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Emily Kernan Rafferty, President Emerita of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Ms. Rafferty currently serves as a Board member of the New York Federal Reserve Bank (Chair, 2012-2016); Chair of NYC & Company (the city’s tourism, marketing, and partnering organization); Board member of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum; Senior Adviser for Heritage Protection and Conservation for UNESCO; Board member of PJT Partners; and served as an Advisory Board member of the eight women Bipartisan Congressional Commission for The American Museum of Women’s History in D.C. (May 2015-December 2016), and continues as an advisor to the project.
As principal of Emily K. Rafferty & Associates, she consults for many organizations, including Russell Reynolds Associates in the firm’s nonprofit practice and The Shed, a performing arts center under construction in Hudson Yards. She is an Advisory Director to Carnegie Hall, a member of the Advisory Council of the American University of Beirut, and also a member of the Economic Club and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Ms. Rafferty is a frequent speaker on non-profit and board management, fundraising, and cultural heritage and conservation, and has long been actively affiliated with a number of arts and inter-museum organizations. The recipient of many awards and honors, Ms. Rafferty was named by Crain’s New York Business one of New York City’s 100 most influential women from 2009 through 2013, and in Fall 2015 she was elected to their Hall of Fame. In 2012, she received the New York University Lewis Rudin Award for Exemplary Service to New York City.
Sandra Jackson-Dumont, Frederick P. Sandra P. Rose Chairman of Education, Metropolitan Museum of Art
She was formerly the Deputy Director for Education + Public Programs and Adjunct Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM). She had strategic oversight of programming at SAM’s three sites—Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park. Prior to her appointment at SAM, Jackson-Dumont worked at the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Whitney Museum of American Art among other cultural organizations.
Known for her ability to blur the lines between academia, popular culture and non-traditional art-going communities, Jackson-Dumont is invested in curating experiences that foster dynamic exchanges between art/artists, past/present, public/private and people/places. She has organized numerous exhibitions, lectures, performances, symposia and education initiatives and she has contributed essays to a host of publications and worked with numerous artists.
Past projects have included: Brenna Youngblood: Abstracted Realities in 2015/16; LaToya Ruby Frazier: Born By a River in 2014; machupicchu afterdark, a site specific installation by contemporary Afro- Peruvian artist William Cordova in 2013/14; We Will Blow the Roof Off The Mother, a site-specific installation for the Seattle Art Museum Olympic Sculpture Park in 2013; Theaster Gates: The Listening Room in 2011; Record Store, a roving social practice project initially installed in an urban store front in partnership with Olson Kundig Architects featuring listening parties hosted by a wide cross-section of artists, curators, community/public figures, cultural producers and others in 2011/12; Xenobia Bailey: the aesthetics of funk an exhibition at the Northwest African American Museum in 2011; Titus Kaphar: History in the Making in 2009.
Jackson-Dumont currently serves on the boards of Seattle’s Friends of the Waterfront Project, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs’ Advisory Commission, the National Guild for Community Arts Education and the Friends of the Highline.
She is the recipient of several awards and honors, including: the 2012 Community Leader of the Year Finalist for the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce; a 2012 Women of Color Empowered Award; the 2013 Creative Leadership Award from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation; the 2015 Distinguished Alumni Award from Sonoma State University; and the 2016 Medal for Distinguished Service from Columbia University’s Teachers College. She was included in Seattle Magazine’s Most Influential People 2010, The Smartest People in Seattle’s Politics 2013, and the Twenty-five Influential Black Women in Business for The Network Journal 2015. She is also an independent curator/writer and programming consultant working across communities, disciplines and sectors. She received her B.A. in art history from Sonoma State University in California and her M.A. in art history from Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Cindy F. Golden, Chief Financial Officer, Belfer Management, LLC
Henry Timms, Executive Director, 92Y
As Executive Director of 92nd Street Y, Henry creates programs and movements that foster learning, civic responsibility, culture and innovation, both in New York City and around the world. He is the founder of #GivingTuesday, a global philanthropic movement that was awarded a Cannes Lion at the International Festival of Creativity; a PRWeek Global Award for Nonprofit Campaign of the Year; and the inaugural UJA-Federation Riklis Prize in Agency Entrepreneurship.
Henry’s work has been profiled in publications like the Harvard Business Review, and his most recent thinking with Jeremy Heimans on “new power” was featured as the Big Idea in HBR and by CNN as one of the ten top ideas to change the world in 2015. Henry is a Practitioner-in-Residence at the Stanford University Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, a faculty member of the GovLab Academy and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Network of Global Agenda Councils. Henry was named the NonProfit Times Influencer of the Year in 2014 and was honored as one of Crain’s New York Business 40 under 40 in 2015.
Whitney W. Donhauser, President, Museum of the City of New York
At MCNY Donhauser has overseen the final phases of New York at Its Core, a permanent exhibition, that opened on November 18, on the four-century history of New York City with a Future City Lab that explores the city’s ongoing challenges of housing, population growth, embracing diversity, transportation, and climate change. Historic highs in museum and education program attendance and numbers of online followers were recorded in 2016. The first ever multi-lingual advertising campaign aims to draw even more and more diverse visitors.
