The following executives will be participating in the March 20th event in New York City.

Top Companies

Amy L. Rhine-Pallas
Divisional Vice President, Corporate Development
Abbott
Amy Rhine-Pallas joined Abbott in 2005 as divisional vice president, Global Customer Management for Abbott’s Diagnostic Division, and was appointed as the executive chair of Abbott’s Diagnostics Women in Action (DWA).  In January 2006, she was named divisional vice president,  US Diagnostic Commercial Operations.  Prior to joining Abbott, she was an executive director at Johnson Controls.  Prior to that,  Amy spent thirteen years at IBM in various leadership positions including regional vice president, sales and vice president strategy for the industrial sector. Amy held other management roles in sales, operations and strategy.  Before joining IBM, she was an engineer in the manufacturing industry.

Amy was appointed to her current role in 2009, responsible for  leading healthcare commercial initiatives and strategy.  Amy serves on the board of  Healthcare Industry Supply Chain Institute (HISCI) collaborative association and on Abbott’s Women Leaders in Action (WLA) executive council.

Amy earned a master’s degree in business administration from Ross School of Business at University of Michigan, a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from The Ohio State University and attended executive education at Harvard and Boston University.

Amy and her husband, David reside in Chicago.

E. Renee Zaugg
Head of IT Infrastructure & Development Services
Aetna
Renee Zaugg was recently appointed head of Aetna’s IT Infrastructure and Development Services. She is responsible for Aetna’s domestic and international infrastructure and oversees Platform Engineering, Client and Data Services, Data and LAN Center Operations and Production Services. Renee also manages all of Aetna’s application development resources with a focus on code quality, environmental integration, performance management, framework excellence and expansion of methods and tools.

Throughout Renee’s 31 years with Aetna, she has gained progressive experience in various IT leadership roles and managed many organizations including Infrastructure Technology Services, Infrastructure and Application Integration Services, Enterprise Systems Management and IT Disaster Recovery. In addition, she led key projects including numerous mergers & acquisitions, data center consolidations and infrastructure technology advancements. Renee also was the Chief of Staff for two of Aetna’s chief information officers.

Renee is a resourceful IT manager with an outstanding history for leveraging technical expertise to consistently provide highly effective global business solutions. She is highly regarded by senior executives as a key resource, critical thinker, and out-of-the-box problem solver. Recently, Renee formed the first ever Aetna Women’s Leadership Alliance, which focuses on inspiring females to lead, as well as improving advancement and retention of women in business. She remains the co-chair of the WLA Board. She was also appointed Culture Champion for Aetna’s Technology and Service Operations organization where she will lead, inspire, influence and integrate culture action to enterprise-wide, cross-organization initiatives.

An avid gardener, Renee and her husband reside in East Granby, CT while their two children attend college.

Cynthia Whitfield
Field Vice President of the Southern Region
Allstate
In her 32 years with Allstate, Cynthia has held leadership roles in Operations, Accounting, Controllers, Risk Management and Product Operations. Prior to joining the Southern Region, Cynthia led efforts at the Risk Management Business Center (RMBC) in Hudson, Ohio. In 2007, she was named product operations director, and two years later, she was promoted to assistant vice president in Product Operations where she was responsible for leading the Risk Management Strategy and Execution team.

Cynthia joined the Allstate Southern Region in December 2009, and brings deep industry expertise and strong business acumen to her regional role. “I am truly excited about being part of a winning team,” says Cynthia. “We have tremendous possibilities in the Southern Region!”

Cynthia’s strong focus on the customer has been evident throughout her career. She designed and implemented customer retention programs in the RMBC and helped re?design customer service requirements for the Encompass Risk Management Center. Additionally, Cynthia has a passion for talent development and has mentored many employees across the country.

A native of New Jersey, Cynthia received her Bachelor’s Degree from Rutgers University and her Master’s Degree in Management from Indiana Wesleyan University. She believes in giving back to the community and is a member of the National Black MBA Association, serves on the Board of Directors for the United Way of Middle Tennessee and is a member of the Nashville CABLE organization which is Tennessee’s largest and most established network of diverse professionals committed to connecting women and opportunity. Cynthia also serves as a mentor with Menttium, an organization that has facilitated more than 50,000 mentoring partnerships in hundreds of companies around the world and that supports diversity and development in the workplace.

Janey Whiteside
Senior Vice President, General Manager – Global Client Group, Global Corporate Payments
American Express
Janey assumed the role of SVP, GM  Global Client Group, with the Global Corporate Payment Business in March 2011.

Janey has been with American Express for 15 years in a range of strategy, marketing, product development, business development, sales and general management roles across ICSS, GNS & GMS.  Janey began her career at American Express as Manager, Pricing in the International Establishment Services Group in 1997.  In 1999, she moved to International Consumer and Small Business Services (ICSS), where she held a number of positions with increasing responsibility.  In 2004, Janey joined Global Network Services (GNS) as Vice President, Business Development and led the launch of the first GNS partner in the U.S., MBNA, latterly taking on roles managing a broader range of NA based partners including Bank of America, GE and HSBC. In 2008 she expanded her role and took on regional responsibilities, becoming Head of Sales, Marketing and Deal Management for the GNS Americas region including Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America and the US. In 2010, Janey was promoted to SVP & Chief Marketing Officer, GNS Global Marketing, where she led all marketing initiatives for the GNS business globally. Prior to joining American Express, Janey was an International Officer at HSBC where she held a variety of roles across the retail bank worldwide.

Originally from the UK, Janey now lives in New York with her husband Diego and two small children.

Kathleen Delaney
Senior Vice President for US Marketing
Aon
Kathleen Delaney is the Senior Vice President for US Marketing at Aon Risk Services, a $1.5b enterprise. She is responsible for all aspects of marketing in the US – PR, Branding, Lead Generation, Competitive Intelligence, Retention and Interactive. With staff in every major market in the US, Kathleen and her team have been charged with transforming new prospect and client relationships and driving new revenue, leveraging the considerable assets of the firm. Kathleen joined Aon from LexisNexis, where she led the company’s B-2-B marketing efforts for their Client Development division, focusing on developing social media initiatives to drive leads and overall revenue. Her team launched what grew to be the largest online community platform for lawyers, Martindale-Hubbell Connected.

Prior, Kathleen worked for more than 10 years at Dow Jones & Company, most recently as vice president of global marketing for Dow Jones Indexes, an $80 million business within the parent company. She held multiple world-wide marketing and product roles spanning branding, advertising and collateral campaigns.  She was a pioneer in introduction of the blogging, social media, paid search and various web marketing initiatives to drive leads, differentiate against the competition and manage reputation.  While at Dow Jones, Kathleen also led the team which launched a new product suite which grew to $15 million in three years.

Kathleen’s previous employment history includes other Fortune companies including AT&T and Johnson & Johnson. In addition, she worked for several internet start-ups, adding to her overall expertise in information technology, enterprise software, financial, internet/new media, and professional services.

Kathleen graduated with a Master’s in Business Administration from New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business in 1993 and received her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Arts in Econometrics and French. She studied in Belgium at Katholique University, Instut D’Administration Et De Gestion completing an international management program in French. Kathleen lives in Princeton, New Jersey with her husband and their two magnificent children.

Petra S. Slater
Partner, New York Market Leader
AON
In her role as New York Market Leader, Petra is responsible for the client development teams in New York. This group works to initiate, develop and expand relationships with clients and prospects in the large and mid markets. Petra will ensure we truly are partnering with each of our clients to provide them the most relevant and insightful thought leadership to address their business challenges

Petra repatriated to the USA in 2010 after spending almost 4 years as the European Client Development and Marketing Leader based in London, UK. In this role she was responsible for Sales & Accounts, Marketing and PR, Research, and Business Analytics for the European region. She has been with Aon Hewitt for 16 years and has served in various roles including Chief Commercial Officer for Consulting Americas, Market Leader for the Northeast Region based in New York City, Sales Team Leader, and as an Account Executive. She began her career with Hewitt in Global Business Development at Hewitt's corporate headquarters in Lincolnshire, Illinois.

Petra has worked in several regions including Europe and North America and client/project assignments in Asia Pacific, and Latin America. She returned to London in 2007, having previously served as an expatriate there from 1998–2002. She has served as a member of the Hewitt Foundation Board of Directors as well as their Women in Leadership program. She is currently on the Board of Aon Hewitt University.

Prior to Aon Hewitt, Petra was with Aetna Health Plans for eight years as a Vice President of National Accounts.

Petra has a B.A. in International Business from the University of Wisconsin Madison, an M.B.A. from Lake Forest College, and has completed the Executive Development Program at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. She is fluent in German and beginning level French.

Petra enjoys travel, golf, tennis, skiing, cooking, reading, and opera.

Linda Palczuk
VP, Sales & Marketing, Cornerstone Franchise
AstraZeneca PLC
Ms. Linda Palczuk is the Vice President, Sales & Marketing for the Cornerstone franchise at AstraZeneca PLC, a global $28 billion leading biopharmaceutical company with 55,000 employees operating in over 100 countries.   She leads a US business unit that generates over $5B in sales and contributes over half of the company’s US profits.   Ms. Palczuk is responsible for a number of blockbuster brands as well as more than 20 late life-cycle products and brand families.  As a member of the United States Executive Leadership Team, she reports directly to the President of the US and CEO of North America.
   
With 28 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Ms. Palczuk began her career with AstraZeneca in 1985, and held numerous commercial roles of increasing responsibility, including Executive Director, Commercial Operations for NEXIUM®, where she led the brand to market leadership, ultimately ranking second in the top ten best selling pharmaceutical brands in the US.  Medical Marketing & Media magazine named the NEXIUM® Brand Team their first Marketing Team of the Year under Ms. Palczuk’s leadership.  In 2006 she was appointed Vice President of Sales, leading the fourth largest sales force in the industry.  Assuming the position of  VP, Sales & Marketing Operations in 2009, Ms. Palczuk was responsible for the commercial operations in the US, managing a budget of over $1.3B and leading a team of more than 5,700 employees, including Sales, Marketing, Managed Markets, Business Strategy, Planning and Governance, and Business Development.  She was appointed to her current role in 2012.

