Women We Admire is pleased to announce The Top Women Leaders of New York for 2023. Few places in the world match the iconic status and influence of New York. Its hallmark metropolis, New York City, stands as the global epicenter for culture, finance, and media. In 2022, the state achieved a staggering Gross State Product (GSP) of $1.5 trillion, a figure so substantial that it would rank as the eleventh largest economy in the world if it were an independent nation. This economic prominence is attributable in part to the Empire State’s role as the headquarters for over 50 Fortune 500 companies, as well as hosting major financial institutions such as Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Beyond finance, the state's extraordinary economic diversity thrives in a wide range of industries, including tourism, media, advertising, legal services, fashion, the arts, and much more. Across these various sectors, women are holding high-ranking positions, empowering them to drive enduring transformations in a broad spectrum of fields. Recognizing the evident impact of these female leaders, this year's honorees feature women who have played pivotal roles in guiding major industry giants like Google, American Express, Goldman Sachs, and Pfizer. Their presence not only fosters diversity and inclusivity within teams but also stands as a source of inspiration for upcoming generations of women to pursue careers in any field of their choice.
Among this year's honorees is Olamide Ajibesin, a Partner at KPMG's Deal Advisory & Strategy Advisory practice. Ajibesin, a globally acclaimed dealmaker and finance executive, has successfully overseen over 250 transactions, ranging from middle-market deals to mega-deals exceeding $5 billion. We also recognize Denise Daly, the Director of Communications and Public Relations in Lifestyle Brands and Collaborations at HARMAN International. Daly, the recipient of numerous industry accolades, has skillfully launched over 1,000 products.
Lastly, we extend our honors to Joele Frank, the Founder and Managing Partner of Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher. Over her 30+ year career, Frank has played a pivotal role in more than 3,000 M&A transactions and special situations, earning her a multitude of awards, including a spot on PRWeek's PR Power List of The 25 Top PR Industry Leaders.
Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of The Top Women Leaders of New York for 2023.
Stephanie Redish Hofmann
Managing Director, Global Partnerships, Google
Stephanie Redish Hofmann is currently a Managing Director and Global Client Partner at Google where she leads a portfolio of global category partnerships across Automotive, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPGs), Food, Restaurant & Beverage (FBR) and Consumer Technology (CE). She works with a team of digital marketers and category experts to support customers’ ambitions in digital marketing transformation.
In prior roles at Google, Steph led global partnerships with the world’s largest agency holding
companies, including Publicis, WPP, and IPG, in addition to industry relations partnerships with the ecosystem’s top ad trade associations: ANA, IAB, and 4As, to name a few. Ultimately, Steph aims to help brands bridge online and offline marketing to achieve and exceed business growth and profitability goals.
As a board member at 1-800-FLOWERS.com and Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), Steph’s equally committed to helping CMOs across the advertising spectrum optimize today’s digital transformations to achieve their marketing and business goals. In addition, Steph is an Advisory Board Member for Girls with Impact and the Governor’s New York State Council on Women and Girls. In both these roles, Steph is passionate about preparing and mentoring the next generation of women leaders who have a desire to make a difference. She is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and received a master’s degree in communications from Seton Hall University. She lives in Jersey City with her husband and two children.
Emma Andrews
Vice President and Patient Advocacy Lead, Pfizer
Emma Andrews is Pfizer’s Vice President of Global Patient Advocacy, leading the organization’s work to embed the patient perspective across all of Pfizer’s efforts – from bench to bedside, and beyond. A registered pharmacist, Andrews is passionate about helping people live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. In her current role, Andrews works with internal and external stakeholders to advance patient-focused programs across the enterprise and to deliver outcomes that matter to patients and those involved in their care.
Andrews joined Pfizer in 1999 and has had multiple roles with increasing responsibility in Clinical Research, Operations, Strategic External Engagement, and Medical Affairs. Her focus areas have spanned infectious diseases, neglected tropical diseases, and malaria. She has worked with multiple stakeholders to help improve HCP-patient dialogue across multiple regions. Most recently, Andrews was a senior director and US/Global Medical Affairs Team lead for the Women’s Health Franchise.
Andrews completed her Doctor of Pharmacy, as well as her undergraduate degree in pharmacy at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science. She is motivated by Pfizer’s common purpose: to bring breakthroughs to patients, regardless of where they are in the world. Her experience growing up in Uganda and Cote d'Ivoire has shaped her commitment to reducing healthcare disparities, improving health literacy, and advancing health equity in all she does.
Audrey Hendley
President of Global Travel & Lifestyle Services, American Express
Over the past three decades at American Express, Audrey Hendley has distinguished herself as an influential, innovative leader who has driven record results for various businesses across the company. She has accomplished this by delivering products and services that exceed customer expectations, innovating for long-term growth, developing and retaining outstanding diverse talent, and leading efforts that drive ESG initiatives. American Express Travel is one of the largest multi-channel consumer travel agencies in the world. As President, Hendley is an industry leader, responsible for delivering premium travel and lifestyle services to Card Members through a network of over 7,000 global travel advisors, overseeing the digital travel booking experience, travel benefits and programs, a global network of 1,400 lounges, supplier partnerships, and marketing and engagement strategies for the premium Card Member base. She is also committed to driving initiatives that promote DE&I, support local cultures and economies, and advance climate solutions.
Hendley has earned many of the top awards from American Express and was inducted into the company’s Hall of Fame in 2012. She has received many industry accolades including being named one of the 2018 Irish America Power Women, and she was included on the 2022 Irish America Business 100 List. Hendley’s teams have won the American Express Chairman’s Award for Innovation and she is a member of the company’s corporate ESG and Data Governance committees. As an advocate for women in business, Hendley proudly serves as chair for the New York Women’s Interest Network. She is also chair of the Board for World Education Services, a social enterprise that helps international students and professionals achieve their educational and professional goals in the US and Canada.
Hendley is an Honors graduate of Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland where she received her master’s in Marketing Management. She also completed the Governing for Nonprofit Excellence program at Harvard Business School.
Ginger Dhaliwal
Co-Founder & CPO, Upflex
Ginger Dhaliwal is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience successfully working with startups in Asia and North America. She has led the product development from ideation to launch for several disruptive patented technologies in the healthcare, e-commerce, and fashion industries. In addition, Ginger was the founding member of Embedded Wireless, an R & D facility, and was instrumental in growing the company from 1 to 100 engineers with international offices in Malaysia, India, and the US. Ginger is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Upflex, a B2B solution for on-demand workspace. Upflex strives to help businesses become more efficient, agile, and sustainable while giving employees access to a global network of workspaces.
Petra Schmidt
Managing Partner & Global Financial Institutions Commercial Leader, Aon
Petra Schmidt is a Managing Partner with Aon’s Enterprise Client Group and leads the Financial Institutions practice. The Financial Institutions vertical includes global banks, asset managers, payment companies, rating agencies, and FinTechs. In this role, she is responsible for building infrastructure to support clients and colleagues globally on industry trends and themes and Aon’s solution across risk management and human capital.
Previously, Schmidt served in several leadership roles including chief commercial officer, European sales and marketing, leading the Northeast region, and working in global business development. Schmidt has lived and worked in several regions including two expatriate assignments in London as well as leading client/project assignments in Asia Pacific and Latin America. She has served as a member of the Hewitt Foundation board of directors as well as helped found their Women in Leadership program. Previously she was a VP of national accounts at Aetna for eight years. She has been with Aon for over 27 years and has a proven track record of delivering large-scale business solutions that have an impact and establishing herself as a trusted advisor and strategic partner of choice for clients.
Schmidt currently serves on the board of directors for the University of Wisconsin-Student Affairs. She recently completed a term as an appointed member of the Shelter Island Central Planning Committee developing its Vision 2030. In July of 2023, she trained and was certified for board of directors work by Maggie Wilderotter. She led Aon’s NYC Employer Coalition on Work, Travel, and Convene during and leading out of the pandemic and is a member of the Aon Apprentice program leadership group. Schmidt holds an undergraduate degree in international relations from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed the Executive MBA course at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School as well as leadership work at Harvard University. She speaks fluent German as well as beginning-level French.
Anne Marie Darling
Partner, Goldman Sachs
At Goldman Sachs, Anne Marie Darling is Head of the Multi-Asset Platform sales team, which is responsible for building a multi-product distribution effort across Equities and FICC to scale the firm’s product offering to a broader institutional client base. She is also responsible for the global FICC Execution Services business, Market Structure team, and Marquee Client Strategy and Distribution, through which the firm delivers electronic execution services, liquidity, risk analytics, and differentiated content to clients. Anne Marie also serves on the Global Banking & Markets Division Operating Committee and Firmwide Digital Strategy Steering Group and is a member of the One Goldman Sachs firmwide steering groups for Client Relationship Management, Content and Digital Strategy, and Business Advisory. She is the former co-head of the Global Banking & Markets Inclusion and Diversity Committee. Previously, Anne Marie was chief operating officer of Global Securities Division Sales. In this role, she drove key initiatives, including client relationship management, business strategy, and client and trading analysis across the division. Anne Marie joined Goldman Sachs in the Electronic Trading Group in 1999 and was named managing director in 2007 and partner in 2012.
Prior to joining the firm, Anne Marie worked at the American Stock Exchange managing the research team and order flow strategy for the Office of the Chairman. She serves on the Presidential Leadership Council for Brown University and as co-chair of the Diversity Advisory Council for Brown University. She also serves on the Nasdaq’s Exchange Board, the New York City Executive Committee for Team IMPACT, and is an officer on the Ho-Ho-Kus Education Foundation. Anne Marie earned an engineering degree from Brown University in 1993 and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business in 2000.
Jamila Abston Mayfield
Partner, EY
Jamila Abston Mayfield is a Partner in the EY Financial Services Business Consulting practice where she provides risk, compliance, and regulatory consulting services to key wealth and asset management, private equity, hedge fund, and banking and capital markets clients. She is also the EY Financial Inclusion Leader and she and her team launched this offering to assist financial services firms in developing strategies, products, and services that create access, equity, and inclusion opportunities for underserved communities.
Jamila rejoined EY from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where she served as an assistant regional director for the Division of Examinations. In this role, Jamila served as an expert advisor for the SEC Examinations program, specializing in compliance program effectiveness, risk analytics, and enterprise risk management for the asset management industry.
Jamila has an undergraduate degree in accounting from Florida A&M University, an MS in accountancy from the University of Virginia, and an MBA in asset management from Yale University. She is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Fraud Examiner. Jamila is a Lifetime Member of the National Association of Black Accountants and a member of the American Institute for Certified Public Accountants and the Association for Certified Fraud Examiners. She holds CPA licenses in the states of Georgia, New York, and North Carolina.
In December 2020, Jamila was appointed to the SEC Investor Advisory Committee – a group that advises the SEC Chairman and Commissioners on regulatory priorities, trading strategies, disclosures, and other initiatives to protect investor interests. She has received numerous accolades, including the Crain’s Notable Women in Accounting and Consulting Award, the AICPA Standing Ovation Award, the Yale Alumni Association Leadership Award, the SEC Community Service Award, and the NABA Presidential Leadership Award, among many others.
Olamide Ajibesin
Partner and Principal, KPMG US
Olamide Ajibesin is a globally recognized dealmaker and finance executive based in New York. She is a Partner in the KPMG Deal Advisory & Strategy Advisory practice where she provides Financial Due Diligence on transactions for private equity and large corporate clients. Olamide brings over 20 years of mergers, acquisitions & strategy experience and was named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Women in M&A by middlemarket.com. She previously founded and led the transaction advisory practice at Anchin and worked at Kroll.
