Simone Stewart

Conference President and WLC Co-Chair

Simone Stewart is the HR/Community Engagement Manager for the City of Silverton, Oregon. Simone holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley. Simone has been involved in WLC since its inception and has served on the marketing committee, the logistics committee, the content committee, the 2020 board Secretary, and the 2021 board President.

Peggy Blair

Board President and WLC Co-Chair

Peggy (Peg) Blair leads the dynamic Executive Services Team at Rogue Credit Union. In her role, she directly supports the CEO, President, and board of directors, while also leading a team that supports the entire leadership team for Rogue.

Peg has over 30 years of experience in the financial industry and customer/client service. Her background includes marketing, community outreach and financial education, strategic planning and administration.

She began her volunteer work for the Women’s Leadership Conference, becoming a committee member of the Micro-Events Committee in 2018, before stepping in to serve as Chair in 2020. She transitioned into the Board President/WLC Co-Chair in 2021.

On her personal time, you will find Peg running/hiking the trails (tackling the occasional ultra race), traveling & restaurant/pub/wine crawling with her fiance, and has a personal tradition of tackling one, new and scary thing each year, for the past 17 years.

Karen Allen

Logistics Chair

Karen Allen is a certified public accountant and has practiced public accounting for over 14 years with Moss Adams LLP. She works primarily on auditing, accounting, and consulting engagements for clients in the manufacturing and consumer products industry as well as with employee benefit plans. Karen also has private sector experience in the wood products, manufacturing, and waste management industries.

Karen has a Bachelor of Science, concentrating in accounting, from Southern Oregon University.

She believes in volunteering and giving back to the community. Karen has volunteered, beginning with the first year of the Women’s Leadership Conference back in 2013 as a finance committee member. She followed up on the logistics committee and is presently the logistics committee chair. Additionally, she has been a member of Bear Creek Rotary Club since 2008 and is now their Foundation Chair.

In her free time, Karen enjoys traveling, wine tasting with friends and spending time with her husband and two sons.

Susan Dyssegard

Board Secretary & Sponsorships Chair

Susan is the Executive Assistant to the VP / Office of Finance and Administration at Southern Oregon University. The Office of VPFA oversees all business operations for SOU: IT, Housing and Dining, HR, Business Services, Budget and Planning, Risk and Contracts Management, Sustainability, Facilities Management and Planning, and Campus Public Safety. Susan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from Westminster College in Western Pennsylvania. Prior to SOU, Susan worked for the City of Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission for 16 years so has deep local roots and a strong sense of community. She has volunteered for numerous organizations throughout the years as she feels the need to help where help is needed. Susan joined the WLC in 2021 as Board Secretary and Sponsorship Liaison.

Natalie Castañeda

Marketing Chair

Natalie is an independent model and entrepreneur. She works with business owners, on brand refinement, social content creation, product modeling, and professional copywriting. Natalie has a background in administrative management, insurance sales, and is currently a mobile notary for Jackson and Klamath County. She is also the hiring manager with Jefferson Packing House, a wholesale company she co-founded with her husband in 2017 to help centralize harvest logistics and solve labor deficiencies in cannabis cultivation.

Natalie fulfills her passion for fashion through modeling and online clothing resale out of her home studio. After 5 years of hosting women’s clothing exchanges through her brand Swap Don’t Shop, and winning a business development competition in 2019 with Rogue Cooperative Association, Natalie is working to build a textile recycling program in Southern Oregon through a partnership with Northwest Cooperative Development Center.

As a second generation Latin-American, Natalie is adamant about teaching her two children their Puerto Rican and Guatemalan heritage through food and music in their bilingual household. In her down time, she is probably taking a yoga class or at home doting over her little Yorkie, Georgia.

Heather Stafford

Content Chair

Heather comes to the Women’s Leadership Conference with a vast volunteer and professional background. She served as a Community Council member for Built Oregon and Community Lead for Slow Money.  Heather has an MBA as well as a Masters in Management from Southern Oregon University and also a Certificate of Nonprofit Management and BA in Music Business from SOU. She has served as adjunct faculty at SOU and College of the Siskiyous in their Business Communications and Entrepreneurship programs. In Southern Oregon, Heather has been a champion of local entrepreneurship and workforce initiatives while Executive Director of Sustainable Valley Technology Group and as Director of Sector Strategies at Rogue Workforce Partnership. Most recently, Heather was in Portland at Oregon’s Economic Development Agency, Business Oregon building/leading their Office for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. She now works as a Strategic Consultant with Southern Oregon small businesses as a Business Partner at BBSI.

Renatta Tellez

Micro-Events Chair

Renatta Tellez is a strategic planning and implementation professional with over 20 years of experience leading strategies into action and programs that drive organizational growth. She has successfully led teams from startup to mature business operations, and has guided organizations through program restructuring, policy development, new product launches and rapid company growth periods.

Recently returning from Hoboken, NJ, a small town across the river from New York City, where she consulted with small businesses on business, marketing, and social media strategy, she also earned her Professional Coaching Certification and launched a private coaching practice working with professional women looking for transformation, self-development and leadership development.
Renatta is known for her honest and intuitive approach and has a particular passion for building teams and supporting others to identify their strengths and putting them to effective use.

In between balancing her own business and the businesses of others Renatta hopes to empower, encourage and inspire other women to help close the gender gap. In her free time, she will always find a way to travel and create –from cooking to DIY projects, to her obsession with plants and always blending the natural into her world. She continues her self-directed studies in resonant leadership, mindfulness and positive behavioral psychology.

Renatta lives in Jacksonville OR with her partner Matt and her two chickens Jose Jose & Jean-Paul.

Pamela Tomac

Treasurer & Finance Chair

Pamela Tomac has a dual role at Southern Oregon University as the Executive Assistant supporting both the Board Secretary and the General Counsel. While new to both Ashland and this position at SOU, Pam is enjoying her part in supporting higher education.
Pam holds a BS in Finance from San Jose State University. Prior to joining SOU, Pam worked as a project analyst for West Valley Mission Community College District and as the Office Manager/Executive Assistant for Lucid Motors. Pam joined the WLC board in 2021, bringing her strong volunteer ethics and a multitude of volunteer experience ranging from assisting with a successful judgeship campaign, various church and school positions, Boy Scout leadership, plus past athletic board and support functions.
During her free time, Pam enjoys reading, crafts, gardening, and looks forward to any activities involving her 2 sons or pets.