Ms. Palczuk received her B.A. in Biology from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA in 1984 and is currently pursuing her MBA at the University of Delaware.  She is a member of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, where she received their coveted Rising Star Award in 2005.  Ms. Palczuk is also a member of the National Association for Female Executives and a board member for the Southeastern Pennsylvania chapter of the American Heart Association.  She resides in West Chester, Pennsylvania with her husband and two teenagers.  In her free time she enjoys fitness, golf, the North Carolina coast and being an avid sports fan for her children.

Lori J. Smith
Vice President
Business Marketing, AT&T Services, Inc.
As Vice Preident, Business Marketing, Lori Smith leads an organization responsible for supporting over 2,000 sales professionals, and over 22,000 business customers and their employees around the world.       
Over the past 5 years, Lori and her team have worked with various organizations to implement business solutions that transform the way customers do business.  Developing go-to-market strategies to assist sellers in positioning a full range of communications solutions, including mobility, networking, and applications services, and delivering $9.9B in revenue.

Lori is a strategic business leader whose record boasts award-winning successes in the delivery of technology innovations.  An experienced leader with demonstrated expertise in driving teams to achieve outstanding results, Lori’s contributions have helped establish AT&T as the recognized “best-in-class” provider of online customer service through the strategic implementation of a broad range of innovative web technologies.

Lori began her career as an intern for AT&T and quickly rose through the ranks, taking on increasingly challenging positions in IT, Customer Care, Sales, Project Management and Product Management.  Early in her career, she established herself as a leader in introducing technological advances, successfully launching the first on-line customer adminstration capability, and a first-of-its-kind bundled service offer for AT&T.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications from Douglass College, Rutger’s University, and is an active member of Women of AT&T, Pioneers, and the NAACP.

Lori currently resides in Branchburg, NJ, but will be heading to Dallas, TX in August of this year.  When she’s not at work she’s spending her time as a basketball and cheerleading mom, and traveling with her husband of 18 years, and 2 children (ages 13 & 15).

Amy Ellis-Simon
Head of Global Specialty Sales and Americas Corporate Access ?Global Banking and Markets
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Amy Ellis-Simon is head of Global Sector Specialty Sales and Americas Corporate Access at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Part of the Global Banking & Markets (GBAM) business, these teams focus on delivering value-added, alpha-creating opportunities to clients.

She is a co-founder of the GBAM Women’s Leadership Council and D.E.A.L., Developing and Engaging African American Leadership, and is a member of the division’s Diversity & Inclusion Council.

Prior to her current role, Amy ran the Bank's FICC and Equity Middle Markets Sales effort. She founded and led the Multi-Product Sales team and sold Convertible Securities to institutional accounts for twelve years. She joined Merrill Lynch as an analyst in the Debt and Equity Training program after graduating from the University of Michigan in 1994 with a Bachelors degree in History.

In addition to her responsibilities at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Amy is founder and chairperson of The Three Sisters Scholarship Foundation, an organization that provides assistance to college-bound African American students in Evanston, Illinois and Montclair, New Jersey. She is also a board member and vice-chairperson of the Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) Program, a program designed to develop leaders in communities of color through college preparatory programs and internships on Wall Street.

Natalie Kotlyar, CPA
Assurance Partner Country Coordinator for Russia, Eastern Europe and Israel
BDO
Since 1994, Natalie has been working with companies in a variety of industries, primarily in licensing, retail, and distribution. She has been with BDO for 17 years has participated in various phases of client service, including financial statements auditing, business advisory consulting and examinations of special reports. Natalie has extensive experience with SEC reporting companies including debt and equity offerings. Natalie has participated in more than 20 mergers and acquisitions, where she was involved in the purchase transactions as well as the due diligence process. Natalie speaks fluent Russian and acts as the firm’s Country Coordinator for Russia and Eastern Europe.

Some of Natalie’s clients while with BDO have included Iconix Brand Group, The Jones Group Inc., The Children's Place Retail Stores, Inc., and dELiA*s.

Donna S. Gulbinski
Senior Vice President, Global Quality & Environment Health and Safety
Global Manufacturing & Supply
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Donna provides quality and environmental health and safety (EHS) leadership to the Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) worldwide manufacturing and supply chain organization. She is a member of the Global Manufacturing & Supply Leadership Team as well as the Bristol-Myers Squibb Global Leadership Team. 

Her responsibilities span a broad range of quality, regulatory and EHS activities.  These include ensuring that the quality and EHS systems supporting BMS’s global manufacturing and laboratory operations continue to meet or exceed applicable regulations and BMS standards. Under her leadership, BMS is continually assessing the evolving regulatory environment to establish and implement standards and processes that drive continued business success to ensure a reliable supply of quality products to patients. 

Donna began her career with Merck & Co., Inc., in 1985 where her responsibilities spanned a wide range of therapeutic areas, including research in bone biology, cardiovascular, anticoagulants, and protease inhibitors.  She also had leadership roles in manufacturing operations and in quality (vaccine, biological, pharmaceutical non-sterile and aseptic operations).  Donna joined Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2004 as Senior Director Worldwide Quality Policy & Compliance where she was responsible for worldwide quality standards and quality assurance and has since grown in responsibilities leading to her current role.

Meghan Fitzgerald
President, Specialty Group
Cardinal Health
Meghan M. Fitzgerald, President, Specialty Group, at Cardinal Health is responsible for the businesses that provide clinical, reimbursement and distribution services to help healthcare providers, payors and pharmaceutical manufacturers deliver quality, cost-effective care to patients with complex diseases.

Prior to joining Cardinal Health, Fitzgerald was senior vice president of New Markets International Division and Business Development at Medco Health Solutions, Inc., where she was responsible for leading Medco’s business development efforts in the United States and internationally. Fitzgerald previously had positions of increasing responsibility at Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals, where she supported business strategies and operations, including implementation of ten-year lifecycle plans for various pharmaceutical products, including Celebrex. Fitzgerald has also held marketing positions at Merck and Sanofi-Synthelabo.

She is a member of the Yale University Biotech Advisory Board. Fitzgerald earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Fairfield University and a master’s degree in public health from Columbia University. She is a doctoral candidate at New York Medical College, focusing on health policy surrounding the uninsured population in the U.S.

Rima Alameddine
Director, Enterprise New York

Cisco Systems
Rima leads the New York Enterprise business for Cisco. Along with her team, she is focused on helping customers drive innovation and productivity in order to transform their business, increase their competitiveness, and achieve their desired results.

Rima has a wealth of diverse experiences having held leadership positions in both sales and engineering. As a 14 year Cisco veteran, she worked in the Global Enterprise, Public Sector, and Service Provider parts of the business. Most recently she was the Director for the Mid-Atlantic Financial Services & Consulting business. Before that she was the Regional Manager for the New York City Government and Education team.

Prior to Cisco, Rima spent two years at Sun Microsystems consulting with clients on the range of server solutions. Before Sun she worked as a Trading Floor software developer at UBS. 

Rima also founded and led the Cisco East Woman Action Network for 6 years. Its key mission is to create opportunities to enhance women’s professional development.

Rima holds a Masters degree in Computer Engineering from Syracuse University and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the American University of Beirut.

Rima lives in Manhattan with her husband and her two sons.

Patricia Verduin – Ph.D.
Chief Technology Officer Global Technology
Colgate-Palmolive Company
Patricia Verduin, Ph.D., is Chief Technology Officer of Colgate-Palmolive Company, with global leadership for teams that develop innovative products and technologies.  Her teams include Global Research & Development inclusive of External Innovation, Early Research and Product Development.  She is also responsible for Product Safety, Quality, Regulatory and Sustainability. 

Dr. Verduin joined Colgate in 2007 as Vice President, Global Research & Development, where she had global responsibility for product development in the Oral Care, Personal Care, and Home Care categories.  Working closely with Colgate’s commercial teams, Dr. Verduin’s development groups ensured a robust pipeline of innovations delivering consumer-preferred products.

Prior to joining Colgate, Dr. Verduin served as Chief Scientific and Regulatory Officer for the Grocery Manufacturers Association in Washington, D.C., representing the consumer products industry to critical government stakeholders.  Prior to that, she spent more than 20 years in R&D and supply chain roles at Unilever, Nabisco, and ConAgra Foods.  Dr. Verduin held senior leadership roles in basic research, product development, product commercialization, and supply chain.  In these roles, she provided strategic leadership to a variety of technical teams ranging up to 800 scientists and engineers, delivering numerous innovative solutions and new products to the market.  In addition to these technical roles, Dr. Verduin led operations for one of Nabisco’s largest biscuit manufacturing plants.

Dr. Verduin holds a BS degree from the University of Delaware, an MBA in Finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and a Ph.D. in Food Science from Rutgers University.

Dr. Verduin serves on the Institute of Medicine Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research and Medicine.  She has also served on the Board of Trustees for the International Life Science Institute and Board of Directors for the Consumer Specialty Products Association.

Dr. Verduin was appointed to serve as a member of the National Academies of Science Committee, charged with “Effecting Change in Higher Education.

Jan Uhrich
Vice President, End User Computing
Dell
Jan Uhrich serves as Vice President, End User Computing and is responsible for mergers and acquisitions (m&a) focused on cloud client computing, desktop virtualization and security.
Previously Jan was Vice President of Dell’s Services and Solutions Group responsible for Dell’s Services and Cloud strategy, Dell’s Services portfolio, Global Solution Centers, and Services Engineering.