Ms. Donhauser has a B.A. from Vassar College and a Certificate from the Royal Society of Art in London.
Raoul Bhavnani, Senior Managing Director, Strategic Communications, FTI Consulting
At Morgan Stanley, he advised senior corporate and government leaders on capital markets matters; mergers and acquisitions (M&A); privatization activity; and risk management. He was one of the first employees of Morgan Stanley’s investment banking division in India, where the firm was involved in groundbreaking, capital-raising activities — as well as the development and modernization of India’s financial markets.
Upon returning to the United States, Mr. Bhavnani also spent time in the political and public sectors, helping to manage the campaigns of high-profile candidates, and engaging in public-policy issues facing New York City. For the last decade, he has advised large organizations on communications strategy, first as a partner at Westhill Partners, and then as a senior managing director at FTI Consulting.
His expertise involves the development and application of analytical methods in communications and business strategy, as well as the management of large, global client engagements. Mr. Bhavnani also spent nearly two years of his career with FTI Consulting, in the firm’s London office as part of the group’s EMEA management team. Besides client work, Mr. Bhavnani serves in a leadership capacity for the firm’s diversity & inclusion efforts.
Mr. Bhavnani is a cum laude graduate of Princeton University, and is active in a leadership capacity with a variety of civic and cultural organizations around the world. He is the co-founder and Board President of The India Center Foundation, a non-profit cultural institution and think tank based in New York focused on India and its relationship with the United States. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children.
Arielle Tepper Madover, Theater and Film Producer & Board Chair, The Public Theater
Mrs. Madover has had a long-standing relationship with The Donmar Warehouse since 2005. She worked with Artistic Director Michael Grandage from 2005 to 2012 and Josie Rourke starting in 2012.
Mrs. Madover is Executive Producer of the film Genius by John Logan directed by Michael Grandage starring Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, and Laura Linney.
Mrs. Madover’s theatrical credits include:
Broadway: Les Liaisons Dangereuses starring Liev Schreiber and Janet McTeer and directed by Josie Rourke, The Elephant Man starring Bradley Cooper, The Cripple of Inishmaan starring Daniel Radcliffe, directed by Michael Grandage, Lucky Guy, by Nora Ephron, starring Tom Hanks, directed by George C. Wolfe, I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers written by John Logan, starring Bette Midler, Annie directed by James Lapine, Red, the 6 time Tony Award winning Best Play of 2010 starring Alfred Molina, directed by Michael Grandage, the Tony Award winning revival of Hair, Hamlet starring Jude Law, directed by Michael Grandage, Mary Stuart directed by Phyllida Lloyd, starring Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter, Equus, Frost/Nixon, Monty Python’s Spamalot, The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh, Democracy, A Raisin in the Sun as well as The Royal National Theater’s production of Tom Stoppard’s Jumpers, the Tony Award winning Hollywood Arms written by Carol Burnett and her daughter, Carrie Hamilton, directed by Harold Prince, A Class Act, Tony Award winning James Joyce’s The Dead, Sandra Bernhard’s I’m Still Here..Damn It and John Leguizamo’s FREAK.
West End: My Night with Reg, Piaf, Monty Python’s Spamalot, Frost/Nixon and Guys & Dolls both directed by Michael Grandage, Mary Stuart, A Voyage Round My Father and Sunday in the Park with George.
Off- Broadway: De La Guarda “ Villa Villa”, The Last Five Years, written by Jason Robert Brown, directed by Daisy Prince and Olivier Award winning Goodnight Children Everywhere by Richard Nelson, originally produced at The Royal Shakespeare Company.
The Public Theater: in 2016 won 12 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Choreography, Best Orchestrations, Best Direction, Best Book of A Musical, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Best Performance by and Actor and Actress in a Featured Role, Best Lighting Design, Best Costume Design of a Musical for Hamilton and Best Costume Design of a Play for Eclipsed.
Hamilton 7 Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Musical written and starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Fun Home, the 5 time Tony Award winning Best Musical of 2015 starring Michael Cerveris and directed by Sam Gold, Grounded starring Anne Hathaway and directed by Julie Taymor, Josephine & I, the Lortel Award winner for Outstanding Solo Show, starring Cush Jumbo and directed by Phyllida Lloyd, Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) written by Obie Award winner Suzan-Lori Parks and Fortress of Solitude.
She has also produced Bounce by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman directed by Harold Prince at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as well as the US National Tour of Frost/Nixon and the US National tour and Vegas productions of Monty Python’s Spamalot.
In 2005 Mrs. Madover formed The Living Room for Artists a not for profit 501(c)(3) organization to sustain and support the Summer Play Festival (SPF) which was first presented in 2004. SPF formed an alliance with The Public Theater and had a relationship with the Donmar Warehouse through its creation of the Playwright Residency Program.
