
C-Sweet LA Chapter
Profit and Purpose: Balancing Mission and Financial Success
Thursday, Feb. 27th, 5:30 - 8:00 PM PT
Bernstein Private Wealth Management
1999 Avenue of the Stars Suite 2100, Los Angeles, CA 90067
Join us for an inspiring evening hosted by Bernstein and C-Sweet. Discover how female leaders align profit goals with a clear purpose. This conversation explores creating sustainable business models that deliver financial success while staying true to their mission.
Whether you're looking to refine your leadership approach or gain inspiration for purpose-driven growth, this event promises valuable takeaways.
Stay tuned for more details—don’t miss this empowering opportunity!
Complimentary for C-Sweet members. Non-member tickets - $69.
Meet the Panelists
Maura Pape
Senior Investment Strategist at Bernstein Private Wealth Management

Maura Pape is a Senior Investment Strategist in the Los Angeles office of Bernstein Private Wealth Management. Maura joined Bernstein from Eurasia Group where she worked with corporate and institutional clients on issues at the intersection of macro markets and geopolitics. Prior to Eurasia Group, she was a Strategist at a New York-based fintech startup focused on big data and macro markets. Maura also spent nearly a decade as a buyside macro strategist at Soros Fund Management and Laurion Capital Management. After graduating with a degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, Maura began her career in institutional research at Morgan Stanley.
Mel Faxon
COO & Co-Founder at Mirza
Mel is the Co-Founder/COO of Mirza, a tech platform that empowers families to access the $140B of government benefits left unclaimed each year. After graduating from UVA, Mel launched a career focused on building fast growth companies. From launching and scaling sales territories in Europe, to making college education more accessible, Mel fell in love with the process of building a concept from the ground up. During her time at London Business School, she realized she wanted to go all in on her own business. Mirza is her second company and is the manifestation of her passion for equitable access for all women and the desire to operate in the social impact space.
Natalie Tronkina
Partner at CohnReznick LLP

Natalie Tronkina is a partner at CohnReznick, where she is an integral member of the firm’s Transactional Advisory Services practice, based in the Los Angeles office. With almost 20 years of public accounting experience primarily in transactional advisory, Natalie has assisted strategic and financial buyers and sellers with performing quality of earnings analyses and net working capital assessments, and preparing pro-forma financial statements. Her proficiency extends to conducting profitability and bridging analyses, evaluating financial reporting infrastructures, and recommending best practices across various industries, including consumer, technology and media, healthcare, manufacturing and distribution, and business services. Natalie’s extensive experience also includes representing clients in post-transaction purchase price and working capital disputes, ensuring that her clients navigate these complex situations with confidence and clarity.
Tonya Haynes
Technology Specialist, Cloud Tech Gurus
Tonya Haynes’ experience spans 20+ years working within Executive Leadership, Information Technology/Systems (IT/IS) leading Customer Service Operations, Business Analytics and Project Management teams. She’s strengthened her skillset working for Fortune 100 companies within varying industries, each role provided her with the skills, tools, and experience necessary to get things done regardless of the challenges.
A substantial part of Ms. Haynes journey has been spent implementing, re-engineering and turning around the performance of Call/Contact Centers, Help Desk/Service Desks and Customer Service Organizations.
Tonya Haynes spearheads Phoenix Business Development Group: an IT project management and Business consulting firm focused on centering the what customers want - front and center, while strengthening and aligning the business operations to meet these needs. Tonya’s greatest contribution is her innate ability to connect with, motivate, and lead People, hearts and minds through the day-to-day challenges, project hiccups and impacts of change.
She is also the author of, “Customer Service is the Business: Aligning Operations, Motivating People & Activating Innovation!” and “The Serious Entrepreneur’s Play Book: Playing and Winning the Business Game!
Meet the Moderator
Sophie Mekjian
Wealth Advisor, Bernstein Private Wealth Management
Sophie Mekjian is a VP and Financial Advisor in the Los Angeles office of Bernstein Private Wealth Management. She works with high-net-worth families and individuals, nonprofit organizations, and businesses. Partnering with Bernstein’s portfolio and wealth management specialists, as well as other professional advisors, she develops, implements, and monitors investment plans optimized to meet clients’ goals. Prior to joining Bernstein in 2023, Sophie served as an account executive for three years at StartEngine, where she educated and advised founders, executive teams, and board members on raising capital for Seed to Series C stage startups. Sophie earned a BS in business administration, cum laude, with concentrations in marketing and entrepreneurship from Northeastern University.
Hosted by:

This material has been distributed for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. Information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but not guaranteed. Bernstein does not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice. In considering this material, you should discuss your individual circumstances with professionals in those areas before making any decisions.
The [A/B] logo is a registered service mark of AllianceBernstein and AllianceBernstein® is a registered service mark used by permission of the owner, AllianceBernstein L.P
© 2024 AllianceBernstein L.P.
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***Check your calendars and join us! All event fees are non-refundable.***
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