Olamide is entrepreneurial-minded and enjoys working with founders, CEOs, CFOs, and investors to create deep value that is consistent with their corporate mission. Her knowledge in M&A, strategy, negotiation, and people facilitates a culture of success for all stakeholders. She has substantial buy-side and sell-side M&A experience, having executed over 250 transactions ranging from middle-market deals to mega deals exceeding $5 billion in a variety of industries including consumer & retail, healthcare, and technology.
Olamide is vice chair of the board of trustees at The Brooklyn Hospital Center. She is passionate about promoting equity & empowering others through self-advocacy, resilience, and sponsorships. She has been actively involved in several organizations including chief of the Association for Corporate Growth, International Society of Female Professionals, and Women in the Boardroom. Olamide was selected three times in the Notable Women in Accounting & Consulting by Crain’s New York Business. She has been featured in the media as a thought leader and has authored articles on topics such as M&A, due diligence, and socially responsible investing.
Shilpa Bangera
SVP & GM – Global Head of Payments, Adyen
Shilpa Bangera is a fintech leader with over 25 years of driving growth, innovation, and transformation for global businesses. Currently, she leads Global Payments at Adyen, where she spearheads the Payment Platform, Channels, Partnerships, Customer Experience, and Impact organizations.
Prior to Adyen, Shilpa was the Chief Commercial Officer and Global Head of Platform Fintech GTM at Finastra, where she was instrumental in developing their fintech ecosystem, platform, and data business. The platform also helped empower and enable minority-owned fintech startups to gain access to the larger fintech ecosystem to enable growth. Shilpa's background includes diverse roles at Uber, Bloomberg, and Fiserv. She takes great pride in building, and her drive to operate at scale, solve complex problems, and build high-performance team cultures has led to double-digit growth and expansion. In addition, her passion for building successful ventures with a purpose while advocating the importance of teamwork and DEI has led to exceptionally productive teams prioritizing collaboration, parity, and excellence.
Shilpa has an undergraduate degree in finance and an MBA from the University of Mumbai. She is on the board, an angel investor, and an advisor to a series of technology-driven start-ups. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, distance running, triathlons, and promoting regional art through her travels.
Kathleen Kinsella
Managing Director, CIBC
With a background in economics, sales, and trading, Kathleen Kinsella serves as the Managing Director and the Head of US Fixed Income Sales for CIBC, with which she has been employed since 2013. She supervises a team that has produced a three-year average of $100 million in client revenue.
Prior to joining CIBC, Kathleen worked as the managing director for RBS from 2010 until 2014 and Citibank from 1998 until 2010, where she amassed an average of $20M a year in production. Some of Kinsella's initial roles in the field were that of the vice president for Lehman Brothers for nine years. Before beginning her career in finance, Kinsella earned an undergraduate degree in economics and sociology at Mount Holyoke College.
Tracy Keeping
Senior Vice President of Cyber GRC & First Line Risk and Controls, State Street
A veteran of the financial services and technology industries, Tracy Keeping has successfully led numerous large-scale, transformational technology initiatives over the past 30 years, and currently is an SVP leading the Global Technology Services First Line Risk and Controls organization at State Street. She is the co-chair of the State Street LGBT Community and a champion of EWF, the Executive Women’s Forum which focuses on building women leaders in information security, risk management, and privacy.
Prior to her current role, Keeping held numerous senior positions at Credit Suisse, Thomson Reuters, Deutsche Bank, and JP Morgan Chase. She is an active advocate of cyber security and technology risk management best practices, frequently attending industry conferences and sharing her views through speaking engagements. Born in the United Kingdom, Keeping now resides in New York with her rescue dog, Cooper. Outside of work, Keeping’s hobbies include motorcycle touring, and watching sports fan of the New York Islanders hockey team.
Lynn Teo
Chief Marketing Officer, Northwestern Mutual
Lynn Teo is the Chief Marketing Officer of Northwestern Mutual. Her responsibilities encompass brand strategy, product marketing, field and customer experience marketing, digital marketing, marketing technology, operations, and consumer insights/market research. She is a data-driven and revenue-centric tech sector marketing executive specializing in driving growth for the enterprise through the buildout of modern marketing capabilities. Teo joined Northwestern Mutual in September 2022. In her 24 years in industry, she has led digital transformation initiatives in a broad range of industries: advertising, publishing, education, retail, finance, travel, and health.
Teo is a seasoned international executive who has lived and worked in the US, Europe, and Asia during her career. From 2014 to 2018, she assumed roles as VP of digital marketing and head of marketing for Asia Pacific & Japan at CA Technologies. From 2018 to 2021, she expanded her scope of responsibilities as VP of global marketing and customer experience at Wolters Kluwer Health. Before joining Northwestern Mutual, Teo served as the CMO of three lines of business at Thomson Reuters.
Teo received her honors undergraduate degree from the National University of Singapore and an MA in professional writing from Carnegie Mellon University. She enjoys international travel, experiencing new cultures and cuisines, and hiking in the national parks across the US.
Genevieve Gimbert
Lead Client Partner for a Global Financial Institution, PwC
Genevieve Gimbert is a Partner in PwC’s Consulting practice out of New York and provides a wide range of consulting services, primarily to financial services clients. She is one of the top women leaders at PwC and has held multiple leadership roles to grow PwC’s businesses and teams as well as taking care of her clients. She is known for her authentic leadership style and is motivated by helping people achieve their personal and professional goals.
Genevieve is also an experienced board member and most recently board chair of Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, a 45+ year-old nonprofit organization known for promoting youth leadership opportunities through its Youth Assembly at the United Nations. Its mission has been to empower youth globally to become leaders and changemakers to create a world filled with peace, justice, and sustainability. Genevieve was born in the Philippines and moved to New Jersey when she was 13 years old. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children.
Jennifer Roach
Global Head of Audience, Bloomberg Live Experiences
Jennifer Roach leads audience development for Bloomberg Live Experiences, where she draws upon her 20+ years of experience at the intersection of data, marketing, and sales to create strategies that convene global executive audiences for news-driven conferences and event experiences across technology, sustainability, geopolitics, finance, media and entertainment, and more, delivering opportunities for connection, inspiration, and community. Bloomberg Live Experiences produces premium global events that create impact, including the prestigious New Economy Forum and Bloomberg Screentime, which launched in 2023 as the preeminent media and entertainment conference in Los Angeles.
Prior to Bloomberg, Jennifer held multiple roles at Dow Jones, leading marketing and audience development for The Wall Street Journal Conferences division, where she led membership development for the CEO Council and helped launch WSJ D.Live, and building the media consulting division for Dow Jones enterprise clients in the public relations and communications sectors. Jennifer holds an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business and a BA in International Political Economy from Tulane University.
Asia Giles
VP and Creative Director, Prudential Financial
A creative leader and problem solver, Asia Giles began her career in “traditional” advertising and has steadily grown and evolved within the industry. The early chapters of Giles’ career were spent honing her skills as an art director and creative director at some of the most respected names in advertising, including Grey, Doner, and Tribal DDB, leading creative efforts for some of the most recognized brands in the world across many categories, including Pantene, DuPont, Yahoo!, Neutrogena, Panasonic, and Excedrin.
Quickly recognizing the power and potential of the digital and social media space, Giles evolved her classical training to forge new pathways in this new frontier. In fact, she was the foundational creative director at MRY, one of the first social media agencies in New York. Here, she designed and built the full creative structure and approach of this award-winning shop. Her strength in this area caught the attention of the creative team at Prudential Financial and in 2014, Giles joined the in-house agency for Prudential as VP, Creative Director. Since then Giles has led creative teams that have been steadily transforming Prudential’s digital spaces, helping to deliver on their mission of making lives better by meeting the challenges of a changing world.
For Giles, great work is all about authentic connections. With that as her guiding light, her work consistently resonates across platforms and touch points.
Lisa M. Coleman
SVP of Global Inclusion & Strategic Innovation, New York University
Lisa M. Coleman is New York University’s (NYU) inaugural Senior Vice President for Global Inclusion and Strategic Innovation. In this role, she works to advance, promote, and build capacity for strategic global diversity, equity, inclusion, access, belonging, and innovation initiatives across NYU globally, including at NYU New York, Shanghai, and Abu Dhabi, and the University’s thirteen other sites and numerous global centers. Dr. Coleman is also a faculty member at NYU Stern Business School and teaches at NYU Abu Dhabi.
Prior to NYU, Dr. Coleman served as the first special assistant to the president and chief diversity officer at Harvard University where she and her team developed some of the first initiatives focused on the intersections of technology, disability, and access. Her early professional and research experience includes working with Tufts University, the Association of American Medical Colleges, Merrill Lynch Inc., independent computer and data analytics consulting, and serving as an international organizational strategic adviser.
Dr. Coleman has spent more than 20 years working and consulting C-Suite leaders globally. Her work to advance diverse organizational development initiatives across higher education, as an international organizational strategic consultant, and as a collaborator with global stakeholders ranges from Fortune 500 companies to small boutique and start-up organizations. An interdisciplinary scholar, Dr. Coleman earned a doctorate in social and cultural analysis and American Studies from NYU, and three master’s degrees in African and African American Studies; Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and Communication Studies. She also holds certificates focusing on legal theory and intercultural and organizational development and her undergraduate research foci were sociology, anthropology, and computer science.
Muys Snijders
Head of Art Services, Private Client Select
Muys Snijders is the Head of Art Services at Private Client Select (formerly AIG’s Private Client Group) based in New York. She oversees all aspects of risk management for Private Client Select’s insurance portfolio of art, jewelry, cars, wine, and collectibles. She provides collections-related loss prevention and collection care services to policyholders, ensures that high-value claims are handled seamlessly, and implements disaster mitigation and response initiatives.
Muys is a seasoned executive and visionary leader with over 25 years of international experience working in the art world. Before joining AIG, she launched her own art consultancy firm and served as the managing director of Christie’s Americas. Muys has a deep knowledge of the market for post-war and contemporary art, having led the division for Bonhams in New York and prior to that she was a global director of client strategy and private sales for this department at Christie’s. Muys also held key positions in client advisory, estates, appraisals & valuations, and the Chairman’s office which places her uniquely to advise clients across the entire spectrum of their art collections. She is a Chartered Private Risk and Insurance Advisor (CPRIA) offering specialized solutions to complex insurance and risk management issues.
Muys holds an MA in art history and classical archaeology from Leiden University in the Netherlands, as well as an MA in arts management from Greenwich University and an MA in art market appraisal from Kingston University in the United Kingdom. She is a graduate of the Senior Executive Leadership Program for China from Harvard Business School, Tsinghua University in Beijing, and CEIBS in Shanghai, and most recently obtained a Certificate in Alternative Investments from Harvard Business School. She is multilingual and has worked in London and Amsterdam as well as in New York.
Vynessa Alexander
Vice President, Infor
With over 30 years in technology and operations management, Vynessa Alexander is attuned to how advances in technology can translate into process improvements, for customers and company alike. Over her career, Alexander has experienced consistent and progressive growth. Before Infor, she had a number of management roles that have helped her define her place as SVP of engineering operations. Alexander is motivated by the young professionals on her team and uses her broad expertise to help them grow into new opportunities. She manages several functions that operate globally, managing a team of over 600.
