Opinion: It takes guts to be a woman in politics
By Lois Phillipsand Anita Perez Ferguson Twelve women with different backgrounds and areas of expertise are advancing into top leadership roles in President Joe Biden’s Cabinet. Eight are women of color. As advisors to the president, they will be the first women ever to serve in key posts, including Treasury, Defense, and Veterans’ Affairs, all Read More →
Opinion: Tips for making it through the rest of the Zoom era

By Gerhard Apfelthaler After a full year of taking meetings, interviewing candidates, attending conferences, teaching classes or attending seminars via Zoom or similar online platforms, we all know: Zoom fatigue is real, and it is awful. While we are all thankful for videoconferencing technology, most of us have experienced that a regular eight-hour day on Read More →
Opinion: Don’t tax California’s family businesses to death
By Ken Monroe In recent months, there’s been a lot of attention paid to some high-profile California businesses that have decided to move some or all of their operations to lower-cost states. Oracle, the second largest software maker in the world, is moving its corporate headquarters from Silicon Valley to Austin, while Hewlett Packard Enterprise—whose Read More →
Opinion: Trust makes the adviser-client relationship

By Chia-Li Chien A warm, empathetic connection based on trust is a singularly important aspect of the financial counseling client-adviser relationship. Many people were taught not to talk about money. This makes it difficult to help clients, particularly those who experience guilt around spending or insufficient savings. The verbal and nonverbal language the adviser uses Read More →
Opinion: Diverse hiring takes real work
By Clare Briglio I started my career in human resources and eventually found myself working as a corporate recruiter. As a young and albeit naïve professional, focusing on diversity in the recruiting process was not in my immediate field of vision because, at the time, the topic of “inclusion and diversity” was not necessarily at Read More →
Opinion: Strength comes from our connections with others
By Rabbi Ron Li-Paz I was recently invited by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to speak to our service members, past and present, and the organizations that support and serve them. The timing of the address was intentional. In the year just concluded seventeen veterans tragically committed suicide each Read More →
Opinion: It pays to stay out of family court
By Maya Shulma When clients meet with me to discuss their legal options for ending a marriage, the conversation frequently expands to matters of business assets and property. Beyond marital status, children, personal finances, and emotional entanglement, many couples I see in my family law practice also own businesses and commercial property together. In these Read More →