Jan also led Dell’s solutions transformation strategy with global responsibility for a solutions strategy across Products, Software and Services. She led a development team that delivered innovative solutions and led a transformation team that developed new solutions processes, systems and new talent capabilities across all functions.

For many years, Jan was Vice President of Dell Global Support Services with responsibility for developing, building and growing ProSupport, Warranty, and Deployment Services. Her responsibilities included technical support, support operations, field service delivery, service engineering and global command centers.

Jan also led Global Public Services with responsibility for Public consulting services, managed services, deployment services, support services and vertical solutions.

Prior to Dell, Jan held management and engineering positions in research and development and application consulting at Hewlett-Packard, Apollo Computer, Digital Equipment and Bell Labs.
Jan is a member of Dell’s Global Diversity Council chaired by Michael Dell and is currently on three boards:   Penn State Computer Science and Engineering, Technology Services Industry Association, and American Cancer Society (Texas Industry).

Jan earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Penn State University and a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Sheila Stanziale
President
Diageo-Guinness USA
Sheila Stanziale is President, Diageo-Guinness USA, with full responsibility for the growth and development of the company’s beer business in the US, including iconic brands Guinness, Red Stripe, and Smirnoff Premium Adult Beverages. Sheila joined DGUSA in 2010, bringing with her more than 25 years experience in the beverage and foodservice industries. Sheila has broad experience gained at some of the biggest consumer product companies in the world, including PepsiCo, Nabisco and General Mills, where she has held senior leadership positions in sales and operations.  Sheila has a proven track record with high growth retail channels including convenience, drug and club stores, as well as innovative in-store merchandising programs and brand development, each critical elements to the DGUSA strategy.

Since joining DGUSA, Sheila and her team has led the successful launches of Guinness Black Lager and Parrot Bay Tropical Frozen Drinks, while establishing a robust innovation pipeline to drive future growth.

Prior to Diageo, Sheila served as Vice President, Sales & Execution for PepsiCo’s $700 million Restaurant business, where she was responsible for driving profitable growth within the on-premise channel which includes national and regional restaurant chains. Prior to that, Sheila was responsible for the Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain and Finance on the $350 million brand Naked Juice, where she helped to broaden the consumer base and expand drinking occasions for this premium brand.  

Sheila is an active member of the beer industry’s Independent Council, which is focused on pertinent issues impacting the beer industry in the US.  She serves on the National Restaurant Association’s Board of Directors.  She is Diageo’s executive sponsor of the Spirited Women’s Network, an employee network dedicated to the leadership development of the company’s female employees.   Sheila is also a former member of the Women’s Foodservice Forum Board of Directors, a large industry organization dedicated to the advancement of female leaders.
Sheila resides in Ridgefield, Connecticut with her husband and their two children.

Diane Gulyas
President – DuPont Performance Polymers
DuPont
Ms. Gulyas joined DuPont in 1978 and spent her first 10 years in a variety of sales, marketing, technical and systems development positions, primarily in the DuPont Polymers business.

For the next four years, she was European business manager, based in Geneva, for Engineering Polymers, and plant superintendent at the Mechelen, Belgium site. She served as executive assistant to the chairman of the board, E. S. Woolard, in 1993-1994. From 1994 to 1997, she held two positions as global business director - Nylon Fibers New Business Development and Global Zytel® Engineering Polymers.

From 1997 to 2003 Ms. Gulyas was vice president and general manager for DuPont Advanced Fiber Businesses - Kevlar®, Nomex® and Teflon® fibers at the Spruance Plant in Richmond, Va. In February 2003, she was named group vice president of the $3 billion Electronic & Communication Technologies Platform, which included the Electronics Technology, Imaging Technology and Fluoroproducts businesses as well as the Fuel Cell and Displays ventures. In April 2004 she was named chief marketing and sales officer, where she was responsible for corporate branding and marketing communications, market research, e-business and marketing/sales capability worldwide. In April 2006 she was named group vice president – DuPont Performance Materials. She was named to her current position in October 2009.

Ms. Gulyas currently serves on the strategic planning and advocacy committees of the Delaware Nature Society, the board of directors for Ministry of Caring and United Way of Delaware. 
She was born in Chicago, has a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and completed the Advanced Management Program at Wharton in 1994.

Fionnuala M. Walsh, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Global Quality
Eli Lilly and Company
Fionnuala M. Walsh, Ph.D., became senior vice president of global quality for Eli Lilly and Company in July 2007 and is a member of Lilly's executive committee. She had been vice president for global quality operations since 2005 and global quality leader since 2002. Walsh reports directly to John Lechleiter, Ph.D., Lilly chairman, president, and CEO, and she is a member of the manufacturing policy committee.

Born in Ireland, Walsh received her bachelor and doctorate degrees in chemistry from University College, Dublin.  She joined Lilly in 1988 at the manufacturing site in Kinsale, Ireland, following an industrial post-doctorate fellowship in Puerto Rico.

At the Kinsale site, Walsh held roles in technical services (1988), leader of outsourcing projects (1990), new-product introduction (1994), and leader of the analytical laboratory (1995). She held management positions at Kinsale in quality, regulatory, and manufacturing science and technology.

Walsh has served as a member of the Irish Council for Science, Technology, and Innovation and the PhRMA API Committee.

Susan Springfield
EVP, Chief Credit Officer,
First Horizon National Corporation, Memphis, TN
Responsible for enterprise-wide credit risk management. Prior to current role, 23 years of experience in various line and credit roles in both commercial and corporate banking within First Tennessee, First Union and Wachovia.

Earned an M.B.A. in finance and a B.B.A. in management at the University of Memphis.

Della Sweetman
Senior Partner and General Manager, Southern California
Fleishman-Hillard Inc.
Della Sweetman is a senior partner at Fleishman-Hillard and the general manager for the firm’s Southern California operations. Fleishman-Hillard’s Southern California offices provide integrated communications services to regional and national clients in the consumer products and services, technology, financial services, and healthcare sectors.

Della joined Fleishman-Hillard in 2003. In 2007, she became general manager for the firm’s San Diego office and, by 2009, assumed responsibility for the Los Angeles office. In 2011, she helped introduce an Irvine, Orange County location.

Aside from her operational and P&L responsibilities, Della provides senior counsel across the region’s clients and is among the agency’s top Client Relationship Managers. Her over 16 years’ communications experience combines brand marketing and reputation management. She has managed both national awareness campaigns as well as high-profile crisis situations for clients ranging from food and wellness brands, national tourism boards and trade organizations, to leading hotel chains, airlines, and financial institutions. Della has played an integral part in the strategic growth plans for Southern California and, in the last several years, has contributed to strong financial performance, talent recruitment and business development for Fleishman-Hillard in the region.
 
Originally from the Fiji Islands, Della served various government and commodity clients and delegations for international organizations while working in the Pacific.  She has received multiple industry awards for marketing communications and reputation management programs on behalf of her clients. She was a 2004 recipient of Fleishman-Hillard’s John D. Graham Chairman Award for Excellence. In 2008, she was recognized as one of San Diego’s Top 40 Under 40 leaders, and a Women Who Mean Business finalist in 2011 and 2012.

Della is the mother of two children (ages 11 and 7) and her husband is in military active duty.

Tracy Hagen Mooney
Senior Vice President, Single-Family Servicing & REO
Freddie Mac
Tracy Hagen Mooney is senior vice president of Single-Family Servicing and Real Estate Owned (REO), reporting to Paul Mullings, senior vice president and interim head of Single-Family Business. She is a member of the company's Management Committee.

In her position, Mooney is responsible for managing Freddie Mac’s relationships with more than 1,400 Servicers to preserve homeownership across America and facilitate positive servicing industry change.  She oversees the performance of the company’s $1.7 trillion Single-Family guarantee portfolio with an overarching goal of reducing credit losses and preserving communities through responsible loss mitigation, liquidation and REO asset management and disposition strategies.

Prior to her current position, Mooney served as senior vice president, Single-Family Credit Management (SFCM). In that role, she was accountable for managing Single-Family credit risk by ensuring that our customers met eligibility and performance standards and delivered mortgages that met Freddie Mac’s credit-quality standards and negotiated terms of business.

From 2003 to 2009, Mooney served as vice president of SFCM. Prior to that, she was vice president of Sales for Freddie Mac’s Atlanta Regional office, where she oversaw and maintained relationships with National and Regional customers and managed the sales force, credit, and customer service support areas for 18 states in the Southeast and Southwest, as well as Puerto Rico.

Mooney has been with Freddie Mac since 1986. Before joining the company, Mooney held various accounting, auditing, and consulting positions with the Washington Post Company and Arthur Andersen & Co.

Mooney holds a B.S. in business administration and accounting from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation's residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Today, Freddie Mac makes home possible for one in four homebuyers and is one of the largest sources of financing for multifamily housing.

Camille M. Gibson
VP Marketing, Business Unit Director
Cheerios, Wheaties, Fiber One and Total Cereal business
General Mills, Inc.
Camille Gibson is VP Marketing, Business Unit Director for Cheerios, Wheaties, Fiber One and Total cereal brands at General Mills. She is responsible for the growth and profitability of the business unit including vision and strategy, marketing and new product innovation.

Camille joined General Mills in 1983 as a Marketing Assistant. During her career she’s headed up several businesses including Vice President of Pillsbury Refrigerated Baked Goods, Green Giant Vegetables, Yoplait, and Nature Valley.

Camille earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and MBA from The Ohio State University and was the first women elected to become a Distinguished Alumni of the Fisher College of Business.

Lisa A. Manley
Senior Vice President, Head Network Optimization
HSBC Bank USA, N.A.

