Anita Brearton is a marketing executive with more than 28 years working in high technology. Ms. Brearton works with technology startup companies as a marketing strategy consultant and is currently serving as the CMO for Altruik, an SEO technology company. Most recently, Anita served as VP of corporate marketing at Sycamore Networks. Prior experience: Artel Video Systems, Cascade Communications, General DataComm. Anita serves on the Advisory Board of Connect2 Communications and as a coach with Simmons School of Management Entrepreneurship program. She holds a BA from Randolph-Macon Woman's College.

Anne Busquet is a Principal with AMB Advisors where she advises executives in strategy and business development. She has 30 years of experience in General Management. She was CEO of Local and Media Services at Interactive Corp (IAC) and previously at American Express Company where she was a member of the Planning and Policy committee and the President of Interactive Services and New Businesses and previously Executive Vice President of Card marketing among many other positions. Anne served on 10 Boards both public and private including USA Networks, Tambrands, Administaff and Epsilon. She also served on 3 Non-Profit Boards including Teach for America. She received a BS from Cornell University and MBA from Columbia University. She is dual citizen of France and the U.S.

Jolyne Caruso has more than 25 years of experience in both capital markets and asset management businesses at major Wall Street firms including JP Morgan and Bear Stearns. She most recently ran Lehman Brother's global hedge fund business and prior to that was a founder and President of Andor Capital Management, a technology long/short hedge fund. Jolyne holds a BA from Barnard College and serves on Barnard's Board of Trustees. She serves on the board of Kleinfelds, a privately held company, is a Sustaining member of 100 Women in Hedge Funds and supports several women's and educational charities through a family foundation that she manages with her husband. She has become an active angel investor.

As President of Delco International Ltd., Rob led a successful $76 million manufacturing and distribution company of tableware products for the food service and transportation industries. In 2000, Delco was sold to Oneida Ltd., the world’s largest producer of tableware products. Since then, Rob has been active as an angel investor through Bowery Partners LLC. Rob graduated with a BS, Marketing from Syracuse University and an MBA from Columbia University. He is an active member of the Young President’s Organization (LI chapter), was awarded the Human Relations Award by the American Jewish Committee, is on the Advisory Board of Island Harvest and is an Outward Bound graduate.

Elizabeth has broad and senior leadership experience with insurance and financial services companies. She has led several “start-up” initiatives and has a background building business value from technology. Currently, Elizabeth is an executive with Dreambuilder Investments - a private mortgage investment company specializing in the acquisition, management and liquidation of defaulted residential mortgages nationwide. DBI achieves superior returns for investors while achieving constructive outcomes for homeowners. Elizabeth is also associated with Pro Mujer, a microfinance organization bettering the lives of women in South America.

Malcolm Elvey is the Chairman of the International Division of The Academy for Chief Executives, a UK–based executive education business. Mr. Elvey serves on the Board of The Children’s Place Retail Stores, Inc., (NASDAQ.PLCE), where he chairs the Audit Committee. The Children’s Place is a leading retailer of children’s merchandise. It owns and operates 851 The Children’s Place stores an d 331 Disney Stores in North America, and an online store. From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Elvey served as the Chief Executive Officer of QLIMO, a ground transportation company he helped found in New York. He is the Managing Partner of Collaborative Capital, a venture capital fund founded in 1999 which focuses on early‑stage technology companies.

Leigh Ferst is principal of Project Primavera, providing strategic counsel to companies large and small. With over 20 years of experience in global investment research and strategic communications, she was acclaimed for equity research excellence by Institutional Investor and The Wall Street Journal while working at Warburg and Prudential Securities. Her investor relations experience includes counseling Unilever and Sara Lee. A native of Atlanta, Ms Ferst holds degrees from Brown University, NYU’s Stern School of Business and Columbia University. She was formerly president of the Consumer Analysts Group of New York (CAGNY).

