12^th Annual Wharton Women in Business Conference

Diane Bartlett

Partner, FSS Strategy and Transformation Lead, IBM

Diane Bartlett is an IBM Business Consulting Services Partner based in Atlanta. Diane leads the Strategy and Transformation Practice within Financial Services Sector including the Industry Practices for Banking, Insurance, and Financial Markets. The Banking Practice includes deep industry expertise in Payments, Lending, Collections, Mortgage, Risk Management, and Compliance. The Insurance Practice includes deep industry experts in Claims, Property & Life, and Core Insurance. Financial Markets has deep expertise in Derivatives, Data management and Broker Dealer. Diane has spent 25 years at IBM providing Banking consulting, operational improvement assistance, Banking Solutions development, process redesign and Financial Services strategies to a variety of multi-national, multi-billion dollar Financial Institutions.

Diane’s focused her consulting work with Banks to improve their operations and efficiencies. Her practice of consultants has authored many point of view papers including “Banks and Identification Technology: Odds on favorite”, “Current anti money laundering compliance issues in the Banking Industry”, Check Processing: the good, the bad and the ….”, Credit Risk Management: the business case for Banking”. She is a frequent speaker on topics of interest to the Banking Industry such as “ Operation Risk in the Banking Industry” , “Anti Money Laundering and what comes next”, “The Clairvoyant CRO: Risk Management that is insightful, illuminating, and ingrained enterprise wide.”, “Banking 2015”.

Miriam Burgess

Senior Vice President, Aon Hewitt

Miriam Burgess is a Senior Vice President in Aon Consulting's Atlanta office. Her primary responsibilities include developing and managing client relationships, assisting clients with human resources issues, and bringing resources and new ideas to them in order to help them achieve their business objectives.

Ms. Burgess has over 20 years of experience in managing client relationships, business development, account management, communications consulting, retirement consulting and corporate benefits management. For the last eight years, Miriam has served as a relationship manager and account manager at Aon Consulting. Prior to joining Aon, Miriam was a sales consultant and communications consultant at another large HR consulting firm. Earlier, Miriam held corporate benefits management and administration positions at AFC Enterprises, Medaphis Corporation (currently McKesson), Home Depot and National Service Industries (currently Acuity Brands). Miriam’s first position involved retirement/actuarial consulting at another large HR consulting firm.

Ms. Burgess holds a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Maryland, College Park. In addition, she is Immediate Past President and a Board Member of the Board of Directors Network, a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the number of women in executive leadership and on corporate boards.

Janet Clark

Executive VP and Chief Financial Officer, Marathon Oil Corporation

Janet F. Clark is executive vice president and chief financial officer of Marathon Oil Corporation. Clark joined Marathon on January 5, 2004 with a strong background in financial management and energy industry experience.

She began her career as an investment banker specializing in corporate finance, primarily with The First Boston Corporation, predecessor to Credit Suisse First Boston. In 1997, Clark joined Santa Fe Energy Resources, Inc. as chief financial officer. Following the merger of Santa Fe Energy and Snyder Oil in 1999, she assumed the role of executive vice president of Corporate Development and Administration, with responsibility for corporate development, internal auditing, human resources, information technology, purchasing, office services, security and environmental, health and safety.

Clark joined Nuevo Energy in 2001 as senior vice president & chief financial officer. While at Nuevo, she was responsible for all finance, accounting, investor relations and information technology functions within the company, serving as the direct point of contact with investment and commercial banks, Wall Street analysts and rating agencies.

Clark was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1977, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Harvard University and a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance in 1982 from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Clark serves on the Board of Directors of Exterran Holdings, Inc., which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol EXH. She also serves on the Board of four non-profit organizations: The Houston Symphony, YES Prep Public Schools, The Center For Houston’s Future, and The Texas Business Hall of Fame Foundation. Clark also serves on the Rice University-Jones Graduate School of Management Council of Overseers.

Gay Warren Gaddis

CEO, The Think Tank (T3)

A few years back, Gay Gaddis climbed Mount Kota Kinabalu — the highest peak in Malaysia measuring close to 13,500 feet.  Before she set out, she had no idea what was ahead. But she didn’t over-analyze the opportunity, and instead took the challenge head-on, much like her approach in business.

In 1989, with a U.S. recession in full swing, Gay worked for an Austin advertising firm that was holding its ground but looking for new ideas to keep it moving forward. She developed a new business model that combined creative advertising with scientific measurement. When the CEO failed to support the plan, she quit the agency and started T3 with two employees and a $16,000 IRA. She trusted her gut, began the “mountain climb” and never looked back.

Today, T3 is the largest independent advertising agency owned by a woman in the country, with offices in Austin, New York and San Francisco. As a collaborative think tank, T3 works with clients including Microsoft, UPS, JPMorgan Chase, Pfizer, ConocoPhillips Lubricants, Facebook, Ford, JCPenney, Livescribe, The Macallan and AirCell.

T3 is widely recognized as a dynamic company — the agency was a pioneer in digital marketing, an early leader in online video and is currently one of the U.S. leaders in mobile.

Gay speaks around the world on marketing issues, innovation and entrepreneurship. She is a strong voice on how small business can help fuel job creation around the world. Gay has addressed groups at Harvard, Wharton, The New York Times Small Business Summit and the Global Summit of Women. She has traveled with the U.S. State Department to mentor small businesses in the Baltic region and Middle East. And in October 2010, she will be in Beijing at Tsinghua University mentoring business students.

Gay is a member of the Committee of 200’s (C200) governing board of directors, one of the most prominent women’s organizations and is a long-time member of the Texas Governor’s Business Council’s executive board. She was appointed to the Lower Colorado River Authority by the Governor of Texas and served a six-year term. An avid philanthropist, Gay has served on non-profit boards including: Helping Hand Home, Salvation Army, Headliners Club, First United Methodist Preschool and the Arthritis Foundation.

Gay has been a contributor for PINK magazine and iMedia Communications. She writes for and is quoted frequently in Adweek, Mediapost and DMNews, among others. Her dynamic business acumen and T3’s corporate culture has also led to national recognition and publicity. Gay was named as one of Fast Company’s “Top 25 Women Business Builders,” Inc. magazine’s “Top 10 Entrepreneurs of the Year” and 25 Advertising Working Mothers of the Year by Working Mother magazine.

A significant (and unique) part of T3’s corporate culture is the T3 and Under program which allows mothers and fathers to bring babies to work for the first nine months to help ease the transition into day care. Nearly 60 babies have participated to date! The family-friendly workplace programs that Gay has created have been recognized by the White House, “Good Morning America,” BBC World Service radio, USA Today and “Nightline.”   

Before founding T3, Gay started her career as a copywriter with The Richards Group. She then served as public relations director for Baylor University Medical Center; marketing director for Leadership Dynamics, a national management consulting firm; and later became a partner at an Austin advertising agency. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Texas at Austin. 