In her effort to promote Theater Education, in 2001, she created The Tepper Center for Careers in Theatre, which through The Tepper Semester in New York provides opportunities for college seniors to develop specific strategies for pursuing their career goals in the entertainment industry. In 2005 she initiated a theatre program for kindergarten through third graders at The Dalton School.
Mrs. Madover is on the Board of Governors for The Broadway League and The Board of the Janice and Philip Levin Foundation, an Emeritus member of the Syracuse University Board of Trustees and a past Board member of The Dalton School. Mrs. Madover is also a member of the Juilliard Drama Council and has been listed in Crain’s 40 under 40 and was one of Cosmopolitan’s Fun Fearless Females.
In 2016 Mrs. Madover received the George Arents Award from Syracuse University. It is the highest alumni honor, presented annually to four alumni who have made outstanding contributions to their chosen fields.
Penny Abeywardena, Commissioner, New York City Mayor's Office for International Affairs
Penny joined CGI in 2009 to develop strategy highlighting and integrating the gender lens throughout the organization’s various platforms. She led the program’s evolution into one of CGI’s most successful efforts. While at CGI, Penny was responsible for the portfolio of CGI commitments focused on empowering girls & women worldwide, developing year-round programming, and integrating the gender lens throughout the CGI platform. During her tenure, she advised multinational corporations, philanthropists, NGOs, and multilateral institutions to increase investments in gender-focused development initiatives; and expanded the community of CGI members who incorporate the gender lens in their work. Before joining the Clinton Global Initiative, Penny worked in both development and programmatic areas for Human Rights Watch, the Funding Exchange and the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy.
In 2016 Penny was named by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader. She is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the Board of Directors of the United Nations Development Corporation, New Course, Global Partners, Inc and the Eastside Greenway and Park. On her personal time, Penny serves on the Hillary for America Policy Working Group on Global Women’s Issues, the Innovation Advisory Committee for 92Y and the Founding Member Committee of Lincoln Center’s Global Exchange. She has previously served on the World Bank’s Advisory Council on Gender and Development, the Board of Directors of Sakhi for South Asian Women and Resource Generation. Penny’s a contributing author to “Women in the Global Economy: Leading Social Change,” and in 2012 was recognized by the United Nation’s Decide Now Act (DNA) Summit, as one of 101 Global Innovators for her work to put women’s rights on the global political agenda. She’s a graduate of the University of Southern California and completed her Master of International Affairs at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. Penny lives on the Upper West Side with her husband. She loves to explore the five boroughs for regional cuisines and jog in Central Park.
Eileen A. Aptman, Chief Investment Officer, Belfer Management LLC
Deepali Bagati, Executive Director, Catalyst
Previously, Dr. Bagati was a Vice President of the Catalyst Inclusive Leadership Initiative, and led curriculum development to transform diversity research, expertise, and advocacy into skill-building leadership programs for emerging leaders. She recently launched Catalyst’s introductory course on Inclusive Leadership Training on the edX platform. Dr. Bagati also led the growth and expansion of Catalyst India, and managed the Catalyst India Advisory Board and developed knowledge products on women in business. Most recently, Dr. Bagati authored Leadership Gap in India Inc.: Myths and Realities and the 2010 India Benchmarking Report.
In her prior role at Catalyst, as a Director of Research, Dr. Bagati led research on workplace challenges for women of color and developed solutions for building more effective and inclusive workplaces. Dr. Bagati co-led the Women of Color in Professional Services series, led the Women of Color Issue Specialty Team, and authored several reports. As a member of the Catalyst Award Evaluation Committee, Dr. Bagati was a strategic adviser for the evaluation of global initiatives, and as a member of Catalyst’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council, she was an internal advisor on diversity and inclusion for Catalyst staff.
She received her PhD in Social Work and Social Research from Bryn Mawr College, with her dissertation focusing on the impact of microcredit loans on gender relations at the household level for low-income women in New Delhi. Dr. Bagati earned a MA in Social Work and a BA in Economics, with honors, from Delhi University, New Delhi, India.
Cathie Black, Consultant
For much of her career, Ms. Black has been a “first”, breaking barriers along the way and helping pave the way to create opportunities for the younger generation of female media executives.
She is also an author, having written Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life), a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller and published in 12 countries.
A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Ms. Black was also a longtime board member of IBM and The Coca-Cola Company, along with being a trustee of The University of Notre Dame. A graduate of Trinity College, Washington, D.C., Ms. Black holds ten honorary degrees.
Now, Cathie lives in the startup world as an advisor, board member or investor in a variety of young companies to include PubMatic, Yieldbot, Bark & Co (Bark Box), and Pinks and Greens, among others.
Katherine Wu Brady, EVP of Commerce, Registry & Guest Services at XO Group
Ms. Brady is a graduate of the Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology at the University of Pennsylvania, earning bachelor’s degrees in Finance from The Wharton School and in Systems Engineering from The School of Engineering and Applied Science. She lives in New York City with her husband, son and daughter.
