Garrett Mills, P.E., S.E. 

   SEAOSC President

  Taylor Funk, P.E., S.E.

  Event Chair 

Barbara Bouza, FAIA is a licensed architect and the former president of Walt Disney Imagineering, where she led the global team behind the creation of Disney theme parks, attractions, resorts, cruise ships, and entertainment experiences worldwide. In 2021, Fast Company recognized Imagineering as a Best Workplace for Innovators, and through her impact on design and technology, Barbara was honored with the 2022 Distinguished Leader Award by the New York Hall of Science. Prior to Disney, Barbara was Co-Managing Director/Principal of Gensler Los Angeles where she worked with clients, Netflix, JPL/NASA, Amgen and City of Hope. Her career also included renowned firms, Pei Partnership Architects, Morphosis, Foster + Partners, RBB Architects.

Barbara is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, past president of AIA Los Angeles, and currently serving on the SCI-Arc Board of Trustees. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and studied in the Graduate Design program at the Architectural Association in London.

Annie Kao, P.E. is an engineer, leader, and mom currently on sabbatical after a distinguished career at Simpson Strong-Tie, where she most recently served as Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Engagement. Over her nearly 20 years with the company, Annie was instrumental in fostering industry relationships, driving engagement, and addressing the construction labor shortage. She was recognized as one of the Top Women in Hardware & Building Supply in 2022 and was the second female Vice President of Engineering at Simpson Strong-Tie from 2019-2024, leading the R&D, technical support, testing labs, design services, and product liability teams. Annie is proud to have co-founded the SEAOSC Women in Structural Engineering Committee and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the ACE Mentor Program and Habitat for Humanity East Bay/Silicon Valley. She holds a BS in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College and an MS in Structural Engineering from UC Berkeley. She lives in the in San Francisco Bay Area with her husband Sean and their 3 kids Isaac, Nora, and Lincoln.

Julianna Burke, P.E.  has 5 years of experience working as a Structural Engineer at DLR Group. She primarily works on New and Existing Schools and Performing Arts Centers. In addition, Julianna is one of the Chairs of the SEAOC SE Pathways Committee, which provides opportunity for emerging engineers to attend the SEAOC Convention and partake in key discussions around Diversity and Equity. Julianna additional leads the National Emerging Engineering Professionals group at DLR Group which leads numerous initiatives including mentorship, training, outreach, and onboarding.

Michelle Kam-Biron, P.E., S.E. is a California licensed structural engineer and recently joined Boise Cascade Commercial Solutions where she utilizes her expertise in mass timber as Commercial Business Development Manager. Her mass timber experience includes working as a Mass Timber Specialist at Structurlam, a mass timber manufacturer and supplier, Vice President of Education with American Wood Council (AWC) and Senior Director with WoodWorks. Prior to joining the wood industry, Ms. Kam-Biron has several years of experience as a consulting Structural Engineer. She graduated from Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo with a degree in Architectural Engineers and now serves as a volunteer on the Cal Poly CAED Dean’s Leadership Council. She also has volunteered her time on NCSEA, SEAOSC and ASCE-SEI committees in addition to being a Past-President and Director of SEAOSC and Director of SEAOC. Recently, she has received the Susan M. Frey NCSEA Educator Award and was inducted into the SEAOC College of Fellows.

Amber Freund, P.E. A native of California, Amber Freund received her bachelor’s degree in Architectural Engineering from Cal Poly, SLO and her master’s degree in Civil Engineering from UC Irvine. Before joining the structural software industry, she worked in building design and is a licensed PE in California. As CEO at RISA, Amber uses her passion for the structural engineering industry to create software that makes engineers’ lives easier while enabling them to create new and innovative structures.

Amber believes strongly in supporting women in her community. She is actively involved in Girl Scouts of Orange County as well as The Teen Project, who provide healing and hope to young women who have survived human trafficking and homelessness. She is happily married with two daughters and two dogs. She enjoys boating and spending time outdoors with her family.

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Elizabeth Mahlow, P.E. is a founding partner at Nous Engineering, based in Los Angeles. She is a licensed engineer with over 17 years of professional experience in the construction industry, focusing on high-rise concrete construction, seismic design and special structures. She has managed large-scale, fast-track projects within the US and internationally. Through her structural engineering practice, she has worked to strengthen collaboration and diversity among practitioners to create the best possible solutions for the project and community. Projects include large hospital campuses and schools in Africa to affordable housing in her Los Angeles community, emphasizing seismic design and client education of building performance outcomes.

As an adjunct faculty at Woodbury University, she taught multiple lectures and studio courses with an emphasis on collaboration between architectural intent and structural performance. She was Vice President of Development of the Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design and serves on the Advisory Board for the Architectural Engineering Department for Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

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Traci Petcoff Wong, P.E. is a Principal at Miyamoto International where she serves as one of the Southern California firm leaders. Her efforts focus on company leadership and strategic vision, small and large project management, team building, and building new and existing client relationships. She enjoys applying her 23+ years’ experience to a wide variety of building types and market sectors to include Healthcare, Higher Education, K-12, Commercial, Civic, Institutional, Mixed-Use, High Density Residential, Parking Structures, Aviation, Entertainment, Hospitality, Retail, and Government. Traci is passionate about earthquake resiliency and supports her Company’s mission of global engineering expertise with a humanitarian focus. She is also active in the AIA OC Healthcare Committee and SEAOSC Women in Structural Engineering (WiSE).