Lisa Manley has been with HSBC for over twenty years. Her career has included posts in Mortgage servicing, heading the HBUS Customer Relationship Center with sites in several countries and leading the strategy and establishment of the HSBC Direct business, replicated across the HSBC Group as a best practice. She also completed a two-year assignment in Marketing bringing together all of the Network Marketing support functions; implementing a robust self-service marketing tool, establishing an events team focused on customer acquisitions and developing US Retail Store design and merchandising branch standards.

During 2008 - 2010, Lisa spearheaded our robust expansion plans in the United States, serving as Senior Vice President, Head of Network Expansion, Store Planning  Design. Her team managed the expansion program implementing globally adopted best practices for site selection, audit worthy planning and approvals along with robust financial measures. During this time she partnered with Group Design on a new Premium retail store concept piloted in the US and rolled out globally.

Lisa is currently US Head of Network Optimization. She was instrumental in influencing the role’s creation and global adoption. In this role she continues to manage the US branch network capital investment optimization program, delivery of Global design standards in concert with local programs supporting Branch Appearance policies.

Lisa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Canisius College in Buffalo, NY.

She has partnered with HSBC Group in organizing such events as the Women’s World Match Play in conjunction with the local Women’s initiatives. In 2007, Lisa, was honored to be recognized with the Diversity Ambassador award for her commitment to furthering the development of women throughout the organization. She currently Co-Chairs the HSBC North American Women’s Network.

Jeanette Horan (Speaker for the NAFE Roundtable)
VP, Chief Information Officer
IBM
In May 2011, Jeanette Horan was appointed Chief Information Officer of IBM. Ms. Horan’s organization supports operational excellence and drives IBM’s transformation agenda – focusing on business transformation, workforce transformation, and IT transformation. Her organization is responsible for equipping IBMers with the technology and tools they need to better support clients and achieve IBM’s objectives. Ms. Horan leads the development and implementation of a technology strategy aligned with the business that meets both the growth and productivity commitments of IBM’s 2015 roadmap.

Previously Ms. Horan was the vice president of Enterprise Business Transformation. In this role, Ms. Horan led IBM’s transformation program for key back office processes to accelerate IBM’s leadership as a globally integrated enterprise. In partnership with IBM’s Global Business Services and SAP, she led a multi-disciplinary, global team deploying simplified business processes worldwide.

Ms. Horan joined IBM in 1998, and has held leadership positions within the Lotus brand, Information Management and IBM Software Group Strategy. Prior to joining the CIO office in 2006, Ms. Horan was responsible for worldwide product development for the Information Management business in Software Group, and was the General Manager of IBM’s Silicon Valley Laboratory.

Prior to joining Lotus, Ms. Horan spent four years with Digital Equipment Corporation where she was vice president of development for the AltaVista business, bringing the Web search engine and suite of intranet products to market. She has more than 25 years experience in development and management roles in the computer industry.
As part of her business and personal involvement in the advancement of technology and service to the community, Ms. Horan serves on the board of Microvision Inc., an innovative display and imaging solutions company. She also serves as a director on the board of Jane Do No More Inc., an organization committed to improving the way society responds to victims of sexual assault.

A native of the United Kingdom, Ms. Horan earned a bachelors degree in Mathematics from the University of London and an MBA from Boston University.

Lori D. Steele
General Manager
IBM Global Process Services
Ms. Steele is general manager, IBM Global Process Services.  In this new role, Lori leads IBM's business process outsourcing business that is world renowned for its process expertise in Human Resources, Finance and Administration, Supply Chain Management, Customer Relationship Management as well as a variety of industry-vertical services.  Global Process Services combines IBM's deep industry knowledge, process-know-how and leading technology to deliver next generation business process outsourcing for our clients.

Previously, Lori served as the General Manager for the North American Consulting Business in IBM Global Business Services (GBS) and was responsible for the strategy, operations and financial performance of the consulting services business, as well as the education, development and deployment of the consulting workforce. Consulting Services includes the delivery of services such as strategy and transformation, business analytics, enterprise applications and application innovations services to clients across 17 industries. 

Ms. Steele has also held leadership roles within the Global Distribution Sector for GBS, the Americas Life Sciences Practice, the Distribution Sector CRM Consulting Practice, and was a Global Relationship Partner for a global Pharmaceutical Company. She also has experience as the CIO of an internet start-up company and spent more than 25 years leading large global transformation programs for a number of Fortune 500 clients.

Ms. Steele has been a member of the IBM Strategy Team and is currently a member of the IBM Performance Team as well as IBM’s Integration and Vales Team (I&VT).

History, Education and Affiliations

Ms. Steele joined IBM as a partner through the PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting acquisition in October 2002.

Ms. Steele joined PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting in 1984 and became a partner in 1996.

MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 1993

BS from Drexel University, 1985

Currently a Board Member for the Lower Bucks County Chapter of the American Red Cross

Sandra E. Peterson
Group Worldwide Chairman
Johnson & Johnson
Sandi Peters was appointed Group Worldwide Chairman and Member of the Executive Committee in December, 2012.  Ms. Peterson is responsible for the Consumer Group of Companies, as well as the Johnson & Johnson Supply Chain and Information Technology organizations.
 
Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson, Ms. Peterson was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bayer CropScience AG, based in Europe.  Previously, she was president and chief executive officer of Bayer Medical Care and president of Bayer HealthCare AG’s Diabetes Care Division.  Before joining Bayer in 2005, she spent five years in leadership roles at Medco Health Solutions (aka Merck-Medco), where she was responsible for a number of businesses, marketing, strategy, and the application of information technology to healthcare systems.  Ms. Peterson previously led R&D, quality, regulatory affairs and procurement at Nabisco, Inc., and worked in strategy, finance and product development at Whirlpool Corporation.  She began her career in consulting with McKinsey & Company, Inc.
 
A graduate of Cornell University with a B.A. in Government, Ms. Peterson also holds an M.P.A. in Applied Economics from Princeton University.  She is a member of the board of directors of The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation.

Catherine M. Keating
Head of Investment Management Americas
J.P. Morgan
Ms. Keating is responsible for overseeing one of the largest providers of investment management services with more than $700 billion in client assets.  She is also a member of the JPMorgan Chase & Co. Executive Committee, the senior leadership group of the corporation, and a member of the Asset Management Division Operating Committee.  In addition, she serves as a director of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation.    

Ms. Keating was previously the CEO of United States Private Banking at J.P. Morgan.  Prior to joining J.P. Morgan in 1996, Ms. Keating was a Partner in the international law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.
Ms. Keating is a frequent author and speaker on investment and wealth planning topics.  She has been featured in interviews appearing in Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, The Financial Times, and Institutional Investor, among others, and has appeared on CNBC and BusinessWeek TV.  She has been named one of the Most Powerful Women in Banking by US Banker.

Ms. Keating serves as the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Villanova University, as well as on the Boards of Trustees of the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York, the Inner-City Scholarship Fund, and the New York Women’s Forum.  Ms. Keating received her B.A. from Villanova University and her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Eileen MacElroy
Senior Vice President, Operations and Owner Services for the Eastern Region
Marriott International
Eileen MacElroy has recently been named Senior Vice President, Operations and Owner Services for the Eastern Region of Marriott International.

In her new role, Eileen will partner with Owner & Franchise Services and Continent Lodging Services to ensure that continent, regional and corporate programs, as well as brand initiatives and service strategies, are successfully implemented in the market.  Eileen will serve as the owners’ points of contact within Marriott International, ensuring efficient and effective communication and resolution of owner concerns.  In addition to her responsibilities for Full Service Owner Management, Eileen will also have direct oversight and be accountable for property P&Ls for Full Service Hotels in the New York City market. 

As well as on-property experience in Select Service, Extended Stay and Full Service hotels, Eileen’s 25-year Marriott career has included a variety of leadership roles on the Eastern Region team, including leadership of the managed Select Service/Extended Stay brands across all major markets in the East, responsibility for management of key Select Service/Extended Stay franchise accounts and leadership of both managed and franchised Extended Stay brands in the Northeast Region. 

Most recently, Eileen served as Area Vice President for the Eastern Region, with responsibilities for P&L performance across a portfolio of 21 hotels in Baltimore, the Carolinas and New York City.

Elaine A. Sarsynski
Executive Vice President
MassMutual’s Retirement Services Division
Chairman and CEO
MassMutual International LLC
Elaine A. Sarsynski is currently the Executive Vice President of MassMutual’s Retirement Services Division and Chairman and CEO of MassMutual International LLC. Ms. Sarsynski joined Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company in 2005 as Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, responsible for Corporate Services, Human Resource Management, Corporate Communications, Community Relations and MassMutual’s Strategy Implementation.

She was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MassMutual International LLC in July 2006, responsible for MassMutual’s international insurance operations, which currently includes subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Japan, and Luxembourg, and joint venture relationships with companies in Chile and the People’s Republic of China.

In January 2008, Ms. Sarsynski accepted leadership responsibility for the company’s retirement services business. Under her leadership, MassMutual Retirement Services achieved three consecutive years of record-breaking sales growth including the division’s highest annual retirement plan sales in its 65+-year history. At year-end 2011, MassMutual Retirement Services business was managing a new milestone of approximately $58 billion in assets under management.

Ms. Sarsynski has successfully cascaded her strategic focus of MassMutual as the retirement services provider of choice across the entire division. Her commitment to service excellence helps MassMutual Retirement Services achieve record levels of customer satisfaction and retention leading to numerous industry awards.

Recognized by 401(k) Wire as one of the top 100 most influential people in the American retirement industry,
Ms. Sarsynski has positioned MassMutual as “a thought leader in the 401(k) industry” with retirement plan

Angela Brown
Group Executive, Merchants & Acceptance Enterprise Development
MasterCard Worldwide
Angela Brown is Group Executive, Merchants & Acceptance, Enterprise Development, for MasterCard Worldwide. She is responsible for working with Global Product & Solutions and the Global Regions to improve MasterCard’s relationship with merchants, create new merchant value propositions, and expand the reach and quality of MasterCard’s acceptance network. Angela is a member of MasterCard’s Operating Committee.