Linda Galante is a partner in the Business Department of the law firm of Stradley Ronon in Philadelphia. Her practice areas include corporate, banking and real estate law. In addition to her client practice, Linda has also served on the firm’s Board of Directors, Partner Compensation Committee and a number of other firm committees. She is a member of the Board of Directors of several companies including Fiber-Line, Inc. and Wissahickon Spring Water, Inc., as well as Drueding Center/Project Rainbow, St. Joseph’s Preparatory School and Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia.
 

Elizabeth Galt has had a diverse career in finance in both Asset Management and Marketing. She began her career at Bear, Stearns and has held senior positions at Lynch, Jones and Ryan, The Leuthold Group and Sloate Weisman. She is now Chairman of Galt Associates. Board Directorships include Portero and Greenwich Hospital. She has held several elected and appointed positions in local, state and national government. Elizabeth is a graduate of Bennington College.
 

After a career in structured finance at Bank of America and Nikko Securities, Frank was a principal in a boutique merchant bank focused on distressed investments, serving as interim executive for portfolio companies, including Harvey Electronics, where as CEO he crafted its bankruptcy reorganization. He currently runs marketing and sales at Comodo and formerly was a senior executive at EasyLink, where he completed over two dozen M&A and strategic investment transactions. Frank holds an MBA from Columbia University, and is Chairman of the Private Equity Committee of the Columbia Business School Alumni Club of New York.

Phyllis Haberman has 20 years private equity experience including LBO, MBO, PIPE, buildup, growth equity and venture capital deals in business services, consumer products, industrial and healthcare industries. She was a Partner and member of the Investment Committee at Charterhouse Group ($1.3bn private equity firm) and currently consults to clients involved in acquisition, sale or financing transactions. She has served on 11 corporate boards, including several that were public. Prior to joining Charterhouse, Phyllis was at Celanese Corporation. She received a BS (Mathematics) from Simmons College and an MBA(Finance) from Columbia University.

Jean Hammond is a serial entrepreneur with over 20 years experience in the high-tech industry including JAM Technologies (acting CEO), Quarry Technologies (Founder & CEO) and AXON Networks (Co-Founder). She is an active investor in early stage high tech companies. Current Board positions include Network Subscriptions, International Strategies, JAM Technologies, Home Portfolio, Mobile Secure, iTeam, and EdTech Networks and former Board positions include Ohia Networks, Intouch Systems, ZipCar, and others. Non-profit Boards include The Technology Capital Network and Thompson Island Outward Bound. Jean earned an M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management, and a B.S. from Boston University.

Stephanie Hanbury-Brown spent 20 years in financial services in Sydney, London and New York. The majority of her career was with JPMorgan where she headed several global businesses. In 2004 she founded Golden Seeds. She is also a member of New York Angels and an investor with Boldcap Ventures. Stephanie currently retains board positions with Foster Wheeler Limited, Artemis Woman and Count Me In. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney.

Nancy Harrison is a private equity investor with particular interest in high tech and biotech. She was Managing Director at Connecticut Innovations, Inc., the state's largest technology equity investor. Previously she was Director of Business Development at IBM Research and at IBM Asia Pacific, where she led joint ventures, acquisitions and strategic minority investments for IBM and managed a portfolio of more than 100 investments with an international staff. Her previous IBM career positions were in management of systems engineering, sales, marketing and finance. Nancy is a graduate of Skidmore College and received masters degrees from Northwestern in Applied Mathematics and Columbia in Business.

Cecelia Ann Hauptman is a private equity investor and marketing services consultant who has extensive experience in wholesale and retail marketing management for both the profit and nonprofit sectors. She has held corporate management positions with Frederick Atkins International, Dayton Hudson, and Bloomingdale's division of Federal Incorporated. She current serves on several boards of nonprofit organizations. Cecelia received a BA and an MBA (Marketing Management) from Fordham University.