Gay and her husband Lee are parents to three: Ben, Rebecca and Sam who are all active in the marketing industry. Together, Gay and Lee, who is also the COO for T3, run the Double Heart Ranch where they raise Texas Longhorns. So when Gay isn’t leading T3, she can be found leading a field of cattle or working in her vast garden where she grows everything from plums to squash.

Nancy Lund

Senior Vice President of Marketing, Altria Clients Services, Inc.

Nancy Brennan Lund serves as the Senior Vice President, Marketing, Altria Client Services, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Altria Group, Inc. Her team currently provides marketing professional services to all of the Altria Group companies in the following areas:

• Brand Equity Building
• Marketing Compliance
• Market Information & Consumer Research

At Philip Morris USA Inc., Nancy served as Senior Vice President of Marketing since 1999 and has been engaged continuously with the Marlboro brand since 1986, when she became Brand Manager, Marlboro. Nancy has been the key steward of the Marlboro brand for more than two decades.

Throughout her career with Philip Morris USA, she has led the creation of new products, new brands, new promotions and new communications for the company.

Prior to joining Philip Morris USA in 1985, Nancy was an executive with Wells Rich Greene, an advertising agency in New York City.

Nancy currently serves on the boards of directors for the CenterStage Foundation (formerly known as the Virginia Performing Arts Foundation™), and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Foundation. She is a member of Board of Governors of the HYDE Schools and is the Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Lafayette College.

Kate Ferris

Principal, KBF Consulting (Moderator)

Kate Ferris has over 20 years of consumer marketing and strategy experience. She has held marketing management positions at Take Care Health Systems, Johnson & Johnson, and Kraft Foods, and has worked on some of the most successful brands in the US, including Take Care Health Clinics, TYLENOL brand pain reliever, Splenda brand sweetener, Kraft Singles cheese slices, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. In 2002, she launched KBF Consulting, a strategic marketing consultancy serving as an “external” arm to corporate marketing departments and start-up companies.

Over her career, Kate has provided marketing guidance in a broad range of industries, including food and beverages, nutritional supplements, prescription and non-prescription pharmaceuticals, health and beauty aids, and retail services.

Prior to returning to consulting, Kate was Chief Marketing Officer for Take Care Health, a leading operator of retail health clinics that was purchased by Walgreens. A member of the original management team, Kate was responsible for defining the business opportunity, branding the concept and developing all consumer marketing and public relations to introduce the idea of in-store clinics to hundreds of thousands of patients in clinics across the country.

Kate holds an MBA in Marketing from The Wharton School/University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Economics from Williams College. She is a Project Faculty for the Wharton School’s MBA Global Consulting Practice.

Kathleen Francis

President, Oasis Sports Ventures, LLC

A seasoned sports marketing professional with extensive experience leading development and implementation of high-impact marketing programs.

Most recently, Kathy served as Managing Director, Marketing responsible for implementing the USTA’s marketing initiatives to grow tennis participation, nationally.

Prior to the USTA, she served as SVP of Sales, Marketing and Communications at the NJSEA, charged with attracting entertainment and generating revenues for Giants Stadium, Continental Airlines Arena, the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park Racetracks.

Kathy also spent 11 years at Major League Baseball where she oversaw the League’s consumer marketing efforts. She created national campaigns and yearlong platforms such as the “All Century Team” and Jackie Robinson Anniversary. In addition, she reintroduced youth skills competition, developed a four-on-four competition and oversaw the expansion of RBI - an inner city program.

Currently, she is in engaged in the start-up of Oasis Sports Ventures.

Honors include WISE Women of the Year Award, SBJ “Top 40 Under 40” Sports Executives, 1999 and 2000 “Top 25 Women Executives in Sports”, too name a few.

A native of New Orleans, LA, she holds a BS from Xavier University of Louisiana and a MBA from Rutgers University

Delia Garced

Director of Market Activation, GE Energy

Delia’s career spans a broad range of sales and marketing expertise at Mega Auto, Leaseway, and multiple GE businesses. She joined GE in 1991 with Polymerland, the distribution arm for GE Plastics, as a Sales Assistant in the Puerto Rico office. Upon graduation from the Sales Training Program, she held various sales and marketing roles of increasing responsibility including Account Manager, Field Marketing, and Market Development Leader.

Delia was promoted to Regional Marketing Director in 2002 and subsequently named Product Manager for the Crystalline Products business. In June 2005, Delia joined GE Security and held roles including Sales Director and Product Management Operations Leader, which culminated in her promotion to the Americas Chief Marketing Officer. In that capacity, she was responsible for the channel and program marketing, marketing communications, NPI Marketing Reviews, commercial events, and the ECLP program.

In January 2010, Delia joined GE Energy’s Headquarters Marketing team in her current role as Director Market Activation where she has responsibility for working across the marketing, communications, and sales teams to improve and further develop GE Energy's go-to-market processes and frameworks.

Delia is active in the GEWN and Hispanic Forum, where she has held a variety of roles at both regional and national level. She has been an active member in industry associations such as Society of Plastics Engineers, Security Industry Association and Electronic Security Association, and she holds a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from the University of South Florida.

Lisa Klauser

VP, Consumer and Customer Solutions, Unilever

Lisa Klauser was appointed to the role of Vice President Consumer & Customer Solutions Unilever United States in January 2008. She has recently expanded her responsibility to include Canada. In this role, Lisa is responsible for leading 360° Marketing and Customer Solutions across Unilever. Lisa manages over 200 employees in the Consumer & Customer Solutions group including Public Relations, Multi-Cultural Marketing, Consumer & Shopper Insights, Shopper Marketing, Category Management and Visual Branding. She is a member of the North American Leadership Team.

Prior to this, Lisa was the Vice President of Integrated Marketing for Unilever Foods, where she has developed innovative new capabilities in Customer Marketing and Consumer Relationship Marketing. Lisa has been with Unilever for 16 years in positions of increasing responsibility. She has vast experience in the packaged goods industry working for Kraft in the Corporate Marketing Services Group and began her career with Nestle Foods.

In August 2007 and 2008, Lisa was chosen as one of the “Top Women in Grocery” by Progressive Grocer, honoring women who have demonstrated outstanding leadership within their company and the industry. She was the recipient of the 2005 TWIN Award honoring excellence among women in business. In 2004 she was named “One of the Top Women to Watch” by Ad Age Magazine.

Lisa lives in New Jersey with her husband, Rick and their daughter Casey, 15, and son Griffen, 11. Lisa enjoys playing tennis, jogging, reading and attending her children’s sporting events.