She has over 20 years of experience in the financial services and payments industry.  Prior to joining MasterCard, Angela was President of the Financial Institutions Division at Fifth Third Processing Solutions with P&L responsibility for delivering debit card and ATM processing for 1700 financial institution clients.

Angela began her financial services career at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) in Toronto, spending 13 years in the ATM and Cards divisions, culminating in her role as Senior Vice President of Payments Products. One of Angela’s last roles with CIBC was to work on the launch of a P2P service in0 a role that brought her to the United States. 

Angela sat on the Board of Vital Processing Solutions, which provided merchant acquiring processing services to U.S. financial institutions (and is now wholly-owned by TSYS). She also served as a Director of Transition Board A of the Acxsys Corporation, guiding Interac debit network strategies in Canada from 2008 to 2010.

Angela began her career at Procter & Gamble in Toronto after graduating with an M.B.A. from the Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto. 

Lisa A. Shipley, Ph.D.
VP, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics & Drug Metabolism
Merck
Lisa obtained her undergraduate degree from McDaniel College (formerly known as Western Maryland College) in 1981 and her doctoral degree in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Maryland at Baltimore in 1985 where she was an American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education fellow.  Her postdoctoral training was conducted at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research as a National Research Council Fellow elucidating the metabolism and pharmacokinetics of antileishmanial and antimalarial drugs under development by the U.S. Army.  Dr. Shipley then joined Eli Lilly and Company in 1988 as a Senior Pharmacologist in the Department of Drug Metabolism and Disposition. 

During her tenure in the scientific ranks, Dr. Shipley worked on CNS, cardiovascular, infectious disease and cancer projects and made multiple global regulatory submissions and presentations. She was awarded the Lilly Research Laboratories President’s Award for her work in drug discovery in 1995. She was promoted twice within the scientific ranks at Lilly before accepting a management (Head of Drug Disposition) position in 1997.  She was promoted to Director of Drug Disposition in 1999, Group director of Drug Disposition, Global PK/PD and Trial Simulations in 2002 and Executive Director of Drug Disposition and Pharmacokinetics in January 2003. In June 2004, Lisa was named by the CEO to represent R & D on a five member task force to address the business challenge of how to make Lean Six Sigma mainstream to Lilly’s business practices. Dr. Shipley returned to Drug Disposition as Vice President in 2007 until her departure from Lilly in August of 2008. Dr. Shipley is currently the Vice President and Global Head of Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodyanimcs and Drug Metabolism (PPDM) in Merck Research Laboratories.

She is responsible for the PPDM groups at all Merck research sites and supports all programs from discovery through to registration/launch and all stages of the product life cycle.  Dr. Shipley has authored or co-authored 3 book chapters, over 25 journal articles, 40 abstracts on drug metabolism, pharmacokinetics, analytical assay development, and drug disposition and has been granted 4 patents. She has chaired sessions at the Gordon Research Conference in Drug Metabolism, the Society of Toxicology, the American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences, International Conference on Drug Development, PhRMA workshops and the Drug Information Association. She served as the vice-chair, chair and past chair of the Drug Metabolism Technical Group within the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturing Association (2003-09). She is currently serving on the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics Council.

She has also served as a reviewer for Drug Metabolism and Disposition, Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, the Journal of Chromatography and Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, and a lecturer for the University of Indiana School of Medicine and Purdue University. She was awarded the 2000-2001 Chairman’s Ovation Award for leadership in motivating and developing people and the LRL President’s Award for Diversity in 2007.

Lisa M. Safarian
Vice President, U.S. Row Crops Business
Monsanto
Lisa Safarian was appointed Vice President, US Row Crops Business in January, 2013.  Lisa’s responsibilities include managing Monsanto’s corn, soy, cotton, specialty crops, licensing and crop protection businesses across the United States.  Prior to assuming this role, Lisa Safarian was Vice President of Monsanto’s U.S. Commercial Operations.  In this role, Lisa had commercial responsibility for branded sales for the DEKALB, Asgrow, Deltapine, Channel and Regional businesses, Strategic Accounts, Licensing, Crop Protection, Supply Chain and Distribution.

Previously, Lisa was Vice President, U.S. Seeds & Traits National Brands, Licensing and Crop Protection.  In this role, she had commercial responsibility for branded sales for the DEKALB, Asgrow and Deltapine businesses, seed and trait licensing, and crop protection sales. Lisa has also served as Seeds & Traits Business Lead for Latin America North and Canada and had responsibility for International Product Management.  Prior to that, Lisa was the President of Monsanto Canada.  In that role, she was responsible for leading Monsanto’s Canadian business operations in both Eastern and Western Canada.  

A native of Belleville, Illinois, Lisa holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Southern Illinois University.  

Lisa joined Monsanto in 1986 and has held various roles with increasing responsibility within sales, marketing, and information technology, providing experiences in chemistry, germplasm, and traits.

Lisa and her husband, Brian, have two sons, Jacob and Andrew and a daughter Rachel. They reside in Belleville, Illinois.  During free time, Lisa is devoted to family and sports.

Alison Micucci
Senior Managing Director
New York Life Investment Management
Ms. Micucci leads the highly experienced Guaranteed Products team that has made the firm a market leader in providing guaranteed product solutions to institutional investors worldwide. Ms. Micucci joined New York Life Investments in September 2002. She previously acted as the Firm's Chief Compliance Officer and was responsible for overseeing Legal and Compliance for NYLIM LLC, Madison Square Investors, McMorgan & Co., NYLIFE Distributors, NYLIM Service Co., the New York Life Trust Company, and NYLCAP. She also previously acted as the Chief Compliance Officer for the MainStay Funds.  Prior to joining New York Life Investments, she was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs Asset Management with management responsibilities over a range of investment adviser compliance areas.

Ms. Micucci began her career as an enforcement attorney with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and also worked as an in-house attorney for Prudential Investments providing legal support on investment advisory issues.

Education
Ms. Micucci received a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, cum laude with a double major in Economics and Political Science, and a J.D. from Western New England College School of Law in Springfield, MA where she graduated cum laude and was a member of the Law Review. She is admitted to practice law in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

Desiree Dancy
Chief Diversity Office, VP Corporate Human Resources
The New York Times Company
Desiree Dancy was named chief diversity officer and vice president, corporate human resources in June 2009. In this role, Ms. Dancy continues to lead The New York Times Company’s diversity and inclusion efforts; in addition, she is responsible for corporate human resources and The New York Times College Scholarship and Neediest Cases programs. Previously she had served as vice president, diversity and inclusion for the Times Company since October 2006.

Before joining the Times Company, Ms. Dancy spent 12 years in corporate diversity with major investment banks in New York, including Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs.

She is a member of the Executive Leadership Council and sits on the Executive Committee of the American Advertising Federation’s Mosaic Council.

Ms. Dancy received a B.A. degree from Audrey Cohen College in 1994 and a M.S. degree from The New School University in 1998.

Mabel C. Tung
Executive Vice President
Corporate & Institutional Services
Northern Trust
Mabel C. Tung is an Executive Vice President in the Corporate & Institutional Services business unit at The Northern Trust Company, Chicago.  As the Client Executive and Practice Executive for the Northern Trust's largest Asian sovereign wealth fund clients, she is responsible for strategic relationship development, client satisfaction and client profitability. Mabel has successfully developed and implemented a sustainable 24x7 client servicing model to service this group of world-renowned Sovereign Wealth Fund clients leveraging the expertise and commitment of the global team.  Working side by side with the Client Servicing Teams in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and Chicago, reinforcing Northern’s core values and blending in the Asian culture, Mabel has groomed the next generation of Relationship and Account managers to implement Northern's strategic growth strategy in Asia successfully in the coming years.  Prior to her various roles in the Corporate & Institutional Services, she was a Division Manager in Northern Trust's Worldwide Technology group overseeing the development of mission-critical applications.  

Mabel is a board member of TNTIBC  (The Northern Trust International Bank Corp) since 2010.  She is a member of Northern Trust's Business Leadership Council and the APAC Leadership Team.  Also active in Diversity and Inclusion efforts, Mabel is on the Advisory Council of Women in Leadership and a Senior Advisor for the Asian Leadership Council.  In 2011, Mabel was recognized in the bi-annual Chicago United Business Leaders of Color publication which which profiles candidates for public and private company board appointment.

Monica Luechtefeld     
Consultant, E Commerce and Internet Retailing
Previous, Executive Vice President Office Depot
Monica Luechtefeld is a Consultant specializing in E Commerce and Internet Retailing.  She is currently on a European assignment for Office Depot, working to develop the company’s E Commerce strategy for the region and its implementation in over 15 European countries.  Prior to this assignment, Luechtefeld was accountable for Office Depot’s $4.1 Billion in Global internet sales.  Office Depot is ranked by Internet Retailer as one of the top 10 Internet Retailers.

During her 19 years with Office Depot, Luechtefeld held a number of senior executive positions including: Executive Vice President of E Commerce & Direct Marketing, responsible for a $1B small business division for Office Depot, as well as global E Commerce sales; EVP Global IT and Supply Chain; EVP Mergers & Acquisitions; and SVP in Sales and Marketing.

She was profiled in Business Week’s “eBiz 25” and featured in Fast Company’s “Who’s Fast” as a pioneer in E Commerce.  She was given the “Unstoppable Woman” award by Business Women’s Network for her ability and insight in breaking down business barriers.  

Luechtefeld is on the Board of Directors of The Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW.org), focused on “Peace through Business” a program for women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan and Rwanda; a Trustee of Mount St. Mary’s College; and a member of Florida International University’s College of Business Advisory Board.