Jimmie Briggs, Co-founder and Executive Director Emeritus, Man Up Campaign
Christine Cea, Founder & Principal, Posit Communications
As Senior Director of Marketing Communications at Unilever for eight years, Christine led Brand Public Relations, Earned Social Media and Health & Wellness marketing for the U.S. portfolio of foods and personal care brands – Dove, Suave, Lipton, Hellmann’s, and Magnum ice cream among dozens of others. She led the launch of Unilever Project Sunlight, the company’s first consumer marketing initiative to foster its sustainable living mission, which received a Cannes PR Lion.
She has held senior management positions at global PR agencies in both New York and London, including tenure as the Global Consumer Brand Marketing Practice Leader. With the emergence of Social Media, Christine became an industry leader who served five years on the Board of Directors of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, delivered keynotes and lectured at The Wharton School of Business.
Christine has been ranked twice on the PR Week Power List, which recognized her as “a champion who helped propel Unilever’s venerable brands into the digital age.” She received the 2014 PR Week Awards Honorable Mention as PR Professional of the Year – In House, which noted her industry thought leadership.
She holds a BA in English from Barnard College and an MA in English from Columbia University.
Margaret Coady, Executive Director, Coach Foundation and Corporate Social Responsibility at Coach, Inc.
As Executive Director of The Coach Foundation, Margaret works with the Foundation Board to deploy more than $5 million annually to high-impact non-profit organizations serving communities around the globe. The Coach Foundation’s principal mission is help women to fully realize their potential and to improve educational opportunities for the underserved.
In her role as Executive Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, Margaret leads Coach, Inc.’s efforts at the intersection of corporate and community success, and develops opportunities for the company’s worldwide teams to participate in giving back to the communities in which they live and work.
Margaret has had a longstanding career of thought leadership in corporate community engagement, having served as Executive Director of CECP, a coalition of 150 CEOs united in the belief that societal improvement is an essential measure of business performance. At CECP for more than a decade, Margaret was instrumental in establishing the non-profit as the top forum for inspiring and challenging CEOs and corporate philanthropic leaders to align community initiatives with core business strategy.
Margaret graduated with magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa honors from Williams College and was Valedictorian of her class at Columbia Business School. In 2013, she was one of 6 national finalists for the American Express NGen Leadership Award honoring nonprofit leaders age 40 or under who have demonstrated significant impact in addressing society’s critical needs.
Lori Conkling, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, NBCUniversal
Prior to joining NBCUniversal, Conkling was EVP, Distribution, at A+E Networks (AEN), having joined from Lifetime Networks when it was acquired by AEN in 2009.
For the past five years Conkling has been named one of CableFAX’s Most Powerful Women in Cable and was inducted into Multichannel News’ Wonder Women Class of 2011. She has served time on the Board of Directors for Women in Cable and Telecommunications, the Alliance for Women in Media and the Fuqua School of Business Alumni Council.
Conkling received a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and an MBA from Duke University.
Aria Finger, CEO & Chief Old Person, DoSomething.org; President, TMI
With her cause-related marketing experience, Finger has spearheaded partnerships with top brands including Johnson & Johnson, H&M, Sprint and American Express.
In 2013, Aria founded and became President of TMI, a subsidiary agency that uses DoSomething.org’s 20+ years of experience to help clients reach young people and fuel positive impact in the world.
She graduated magna cum laude in economics and political science from Washington University in St. Louis, and completed the Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Aria currently serves on the board of the NYC-based not-for-profit Care for the Homeless, was one of the first ten World Economic Forum Global Shapers and is an adjunct professor at New York University. She has been highlighted in the New York Times, Fast Company and was named to the 2012 Crain’s New York Business list of “40 Under Forty” and featured on the cover.
When she is not running DoSomething.org or desperately trying to improve her Spanish, Aria can be found reading The New Jim Crow for the thousandth time, or relearning her ABCs with the newest addition to the DS family, her adorable son Luke.
Fran Hauser, Startup Investor & Former President, Digital at Time Inc.
Hauser previously spent 15 years in the digital media space, holding President and General Manager positions at Time Inc., AOL and Moviefone. She played an integral role in the $400mm sale of Moviefone to AOL and in building PEOPLE.com into one of the most successful women’s websites.
Hauser speaks frequently about topics such as career building, digital media and investing in and by women. She recently received the Fairy Godmother Award from Girl Be Heard and the W Award from the YWCA of the City of New York, both of which honor change makers who advocate for women and girls around the world. In 2014, Forty Over 40 selected Hauser as one of 40 Women to Watch Over 40, a distinction that honors women who are reinventing, disrupting and making an impact. That same year, she was also named one of the Six Most Powerful Women in New York City’s Tech Scene by Refinery29 and was honored as a Global Champion of Women on International Women’s Day.