Gwen Marcus

EVP and General Counsel, Showtime

H. Gwen Marcus, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, is Showtime Networks Inc.’s chief legal officer, with responsibility for all of the company’s legal affairs, including its programming and other transactions, intellectual property, compliance and regulatory issues, litigation, and other legal policy matters. An integral member of Showtime Networks’ senior management team, she also has joint responsibility for the company’s business affairs department. Ms. Marcus has been named one of the Most Powerful Women in Cable by CableFAX: The Magazine (formerly, CableWorld) in 2007, 2008 and again in 2009. Multichannel News also named Ms. Marcus one of the cable and telecommunications industry’s Wonder Women for 2009. In 2010, Inside Counsel named Ms. Marcus the recipient of its First Annual Transformative Leadership Sharing the Power Award for advancing the economic empowerment of women in the law.

Ms. Marcus has been with Showtime Networks for 26 years, having joined the company in 1984 as Assistant Counsel. Prior to joining Showtime Networks, she practiced entertainment law from 1981 to 1984 as an Associate at the New York law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.

Ms. Marcus serves on the Board of two not-for-profit corporations, Theatre Development Fund (TDF), and the LGBT Community Center of New York, which awarded her with its Corporate Leader Award in 2006, and elected her Board Co-Chair in 2009. She has also been recognized by numerous other not-for-profit organizations over the years, including POWER UP (Professional Organization of Women in Entertainment Reaching Up, which in 2005 named her one of the Ten Most Amazing Gay Women in Showbiz), Cable Positive, the cable and telecommunications industry AIDS action organization (which named her the 2002 recipient of its Brad Wojcozki Memorial Award), GMHC (for which she was the largest individual fundraiser for AIDS Walk New York for several consecutive years), and the YWCA of the City of New York (which named her a Woman Achiever in 1999).

Ms. Marcus is a member of the New York Bar. She graduated magna cum laude from Brandeis University, with a Phi Beta Kappa key. A cum laude graduate of New York University School of Law, she was an Articles Editor of the New York University Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. In 2009, the law school recognized Ms. Marcus for her outstanding professional achievements.

She is based at Showtime Networks’ headquarters in New York City.

Mary Stutts

SVP of Corporate Relations, Elan Pharmaceuticals

Mary is responsible for global oversight of the company's marketed and pipeline product communications, patient advocacy, public relations, internal communications, philanthropy, public affairs and corporate branding while also providing strategic counsel and direction to senior management and the board of directors.

Mary has also just authored a book on mentoring women entitled "The Missing Mentor: Women Advising Women on Power, Progress and Priorities" and is scheduled for release next month. Her book serves as a surrogate mentor providing guidance on everything from how to increase self- confidence and create a life plan to how to maintain ethical and spiritual well-being and foster personal and professional relationships.

Priya Trauber

Head of Women's Initiative, Morgan Stanley

Priya Trauber is the Head of Women’s Initiatives for Morgan Stanley. She is responsible for the continued development and execution of the Firm’s strategy to attract, retain and develop women across all businesses. She joined the firm in 2008 and spent two years as the Diversity Director for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, where she was responsible for developing a coordinated diversity and inclusion strategy for the business.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Priya was an Executive Director at UBS, where she was Head of U.S. Diversity & Inclusion for the firm’s Investment Bank, and Group Diversity Director. She also served as a client relationship manager in Human Resources for Dillon Read Capital Management, UBS’s former internal hedge fund division.  Prior to her roles in Diversity and Human Resources, Priya was a Vice President in Investment Banking at Credit Suisse First Boston in New York and San Francisco, advising financial institutions and technology companies.  She began her career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in the Bank Supervision Group.   

Priya is currently the Chairperson of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Diversity Committee. She is a member of the Center for Work- Life Policy “Hidden Brain Drain” Taskforce, the National Council for Research on Women Corporate Circle Advisory Board and The White House Project’s Corporate Council.

Priya graduated cum laude with a B.S.B.A. from the American University and has an MBA with a concentration in Finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Darien, CT with her husband and three children.

Sherry Nolan

VP of Talent Acquisition and Diversity, Sears Holding Corp. (Moderator)

Sherry Nolan is currently Vice President of Talent Acquisition and Diversity at Sears Holdings Corporation. Prior to joining SHC, she was the Director of Global Talent, Development and Diversity at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in Akron, OH for the past 2 years. Sherry has a proven track record of effectively partnering with operational and functional leaders to impact the business agenda. In addition to this, her experience in developing and driving talent management and diversity initiatives well equipped her to enhance Goodyear's leadership pipeline and development. Before joining Goodyear, Sherry spent 9 years with Pepsi Bottling Group in a number of diverse HR leadership roles including Vice President of World-Wide Diversity and Organization Capability, Vice President of Human Resources for the Pacific Northwest, Director of Labor Relations, and Manager of Compensation. Sherry holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Human Development and Family Relations from the University of Connecticut.

Janet Brashear

Senior Analyst, Sanford C. Bernstein

Ms. Brashear is the Lodging, Leisure, & Gaming analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. She has extensive industry experience in the consumer sector where her career started with Procter & Gamble. Since then she has served as the EVP of strategy for two large, publicly held companies including Marriott International in the lodging space. Her tenure at Marriott was twelve years during which she was a Corporate Officer and, in addition to Strategy & New Ventures, she headed the Global Services area. She earned her BA, magna cum laude, from the College of William & Mary and her MBA from Harvard University.

Cynthia DeTar

Principal, BCG

Cynthia DeTar, principal, Washington, DC, received her MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. She holds a BA in finance from Miami University. During undergraduate studies, Cynthia spent two years at the United States Coast Guard Academy. She joined BCG in Boston in 2003, transferred to the LA office in 2005, and to Washington DC in 2008. Prior to business school, she was a consultant at Deloitte Consulting.

Cynthia has also worked at Raytheon. Cynthia is a member of BCG’s IT, Operations and Healthcare practice areas. Since joining BCG, she has followed a more generalist concentration, but prefers projects focused on the transformation of a company.

Theresa Havell

Founder and CIO, Havell Capital Management

Theresa Havell is the President of Havell Capital Management, LLC, an SEC registered Investment Advisory firm founded in 1996 that specializes in fixed income management for individual and institutional investors.

Prior to founding Havell Capital, Ms. Havell founded the Fixed Income department at NeubergerBerman in 1984. She was a Partner and an Executive Committee Member of the Firm and the Chief Investment Officer of the Fixed Income Group.

Prior to joining NeubergerBerman, Ms. Havell was a Vice President and founder of the Liquid Assets Management Group at Lehman Management Company, where she managed reserves for foreign central banks and US corporations.

Ms Havell began her career at Citibank, where she held the position of VP and Regional Treasurer for the Andean and Caribbean branches of Citibank, headquartered in Caracas, V enezuela.

Ms Havell is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a Trustee, Executive Committee Member and the Investment Committee Head of Horace Mann School. She also serves as a Trustee and as Treasurer of the Sanctuary for Families and as a Director and member of the Audit Committee of Volt Information Sciences, a NYSE-listed company.

Ms Havell is a frequent public speaker, has been profiled three times in Barron’s, appeared on Wall Street Week and is quoted frequently on fixed income markets. She received a BA degree from Manhattanville College and an MA degree from New York University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, from The Slavic Languages and Literature Department.