Robin L. Spear
Partner
Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman LLP
Ms. Spear is involved in a broad-based general corporate practice with concentrations in mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings, joint ventures and public and private securities offerings. Industry experience includes pharmaceuticals, health care, publishing and manufacturing concerns, both foreign and domestic.

Ms. Spear served as a member of the firm's Board of Directors from May 2006-May 2008.

Recent Matters

• Advising a major publishing company with respect to corporate governance and securities laws matters
• Advising major pharmaceutical companies in co-promotion, licensing, supply and joint venture arrangements
• Advising a major international bank with respect to the outsourcing of its check processing and lockbox operations
• Advising a Fortune 500 company in the sale of its worldwide office product
• manufacturing operations and its entry into a multiyear supply arrangement with the purchaser of those operations
• Representing a Dutch multinational corporation in its acquisition of a US public company
• Advising creditors' committees and debtors with respect to dispositions of companies in bankruptcy
• Advising issuers, underwriters and private purchasers with respect to public and private debt and equity offerings

Honors & Awards
2013 Best Lawyers in America, Corporate Law (2005-2013)

Education
J.D., New York University School of Law, 1980, Arthur T. Vanderbilt Medal; Senior Articles
Editor, New York University Review of Law and Social Change
A.B., Brown University, 1977, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Admissions
State of New York

Adele Gulfo
Regional President, Latin America
Pfizer
Adele Gulfo is Regional President of Latin America in Pfizer’s Emerging Markets Business Unit   In this capacity, she leads a team of over 4,000 colleagues operating across more than 23 countries.  In 2012, Pfizer Latin America achieved more than US $3 billion in revenue and has become the largest revenue generator within the Emerging Markets Business Unit.  Previously, Adele served as President and General Manager of Pfizer’s U.S. Primary Care Business Unit, which included the managed markets (corporate and government customer) organization for all of Pfizer’s Biopharmaceutical Business Units. In 2011, Pfizer’s U.S. Primary Care business generated more than US $10 billion in revenue.

Prior to joining Pfizer, Ms. Gulfo was Vice President of Business Development, Innovation and Design for Launch at Astra-Zeneca Pharmaceuticals. In her nine years with the company, she led the multi-billion dollar cardiovascular business, including marketed and emerging products. Among her top achievements, she grew Toprol-XL sales from $200 million to $2 billion and launched cholesterol-lowering medicine Crestor with a significantly differentiated life-cycle development program, which enabled dramatic growth to over $2 billion in 2009 in a highly competitive market.

The highpoint of her work on Crestor was leading the strategy and execution of the JUPITER trial, the first study of the effects of cholesterol-lowering therapy on people with “normal” cholesterol levels but elevated hs-CRP levels. The unprecedented results secured a new FDA indication to prevent heart attacks and death in people with no evidence of heart disease, and enabled a 29% growth trajectory for Crestor while other statins were declining.

Before joining AstraZeneca, Ms. Gulfo held positions of increasing responsibility at Warner-Lambert, including senior director of cardiovascular marketing. It was in this role that she launched Lipitor with a scientific-based marketing approach that rapidly propelled the drug to the world’s most successful medicine with over $10B in peak year global sales. Prior to launch, Ms. Gulfo developed the market with award-winning medical and public education that helped to establish the significance of lowering cholesterol in preventing and managing heart disease. Partners included the American Heart Association, the National Institutes of Health and leading academic institutions.

Trained as a scientist with experience in both operational and strategic roles, Ms. Gulfo serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Cleveland Clinic’s Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center, a $250 million research and product development consortium established to accelerate the commercialization of cardiovascular products. She also serves as a Director of Volunteers of America – Greater New York, Inc. 

Ms. Gulfo has been awarded five U.S. Patents for innovative packaging designed to help patients adhere to their medicines. She frequently speaks at leading industry and business conferences including The Wall Street Journal’s Women in the Economy: An Executive Task Force conference, and has been featured in Fortune, Forbes, BusinessWeek, and the Wall Street Journal. She is a member of the C200 – the pre-eminent organization of women business leaders, the National Association of Female Executives, and the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association’s Advisory Board.  Among many honors, she is especially proud of receiving the 2012 C200 Luminary Award for Corporate Entrepreneurship. 

Ms. Gulfo holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology and Chemistry from Seton Hall University and a Master of Business Administration degree in Marketing from Fairleigh Dickinson University, both with honors. She studied post-graduate microbiology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Diana Reid
Executive Vice President
PNC Real Estate
Diana Reid is executive vice president of The PNC Financial Services Group, and manages the bank’s commercial real estate business.  As senior manager of PNC Real Estate, Reid is responsible for the bank’s equity and debt financing for multifamily affordable housing and market-rate apartment clients; secured and unsecured lending and banking products for commercial real estate companies and property owners; and commercial loan servicing, asset management and technology solutions provided through Midland Loan Services. PNC Real Estate is a national business with over 900 employees in 20 primary offices.  

Prior to joining PNC in 2007, Reid was a founding partner of Beekman Advisors, a strategic advisory firm, and has been involved in the banking industry for thirty years including 20 years at the investment bank Credit Suisse.  

Reid currently serves as a governor of the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council and serves on the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Commercial / Multifamily Board of Governors.  Reid holds a bachelor of science degree from California State University and a masters in business administration from the University of Virginia’s Darden School.

Beth Raymond
Vice President, Human Resources
The Principal Financial Group
Beth Raymond is vice president, Human Resources with the Principal Financial Group.  Beth oversees Human Resources for over 13,000 employees worldwide.  Over the past three years, Beth and her team have partnered with the businesses to understand future global business needs and are working to integrate talent practices across the organization, in order to have the talent needed to execute the business strategy. 

Beth joined the company in 2000 as assistant director – Executive Compensation.  She was promoted to director – Compensation in 2002, to 2nd vice president – Compensation, Benefits and International HR in 2003, and to her current position in March of 2010.  Prior to joining the company she worked in Human Resources at GuideOne Insurance, MidAmerican Energy Company, InterCoast Energy Company, and Wells Fargo.

A native of Iowa, Beth earned her bachelor’s degree from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA, and her master’s degree from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, WA.   

Helen Tucker
Global Diversity & Inclusion Leader
Procter & Gamble
Helen has more than 25 years with P&G, with global assignments spanning Customer Business Development and Human Resources. She is a native of UK and has lived in a many cultures: UK, Malaysia, Belgium, Switzerland, and USA.  Pioneering efforts in emerging markets, Helen led the start up of organization HR practices in Ukraine, Baltics and Central Asia.

Helen reports to the Chief Diversity Officer. She leads P&G’s Global Diversity & Inclusion Practice, developing and delivering the Diversity & Inclusion strategy for this 127,000 employee, global company. Helen sits on the Global Human Resources Leadership Team, Global Inclusion & Diversity Council and Global Corporate Women’s Leadership team providing strategic counsel for diversity and inclusion at P&G at all levels.  Specifically, Helen is leading the following focus areas:  diverse talent pipeline, mainstreaming flexibility, and building cultural effectiveness.

Caroline Feeney, CLU®, ChFC®
President, Agency Distribution
Prudential Financial
Caroline Feeney is President of Agency Distribution for Prudential’s domestic Individual Life Insurance business, The Prudential Insurance Company of America based in Newark, New Jersey. Caroline is responsible for the national sales insurance organization comprising nearly 2,600 financial professionals and financial planners, and represents the company’s face-to-face captive distribution system for insurance and investment products.

In 1993, Caroline began her career with Prudential. She held several field sales management positions including sales manager, and was consistently recognized as a leading manager. She has extensive experience with the field and home office.

Prior to being appointed Agency Distribution President, she was Territorial Vice President, Eastern Territory, a position she held since 2006. As Eastern Territory Vice President, she had oversight for 14 agencies in 9 states.

She also held several positions within the home office including Vice President and Chief of Staff to the President of Retail Distribution from 1998 to 2000. She was appointed Vice President of sales professional development in 2000, with responsibility for the training of Retail Distribution’s sales force.

Following this assignment, Caroline was promoted to Vice President of Recruiting and Development, managing the national recruiting and selection processes for field sales positions, and the training and development of all field managers, financial professionals and planners.

She is very involved in the financial services and insurance industry, and was featured as a main platform speaker for the General Agents and Managers Association annual meeting. Caroline is a member of the National Association for Female Executives Roundtable; The American College Board of Trustees and also serves on the Executive Committee of the Board. 

In March, 2011 Caroline was the recipient of the Garden State Woman Education Foundation Woman of the Year Corporate award.

Caroline has an undergraduate degree from Bucknell University and an MBA from Columbia University. She holds the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®) designations. 

Barbara M. Price
Corporate Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations and Business and Care Line Development
Scripps Health
Barbara Price is a Corporate Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations and Business and Care Line Development with Scripps Health, an integrated healthcare delivery system with four hospitals on five campuses, 23 clinic locations, home health, and over 2500 affiliated physicians, in San Diego, California.  Ms. Price joined Scripps in 2001 and has extensive experience working with healthcare providers to be successful in competitive healthcare environments.  Her professional experience spans the healthcare industry as a leader with success in hospital, medical group and health system operations and management.  She leads the One Scripps clinical operations functions including cath labs, imaging, laboratory and other functions and is administratively responsible for Scripps’ clinical care lines.  In addition, she has leadership responsibility for the strategic planning process for Scripps Health and its affiliated entities.

Prior to joining Scripps Health, Ms. Price held management positions with Kaiser Permanente, Sharp Healthcare, KPMG Peat Marwick, Sequoia Hospital, and Stanford University Medical Center.  As a consultant, her clients included large medical groups, academic and community hospitals, integrated healthcare systems and other healthcare organizations.

Ms. Price received a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University.  She has a Masters of Business Administration from the Walter Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley.

