Hillary Smith, general counsel and corporate secretary at Square Inc., led legal and regulatory efforts in Square's offering of convertible notes resulting in almost $390 million in net proceeds to the company in her first year on the job.

After the events that have rocked Silicon Valley this year, are you more or less hopeful about the prospects for women in the tech industry?

I'm not sure. I think we take some steps forward and some steps backward, but overall, I do think that we are increasing diversity for women and minority groups in tech. That makes me hopeful.