In addition to English, Ms Havell is fluent in French, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian.

She is the mother of six children and resides with her husband in New York City and North Salem, NY.

Ellen Hazen

Investment Officer and Equity Research Analyst, MFS Investment Management

Ellen Hazen is an Investment Officer and Equity Research Analyst at MFS Investment Management® (MFS®). She is the U.S. sector team leader for Consumer Staples companies.

During her tenure at MFS, Ellen has also served as the sector team leader for Technology and Financial stocks. She joined MFS in 1999 from Putnam Investments, where she served as a global equity research analyst since 1996. Prior to that, she held positions at Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Morgan Stanley & Co.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Williams College and a Master of Business Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management. She holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation from the CFA Institute.

Our portfolio managers are supported by our entire team of investment professionals in six worldwide offices, who apply a proprietary investment process that is research driven, globally integrated, and disciplined.

Robin Jones

Senior Manager of Human Capital, Deloitte

Robin Jones is a Senior Manager in Deloitte’s Human Capital practice and has 13 years of organizational transformation consulting experience. Prior to joining Deloitte in 2007, Robin worked for iXL, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and IBM. At Deloitte, she is a national leader for Deloitte’s Workforce Intelligence service offering and has consulted to some of the largest media players globally including Disney, Thomson Reuters, Time Warner, and Oglivy & Mather.

In addition to her client responsibilities, Robin is a member of Deloitte’s Women’s Initiative (WIN) leadership council and participates in talent programs to mentor new MBA hires and attract and retain experienced women from other firms, further expanding Deloitte ‘s position as the #1 place to launch your career.

Robin received her PhD from Georgia Tech in construction engineering and management , and her MS and BS degrees in Architecture and Interior Design from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. She and her husband and three young children live in Brooklyn, New York.

Shelli A. Merritt

Managing Director, High Yield-CM-Debt Advisory Services, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Shelli Merritt is a Managing Director in Global Debt Advisory Services leading the liability management execution effort for her team on behalf of issuers of high-yield and investment-grade fixed income securities. She works extensively in the US and internationally on transactions that are strategic in nature as well as financial. Her previous experience includes origination across multiple industries including health care, consumer and retail and general industrial. She continues to cover long standing clients in these sectors. Among Ms. Merritt’s clients are Del Monte, Levi Strauss, Limited Brands, Multiplan, Davita, Texas Industries, Kansas City Southern and Graphic Packaging.

Ms. Merritt joined Bank of America Merrill Lynch in 1996 as an associate. Her experience includes work in corporate finance and fixed income sales and research. She has an MBA in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a BA in economics from Wellesley College and is a Toigo Foundation alumnae. Ms Merritt resides in Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband, three kids and two dogs. She enjoys traveling, reading and spending time with her friends and family.

Lori Steele

Consulting Services Leader, GBS North America, IBM

Lori Steele is responsible for the strategic direction, client relationships and operational management of IBM’s $7 billion consulting business in the United States and Canada. As Consulting Services Leader in the Americas, Steele oversees 20,000 partners and is responsible for its strategy, operations and financial performance. In addition, she is responsible for the education and development of its consulting workforce driven to provide clients with business process and industry expertise as well as the ability to design, build and run technology solutions that delivers bottom-line business value.

Steele has more than 24 years of global enterprise-wide transformation experience and currently serves as executive sponsor and partnership executive for a number of global clients who are deploying significant business transformations, such as Amgen, Sara Lee Corporation, Campbell Soup Company, Pfizer and Amerisource Bergen.

Previously, Steele held various leadership roles within IBM including, the distribution sector for GBS, the America’s life sciences consulting practice, and the distribution sector CRM consulting practice. Prior to IBM, she was a global relationship partner for a large pharmaceutical company and was the acting CIO of an Internet start-up company. Steele also spent more than 15 years leading large global transformation programs for a number of Fortune 500 clients.

She is also part of IBM’s Integration and Vales Team (I&VT), led by Sam Palmisano and comprised of 300 senior executives across IBM who are responsible for the leadership and transformation of IBM. As part of this role, Steele served on a sub-committee that developed strategies for transforming IBM’s workforce in support of the globally integrated enterprise. Steele earned an executive MBA from the Wharton School and a bachelor’s degree from Drexel University. She is currently a board member for the Lower Bucks County Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Helaine Dryden

General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Episteme Capital Partners (Moderator)

Helaine Dryden is General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Episteme Capital Partners. Ms. Dryden is responsible for all legal and compliance matters relating to each of its offices in Rye Brook, NY and London. She started her legal career at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York where her clients included numerous investment advisors. Ms. Dryden left Debevoise & Plimpton in August 1997 to join Long-Term Capital Management as its Associate General Counsel. After LTCM, Ms. Dryden became General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at JWM Partners.

Ms. Dryden received her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and from which she graduated with High Distinction and Honors in Economics in 1989. After graduating, she worked as a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley. Upon completing the financial analyst program, Ms. Dryden went to Harvard Law School where she was Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard International Law Journal. She received her J.D. in 1994.

Antje Danielson

Co-Founder, Zipcar

Antje Danielson is the co-founder and early visionary of Zipcar, which was founded in 2000. She had the business idea to bring the carsharing concept to the US and created the technology, operational procedures, and early business relations of the company. Her academic background is research on carbon reduction strategies. She has worked at a number of universities as researcher and implementation practitioner. She created environmental programs at Harvard University and Durham University in the UK and has lectured and consulted on environmental issues. She is known for her expertise in working with interdisciplinary teams.

From 2005 to 2008 she lived in the UK and was Deputy Director for Sustainability at Durham University. Part of her time there was devoted to studying carbon sequestration technologies. She is currently Director of the Tufts Institute of the Environment at Tufts University in Medford, MA and Behavioral Program Advisor for Energy Climate Solutions a recent start-up helping colleges and universities become Climate Leaders. She was born and raised in Berlin, Germany, where she received a Ph.D. in Geochemistry from the Freie Universität Berlin. She has worked and studied in many countries including South Africa, Italy, the UK, Canada, and the US.

Valerie Davis

Co-Founder and CEO, Enviromedia, GreenWashingIndex, GreenCanary, and GreenDetectives

Whether sounding a warning to greenwashers on NBC’s TODAY show or spending all day in a landfill to show her dismay at the state of U.S. recycling efforts, Valerie Davis passionately speaks out about injecting ethics and authenticity into companies' sustainability programs and communications efforts.

Davis’ led the Don’t Mess with Texas campaign to victory in the America’s Favorite Slogan Competition, beating Nike’s “Just Do It” and “Got Milk?" She is a speaker at water, energy, solid waste, health and advertising conferences, including the National Symposium on Market Transformation for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy in Washington, D.C. She is a winner of the American Advertising Federation-Austin Silver Medal Award for outstanding contributions to advertising and furthering the industry's standards, creative excellence and responsibility in areas of social concern. Davis serves as a board member of the Children's Environmental Health Institute, and earned a Bachelor of Journalism at The University of Texas at Austin.