When she’s not in the office, Alexander is a board member of several service-based organizations. She loves to read and travel, activities that complement each other for long-haul flights, and is an active member of her church and community.
Alexander is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, with an undergraduate degree in business administration and graduate work in technology and project management. She has previously been invited to AfroTech to discuss advancements in her industry. Her commitment to community extends to her professional network. She is a member of Toastmasters International, the Project Management Institute, and the Women’s Infor Network.
Christina McCaughey
Managing Partner & Financial Advisor, Iron Birch Advisors
Christina McCaughey is a Financial Advisor and Managing Partner at Iron Birch Advisors, a private wealth advisory practice at Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC based in New York City. McCaughey focuses on personal financial planning including retirement strategies and planning, wealth management, financial protection, and tax-efficient strategies. In addition to personal financial planning, McCaughey assists companies with 401K plans and employee benefits.
McCaughey is proud to be a member of Chief - a private network of exceptional women built to drive more women into positions of influence and keep them there. It is specifically designed for senior women leaders — rising VP level through CEO — to strengthen their journey into the C-suite, cross-pollinate leadership across industries, and effect change from the top down.
McCaughey began her career in investment banking and spent 20+ years working for leading Wall Street firms including Salomon Brothers, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Barclays, NYSE & State Street, in 3 different countries before becoming a financial advisor. In 2015, she began her financial advisor career at AXA Advisors, LLC., before helping to establish Iron Birch Advisors, an Ameriprise private wealth advisory practice, as a Managing Partner based in New York City.
McCaughey is a graduate of the University of Connecticut having attained an undergraduate degree in economics. After college, she traveled to Europe on a Bilingual Career Program where she studied business at the Mannheim Universitaet and began working at the US premier investment bank, Salomon Brothers in Frankfurt, Germany.
Cheryl Capps
SVP & Chief Supply Chain Officer, Corning
Cheryl Capps is the Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer of Corning Incorporated. She joined the company in 2011. Corning is one of the world's leading innovators in materials science, with a 167-year track record of life-changing inventions. They apply their unparalleled expertise in glass science, ceramics science, and optical physics along with their deep manufacturing and engineering capabilities to develop category-defining products that transform industries and enhance people's lives.
Capps first got her start in 1983 when she joined the Manufacturing Management Program with GE. She spent nearly 14 years with the company in various capacities before moving on to Bristol-Myers Squibb where she served as the senior VP of global manufacturing, her most recent position before joining Corning. Capps graduated from Rice University with an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering and psychology and from Purdue University with a master's in engineering.
Georgette Ledgister
Vice President of DEIB & People Experience, DoubleVerify
Dr. Georgette Ledgister is Vice President of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB), and People Experience at DoubleVerify (DV). As DV’s global DEIB and People Experience leader, her role includes expanding and executing a global strategy that reflects DV’s commitment to its values of passion, accountability, collaboration, and trailblazing, not only its innovative products that make the digital ad ecosystem stronger, safer and more secure but among DV employees who make the company the market leader that it is.
Prior to joining DV, Ledgister was Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Universal Music Group (UMG) where she led global workplace initiatives that cultivated a culture of belonging in the company through education and celebration, including launching a targeted advancement program for Black employees at the director and senior director levels to advance to vice president at UMG. She was also a research associate and visiting lecturer in the Women’s Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School, and a visiting fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. Ledgister has deep consulting experience and served as the executive director and lead facilitator of an Atlanta-based organization that prioritizes innovation and transformation in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion, and leadership development.
A Congolese-American who is fluent in four languages, Ledgister specializes in training leaders and teams to courageously embrace the constructive possibilities of conflict and difference. She holds a PhD in social ethics from Emory University and has been a visiting lecturer at Harvard Divinity School, Emory University, Agnes Scott College, and Earlham College.
Michelle Snay
VP of Software Engineering, National Grid
Michelle Snay is the Vice President of Software Engineering at National Grid. National Grid lies at the heart of a transforming energy system. Their business areas play a vital role in connecting millions of people to the energy they use, while continually seeking ways to make the energy system cleaner. National Grid Ventures and National Grid Partners also enable innovations to help revolutionize and decarbonize the future of energy. Snay is a proven senior technology executive and business leader with over 25 years of experience driving large, cross-functional technology teams in the development of global business solutions.
Previously, Snay was the head of corporate technology at Guardian Life Insurance where she was responsible for global technology solutions that support human resources, legal, risk, compliance, and enterprise-shared services. Her teams supported technology selection, solutions architecture, analysis, design, and development of systems. Prior to Guardian, she held executive and leadership roles at Gartner, Viacom, and The New York Public Library. Snay received an undergraduate degree in computer science from DePaul University and subsequently an MBA.
Michelle Krueger
Managing Director, Alvarez & Marsal
Michelle Krueger is a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal Transaction Advisory Group out of New York. She specializes in providing buy and sell-side financial due diligence services for private equity, as well as strategic buyers. Krueger brings experience working across several industries, notably in the manufacturing, consumer, industrial products, distribution, and business services sectors. She provides buy-side services focusing on quality of earnings, quality of assets, and working capital requirements, as well as consideration of off-balance sheet exposures, and general knowledge of companies' operations and finance functions. On the sell side, she specializes in preparing companies for the sale process and developing diligence reports to maximize value at every point in the transaction lifecycle.
Krueger has supported private equity funds including AEA Investors, American Industrial Partners, Littlejohn & Co., York Capital, ABRY Partners, and Harvest Partners, among others. She was one of the recipients of the 13th Annual Emerging Leaders Award in 2022 by the M&A Advisor. The Emerging Leaders Awards were born as the ‘40 Under 40 Awards’ to recognize and celebrate the achievements of M&A, financing, and turnaround professionals who have reached a significant level of success and made notable contributions to their industry and community.
Prior to A&M, Mrs. Krueger worked at Deloitte, where she served as a senior associate in the M&A transaction services group in New York. While at Deloitte, she worked on Blackstone & strategic corporate buy-side deals, as well as on a Fortune 500 multinational corporate carve out and divestiture. Before her time in New York, she served with Deloitte's audit and assurance practice in Denver, Colorado primarily working on The Sports Authority and National Cinemedia corporate audits. Krueger earned an undergraduate degree in accounting from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude in three and a half years. She also received a master's degree in accounting from the Mendoza College of Business and is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of New York.
Shaundra Clay
Global Vice President of Finance, Beam Suntory
Shaundra Clay is a global finance and strategy executive. She currently serves as a Global Vice President of Finance for Beam Suntory, a world leader in premium spirits. Originally from Chicago, she has spent almost a third of her career working and living abroad.
As a multidimensional leader, Shaundra has had progressive experience in large, multinational organizations. She has extensive experience in healthcare, financial services, and food & beverage. In addition to traditional CFO responsibilities, she has led large diverse teams of more than 700 team members, strategic plans with large-scale cost containment strategies across multiple regions and geographies, and market development efforts focused on creating unique customer solutions that balance revenue and profit growth with operational efficiency.
Shaundra is on the Board of Directors of Integra Lifesciences and the Executive Leadership Council. She is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University, the University of Illinois Chicago, and an alumna of the Wharton Business School.
Sherry Pitkofsky
Vice President, Marketing, The E.W. Scripps Company
Sherry Pitkofsky is the Vice President of Marketing of The E.W. Scripps Company, a diversified media company focused on creating a better-informed world. As one of the nation's largest local TV broadcasters, Scripps serves communities with quality, objective local journalism and operates a portfolio of 61 stations in 41 markets. Today, as a senior marketing executive, Sherry draws upon a differentiating blend of creative voice and analytical insights to move businesses forward in achieving success in both traditional and digital markets. She is an early adopter of digital technologies and marketing concepts, championing the adoption of data-driven agile marketing, A/B testing, AI, and scrum execution to transform go-to-market and growth strategy.
Sherry has also earned recognition as a leader in marketing strategy for multicultural audiences. In her role, she is the face of the company to highly influential cultural organizations and trade organizations to elevate involvement in market-relevant initiatives.
Sherry joined Katz Networks in 2017. In partnership with the President, she designed and led the execution of a fully integrated corporate marketing strategy across four brands. The resulting growth helped position the company for sale to E.W. Scripps. Today, she oversees ad sales marketing and branding as well as the design and delivery of strategy to reach new consumers through events/experiential marketing, promotion, media, PR, and strategic communications.
Throughout Sherry’s career, a trajectory that has woven through small, midsize, and Fortune 500 businesses, she has been the creative and business mind behind co-branded campaigns for strategic partners including Macy’s, GlaxoSmithKline, Pepsi, Bayer, Walgreens, GM, Unilever, Lowe’s, Kellogg’s, Church & Dwight, Citibank, Mars Wrigley, Kohl’s, Verizon, AmEx, Quaker, ConAgra, Target, Coca-Cola, and Chase.
Surabhi Gandotra
Partner of Enterprise, Strategy & Value, Strategy&
Surabhi Gandotra is a Partner of Enterprise, Strategy, and Value at Strategy&, a global strategy consulting business. As a part of PwC, every day they’re building the winning systems that are at the heart of growth. Surabhi sets her focus on enterprise strategy and transformation for financial services across a broad array of technology and operations topics. She has extensive experience in managing and delivering on consulting engagements, architecting business solutions, and working with multi-disciplinary teams.
Surabhi volunteers her talents mainly to small start-up businesses, and champions women and education causes. She represented NYU Stern at the first-ever Asian American & Pacific Islander Youth Leadership Forum organized by the Obama White House in 2012. Before joining Strategy&, Gandotra was a project leader at Boston Consulting Group and before that, a senior consultant, financial services - capital markets strategy at Accenture. Earlier in her career she worked with ICICI Prudential Life Insurance as a key account manager in group business. Gandotra graduated from NYU Stern School of Business with an MBA and from Hindu College, Delhi University with an undergraduate degree in chemistry.
Amanda Hindlian
President of Fixed Income & Data Services, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.
Amanda Hindlian is President of Fixed Income & Data Services at Intercontinental Exchange, Inc (ICE). She is responsible for managing ICE’s global fixed income and data business, including pricing and analytics, reference data, indices, desktop solutions, consolidated feeds, connectivity services, and the ICE Bonds execution venues.
Hindlian started at ICE as a global head of capital markets for NYSE Group, where she oversaw the team responsible for attracting new listings to the Exchange. In that role, Hindlian worked with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, private equity firms, and investment banks to advise private companies as they moved toward an NYSE public listing, whether through traditional IPOs, SPAC combinations, or Direct Listings.
Prior to joining ICE in 2021, Hindlian was a partner and COO of global investment research at Goldman Sachs, where she oversaw a range of business functions, including technology, digital strategy, and legal and compliance matters. She also served as president of the firm’s think tank, the Global Markets Institute, and led the firm's ESG thought leadership efforts.
Hindlian held a number of other positions during her nearly twenty-year career at Goldman Sachs. She served in the executive office as a senior strategic advisor, working alongside the firm's senior management, including the chairman and CEO and president and COO. She also led the Client Strategy Group within the Office of the Chairman. Hindlian was chair of the Global Investment Research Client and Business Standards Committee. She also served on the firmwide Partnership, Diversity, and Commitments Committees. Hindlian began her career at Goldman Sachs as an Equity Research analyst in the Technology sector. She holds an undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, in economics and Spanish from Wellesley College.
