Women in Business, Jobs, Women Entrepreneurs, Women in the News: News On Women

Nancy Quinn Named to Helix Energy Solutions Board

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc (NYSE: HLX), headquartered in Texas, appointed Nancy Quinn to its Board of Directors. Nancy is a Principal of Hanover Capital LLC. See Business Wire press release.

Elisa Steele to Become CMO at Yahoo!

Carol Bartz, the new CEO at Yahoo!, is reorganizing the company's management structure. Elisa Steele (pictured) will become Yahoo's Chief Marketing Officer. Elisa had been Senior Vice President of Corporate Marketing at NetApp Inc. Read more about the reorganization in the article on marketwatch.com.

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Louise Sclafani Made Senior Investment Advisor at Rockefeller & Co

Rockefeller & Co., Inc., a global wealth management firm, appointed Louise Sclafani Senior Investment Advisor. Louise had previously been with J.P. Morgan Private Bank, advising high net worth individuals, trusts and foundations on a broad range of investment matters. Read more in the prnewswire press release.

Lisa Mastrangelo Made CFO at MZinga

Mzinga, the on-demand social software solutions company, appointed Lisa Mastrangelo Chief Financial Office and Senior Vice President of Finance. Lisa, who holds an MBA from Boston University, had been CFO at Centive, Inc. Read more in the Business Wire press release.

Conference on Diversity and the Economy Co-sponsored by the National Council For Research on Women

The impact of the current recession on efforts to promote diversity and the advancement of women and people of color across sectors was at the center of a special panel held during the 12thAnnual Rainbow Push Wall Street Project’s Economic Summit (January 13-15,09). Co-sponsored by the National Council for Research on Women, the panel featured experts from major companies, the private sector and civil society.
 
“In today’s challenging environment, we need to prevent back-peddling on the achievements of the last decade. Diversity in leadership and throughout organizational structures is vital in a competitive global economy and we need to do more, not less, to ensure that these efforts move forward,” said Linda Basch (pictured), President of the National Council for Research on Women.
 
The panel was moderated by Dr. Basch and featured experts from major organizations and companies, including Terri Austin (AIG), Subha Barry (Bank of America/Merrill Lynch), Karen Chouhan (Equanomics UK), Ana Duarte McCarthy (Citi), Gena Lovett (Alexandra Investment Management LLC) and Miriam Muléy (The 85% Niche).
 
Terri Austin, Chief Diversity Officer of AIG, emphasized the importance of reinforcing the business case for diversity and also finding new avenues for promoting a more inclusive workforce and leadership. “I’m fundamentally an optimist. Yes, we all have reductions and budget cuts in advertising and other areas, but we can still pursue innovative activities, push new products and explore low-cost solutions, such as volunteer programs and conducting more direct media outreach,” she said.
 
The major challenge, all agreed, was adapting perspectives and strategies to a changing landscape.
 
Ana Duarte McCarthy, Chief Diversity Officer at Citi stressed the historic continuum of diversity efforts. “While recognizing that we are in the middle of a crisis, we also need to remember that we have weathered these storms before and continue to make progress along the way,” she said.

Latina, Black and Asian women of color represent an estimated one-trillion-dollar consumer segment and a 230-billion-dollar entrepreneurial sector according Miriam Muléy who created her own business, The 85% Niche, in response. “In this economic downturn, businesses that include women of color in their marketing, employee hiring, and supplier engagement efforts will thrive,” she said.
 
In her closing remarks, Linda Basch summarized the key points of the discussion: the economic crisis was a time of restructuring and cost cutting but also of opportunity and a return to basics in which transparency and team-building were essential.

The annual "Making a Difference for Women" Awards Dinner will be held on March 3, 2009 at Cipriani Wall Street, New York. To order tickets: ncrw@cmevents.net. The NCRW Annual Conference 2009 will take place June 10-12 at The Graduate Center, CUNY.

A List of Women Joining Corporate Boards this Week

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), headquartered in Illinois, appointed Cynthia Glassman (pictured) to its Board of Directors. Cynthia was the was Undersecretary for Economic Affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce from 2006 to 2009. See Business Wire press release.

NorthStar Bank, headquartered in Florida, appointed Betty Castor to its Board of Directors. Betty is a former President of the University of South Florida. See prnewswire press release.