Diane Meier

Founder and President, MEIER

Diane Meier is the founder and president of the New York-based marketing company MEIER, which has won almost every award in the business, including Clios, ADDYs, the Caples Award and the National Graphic Arts Award. Her work has been published in graphic arts magazines and books all over the world. From her early days at Avon and Revlon, Ogilvy and NW Ayer to the point in 1979 when she opened the doors of Meier Advertising, Diane has treated the business of promotion like a consultancy. She created an agency that invested itself in the nature of the client and became part of all decisions that moved the business forward so that the target market might come to be involved, impressed or fulfilled with a brand. In 2005, she wrote the "The New American Wedding -- Ritual and Style in a Changing Culture.” It’s based on over a thousand interviews, one hundred in-depth interviews and a narrow illustration of twelve couples choices that illustrate the changes in the culture around the nature of weddings in the early part of the 21st Century. Her first novel, "The Season of Second Chances," was the lead book for Spring 2010 from Henry Holt, and an IndieBound ‘Great Read’ selection. Additionally, Diane is included in the book "Feminists Who Changed America 1963 - 1965" by Barbara Love, and she has commented extensively on the position of Women's Literature labels (Chick Lit, Women's Literature, Women's Fiction) in commercial practice, criticism and academia. She is married to writer and broadcaster, Frank Delaney. They live in Manhattan and North West Connecticut.

Shivani Siroya

Founder and CEO, InventureFund

Shivani Siroya is the Founder and CEO of InVenture Fund, the world’s first micro-investment platform that connects everyday people to entrepreneurs around the world. Prior to InVenture, Shivani worked in Corporate Development and M&A at Health Net Inc. She also has field experience as a consultant at the Earth Institute and UNFPA, where she helped evaluate and scale microfinance and public health programs in North India and West Africa. Shivani holds an MPH in Health Economics and Policy from Columbia University and a BA in International Relations from Wesleyan University.

Suzanne Xie

Founder, Weardrobe

Suzanne Xie co-founded Weardrobe, the largest online fashion community for street style and fashion photos, which was recently acquired by Like.com. Weardrobe won the Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator competition at SXSW and a spot in the first Facebook Rev Fund. She's also a mentor at TheFunded Founder Institute in New York and an advisor to several other startups. 

Previous to Weardrobe, Suzanne worked in asset management at Goldman Sachs and investment banking at UBS. She graduated from University of Chicago with degree in Economics. Her newest venture is in the health tech space.

Emily Cieri

Managing Director, Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs (Moderator)

As the managing director of Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs, Ms. Cieri leads all WEP student and outreach programs and administers the teaching program in entrepreneurship. This includes overseeing the Wharton Business Plan Competition, the Venture Initiation Program, Entrepreneur in Residence, Entrepreneurial Career Program and the Wharton Small Business Development Center. She also manages the Wharton Entrepreneurial Advisory Board activities and works closely with the Wharton entrepreneurial alumni community.

In addition, Ms. Cieri serves on the executive committee of the Wharton Global Family Alliance. Previously, Ms. Cieri served as director of corporate programs at Wharton’s Aresty Institute of Executive Education. Ms. Cieri has also worked as a consultant for PKF specializing in the hospitality industry and as operations manager for Wharton’s Steinberg Conference Center.

She holds a BS and an MBA in Financial Management from Drexel University.

Lisa Beeson

Managing Director, Head of Global Real Estate Mergers and Acquisitions, Barclays Capital

Lisa Beeson is a Managing Director and Head of Global Real Estate M&A at Barclays Capital. She also sits on the firm’s Fairness Opinion Committee. Ms. Beeson previously held the same position at Lehman Brothers, She joined Barclays Capital in September 2008 following the acquisition of Lehman Brothers’ US Investment Banking operations.

Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, Ms. Beeson was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and Wachovia Securities.

Over her 20 years of investment banking, Ms. Beeson has worked on transactions with an aggregate value of $300 billion, including $120 billion in the lodging, gaming and real estate sectors. She has been the lead advisor on numerous real estate transactions including: Brookfield’s proposed investment in GGP; Mubadala’s investment in The Related Company; Tishman Speyer’s acquisition of Archstone-Smith; Vornado’s proposed acquisition of EOP; General Growth Properties’ acquisition of Rouse; the merger of Lexington Corporate Properties Trust and Newkirk; the sale of Arden to General Electric; Weyerhaeuser's hostile acquisition of Willamette Industries; and the merger of Smithkline Beecham and Glaxo Industries.

Ms. Beeson received her BA in Economics and International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.

Marge Breya

Executive Vice President & General Manager, Solutions, SAP

Marge Breya is executive vice president and general manager of the Solutions Group at SAP AG. Breya leads solution management and marketing for both industry and line-of-business solutions. Under Breya’s guidance, her team is responsible for understanding market requirements; defining, assembling and packaging solutions; and enabling the field and ecosystem to successfully bring these solutions to market. She reports to Jim Hagemann Snabe, Co-CEO of SAP AG.

Breya brings more than 25 years of technology management experience to SAP. Previously, Breya was at Business Objects SA, where she was general manager for the company's primary product line businesses: enterprise information management (EIM), core business intelligence (BI) and midmarket solutions. She also served as Business Objects’ chief marketing officer (CMO) where she was responsible for developing the company's vision and strategy, establishing its brand value proposition, and running all marketing and communications functions worldwide.

Prior to joining SAP through the Business Objects acquisition, Breya served in a number of executive roles at technology giants such as BEA Systems, where she was senior vice president (SVP), CMO, and chief strategy officer (CSO); and Sun Microsystems, where she served in various executive management roles. A change agent and visionary leader, Breya thrives on turnaround situations that require strong leadership, strategic prowess and flawless execution.

Breya has served on the board of both the BEA and Business Objects Foundations, helping to form the mission for these foundations and overseeing the distribution of funds. In addition, Breya also sat on the public board of Document Sciences Corporation (NASD: DOCX), acquired by EMC in 2008.

Breya holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois (Urbana/Champaign) and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Oregon.

Allison Cerra

CMO, Americas Region, Alcatel-Lucent

Allison Cerra brings more than 15 years of telecommunications industry experience within service and equipment provider organizations to her position as Chief Marketing Officer for the Americas region at Alcatel-Lucent. In this role, Ms. Cerra is responsible for regional marketing activities to support service providers in the areas of strategic and customer marketing, operations, intelligence, and communications.

Prior to joining Alcatel-Lucent, Ms. Cerra served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Frontier Communications, responsible for access lines, high-speed Internet, video and wireless products across seven states. She also held senior management positions at GTE Network Services and, after its acquisition, for Verizon Communications, with activity in the areas of DSL, ISDN, IPTV infrastructure, fixed and mobile communications, and entertainment services.

