100+ Women Strong Steering Committee

Led by Boeing retired senior project engineer Dorothy Benveniste and Stratonics owner and CEO Holly Craig, the 100+ Women Strong steering committee includes female alumni and friends with degrees in chemical engineering, civil engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. They have used their degrees as foundations for successful careers as executives and program managers, entrepreneurs, and in patent law. 

Dorothy Benveniste, Boeing 747 Fleet Chief Office (retired) (Chair)

Dorothy Benveniste is a retired senior project engineer and manager of airline customer service initiatives from Boeing Commercial Customer Support in Seal Beach. She led technical projects for flight controls, payloads, airframe and structures subsystems, from problem detection through solution implementation across the international in-service fleet of 747 and 767 aircraft. Benveniste is passionate about STEM education support for underserved youth and an advocate for corporate STEM and intern sponsorship. As the Director of Systems Engineering Training, L.A. Chapter of International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), she enables systems engineering training to members. An experienced Agile Scrum Master, Product Owner, Scaled Agile Framework practitioner, and SAFe® Agilist, Benveniste holds a Bachelor of Science in software engineering from Cal State University and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Holly Craig ’84, Owner and CEO, Stratonics (Vice Chair)

After graduating from CSULB with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Holly Craig went to work for Spectron Development Labs, where she was part of a team developing state-of-the-art sensors incorporating lasers, optics, and holography to measure phenomena. The primary concentration was in the measurement of aerodynamic properties of missiles in wind tunnels. Transitioning to systems engineering, Craig became an R&D missile program manager at Perkin Elmer Applied Optics Operations, then coordinated between R&D, engineering, and manufacturing groups at Advanced Interventional Systems. In 1992, she and her husband launched Lake Forest-based Stratonics, which has become a leader in sensor technology that measures high temperatures of metal in additive manufacturing processes. Craig continues to be involved in technology development, as well as business activities.

Dana Cabbell, Director of Integrated System Strategy, SCE (Conference Chair)

Dana Cabbell, P.E., has worked for Southern California Edison (SCE) for 37 years in the areas of transmission, and distribution long-term planning. Presently, she is Director of the SCE Integrated System Strategy (ISS) group. Cabbell and her team are responsible for ensuring SCE’s transmission and distribution system is safe, reliable, resilient, clean, and affordable through well-informed, strategic decisions regarding grid investments, integration of renewable/energy storage resources, enabling grid modernization, resiliency efforts, and reaching a carbon-neutral electric grid. The team is also responsible for assessing generation, transmission, and new customer interconnections to the SCE grid, performing joint studies with neighboring utilities, and ensuring compliance with mandatory NERC Reliability Standards and WECC Reliability Criteria.Cabbell holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. She became a Registered Professional Electrical Engineer with the state of California in 1989.

Monica Amalfitano '94, Director of Design and Construction Services, Campus Engineer, CSULB 

Monica Amalfitano has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from CSULB ('94) and is Director of Design and Construction and Campus Engineer in the CSULB Department of Design and Construction. Monica is a professionally licensed Engineer in the State of California with over 28 years of management, design and construction, and facility operations experience in Higher Education. Before coming to CSULB, she was a Project Manager and Senior Mechanical Engineer for P2S Engineering. She served as Campus Engineer to CSULB, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CSUF and other UCs and community colleges. Monica has her LEED BD+C credentials, and as Campus Engineer, leads CSULB’s sustainability conversations and decisions related to campuswide utility infrastructure and building design and renovations. Monica enjoys mentoring women in Design, Construction, Facilities and STEM careers. She is a member of the first CSU Women in Facilities Cohort started in January 2022 and a presenter at high school Career Days. She enjoys traveling, wine tasting, and spending time with her husband Mario, son Isidoro and daughters Rosaria and Sofia.