Smita Baliga
Managing Director & Privacy Officer, Webster Bank
After 20 years in consulting at PwC, Smita Baliga decided it was time to “walk in the shoes” of her clients, and now enjoys leading Webster’s Digital Services Compliance and Regulatory Relations functions and serving as the Bank’s Privacy Officer. Smita joined Sterling National Bank in December 2020, soon after which the merger with Webster Bank was announced. Webster completed its merger with Sterling National Bank in February 2022.
In her role as Head of Digital Services Compliance, Smita develops and governs risk management programs related to Banking as a Service (“BaaS”), other types of Digital Partnerships and Equity Investments in innovative startups at Webster. Smita advises the Business on evolving regulatory requirements, the ever-changing industry landscape in order to effectively assess and manage risks associated with working with fintechs, crypto, and technology companies. Smita works with BaaS and other Partners to enhance their programs to meet Webster’s standards and best practices. She partners with Risk Functions, Data, and Technology leaders to develop a coordinated approach and program.
Smita has established Webster’s Regulatory Relations function which centrally coordinates and reports on interactions with the bank’s primary regulators, including key examinations and ongoing supervision. She also serves as Webster’s Privacy Officer and in this role, she is enhancing the Privacy Program including implementing Privacy by Design. She partners closely with the Business, Legal, Third Party Risk, Data, Infosec, and IT teams to assess, manage, and report on Privacy risks and controls.
Marysa Chiu
Head of Colleague Engagement & Experience and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Integra LifeSciences
Marysa Chiu is the Head of Colleague Engagement and Experience and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at Integra LifeSciences where she is responsible for the development and implementation of Integra’s global diversity and inclusion strategy.
Prior to joining the medtech company, Chiu was a director on the Talent, Development, and Inclusion Team at Gilead Sciences. There she led inclusion and diversity for the global commercial and corporate functions. Chiu was also responsible for launching several talent development and engagement programs and led a team of diversity business partners in the creation of functional diversity action plans across the company. Before Gilead, Chiu served as Dolby Laboratories’ first leader of diversity and inclusion. Chiu got her start in diversity and inclusion while at Time Warner (now WarnerMedia). There she held a variety of positions in corporate social responsibility, employee engagement, and ESG before managing diversity and multicultural marketing efforts for the media company.
She graduated with a master’s degree in cognitive studies from Columbia University and an undergraduate degree in psychology and communications from Fordham University. Chiu lives in Westchester County with her husband and twin boys.
Michelle McKenna
Senior Advisor & Partner, Evercore
Michelle McKenna is a Senior Advisor in Evercore’s corporate advisory business with a focus on technology, entertainment, and sports. She is a seasoned executive and experienced public board director, with experience leading large-scale transformations at America’s largest media and entertainment brands, Disney, Universal, and the NFL. As chief information officer of the NFL for 10 seasons, McKenna was responsible for the strategy and management of the league’s technology activities. She was also the executive sponsor of NFL’s Women’s Interactive Group and partnered with the NFL Sponsorship team to bring in a new era of technology partnerships with such entities as Microsoft, Amazon, Cisco, and Verizon. McKenna joined the NFL from Constellation Energy in Baltimore. She also has extensive experience in the media & entertainment industry as senior vice president and CIO at Universal Orlando Resort.
She spent over a decade at The Walt Disney Co. in finance and strategic planning, marketing, operations, and technology. She is on the board of WWE and recently participated in the landmark transaction to combine WWE and UFC with Endeavor. Earlier in her career, McKenna was a CPA and audit professional at PwC. McKenna was inducted into the CIO Hall of Fame and is an Outlier Award recipient for driving transformation. She was named a Crain’s New York Business’ Notable Women in Tech, and a Sports Business Journal Game Changer. She earned an undergraduate degree in accounting from Auburn University and an MBA from the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College.
Christine M. Riordan
President, Adelphi University
Christine M. Riordan was appointed in 2015 as the 10th president of Adelphi University in New York and the first woman to hold the role in the University’s 127-year history. Dr. Riordan is an established expert in leadership, team building, career success, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. She is also a seasoned and respected board member in the corporate and nonprofit sectors.
Dr. Riordan’s vision has transformed Adelphi into a nationally recognized modern metropolitan university. She spearheaded the development of the University’s strategic plan for 2022–2027, Momentum 2, with increasingly innovative goals and thoughtful input from more than 1,400 students, alumni, faculty, and staff. Under her leadership, the University community has grown more diverse than ever and launched more than 50 innovative new academic degree programs. For the fifth year in a row, U.S. News & World Report has named Adelphi a Best College among national universities and a Top Performer on Social Mobility. In 2022, Adelphi received the INSIGHT Into Diversity Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award for the fifth consecutive year. Dr. Riordan is a respected and experienced board member.
For more than eight years, she has served on the board of directors of RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. for which she is currently chair of the nominating and governance committee and serves on the compensation committee. She previously served as chair of the board and a member of the executive committee for the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities in New York, the association for the more than 100 private colleges and universities in the state. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she co-chaired the Higher Education Restart Task Force to develop reopening guidance for more than 230 New York higher education institutions. She is a trustee, serves on the steering committee, and is vice chair of the Long Island Regional Advisory Council on Higher Education board. She is a member of the Long Island Association (LIA) board of directors, a leading business organization on Long Island. Dr. Riordan is a National Association of Corporate Directors Board Leadership Fellow, the Gold Standard Director Credential.
Dr. Riordan has published 70 academic and business press articles and is authoring a book titled Shift Happens: How to Adapt and Thrive in a Rapidly Changing World of Work. She received her MBA and a PhD in organizational behavior from Georgia State University. She earned her undergraduate degree in textile engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Vanessa Yen
Partner & Member, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo, PC
With nearly 20 years of work experience, Vanessa Yen is a litigation partner whose practice focuses on complex IP patent litigations and disputes in the life sciences, including Hatch-Waxman and Biosimilars litigations, medical devices and technologies disputes, IPRs, licensing and arbitrations, counseling, prelitigation diligence, strategic assessment of IP for mergers and acquisitions, and more. Vanessa has never lost a trial on behalf of a client, and she has been commended for “exceptional skill sets and profound insights” (IAM Patent 1000, 2019).
Named as the U.S. Rising Star in IP, Vanessa handled one of the top litigations and disputes and achieved a patent litigation victory named Hatch-Waxman Impact Case of the Year. She was part of a team that obtained the first IPR victory for an Orange Book-listed patent dispute involved in a parallel Federal district court litigation.
As an MIT graduate, Vanessa has deep experience handling matters for clients in the life sciences and tech industries, as well as academic and nonprofit organizations. Experienced with trials before US district courts, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and IPRs before the PTAB, she is experienced in handling IP matters in various technologies, including cancer, HIV/AIDS, cannabis medicine, dermatology, femtech, prostate disorders, genetic vectors, molecular cloning, musculoskeletal disorders, smart WiFi photo frames.
Vanessa is currently on the Intellectual Property Owners Association's Amicus Briefing Committee. She regularly speaks and writes on developments in law and DEI matters. She sits on the Cornell Law School Alumni Executive Board. She served as partner co-chairperson of the Asian affinity group at her prior firm and is committed to DEI as an active member of multiple national bar associations and organizations dedicated to the same. Prior to law, Vanessa spent years conducting breast cancer research and genomic research while at MIT and Cold Spring Harbor Lab. She also worked at a top strategic management consulting firm serving Fortune 500 companies.
Missy Foristall
Global COO, DEPT®
For more than 25 years, Missy Foristall has spent her career driving innovation and digital transformation for both consumer and enterprise brands. As Global Chief Operating Officer and Americas CEO at DEPT®, Missy continues this work by bringing integrated end-to-end digital experiences to clients and their customers.
Prior to joining DEPT®, Missy was a VP of the digital business group at IBM in a number of digital transformation roles, from leading IBM’s 1,700-person internal agency to managing the digital design group and marketing platform products. Previously she also led digital marketing groups at Martha Stewart, JP Morgan Private Bank, and Razorfish. As managing director for Razorfish’s New York office and executive sponsor for a number of high-profile client accounts, Missy oversaw emerging platforms, creative, and delivery of projects. Missy is passionate about empowering women and providing support and mentoring. She leads the DEPT® Women’s Employee Resource Committee and has recently launched a Women’s Mentoring program. Originally born and raised in New York and a graduate of Hartwick College, Missy now lives in Connecticut with her husband and two teenage daughters.
Amanda McKenna
Tax Partner, Withum
Amanda McKenna is a Partner at Withum. With almost two decades of experience in financial services tax, McKenna has extensive experience in the alternative investments industry. She specializes in providing tax compliance and consulting services for venture capital, private equity, and hedge funds. Her primary focus is on partnership structures, including stand-alone entities, master-feeder structures, offshore funds, fund of funds, real estate entities, management companies, and general partner entities.
McKenna has a deep understanding of the complexities surrounding fund structures and brings a creative approach to her client’s tax planning. She is experienced in working with both domestic and international investment funds and advises on various structuring options to determine the best tax efficiency and impact on US and non-US limited partners. Her comprehensive knowledge of tax laws and regulations has proven invaluable to her clients in navigating the ever-changing tax landscape. She provides practical solutions to complex tax issues and is dedicated to helping her clients achieve their investment goals while minimizing tax liabilities. McKenna is an active member of the Women of Financial Services initiative at Withum to support, develop, and mentor future generations of women.
Sylvie Gadant
Partner and Practice Leader of Transaction Advisory Services, Citrin Cooperman
Sylvie Gadant is a Partner with Citrin Cooperman’s Private Equity and Capital Markets Practice and is the Transaction Advisory Services (TAS) practice leader. She leads buy-side and sell-side due diligence engagements for private equity firms, independent sponsors, family offices, and strategic buyers.
Prior to joining Citrin Cooperman, Sylvie was the principal-in-charge of the TAS practice at a top-20 national accounting firm, where she also spent more than 10 years with its audit and advisory practices. Previously, she served middle-market private companies across several industries for another public accounting firm.
Sylvie has advised clients on over 600 transactions valued between $5M and $300M, including platform investments, add-on acquisitions, leveraged recapitalizations, carve-outs, and minority investments. Her areas of expertise include analyzing an acquisition target’s quality of earnings, understanding key performance indicators, assessing working capital requirements, and identifying key deal issues and risk areas. She also provides her clients with guidance on accounting for mergers and acquisitions.
In 2017, Sylvie launched Citrin Cooperman’s Independent Sponsor Survey, which was the first of its kind. The subsequent reports continue to be the definitive resource on the state of the independent sponsor community. Sylvie is a frequent speaker, panelist, and moderator for various industry forums including the Kayo Private Equity Conference, the iGlobal Forum, the Association for Corporate Growth, the Exit Planning Exchange, and Expert Webcasts. She has been featured in business and industry publications, including Inc. Magazine, Forbes, PE Hub, Buyouts Magazine, Crain’s New York Business, and Accounting Today.
Juliska Koolman
Vice President & Chief of Staff, The Knot Worldwide
Juliska Koolman has a diverse background from paralegal to intelligence analyst in the United States Coast Guard through to multiple roles in eCommerce in corporate America. She uses this unique perspective and her organization and analytical skills to program manage the detailed implementation of eCommerce execution. This discipline helps her work quickly and effectively through the multiple layers of activity required to generate rapid eCommerce revenue.
