Speakers
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Friday afternoon
Saturday Green Track
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Saturday Teal Track
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Friday Afternoon
I Want to be Your Next _______: Getting Women to Run and Getting Them Elected
Rep. Harriett L. Stanley ’72
Former Legislator, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Harriett Stanley stayed at William & Mary for a fifth year, working with President Tom Graves and senior staff as they sought to reposition the school for the 21st century. She says it was a meaningful experience and an early lesson in the difference between creating real change vs. simply updating cosmetics.
She went on to graduate school at Boston University and Harvard Business School. She worked in investment banking on Wall Street during the 1980s and spent the next 21 years as an elected official (from Main Street) in Massachusetts. She concentrated on fiscal policy issues, particularly health care finance.
Stanley maintains that public service was by far the the toughest thing she ever experienced, including a decade on Wall Street and successfully battling a benign brain tumor!
The Honorable Viola Osborne Baskerville ’73
Viola Baskerville is a 1973 graduate of William & Mary and was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Bonn in Germany. She is a graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law and spent 16 years serving at the local and state government level. She served as a member of the Richmond City Council and four terms as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, as well as the secretary of administration for then Governor Timothy M. Kaine. During her tenure as a public servant, Ms. Baskerville focused on women and children's health issues; economic and educational equity issues; small business advancement and strengthening local government. After retiring from state employment, Ms. Baskerville was hired by the Girl Scouts of the Commonwealth of Virginia to serve as its interim CEO. She currently serves on the Martin Luther King Commission and as a Trustee of the Virginia Outdoors Foundation.
Jennifer Wilson Tierney ’88, P ’15
Owner and Principal, Gemini Group
Jennifer Tierney is the owner and principal of the Gemini Group, a San Diego-based political consulting firm she founded in 1999 after ten years of working in San Diego government. She has helped guide more than fifty campaigns for candidates and ballot measures to wins on Election Day. A Virginia native, Tierney grew up in West Point, Virginia. After graduating from William & Mary in 1988 with a BA in English, she spent a year at an environmental consulting firm in the Washington, D.C. area before moving to San Diego so her husband could pursue a Ph.D. She worked for the San Diego County Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures for ten years where she helped farmers comply with environmental regulations and worked with schools and the medical community to prepare for the arrival of “killer bees.” As she explains, it’s not that big a leap from working with killer bees to working in campaigns.
Jen got her start in campaigns by volunteering to develop web sites at a time when they were relatively new to the local and state level campaign world. As principal of the Gemini Group, she is a general consultant, guiding candidates, campaign managers, fundraisers and field staff through the strategy of each campaign. She has helped elect candidates for San Diego City Council, Mayor, District Attorney, Superior Court Judge, California Assembly and Board of Supervisors. She has been named one of the “50 people to watch” in San Diego.
When she isn’t working in California, Jen stays busy in Virginia, where she is chair of the Williamsburg-James City County Democratic Committee and a member of the Virginia Democratic Party Central Committee for the 2nd Congressional District. She volunteers for many candidates on the Peninsula and has helped guide the campaigns of Monty Mason for Delegate (93rd) and State Senate (1st) and Mike Mullin for Delegate (93rd). Jen lives in Williamsburg with her husband, Mike, a professor of government at William & Mary, and their 7-year-old cockapoo, Henry Higgins. Jen and Mike have two grown children.
Women in the Media and Entertainment – Confronting Discrimination in the Spotlight
Jen Chaney ’94
TV Critic, Vulture
Jen Chaney is a TV critic for Vulture, New York magazine's entertainment and pop culture vertical. She also reviews movies and TV in a weekly segment for WTOP radio in Washington, D.C. Prior to her current role, she was a staff writer for the Washington Post and, later, a freelance writer whose bylines appeared in the Post, Vulture, the New York Times, Vanity Fair, and numerous other outlets. Chaney also is the author of the book “As If!: The Complete Oral History of Clueless,” which was released in 2015.
Karen Lynne Hall ’78
New Voyage Productions
In her career as writer, producer and creative consultant, Karen Hall has worked on numerous series, including M*A*S*H, Hill Street Blues, Moonlighting, Roseanne, and The Good Wife. She has received seven Emmy Award nominations, as well as the Humanitas Prize, the Women in Film Luminas Award and the Writers Guild of America Award. Her novel, “Dark Debts,” was a Book of the Month Club main selection when first published in 1996 and has been translated into French, German and Japanese. She and her husband live in Windermere, Florida.
Amy Peloff ’94
Affiliate Faculty of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies, University of Washington
Amy Peloff is affiliate faculty of gender, women and sexuality studies and the former assistant director of the Comparative History of Ideas program at the University of Washington. A feminist historian and media scholar, her work examines the role that popular culture has played in disseminating feminist ideas beyond the organizations and activists that identify as feminist in the United States. Her writing on feminism has encompassed a variety of pop culture topics from Dolly Parton to Doctor Who, and she continually studies the ways in which ideas about identities are created, presented and shared through media and popular culture. Currently a member of the Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau, she travels around Washington state giving talks on feminism and how to critically “read” popular media. Her current project explores how the #metoo movement is impacting not just how we consume popular culture, but also how we pursue lasting social change.