Scottie Held has founded several companies and partnerships in the communications and entertainment arenas. In the 1970's, her area of interest was in communications consulting. In 1982, she incorporated Package, Inc to invest in and manage entertainment ventures. Under the Package, Inc. umbrella, she produced "First Night" Off-Broadway, "Start-Up", a two-part cable tv program on entrepreneurship, America's Theatre calendar, and wrote business, travel and general interest articles. In the 90's, she closed this company to concentrate on the non-profit sector supporting women in business, women in politics and philanthropic education. She is married to Rob and the mother of two and grandmother of four. She received a BA from Connecticut College.

Bonnie Henry is the President and founder of DKH Enterprises and works with early stage companies and their management teams to clarify strategy, accelerate growth, and position for exit. She has 28 years of entrepreneurial and leadership experience across multiple industries; 13 of those years with P&L responsibility. She founded Hellas International, a Greek specialty food company, in 1995 which she sold in 2004. She has worked with both large and early stage companies including: Frito-Lay, Pillsbury, Estee Lauder, Ross Stores, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Massachusetts, and Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital. Bonnie earned an MBA at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and holds a BS degree in Business and Communications from SUNY, Plattsburgh.

Elizabeth ("Liddy") Karter founded Karter Capital Advisors that offers clients expertise in the financial, banking, software and manufacturing sectors. Liddy's prior experience includes President of Resource Recovery Systems where she grew revenues to more than $20 million with 13 factories in eight states and successfully sold the company in 1998. She also worked at Netkey, Inc., a leading enterprise software and at Morgan Stanley focusing on financial services for the Banking Industry. Liddy received her MBA from Yale University and a BA from Columbia University.

Lesley King spent 15 years on Wall St with JPMorgan where she was a Managing Director and head of the Fixed Income Generalist Sales group for the US. She is a graduate of University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Economics Cum Laude. She is an active alum for both college and high school, and an active fundraiser in the fight against poverty and AIDS with a focus on Rwanda.

Pam Lenehan is a senior executive with broad strategic and financial experience in corporate, investment banking, and public board environments. In her 30 year business career she was a managing director in Investment Banking at Credit Suisse First Boston, officer of a public company, CFO of a high-tech start-up, and her own strategy consulting firm. She is on the board of directors of Spartech Corporation and Monotype Imaging, both publicly-traded, and The Center for Women & Enterprise, a non-profit. She has a BA and MA from Brown University.

Julie Lerner is the Managing Director for the European-American Business Organization. She has 20 years experience in international commodity trading and strategic development, having held senior trading and/or marketing positions with Cargill International, S.A., Cargill Inc, Phibro (Citigroup), Sempra Energy Trading and XL Capital’s Weather and Energy division. She has lived and worked in the US, Europe and across Latin America. Julie is also the President of BDT Ventures, LLC, an entrepreneurial venture based on her intellectual property regarding a system design and methodology for electronic trading of physical agricultural commodities. She holds a BSBA in Finance from Boston University.

Mela Lew has over twenty years of experience as a business lawyer. She recently completed her MPA at the Kennedy School, Harvard University. Immediately prior, Mela was a Partner and General Counsel of Atlas Venture, an international venture capital firm with over $2 billion under management. Before Atlas Venture, Mela served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Oak Industries, a NYSE company acquired by Corning in 2000. She is a graduate of Smith College and Cornell Law School, and serves on a number of non-profit Boards.

Loretta McCarthy is principal of McCarthy Group which advises executives in the areas of business strategy, marketing and distribution. Prior experience: Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at OppenheimerFunds and Vice President of Establishment Marketing at American Express, both of New York City. She is President of Sanctuary for Families, a domestic violence organization. Other board experience: Kessler Rehabilitation Corp., Prolitec, Inc., Carnegie Speech Company, the Women's Tennis Association, New Yorkers for Children and Abingdon Theatre Company. Loretta is a graduate of the University of Colorado (MBA) and the University of Arizona (BA).