PS Business Parks, Inc. (NYSE:PSB), headquartered in California, appointed Jennifer Holden Dunbar to its Board of Directors. Jennifer is Managing Director and Co-Founder of Dunbar Partners, LLC. See Business Wire press release.

ICT GROUP, Inc. (Nasdaq: ICTG), headquartered in Pennsylvania, appointed Eileen Fusco to its Board of Directors. Eileen had been a Senior Partner of Financial Services for Deloitte & Touche (New York). See Business Wire press release.

Chico's FAS. Inc. (NYSE: CHS), headquartered in Florida, appointed Andrea Weiss to its Board of Directors. Andrea, who has extensive experience in specialty retailing, is Chief Executive Officer of Retail Consulting, Inc. Read more about Andrea's career in the prnewswire press release.

RFID Global Solution, Inc., located in Maryland, appointed Diana Hage to its Board of Directors as well as CEO of the company.

Wings WorldQuest 2009 Women of Discovery

Wings WorldQuest, whose mission is to support extraordinary women explorers and to promote scientific exploration and education, announced its 2009 Women of Discovery:

The Humanity Award goes to Aparajita Datta (pictured), who is engaged in long-term monitoring of threatened wildlife with local communities in northeast India. The Sea Award goes to Maya Tolstoy, a marine geophysicist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory who researches mid-ocean ridge earthquakes and their impacts on life forms. The Earth Award goes to Bolortsetseg Minjin, who has been credited with spectacular finds of dinosaur fossils in the Gobi Desert. The Air and Space Award goes to Rosaly Lopes, who has led the NASA teams exploring Jupiter's volcanic moon, Io, and has become a specialist on the hazards from lava flows, traveling to erupting volcanoes all over the globe. The Field Research Award goes to Leela Hazzah, who is a wild life biologist. Read more about these amazing women on wingsworldquest.org.

Monique Hayward Shares Her Expertise and Her Desserts

Monique Hayward, whose corporate experience includes a wide range of marketing, business development, public relations, and communications positions at Intel Corporation and Tektronix, Inc., has shared her expertise with us through mainstream media outlets such as the Denver Post and CNN. Monique is now releasing her first book, "Divas Doing Business: What the Guidebooks Don't Tell You About Being a Woman Entrepreneur". Read more about it in Monique's press release. 

Monique told me of the difficulties of shopping a book proposal in today's economy. Given the recession, publishers are quick to shut the door on first-time authors. Monique decided to bring the book to market herself - a truly entrepreneurial response! Monique also owns and operates Dessert Noir Café & Bar in Beaverton, Oregon (www.dessertnoir.com), which she opened in January 2005.

Catherine Gillis Odelbo Gets New Position at Morningstar

Morningstar, Inc, a provider of independent investment research, announced changes to its organizational structure and appointed Catherine Gillis Odelbo President of Equity Research. Catherine, who holds an MBA from University of Chicago, had previously been Head of the Individual Investor Business at Morningstar. Read more about this and other organizational changes in the prnewswire press release on msn.com.

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Melissa Balenger Made Controller at MasterCard

MasterCard Inc (NYSE: MA) appointed Melissa Ballenger its Controller and Principal Accounting Officer. Melissa had been Senior Vice President, Controller and Principal Accounting Officer of Washington Mutual, Inc. Read more in the prnewswire press release.

Gov Kathleen Sebelius Seen as Leading Candidate Health and Human Services

The New York Times is reporting that Governor Kathleen Sebelius (pictured) is a top contender for the cabinet post of Health and Human Services. I am glad to see a woman as one of the contenders for this important position. Read more in the article on nytimes.com We need more women involved in the many committees and teams being formed to handle all the crisis situations the government is facing. There are so many qualified women who could add great value. Let's start using more of them.

Update on more Government nominations and appointments in February:

Kathleen A. Merrigan, nominated for Deputy Secretary of the Department of Agriculture - Kathleen is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Agriculture, Food and Environment MS and PhD Program at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, Boston MA (White House press release 2/23);  April Boyd, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, Department of Commerce - April had been Chief of Staff to Rep. Ellen Tauscher from California (White House press release 2/23);  Jodi Archambault Gillette, appointed Deputy Associate Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs (WH press release). Jodi served as the North Dakota First American Vote Director for the Obama Campaign for Change. L. Tammy Duckworth, Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, nominated to be the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Department of Veterans Affairs (WH press release). 