Women Who Count: Research at the Forefront of Interdisciplinary Quantitative Science
Nancy Ellen Podger ’81
Principal Engineer - Remote Sensing Sciences, DigitalGlobe
Nancy Podger began her career at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C., and then moved to NASA in Greenbelt, Maryland, to explore the world of image processing. She delved deeper into this field and obtained a master's degree from University of Wisconsin–Madison. From there she worked at the research organization East West Center in Hawaii, in a field called social forestry, researching management and protection of forests with the purpose of helping environmental and social development. She performed field work for projects such as protecting the Red Panda in Langtang National Park, Nepal, and forest regeneration in Orissa, India.
Podger then returned to UW-Madison for her Ph.D. She took a job at GeoEye, which then merged with DigitalGlobe (DG), where she performs image quality and radiometric calibration. DG is a company that designs and operates satellites that acquire high resolution images. The majority of imagery in mapping tools and on the news are taken by DG. She is also a single mom to her 12-year-old daughter.
Karen L. Maples '76, M.B.A. '78
FutureForward Founder
Karen Maples is the founder of FutureForward, a global initiative to inspire women scientists to commercialize their research and to accelerate the number of women-led firms at the cutting edge of emerging and advanced technologies. FutureForward’s work is bringing together women scientists, women in STEM and women who own high-growth firms to create new paradigms of collaboration. Karen is also the founder of Myutiq, an innovation strategy firm that helps organizations build innovation capacity for long-term viability and growth.
Karen’s approach to innovation is through a global competitiveness lens, with a focus on applying innovation methodology and the principles of design thinking to solve our toughest challenges. Her client list spans a diverse number of nonprofits and commercial industries including information technology, cyber security, manufacturing, construction, geospatial analytics, and professional services. She has also worked in international markets including Europe, North Africa and Brazil.
Karen is a founder of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, and served two terms as president. She is a national founding partner of Women Impacting Public Policy and was instrumental in the creation of WIPP’s Economic Blueprint. She is also a charter member of William & Mary’s Society of 1918. Karen has been recognized by Enterprising Women Magazine as one of the top women entrepreneurs in North America. She holds a B.B.A. and M.B.A. from William & Mary and has completed post-graduate studies in strategic planning and marketing strategy at Harvard Business School and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Mary C. Fabrizio
Professor of Marine Science
William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)
Dr. Mary Fabrizio is chair of the Fisheries Science Department at VIMS, where she directs a research program focused on juvenile fishes produced in nursery areas of the largest estuary on the east coast, the Chesapeake Bay. She has expertise in the assessment of population dynamic processes with a particular interest in estuarine habitat requirements for juvenile fishes. In addition, her research supports efforts in the Chesapeake Bay region to ensure sustainable fisheries and she works closely with resource managers to identify and address threats to the continued production of our fisheries. Dr. Fabrizio uses examples from her research to teach a graduate course in statistical modeling at VIMS. She is a fellow of the American Fisheries Society and served as its president in 2007-2008; in 2014, she received the Oscar E. Sette Award for Outstanding Marine Fishery Biologist. She currently serves on the board of the Hudson River Foundation in New York.
Saturday
Green Track: 9:30 – 1:45
All Aboard 101: Boards Need YOU!
Sue Hanna Gerdelman ’76, P ’07, P ’13
Trustee, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Sue Gerdelman received her B.A. in elementary education from William & Mary in 1976 and taught school for six years in Washington State. She previously worked at the White House as an executive assistant to the assistant to the president for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and as associate director of the President's National Economic Council. Previously, she worked as a volunteer on the Presidential Inaugural Committee.
Gerdelman has long been active in support of her alma mater and in the community; she is a past chair of the William & Mary Foundation, current chair of the For the Bold Campaign, secretary of the Board of Visitors, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and is immediate past president of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Inc., the private affiliate. She currently serves on the Commonwealth's 2019 Commission, overseeing the planning and execution of a statewide commemoration of the four major events of 1619 in Virginia.
Anna Dinwiddie Hatfield ’96
Project Manager, St. Catherine's School
A marketing major at W&M, Anna Hatfield worked for Verizon as a software engineer and now works for St. Catherine's School, managing large events, special projects and programs, one of which recently won the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Gold Award for Special Events. Hatfield serves on the William & Mary Alumni Association Board and the Junior Board of the Children’s Hospital Foundation in Richmond (chairing their 2018 Ball). She has served as a board member for Memphis Alliance for Nonprofit Excellence, chairing their strategic planning work and the boards of the Junior Leagues of Richmond and Memphis as fundraising and governance chairs.
Cynthia Satterwhite Jarboe ’77, P ’11
Treasurer, Society of International Business Fellows
Cindy Jarboe serves as a consultant to a number of nonprofit organizations including Body & Soul Fitness and the Society of International Business Fellows, where she is treasurer. Other nonprofit clients have included the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and several universities and colleges. She has served as CFO, COO and as an advisor for privately held companies for initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions and sales transactions. She served as president of the William & Mary Alumni Association and as national treasurer of the Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity and Foundation. She has also served as a board officer of the William & Mary Foundation, the Richmond YWCA, Virginia Special Olympics and the Copperleaf Foundation. She was a board member of the Raymond A. Mason School of Business and the Muscarelle Museum of Art Foundation. She recently authored a book, “The Call of Leadership: A Guide for Non-Profit Board Member Success,” and speaks on nonprofit board issues.
