11^th Annual Wharton Women in Business Conference

Julie Daum

Partner in Charge of North American Board Services Practice, Spencer Stuart

Julie Hembrock Daum is the Partner in Charge of the North American Board Services Practice of Spencer Stuart. She consults with corporate boards and has worked on over 450 director assignments. Since 2000, her team has placed over 300 women on boards. Her work includes recruiting all of the outside directors for Delta Airlines and continued work with companies such as American Express, General Mills, United Health, The New York Times, Citigroup and Eli Lilly to recruit individual directors. She serves on the board of Spencer Stuart, Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, City Meals on Wheels, and the James Beard Foundation and was the founder of the Wharton/Spencer Stuart Directors' Institute.

She is a frequent writer and speaker on governance topics and recently has been quoted in The New York Times, Financial Times, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, Time Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. She has been selected as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Governance by Directorship Magazine and one of the 100 Most Influential Women in New York by Crain's New York Business.

Prior to joining Spencer Stuart, she was the executive director of the corporate board resource at Catalyst. After graduating with an MBA from Wharton, she began her career as a consultant with McKinsey & Company in Los Angeles.

Elleen Naughton

Director–Media Platforms, Google

Eileen Naughton is a member of the leadership team in Google’s North American sales organization. As director of media platforms, she is responsible for developing and executing an integrated cross-platform solution for sales, marketing and operations across Google’s non-search businesses, including Google’s content network and YouTube, and its newer efforts in Audio, Mobile, Print and TV.

She joined Google after a distinguished 15+ year career at Time Warner Inc., where most recently she was president of TIME Magazine and the TIME Group (encompassing the global editions of TIME, TIME.com, TIME for Kids and LIFE Magazine). Earlier at TimeWarner, she served as Vice President of Investor Relations during the merger of AOL and TimeWarner; President of Time Inc. Interactive; Director of Finance and Planning at Time Inc.; and General Manager of FORTUNE Magazine. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Ms. Naughton earned BA and MA degrees in international studies and an MBA from its Wharton School.

She is a trustee of the New School University and serves on the board of FRAXA, The Fragile-X Research Foundation. Committed to global health issues, while at TIME she hosted a Global Health Summit in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and was a member of the Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS. She was named a “Woman of Valor” by the American Diabetes Association for her work to raise awareness of the obesity epidemic. She was recently named a “Woman to Watch” by AdAge Magazine.

Leslie Morgan Steiner

Leslie Morgan Steiner lives in Washington, DC with her husband and three young children. Her a memoir about surviving domestic violence, Crazy Love, is a New York Times bestseller, People Pick, and Book of the Week for The Week magazine.

She is the editor of the critically-acclaimed anthology Mommy Wars: Stay-at-Home and Career Moms Face Off on Their Choices, Their Lives, Their Families (Random House 2006) a frank, surprising, and refreshing look at American motherhood from 26 different perspective.

From 2006-2008 she wrote over 500 columns for the Washington Post’s popular daily on-line work/family column, “On Balance.”

She currently writes the weekly column, “Two Cents on Working Motherhood,” for Mommy Track’d: Managing the Chaos of Modern Motherhood.

Steiner has been a guest on the Today Show, National Public Radio, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, MSNBC, and has been profiled by Newsweek, BusinessWeek, Elle, Parenting, Parents, Self, Glamour, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post.

Steiner holds a BA in English from Harvard College.

Her writing was first published in Seventeen Magazine when she was 21. As a writer and editor at Seventeen, she explored subjects ranging from eating disorders to teen runaways to family relationships. She went on to contribute to Mademoiselle, Money Magazine, and other magazines, and to work as a restaurant critic and feature writer for New England Monthly. Her essay “Starving for Perfection” appeared in the anthology The College Reader (Harper Collins).

In addition to years as a nonfiction magazine writer and editor, Steiner has an MBA degree in marketing from the Wharton School of Business.After graduating from Wharton in 1992 with an MBA in Marketing, she launched Splenda Brand Sweetener throughout Australia, the Mid-East and Latin America for Johnson & Johnson, the world’s largest consumer healthcare company.

She returned to her hometown of Washington, DC in 2001 to become General Manager of the 1.1 million circulation Washington Post Magazine, a position she held for five years.

Over the years, she has turned her professional experience into advocacy for abused women as a spokeswoman at The Harriet Tubman Center in Minneapolis.

Madi Ferencz

Founder & President, Magic Sliders L.P.

