Susan has been a believer of living life boldly and is always undertaking new challenges to learn and grow. She grew up in Singapore, was on the Singapore National Junior Team for bowling while in high school and, at the age of 17, came to the United States to attend college. She went on to law school after attaining her MBA degree and was one of the youngest persons to graduate from her law school class at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. She was a corporate lawyer at some of the largest law firms in Chicago and Ohio, and then became Associate General Counsel and General Counsel for private and public traded technology companies. In 2009, she started her own law practice with a law partner and now acts as outside General Counsel for various technology firms.
In 2016, Susan singlehandedly launched the Seattle chapter of LWT (Leading Women in Technology), a non-profit organization focused on advancing leadership skills in women. She grew into a well-recognized and respected organization in Seattle, and helped many women complete LWT’s signature leadership program to become effective movers and shakers in their careers. In less than four years, she has successfully built up the presence of LWT in Seattle, and along the way, gained the support of some of the world’s largest companies as sponsors.
Susan’s mantra of living life boldly goes beyond her professional life. Despite not knowing how to ride a bicycle and having panic attacks whenever in deep water, she was determined to be a triathlete and completed (with lots of tears from extreme exertion, joy and amazement) the Western Australia Ironman race within a year of picking up the sport.
For her last milestone birthday, she successfully completed a marathon a month to challenge herself. She has not let fear stopped her from learning and doing things that have been (in her words) “truly quite terrifying” – from stepping on stage to compete in a body building competition against women half her age to conquering mountain summits through snow and rock scrambling.
Susan does not consider herself an extraordinary athlete – just a very ordinary one but with the deep belief that if one is passionate enough about conquering a new challenge, it is always possible with a positive attitude, perseverance, confidence in one’s own abilities and the willingness and desire to learn something new.
Susan also truly enjoys meeting new people, cultivating relationships and connecting people together. She loves to inspire others and understands the importance of having a community to support other women like her who ascribes to the notion that knowledge is empowering and that there is no slowing down in life’s learning and achievements. Last but not least, one of Susan’s greatest joys is being a tiger mommy to her really cute and fearless beagle pup, Koa.
The Koa Club is privileged to work with many women achievers who continue to inspire us with their passion, energy, wisdom and boldness. The Board’s expertise and dedication are critical to the success of The Koa Club’s mission. The Koa Club is indebted to these extraordinary women who sit on The Koa Club Advisory Board.
Yessica has over 20 years of experience in a diverse range of roles within the retail industry from developing sales plans to leading teams in support of a billion-dollar website. She thrives in creating structure from chaos and seeing her team and organization succeed. Yessica’s ability to listen and focus on the teams success has gained her awards and recognition as an inspiring leader. She is now focused on creating features that will enable people around the world to realize their dreams through thoughtful collaboration and continuous innovation. Yessica’s favorite quote is “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together” (an African proverb).
Proudest achievement
“There many proud moments throughout my career and a lesson learned through each one. The moment that stands out the most was when I was awarded the Inverted Pyramid award at Nordstrom. The award recognizes a leader for many things including empowering others, leading by example, establishing a vision of excellence. This award meant so much to me because my team and their success meant the world to me. The lesson I learned from the comments received was that my focus on their growth and success as individuals helped create purpose in their work which led to our success as a team.”
Michelle is a process-driven builder; She sees problems in 3D and turn big ideas into strategy with an executable plan. Currently she works at AWS where she owns the global partner organization’s budget and a multi-billion-dollar reseller program. She is a collaborative people manager with a 16+ year successful track record of fostering strong relationships and delivering results on key initiatives. Michelle is a key member of the leadership team for the Seattle chapter of LWT, a non-profit organization focused on advancing women in leadership skills.
Proudest achievement
“Within the first year of starting my career at Amazon in 2013, I found out I was expecting twin boys and would soon become a mother of three. I knew it would be challenging to focus on my career while raising TWO new babies at home (plus a 4-year old), but I was determined to charge forward. There were moments in those first years after they were born that I felt absolutely broken and like a failure in both arenas – motherhood and professionally. There were days I wanted to quit, either as a mother or a career person, depending on the day. But with the help of a great support network at home – an au pair and a husband that always supports me – I am doing it! My twins will turn 5 this year; I have been promoted twice at Amazon, moving from an individual contributor to managing a large global team today. I am proud of surviving and thriving during those years, and I encourage other women in similar situations to celebrate their achievements while acknowledging the setbacks as part of the process!”