Christine W. Meehan has more than 25 years of experience in medical device and pharmaceutical businesses both in the U.S. and Europe. She was most recently the CEO of her own medical device startup which was successfully divested to a large private equity firm. She has worked exclusively for small entrepreneurial medical companies including Infusaid, Technomed Medical Systems and Praxim, taking product from conception, strategic development through to commercialization. Christine holds a B.S. from the University of Connecticut and an M.A. from New York University. She is active in several community charities and fundraising for “Race for a Cure.” She is a dual citizen of Ireland and the United States.

Jo Anne Miller is a Partner at Milk Street Ventures, a secondary-direct venture capital firm and angel investor with Sand Hill Angels. She has over 29 years of telecommunications and computer industry experience including 10 years as an entrepreneur - CEO of Gluon Networks, founding VP Engineering of JetCell ( Acquired by Cisco), VP Engineering at AirNet Communications as well as development and management positions at Bell Labs and Tellabs. Jo Anne has an MBA from the University of Chicago, MSCS from the University of Colorado and BS Mathematics from the University of Michigan.

Cheryl Mills was Associate Administrator at the U.S. Small Business Administration in Washington, D.C. where her programs served 1.6 million small businesses (800,000 were women-owned). Her network of 14,000 counselors helped small businesses develop business plans, loan preparation, marketing and strategic planning. She was recently with Lehman Brothers and a Trustee of the New Jersey 81 Billion Pension fund, a position she held for 10 years. Cheryl aLso has a background in business development to small and mid-size businesses looking for seed and venture capital.

Patricia Harrigan Nadosy was a foreign exchange options trader, banker, and money management consultant at JP Morgan for fifteen years before starting her own consulting firm, Optfor Inc., in 1985. After leaving Wall Street Pat obtained a PhD in Botany which she leverages through community service projects in NYC. As a member of the Board of Trustees of Barnard College she spearheaded the creation of its financial fluency program for alumnae. Pat has a BA from Barnard College, an MBA from Columbia Business School and a PhD from CUNY.

Praveen Nayyar

Praveen Nayyar teaches operations, strategy and service management to masters and executive masters students at the Stern School of Business, New York University. He also consults and conducts executive development courses on strategy and services. His research focuses on service businesses, competitive and corporate strategy, customer service, organization design, and technology strategy. His work has appeared in Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Management Journal, and Academy of Management Review. He is co-editor of Technological Innovation: Oversights and Foresights and of Creating Value in Financial Services.

Sarita Nayyar

Sarita Nayyar is Senior Director, Consumer Industries, World Economic Forum. She manages the Forum's relationships with the world's largest, most successful and recognizable consumer businesses. The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world. Earlier, Sarita was Senior Vice President & General Manager of a $1.6 billion business unit of Kraft Foods. Sarita is a business leader with exceptional general management, marketing and strategy experiences and a track record of leading profitable growth, brand building and innovation in $1billion+ businesses.

Carol Nichols

Carol Nichols is an early stage investor, focused on strategies to make companies and people successful. As a former executive with Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, Carol has over 26 years of experience connecting companies to capital. She a Co-Founder of the Texas Women Ventures Fund and serves on Advisory Boards for Springboard Enterprises and the Center for Women's Business Research. Carol graduated Cum Laude from the University of Georgia, with degrees in Economics and Political Science, and received her MBA from Tulane University. She lives in Dallas, Texas.

Judith H. Obermayer, Ph.D.

Judith Obermayer has been a private investor for over 25 years, and a consultant to small high technology companies in business planning, financial management, and technology commercialization. She has extensive experience with government research and development contracts, and a long association with Moleculon Research Corp. as an officer and director. Judith was a director of Moleculon, Inc., a public spinoff, that later sold to an Australian company. Other prior directorships: former Chair, MIT Enterprise Forum; Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation. She holds a B.S. degree from Carnegie-Mellon and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard University.