Koolman is currently Vice President and Chief of Staff, eCommerce at The Knot Worldwide (TKWW). TKWW helps couples around the world navigate and enjoy life’s biggest moments together. As a global company, TKWW’s industry-leading websites, top-ranked mobile apps, and trusted resources provide the most sought-after information, connections, and services to engaged couples, newlyweds, and first-time parents everywhere. Her role as Vice President and Chief of Staff, eCommerce, focuses on strategy, planning, and operations.
Prior to joining TKWW, Koolman was a founding member of Alchemy-Rx, working with large and small brands to accelerate organic growth and value creation in digital and eCommerce. Prior, Koolman was chief of staff at Newell Brands where she was instrumental in scaling their eCommerce business to an over $1B global revenue engine. She attributes her success in business to her years as an intelligence analyst in the United States Coast Guard.
Charina Amunategui
Executive Director, Business Execution, Fund Finance, MUFG Investor Services
Charina Amunategui is an accomplished finance professional with over 20 years of experience in asset management operations across the UK, Canada, the US, and Bermuda. Currently, she is serving as Executive Director of Business Execution in Fund Finance at MUFG Investor Services, a subsidiary of MitsubishiUFJ Financial Group, one of the world’s largest banks. Amunategui’s track record includes consistently exceeding annual line of business profitability targets and managing large client relationships in diverse segments such as hedge funds, private equity, real estate, and infrastructure. She supports the well-being and growth of her colleagues at MUFG as a mental health first aider, coach, and mentor.
In addition to her professional achievements, Amunategui actively contributes to her industry and the global community. As the Chair of the 100 Women in Finance New York MidCareer Bridge, she leads efforts to provide women with the tools and resources needed for career progression. She is pursuing her MBA at Yale University, specializing in asset management, and was awarded a scholarship of merit for the Executives program. Amunategui’s global perspective was further enriched through her participation in the Global Network for Advance Management program at Oxford University.
Amunategui is a recognized expert in her field, featured in notable publications including Forbes, Global Investor Group, and Thrive Global. She is also a sought-after public speaker, delivering impactful speeches on topics such as personal branding, self-advocacy, and confidence building. Beyond her professional endeavors, Amunategui demonstrates her determination and resilience as a fitness competitor in the Wellness division of the North American Bodybuilding scene. She is excited to bring her financial and governance expertise to her roles as Treasurer on the boards of Inspiring Girls USA and New York Classical Theatre, where she aims to drive positive change.
Sue Suh
Chief Impact Officer, TIME
Sue Suh is the Chief Impact Officer of TIME. TIME is a global media brand built on 100 years of unparalleled trust and authority, with an audience of more than 100 million people worldwide across platforms. Their team is collaborative, innovative, and committed to TIME’s mission of informing, guiding, and engaging our audience with groundbreaking journalism, immersive experiences, and live events. Suh has over 20 years of experience. She began her career in 2001.
Before joining TIME, Suh was a managing director and senior advisor at The Rockefeller Foundation and before that a director for community outreach and on the board of directors at The Kind Exchange. Earlier in her career she worked with the US Department of State with multiple positions. Suh graduated from Columbia University in the City of New York with an MA in political science, from Nanyang Technological University with a master's degree in international relations and strategic studies, and from Princeton University with an undergraduate degree in politics.
Twyla Tiongson Neal
Managing Director, Accenture
Twyla Tiongson Neal is a seasoned executive with 20+ years of experience building and growing businesses in the tech industry. Neal has worked with clients in various capacities and is currently a Managing Director in the Cloud First Practice at Accenture. She has built a track record of success through her deep understanding of the strategic imperatives and challenges faced by clients. She leads high-performance teams that are focused on driving long-term value and solutions among clients.
Prior to joining Accenture in 2021, Neal led the Go-to-Market organizations of the Watson and Cloud divisions at IBM. She previously held several commercial leadership positions at GE Healthcare, including VP of global sales for analytics and AI, and Healthcare Digital North America. Neal’s passion for technology started in AI and Analytics, where she led software development and informatics teams at the Cancer Centers of Ohio State and Memorial Sloan-Kettering.
Driven by her passion for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Neal serves as a speaker and executive sponsor within several ERGs, including Asia-Pacific American (APA), Women, LGBTQA, founder of the APA Filipino Subgroup, and NYC executive sponsor for Upwardly Global, an organization that uplifts and supports the immigrant and refugee community.
Neal earned an undergraduate degree in molecular biology from Rutgers University, a master’s degree in health informatics from Rutgers University, and an MBA from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. Neal has a passion for culture and arts, loves to travel, eating her way across the globe; and enjoys the outdoors, running, skiing, and playing tennis. She resides with her husband and 2 young daughters in NYC, where she was also born and raised.
Robin Merritt
Chief People & Operations Officer, Gainsight
As a member of the executive leadership team at Gainsight, backed by Vista Private Equity, Robin Merritt serves as the Chief People & Operations Officer. In her role, Merritt leads global people strategy and company operations across 16 countries, 3 continents, and 1,500 employees. She is responsible for employee and organizational success, diversity, equity & inclusion, talent acquisition, the Office of the CEO, business operations, and social impact.
Merritt founded Pulse Impact, Gainsight’s social impact arm which sits within the Office of the CEO. Under her leadership, Pulse Impact has launched two principal programs that address job creation, lack of diversity, and income acceleration across the Customer Success industry. CS YOU is the industry’s first-ever Customer Success Associate program for underrepresented minorities. To date, nearly 300 individuals have graduated from the CS YOU program - these associates have earned a total of $14M in income expansion in their full-time career placements. Gainsight Admin Leadership League (GS ALL) is designed to train mothers returning to work as Gainsight admins. Based in India, the GS ALL program addresses the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on mothers, providing them with training and career opportunities to expand their wages and support their children. Established in 2022, the pilot program has seen ~20 graduates to date with 80% returning mothers. Merritt continues to trailblaze the transformation of the industry’s double bottom line (profit and people), raising over $2M for global giving and founding the global Impact effort at Gainsight.
Merritt’s early career began at Bridgewater Associates, the largest and best-performing hedge fund in the world. In 2015 she joined Box where, on the CEO’s team, she directed global internal communications across 4 continents, 9 countries, and 2,000+ employees. Merritt earned her undergraduate degree in communications and marketing from Fairfield University graduating Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and with honors in six world languages.
Britt Groosman
VP of Climate-Smart Agriculture, Environmental Defense Fund
Britt Groosman is Vice President of Climate-Smart Agriculture at the Environmental Defense Fund. The Climate-Smart agriculture work focuses on working with farmers, the food and finance industries, researchers, and policymakers to make agriculture more climate-smart (both adaptation and mitigation), profitable and resilient. Their approach focuses on building the scientific, economic, and political case for a transition to climate-smart agriculture while pushing for new investments and policies that reward these practices. By clearly demonstrating the economic benefits for the agricultural sector, we can drive lasting change. The end result is a triple win; keeping farmers farming and land in production, bolstering food security, and securing a safer climate and environment for all people.
Previously, Britt served as VP of global climate at EDF, focused on the use of market-based climate policies throughout major economies including China, Brazil, and India. She has over 25 years of experience as a strategic leader, environmental economist, and advocate working across sectors including agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and energy in the US, EU, India, China, and Brazil.
Oksana Matviichuk
Strategic Forecaster, OM Strategic Forecasting
Oksana Matviichuk is a media and communication executive with 15+ years of experience. Agile and committed strategist, she led integrated planning for Lenovo, Verizon, Ford, IBM, and Dell EMC, driving brand metrics and demand. She is a thought leader, a Forbes author, and an expert panelist. She is the co-author of the USA - Today anthology Game On: Leaders Who Last.
Oksana has a deep understanding of digital and performance marketing, focusing on full-funnel building, and offering engaging and smooth audience experiences. She has a robust conceptual approach to strategy and can bring it to the granularity needed for successful execution. She also translates business goals into marketing objectives and media KPIs.
Oksana is a Harvard Disruptive Strategy program alumna. An innovator and a challenger, she is always striving to test new media and discover new ways of engaging consumers. A brand builder, she successfully led the planning and execution of brand campaigns for Lenovo, Verizon, Ford, and IBM Security and knows how to find the right balance between brand, demand, and sales investments. A proven data storyteller, results-driven, and fluent in the data language, Oksana translates audience insights into media metrics, keeping an eye on diminishing returns. She has a proven track record in strategy, media, B2B, performance, and integrated marketing.
Emily Gates
Senior Vice President of Customer Success, Dataminr
Emily Gates is a seasoned go-to-market SaaS executive leader with over 20 years of experience building effective global teams, driving change management, and leveraging technology and data to meet revenue goals, ROI, and happy client partnerships. She is passionate about customer experience and thrives on building great teams that enable client success and positive business impact through relationships and technology. Her leadership style is authentic with a strong bias for action and a rigorous approach to operational execution and excellence. In her current role at Dataminr, Emily has built the customer success organization from the ground up, developed a post-sales engagement model to drive retention and growth, and defined and built a strategic corporate solutions overlay team and a pre-sales solution engineering team, all aligning to strategic growth initiatives.
Prior to joining Dataminr, Emily was a VP of customer success, enterprise, and global for BrightEdge, providing an SEO and content marketing platform solution. Before that, she led as SVP of Global Client Service for Return Path, an email deliverability and optimization platform. For many years she lived abroad in London working for Ipsos, one of the world’s largest market research organizations, as a global SVP, where she helped build a social media research and innovation business unit throughout Europe, LATAM, and APAC. In her free time, Emily is a global roamer, visiting 43 countries to date and many more on her bucket list. She is also a foodie, a wine connoisseur, a music lover, and an active athlete and yogi.
Kirsten Marchioli
SVP & Team Lead of Manufacturer Solutions, GoodRx
Kirsten Marchioli is a Senior Vice President and Team Lead of the Pharma Manufacturer Solutions business at GoodRx. GoodRx’s mission is to build better ways for people to find the right care at the best price. The company’s goal is to provide all Americans, regardless of income or insurance status, the knowledge, choice, and care they need to stay healthy.
Prior to GoodRx, Marchioli worked in leadership roles across marketing, sales, and business development at ConnectiveRx, Trusted Media Brands - where she was group publisher for WebMD, Time, Inc., AOL Time Warner, and Warner Bros. Online. Marchioli graduated from Loyola College of Maryland with an undergraduate degree in English and psychology.
Brenna Eller
Chief Communications Officer, Canopy Growth Corporation
Brenna Eller is a results-driven senior communications professional, who has spent the past decade helping architect strategic communications for some of the world's most iconic brands. As the Chief Communications Officer at global cannabis leader, Canopy Growth, Eller has transformed the company’s communications function from the inside out, while also setting the standard for communications excellence within the cannabis industry. Through her innovative communications strategies and tactics, Eller has also been a trailblazer committed to redefining how cannabis is understood as a multifaceted product to improve lives.
During her time at Canopy, Eller has also been instrumental in the development of Canopy’s corporate social responsibility program and led the communications strategy to support the launch of Canopy USA, a US-based holding company.
Prior to joining Canopy, Eller held several roles at Samsung America, including serving as the Head of Corporate Communications, where she oversaw the strategy and implementation of communication initiatives that promoted and protected the reputation of Samsung Electronics in North America. In this role, she led the Corporate Reputation Team as the company navigated through multiple reputational issues, including the Samsung Note7 recall – the largest consumer product recall to date. Eller is the communications expert who is sought after and trusted by C-Suite leadership for her unique expertise, unmatched diligence, and innovative approach to brand protection and elevation.