Powering Possibilities in the Nonprofit Sector
Lynn Buchanan Miller ’72, M.Ed. ’73
Faculty Manager/Women's Leadership Portfolio Manager, Center for Creative Leadership
Lynn Miller has served in leadership positions in corporate America and is experienced as both a line and staff manager. The majority of her corporate experience is in leading the learning and development function within three major industries: a consumer transaction technology firm, an airline IT organization and a global packaging solutions company. In addition, Miller has been a line manager leading matrix teams to design software/hardware products that allow people to interact with systems based on their needs. Today, as part of the Center for Creative Leadership (CLL), Miller designs and delivers leadership solutions for both the profit/non-profit sector globally, manages deployment of faculty talent for CCL clients and serves as CCL’s Portfolio Manager for Women’s Leadership Programs providing leadership for the quality and design.
Miller holds an Ed.D. from Virginia Tech and a B.S. in psychology and M.Ed. from William & Mary. Miller also holds a joint U.S. Patent on the user interface for a POS system.
Krystal Nicole Clark '05
Director of Student Leadership Development, Vanderbilt University
Krystal Clark earned her B.A. in sociology/psychology at William & Mary and her M.Ed. in college student personnel at the University of Maryland, College Park. Upon graduation she moved to Durham, North Carolina, where she served as the program coordinator for fraternity and sorority life at Duke University and in 2011 moved to Nashville to take on the role of associate director of Greek Life at Vanderbilt University. In 2015 she was promoted to director of student leadership development. In 2017-2018, Clark served as the first African-American president of the Junior League of Nashville. Clark is also involved as a member of Friends of Nashville Ballet, and the Tennessee State Museum Young Professional Council, a member of the board of directors for The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee’s Women’s Fund, and vice chair of The Belcourt Theatre’s Board of Directors. She is the chair of YP Nashville and serves as a speaker for colleges, nonprofits and small businesses.
Michelle Kang '96
VP of Strategic Initiatives & Operational Strategy, Bright Horizons
Michelle Kang is vice president of strategic initiatives and operational strategy at Bright Horizons, a global provider of dependent care solutions to support workforce engagement and productivity. In her role, she is responsible for leading and implementing enterprise-wide operational change initiatives supporting the effective delivery of early care and education for families nationwide.
Kang has been at Bright Horizons for over 15 years and served in various capacities across sales and account management. She is a member of the Inclusion Council at Bright Horizons. Prior to joining Bright Horizons, Kang served in community affairs at Harvard University.
Kang holds a M.Sc. in industrial relations and human resource management from the Said Business School at the University of Oxford. She also received a B.A. from William & Mary and a M.Ed. from the University of Virginia. She currently resides in Maryland with her husband and three sons.
Marcy Levy Shankman '90
Leadership Coach & Strategist, Cleveland Metropolitan School District
Serving as leadership coach and strategist for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Shankman has also spent the last 18 years consulting on organizational change and leadership development. In 2015, the second edition of her co-authored work “Emotionally Intelligent Leadership: A Guide for Students” and its corresponding suite of companion resources were published.
In addition to her bachelor’s degree from William & Mary, she has a master’s degree from the University of Maryland at College Park and a Ph.D. from Indiana University.
Shankman actively volunteers and lives in Shaker Heights, Ohio, with her husband and two children.
Keynote Lunch — Engaging the Next Generations of Explorers
Ellen Stofan ’83, D.Sc. ’16, P ’10, P ’14
Ellen Stofan ’83, D.Sc. ’16, P ’10, P ’14, is the first female director of the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Previously, Stofan was a consulting senior scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. She served as NASA’s chief scientist from 2013 to 2016, during which time she was the principal adviser to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on the agency’s science programs and science-related strategic planning and investments. Her broader career includes more than 25 years of space-related experience.
Saturday
Gold Track: 9:30 – 1:45
How Women Physicians are Changing Health Care
Elyas Bakhtiari
Assistant Professor, William & Mary
Elyas Bakhthiari is an assistant professor in the sociology department at William & Mary, where he teaches courses on medical sociology and research design. His research examines how social inequalities shape patterns of health outcomes and health disparities, particularly for racial and ethnic minority groups and international migrants. His work has appeared in American Behavioral Scientist, Social Science and Medicine, Socius and other outlets.
Michelle Whitehurst-Cook '75
Senior Associate Dean for Admissions, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Dr. Michelle Whitehurst-Cook, a family physician, grew up in the small town of Lawrenceville, Virginia. She is a 1979 graduate of the VCU School of Medicine. For 11 years she practiced rural medicine before joining VCU School of Medicine faculty. Her major interest is the care of underserved populations in the inner city and rural areas of Virginia. She completed a fellowship at University of California at San Diego in underserved medicine in 2000. She is actively involved in community engagement activities that have helped to create systemic change that address social justice, health disparities, health equity and economic empowerment.