Madi Ferencz, a serial entrepreneur, is the founder and President of Magic Sliders L.P, which produces patented, coated sliding disks to easily move heavy items while protecting floor surfaces. She thus launched a new product category in the United States, and has sold over 200 million Magic Sliders to date. Prior to striking out on her own, Ms. Ferencz worked for The Nestle Company as a vice president and member of senior management. Immediately after receiving her MBA from Wharton, she spent 13 years at Colgate, rising to manage the company’s largest brand group by the time she decided to leave the company.

Ms. Ferencz has a passion for women’s causes and the promotion of tolerance. She served on the national board of Girls Inc for several terms and continues her involvement with the organization today via the Director’s Circle and as a member of the Steering Committee launching a chapter in her home county of Westchester, New York. She currently serves on the board of The Anne Frank Center USA, an organization that uses the spirit and legacy of Anne Frank to help promote tolerance. Additionally, she has always been active in various local community activities involving children. Madi Ferencz emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 9, having escaped from Hungary during the Hungarian Revolution. She has been happily married to Johan de Voogd for the past 31 years. She credits him with being her greatest supporter and cheerleader throughout her career in both the corporate and entrepreneurial worlds. They have two grown sons, Peter and Bradley, who nominated her for this award.

Jane Sadowsky

Jane Sadowsky (WG' 89) received the 2004 "Kathleen E. McDonald Distinguished Alumna Award" for outstanding personal and professional achievements. A Managing Director at Citigroup, Jane has had a brilliant career as a banker, but more importantly has been a wonderful role model for all Wharton women. Since the beginning of her career, Jane has mentored numerous women, providing much needed advice in a male-dominated industry. The awards committee commented that Jane "embraces life, has a wonderful sense of humor and is an inspiration". Stephanie Mann (WG' 04) describes her as being "truly committed to her clients, the bank overall, her team, her family, her friends and her hobbies." Jane exemplifies how women can be successful in their careers without sacrificing family.

Ms. Sadowsky is a Managing Director and the Co-Head of Citigroup's (f/k/a Salomon Smith Barney) North America Power Group. She has been an investment banker since earning her MBA from Wharton in 1989. Her clients include several leading independent power producers, several of the non-regulated subsidiaries and spin-offs of regulated utilities, merchant traders and regulated utilities. In her role, Ms. Sadowsky works with her clients on both advisory and capital raising opportunities.

Prior to joining Salomon Smith Barney in July 2000, Ms. Sadowsky spent 11 years as an investment banker with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Prior to focusing full time on the power industry, she had extensive experience in both in and out of court corporate restructurings and bankruptcies and advised companies such as Wang Computers, Orion Pictures, Trump Organization and TWA.

In addition to receiving her MBA at Wharton, Ms. Sadowsky earned her BA from the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in New York City and spends many weekends in Columbia County, New York.

Beth Cohen

Beth Cohen received the 2003 "Kathleen McDonald Distinguished Alumna Award" for outstanding personal and professional achievements. Beth, a 1991 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, is the 7th recipient of the award presented each year by the Wharton Women in Business (WWIB) student-run organization. The award was presented during a luncheon at the annual Wharton Women in Business Conference on October 31, 2003 at the Park Hyatt in Philadelphia.

Beth holds an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, a JD from Rutgers University where she was an Editor of Law Review, and a BA magna cum laude from Brandeis University. She is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Israel.

Beth is a business development, marketing and legal executive with broad experience in both domestic and international markets. She has developed and negotiated key business relationships for large and small companies, including acquisitions, technology transfer arrangements and strategic alliances. She has also led diverse strategic and marketing initiatives in technology, publishing, information services and real estate.

Most recently, Beth was Of Counsel at Towers Perrin, a global human resources consulting firm. From 2000 to 2003, Beth was Vice President of Strategic Business Development and General Counsel of RentPort, Inc., an early stage, venture-backed technology company based in Denver. Beth helped take RentPort from start up to profitability in less than 3 years. Prior to RentPort, she was a principal in TenX Capital Partners, a private equity firm. As a Managing Director of Franklin Electronic Publishers from 1991 to 1995, Beth co-led the Company's entry into the European market and substantially increased Franklin's presence in the U.S. She was a member of the international legal department of Tadiran Ltd., Israel's largest electronics company, and served as Chief Outside Counsel to Tadiran’s largest U.S. subsidiary. Beth has also practiced corporate law with a prominent Philadelphia law firm.

Beth is committed to the advance of women in business, and is the founder of the Wharton Women’s Network and a founding member of the Wharton Women’s Task Force. She has launched and/or participated in a number of other initiatives on behalf of business and professional women. Beth is also the mother of five children.