Anne-Claire Berg
Chief People and Impact Officer, Gen II Fund Services
Anne-Claire Berg brings to Gen II, the market leader in Private Equity administration, over 20 years of HR and business experience from a wide range of industries, including the financial, media, luxury, and food sectors. She is passionate about driving change and impact with and through people. Berg’s expertise is aligning strategy, organization, culture, and skills to foster high performance and sustainable growth. She is well known for attracting and developing talents and teams, fostering an inclusive culture of ownership and empowerment, and leading large-scale, complex transformations.
Prior to joining Gen II, Berg held senior positions at Danone as the global head of culture and engagement, the secretary-general, and the head of intellectual property – in the US and Europe. Earlier in her career, Berg co-founded LUXE.TV, the world-wide, leading television network dedicated to luxury and to the art of living.
Berg started her career at King & Spalding LLP in New York. She is a member of the NY Bar and holds a Master of Laws from New York University and an Executive MBA from the HEC School of Management. A recognized thought leader on sustainability and inclusive growth, Berg is a regular speaker for high-visibility events such as the United Nations WEP Forum (Women Empowerment Principles). She is also a guest lecturer for Harvard University regarding sustainability and leadership. Passionate about joining forces with like-minded peers, Berg serves various industry, educational, and community organizations, including as a board member of the HEC Alumni Committee.
Lara Pedrini
Global Head, Exiger
Lara Pedrini, Global Head at Exiger, brings more than 12 years of experience in the Governance, Risk and Compliance space. At Exiger, Pedrini has led multi-million-dollar engagements with clients, from identifying customer needs and larger business objectives to designing solutions that fulfill these needs and meet rapidly evolving regulatory requirements. As a trusted advisor to Exiger’s clients, Pedrini has worked extensively as a due diligence specialist and Supply Chain Risk Management expert, providing valuable insights and unique perspectives on new laws and regulations, and how to leverage AI and automation technologies in compliance programs and initiatives. Exiger is a global leading third-party and supply chain management software company; its work has been recognized by over 35 AI, RegTech, and Supply Chain partner awards. Exiger is revolutionizing the way corporations, government agencies, and banks manage risk and compliance in their third parties, supply chains, and customers through its software and tech-enabled solutions. Emboldening its 550 customers across the globe, including 150 in the Fortune 500, with award-winning AI technology, Exiger leads the way in ESG, cyber, financial crime, third-party, and supply chain management.
Pedrini joined Exiger from Dow Jones Risk & Compliance where she was responsible for advising institutional clients on knowing their customers, anti-money laundering, anti-bribery and corruption, and sanctions solutions, as well as providing transactional diligence and enhanced due diligence on high-risk clients and third parties. Prior to joining Dow Jones, Pedrini worked at Diligence where she conducted enhanced due diligence reviews for financial institutions and corporate clients. In this role, Pedrini also supported the firm’s investigations practice, focusing primarily on FCPA investigations, litigation support, business intelligence (competitive analysis and influence mapping), and complex cross-border asset tracing (ownership and corporate structure mapping).
Pedrini holds a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a master’s from the Paris Institute of Political Studies. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of St Andrews with an undergrad in international relations and economics.
Robyn Hannigan
President-Elect, Ursinus College
Robyn E. Hannigan, a globally recognized environmental scientist and thought leader, was appointed the 19th president of Ursinus College by the Ursinus Board of Trustees. She began her presidency on July 1, 2022. Hannigan distinguishes herself by articulating a vision for the liberal arts that is grounded in the public good. She speaks eloquently about how colleges like Ursinus—institutions fully committed to undergraduate, residential education—uniquely prepare students to become problem-solvers who view today’s greatest issues through a cross-disciplinary lens.
She reflects the very best of our own mission, a curious and lifelong learner whose own unique lived experience as a first-generation student and descendant of the Narragansett Indian Tribe has resulted in an unwavering commitment to access and opportunity for every student.
An accomplished researcher with four patents, Hannigan founded two separate start-ups improving technological and diagnostical processes. She was provost of Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY; was the founding dean of the School for the Environment at the University of Massachusetts Boston; a policy officer at the National Science Foundation, and a professor at Arkansas State University. She is the author of more than 100 peer-reviewed articles; is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Chemical Society’s Camile and Henry Dreyfus Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students into Careers in the Chemical Sciences; and is a fellow of the Geological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. A graduate of The College of New Jersey, Hannigan holds a master’s degree from SUNY Buffalo and master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Rochester.
Though these professional achievements are noteworthy for transforming her field of work, Hannigan speaks about how these opportunities opened greater doors for her students, resulting in meaningful partnerships and friendships that have grown over time. Her willingness to engage with every student, providing untraditional avenues for growth and potential, will propel Ursinus forward at a time when society is seeking out our most creative and inventive problem solvers.
Nicole Thomas
Talent Manager, Morningstar Inc.
Nicole Thomas is a Talent Manager for Morningstar Inc. She currently administers two global learning programs in collaboration with colleagues in the EU, EMEA, and North America. Thomas has spent over a decade in the training and development field, focusing on leadership, facilitation, and curriculum design. She has worked in both the finance and healthcare sectors.
Prior to joining Morningstar, Thomas served as AVP of learning and development for DBRS, and before that, she served as an organizational capability manager for Healthfirst. She has also served as AVP of training and documentation for Pershing. Thomas is an advisory board member for the Customer Experience Certification at Ithaca College. She is an accredited coach with the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and holds a master’s degree in organizational leadership. Thomas is published as the HR director and shares her knowledge on Medium and in published works.
Lauren Stanich
Chief Membership Officer, Consumer Reports
Lauren Stanich is the Chief Membership Officer of Consumer Reports. In her role, she is responsible for $220M P&L and oversees core operational areas including marketing, digital, content, testing, and research and data science.
Prior to her current role, Stanich was the chief marketing officer where she led marketing strategies across all the organization's platforms, with a focus on driving membership, branding, and audience strategy to help expand CR's reach and impact. Before joining CR, she served as the president and CEO of Swirled. Prior to that, Stanich ran the consumer health business at Everyday Health, where she led the company's consumer health digital and mobile product development, premium services, and wellness solutions businesses. She also held leadership positions at Meredith and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Stanich earned her undergraduate degree in economics and European history from the University of Pennsylvania and her MBA from Columbia University.
Helene Banks
Partner, Cahill Gordon & Reindel
As chair of Cahill’s M&A and Corporate Advisory practice groups, Helene Banks advises publicly held and private companies in significant corporate and securities matters, with particular emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and capital markets transactions. She has represented sellers, acquirers, targets, financial institutions, shareholders, and investors in M&A transactions, spin-offs, joint ventures, private and public equity and debt offerings, and tender offers. Her work ranges from managing complex international transactions for large public companies to guiding owners through investments in their privately held businesses. Her breadth of experience gives her a unique ability to spot and solve issues and understand all aspects of complicated situations.
Helene is recognized as a leading M&A lawyer by The Legal 500 and is recognized for both M&A and Capital Markets Debt & Equity by IFLR1000 2020. In 2021, she was shortlisted for Women in Business, Law Lawyer of the Year: Corporate Governance. She was also named among the 2020 Notable Women in Law by Crain’s New York Business.
Helene frequently speaks and writes on ESG, corporate governance, and board diversity issues. She has been published in Practical Law and NACD BoardTalk and has spoken on this topic at The Deal’s Corporate Governance conference and Mergers & Acquisitions’ Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A Speak event.
Jodie Gunzberg
Head of Strategic Partnerships, Cboe Global Markets
Jodie M. Gunzberg is the Global Strategy Group lead for partnerships and critical commercial relationships for Cboe. In her role, she interfaces with multidisciplinary Cboe teams to evaluate existing partnerships, identify growth opportunities, and execute those opportunities. Jodie identifies and establishes new partnerships that can deliver value for customers and long-term growth. She developed commercial policy and strategy concerning complex multi-party arrangements with partners, such as consortia formation, expansion into emerging business lines, and establishment of global fund issuer services.
Prior to joining Cboe, Jodie was a managing director at CoinDesk Indices. Before joining CoinDesk, she was the chief institutional investment strategist for wealth management at Morgan Stanley. She served as head of the Graystone Investment Office supporting the investment needs of Graystone Consulting, which include the supervision and guidance of the Graystone Discretionary program.
Previously, Gunzberg was the managing director and head of USEquities at S&P Dow Jones Indices where she was responsible for the product management of US Equity indices, including the S&P 500 and The Dow, the most followed equity indices in the world. She joined S&P DJI in 2010 as director of commodities product management. Prior to that, she spent several years in investment consulting at Ibbotson and Morningstar and was the chief investment strategist for Marco Consulting, where she advised roughly 350 Taft-Hartley plans with $85B in assets. Gunzberg started her career as an actuarial associate at New York Life Insurance Company and subsequently worked as a quantitative analyst and portfolio manager on the buy side.
Gunzberg is a CFA charter holder and is an Education Advisory Committee member and curriculum consultant of the CFA Institute. She is also a former member of the board of directors for CFA NY and CFA Chicago and founded the CFA New Jersey Group of CFA NY. She currently serves on the advisory board for the Department of Finance of Hofstra University and on the Industry Advisory Council and editorial advisory board for the Global Commodities Applied Research Digest at the University of Colorado Denver Business School’s J.P. Morgan Center for Commodities. She received her MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, and earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Emory University.
Radhika Duggal
Chief Marketing Officer, Super
Radhika Duggal is a C-level marketer, transformational leader, and builder of high-performing brand and growth marketing teams. She is a passionate, hands-on leader equally capable of building results-oriented marketing functions from the ground up and managing existing high-performing teams. She has cultivated these capabilities over two decades of brand and growth marketing work across management consulting, startups, and Fortune 100 companies.
Duggal specializes in building and leading multidisciplinary brand, growth, product marketing, and communications teams, using research and insights to deliver positioning, messaging, and award-winning campaigns that drive brand love and cultivate a general manager mindset and P&L ownership to drive profitable growth. She earned an MBA in marketing from Columbia Business School and an undergraduate degree in marketing and international business from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University. She also teaches Consumer Behavior at the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.
Joele Frank
Managing Partner, Joele Frank Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
Joele Frank is the Founder and Managing Partner of Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher. Founded in 2000, the firm has ranked #1 in M&A since 2013. For more than 30 years, Frank has been a trusted advisor to executive teams and Boards of Directors as they manage through some of the most complex situations in their company’s history. Having played a major role in more than 3,000 M&A transactions and special situations, Frank understands the impact of communications on corporate reputation and a company’s ability to achieve its overall business objectives. She has been named to PRWeek’s Hall of Fame and Inside PR’s Hall of Fame as an All-Star for Investor Relations, and she has appeared on PRWeek’s PR Power List of The 25 Top PR Industry Leaders.
Kesha Carter
Chief Diversity Officer, Coordinated Care Services, Inc.
Kesha Carter is the Chief Diversity Officer for CCSI. There she leads the organizational strategy on diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and antiracism. She has facilitated DEI workshops, conversations, and trainings, both locally and nationally. Carter has developed policies and programs to attract, retain, and promote a diverse workforce leading to greater employee engagement.
Carter is a Certified Diversity Executive and holds a Six Sigma Green Belt, as well as a Professional Human Resources certification from the Human Resource Capital Institute. Integrally involved in the community, she is a board member of Rochester RHIO, The Women’s Council, Mission Fulfilled, and Willow Domestic Violence Center and is also a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated.
