ACG 101 Nov 4th 2026 Women In Corporate Growth Luncheon

Yoojin Lee is a financial services attorney in Holland & Knight's Los Angeles office. Ms. Lee focuses her practice on representing financial institutions across a wide array of industries in domestic and international secured lending transactions, with an emphasis on asset-based lending. Ms. Lee's knowledge and experience includes representing lenders in syndicated credit facilities, acquisition financing, debtor-in-possession (DIP) financings and exit financings. She routinely advises clients on structuring and documenting cross-border credit facilities involving borrowers in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Lee was an attorney at a national law firm in its Los Angeles office. Previously, she practiced law in Seoul, South Korea, where she gained experience in cross-border mergers and acquisition (M&A) transactions and project financing transactions, as in-house counsel at a South Korean conglomerate and as a U.S. Foreign Lawyer at a South Korean law firm. In addition to her legal practice, Ms. Lee volunteers with Kids In Need of Defense (KIND), where she provides pro bono representation of minors in their immigration proceedings. Ms. Lee also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, where she enjoys teaching legal writing

Judy Zhu is the CEO of Synear Foods USA and a recognized leader in bringing authentic Asian cuisine into the North American mainstream.

As Synear’s first employee in the United States, Judy has played a central role in building the company’s U.S. business from the ground up. Her career with Synear has spanned nearly every part of the business—from sales and market development to product strategy, brand building, and operations—giving her a unique perspective on what it takes to build and scale an Asian food company in the U.S.

On the commercial side, Judy has led Synear’s expansion beyond its traditional Asian grocery roots into mainstream retail and foodservice. Under her leadership, the company has developed partnerships with major customers including Costco, Walmart, and Panda Express, while continuing to strengthen its presence across Asian grocery channels. Synear has also become the first Chinese food brand to participate in Costco’s Global Buy program, expanding its reach to more than 700 Costco locations globally.

Product development has been another major focus of Judy’s leadership. Working closely across consumer insights, R&D, sales, and operations, she has helped build a portfolio of more than 80 products for the North American market—balancing authentic Asian flavors with the evolving expectations of mainstream consumers. Her approach is centered on translating consumer and customer insights into products that can succeed both commercially and operationally at scale.

As the business grew, Judy also led the development of Synear’s U.S. operational capabilities, including the establishment and expansion of its 190,000-square-foot Los Angeles manufacturing facility. Her responsibilities have extended across production, supply chain, food safety and quality, organizational development, and operational improvement—building the infrastructure needed to support the company’s continued growth.

Judy’s career sits at the intersection of consumer understanding, product innovation, commercial growth, and operational execution. Her experience reflects the full journey of building a food business—from identifying market opportunities and creating the right products to winning customers and building the organization and operations required to deliver at scale.

Judy was named a 2025 Top Women in Grocery honoree and received the 2025 Stevie® Gold Award for Female Executive of the Year in Consumer Products.

She holds an MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business, a master’s degree in Public and International Affairs from UC San Diego, and a bachelor’s degree from Zhejiang University.

Her professional mission and personal commitment is “Building the bridge between authentic Asian cuisine and global mainstream markets.”

Laura is CFO of Yondr, Inc., a mission-driven company that pioneered the concept of phone-free spaces. With a focus on the Entertainment and Education sectors, Yondr partners with world-renowned artists, including Bruno Mars and Dave Chappelle, and with schools and districts in more than 40 countries and in all 50 US states, including LAUSD, NYC DOE, and Dallas ISD.

Prior to Yondr, Laura served as Portfolio CFO at DFG Ventures, where she helped launch and scale goop Kitchen, a joint venture with goop - Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle company. As a strategic, operationally focused finance executive, Laura specializes in helping innovative, consumer-facing businesses scale through disciplined financial leadership and operational excellence.

Laura holds a B.S. in Molecular Biology from Yale College and a Master of Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children, who have grudgingly accepted that they won't have smartphones until high school.

Lisette Gaviña Lopez is a fourth-generation coffee roaster proudly continuing the rich legacy of the Gaviña family, owners of Gaviña Coffee Company.

Established in Vernon, California in 1967, Gaviña Coffee Company is one of the largest family-owned coffee companies in America and the nation's largest privately held minority-owned coffee roaster. The family's unmatched coffee experience, as coffee growers and roasters, dates back over 150 years to the rich coffee-bearing soil of Cuba.

Lisette serves as Chairman of the Board and Managing Director overseeing Sales and Marketing for the company’s brands including Don Francisco’s Coffee, Café La Llave Espresso, Gaviña Gourmet Coffee and Jose’s Gourmet Coffee, and manages business relationships in the Grocery, E-commerce, Club and Foodservice channels including Costco, Walmart, Amazon and McDonalds USA.

With over 20 years in the coffee industry and a lifetime of experience in coffee, Lisette is also a Q Grader, the wine sommelier equivalent to the coffee industry.

In addition to her leadership at Gaviña Coffee Company, Lisette has served on numerous industry and community boards, including:

• Past Chairman of the Board and current Executive Board Member, Vernon Chamber of Commerce
• Past Board Member, Los Angeles Chapter of the California Restaurant Association
• Board Member, Foothill Family
• Past Board Member, Young President’s Organization Los Angeles (YPOLA)

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Lisette holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and is a graduate of the USC Food Industry Management Executive Program, and enrolled in the YPO Presidents’ Program at Harvard Business School.  Lisette lives in Pasadena, California with her husband and their 12-year-old son.

Michelle Ranavat leverages her expertise in the pharmaceutical industry and her background in engineering to create a line of beautiful skin and hair treatments that honor her South Asian heritage. Founded in 2017, RANAVAT launched into Sephora to become the first Ayurvedic skincare brand to launch at the iconic retailer. The brand proudly donates 1% of proceeds to Desai Foundation, a non-profit organization in India that empowers women and children through community programs to elevate health and livelihood in India and the U.S.