Lauren Gyungah Yi '17
Second Year Medical Student, University of Virginia School of Medicine
Lauren Gyungah Yi grew up in Springfield, Virginia, and attended West Springfield High School. She majored in biology and minored in biochemistry at William & Mary, graduating summa cum laude in 2017. During her time at William & Mary, she also competed on the varsity swim team, conducted research as a James Monroe Scholar with Dr. Margaret Saha on embryonic development, and volunteered as a medical scribe at Lackey Clinic. She now attends U.Va. School of Medicine and enjoys volunteering at the Charlottesville Free Clinic in her spare time.
Marcelyn Hawkins Molloy '92
Physician, AmeriCares Free Clinics Incorporated
Dr. Marcie Molloy graduated from William & Mary with a B.S. in chemistry and a minor in philosophy.
She received her medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia and completed an internal medicine residency at the Lahey Clinic in Massachusetts, specializing in primary care and preventive medicine. Molloy is currently the medical director of the Americares Free Clinic in Stamford, Connecticut. Americares Free Clinics provide medical care to low income patients without medical insurance. Prior to Americares, Molloy worked as an internist and clinical instructor in medicine for Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School with a focus on outpatient primary care, women's health and college student health. Her interests include teaching premedical students, coaching girls youth lacrosse and spending time with her two awesome sons and amazing husband, also a William & Mary graduate.
Petra H. Steinbuchel '94
Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Training Program, University of California San Francisco (UCSF)
Petra Steinbuchel was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, shortly after her parents immigrated from Germany. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and graduated from North Springs High School in 1991. She graduated from Willam & Mary in 1994 with a B.A. in English and German. After a brief stint in journalism, she completed basic science requirements and then matriculated to the Medical College of Georgia, where she also completed her internship in pediatrics. She completed adult psychiatry training at California Pacific Medical Center and child and adolescent psychiatry training at Massachusetts General Hospital.
The Family as Caregiver: How Changing Policies, Norms, and Practices around Aging and Disability Affect the Whole Family
Emmeline Cenizal Gasink '99
Medical Director, Advisory Services Division of Consulting with OptumInsight through United Health Group
Dr. Emmeline Gasink, MD, CMD, CWSP recently served as medical director of Warwick Forest in Newport News, Virginia, and medical director of quality assurance for the Lifelong Health Division of Riverside Health System. She serves as a board member and president-elect for the Virginia Academy of Family Physicians. Gasink received her B.S. in biology at William & Mary and was accepted through the early assurance program with Eastern Virginia Medical School where she received her M.D. degree. She completed her family medicine residency with Virginia Commonwealth University-Riverside Family Medicine Program in 2007. As part of the Virginia Medical Scholarship Program, she practiced family medicine in an underserved area of Virginia prior to practicing exclusively in geriatric medicine since 2010. She has a passion for dementia care and improving the quality of life of older adults and their caregivers. She lives in Newport News with her husband Mike and children Julia and Joey.
The Honorable Helen Elizabeth Hoens ’76
Justice, Supreme Court of New Jersey (ret.)
The Honorable Helen E. Hoens recently concluded her service as a justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, having authored more than 100 of its published opinions and capping off 20 years on the trial and appellate courts.
Throughout her career as a practicing attorney and jurist, she was active in a wide variety of civic and charitable endeavors, serving as the Supreme Court's liaison to the Board of Continuing Legal Education, co-chairing the Blue Ribbon Commission On Unmet Legal Needs and leading humanitarian and disaster relief teams in the United States, Africa and Haiti.
A graduate of William & Mary (’76 with high honors) and Georgetown Law Center (’79 cum laude) and the recipient of numerous awards and honors, Justice Hoens is also the mother of an adult son with autism and has distinguished herself as an inspiring speaker addressing topics such as "Stumbling Blocks or Stepping Stones," "Facing Our Fears," and "Searching For Justice In An Unjust World."
Helena S. Mock J.D. ’00
Managing Attorney, The Peninsula Center for Estate and Lifelong Planning
Helena S. Mock, Esq. is founder of The Peninsula Center for Estate and Lifelong Planning in Williamsburg. She practices in the areas of estate, tax, business and long-term care planning. Helena is an adjunct professor of law at William & Mary Law School and managing attorney for the Law School’s Elder & Disability Law Clinic. Mock is a veteran and is accredited by the Veterans’ Administration to work with veterans. In 2016, she received the designation of Accredited Estate Planner from the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils. She received her B.A. from the University of Maryland, M.A. from Old Dominion University and J.D. from William & Mary Law School. She is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the Virginia State Bar, the Virginia Bar Association, the Williamsburg Bar Association and the Peninsula Estate Planning Council. She serves on the Dream Catchers Advisory Board and the Williamsburg House of Mercy Board of Directors.
Lindsey Marie Thaker ’17
Risk Advisory Consultant, Ernst & Young
Lindsey Thaker '17 is a daughter and granddaughter of full-time caregivers. Thaker was a long-time Girl Scout and focused her Gold Award project on helping children engage with grandparents suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia. Her project was awarded a Presidential Volunteer Service Award by the Girl Scount Council. Thaker recently completed her first year of work as an IT Risk Consultant for Ernst & Young, where she also serves on the EY Alzheimer's committee. She enjoys tennis, exploring museums in Washington, D.C., and watching Meryl Streep movies.