Jolie Cooper

Joli Cooper, President and CEO of Cooper Nelson & Associates, received the 2002 "Kathleen McDonald Distinguished Alumna Award" for outstanding personal and professional achievements. Cooper, a 1988 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, is the 6th recipient of the award presented each year by the Wharton Women in Business (WWIB) student-run organization. The award was presented during a luncheon at the annual Wharton Women in Business Conference on November 1, 2002 at the Park Hyatt in Philadelphia.

Named in memory of the late Kathleen McDonald, a Wharton alumna and founder of the Graduate Women in Business Network, the award recognizes distinguished Wharton alumnae who have demonstrated professional success and who serve as role models for women in business. Candidates for the award are nominated by the Wharton community. A WWIB electing committee reviews the nominees and selects the winner based on professional excellence, career success, community involvement, advocacy of women's issues and personal pursuits. Over thirty nominees were considered for this year's award.

"Joli Cooper's business and community leadership, coupled with her balance of career, family, and personal interests, are truly outstanding and an inspiration to us all," said Dulany Dent, then co-alumnae liaison for the Wharton Women in Business. "She is extremely deserving of this award and it has been our pleasure in selecting her."

"I am extremely honored to have been selected for this prestigious award," said Cooper. "I especially appreciate the work that the Wharton Women in Business is doing to encourage supportive environments for women in business and to create networking opportunities between current students and alumnae."

Cooper received the distinguished alumni award on the same day that she announced her transition from Corporate America to start a marketing consulting practice. Most recently, Cooper held the position of senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Vitality Foodservice, Inc. in Tampa. She previously served as president and chief operating officer of Pasco Brands, Inc., the retail division of parent-company Vitality Beverages, Inc., where she transformed the financial performance and corporate culture for both the retail and foodservice divisions. She had also been vice president of marketing with Pasco Brands (formerly Lykes Consumer Brands, Inc.).

Before joining Pasco Brands, Cooper was as a director of marketing and sales at Tropicana Products/Joseph E. Seagram, where she held a number of positions in Bradenton, Florida, as well as assignments in the United Kingdom and South America during her five-year tenure with the company. Prior to that, she worked in various marketing roles for Nestle USA in Glendale, California. She also has experience with the former Bankers Trust Company of New York (acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999) and Aetna Life & Casualty Insurance Company of Philadelphia.

Cooper earned her undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Notre Dame and completed her MBA from The Wharton School. She and her husband, Anthony Nelson, reside in Tampa with their three children, Ashley, Alana, and Anthony.

Anne-Marie Corner

Wharton Women in Business is privileged to award the 2001 Kathleen McDonald Distinguished Alumna Award to Anne-Marie Corner.

Upon graduating from theWharton Business School, Anne-Marie Corner founded Biosyn, Inc., biotechnology company in Philadelphia, focused on developing novel targeted-delivery pharmaceutical products for the prevention and treatment of infectious disease. For eleven years Ms. Corner has overseen all corporate functional areas including finance, regulatory affairs, manufacturing, and business development. As President, Chief Executive Officer, and member of the Board of Directors, Ms. Corner has progressed two of Biosyn’s major AIDS-related drugs from discovery through to human clinical trials. Included among these is SAVVYÒ, a vaginal microbicide designed for women to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases including chlamydia and gonorrhea. The other leading product, ORAMEDÒ, is an oral rinse for treatment of one of the most common infections associated with AIDS.

Thus far, Ms. Corner has also raised over $30 million in financing for Biosyn in the form of equity investments, grants, and contracts. Anne-Marie Corner’s accomplishments in business were recently acknowledged by her selection as Entrepreneur of the Year for the Life Sciences category in the 2001 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Program. Previously Ms. Corner received the “Woman of Distinction” award from the Philadelphia Business Journal, “Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year” given by the Committee of 200, an international organization of the world’s preeminent businesswomen, “50 Best Businesswomen in Pennsylvania” in 1997, included in the Honor Roll of Businesswomen in Philadelphia by the Philadelphia Business Journal, “Woman to Watch” and “Company to Watch” by Business Philadelphia Magazine, and has been profiled in a series of articles by the Wall Street Journal on entrepreneurship.