Lorna C. Donatone
Chief Operating Officer & President of Sodexo Education
Sodexo
Lorna C. Donatone leads Sodexo's business at more than 650 college and university campuses, 500 public school districts and 150 private K - 12 schools in the United States, overseeing the work of 70,000 employees. Donatone is also Sodexo's Worldwide Education Champion. She joined Sodexo in 1999 and has held several key leadership roles in the company, including President of School Services in 2007 and President of Spirit Cruises in 2002. She was appointed to her current role in February 2010.

Donatone is an industry leader and demonstrates her commitment through her community involvement. She has been a National Restaurant Association board member since 2005 and became a trustee of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation in 2011. Donatone currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Women's Foodservice Forum and was elected as a member of the Board of Trustees for The Culinary Institute of America in 2008. She has served as a member of the Board of Directors for Entertainment Cruises since 2006. Donatone was recognized by w2wlink.com in 2010 with an Ascendancy Award for her work in mentoring women and by Girls, Inc. in 2009 for her work in empowering young women.

Donatone is a past director on the board of the Sodexo Foundation. She has worked to develop Sodexo's Employee Network Groups, demonstrating her commitment to diversity, inclusion, mentorship and training managers and employees.  Donatone currently serves as National Executive Sponsor for Sodexo's African American network group.
Donatone began her career in public accounting with Deloitte & Touche in Dallas, Texas, and has worked in the airline and banking industries. She has a Bachelor of Science in Management from Tulane University in New Orleans and a Masters in Business Administration from Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Lisa Donohue
CEO
Starcom USA
With a career spanning nearly three decades, Lisa Donohue has established a record of innovation, client service and leadership. Today, as CEO of Starcom USA, she empowers her company to exceed challenges on behalf of some of the country’s mightiest marketers, connecting them with people through human understanding, real-time business intelligence and creative ideas.

Since becoming CEO in 2009, Donohue has spurred creative transformation, establishing Starcom as MEDIA’s 2011 Creative Media Agency of the Year. She also launched Space for Ideas – Starcom’s global approach to connecting people with brands in meaningful ways – which helped Starcom secure business from Anheuser-Busch InBev, Microsoft, Novartis, Burger King, Groupon, Bon-Ton and Universal Theme Parks in 2011 and Darden Restaurants, Best Buy, Harley-Davidson and Mars/Wrigley in 2010. Donohue also made it a priority to launch and invest heavily in the agency’s Data & Analytics practice.

Donohue is a member of Starcom MediaVest Group’s global Executive Management Group. Further, she’s a board member of SMGx, which leverages scale, knowledge and technology to create a competitive advantage for all SMG agencies.

Prior to tackling the top job at Starcom, Donohue served as President, Truth & Design at sister agency MediaVest. It was her re-imagination of planning that yielded Truth & Design’s methodology – transforming the historically linear process into an ideas-based approach that best unearths insights and connects brands with people through proprietary tools and approaches. Donohue also oversaw the agency’s digital practice, P&G-dedicated investment group and product development team, helping MediaVest garner 25 award winners and finalists in her last 12 months.

Prior to her time at MediaVest, Donohue worked her way up to EVP/managing director at Starcom on accounts including Morgan Stanley, Nintendo and Philip Morris Corporate. Since launching her career in 1987, she has exhibited strong strategic thinking on a variety of accounts including Kellogg’s, General Motors, Mars, Miller, NYSE, P&G, Samsonite and Sony.

Donohue received the honor of Chicago Advertising Federation’s Advertising Woman of the Year in 2011, as well as Adweek’s 2011 Executive Media All-Star. In 2006 Advertising Age recognized her as a Woman to Watch. She also has two Cannes Media Lion victories (2001) for work on Nintendo.

Louise Perrin
Senior Vice President
State Farm Insurance
Louise Perrin is Senior Vice President of State Farm Insurance Companies. State Farm, a fully integrated insurance and financial services company, based in Bloomington, Illinois is the largest auto and homeowners insurance company and the second largest life insurer in the United States. State Farm generates more than $50 billion in annual property and casualty revenues with 81 million policies and accounts serviced through its 18,000 independent contractor agents in 48 states and Canada, online at statefarm.com® and via its customer contact centers.

Louise was appointed Senior Vice President in 2009 after 24 years with the company during which she has held numerous positions in sales, marketing, product and agency distribution, executive development and community relations. Louise has profit and loss and strategic visioning responsibilities for State Farm's insurance and financial services sales operations spanning four states with over 4 million State Farm households.

Louise has been instrumental in providing the vision and strategic direction that has created a high performing execution culture. As the chief architect of a multi-year growth strategy, she successfully repositioned 4,300 diverse and highly engaged agents and employees to deliver consistent top-tier and accelerated market share growth through differentiated sales and service generating over $3 billion in annual property and casualty revenues.

Louise is a member of the Board of Overseers, Rutgers University Foundation and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross of Southeastern Wisconsin.

In 2007, Louise was selected as a Woman of Influence/Inspirational Leader by the Business Journal of Greater Milwaukee and featured in the Cornell University Alumni publication that same year.

Louise received her bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University and a MBA from Cornell University’s Johnson School of Business. She and her husband, Carl, have a daughter, Alexis.

Trish Adams
Senior Vice President, Merchandising - Apparel and Accessories
Target
Trish Adams is Senior Vice President, Merchandising - Apparel and Accessories, for Target.

Trish joined Target in 1983 as Assistant Buyer Distributor. Over the next several years, Trish held a variety of positions in merchandising. In 1998, she was promoted to Vice President, Merchandise Manager, Children’s and in 2000 she was promoted to Vice President, General Merchandise Manager, Children’s.  Trish Adams was promoted to her current position as Senior Vice President, Apparel and Accessories in 2001.

Trish received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Montclair State University.

Terri West
Senior Vice President, Communications and Investor Relations,
Texas Instruments Incorporated
Terri West is a senior vice president of Texas Instruments and has global responsibility for the company's communications, investor relations and public affairs functions.   West is an executive officer and part of the company’s five-member management committee.

Before her current assignment, she was vice president and manager of strategic communications for TI, responsible for development of key communications programs and leading cross-functional teams on critical projects. Earlier in her career, West managed the company’s media relations efforts.  
West joined TI as a student intern while attending college. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from The University of North Texas in 1982.

West also is vice chair of the Texas Instruments Foundation, chair of the TI PAC board of trustees, and is a founding member of the Women of TI Fund.  Additionally, she serves on the board of advisors for Catalyst, the campaign cabinet for United Way, and the board of Dallas Regional Chamber. 

Mary Irvin
Sr. Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive
TriHealth
Mary’s nursing career started in 1974 as a staff nurse in the Surgical and Intensive Care Unit. After six years, she advanced through more progressive leadership positions including her current role where she now serves as the Senior Vice President & Chief Nursing Executive at TriHealth, a partnership of Bethesda and Good Samaritan Hospitals, two of Greater Cincinnati’s finest health care organizations. The Nursing Division at TriHealth has thrived under Mary’s leadership and achieved Magnet Designation in July of 2012.
 
Mary has more than 30 years of leadership experience and skills. She posses strong financial analytical skills and understands the intricacies of health care operations. Mary was awarded the Good Samaritan College of Nursing’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2008 and in 2009 was awarded the Ohio Organization Nurse Executive’s Nursing Leadership award.

She holds a Master’s in Science Nursing and in Business Administration obtained from Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH and is certified in Advanced Nursing Administration (NEA-BC). She is an active member of the Greater Cincinnati Nurse Executives, Ohio Organizations of Nurse Executives and the American Organization of Nurse Executives.  

Mary, her husband and two sons reside in Cincinnati. When not at work, Mary spends her time with her family and traveling with her husband.

Nicola Palmer
Vice President, Chief Technical Officer
Verizon Wireless
Nicola Palmer is vice president – chief technical officer for Verizon Wireless. In her current role, Palmer is responsible for planning, engineering, building and operating Verizon Wireless’ industry-leading voice and data networks, including its growing 4G LTE, the nation’s fastest and the world’s most advanced data network.

Previously, Palmer was senior vice president of Global Network Operations & Engineering, oversees one of the largest and most advanced facilities-based networks in the world. Palmer has responsibility for the planning, design and operation of Verizon's global voice, data and IP networks which span more than 2,600 cities in 150 countries touching 6 continents. She also leads the engineering and operation of Verizon's domestic, state-of-the-art, fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network which enables Verizon's industry-leading FiOS data and TV services.

Before that, Palmer was vice president - Network for Verizon Wireless where she oversaw the design and deployment of the nation's largest, fastest, 4G LTE network. She was responsible for overall network performance and quality assurance including the network drive test program and the Mobile Device Testing Lab. In addition, she led the systems and tools strategy and deployment, network transport and interconnect strategy, and new product and service rollouts in the network. She also managed network suppliers and technical support and ensured regulatory compliance.

Prior to her role in Verizon Wireless, Palmer was involved in Verizon's FTTP initiative from its inception, overseeing operations and systems planning and organizational and process design. She served as vice president of Video Services, where she was responsible for overall program management and performance assurance for FiOS TV. Her responsibilities included the video on demand and ad insertion platforms, broadcast content management, and set-top box and in-home network engineering.

Palmer began her career with Bell Atlantic in 1990. She has held positions of increasing responsibility in engineering, operations, staff, and project and service management supporting advanced data and IP products and working with the consumer, medium-sized and enterprise business customers.

Palmer earned a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Penn State University and a master of business administration from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

Karin W. Sarratt, SPHR
Vice President Talent Management and Chief Diversity Officer
WellPoint, Inc.
Karin W. Sarratt is vice president, Talent Management and chief diversity officer at WellPoint, Inc.. Ms. Sarratt leads all aspects of end-to-end talent management for the enterprise, including succession planning; management and leadership development; performance management; learning; training; organizational development; recruiting and retaining high potential talent. She is skilled in recognizing and developing top talent to enable successful, strategic succession planning.