Keynote Lunch — Engaging the Next Generations of Explorers
Ellen Stofan ’83, D.Sc. ’16, P ’10, P ’14
Ellen Stofan ’83, D.Sc. ’16, P ’10, P ’14, is the first female director of the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Previously, Stofan was a consulting senior scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. She served as NASA’s chief scientist from 2013 to 2016, during which time she was the principal adviser to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on the agency’s science programs and science-related strategic planning and investments. Her broader career includes more than 25 years of space-related experience.
Saturday
Platinum Track: 9:30 – 1:45
We Broke the Glass Ceiling — Now Let’s Work on the Walls
Elizabeth Nieto P ’14
Senior Vice President, Global Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, MetLife Inc.
Elizabeth Nieto assumed the role of global chief diversity and inclusion (D&I) officer at MetLife in June 2012. Since then, the company has defined and implemented their first global D&I strategy, supported by Global D&I Council chaired by MetLife CEO. The strategy focused on the development of women globally and regional initiatives (e.g. emerging talent, LGBTQ+, people with different abilities, veterans) and accountability metrics to achieve the company’s world-class status aspiration. Since March 2017, she has also been responsible for the Senior Talent Review process, the GLDP program and executive coaching.
Megan B. Dorward ’07
Senior Client Partner, Twitter
Megan Dorward is a senior client partner for political and advocacy advertising at Twitter in Washington, D.C. In her role at Twitter, Dorward builds partnerships with political campaigns, advocacy organizations, government agencies and companies looking to make an impact in Washington. Dorward works with marketers to educate them about Twitter’s promoted products and helps to craft their strategy on Twitter.
Dorward has lived in Washington for eight years and resides on Capitol Hill. She graduated from William & Mary in 2007 with degrees in marketing and American studies. She can be found on Twitter @MeganDorward where she tweets about life in Washington, working at Twitter and renovating old houses.
Allison Faucette Dunn ’98
Principal, WorkLab, LLC
Daily Work of Leadership: Building Five Practices for your Tool Kit
Virginia Miller Ambler ’88, Ph.D. ’06
Vice President for Student Affairs, William & Mary
Dr. Ambler is vice president for student affairs at William & Mary, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1988. After earning her M.A. in higher education and student affairs at The Ohio State University, she worked at Franklin & Marshall College before returning to W&M. She completed a Ph.D. in educational policy, planning and leadership in 2006 and assumed her current role in 2009. Dr. Ambler has broad responsibility for student welfare, leadership development, accessibility services, honor and conduct, academic enrichment, orientation, student organizations, civic engagement, diversity programs, residence life, campus recreation, career development, student health and counseling. She is also an executive associate professor in the School of Education. Her doctoral research, titled “Who Flourishes in College? Using Positive Psychology and Student Involvement Theory to Explore Mental Health Among Traditionally Aged Undergraduates,” was recognized nationally with the 2007 Melvene D. Hardee Dissertation of the Year Award.
Amy Catherine Barnes ’97, Ed.D. ’07
Clinical Assistant Professor & Ed.D. Program Director, The Ohio State University
Dr. Amy Barnes is a faculty member in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University and director of the Educational Doctorate program in Educational Studies. She teaches courses in strategy and leadership, case analysis and intercultural leadership. Her research and teaching interests include critical pedagogy, social justice leadership education and student leadership development. She received her doctorate in educational policy, planning and leadership and her undergraduate degree in sociology from William & Mary and her master’s degree in higher education and student affairs from Ohio State. She is an author of the “Innovative Leadership Workbook for College Students and Leadership Theory: A Facilitator’s Guide for Cultivating Critical Perspectives” along with several journal articles and chapters on leadership and innovation. Dr. Barnes has consulted on leadership and organizations locally, nationally and internationally since 2005.
Cathie J. Vick M.B.A. ’17
Chief Public Affairs Officer, The Port of Virginia
Cathie J. Vick is the chief public affairs officer for the Virginia Port Authority where she oversees government relations, community outreach, economic development, engineering, environmental services and maritime incident response. Vick takes an active role in political and civic life, serving on various boards, including for the Virginia Aquarium, TowneBank Leadership Alliance, the Sorenson Institute, the Virginia Public Access Project, LEAD Hampton Roads and Optima Health. Vick has been named as one of the region’s Top 40 under 40, Top Women in Business and was awarded the Julian Hirst Alumni Leader Award by Lead Hampton Roads. In addition to her MBA, she has a law degree from Georgia State University College of Law and a bachelor’s degree in political science and communications from James Madison University. She is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, a 2005 Fellow of the Sorenson Institute of Political Leadership, and a graduate of both LEAD Hampton Roads, 2009, and LEAD Virginia, 2015.
JoAnn Gora
President of Higher Education Solutions
JoAnn Gora currently president of Higher Education Solutions, is president emerita of Ball State University (2004-2014). Prior to her presidency at Ball State, she served as the chancellor of the University of Massachusetts-Boston. She served there from 2001-2004. Her position prior to this leadership role was as the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Old Dominion University from 1992 to 2001.