White House Staff - Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean, White House Research Director; Daniella Gibbs Leger, Director of Message Events; Christina Reynolds, Director of Media Affairs; Dana E. Singiser, White House Office of Legislative Affairs, Amy Brundage, Regional Communications Director; Cammie Croft, Deputy New Media Director; Katherine Lyons, Deputy Director of Message Events; Moira Mack Muntz, Regional Communications Director; Katie Stanton, Director of Citizen Participation; Joelle Terry, Deputy Director of Message Events; Gannet Tseggai, Regional Communications Director; and Samantha Tubman, Assistant Social Secretary - see their bios in the WH press release.

A List of Top Women in Business Put on Boards this Week

Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC), headquartered in New York, appointed Donna James (pictured) to its Board of Directors. Donna is a Managing Director of Lardon & Associates LLC. Read more about Donna's career in the Business Wire press release.

Clear Standards Inc., headquartered in Washington, appointed Betsy Atkins to its Board of Directors. Betsy, a renowned expert in corporate governance and sustainability, started her career as an Entrepreneur, co-founding several successful companies including Ascend Communications. Read more in the prnewswire press release. 

Colfax Corporation (NYSE: CFX), headquarterd in Virginia, appointed Rhonda Jordan to its Board of Directors. Rhonda is President, Cheese and Dairy for Kraft Foods Inc. See prnewswire press release.

US Dataworks Inc, headquartered in Texas, appointed Anna Cheng Catalano to its Board of directors. Anna is a former Group Vice President, Marketing of BP, PLC. See prnewswire press release.

Leslie Glenn Chesloff Made EVP at ION Media

Ion Media Networks appointed Leslie Glenn Chesloff Executive Vice President, Programming, and she will oversee the development of original content as well as all program acquisitions and scheduling for ION Television. Leslie had been Senior Vice President of Planning, Scheduling and Acquisitions at Lifetime Entertainment Services. Read more in the Business Wire press release.

Meredith Whitney Starts Her Own Firm

Banking analyst Meredith Whitney is leaving Oppenheimer & Co to start her own firm according to a Fortune article by Katie Benner. Her new venture will be called Meredith Whitney LLC. Read more about it in Katie's article.

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Janet Kerr Named to La-Z-Boy Board

La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE: LZB), headquartered in Michigan, appointed Jane Kerr to its Board of Directors. Janet is Professor of Law and Executive Director and Founder of the Geoffrey H. Palmer Center for Entrepreneurship and the Law at Pepperdine University School of Law. Read more in the prnewswire press release.

Margaret Laub Named to IntelliDOT Board

IntelliDOT Corporation, headquartered in California, appointed Margaret Laub to its Board of Directors. Margaret is Chief Executive Officer of Policy Studies Inc in Denver. Read more in the prnewswire press release.

Kimberly Mustin Made Head of Institutional Business for the Americas at Legg Mason

Legg Mason (NYSE: LM) appointed Kimberly Mustin Managing Director, Head of Institutional Business for the Americas. Kimberly had been nine years at Deutsche Bank, where she was most recently Managing Director of the Financial Institutions Group. Read more in the prnewswire press release.

Carolyn Zelnio Made CFO at Purewire

Purewire Inc, a Georgia company, appointed Carolyn Zelnio its Chief Financial Officer. Carolyn had previously held CFO and other executive roles at EnterConnect Inc, Witness Systems, Inc. (acquired by Verint in 2007) and The Alpine Group, Inc. Read more in the Business Wire press release.

Staples Makes Shira Goodman HR EVP

Staples Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLS) appointed Shira Goodman Executive Vice President of Human Resources. Shira, who has been with Staples since 1992, had been Executive Vice President, Marketing for Staples. See Business Wire press release. 

Suzanne Donohoe Made Head of Client and Partner Group at KKR

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) appointed Suzanne Donohoe Managing Director and Global Head of the Client and Partner Group in their Global Capital and Asset Management Group. Suzanne, who holds an MBA from Wharton, had previously been Head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management International (GSAMI), based in London. See Business Wire press release.