She also served as Vice President of Marketing Communications with Alcatel North America.

Allison Cerra holds a bachelor’s of science degree from the University of South Florida, and master’s degrees in business administration and telecommunications from Southern Methodist University.

Previous speaking engagements include the West Virginia Higher Education Technology Conference and the Broadband Services Forum. She has contributed articles for the IEC, Converge Digest, and the FTTH Council.

Tina Gilbert

Partner, Pharmaceutical and Medical Products, Strategy Practice, Accenture

Tina Gilbert is a Partner in Accenture’s Pharmaceutical and Medical Products, Strategy practice. Tina has over 12 years of consulting experience, working with major pharmaceutical companies, emerging biotech firms, and start-up companies that service the life-sciences industry. Prior to joining Accenture, Tina was with Procter & Gamble. At P&G, she managed projects in areas of Category Management and Marketing Decision Support Systems. She holds an Industrial Engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a BS from Spelman College, and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Jean Martin

Executive Director, Corporate Executive Board

Jean is the Executive Director of the Corporate Leadership Council (CLC). The Council solves the most critical problems facing HR executives in the areas of Talent Management, HR Strategy, and more by measuring and sharing what the best companies do to address their HR challenges. CLC serves over 1,400 of the world’s premier organizations.

Jean directs all of the research, business practices, and operations of the Corporate Leadership Council, the Learning and Development Roundtable, the Recruiting Roundtable, the Compensation Roundtable and the Benefits Roundtable. Most recently, she and the teams have been focused on the issues of Managing Leadership Performance and Managing Through Times of Rapid Economic Change.

Jean and her team have published such studies as How to Keep Your Top Talent and Engaging the Workforce and High-Impact Succession Management. Within the Corporate Executive Board, Jean also served as the Practice Manager of the Business Banking Board.

As part of her role, Jean is responsible for presenting and leading discussions of the Council’s strategic research findings at national meetings and international meetings. Most recently, Jean presented to the executive teams of Bombardier, Intel, Cisco, BBVA, and Eskom among many others. She has also addressed the European Union on the topic of labor market scarcities, as well as been a keynote speaker at the Schlumberger Oil and Gas Conference on the topic of Attracting and Retaining Critical Talent Segments.

Prior to joining the Corporate Executive Board, Jean was a Presidential Management Fellow, during which time she served as a special assistant to the Senior Vice President for Small Business/ Community Development Lending at Bank of America, and also as a project manager for microfinance and micro enterprise development at the US Agency for International Development. She was also the business development finance liaison for the Empowerment Zone program at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and an aide to the President’s Advisor on Domestic Policy.

Jean received a Masters of Public Policy with a concentration in economics and finance from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Arts with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia.

Maryrose Sylvester

President and CEO, GE Intelligent Platforms

Maryrose Sylvester is President and CEO of GE Intelligent Platforms, a position she has held since February 2006. Intelligent Platforms is a leader in its field and a developer of high-performance technology, including Automation, Industrial Software and Embedded solutions. Intelligent Platforms strives to power our customers’ success with solutions that improve their products and operations by delivering high–performance technology through the passion and expertise of our people. Intelligent Platforms is part of the GE Home and Business Solutions division.

Prior to her current role, Maryrose was President of GE Quartz, a leading global business that develops, manufactures, markets and sells fused quartz and boron nitride products for semi-conductor, lighting, electronic, fiber optic and industrial applications. She was named President of GE Quartz in May 2002 and a GE Company Officer in December that same year.

Maryrose started her GE career in 1987 working for GE Lighting’s Sourcing organization. She progressed through various positions of increasing scope and complexity, and in 1993, she was appointed Manager, Worldwide Direct Materials for GE Lighting Worldwide Sourcing. In 1995, Maryrose became Director, Sourcing for GE Lighting Europe located in Budapest, Hungary. She was subsequently named General Manager - Worldwide Sourcing, taking on responsibility for the sourcing activities of GEL’s global business with a focus on developing and building the business’ sourcing activities in Eastern Europe, China and Mexico.

In January 1999, Maryrose was assigned as General Manager - High Intensity Discharge Products where she was responsible for developing and executing a business strategy that maximized the sales and contribution margin for a rapidly growing product line. In June 2000, Maryrose became President and CEO for GE Lighting Systems (GELS) in Hendersonville, North Carolina.

In addition to her GE leadership responsibilities, Maryrose was instrumental in helping to launch the GE Women’s Network in 1997, and has been an avid supporter ever since.

Maryrose holds a B.S. Degree in Procurement and Production Management from Bowling Green State University, and an MBA from Cleveland State University.

She lives in Charlottesville with her husband, Mike and two daughters.

Elana Szyfer

General Manager, North America, Ahava

Elana Drell Szyfer, will become the General Manager of Ahava, North America, a Dead Sea minerals cosmetics company in January 2011. An 18-year veteran of the cosmetics industry, Elana was most recently the Senior Vice President of Global Marketing for the Estee Lauder brand, a division of The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc. There she oversaw all marketing and strategy activities for the Companies’ largest division and was responsible for the brand’s skincare, makeup and fragrance categories and new media efforts. Among her accomplishments while at Estee Lauder, she led the efforts for the upgrade and re-launch of the brand’s cult product, Advanced Night Repair, and introduced it to a new generation of women. This effort helped to double the brand’s leading franchise to more than $300MM in sales annually.

A seasoned marketer, Elana joined The Estée Lauder Companies in November 2004 as Vice President, Global Marketing, Prescriptives, where she was instrumental in refocusing the brand on its core custom foundation business, including the Colorprinting, Custom Blend and “all skins, all women” concepts that initially built the brand.

Elana’s broad experience in cosmetics also includes positions at L’Oreal, Inc. and Avon Products. During her tenure at L’Oreal, Elana worked at the L’Oreal’s European Designer Fragrance, Biotherm and Lancome divisions in various roles including Finance, Marketing Services and Marketing. While at Lancome, Elana began by heading the Fragrance Marketing efforts in 2000 and eventually became Vice President, Skincare, Fragrance, Suncare, Bodycare and Haircare Marketing. Elana worked at Avon from 1997 to 2000, rising from the U.S. Skincare Marketing Manager to the Executive Director of Global Personal Care and Fragrance, overseeing the popular Anew and Skin So Soft brands.

She is a graduate of Columbia College of Columbia University and the Stern School of Business, New York University. Elana is on the board of the Womens Philanthopy Division of the Metrowest Jewish Federation and serves as an Executive Mentor for the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Graduate Program in Cosmetics and Toiletries. She has been widely quoted in the beauty trade and consumer press. Elana is married to Claude Szyfer, a partner at the law firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP. The couple has three daughters, ages four, seven and nine.

Jeniffer Harper-Taylor

President, Siemens Foundation

Jeniffer Harper-Taylor was appointed President of the Siemens Foundation in March 2010. She oversees the Foundation’s daily management and signature programs that support, recognize and encourage the scientists and engineers of tomorrow.

