Andi founded Bloom Foundation – a 501(c)(3) organization that provides social-emotional learning programs to girls experiencing bullying. Bloom Foundation teaches emotional intelligence and tools on how to navigate bullying before, during, and after it happens. Andi has spoken to over a thousand young girls and leads trainings and workshops to educate and empower others.

Intro To Bullet Journaling

Nikki Imai

Equal parts day planner, diary, and written meditation, bullet journaling turns the chaos of coordinating your life into a streamlined system that helps you be more productive and reach your personal goals. Get creative with colorful doodles and text, stickers, calendars, habit trackers and more, or take a minimalist approach – it is 100% customizable! Students will learn about basic bullet journal techniques and resources for making a one-of-a-kind journal. ​

Nikki Imai, Sage Hill School’s Director of Library and Technology, is passionate about tracking all aspects of her life in her bullet journal. She looks forward to sharing her tips and tricks for bullet journals – including great shortcuts for creating a beautiful journal whether you like to get crafty or just want to have a space for reflection and organization.
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Behind The Screen

This workshop features Krissy Saleh, a 23 year-old celebrity photographer who shoots for Brandy Melville, Forever 21, and other fashion brands. The ‘Behind the Screen’ workshop helps young girls identify their insecurities in a non-judgmental space and find ways to overcome how they feel about those insecurities; what we are self-conscious about does not define us. Often times, we see models and influencers through social media who may seem “perfect”, but they are battling struggles of their own. The workshop will conclude with each girl receiving a polaroid picture of herself to take home as a reminder that everyone is beautiful in their own way! 

Krissy Saleh

Linda Hachim

Krissy Saleh is a 23 year old celebrity photographer and content creator based in Los Angeles, CA. Primarily known as “Krissy” online, she has created visual content for a number of globally recognized fashion brands, including Brandy Melville, Pacsun, Aeropostale, Forever 21, and Pull & Bear. Krissy was also published in Seventeen Magazine and named “photographer of the year”, and was interviewed by Teen Vogue. Saleh started photography to help her subjects fall in love with themselves and see the beauty in themselves. She hopes everyone can fall in love with the subjects in her photos the way she has.
Clients: Brandy Melville, Pacsun, Aeropostale, Seventeen Magazine (U.S. & Mexico), Essentials for Zula, White Crow, Others Follow, Joah Brown, Warby Parker, Z Supply, Juicy Couture, Thatch Jewelry, Lolli Swim, Forever 21, Netflix, Pull&Bear, Converse, Local Heroes, Ob.Sess, Fuji Film, Kodak, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Puma, LF stores, The Ones, Teleties, Super Elle China.

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THE MARKET PLACE

The GEMfest Marketplace is an opportunity for girls to explore local businesses and non-profit organizations with fun activities, demos, samples and information

BRING CHANGE TO MIND™