Keynote Lunch — Leadership Opportunities and the Inherent Challenges
E. Clorisa Phillips ’77
Dr. E. Clorisa Phillips ’77 is retired from a career of some 35 years in higher education in which she took on difficult assignments. Phillips started her career at the University of Virginia in the early years of coeducation and was charged with recruiting students in cities with large male alumni chapters. Among her subsequent leadership roles at U.Va., she directed the institution’s initiative to establish a coeducational college in the Middle East. Later as president of Virginia Intermont College, Phillips led the institution through an imminent closure. Phillips has recently launched a “second chapter” as a writer and historian. She will share her thoughts on leadership during some of the most challenging of circumstances.
Saturday
Teal Track: 9:30 – 1:45
Rule-Breakers, Job-Makers, Risk-Takers — Women Entrepreneurs and Innovators
Julie A. Dobson ’78, P ’17, P ’19
Director, Fortis, Inc.
Julie Dobson is non-executive chairman of Telebright, Inc. a private firm established in 1989, where she oversees the development of telecom management software applications and mobile applications for the business to business and business to consumer markets. She was Chief Operating Officer at Telecorp PCS, Inc. and held various senior management positions with Bell Atlantic Corporation during her 18-year career with the company.
Dobson is also a director of Fortis, Inc., one of the top 15 utilities in North America. She retired from the board of Safeguard Scientifics, Inc., a capital provider to technology driven businesses in June of this year. She is also a former director of PNM Resources, an electric and gas utility in New Mexico and Texas, and American Water Works Company, the largest investor-owned water utility in the United States.
Dobson graduated from William & Mary with a Bachelor of Science and from the University of Pittsburgh with an MBA.
Laura Mooney Markley ’07, M.Acc. ’08
Director of Investments, NRV
Laura Markley is the director of investments at NRV, a Richmond-based venture capital firm focused on investing in and scaling high-growth companies. At NRV, Markley manages diligence and deal terms, serves on portfolio company boards, and performs NRV’s CFO functions. Prior to NRV, Markley worked in the financial services industry in New York City, including investment banking at Deutsche Bank and audit/valuation services for PricewaterhouseCoopers. She also worked at private wealth firm Ziff Brothers Investments, both in the investment accounting space and running the firm’s multimillion dollar philanthropy programs and family foundation giving.
Markley has an MBA from Columbia University and a Masters of Accounting from William & Mary, graduating at the top of her class in both degrees. She lives in Richmond with her husband and two children, serves as an adjunct professor teaching "Private Equity & Venture Capital" at William & Mary, and volunteers in a variety of non-profit board work.
Pocket Sun ’13
Managing Partner, SoGal Ventures
Pocket Sun is co-founder and managing partner of SoGal Ventures, the world’s first female-led millennial venture capital firm investing in startups in North America and Asia Pacific. In the past three years, the two partners of SoGal Ventures have made 50+ startup investments around the world. Shortly after receiving her master’s degree from the University of Southern California in entrepreneurship and innovation, Sun became one of the youngest people ever to be on the cover of Forbes Magazine at the age of 24.
As a disruptor in venture capital and advocate for diversity, Sun is frequently invited to speak to organizations such as PwC, Coca Cola, BoA Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Accenture, Ogilvy & Mather, London Business School, and National University of Singapore, and at the world's best tech and business conferences including Microsoft CEO Summit, Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit and TEDx.
Molly McFarland Pieroni '90
Partner, MC2
Molly McFarland Pieroni is a partner with MC2 Institute, an investment and advisory firm based in Dallas, Texas. Prior to MC2, she co-founded JatoTech Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early stage technology investments. Pieroni also has worked as a managing director for Highside Capital, a long-short equity hedge fund in Dallas and New York City, leading the firm’s business development and strategy efforts. Prior to JatoTech, she was one of the inaugural members of the Texas office of the Boston Consulting Group, focusing on strategy engagements for clients in technology, consumer and financial services industries. Earlier in her career, Pieroni worked as an investment banking analyst in New York at Dean, Witter Reynolds in the Acquisition and Private Finance group. She earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BBA from William & Mary. Pieroni serves on the board of the Executive Women’s Roundtable and the Foundation Board for the Mason School of Business. She resides in Dallas, Texas, with her husband. They have two daughters.
The Competitive Advantage – What Women Bring to the Table
Elizabeth A. Hall ’95
Financial Controller, Mars Inc.
Liz Hall is a Certified Public Accountant who graduated from William & Mary in 1995 with a BBA in Accounting. She worked in the audit practice of PwC for ten years mostly in the Washington, D.C., area, but also including a two-year assignment in Paris. Hall left PwC and joined Mars Inc. in 2005. Mars is a family-owned business based in McLean, Virginia with more than a century of history making diverse products and offering services for people and the pets people love. With over $35 billion in sales, the company is a global business that produces some of the world’s best-loved brands.
Since joining Mars in 2005, Hall has held various roles, including financial controller. Hall has extensive experience in accounting and financial reporting, including transactions such as acquisitions, divestitures, and debt issuances. She has developed a global perspective through working and traveling internationally. She is a member of the CFO’s global finance leadership team and contributes to the finance strategy and development of talent in the accounting and finance areas.
