Keynote Speakers

APSEA and our proud sponsor the Department of Rehabilitation is excited to present our speakers for the 2026 State of Belonging: Workforce Equity Symposium.

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Stephanie Tom joins the State Treasurer’s Office as a Deputy Treasurer. In this role, Stephanie will oversee savings and investment programs in the STO, including ScholarShare 529 college savings plan, California Kids Investment and Development Savings Program, CalSavers retirement savings program, California Achieving a Better Life Experience savings program for people with disabilities, and the California Hope Opportunity Perseverance and Empowerment savings program for children who lost a parent to Covid-19 and long-term foster youth.

Stephanie brings to the State Treasurer’s Office 30 years of professional management experience in the private and public and legislative sectors, including a record of accomplishments in the high technology industry managing sales and marketing strategies for start-up companies and corporate initiatives. She was most recently the Chief Consultant for the AAPI Legislative Caucus in the California State Assembly, where she was responsible for supporting the Caucus’ policy agenda, including annual legislative and budget priorities.

Previously Stephanie worked as Deputy Director for Strategic Planning, Broadband and Digital Literacy, at the California Department of Technology. In this capacity, she managed the California Broadband Council and its coinciding task forces and was a statewide advocate for digital inclusion and tribal broadband needs. Most notably, she helped lead the efforts to create Governor Newsom’s Broadband Executive Order (N-73-20) and establish the state’s first Broadband for All Action Plan.

Prior to joining the state, Stephanie spent 25 years in the High Technology industry.  She worked on international joint ventures at CyberCash Inc. and International Business Machines (IBM). Stephanie’s primary industry experience was with Oracle Corporation for 19 years where she led in sales and marketing teams and was selected for the inaugural Executive Engagement team responsible for managing and executing global customer engagement strategies for Oracle’s corporate executives.

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Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen was elected to the California State Assembly in November of 2022 to represent the 10th Assembly District as the first Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) women legislator in the Sacramento Region and recently reelected in November 2024.

Assemblymember Nguyen served as the Executive Director of Asian Resources, Inc. (ARI) to ensure that all communities, especially the low-income, immigrant, refugee, limited English-speaking, formerly incarcerated and undocumented, have access to support and services to help them get one step closer to self-sufficiency. She was elected to the Elk Grove City Council in 2017 and was the first Asian American woman in this role. She has lived, worked, and served the Sacramento and Elk Grove communities almost all her life. The daughter of Vietnamese refugees who fled the Vietnam War by boat, she grew up in Sacramento’s Little Saigon district and attended Sacramento schools before graduating from California State University, Sacramento.  In her first term, she served as the first Vietnamese-American Assistant Speaker pro Tempore, on several key committees, was appointed to the Council of State Governments West Executive Committee, the Commission on the Status of Women and Girls, and the Seismic Safety Commission. This year 2025-26 legislative year, she championed several key budget wins that were signed by the Governor, including $30 million for Special Olympics California and $60 million for California Food Banks.

Assemblymember Nguyen serves on the Assembly Committees on Business and Professions; Governmental Organization; Insurance; Public Employment and Retirement; and Public Safety. She also serves as the Vice Chair for the AAPI Legislative Caucus and Co-Chair with the Majority Leader Aguiar-Curry in the Select Committee on Child Care Costs. She also serves on the following Select Committees: Biotechnology and Medical Technology, Cybersecurity, Nonprofit Sector, Ports and Goods Movement Transportation Costs and Impact of the Low Carbon Fuel, and Youth Mental Health and Treatment Accessibility.

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Mary Watanabe is the Director of the California Department of Managed Health Care, the state entity that oversees health plans that provide health care services to nearly 30 million Californians. As Director, Mary is responsible for protecting consumers’ health care rights and ensuring a stable health care delivery system in accordance with federal and state rules. Mary joined the department in 2015 as the Deputy Director for Health Policy and Stakeholder Relations, where she was responsible for fostering proactive and effective relations between the DMHC and its stakeholders, while serving as primary advisor to the Director on critical issues and providing strategic planning and policy direction on emerging issues and industry trends.