A passionate advocate of women around the globe, Hauser is an advisory board member of 92Y Women inPower, Rent the Runway’s Project Entrepreneur, WomenOne and TIA Girl Club; on the board of directors of GlobalGiving; and a mentor to hundreds of young women. A summa cum laude graduate of Pace University, Hauser lives in Bedford, New York with her husband and two darling boys.
Anna Holmes, Founder, Jezebel.com
Anna Holmes has written and edited for numerous publications, including the New York Times,Washington Post, Newsweek, InStyle and The New Yorker online. She is the founder of the popular website Jezebel.com and the 2012 recipient of a Mirror Award for Best Commentary. In 2013 her Twitter account was named one of the top 140 Twitter feeds by Time Magazine, at which point she became incredibly self-conscious and stopped tweeting as much. She is the editor of two books, including theBook of Jezebel, and works as a columnist for the New York Times Book Review and as an editor of Digital Voices at Fusion. She lives in New York.
Maz Kessler, Founder, Catapult
Gillian Lester, Dean Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
Lester began her teaching career in 1994 at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, where she later became a full professor in 1999. In 2006, Lester joined the Berkeley Law faculty, where—in addition to serving as acting dean from 2012 to 2014—she was the Alexander F. and May T. Morrison Professor of Law and the Werner and Mimi Wolfen Research Professor. Lester also co-directed the Berkeley Center for Health, Economic and Family Security and was the Associate Dean for the J.D. Program and Curricular Planning.
Lester has held external appointments at Harvard Law School as the Sidley Austin Visiting Professor and at the Georgetown University Law Center as a Sloan Fellow and visiting professor. She also held short-term visiting appointments at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, University of Chicago Law School, and Radzyner School of Law Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel.
Lester serves on the Executive Board for the International Society of Labor Law & Social Security and the Board of Directors for the Legal Aid Society of New York.
Lester received a J.S.D. from Stanford Law School, an LL.B. from the University of Toronto and a B.Sc. from the University of British Columbia.
Terri McCullough, Director of No Ceilings: The Full Participation Project, Clinton Foundation
Tim Maleeny, Chief Strategy Officer, Havas Worldwide
Tim is known as a pioneer in reshaping the industry’s approach to strategic planning, hiring hybrid talent, and building dynamic teams that can be reconfigured as client needs change. He is a hybrid himself, having worked as a copywriter, producer, account director, and strategic planner since his career began over two decades ago.
Tim has degrees from Dartmouth College and Columbia University, and he is a best-selling author of numerous short stories and four award-winning novels.
Jessica Peltz-Zatulove, Principal, kbs+ Ventures
Adam Quinton, Founder/CEO, Lucas Point Venture
He serves as an Advisory to Hire an Esquire, Tactile Finance and San Francisco based SwoopTalent as well as Chicago based techweek. In H1 2014 he served as Chief Financial Officer of leading NYC based cybersecurity company NopSec, another of his investees.
He Chairs the East Coast Advisory Board of Astia as well being a Founding Astia Angel. He is an Advisor for San Francisco based Women’s StartUp Lab and a mentor for the Boulder based accelerator MergeLane. He is also an advisor/mentor to 37 Angels and The Vinetta Project.
In 2014 he was named by AlleyWatch one of “25 Angel Investors in New York You Need to Know” and also one the “100 NYC Tech Influencers You Need to Know”. In 2015 tech.co named him “One of 8 VCs making waves.”
In the not-for-profit space, Quinton is on the Board at International House New York, and a member of the Executive Committee. He is also a Board member at the Center for Talent Innovation.
Adam has over 25 years of investing and management experience, most recently at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he was most recently Managing Director and head of Global Macro Research.
He has been a top ranked sell-side investment analyst in the UK, Asia, and the US.
Additionally, he is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where he is a Capstone workshop advisor and member of the Management and Gender & Policy faculties.
Quinton holds a MA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and an MBA from Cass Business School, London.
JJ Ramberg, Founder & Managing Director, Goodshop; Host, Your Business, MSNBC
Now in its tenth season, Your Business is the only program on television dedicated to helping small business owners solve the issues they face every day. JJ has travelled across the country, interviewing thousands of small business owners, investors and advisors – as well as cabinet members and members of Congress — to learn what works and what doesn’t.
JJ is a leader in the space of social entrepreneurship. Through its innovative online platform, her company Goodshop has forged a connection between retail savings and non-profit and school fundraising—by creating coupons that give back. Not only does it provide the best coupons and deals at thousands of stores including Target, Kohl’s, Old Navy, and Macy’s, but if you select a nonprofit or school to support, it donates a percentage of the purchase from many of these stores back to that organization. Launched in 2006, the Goodshop family of sites has raised nearly $12 million for its participating causes as well as saved people more than $100 million.
JJ has been honored for her work with Goodshop as well as with MSNBC by organizations including the American Women’s Business Association, Self Magazine, The Association of Women Entrepreneurs and Executives, Small Business Influencers and the New York Enterprise Report. In addition, as an entrepreneur herself as well as a journalist who covers small business, JJ is often called to speak to organizations including the Small Business Administration, National Women Business Owners Corporation, National Association of Women Business Owners, American Express CEO Bootcamp, and many others.