Focused on strategic planning and financial analysis, Amanda shapes forward-looking decisions by connecting leaders with the information they need. As a storyteller, she makes finance concepts understandable and illustrates how decisions impact growth and business resiliency. She currently leads Commercial Finance at Hotwire, an Expedia brand company. In addition to her current role, Amanda has had a great variety of experiences, including negotiating resort development deals in Japan, scaling global call center growth, establishing rigorous technology investment processes, and managing online marketing channel efficiency. Throughout her career, she’s navigated changing business models and evolving strategic direction for large organizations. Amanda has a BS in Biology from Wake Forest University and an MBA in Finance from Wharton.
Proudest achievement
“Completing a full-time MBA while working full-time.”
Kore is a leadership coach focused on identifying and creating the habits, systems, and frameworks that support humans living at their greatest potential. As founder of The Essential Group, Kore’s purpose and passion is to help individuals and organizations discover and act from what really matters – the essentials – so that they can grow and thrive while achieving remarkable results. The Essential Group’s work is geared toward guiding clients to a more enriching, sustainable and potent experience of leadership and career by helping them access increased skill, a more creative vision, and a more powerful way of moving through the world. Clients find this approach to be relevant and motivating and typically experience newfound mastery in some of the toughest areas of professional life: navigating complexity, transforming negative dynamics, crafting smart stakeholder strategies, developing executive presence, and cultivating self-awareness and emotional intelligence. Clients include leaders around the globe, including at Adidas, the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2), the Allen Institute for Brain Science, Facebook, Intel, Microsoft, Perkins Coie, Salesforce.com, The City of Seattle, and Zillow. Kore herself brings to the table over 18 years’ experience with top law firms and technology companies, including a rise to the executive level at Microsoft and a consistent track record of delivering high-impact results. Kore is certified in Integral Coaching, having achieved the Professional Coach Certification designation from New Ventures West. She is also a Professional Certified Coach with the International Coach Federation. Kore has a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. from Washington State University.
Proudest achievement
“I am appreciative and proud of so many moments in my career and life. Today, a proud moment that stands out for me as I prepare to set off on a 100-mile trek across France, Italy and Switzerland (cumulative 32,000 foot elevation gain and loss!) relates to the time I was lost for over 24 hours in the mountains near in the North Cascades with not a person nor a trail in sight. It was exhausting and terrifying. That said, I was able to rely on my physical strength, my mental and emotional resilience, and my experience as an outdoorswoman to stay calm, safe, and alive and to ultimately navigate my way back to civilization. I think about that moment often and use it to remind myself that so much in life is accomplished when you just keep on putting one foot in front of the other.”
Angeline is a customer focused advisor who provides creative and privacy compliant solutions for teams that create innovative and cutting-edge technologies. She was an in-house counsel for over a decade, negotiating a variety of commercial contracts with multi-national corporations before deciding to focus on privacy full-time. She now works at Microsoft providing privacy support to teams working in artificial intelligence. Angeline is a member of the leadership team of the Seattle Chapter of LWT, a non-profit organization focused on advancing women’s leadership skills. In her free time, Angeline is committed to finding all the best pastry shops in the greater Seattle area.
Proudest Achievement
“Earning my law degree cum laude after working full-time and going to law school at night for four years. This proud and humbling experience has made me empathize even more with others who have sacrificed for their goals and deep appreciation for those who provide their support systems.”
Cara Ching-Senaha is inspired by working with, learning from, and giving back to other high-achieving women. She has donated thousands of hours of her own time on a wide range of passion projects, including most recently as a founding member of the California Lawyers Association’s (fka State Bar of California) Diversity Equity and Inclusion executive committee, and a member of the Advisory Board for The Koa Club.
For more information on Cara, see her Linked-In Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cara-ching-senaha-4218a866/.
Proudest Achievement: After years of working as a partner at one of the largest and well-known national firms, Cara took the leap and silenced the skeptics who said law firm partners can’t make the transition to in-house. To do this, Cara believed in herself and followed her passion, with great support and encouragement from family and friends.
The idea of The Koa Club came about one snowy winter day when Susan wondered where she could learn to put snow-chains on her car tires, and thought to herself: “Wouldn’t it be nice if I can go with my friends somewhere causal and not intimidating to learn how to put snow-chains on my car tires?”
The thought then quickly progressed to wanting to find a way to learn a myriad of other practical skills without having to join so many meetup groups for different pursuits, or spending time and effort to source places to learn these skills. So she started listing down all the hundreds of skills that she would love to acquire in a fun casual environment with other like-minded women, and realized that if no one else is offering this as a service, then The Koa Club must be created to fill this need.