Jane Pak
CEO, NAWBO-LA

Jane Pak joined the National Association of Women Business Owners, Los Angeles Chapter (NAWBO-LA) as the Chief Executive Officer in January 2009.  Ms. Pak is responsible for the development, oversight, implementation, communication and evaluation of all strategies and activities related to the day-to-day administration of the organization.  NAWBO-LA is one of the largest and most dynamic of the 83 nationwide chapters of the National Association of Women Business Owners; NAWBO-LA represents the interests of an estimated 543,000-plus privately held, 50% or more women-owned firms in the greater Los Angeles region, employing over 692,000 people and generating nearly $125 billion in sales.

Prior to joining NAWBO-LA, Ms. Pak spent over 10 years in various capacities in the public and private sectors.  Best known as a solutions strategist, she spent nearly 4 years as a consultant specializing in brand and business development strategies around global citizenship profiles.  Prior to private practice, Ms. Pak  served as the youngest Asian-American Presidential Appointee to serve the U.S. Small Business Administration.  As Director of External Affiars, she created and implementated national strategic alliances with major national and regional business trade associations delivering sound and measurable directives for robust agency engagement  with key business and community stakeholders.  With the 43rd Administration, Ms. Pak served as a liaison to the While House Initiative on Asian Americans; a Presidential Advisory Board and later as an advisory council member to the Race and Ethnic Advisory Committee (REAC) to the U.S. Census Bureau.  During her tenure, more Asian Americans were appointed by the President to serve the 43rd Administration than all past Presidential Administrations combined.

Leading up to her service in Washington, DC, Ms. Pak served in various State and Local Government capacities.  An alumnus of Florida State University, Ms. Pak began her career in Tallahassee, Florida where she holds the distinction of being the first and youngest Asian American to serve an elected official in both Houses of the Florida Legislature, first as Senior Legislative Aide to Former House Representative James Tullis and later as Chief of Staff for Former State Senator and Chairman of the Democratic Black Caucus, Daryl Jones.  She later went on to spearhead the $100 million federal appropriations package for Miami Dade County, under the leadership of former County Mayor Alex Penelas.

Ms. Pak was the youngest and first woman and Asian-American to serve as Chapter Chair of SCORE-LA, the largest volunteer base business counseling organization in the country. She is a Board Member for the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, the YWCA of Greater Los Angeles, the Fox Entertainment Group Community Advisory Board and the LA Economic Development Corporation Board of Governrors. She is an ardent personal supporter of philanthropic causes including the the YWCA-Greater Los Angeles, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship and Step Up Women’s Network. Jane is a contributive writer for the Huffington Post and is a frequent guest speaker/panelist for various institutions, media outlets and corporate women’s and youth leadership forums including Bloomberg, Bank of America, Ernst & Young, Pratt Whitney Rocketdyne, the International Dermal Institute, the Academy for Business Leadership, City of Los Angeles, the YWCA-GLA and the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business: where she is currently an Executive MBA Candidate with expected graduation in 2012. Jane is a resident of the City of Los Angeles and enjoys travel, skiing, fly fishing, cooking, painting, SCUBA and playing golf.