Prior to joining the DMHC, Mary served as Deputy Director for the Sales Division at Covered California, where she oversaw the implementation of the Navigator Grant Program, the Outreach and Education Grant Program and the engagement of community partners to educate consumers and small business owners about the health care options available through Covered California.

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Dr. Erica Pan serves as director and state public health officer for the California Department of Public Health, a role she assumed on February 1, 2025. As CDPH director, Dr. Pan strives to embody and promote the values of dignity, equity, compassion and humility. She works with collaborative partnerships to communicate and empower communities and institutions to transform policies and systems to include a “health in all policies” approach, acknowledging that addressing the social determinants of health are fundamental to achieving healthy communities with thriving
families and individuals. As California’s public health officer, Dr. Pan exercises leadership and legal authority to protect health and prevent disease.

Prior to becoming director, Dr. Pan was the deputy director of CDPH’s Center for Infectious Diseases and state epidemiologist beginning in July 2020. Dr. Pan was also the CDPH acting state public health officer from August 10, 2020 to January 3, 2021. Before joining CDPH, Dr. Pan gained experience at the local level with a focus on infectious disease control & prevention, and public health emergency response. She served multiple roles at the Alameda County Public Health Department between 2011
and 2020, including health officer, director of communicable disease control and prevention, and deputy health officer. Dr. Pan also held several positions at the San Francisco Department of Public Health between 2004 and 2011.

Dr. Pan is a clinical professor for pediatric infectious diseases at the University of California, San Francisco. She maintained her clinical work in infectious diseases at San Francisco General Hospital and at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals in San Francisco and Oakland.

Dr. Pan received her MD and MPH degrees from Tufts University School of Medicine, and completed her undergraduate education at Stanford University.

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Kathleen Webb was appointed Chief Deputy Executive Director, Operations, for Covered California in January 2025 where she serves as a member of the executive leadership team. She is responsible for the strategic direction, leadership, and oversight of the following Divisions: Administrative Services, Financial Management, and Information Technology. Her primary responsibility is to ensure organizational effectiveness through the formulation, implementation and evaluation of the policies and procedures pertaining to operational process, coordinating daily tasks, developing project plans crossing divisions and resolving issues impacting operations and finances.

Prior to joining Covered California, Ms. Webb served as Chief Risk Officer for the Department of General Services (DGS). She managed all aspects of the Office of Risk and Insurance Management and served as the state’s Risk Manager. Prior to her appointment with DGS, Ms. Webb served as the Chief Operating Officer for the California State Controller. From 2019 to 2021 she served as Acting Director and Chief Deputy Director of the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) where she was charged with providing leadership for the DMV and overseeing the day-to-day operations in collaboration with the Agency and Governor’s Office, while continuing to work with the GovOps Strike Team to assess, modernize and re-imagine the DMV. Prior to joining DMV, she served as an Assistant Secretary and Director of Performance Improvement at the Government Operations Agency.

Ms. Webb has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Women’s Studies from University of California, Berkeley, and holds a Charter Property and Casualty Underwriter professional designation.

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Eric Glassman has provided legal advice, training and litigation services to private corporations and public agencies for more than 20 years. Eric has
conducted hundreds of seminars and workshops for managers and employees on a wide variety of topics. Attendees praise Eric’s comfortable and relatable style, and his ability to convey complex legal concepts without resorting to using “legalese.” Eric advises some of the nation’s top employers on workplace issues, including hiring and separation of employment. Eric has authored many articles on employment law. A respected workplace investigator, Eric has conducted numerous inquiries on behalf of employers, typically focused on allegations of employee and supervisor misconduct. Eric is adept at interviewing witnesses and interpreting key documents. He works discreetly and efficiently to provide necessary, timely and accurate information. Eric is a member of the Association of Workplace Investigators. Eric is also an accomplished litigator, having taken more than 40 arbitrations to verdict.