Since joining the Foundation in March 2000 as Program Manager and subsequently serving as Program Director and Vice President, Ms. Harper-Taylor has been the primary liaison between the Foundation and its key business partners, including the College Board and Discovery Education.

Under her tenure as Vice President, Ms. Harper-Taylor has spearheaded programs that bring together multiple partnerships to broaden the Foundation’s demographic reach and enhance its long-standing commitment to support science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the United States. The Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge, a partnership with Discovery Education and the National Science Teachers Association, encourages K-12 students to develop innovative green solutions for environmental issues with local and global impact. The Siemens STEM Academy is a nationwide initiative in partnership with Discovery Education, the College Board and Oak Ridge Associated Universities to support educators in their efforts to foster student achievement in STEM education and includes the first online shared repository of STEM best teaching practices.

Ms. Harper-Taylor's vision to extend the Foundation's educational outreach through technology led to the creation of a new online platform for the Siemens Science Day program. This nationwide initiative in partnership with Discovery Education provides multimedia tools and hands-on science activities at no cost and has reached more than 54,000 elementary and middle school students in 36 states since its inception in 2006.

Through her direction, the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology, in partnership with the College Board, has become the nation’s premiere original research competition for high school students in the United States. The Siemens Awards for Advanced Placement has evolved into one of the country’s preeminent recognition programs for students and teachers who excel in the College Board’s science and mathematics AP courses and exams.

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Ms. Harper-Taylor has played an active role in various community organizations in her hometown, including the Atlanta chapter of Big Brothers and Big Sisters and membership in the NAACP and Urban League. Ms. Harper-Taylor is a graduate of Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts. She is based at the Foundation’s headquarters in Iselin, New Jersey.

Carla DeSantis

Principal, PRTM

Carla is a Principal with PRTM focused on defining and implementing operational improvements with consumer product companies and retailers. Her client experience covers a broad range of sub-segments with the consumer packaged goods industry as well as industrial and commercial products, telecommunications, medical devices, services, and retail industries. She has led detailed client engagements to address a range of issues, including go-to-market strategies, brand and product management, innovation, distribution and supply chain management, global and regional network optimization, channel/customer segmentation, complexity management, and organizational structuring.

Carla has been a keynote speaker at retail industry forums and has conducted seminars on selling to major national retail distribution channels, such as discount, warehouse clubs, chain drug, grocery, and home centers. She has also trained several leading global suppliers on how to develop and leverage customer-focused strategies within their key accounts, most notably Wal-Mart. She has published several articles on such topics as private label and marketing initiatives as well as supply chain and product management.

Carla earned her B.A. in government from Harvard University and received her MBA from University of California at Berkeley, with a concentration in strategy and product management.

Dr. Marcia Lyles

Superintendent, Christina School District of Delaware

Dr. Marcia V. Lyles was appointed superintendent of the Christina School District in Wilmington, Delaware, in June 2009.  The District serves nearly 18,000 students who reside in portions of the city of Wilmington and surrounding suburbs.  Prior to serving in her current role, Dr. Lyles was Deputy Chancellor for Teaching and Learning for the New York City Department of Education. Prior to that, she served for three years as Regional Superintendent for the New York City Department of Education.  She has a total of 19 years of experience as a building and district administrator, serving as program coordinator, assistant principal, principal, deputy superintendent, community superintendent, and regional superintendent for the New York City school system between 1985 and 2004.  Dr. Lyles also taught high school English for eight years at Curtis High School in New York City, and has served as an adjunct professor of education for several colleges in the New York area since 1996. 

Dr. Lyles holds an Ed.D. degree from Teachers College, Columbia University, a master’s degree in English from New York University, and a bachelor’s degree in English from Hunter College, City University of New York.  She was a Fellow in the Broad Urban Superintendents Academy in 2006, and holds SAS Certification from Baruch College, City University of New York.

Nancy Mahon

Global Executive Director, MAC AIDS Fund; Senior Vice President, MAC Cosmetics

As a Senior Vice President at M·A·C and Executive Director of the M·A·C AIDS Fund, Nancy serves as a member of the brand’s senior management team while overseeing the strategic direction and day-to-day operation of the M·A·C AIDS Fund. Under Nancy’s leadership, the Fund has further refined and enhanced its giving, taking on larger grant initiatives including the Caribbean Initiative, while at the same time continuing to fund the grassroots service-based charities that the Fund has supported in the past. Currently, the Fund gives away over $18 million annually throughout the world, particularly in the 67 countries in which M·A·C has affiliates.

Prior to joining M·A·C in June 2006, Nancy was Executive Director of God’s Love We Deliver (GLWD), the nation’s oldest and largest provider of life-sustaining nutritional support services for people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other serious illnesses. Under Nancy’s leadership, GLWD expanded its mission, doubled its client numbers to over 1,600 people per day and undertook numerous local and national public relations and advocacy campaigns.

Nancy is the author of numerous research, advocacy, and prevention articles that have been published in a wide range of periodicals, including the American Journal of Public Health, The New York Times, and various academic journals. She has also made numerous media appearances in an array of outlets, including National Public Radio, Vanity Fair, and The News Hour with Jim Leher, Time.com, and Women’s Wear Daily, POZ, CBS News, and Fox 5. She has also presented research papers and spoken at academic conferences such as the International Conference on AIDS, RAND, the United Nations, NYU Center for Global Studies, Center to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy, Harvard Business School, the American Society of Law and Medicine, and the Council on Foundations.

Before joining GLWD, Nancy was a senior program director at George Soros’s foundation, The Open Society Institute (OSI). At OSI, she was a grant maker, directing over $13 million each year to criminal justice and public health causes.

Nancy is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale University and New York University’s School of Law, where she was an editor of the Law Review. She and her partner reside in New York City with their two children.

Christy Policy

Executive Director, Girls on the Run Manhattan

Christy Policy is the Executive Director of Girls on the Run® NYC, a non-profit, community-based organization that uses the power of running to change the way girls see themselves and their opportunities. She brings nearly 15 years of experience in sports marketing and branding to her role as GOTRM’s Executive Director, and has held strategic positions at M&M/Mars, Priceline.com and, most notably, Kaepa, Inc. (a division of Umbro), where Christy oversaw the creation and development of all of Kaepa’s marketing activities, including the Olympic Sponsorship of the Men’s and Women’s US National Volleyball Teams, event management of more than 30 junior girls club tournaments around the country and Kaepa’s community-outreach programs.

Christy received an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and a Bachelor of Arts degree from The College of William and Mary. She and her husband, Ed, live in Manhattan and have a 2-year-old son.

Kara Hurst

VP, Business for Social Responsibility (Moderator)

Kara Hurst plays a crucial role in BSR's global expansion by overseeing all consulting and research activities on the US East Coast. A skilled CSR practitioner, Ms. Hurst’s areas of expertise include corporate transparency, responsible supply chain management, management structures, policy assessment, and industry collaboration.