 Jahida Nadi 

Dolores Y. Leal, JD a partner with Allred, Maroko & Goldberg, specializes in sexual harassment, employment discrimination, and wrongful termination cases. Before joining the firm in 1991, Ms. Leal worked several years for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Ms. Leal held various positions while at the EEOC, including that of an investigator. Her last position was that of Senior trial attorney. Ms. Leal most notable victory was in the case of Tylo v. Spelling Entertainment Group, Inc., in which she served as co-counsel representing actress Hunter Tylo in a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit. Most important for other victims was a decision by the Court of Appeals, Hunter Tylo v. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County, 55 Cal. App.4th 1379 (1997). This resulted in a significant victory for persons suing their employers; the Court of Appeals made it clear that it will not allow employers to engage in "fishing expeditions" during the discovery phase of litigation. Ms. Leal is the author of Litigating Sexual Harassment and Sex Discrimination Cases, published by James Publishing in Costa Mesa, California. She is a frequent speaker before attorney groups and the EEOC and has taught torts, employment discrimination, and critical studies at Peoples College of Law. She has authored several articles on employment law. Ms. Leal is also a past member of the Executive Board and past president of the California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA), a statewide organization of attorneys who represent employees. Ms. Leal is on the board of the ACLU of Southern California. Ms. Leal has consistently received an "AV" rating, the highest rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Every year since 2004, Ms. Leal has been named one of Southern California's "SuperLawyers" by Law & Politics and Los Angeles Magazine. She has been further honored several times as one of the “Top 50 Female Attorneys in Southern California.”. In September 1999 Ms. Leal was honored by CELA as its "Employment Law Attorney of the Year." In September 2016, she received the “Joe Posner Award”, the highest honor bestowed on Plaintiff employment attorneys by CELA. In 2008, Ms. Leal was inducted into the prestigious College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.

Claire Leader graduated in 2021 with a Bachelor’s degree in Architectural Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. She spent two years designing residential projects at a firm in Sonoma County, then joined Martin/Martin’s San Francisco office in 2023. Claire enjoys working with others as chair of SEAONC’s SE3 committee and stays active through committee work in SEAOC and NCSEA.

Natalie Y. Tse, S.E. LEED AP has a broad range of experience in educational, commercial/retail, residential, science and technology sectors. She enjoys working collaboratively with design and construction professionals to bring new life to antiquated buildings, enhancing their performance, character, resilience, and amenities to accommodate changing market demands. Passionate about community connectivity and initiatives associated with DEI, Natalie co-founded SE3, a national committee formed to study and address issues of employee engagement and retention, advancement, work-life balance, and equity in the structural engineering profession, and continues to contribute to local, state and national initiatives to advance positive change in the profession.

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Claire Leader graduated in 2021 with a Bachelor’s degree in Architectural Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. She spent two years designing residential projects at a firm in Sonoma County, then joined Martin/Martin’s San Francisco office in 2023. Claire enjoys working with others as chair of SEAONC’s SE3 committee and stays active through committee work in SEAOC and NCSEA.

Natalie Y. Tse, S.E. LEED AP has a broad range of experience in educational, commercial/retail, residential, science and technology sectors. She enjoys working collaboratively with design and construction professionals to bring new life to antiquated buildings, enhancing their performance, character, resilience, and amenities to accommodate changing market demands. Passionate about community connectivity and initiatives associated with DEI, Natalie co-founded SE3, a national committee formed to study and address issues of employee engagement and retention, advancement, work-life balance, and equity in the structural engineering profession, and continues to contribute to local, state and national initiatives to advance positive change in the profession.

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Molly Pobiel, P.E. is a licensed Civil Engineer in the state of CA who has been working in the structural engineering division of SGH since 2019. They have experience with new building design, seismic condition assessment and retrofit of structural systems, performance based structural fire design, and heat transfer analysis. Molly earned a master’s degree in Structural Engineering from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) with a focus on Earthquake Engineering and Structural Design. They have co-authored several presentations and papers, including an analysis of added loads to parking structures from electric vehicles. They have been a part of SEAOSC since 2020 and have participated on the Young Members Committee, Communications Committee, WISE, and the D&I Committee.

Matt Barnard, S.E. is a Senior Principal with Degenkolb Engineers and serves both as the firm’s Healthcare Practice Area Leader and as the Director of the Orange County Office. With over 24 years of experience, Matt has delivered structural engineering services for the design of large new hospitals to seismic retrofits to tenant improvements. He is currently the structural engineer of record for both the new University of California Irvine Medical Center – Irvine and the Harbor UCLA’s new Replacement Hospital in Torrance. Matt complements his engineering with active involvement in the industry. He was the 2015 ACE Mentoring National Mentor of the Year. Matt served as Structural Engineers Association of Southern California’s President for 2020/2021 and was SEAOSC’s 2022-23 Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award recipient. He is also a member of the Council of American Structural Engineers National Guidelines Committee.

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Kimberly Guzman is an Associate Engineer at Buehler Engineering with 4 years of experience. She graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a bachelor's degree in Architectural Engineering. She has worked on a wide range of projects including K-12 schools, medical facilities, apartments, a courthouse and a museum among others. She has been a member of SEAOC since 2017 and is now SEAOSC D&I Committee chair . Kimberly was a part of the 2023 SEAOC Pathways Cohort and has maintained an active role in the SEAOC SE Pathways Committee.

  Amber Sutherland, P.E.

  Co-Chairperson, SEAOSC WiSE Committee