JJ holds her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and three children.
Rachel Sklar, co-founder, Change the Ratio and TheLi.st
Adaora Udoji, CEO and Founder, outLoud inc, Managing Director of The Boshia Group
An award winning journalist, Udoji is a graduate of UCLA School of Law. She is among a small group of journalists who have worked in network and cable news, as well as public radio. She’s lived on three continents including Africa, Europe and North America; and holds dual American & Irish citizenship.
Jenifer Willig, Founder, Motive and former CEO of (RED)
Prior to joining (RED), Jenifer spent her career in advertising on global brands including AT&T, Levi Strauss & Co, British Airways, The Financial Times, ran the New York office of M&C Saatchi and developed the dot com business at TBWA/Chiat/Day SF during the tech boom of the late 1990′s.
She has recently been named one of the 10 Most Generous Marketing Geniuses by Catch a Fire’s Generosity Series featured on Fast Company and recognized as one of the 40 women over 40 to watch.
Jenifer is also the co-founder of WHOLE WORLD Water, a social enterprise raising money to provided access to clean and safe water around the world.
Kristy Wallace, COO, Ellevate Network
Prior to joining Ellevate, Kristy oversaw sales and business operations as a founding team member of Zeel.com, a health and wellness startup with deep roots in the New York City tech scene. From 2002 to 2007, she served as VP of Sales at Vault.com, a career information website that surveys employees for vital industry and business information. While there, she grew recruitment advertising revenues and ultimately generated 40% of the company’s income. In 2008, she was named GM of Vault International and went on to build and grow the company’s global footprint.
Kristy obtained her BA in English/Sociology from Villanova University and began her career as a financial analyst at KeyBank. In her “free time,” she serves as Co-Chair of the Leadership Advisory Board for the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York and is an Executive Board Member for Workforce Professionals Training Institute (WPTI). A passionate runner, reader and world traveler, Kristy lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn with her husband and three wonderful children.
Jennefer Witter, CEO and Founder of The Boreland Group
A 30+ year PR veteran, Jennefer was ranked as one the nation’s top ten black CEOs and entrepreneurs by Madame Noire Magazine (the only other female on the list was Ursula Burns, the CEO/chairman of Xerox). Jennefer is the author of “The Little Book of Big PR: 100+ Tips to Get Your Small Business Noticed” (AMACOM, 2014) . She has presented at the 92nd St Y, American University, The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, GlobalWIN, Women’s Presidents Educational OrganizationWomen’s Presidents Educational Organizationthe Women’s Presidents Educational Organization, The Communication Exchange and Ellevate Network. The former PR expert for Inc.com TV, Jennefer has been featured in the Associated Press, TheStreet.com, Crain’s New York Business, and MarketWatch Radio Network. She has been profiled in the Huffington Post and the Amsterdam News.
Ravi Karkara, Senior Advisor on Strategic Partnerships and Advocacy to the Assistant Secretary General and Deputy Executive Director, UN Women
With over 20 years of experience, Ravi is an acknowledged expert in various development related fields. He has been driving innovation and advocacy as well as building strategic partnerships in the areas of human rights, participation, inclusion and gender equality, accountability, and social justice. Recently, Ravi developed a partnership between UN Women and the City of New York and organized a unique gender equality march with over 20,000 participants from the UN Headquarters to Times Square. Ravi has built UN Women’s Strategy on youth and gender equality and established and co-ordinates the Working Group on Youth and Gender Equality for the UN Interagency Network on Youth and Development.
He developed and led the youth outreach of the UN Secretary General’s MyWorld Survey to deliver votes from more than 6 million youth from 193 nations. Ravi has been the recipient of the prestigious NOVUS Award – that unites global leaders from around the world to tackle today’s big challenges via actionable change. He has also been appointed as honorary Global Ambassador by the prestigious Junior Chamber International.
Inspired by the outcomes of the Beijing Conference in 1995, Ravi is a feminist and has been advocating for gender equality and girls/women’s empowerment throughout his career. He has worked on programs for strengthening women’s political participation in local governance and economic empowerment in South Asia and also served as a pioneering Male Trainer for gender sensitization at the Centre for Social Research’s Gender Equality Training Institute, India. He has been a founding member of the Men-Engage Alliance and was instrumental in forming their South Asian network. As Save the Children’s Sweden Regional Program Manager Ravi worked to mainstream gender and action to end violence against women and children in South Asia and promoted cross-regional programmatic collaboration. He also served on Save the Children’s Global Gender Task Force.
Ravi’s publications have been fundamental in forming policy at the United Nations in youth-related areas. Representative publications include: Youth 21: Building the Architecture of Youth Engagement in the UN System”, which contributed to the creation of the United Nations Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth. In addition, he has been the co-chair of World We Want 2015— the largest UN & civil society post-2015 data-curation-visualization big data platform to further engage global populations on Sustainable Development Goals with over 1,000,000 perspectives on sustainable development goals harvested.