Donna Chamberlin '86, Partner, Lewis Brisbois

Donna Chamberlin is a partner in the Seattle office of Lewis Brisbois and a member of the Complex Business & Commercial Litigation, Products Liability, Toxic Tort & Environmental Litigation and Intellectual Property & Technology Practices. She is a chemical engineer and registered patent attorney and practiced as a process engineer, design engineer and economics planner for one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies before attending law school. Chamberlin has successfully litigated cases through trial in state and federal courts, and secured summary judgments affirmed on appeal in numerous cases. Chamberlin has litigated more than 100 products liability matters. Her intellectual property work includes litigating patent, trademark, and copyright actions to summary judgment and on appeal, as well as through trial in the United States District Courts and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Chamberlin holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from CSULB.

Jan Coyne-Jones ’81, Business Owner

For more than two decades, Jan Coyne-Jones has been co-owner of Long Beach Yacht Sales, which has won numerous awards, including National Dealer of the Year. A past chair of the California Department of Boating and Waterways Commission, she has sat on various national and local boards and committees pertaining to environmental quality regulations, CAFE standards, energy efficiency, and building standards. She previously managed an environmental department for a Toyota manufacturing facility on the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s Top 20 emitters list and located adjacent to a Superfund site. Prior to joining Toyota in 1990, she managed Kleinfelder’s air quality services in the Los Angeles area. Coyne spent nearly a decade working for Southern California Gas Co. in a variety of positions, including Energy Systems Engineer, Industrial Staff Supervisor, and Regulatory Affairs Administrator. She was Outstanding Graduate and Valedictorian when she earned her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering degree from CSULB in 1981. During her years at CSULB, Coyne-Jones was president of the Associated Engineering Student Body and was active in the Society of Women Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, and other student engineering group chapters.

Jennifer Didlo ‘02, AES Southland President (retired)(Past Chair)

Jennifer Didlo’s appointment in 2015 as AES’s Western U.S. Market Business Leader, in addition to her responsibilities as President of AES Southland and AES Hawaii, was the culmination of more than 25 years of leadership experience in power generation, including 20 years in California, Hawaii, and Texas. She led AES business development efforts, including redevelopment of the California thermal and wind generation fleet and the Hawaii coal facility. Prior to AES, Didlo held plant manager, supervisory and engineering positions at Southern California Edison. A registered Professional Engineer, Didlo holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from CSULB and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo. She recently retired from her corporate role and now enjoys volunteering in her son’s third-grade class and helping promote women in energy and engineering through her involvement with both CSULB and The Hawthorn Club.

Mia Fujii, Director of Academic Enablement, Siemens Digital Industries Software

Mia Fujii has been responsible for sales, sales management, business development, services, new hire training programs, license compliance and academic programs throughout her 25-year career at Siemens. Author of the book, “Ladies…Make It Your Time Now,” Fujii has been a guest speaker at CSULB Society of Women Engineers chapter events, and other STEM events on campus. She is the recipient of Siemens Inner Circle, Golden Eagle, CEO, and Diversity Council awards, and received a Technology Star from the Women of Color organization. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of California, Irvine. Prior to Siemens, she held technical positions in support of electrical engineering software applications used to design electrical systems.

Debbie Meeks '86, Government Relations, Shell USA

Debbie is currently working in Government Relations managing environmental policy for Shell’s growing number of renewable energy businesses on the West Coast. Previously she was Strategic Alliance Manager following the dissolution of the 50/50 joint venture between Shell and Saudi Aramco. She led the business process efforts for this mulitimillion-dollar licensee as they assumed management for 40% of Shell’s retail gas stations in the US. After graduating from CSULB with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Debbie began working at the ARCO Refinery in Carson, California, as a process engineer. She moved to Houston to provide technical support to a wide variety of refineries working for Akzo Nobel. After 10 years in technical roles, Debbie moved into sales and joined Shell Catalysts & Technologies, returning to California. Through various commercial and leadership assignments she has had the opportunity to lead teams of technical experts and sales executives while negotiating with a variety of national and international oil companies. Debbie is married with two sons – one in college and the other a high school senior - and is active at the high school as parent association treasurer.