Mary Lake Polan

Mary Lake Polan, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., chaired the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Stanford Medical School until 2006 and is currently a Visiting Professor at Columbia Medical School. Dr. Polan is a reproductive endocrinologist, with more than 130 articles and books, and served on committees at the Institute of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. She currently serves on a Health Advisory Board at DuPont and chairs the Procter & Gamble Feminine Protection Advisory Board. Dr. Polan is a Director of Wyeth, Madison, NJ and Quidel Corporation, San Diego, CA.

Jill C. Preotle, Co-Leader of Boston Forum

Jill Preotle, co-leader of the Boston Golden Seeds forum, is a private equity investor who works with entrepreneurs seeking access to capital and growth markets. She serves on the boards of Zipcar, Red Tail Solutions, iTeam, Investment Instruments (rentomatic.com), and Dancing Deer Baking Company. She is a member of the Venture Advisory Board and Emeritus Board at the Center for Women & Enterprise, a non-profit organization that focuses on training programs and financing opportunities for women-led businesses. Ms. Preotle, a graduate of NYU Law School, was formerly an attorney in private practice in New York.

Gloria Rabinowitz, Co-leader of Philadelphia Forum

Gloria V. Rabinowitz is President & CEO, GCM Group LLC., a technology development, strategy, and marketing company which develops and commercializes new technologies principally for healthcare applications. She has held executive level positions across DuPont Strategic Business units in the life science arena, in Fluoropolymers--TEFLON ®, and in healthcare start ups. She has had assignments in Corporate Finance Mergers & Acquisitions. Ms. Rabinowitz has her MBA in Finance from The Wharton School, The University of Pennsylvania and her Masters in Information Technology, The University of Michigan.

Letitia "Tish" Richardson

Tish Richardson is a private investor and President of Trinity Capital Management, LLC. Prior to founding TCM, Tish was a practicing attorney in the areas of corporate and property law. She is currently a member of the Guild Board of the Concord Museum in Concord, Massachusetts and is active with Discovering Justice, a Boston-based educational organization, and the League of Women Voters. Tish earned a B.A. from the University of California at Santa Barbara, an M.S. from the University of Vermont, and a J.D. from Vermont Law School.

Tracey Riese

Tracey Riese is an expert in brand strategy and marketing, focusing on leadership, alignment, and action. She founded T.G. Riese and Associates in 1994 and has since worked with Fortune 500 Boards and management teams of various corporations, including American Express, AT&T, Charles Schwab, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Citicorp. Previously Tracey held senior communications and marketing positions at Revlon, RJR Nabisco and Chemical Bank. Current boards: A Better Choice, the Brooklyn Museum, Hunter College Foundation. She holds a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College.

Sheryl R. Schultz

As the president of SRS Associates, Sheryl Schultz has participated in the launch of some of the most successful start-up companies in the networking industry including Acme Packet, ArrowPoint Communications, Sonus Networks and Wellfleet Communications. During her career, Sheryl has helped create companies and markets, providing sound and innovative communication frameworks that have shaped how networking companies develop and deliver product and services messaging. Working with senior level entrepreneurs, Sheryl helps articulate company, product and technology value at each stage of a company's lifecycle. She holds a degree in English and Communications from the University at Albany.

Orna Shulman

Orna Shulman is an experienced private equity investor in hi-tech, bio tech and real estate. She oversaw an $800 million portfolio at Intertech Corporation that experienced an eightfold return on equity. She founded OLS Ventures in 2001, managing her own portfolio and advising third parties in alternative investments and real estate. Board directorships include the Middle East Forum, The Eldridge Street Project, and various Advisory and Entrepreneurship Boards connected with Harvard, Tufts and Columbia Business School. Orna is a graduate of Washington College of Law at American University and Tufts University.

Hope Smith

Hope Geier Smith is President of the Geier Foundation and assists in the management of investments for the Geier investment family office. Prior experience includes marketing with Hill and Knowlton, and finance with John Hassall, a privately held manufacturing company. Hope sits on the board of the Sass Foundation, is an active fundraiser for Autism Speaks, and a founding investor of the Dignity Fund (a microfinance institution). She obtained a BA in communication from Mount Vernon Collage.