Additionally, Ravi has worked with other UN agencies and governments. He served as Global Advisor on Youth with UN-HABITAT and has represented UN-HABITAT as the co-chair of the UN Interagency Network on Youth Development. Ravi also served as the Global Strategic Advisor on Partnership with the UN Millennium Campaign. He has also worked for UNICEF at HQ and the Regional office for South Asia on child and adolescent participation, gender equality and child protection. He also served as Child and Adolescent Participation Advisor to the UN Study on ending Violence against Children in Geneva. He has written more than 80 publications.
Barri Rafferty, Senior Partner and CEO, North America, Ketchum
In addition, she oversees the complementary businesses, Access | Emanate Communications, Interfuse, Capstrat and Harrison & Shriftman. She is also part of the eight-member Worldwide Executive Committee, which focuses on guiding the strategy, client service and performance of the agency.
During her tenure at Ketchum, Rafferty has held several different roles to support the agency’s overall business goals, including overseeing the global brand marketing practice and running the New York, Atlanta and Dallas offices. She also oversaw specialty units such as digital, entertainment, sports, and multicultural.
Rafferty has a legacy of client service and continues to advise many of the agency’s largest clients, including Gillette, P&G, Frito-Lay, Ikea, and Chase. As a counselor, she specializes in integrated marketing, brand reputation and corporate reputation and has helped countless clients with award-winning campaigns, including “Tostitos Fiesta Bowl” for Frito Lay, Kodak’s Inkjet Launch and Maxwell House’s “Build a Home America.”
Outside of Ketchum, Rafferty participates in a number of groups, such as the sustainability taskforce for the World Economic Forum and is a member of Arthur W. Page Society Page Up program. Barri also sits on the executive board of StepUp, an organization with the mission of empowering girls from under-resourced communities to become confident, college-bound, and career focused. She is also active in the Public Relations Society of America New York Chapter and is a former chapter president. She is a 2015 recipient of the Plank Center’s Milestones in Mentoring Award. In 2012, she received the President’s Award for her many contributions. In addition, she is a Capstone advisor and former adjunct professor in the Master’s program in public relations at New York University, as well as an advisory member of the Branding and Integrated Communications program for the City College of New York.
Rafferty has a passion for developing up-and-coming talent, and is particularly interested in the topic of women’s leadership. She is a member of the governing body of OmniWomen, Omnicom’s Leading Women’s Network, for which she holds quarterly panel discussions featuring prominent women within the marketing and communications industry who share their own experiences and offer advice to women.
Prior to Ketchum, Rafferty had a senior role at Lippe Taylor, where she worked on such prestigious brands as Maybelline, Matrix, Escada Beaute and J.F. Lazartigue. She also worked at Slim-Fast Foods Company, Burson-Marsteller and Cone Communications. She received a master’s degree in corporate communications from Boston University and an undergraduate degree in communications from Sophie Newcomb College of Tulane University.
Doron Weber, Vice President, Programs & Program Director, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Mr. Weber has primary responsibility for the Foundation’s efforts to educate and engage the public through books, radio, public and commercial television and film, theater, opera, the Internet, and new media. He also supports selected scientific events of national concern and targeted public policy initiatives.
In 2004, the Foundation received the National Science Board’s Public Service Award, citing Mr. Weber’s program “for its innovative use of traditional media—books, radio, public television–and its pioneering efforts in theater and commercial television and films to advance public understanding of science and technology.” On behalf of the Foundation, in 2007, Mr. Weber received the PBS Leadership Award for over a decade of support, in 2009 the Nielsen Impact Award from the Hollywood Reporter, and, in 2011, the Communicator Award for a documentary about the Foundation’s history, “Sloan at 75.” Mr. Weber’s work at Sloan has been profiled in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Fortune, and The American Way.
Prior to joining Sloan in 1995, Mr. Weber served as Director of Communications at The Rockefeller University (1991-1995), and Director of Communications for the Society for the Right to Die (1989-91). Earlier, he worked as a senior editor for The Reader’s Catalog, a speechwriter for the United Jewish Appeal, and a screenwriter for both television and film. He has also been a teacher, tutor, taxi driver, romance novelist, busboy and boxer.
In February 2012, Mr. Weber published a critically acclaimed book, Immortal Bird: A Family Memoir (Simon & Schuster), that was widely reviewed, including reviews by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and People. Mr. Weber has previously coauthored three nonfiction trade books: Safe Blood: Purifying the Nation’s Blood Supply in the Age of AIDS (Free Press, 1990), The Complete Guide to Living Wills(Bantam Books, 1991), and Final Passages: Positive Choices for the Dying and their Loved One (Simon & Schuster, 1992, Fireside, 1993). His articles and reviews have appeared in, among other places, The New York Times, USA Today, Barron’s, The Baltimore Sun, The Village Voice Literary Supplement, and the Boston Review. His first novel, The Deserters, was excerpted in the fall 2003 issue of Kinder-Link.