Carter earned her undergraduate degree in organizational leadership, as well as a Master of Science in Business Administration and Management, both from Keuka College. She brings over 15 years of experience to her role and is committed to creating continuous growth through education and collaboration.
Lynn Mestel
Founder and President, HCMC Legal, Mestel & Company
Lynn Mestel is the Founder of HCMC Legal, Mestel & Company, a national leader in the legal recruitment industry, and Hire Counsel, one of the top five temporary legal staffing and legal outsourcing companies in the United States. In 1987 she opened Mestel & Company from a one-room office to service the careers of associates and partners and help facilitate law firm mergers. In 1993, she founded Hire Counsel to staff the growing demand for temporary lawyers and managed legal services. In 2011 she brought in private equity partners and sold the stock of both companies to her employees, creating the only 100% employee-owned company in the legal staffing sector, providing both full-time and temporary legal staff equity and profit participation. In March 2017 she transitioned her role from CEO, President to a new CEO, President.
Upon graduation from law school, Mestel began her career as a marketing executive at two of the world’s largest advertising agencies, Doyle Dane Bernbach and Saatchi & Saatchi, servicing the CIGNA and Procter & Gamble accounts. She attributes this unique experience to her understanding of business and marketing, skills largely undeveloped within the legal profession at the time she started Mestel & Company.
Mestel serves as a director on the Douglas Elliman Board and is a Member of the Audit Committee and a Member of the Compensation Committee. She is on the Women Creating Change Leadership Council at Columbia University and is a Member of The Economic Club of New York. She has been recognized by The American Lawyer, Crain’s, Forbes, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal as one of the preeminent professionals in her field. She was named to the National Law Journal’s 2013 inaugural list of 50 Business of Law Trailblazers & Pioneers and also named to LawDragon’s 100 Legal Consultants You Need to Know. Mestel graduated from the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Phi Beta Kappa. She also attended The Julliard School.
Barrett Golden
Partner, Joele Frank
A founding member of Joele Frank, Barrett Golden advises boards and management teams facing complex, high-profile events including proxy contests, mergers and acquisitions, unsolicited takeovers, and special situations that threaten the company’s reputation, and their leadership’s credibility. Her clients are across sectors and include large, global public corporations as well as smaller, private enterprises both within the US and abroad.
Over her 20 years with Joele Frank, she has advised scores of companies in their engagement with, and proxy contests against, some of the most prominent activist investors -- Carl Icahn, D.E. Shaw, Elliott Management, JANA, Starboard, Third Point, Trian, and ValueAct, among others. A trusted M&A advisor, she develops and executes multi-stakeholder communications strategies that have influenced successful outcomes in hundreds of unsolicited, shareholder-contested, and negotiated M&A transactions.
Barrett’s crisis management experience touches a wide range of issues from the C-suite to the heart of a company’s culture – restatements and/or accounting fraud, misconduct allegations, ethical violations, management changes, short attacks, cybersecurity, regulatory investigations/actions, product liability and recalls, litigation, workplace violence, among others. She received an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia, where she also attended the University’s McIntire Institute for Business.
Sunita Bajaj
Managing Director & Registered Principal, Fortis Lux Financial
With 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, Sunita Bajaj is the Managing Director for Fortis Lux Financial. She is a Registered Principal and responsible for over 100 financial professionals and advisors, along with her leadership team. She holds her securities licenses and is a Registered Principal. She started her career as an advisor and financial planner in 2002 and built long-term relations with her clients before she assumed a leadership role in 2008. She is dedicated to attracting talented and quality advisors who are committed to helping clients achieve their financial goals through a comprehensive approach to financial empowerment. She is committed to the growth of financial professionals through practice acquisition and succession planning as well as by creating business development opportunities and strategic alliances through her extensive network and experience.
Bajaj is a former member of the Financial Planning Association, Women in Financial Services, and the American Association of Life Underwriters. Most recently, she was invited to be a part of the CHIEF network, the only private network of women leaders and executives.
Serving on the board of directors for the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce as an EVP for 12 years, she has been engaged in the community through her volunteer work for various social and economic initiatives. Bajaj was awarded the 2016 Corporate Social Responsibility Award by City & State Reports. She is also the NYC co-chair of the International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge, an organization focused on providing a platform for women business owners, entrepreneurs, and business leaders. Bajaj has a master’s degree in history. She resides in New York City and enjoys arts and culture, and Broadway Theatre. She likes spending time with family/friends and loves to travel.
Salomé Jean
Chief People & Talent Officer, Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC
As the Chief People & Talent Officer (CPTO), Salomé Jean provides leadership and strategic vision for talent acquisition, career development, compensation and benefits, diversity and inclusion, HR compliance, and employee relations. Her ultimate goal is to maximize the company’s investment in human capital, driving innovation that not only promotes internal cohesion and synergy among all departments but also creates a platform to elevate employees to become effective leaders within the organization.
She has over 20+ years of combined human resources generalist and operations management in shaping and leading retail teams, as well as leveraging entrepreneurial drive and market acumen to achieve results. Salomé has been a successful nonprofit HR leader excelling in employee relations, always striving to be a force of change in providing an outstanding employee experience while harnessing leading technologies to accomplish core business goals. In her current role, leading the people and Talent team in NYC, Salome is a passionate driver for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC. Salomé's prior HR practitioner experiences have seeded in her the necessity and urgency to remain inclusive, transparent, and accountable in her work. Moreover, she brings significant experience and passion for working with youth-serving organizations.
Salomé serves as the liaison to the Board of Trustees Human Resources Committee and drives strategic policy updates and changes at the organization. She holds a degree in operation management from Baruch College and a human resources generalist degree from C.W. Post LIU.
Heather Berti
Vice President of People Services, Arlo Hotels
Heather Berti is the Vice President of People Services for Arlo Hotels, a string of boutique hotels in NYC and Miami that offer social hubs, cozy workspaces, and safe havens in the coolest and most vibrant cities. Berti’s passion for people and culture led her to a career in human resources, specifically in the hospitality sector. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Berti launched her career in New York City in 2015. Her entrepreneurial mindset assisted in launching the Arlo Hotels brand. She has successfully aided Arlo Hotels in being named Crain's Top 100 Best Places Work for consecutive years.
Berti has been credited with creating the company culture in the early days, recruiting and training staff for the first two Arlo hotels in New York. She is known for bringing everyone together as a uniquely engaged and collaborative team with an unwavering commitment to fostering learning, growth, and enjoyment. She is said to be the key to holding their teams together through the challenges of the pandemic, juggling many conflicting and emotionally taxing tasks.
Prior to Arlo Hotels, Berti was the director of people services for tommie Hotels and before that a director of people services with Thompson Hotels. She’s family-oriented and has taken that mindset and applied it to her professional environment. Outside of her work, she has a passion for health and wellness, is an avid runner, and loves boxing. Berti graduated from Saint Mary's University with an undergraduate degree in psychology and from George Brown College with a certificate in human resource management.
Madeline Marquez
EVP and Chief External Affairs Officer, Ponce Bank
Madeline Marquez is the Chief External Affairs Officer of Ponce Bank. She joined Ponce Bank in 2017 as an SVP. Founded in 1960, Ponce Bank has earned a reputation for serving the needs of their communities. With 13 branches in the New York and New Jersey area, Ponce Bank continues its commitment to delivering quality products and services and encouraging long-term banking relationships.
Marquez also serves as the Executive Director of the Ponce De Leon Foundation and oversees Government Affairs for the Bank. Prior to Ponce Bank, Marquez served as the EVP of The Business Initiative Corporation of New York. She has received many honors for her role in fueling the growth of businesses and organizations throughout New York. She has earned an undergraduate degree in bilingual and multilingual education from SUNY Old Westbury.
Amanda Willinger
Chief Revenue Officer, LAGOS
Amanda Willinger is an experienced executive who has a demonstrated history of transforming luxury brands to compete in the digital age. As Chief Revenue Officer for LAGOS, she brings intellectual and strategic rigor to the role, which helps evolve and propel the business forward. Always inspired by beautiful things, Willinger started her career in the art world working for such esteemed brands as Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips De Pury. Prior to joining LAGOS, Willinger held senior positions at IPPOLITA and David Yurman, where she successfully grew those digital businesses.
Willinger’s philosophy is that a great product begins and ends with a superior user experience. She believes that decisions should be informed by data yet infused with an elegant point of view – a great blend of art and science. This, along with championing talent recruitment and building a collaborative team, is the most important key to her success.
Cara Pearson
VP of Client and Revenue Services, Trail of Bits
With over 12 years in consulting services, Cara Pearson is a customer success and revenue-focused leader. She currently serves as the Vice President of Client and Revenue Services at Trail of Bits, a distinguished cybersecurity consulting firm in New York City. With a career marked by project management, strategic client partnerships, business development, and a passion for delivering outstanding results, Cara plays a pivotal role in Trail of Bits' reputation, client base, revenue growth, and mission to safeguard organizations from cyber threats and vulnerabilities.
In previous consulting roles at Rapid7, EnerNOC, and SRA International, Cara has always been client-facing, ensuring the best client experience when delivering services. She actively promotes the cyber security industry through social platforms, attends conferences, and Trail of Bits’ monthly New York meetup, Empire Hacking.
When she’s not in the office, Cara’s hobbies include traveling, skiing, hiking, and connecting with friends and family. With a career marked by a commitment to enhancing client experience, strategy, and business development, Cara is a force to be reckoned with in the world of client and revenue services.
Amanda Fajak
CEO, Walking the Talk
Amanda Fajak is the Chief Executive Officer of Walking the Talk, one of the world’s leading specialist consultancies in organizational culture. As an expert in culture transformation, Fajak has over 25 years of experience in enhancing performance results by aligning culture with strategy and creating workplaces for the future. Fajak and the Walking the Talk team have impacted over 200 organizations, from start-ups to some of the world’s largest companies, on how they build their company culture as a strategic asset, working with over 50,000 leaders in the process. Continually challenging the status quo through applied research into the future of work and innovative product design, Fajak regularly shares her expertise through CEO advisory and keynote speeches.
Fajak’s professional career spans Europe, Asia, the Americas and Australia. She has a master’s degree in organizational behavior from the University of London and has been published in the British Journal of Social Psychology on the topic of Diversity and Inclusion. She was a contributor to the World Book of Values as well as being involved in developing the Australian National Diploma in change management and has operated as an advisor to the UK government on culture.
Jacquelyn Lane
President, 100 Coaches Agency
Jacquelyn Lane is the President of 100 Coaches Agency, an organization designed to amplify the collective impact of the world’s most iconic leadership thinkers and executive coaches. She is the co-designer of 100 Coaches Agency proprietary curation process and the company’s relationship-first philosophy. In her role as President, she oversees the growth and development of the agency, serves as a critical pillar of the 100 Coaches community, and is a member of the editorial team that selects the authors and titles published in their new book imprint, 100 Coaches Publishing.
Together with legendary coach Marshall Goldsmith and 100 Coacehs CEO Scott Osman, Lane is a Wall Street Journal bestselling co-author of Becoming Coachable: Unleashing the Power of Executive Coaching to Transform Your Leadership and Life.
