Vivian Shimoyama

Vivian Shimoyama is the founder and president of Breakthru Unlimited. Her company provides products and services that promote the advancement of women.  Wanting to move women forward, she created a ‘glass pin’ that symbolizes breaking the invisible barrier… the glass ceiling.  Her glass artwork can be seen on the lapels of prominent women and men, and is the foundation of her international and national advocacy work for women in business.  

The recent addition to her company is Breakthru Solutions, LLC, a consulting firm that provides strategic business planning and resource consulting services for organizations from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses and non-profit organizations.   Ms. Shimoyama has built relationships with businesses throughout the country in order to ‘team on projects’, and connect large corporations, government agencies, small businesses, and community organizations.

She serves on the national advisory council for Consumers for Cable Choice, and is an appointee to the Long Beach Workforce Development Board.   An expert in advocacy, Vivian is the incoming vice president of governmental affairs for the California Small Business Association and a state advocacy director for Women Impacting Public Policy.  Dedicated to the small business community and economic development, she is a member of the board of directors of the California Small Business Education Foundation, Enterprise Institute of the National Association of Women Business-Los Angeles, University of Southern California Small Business Development Office, Women’s Leadership Exchange, Corporate Community Advisory Board for Southern California Edison, Union Bank of California, Merrill Lynch, and advisor to Count Me In – Make Mine a Million, a national micro-loan program for women business owners.    

She is a graduate of the University of Illinois, College of Commerce.   Ms. Shimoyama was awarded the National Women In Business Advocate Award from the President, U.S. Congress, and U.S. Small Business Administration.   And as a Presidential appointee to the National Women’s Business Council, she advised the President and U.S. Congress on issues important to women business owners.   She was a member of the U.S. delegation for the landmark 10 Downing Street Economic Summit headed by Exchequer Gordon Brown and the U.K. Government.   In 1995, she was elected to serve as a delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business.