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Nick Maduros was appointed Secretary of Government Operations by Governor Gavin Newsom in March of 2025. As Secretary, his portfolio includes 13 state departments with more than 23,000 employees and a combined annual operating budget of nearly $5 billion. The departments within the Government Operations Agency are responsible for tax administration, public employee and teachers’ pension systems, technology and innovation, procurement, real estate, personnel, accounting, and other essential state functions.

Secretary Maduros is focused on making state government more effective and efficient, reducing costs while improving services for Californians. He and his team have prioritized procurement reform, hiring streamlining and IT modernization. He also leads a broad range of strategic initiatives, including harnessing artificial intelligence to improve government service.

Prior to joining the Governor’s Cabinet, Maduros served for nearly eight years as director of the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, where he and his team of 4,000 were responsible for 42 tax and fee programs generating nearly $100 billion in annual revenue.

He is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School.  A native of Stockton, California, he now lives in Davis with his wife and three daughters. 

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Harjinder “Harj” K. Shergill Chima is the Director of the California Lottery. She brings extensive experience to the Lottery, having served more than four years as Chief Deputy Director before being appointed to the top role by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2023. Prior to the Lottery, Shergill Chima was Assistant General Counsel at California’s Government Operations Agency, and she also previously served as an Attorney in private practice and at the California Department of Transportation for 18 years.

The mission of the California Lottery, which is to raise additional supplemental funding for public education, is particularly meaningful to Shergill Chima. As one of five daughters to Indian immigrant parents, the importance of education was impressed upon her and her sisters from
an early age. Her mother and paternal grandfather were teachers in India, and her parents recognized that it would be difficult for their daughters to receive equal treatment and education in India, so they immigrated to the United States. Her parents stressed the importance of education and integrity and encouraged each of them to complete graduate degrees.

Shergill Chima earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from California State University, Sacramento and a Juris Doctor degree from Whittier Law School. Shergill Chima began her legal career in private civil litigation practice in Orange County before returning to her roots in Northern California. As an attorney in the public sector for nearly 15 years, Shergill Chima worked with attorneys and managers across state government, private law firms, and at local partner agencies. Her ability to work collaboratively and negotiate favorable settlements in complex litigation earned her several accolades, including being awarded the Special K Award by the San Joaquin Council of Governments for her outstanding legal work on their behalf.

Shergill Chima believes an excellent leader demonstrates respect and fosters both collaboration and accountability at the same time. As the California Lottery’s top leader, her primary goal is to empower the management team to realize their full potential. She aims to create an
environment where people are comfortable challenging the status quo, being creative, and pushing themselves out of their comfort zone. Shergill Chima truly believes good leaders are not only accountable for their own actions and decisions, but they help hold others accountable as well. She prides herself in setting clear expectations, providing feedback and coaching as needed, and taking responsibility for own lessons learned. Furthermore, she strives to be an available and approachable leader who shows regular appreciation for the hard work her team puts in every day to ensure the right decisions are made for the Lottery.

Shergill Chima is married to Casey, her husband of 24 years. Together, they have two children: an 18-year-old daughter Reegan, and a 12-year-old son, Kaden. In her spare time, she likes to travel, read, and spend time with her family and friends.

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Alicia Wong is the Senior Vice President of Enterprise Project Services at the State Compensation Insurance Fund.  In this role, she provides senior-level oversight for customer experience, enterprise-wide projects, design thinking, innovation, and process improvement.  Her goal is to ensure that the organization is working on the right projects with an innovative lens that includes the customers’ input to achieve State Fund’s vision to be the carrier of choice.

Alicia has been in civil service for over 25 years and has worked for multiple organizations, including the California Government Operations Agency, Census where she served as the Chief Deputy Director.  In any role, she has always been deeply committed to advancing equity and belonging across public service. As an active and long-time member with the Asian Pacific State Employees Association (APSEA), Alicia dedicates her time to mentoring, community-building, and championing opportunities that uplift diverse voices. Her advocacy focuses on creating pathways for professional growth, fostering inclusive workplaces, and empowering future leaders through mentorship, education, and engagement.