Jennifer Thomas Engelhardt M.B.A. ’97
Partner/Principal, Ernst & Young
Jennifer Engelhardt is a partner at Ernst & Young, where she has over 20 years of experience as a leader in business transformation and workforce enablement. Her work has focused on implementing innovative solutions to link the “hard science” of value realization for technology programs to the end user experience at the customer and employee levels. She is passionate about helping clients realize value from their IT investments using leading edge tools such as cognitive-enabled User Adoption Dashboards, Serious Games and social/mobile platforms. She has worked across the globe serving clients in multiple industries including oil and gas, life sciences, financial services, consumer packaged goods, retail, and travel and transportation.
Kathi Parkinson Lentzsch ’77
CEO, Bartell Drugs
A nationally known brand builder with expertise in new business creation, Kathi Lentzsch is currently CEO of Bartell Drugs in Seattle, a 130-year old pharmacy chain focused on quality and service. From start-ups to high-growth organizations like Pottery Barn, World Market and Pier I, she built her reputation as an innovative merchant in the revitalization of passion brands. Whether inventing new retail concepts or taking companies to the next level, Lentzsch has always stood for the marriage of big ideas, superior implementation and, even before it was popular, business transparency. She believes that a communicative and compassionate culture builds a dedicated organization where customers become fans and associates thrive, and considers professional integrity and corporate social responsibility essential. Lentzch graduated with a B.B.A. in business management from William & Mary and furthered her education at the Cox School of Business with a course in leadership training.
Janet McNulty Osborn ’85
Managing Director, Aon Corporation
At W&M, Janet McNulty Osborn majored in economics and was a Pi Phi and a head resident. She has lived in Northern Virginia since graduation, working for ePlus, Sallie Mae and now 19 years at Aon, where she runs the Washington and Baltimore offices. She completed the CFA in 1993 and is starting an M.A. in history. She has two young adult children who love Cheese Shop sandwiches.
Osborn serves on the W&M Alumni Association Board, and has also served on the Muscarelle Museum of Art Foundation Board and the Fund for William & Mary Board of Directors. She was a member of the Washington, D.C. Metro Regional Campaign Committee. She is active in the Economic Club of Washington, has served as the Senior Warden at Christ Church Alexandria and is currently on the Virginia Diocese Trustees of the Funds board.
Osborn says, "I love W&M and am thrilled that a dream of giving back is coming true through the Society of 1918 and an endowment that I have established for emergency financial aid. Go Tribe Women!"
Keynote Lunch
Kathryn Carter '91
Kathy Carter spent the last 25 years building the sport of soccer in the United States and until April 2018 was the President of Soccer United Marketing, the commercial subsidiary of Major League Soccer, of which she was a founding member. Carter and her team were responsible for all development and monetization for some of the premier soccer properties in North America, including MLS, U.S. Soccer, the Mexican National Team and multiple CONCACAF properties.
Change happens in stages and sometimes in frustratingly small increments. What lessons can we learn from Billie Jean King, the Notorious RBG and others that will allow us to see progress as opposed to obstacles? And most importantly, why should Chumbawamba’s Tubthumping be the soundtrack for your life?
Saturday Afternoon Sessions
Making Informed Health Care Decisions across the Lifespan
Rene Roark Bowditch J.D. ’82
Cofounder & Secretary of Board, Here for the Girls, Inc.
Rene Roark Bowditch is cofounder of Here for the Girls, Inc. (www.hereforthegirls.org), a unique not-for-profit women’s health organization that for 12 years has been improving the lives of young women affected by breast cancer through its two not-your-typical support services. Beyond Boobs! provides community-based support systems that connect young survivors in their own localities (in four states) to share information, resources, friendship and hope. Pink Link (www.pinklink.org) provides this same brand of support, but online, nationwide, 24/7, so that understanding, information and encouragement is always here for the girls. She annually co-authors H4TG’s A Calendar to Live By containing an award winning health and wellness guide. Bowditch is also a wife, mother of two grown children, lawyer, former adjunct professor at William & Mary Law School, and frequently appears as her alter ego, the Good Health Fairy, to spread joy and a dose of good health.
Camilla Marie Buchanan ’66, P ’11
Professor, William & Mary
Dr. Camilla Buchanan graduated from William & Mary in 1966 with a B.S. in chemistry. She taught physics and chemistry for seven years before entering medical school. She graduated from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in 1976 and completed her OBGYN residency there in 1980. She had an active OBGYN practice in Williamsburg from July 1980 until December 2012.
She received a Master of Public Health degree in 2007 from Eastern Virginia Medical School. In 2009, she became a Diplomate in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene after study at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
As an adjunct professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences since 2007, she teaches classes in global public health. She travels frequently to Kenya with MAO Kenya to promote women and children’s health at the community level.
She lives in Williamsburg with her wife, Debra Hill, who was the volleyball coach at W&M from 1976 to 2008. They have completed two cross-country trips on their tandem bicycle.