Judith Clarke
Vice President of Equity & Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer, Stony Brook University and Health Systems
Dr. Judith Brown Clarke is the Vice President for Equity & Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer for Stony Brook University and Health System. She reports directly to the University President and sits on the university’s senior leadership teams, including the President’s Cabinet, University Council, Vice Presidents Council, and Campus Climate. She possesses over 18 years of experience working on senior management teams shaping strategic plans for diversity and establishing infrastructures for inclusive excellence and equity sustainability. She has a strong portfolio in grant funding and has demonstrated effective collection, analysis, problem-solving, and predictive analytical processes using benchmarked metrics that directly align with the institution’s goals.
Clarke is currently an American Association of State Colleges and Universities 2022 Millennium Leadership Initiative Fellow, Chair of the Association of American Universities CDO Steering Committee, Co-Chair for the United States Anti-Doping Agency, Harvard Advanced Leadership Senior Fellow, and an external advisory committee member for three NSF-funded Science and Technology Centers - Center for Cellular Construction, Center for Oldest Ice Exploration and Bio-Computation Evolution in Action Network.
Formerly, Clarke was a member of the External Advisory Committee for W.K. Kellogg Biological Research Station, Director’s Research Advisory Committee for MSU National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, International Advisory Committee for the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, and External Advisory Committee member for Nevada’s EPSCoR Grant for the Study of Solar, Wind and Water Power. She has experienced great athletic success, she is a 4-time national collegiate champion, 12-time Big Ten Champion, 3-time Pan American Games gold medalist, 1984 Olympic Silver Medalist, and 1987 Sports Illustrated Woman of the Year.
Lisette Nieves
President, Fund for the City of New York
Lisette Nieves is the President of the Fund for the City of New York. She first joined the organization in 2020. The Fund for the City of New York was established by the Ford Foundation in 1968 with the mandate to improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers. The Fund seeks out, adapts, applies, and assesses ways to enable government and nonprofit agencies to achieve excellence through its core programs.
Previously, Nieves was a distinguished clinical professor at NYU Steinhardt and before that a co-founder of Lingo Ventures. She has also held senior leadership positions in municipal government at the Dept for Youth and Community Development in the Bloomberg administration and the Corporation for National Service in the Clinton Administration. Nieves received an undergraduate degree from Brooklyn College, a bachelor's and master's degree from the University of Oxford, an MPA from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and a doctorate with distinction in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.
Hazel Jack
VP for University Outreach & Chief of Staff to the President, Colgate University
Hazel Jack is Vice President for University Outreach and Chief of Staff to the President for Colgate University. She serves as chief communications officer and member of the President’s Cabinet. Hazel leads the development and execution of all areas related to university communications, reputation management, presidential communications and outreach, university-wide events, and the management of the president's office.
Beyond Jack’s professional responsibilities, she is an active member of the community and serves on the board of directors for Community Memorial Hospital and A Better Chance Clinton. She earned an undergraduate degree in business administration from Pace University, an MBA, and a master’s degree in education from Baruch College. She is currently pursuing a PhD in higher education at Syracuse University.
Sara Faitelson
Founder and CEO, Stiletto Financial
Sara Faitelson is a Financial Educator and retirement income specialist. Faitelson founded Stiletto Financial in 2019 because she realized women were looking for education. They were also looking for guidance when it came to how to make independent financial decisions. With over 13 years of experience, she decided to create a whole new language: “Shoeology.” She teaches finance with the use of shoes to help women who are separated, divorced, widowed, and are looking for advice on how to make independent financial decisions. Faitelson's goal is to serve as a resource for women to explore and incorporate components of a comprehensive strategy to help ensure their value, security, and future are valued.
Jessica Nauiokas
Executive Director, Mott Haven Academy Charter School
Jessica Nauiokas is the Executive Director of Mott Haven Academy Charter School. In the absence of traditional public schools that could fully respond to the unique needs of child welfare-involved youth, Haven Academy partnered with The New York Foundling in 2008 to become the first effort of its kind in the country. Haven Academy has become a unique and nationally recognized model, designed to meet the academic and social-emotional needs of a student population that has experienced significant trauma. In 2015, Nauiokas was selected by the US Department of Education to serve as a Principal Ambassador Fellow, giving counsel and opinion to the US Secretary of Education. Before she was appointed Principal, she was the Director of School Development at the NYC Center for Charter School Excellence. Nauiokas has been a New Leaders for New Schools Fellowship Recipient and an Adjunct Professor for NYC Teaching Fellows. She began her career in education as a Teach for America corps member in Washington DC.
In 2019, Nauiokas was honored with the Jefferson Award for Outstanding Public Service. Nauiokas received a 2017 Black Board Award for Outstanding School Leadership. She was featured in Richard Whitmire's 2016 book 'The Founders' for her innovative work on child welfare education reform. In 2013, Nauiokas was NY1's New Yorker of the Week and was the feature of a news story that aired throughout the week. New York Family Magazine selected Nauiokas as one of its “Heroes” in the November 2011 issue and described Nauiokas as “A Principal for the Neediest”. As a teacher, she was a Kennedy Center Grant Recipient and she received the Most Dedicated Teacher Award at Malcolm X Elementary. Nauiokas has a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in addition to an undergraduate degree in social work from the University of New Hampshire. She completed a master’s in school administration and holds a School District Administrator’s license in New York.
Erin Mote
CEO, InnovateEDU
Erin Mote is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of InnovateEDU. She leads the organization and its major projects including technology product development, work on data interoperability and data systems, and an urban education Fellowship for new educators. She leads the organization’s work on creating uncommon alliances to create systems change - in special education, talent development, and data modernization. An enterprise architect, she created, alongside her team, two of InnovateEDU’s signature technology products - Cortex, a next-generation personalized learning platform, and Landing Zone - a cutting-edge infrastructure as a service data product.
Erin is also the co-founder of Brooklyn Laboratory Charter School with her husband Dr. Eric Tucker. She is a recognized leader in technology, mobile, and broadband and has spent much of her career focused on expanding access to technology in the US and abroad. She has led ground-breaking initiatives, including scaling wireless communications to the developing world, developing global and national strategic technology plans, and work with the country’s leading technology companies. Erin has served in an advisory capacity to the White House/OSTP’s US Ignite Initiative, the Obama Administration’s Global Development Innovation Policy, the State Department’s TechCamp program, and the Obama Administration’s intra-agency process for Rio 2.0 and Rio+20. Erin served as the founding Chief of Party for the USAID Global Broadband and Innovations Alliance – a $19.5M global technology expansion project.
Erin has served in senior positions with CHF International and Coulter Companies after starting her career as the Director of External and Strategic Relations for Arizona State University. A recognized leader in alliance building, Erin serves in an advisory capacity for several leading international organizations including Digital Promise, SXSWedu Launch, XPrize, and the Barbara Bush Foundation. She is an Aspen Institute Socrates scholar and a proud alumnus of the University of Michigan.
Josephine Guzman
Sr. Director of Physician Relations, Northwell Health
Josephine is a highly skilled, accomplished, and award-winning executive. She has served in leadership roles within diverse industries including healthcare, pharmaceutical, and hospitality. Her responsibilities have included business development, marketing, community outreach, new program development and administration, operations, budgets/P&Ls, institution branding, and public relations. In addition, she has been at the forefront of diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Guzman’s responsibilities have included the management of the relationship of a 500-physician healthcare network, practice management of a multi-physician and multi-location practice, the development of the LatinX community outreach and marketing campaign for one of the system hospitals, the creation of the LatinX business employee resource group for the system, business development in the healthcare and hospitality industry, growing revenues from 1 million to 20 million. Guzman is highly skilled in coaching and developing a high-performance team, creating a vision and strategic objectives and alignment with the broader objectives of the organization, She also serves as a catalyst for positive change/transformation partnering with physician and administrative leadership. In addition, Guzman uses her relationship management skills to build collaborative working partnerships with local communities and to penetrate new markets.
Guzman is a strong advocate of performance excellence, Best Practices, and continuous improvement initiatives. She is also a strong advocate of servicing and transforming the care of her internal and external diverse communities. She attended New York University and earned a Master of Science Degree.
Denise Daly
Director of Communications & Public Relations- Lifestyle Brands and Collaborations, HARMAN International
Denise Daly is the Director of Communications and Public Relations in Lifestyle Brands and Collaborations of HARMAN International. She first joined the company in 2018. Harman is a Connecticut-based company that designs and manufactures connected car systems and audio and visual products for the automotive industry. Daly has consistently driven record-breaking media coverage regardless of the industry generating year-over-year growth and billions of earned media impressions. Denise has successfully launched over 1000 products and has also forged brand partnerships that have elevated the consumer relationship and touch-points. Denise has been named PR Person of the Year by Ragan and PR Daily’s. She has also been PR Week’s 2020 Women to Watch. Her campaigns have been honored with numerous Stevie Awards and marketing industry awards.
Previously, Daly was a senior executive public relations & influencer at Bloomingdale's and before that a public relations manager at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC. Earlier in her career she worked with BMG - The New Music Company as a senior marketing manager. Daly earned an undergraduate degree in management and marketing from Pace University - Lubin School of Business.
Emily Chasan
SVP of Corporate Communications, ESG & Sustainability, Citi
Emily Chasan is Senior Vice President, ESG & Sustainability Communications at Citi, where she manages Citi’s external and internal communications efforts supporting its ESG, sustainability, and net zero priorities. Prior to the role, she was director of communications for Generate Capital, a sustainable infrastructure investment and operating company focused on climate solutions.
A long-time financial journalist, Emily was the first sustainable finance editor at Bloomberg News, where she pioneered the news organization’s coverage of ESG, sustainability, and impact investing. She wrote and edited Bloomberg Green’s weekly Good Business newsletter on the frontiers of sustainable and responsible investing. She has also been a contributing editor for GreenBiz Group’s GreenFin newsletter and a frequent co-host on The Energy Gang podcast.
Earlier in her career, Emily was a senior editor at The Wall Street Journal's CFO Journal, and a senior correspondent at Reuters where she covered accounting, law, hedge funds, manufacturing, and the US stock market. She led the Reuters team of bankruptcy reporters during the financial crisis from 2008 to 2010. She graduated from Tufts University cum laude with a degree in economics and international relations.
Stacey Mazzella
Senior Director, Marketing, National Convenience Distributors
In her role as the Senior Director of Marketing at National Convenience Distributors, Stacey Mazzella orchestrates the marketing execution of NCD's business strategies and objectives. Her approach revolves around leveraging MarTech solutions, innovation, and automation, and crafting interactive, engaging B2B and B2C partner journeys that touch all aspects of this $3+B company. Mazzella’s career spans over 21 years, traversing diverse industries, including consulting, hospitality, technology, construction, and distribution.
In the first half of her professional journey, Mazzella dedicated herself to supporting working moms in non-traditional roles. The creation of Hybrid Mom, a multimedia consulting company, stands as a testament to this commitment. This venture aimed to support the woman behind the mom, providing a haven for those blending their aspirations as entrepreneurs or consultants without compromising their families. The Visionary Award bestowed upon Mazzella by the National Association of Women Business Owners during this experience still holds a special place.
Today, Mazzella’s focus extends beyond industry landscapes, reaching the heart of what the marketing department means to a corporation. It serves as the vital conduit that communicates, connects, and harmonizes the collective efforts of all internal departments and external relationships. This responsibility is not just a role; it's a commitment to meaningfully contribute to the intersection of passion, knowledge, and professionalism in the ever-evolving world of marketing and Corporate America.
As Mazzella contributes with intent and purpose to the professional landscape, her most crucial and cherished role, which continues to provide a profound source of inspiration, is being a mom to her children: Shane, Carly, Chloe, Michael, and Jonathan.