Anne-Marie Corner has also been committed to the growth of other women led businesses as co-founder, past President, and Member of the Board of Directors of the Women’s Investment Network (WIN). WIN’s mission is fourfold - to educate entrepreneurs on financing their businesses, to provide a forum for networking, to mentor other female entrepreneurs and to expand their access to capital. Ms. Corner was an invited speaker to the Women’s Economic Summit in Washington, D.C. in 1998, where she led a two-day session on finance for the entrepreneur and also spoke to the Summit about WIN as a model for other organizations on a national level. Ms. Corner is also a vocal advocate for small businesses in the health care arena, and regularly testifies on issues that help small entrepreneurial companies access government funding.

In recognition of her dedication to AIDS prevention and treatment, Ms. Corner has been an invited speaker at the White House Conference on AIDS, has testified several times before the President’s Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS on the status of AIDS prevention drug development, and has met with previous Vice President Al Gore in a private meeting with leaders in the pharmaceutical industry to identify means of expediting AIDS drug development. She is a Member of the Board of Directors for the Alliance for Microbicide Development, an international organization focused on the development of microbicides to prevent STD transmission. Presently, Anne-Marie Corner is also a member of the Advisory Board for the Eastern Technology Council.

In balance with her successful career and community involvement, Ms. Corner is married with two daughters, ages eight and six..

Connie Duckworth

Wharton Women in Business is privileged to award the 2000 Kathleen McDonald Distinguished Alumna Award to Connie Duckworth.

Connie Duckworth, Managing Director of Goldman, Sachs in the Sales and Trading group. Ms. Duckworth was the company’s first female Sales and Trading partner. She is dedicated to promoting women and minorities at the firm and spends time helping inner-city youth. She is the mother of four, on the Board of the Committee of 2000, various academic boards, and serves as a supporter of female entrepreneurs.

Ms. Duckworth earned her MBA from Wharton in 1979.

Paula H.J. Cholmondeley

Wharton Women in Business is privileged to award the 1999 Kathleen McDonald Distinguished Alumna Award to Paula H.J. Cholmondeley, Independent Strategy Consultant.

Ms. Cholmondeley completed her Wharton MBA in 1971.

Beth Kaplan

Wharton Women in Business was privileged to award the 1997 Kathleen McDonald Distinguished Alumna Award to Ms. Beth Kaplan, Executive Vice President of Marketing for the Rite Aid Corporation. Wharton Women in Business recognizes Ms. Kaplan as a role model for Wharton women by creating a supportive environment for women in business, achieving professional excellence, and demonstrating a commitment to balance career, community involvement, and other personal pursuits.

As Executive Vice President in charge of Marketing for the Rite Aid Corporation, Ms. Kaplan holds all marketing, merchandising, pricing, and store design responsibilities for the nation's largest drugstore chain. Prior to Rite Aid, Ms. Kaplan worked as a marketing executive for 16 years at Procter & Gamble. Ms. Kaplan joined the Rite Aid Corporation in 1996 to enhance Rite Aid's brand equity, further develop category management initiatives, and spearhead customer friendly merchandising.

Ms. Kaplan has contributed greatly to both the business world and the community at large. Ms. Kaplan is active in her Maryland community and involved in a variety of civil and corporate service activities. She sits on the boards of Sinai Hospital and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Kaplan also participates in the Economic Planning Commission for the state of Maryland, the Strategic Planning Committee of the Kennedy Krieger Institute, and the Children's Museum. She has two children, Henry and Seth, with her husband Bruce Sholk.

Ms. Kaplan attended both the Wharton undergraduate and graduate programs, graduating with a BS in Economics in 1980 and an MBA degree in 1981. She continues to contribute to the Wharton community by serving on the Wharton School Undergraduate Executive Board and on the Trustees Council of Penn Women.

Silvy Edmonds Cotton

Wharton Women in Business was privileged to award the 1996 Kathleen McDonald Distinguished Alumna Award to Ms. Slivy Edmonds Cotton, the Senior Managing director for The Edmonds Group, a newly formed private investment and merchant baking firm. The Edmonds Group has been formed to acquire controlling or leading equity positions in middles-market companies and to invest in turn-arounds, restructurings or other special situations. It is the successor firm to Walnut Capital Corporation, a highly successful merchant banking firm.

Ms. Cotton has always sought to be an active contributor to the communities in which she resides; her participation in numerous community and business organizations reflects these goals. Slivy Edmonds Cotton holds a BA degree from Marymount Manhattan College of New York City and an MBA degree from the Wharton School, Class of 1979. With this Kathleen McDonald Distinguished Alumna Award, Wharton Women In Business recognizes Ms. Cotton's outstanding ability to serve as a role model for Wharton Women, her professional success, her potential for continued career development, and her commitment to balancing career, community involvement, and other personal pursuits.