MiQuel L. Davies J.D. '17
Georgetown Women's Law & Public Policy Fellow, National Women's Law Center
MiQuel Davies is a legal fellow at the National Women’s Law Center, where she works on a range of issues to protect and advance reproductive rights and health in order to ensure all people are able to make decisions about their bodies, health, sexuality and families with dignity and economic security. Davies was a 2017 graduate of William & Mary Law School, where she was on the William & Mary Law Review and the co-president of If/When/How. She served as a research assistant exploring the role of amicus briefs in seminal Supreme Court cases. MiQuel has held positions at the National Abortion Federation and NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia. She researched health and social policy in the office of Congressman Jim Matheson and has worked in both Costa Rica and Ghana on projects related to health and development. Davies received her bachelor's degree in social work from the University of Utah.
Amy Sander Herr ’97
Director of Health Policy, West Health Policy Center
Amy Sander Herr '97, MHS, PMP, is the director of health policy for the nonprofit, nonpartisan West Health Policy Center. West Health’s mission is to enable seniors to successfully age in place, with access to high-quality, affordable health and support services that preserve and protect their dignity, quality of life and independence. Herr brings more than 20 years of experience in state and federal health policy analysis, with a focus on long term services and supports. She has extensive experience with Medicaid program policy development and implementation. Herr was previously a managing consultant with The Lewin Group, a health policy analyst for the National Association of State Medicaid Directors, and a legislative assistant in the U.S. Senate. Herr holds a Bachelor of Arts in government from the William & Mary and a Master of Health Science from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Herr is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).®
Amplifying Marginalized Voices
Camilla Lee Hill ’11
Assistant Director: Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, Virginia Commonwealth University
Camilla Hill serves as an assistant director in the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her focus areas are LGBTQIA+ and women’s student services. She received her B.A. in sociology from William & Mary in 2011 where she was a member of the varsity field hockey team and her Masters of Education in college student development and counseling from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2013. Hill's passion for transforming colleges into safer spaces for traditionally underserved students permeates throughout everything she does at VCU. She has created the inaugural LGBTQIA+ living learning community and two leadership empowerment summits for LGBTQIA+ and female-identified students at VCU.
Joanna Xochitl Hernández ’16
CORO Pittsburgh, Fellowship in Public Affairs
Joanna Xochitl Hernández is from Mexico City, Mexico and Harrisonburg, VA. She graduated from William & Mary in 2016 with a double major in Sociology and Hispanic Studies. The combination of majors allowed her to add terminology, research, and perspective to her experiences as a woman of color and empowered her to understand her background on both a personal and structural level. Her junior year she conducted research on the Mexican-American Border through the Hispanic Studies Department, where she studied how language is crafted and weaponized to create both the real and imagined "Frontera." While at William & Mary, she focused on making prospective and new student spaces diverse and inclusive and taught classes as a Group Fitness Instructor.
After graduation, she became a Fellow in Public Affairs for Coro Pittsburgh, an organization which trains the next generation of "change-makers" through multi-sector leadership development. While a Fellow, she assisted in the partnership between the Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Wilkinsburg School District. Joanna has also worked as a Medical Interpreter for James Madison University's Blue Ridge Area Health Education Center (AHEC), helping bridge linguistic and cultural barriers for Spanish-speaking patients and English-speaking medical providers. In December, Joanna returned to Williamsburg to join the Office of Undergraduate Admission as an Assistant Dean of Admission. She works closely with the Multicultural Recruitment Team and leads the Tour Guide Program. More than anything, she is passionate about helping young people, especially women of color, find and channel their shine.
Ruth Jones Nichols ’96
CEO, Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore
Ruth T. Jones Nichols, Ph.D., is an executive leader with over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit, social services sector. Currently, Jones Nichols is the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore. In this role, she is responsible for managing a staff of over 50 employees and a $31 million budget that helps the organization achieve its mission, which is leading the effort to eliminate hunger.
Jones Nichols earned a bachelor’s degree from William & Mary, a master’s degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania and Ph.D. in Social Work from the Catholic University of America. She is a graduate of LEAD Hampton Roads and the CIVIC Leadership Institute, as well as a member of the United Way’s Women United.
Jones Nichols has been honored by Inside Business with a Top 40 Under 40 Award and the Women in Business Achievement Award. She was also featured on the cover of Coastal Virginia Magazine as one of the 10 Leading Ladies in Hampton Roads in 2014.
Alumnae Author Talk & Book Signing: Michelle Gable Bilski '96
Michelle Gable Bilski '96
Bestselling Author
Michelle Gable is the New York Times bestselling author of “A Paris Apartment,” “I'll See You in Paris,” “The Book of Summer,” and “The Summer I Met Jack.” After graduating from William & Mary, Gable enjoyed a 20-year career in finance and now writes full time. She lives in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California, with her husband and two daughters, along with a lazy cat, feisty bunny and newly-adopted rescue dog.
Flourishing in a Relentless World
Kelly Crace
Associate Vice President, Health & Wellness, William & Mary
Dr. Kelly Crace is the associate vice president for health and wellness and the director of the Center for Mindfulness and Authentic Excellence (CMAX). He is a licensed psychologist, the co-author of the Life Values Inventory, and creator of The Life Values Inventory Online, an online mini-course for values clarification and personal development. He has published and presented in the areas of values, flourishing, transition, identity development and organizational development. He has served as the director of two college mental health centers at Duke University and William & Mary. He received his academic and clinical training from Vanderbilt University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University.