As a founding member of the Electronic Industry Citizen Coalition, Ms. Hurst facilitated the groundbreaking industry initiative in responsible supply chain management through its first years. She has taken this concept to other sectors, including pharmaceuticals and media, to establish impactful industry partnerships. Her clientele includes GE, Disney, Time Warner, American Express, and Dell.

Prior to joining BSR, Ms. Hurst worked in Silicon Valley for several years, most recently as the Executive Director of Open Voice, an East Palo Alto public-private venture that uses web-based media to develop and empower communities. She has also worked in the offices of former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown.

Kara Hurst holds a master's degree in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor of arts degree from Barnard College of Columbia University.

Lisa Flaiz

VP of Strategic Growth and Innovation, imc²

Lisa is VP of Strategic Growth and Innovation at imc2. She serves as a strategic advisor to pharmaceutical and healthcare clients, helping to define their approaches to interactive marketing. She consults as a subject matter expert, both internally and externally with clients and industry analysts, helps to set standards and define best practices in the specialized health and wellness space.

Throughout her career, Lisa has acquired broad category experience and has been instrumental in several product launches for primary care and specialty brands. She has worked on a number of women’s health brands or brands targeting moms, such as the Serono First Steps™ program (fertility), Diflucan (yeast infections), Zithromax (pediatric ear infections), Relpax (migraines), Xenical (weight loss) Premarin/Prempro (symptoms associated with menopause), Lybrel (birth control), and Pristiq (depression).

A seasoned marketing professional, Lisa has led and directed promotional and educational communications programs to all major influencers and stakeholders, including the physician, clinician, patient, caregiver, consumer, managed care, pharmacy, sales, and media/blogger audiences. Her expertise spans strategic development and tactical implementation across print, broadcast, and interactive mediums. Lisa has been published in industry trades such as Product Management Today, PharmaVoice, DTC Perspectives, and Pharmaceutical Executive, and is a sought-after speaker at many industry events. She is a board member of the Greater Philadelphia chapter of the Healthcare Business Women’s Association (HBA).

Lisa graduated from Lehigh University with a BS in marketing and management, and has an MBA in pharmaceutical marketing from St. Joseph’s University. Follow her on Twitter @PharmaFlaiz.

B.L. Ochman

Managing Director of Emerging Media, Proof Integrated Communications

Voted one of 25 most influential women in social media, B.L. Ochman is Managing Director of Emerging Media for WPP-owned Proof Integrated Communications. She is a social media pioneer who helps companies integrate emerging media into their communications to engage their audience and increase their sales.

Since 1996, she has been creating dynamic Internet and emerging media marketing and brand strategy for companies including Meijer, IBM, Ford, McGraw-Hill, Cendant, Simon & Schuster, stacksandstacks.com, and American Greetings.

She is the publisher of the popular What’s Next Blog, which tracks news and trends in online marketing , a frequent contributor to AdAge Digital Next, Business Week Online, Social Media Today, Mashable and others, and is co-founder of the pet lover’s site, Pawfun.com. Follow her on Twitter @whatsnext.

Erin Pettigrew

Director of Marketing, Gawker Media

Erin Pettigrew is Director of Marketing for leading digital publisher Gawker Media, where she delivers innovative advertising products to an audience of over 20 million readers each month. Founded in 2002, Gawker Media is comprised of the eponymous Gawker, gadget sensation Gizmodo, and other properties that are frequently name-checked by major media ranging from The New York Times to Comedy Central's "The Daily Show."

Since joining Gawker Media in 2005, Erin has aided in the formation and growth of the company's Sales & Marketing effort from two to 22 members. She currently directs both the sales marketing and advertising operations teams, two revenue-driving groups that rarely report to a single leader. In her uniquely hybrid position, Erin concepts, executes, and scales ad strategies for blue chip clients whose needs range from mass market reach to social media integration. She has spoken on ad leadership issues to industry associations, including the Digital Publishing & Advertising Conference and AdMonsters.

Erin Pettigrew is also a former professional dancer, contributor to the New York City tech and business innovation scenes, and graduate of Yale University. Follow her on Twitter: @superfem.

Lena West

Co-Founder, xynoMedia

Lena L. West is an award-winning social media consultant, blogger, speaker, journalist, technologist and the Founder of Real Women Do Social Media, the only social media training initiative created exclusively for women business owners. She is also the Founder, CEO & Chief Social Media Strategist at xynoMedia, a social media consulting, implementation and development firm that helps women-owned and led companies profit from the power of Social Media and the Internet.

As a certified technical expert, West learned about the intricate aspects of computers and networking while consulting with Fortune 500 companies such as IBM, Pitney Bowes, Philips Magnavox, Hyperion Software and MasterCard International. After cutting her ‘technical teeth’, she founded xynoMedia in 1997.

West’s expertise has been widely acknowledged and recently Forbes Magazine ranked her as one of the 30 Women Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter. She is the winner of several business awards, among them: The Network Journal’s “40 Under Forty”, AlleyCat News’ “25 Women of Silicon Alley”, The Women’s Congress’ Entrepreneurial Champion for Women in Business and was dubbed an “Entrepreneurial Hero” by NCWIT. West has also been featured as the cover story for publications such as The Westchester County Business Journal and Black Enterprise.

A sought-after writer and speaker, West writes and speaks regularly about the merits and potential pitfalls of social media. She communicates her expertise about social media, web 2.0 and online technologies through Social Media 360, her expert blog on FastCompany.com; her Seriously Social column and blog for Entrepreneur Magazine; as well as feature articles for both InfoWorld and Jupitermedia. She has spoken for American Express, SCORE, National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI), Syracuse University and The Learning Annex. Her goal is to help make social media easy to use, manageable and worthwhile for women business leaders. Follow her on Twitter @LenaWest.

Laurel Hart

Partner, Logos Consulting Group/Senior Fellow, Logos Institute for Crisis Management and Executive Leadership (Moderator)

Laurel Hart is a partner at the crisis management firm Logos Consulting Group, and a senior fellow at the Logos Institute for Crisis Management & Executive Leadership. She helps clients, both corporate and nonprofit, understand the evolution of social media and its relationship to organizational communication, reputation and crisis. Laurel is also an adjunct instructor in the Master’s in Public Relations and Corporate Communications program at NYU, where she teaches a course on social media, and she is a frequent guest speaker at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Prior to joining Logos in 2007, Laurel worked in communications in both corporate and nonprofit organizations, including Religions for Peace, Special Olympics New York, and beginning in 2000, as the communications manager for SSA Marine, one of the world’s largest operators of marine and rail cargo facilities. She wrote the social media chapter in the pending second edition of Reputation Management: The Key to Successful Public Relations & Corporate Communication by John Doorley and Helio Fred Garcia. She has a B.A. in English from Colby College and an M.S. in Public Relations and Corporate Communications from NYU. Follow her on Twitter @laurelhart.