Mr. Weber was educated at Brown University (BA, 1977), the Sorbonne, and Oxford University (MA, 1981), where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He also received a Fulbright. He served for ten years (1995-2005) as secretary of the New York State Committee for the Rhodes Scholarships and currently serves as President of The Writers Room Board of Trustees,Vice Chair of the Digital Public Library of America Steering Committee, Advisory Board Member of the Science and Entertainment Exchange, and Board Visitor of the Wikimedia Foundation. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, U.S.A. Triathlon, and the Century Club.
Stacey Hadash, Managing Director and Metro New York Market Executive for Global Commercial Banking, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Stacey is responsible for delivering the entire enterprise to clients, including investment banking and capital markets, credit, syndications, global treasury services, leasing, risk management, global markets and wealth management.
Previously, she was chief operating officer for the firm’s Global Capital Markets business, which includes equity capital markets, investment grade capital markets, leveraged finance, and derivatives & foreign exchange origination.
Stacey joined the firm in 2005 from The New York Stock Exchange, where she was managing director and head of Financial Planning. Prior to that, she worked with former Texas Governor Ann Richards at Public Strategies, a communications consulting firm.
Stacey began her finance career as an investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley. She later worked for the mergers and acquisitions group at Goldman Sachs in both New York and London.
Earlier in her career, Stacey worked on economic policy in the 1992 Clinton/Gore campaign. Following the election, she was appointed as a Special Assistant in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Stacey holds a BA from Smith College and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She is a 2003 Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute and member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Stacey sits on the board of the Ann Richards School Foundation.
Laura A. Clayton McDonnell, General Manager, Enterprise and Partner Group, NY Metro District, Microsoft
Laura is an executive with extensive sales management and legal experience in the information technology industry. Her most recent prior position was Senior Vice President, North America Sales at Aspect Software. Prior to that role, she was Vice President of Strategic Services at IBM and closed the first $200M+, 5 year long term services transformational deal with a leading insurer/healthcare provider in Spanish South America.
She also was Vice President, Public Sector, West IMT, North America Group leading a $2.2B sales organization which supported the State and Local Government, Education, Healthcare and Life Sciences industries. In that capacity, she generated 11 out of 13 quarters of positive growth, holding or taking market share in all quarters except one. She also led the Smarter Cities/Smarter Planet and the North America Healthcare Growth Initiatives.
Laura’s prior IBM positions included Vice President, Services Business Development, S&D Communications Sector, Director & Senior Client Solutions Executive for Global Technology Services, and Director of Contracts & Negotiations for Global Business Development. Before joining IBM, she was Vice President of Business Development at Rational Software. Prior to Rational, Laura was at Sun Microsystems, Inc. where she held a variety of executive-level positions including Senior Director of Market Development and Strategic Planning, and General Counsel of the Consumer and Embedded Software Division. Prior to joining Sun, she was Managing Attorney for North American Sales at Cisco Systems, Inc. and a Senior Counsel at Apple Computer, Inc. Prior to Apple, Laura was in private corporate and securities law practice at a law firm in San Francisco.
Laura received her Bachelor of Science degree “with distinction” in International Business Administration at San Jose State University, her Masters in Business Administration degree from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley in Finance and International Business Administration, and her Juris Doctorate from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. At Boalt, she was awarded “Best Oral Argument” for First Year Moot Court, and served as Articles Editor for the International Tax and Business Lawyer Journal. She is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and the State of California.
Laura has held leadership positions in community and business professional organizations. She has served as President of the Barristers Section of the Santa Clara County Bar Association, and President of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Black MBA Association. Laura has been a member of the Development Council for the Haas School of Business, and a member of the Board of Directors for the Boalt Hall School of Law Alumni Association. She is a recipient of the 2008 YWCA of Silicon Valley Tribute to Women Award (TWIN). Laura is a member of the Women’s Forum of New York and an Advisory Committee Member of the Belfer Center for Innovation and Social Impact of the 92Y.
Kim Pendergast, Managing Partner, Pendergast Partners, LLC
Kim is a serial entrepreneur. She was founder and CEO of five companies before starting Pendergast Partners. Pendergast Logistics Services, was a dedicated freight management company for a $5 billion publicly traded company with over $100 million in freight. Client Distribution Services, was created with the assets of a division of Random House and grew to a run rate of $70 million dollars annually before it was sold. She also founded an environmental consulting company based in Denver, a strategy and investment banking company whose client list included AT&T and ABB, and a leasing company.
Currently, Ms. Pendergast is CEO and Chairman of the Board of Magnuson Products, LLC, a portfolio company located in Ventura, California.
Kim graduated from Indiana University with honors, B.A., M.B.A. and was selected as a Henry Crown Fellow, Aspen Institute. She helped found the Learning Spring Academy, a school for Children with Asperger’s Syndrome in NYC, and the National Art Museum of Sport and supports The Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Indiana. She speaks both German and Spanish.