Merle Sprinzen

Merle Sprinzen is an expert in business-to-business marketing/sales strategies, with more than 25 years helping premier corporations grow. Merle brings special expertise in the business services sector working with companies such as Accenture, KPMG and Sapient, and has also worked with media, publishing and telecommunications companies, such as Time Warner, Cap Cities/ABC, and AT&T. Merle also launched her own successful marketing strategy firm. Merle earned her PhD from Harvard University in sociology/social psychology while a National Science Foundation Fellow and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology/Anthropology, summa cum laude, from Oberlin College.

Grazyna Szymanska

Grazyna Szymanska, Ph.D., is a biopharmaceutical consultant and early-stage life-science entrepreneur. Grazyna’s 20 years of experience in academia and biotech include R&D, product development and strategic consulting. Her industry experience includes therapeutics (small molecules and biologics), diagnostics, instrumentations, and medical devices. She is a champion of the newest investment paradigm, moving technology in a cost-effective way from virtual space to proof of principle to final product stage. Grazyna is an author of over 25 scientific papers and holds a number of patents which successfully integrate diverse scientific, technical and functional domains.

Dune Thorne

Dune Thorne is a Vice President at Hale and Dorr Wealth Advisors (HDWA) an investment management boutique based in Boston. Dune specializes in working with women to help them build strong financial foundations. Prior to joining HDWA, Dune was the Director of Investments for Circle Financial Group, an investment and wealth management think tank for ultra-high net worth women. Concurrently, Dune was a Columbia Business School Private Wealth Management teaching assistant. Dune received her BA from Dartmouth College and her MBA from Harvard Business School where she completed independent studies on women and investing, as well as angel investing.

Peggy Wallace, Co-Leader of NY Forum

Peggy is an angel investor and serves as Portfolio Manager for the investments made by the Golden Seeds network. Peggy co-founded Black Dome Capital, an early stage investment firm in 2003. She has more than 20 years experience on Wall Street at JP Morgan, Salomon Brothers & XL Capital, focusing on complex financial structures, credit, derivatives, mergers and acquisitions and risk management. She serves on the corporate board of Chromis Fiberoptics and non-profit Count Me In, a micro-finance lender. Peggy is a graduate of The George Washington University.

Kate Weingarten

Kate Weingarten was Vice President, Finance, at Project for Public Spaces. In the late '90s she was Director of the Institute for School Age Child Care, where she created a start-up program to increase after school childcare throughout Westchester County. Previously, Kate worked as an investment officer at TIAA-CREF. Kate is board chair of KEEPS, an after school program in Mamaroneck NY, and is on the finance committee of the Westchester Children's Association. Kate received an MS from The Robert Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at NYU, and a BA and MBA from The University of Pennsylvania. She is a chartered financial analyst.

Sara Weinheimer

Sara Weinheimer is a private investor and General Partner of Mayfair Trading Partners, an investment partnership she formed after leaving Goldman Sachs. Mayfair invests in public and private equities in the technology, financial and green sectors. Sara is a founding investor in Boldcap Ventures, a premier women's venture capital fund in New York. Previously she had a 15-year career trading bonds and derivatives on Wall St, at Citibank and Goldman Sachs. Sara is a graduate of UC, Berkeley where she earned a B.S. in the College of Natural Resources and an MBA from UC, Berkeley, Haas School of Business.

Vanessa Wilson

Vanessa Wilson has 19 years of public markets and M&A experience on Wall Street as a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank, DLJ, and CSFB. As an equity research analyst specializing in life insurance, Ms. Wilson was ranked on the Institutional Investor “All-American Research Team” for 10 years and lead- or co-managed 15 IPOs. She sits on the public board of Protective Life Corporation and the non-profit boards of Count Me In, Ethel Walker School and St. James. Ms. Wilson holds a B.A. from Amherst College and an MBA from NYU's Stern School of Business.