Before joining WellPoint, Inc. in July 2012, Ms. Sarratt worked for International Paper Company for more than 14 years in a variety of human resources leadership roles. Most recently, she lived abroad in Brussels, Belgium, and was director, human resources for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The EMEA Region included three businesses with manufacturing operations and sales spanning across eight countries and 53 locations. There were more than 9,000 EMEA associates and more than 20,000 employees as part of a joint-venture operation in Russia.

Karin received a Master of Science in Human Resources Development from Clemson University, and a bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications from Ball State University, where she was a student athlete and David Letterman intern.

Robin Korman
Senior Vice President
Global Loyalty and Strategic Partnerships
Wyndham Hotel Group
Robin Korman is Senior Vice President of Global Loyalty and Strategic Partnerships for the Wyndham Hotel Group. She leads Wyndham Rewards, the world’s largest lodging loyalty program with more than 7,000 hotels and 11 brands in over 20 countries.

Previously, Robin was Vice President, Global Marketing Leader for Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ Aloft and Element Hotels where she developed positioning and launch marketing for two of the most successful new brands in hotel history.  

As Vice President of Global Loyalty for Starwood, Robin transformed the Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty program from a broad point-accrual program to a customer-centric rewards and recognition program based on proprietary modeling which significantly increased ROI and customer profitability.
Prior to Starwood, Robin held Vice President positions at GE Capital and Citibank. She is a board member of The CMO Council and Loyalty 360. She holds a BA from Purdue University and an MBA from The Thunderbird School of Global Management.

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Elmira Mangum, Ph.D.

Vice President for Budget and Planning
Cornell University
Dr. Elmira Mangum assumed the position of Vice President for Budget and Planning at Cornell University in January 2010. She serves as the senior administrator responsible for managing Cornell’s resources and the annual operating and capital budgeting processes. This allows Mangum to provide leadership in applying university resources to meet Cornell’s institutional priorities and academic programming needs by leveraging all of the division resources available through space planning, institutional research, and business intelligence and information systems.

A seasoned administrator with more than 25 years of experience in executive higher education financial and resource management, her administrative leadership began at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, Geological and Natural History Survey as an operations specialist. Dr. Mangum has also held positions at the University at Buffalo (UB) a State University of New York system university. From 1984 to 2001 at various times she served in the role of assistant dean, associate provost for resource management and as vice provost. For approximately nine years she served at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, leaving as Senior Associate Provost in 2010 to become a Vice President at Cornell University. Dr. Mangum also holds a faculty appointment in the Johnson School at Cornell. She also held similar positions at UNC Chapel Hill School of Government, and UB Graduate School of Education, where she taught higher education administration, and leadership theory and practice. For several years she taught leadership and financial management in the UNC Bridges leadership program and served on the Bridges Board. Among many service activities, Dr. Mangum is a member of the Higher Education Resource Services (HERS) Board of Directors, the National Consortium for Continuous Improvement in Higher Education (NCCI) Board of Directors, the Tri-State Diversity Council, the United Way Board of Directors, North Carolina Central University Creating the Vision Board of Directors, and was a state representative and university chair of the American Association of University Women in North Carolina. She has given numerous talks on leadership and organizational change at conferences throughout the country including NACUBO, NCCI, and Exeter College, the University of Oxford, UK.

Mangum received her Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy from the University at Buffalo and graduated with honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with two master's degrees, one in public policy and public administration and another in urban and regional planning. More recently, she completed the leadership program at the Center for Creative Leadership in North Carolina and is a life member of the National Council of Negro Women and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. She was also in the inaugural class of the Millennium Leadership Institute, attended the Harvard Graduate School of Education Management Development Program, and Cornell's Administrative Management Institute.

Marsha L. Oberrieder
Vice President, Operations
Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital
Marsha holds responsibility for the Northwestern Grayslake campus operations including the Freestanding Emergency Center and Ambulatory Surgery Center, the hospital’s 6-location Diagnostic Imaging Network including its Breast Care Centers, its 4-location Rehabilitative Services Network, Cancer Service Line, Cardiac Service Line, and Laboratory Services.

With more than 30 thirty years of health care experience, Marsha has been in a hospital leadership role at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital for 14 years.  She began her career in public accounting at Arthur Andersen & Co. in the health care sector before joining the hospital’s Finance division where she worked for 16 years.  She served as controller and on the redesign and cost reduction leadership team in 1995-1996.  She was director of Employee and Fiscal Services before being named vice president, Human Resources and Professional Services in 1999.

A 1976 graduate of DePauw University where she earned her B.A. in Economics, Marsha completed the Core Human Resources Executive Development Program at Cornell University in 1999.

A native of Indiana, Marsha has lived in the Chicago area since she began her professional career.  She has been a member of the First Illinois HFMA chapter and the Society of Human Resource Management.  Marsha has served on the Community High School District 128 School Board for Libertyville and Vernon Hills High Schools, including as School Board secretary and chair of District 128’s Facilities and Finance Committee.  Marsha served on the Governing Board of the Special Education District of Lake County from 2007 to 2009. Marsha and her family are members of the United Methodist Church of Libertyville where she has served on the Staff Parish Committee.  She is also a member and former officer of the Lake County Alpha Chi Omega Alumnae Chapter.

Marsha and her husband, John, have one daughter and live in Vernon Hills, Illinois.

Barbara Price
Corporate Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations and Business and Care Line Development
Scripps Health
Barbara Price is a Corporate Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations and Business and Care Line Development with Scripps Health, an integrated healthcare delivery system with four hospitals on five campuses, 23 clinic locations, home health, and over 2500 affiliated physicians, in San Diego, California.  Ms. Price joined Scripps in 2001 and has extensive experience working with healthcare providers to be successful in competitive healthcare environments.  Her professional experience spans the healthcare industry as a leader with success in hospital, medical group and health system operations and management.  She leads the One Scripps clinical operations functions including cath labs, imaging, laboratory and other functions and is administratively responsible for Scripps’ clinical care lines.  In addition, she has leadership responsibility for the strategic planning process for Scripps Health and its affiliated entities.

Prior to joining Scripps Health, Ms. Price held management positions with Kaiser Permanente, Sharp Healthcare, KPMG Peat Marwick, Sequoia Hospital, and Stanford University Medical Center.  As a consultant, her clients included large medical groups, academic and community hospitals, integrated healthcare systems and other healthcare organizations.

Ms. Price received a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University.  She has a Masters of Business Administration from the Walter Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley.

Jalana L. McCasland
Vice President, Ambulatory Operations
Executive Director, Regional Outreach
VCU Health System
Jalana McCasland is Vice President, Ambulatory Operations, at VCU Health System in Richmond, VA., where she provides administrative oversight of outpatient clinics with budget responsibilities for $45M. She provides additional oversight for the Outpatient Scheduling Center, Patient Advocate, Physician Outreach, and Telemedicine. In this position, she has developed and implemented a strategic plan for VCU Spine Center and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program; renovated and expanded VCU Sleep Center to restore profitability, improve quality of studies, and stabilize staffing; and implemented operational plan to consolidate clinic management for all Health System clinics.

Prior to her current position, she served as Administrator, Ambulatory Operations, for the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville. She also served as Vice President for External Programs and Clinics at the University of Texas Health System.

Formerly President and CEO of East Texas Quality Care Network, Inc., she was responsible for all corporate functions of this nonprofit health care corporation specializing in clinic management, marketing, business development and contract management.

McCasland is a Fellow, American College of Healthcare Executives and holds a B.A. and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Texas. She is earning a Ph.D. in Health Administration Research and Organizational Theory at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Candice L. Saunders
Executive Vice President and President, WellStar Kennestone Hospital
WellStar Health System
Candice has a bachelor's degree of Science from the University of South Florida as well as a Masters in Business Administration and a Masters of Science in Health Service Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Candice came to WellStar in May 2007 as Chief Operating Officer for Kennestone Hospital and was promoted to her current role in August 2007.  Prior to WellStar, Candice was Vice President of Inova Health System and Chief Operating Officer of Inova Fairfax Hospital and Inova Heart and Vascular Institute.

Candice began her career as a cardiac nurse and has 30 years of health care experience including serving as a Chief Nursing Officer, and running cardiovascular and specialty programs at the University of Alabama Hospital and Emory University prior to Inova Health System. 

Denise Fiore
Vice President of Clinical Services
Yale-New Haven Hospital
Denise Fiore is Vice President of Clinical Services at Yale-New Haven Hospital a not for profit teaching hospital licensed for 1,541 beds and 13,500 employees and is the leading hospital of the Yale New Haven Health System. A 35-year veteran of Yale-New Haven Hospital, Fiore is responsible for the strategic development, clinical quality and financial results of the Departments of Diagnostic Radiology, Laboratory Medicine, Rehabilitation Services, Respiratory Care, Patient Transport and Ambulatory Operations to include all Community, Physician and School based Clinics.

Fiore is Six Sigma black belt trained and leads efforts in the use of quality techniques across her departments to increase patient experience and operational performance.

Fiore is a member of the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science and the American College of Healthcare Executives; a past President of the New England Consortium for Clinical Laboratory Scientist Recruitment and Retention; past President and member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Women in Healthcare Management Association; and currently serves on the Quinnipiac University School of Health Sciences Advisory Board and the Board of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas in New Haven, Connecticut. She has presented at over 15 national and regional conferences, and published Yale-New Haven Hospital’s Six Sigma initiative in the Journal of Quality Health Care.

Fiore earned a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from Quinnipiac University in 1978, graduating with the distinction of Cum Laude. She earned a Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in health care management from Quinnipiac University in 1991. In 2008, she received Quinnipiac University's Outstanding Business Alumni Award.