2017 Silicon Valley Prayer Breakfast on March 31

Three outstanding speakers are slated for the 23rd annual Silicon Valley Prayer Breakfast on Friday, March 31.

Speaking at this year’s event are Ron Johnson, Founder and CEO, Enjoy, Diane Flynn, Chief Marketing Officer of GSVlabs and Co-founder of ReBoot, and Vanessa Russell, Cisco sales executive and Founder of Love Never Fails. The theme of the event is “Finding Joy in a Challenging World.”

Ron will discuss how he experienced God both through success, as well as the challenging times he faced as CEO of JC Penny where he attempted a turnaround. Diane will describe the challenges she faced when her career was interrupted by health issues and by taking time off to raise her children. Vanessa grew up in poverty and abuse but emerged as a successful high-tech Silicon Valley sales executive. She will describe how God transformed her life and led her to start Love Never Fails, a non-profit with a mission to help prevent people from getting caught up in human trafficking and other forms of exploitation.

Ron plans to discuss how he experienced God both through his tremendous success as well as the challenging times he faced as CEO of JC Penny where he attempted a turnaround. Diane will describe the challenges she faced when her career was interrupted by health issues and by taking time off to raise her children. Vanessa grew up in poverty and abuse but emerged as a successful high-tech Silicon Valley sales executive. She will describe how God transformed her life and led her to start Love Never Fails, a non-profit with a mission to help prevent people from getting caught up in human trafficking and other forms of exploitation.

Ron Johnson is perhaps best known as Apple’s first retail employee and led the development and execution of the Apple Retail stores. He also spent fifteen years at Target in senior merchandising roles, and 18 months as the CEO of JCPenny attempting a very challenging and challenged transformation. Ron is now Founder and CEO of Enjoy a personal commerce platform designed to change the way we buy things. It is the first company attempting to deliver free, high touch personal service to people who order products online. Ron serves on the Stanford University Board of Trustees as a member of committees on Development, the Medical Center, Alumni Affairs, and Globalization. Ron is also a member of the University’s Arts and Humanities Advisory Council. As Vice Chair of Stanford University Hospitals and Clinics, he leads a billion dollar plus campaign to build the new Stanford Hospital. Ron earned a BA from Stanford and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Diane Flynn served as VP of Marketing at Electronic Arts and as an associate consultant at the Boston Consulting Group before taking time off to raise her children. She now leads GSVlabs a leading Silicon Valley accelerator for individuals, startups, and corporations seeking growth and innovation. Diane has a particular passion for helping women reinvent themselves and find their purpose. She is a co-founder of ReBoot Career Accelerator for women returning to the workforce after taking a pause. ReBoot helps get women current, connected, and confident to return to work by teaching essential workplace tech skills and providing a community of like-minded returners. ReBoot is expanding rapidly throughout the U.S. and has been featured on the Today Show, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, ABC Business News, and PRI’s The TakeAway.  Diane currently chairs the marketing committees for several non-profit boards and serves on the Public Spaces Committee for the new Stanford Children’s Hospital. She earned a BA in Economics from Stanford and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Vanessa has spent over 20 years leading technology and sales organizations in the IT industry inspiring and motivating people to develop businesses and themselves.  Since 2000 she has also taught hundreds of children dance, lyrical, flags, hip-hop, and mime.  In 2010 one of her 15-year-old dance students was sold into human trafficking. Although she was eventually located and is being restored, Vanessa encountered many others who, like her student, were US-born women, men, and children trapped in modern day slavery. Vanessa’s response was to launch Love Never Fails, a non-profit dedicated to the restoration, education, and protection of people at risk of or currently being exploited. Love Never Fails has educated thousands of children and community members and provides safe housing for 26 women and their children per year. Vanessa believes that human trafficking can be solved through love expressed in prayer, safe housing, mentoring, job training, outreach, and education. She is the winner of the 2013 Jefferson Award, the 2015 Jesse Curtis Homeless Advocacy in Action Award, and the 2015 Hayward Heart award.

The event takes place at the Hyatt Regency, 5101 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara.

A sold out crowd of 800 is expected.  Some tables and individual seats are still available.  You can register at Silicon Valley Prayer Breakfast.