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

Mary Meeker Becomes Partner at Kleiner Perkins

Kleiner Perkins appointed technology analyst Mary Meeker a partner in their firm. Mary had been Head of the Global Technology Research Team at Morgan Stanley. Read more in the Kleiner Perkins press release.

Siobhan O'Connor and Jessica Branch made Senior Editors at Prevention Magazine

Prevention magazine, the healthy lifestyle magazine published by Rodale Inc, appointed Siobhan O’Connor (pictured) and Jessica Branch to Senior Editor. Siobhan, co-author of the natural health and beauty book No More Dirty Looks, had been Features Editor at GOOD magazine. Jessica, who holds a Ph.D. and M. Phil. in Comparative Literature from Yale University where she has taught, had previously been the Senior News Editor at Good Housekeeping. Read more in the Business Wire press release.

Sarah Gormley Made SVP Communications and Marketing at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE: MSO) appointed Sarah Gormley Senior Vice President, Communications and Marketing. Sarah had been Vice President, Corporate Communications at IMAX Corp. read more in the prnewswire press release.

Heidi Sinclair to lead Weber Shandwick's Global Technology Practice

Weber Shandwick, the public relations firms, appointed Heidi Sinclair President of their Global Technology practice. Heidi had been head of Heidi Sinclair & Co, a marketing communications and philanthropic consulting firm, and before that was the Chief Communications Officer for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Read more in the prnewswire press release.

Daniella Vitale Made Chief Merchant at Barney's New York

Barneys New York, the specialty retailer, appointed Daniella Vitale Chief Merchant and Executive Vice-President, responsible for all of women's and Barneys.com operations. Daniella had been President of the Americas at Gucci. Read more in the prnewswire press release.

Brickfish CEO Nichole Goodyear Wins "Technology Innovator of the Year"

Nichole Goodyear, CEO and Co-Founder of Brickfish, won 2 International Stevie Awards for Women in Business: “Best Entrepreneur – Services Business Under 100 Employees” and “Technology Innovator of the Year.” She also recently won a 2010 San Diego Business Journal “Women Who Mean Business” Award. Nichole has guided Brickfish from an emerging company into a respected social media technology innovator honored with numerous additional awards. Brickfish creates programs for major companies to engage their customers in a new way through social media. Examples of this include their Neiman Marcus “Presents Perfect Challenge“, and their UPS “Send Your heart for the Holidays” Campaign. Nichole shares her experiences with us:

What is the smartest business move you ever made and why?

“As CEO of Brickfish and a serial technology entrepreneur, I’ve been able to take the knowledge and lessons learned from my previous companies and apply those growth strategies. One of the smartest moves I made was to learn the ins and outs of the venture capital industry. During my career I’ve helped build numerous successful VC backed technology companies and many of the early stage companies I worked for were acquired. Brickfish, a cost per engagement social media platform, is my seventh start-up. As a result of my knowledge of venture capital, I’ve been able to successfully guide Brickfish from an emerging social media company to an award winning Social Media Solution.”

What is the biggest challenge your business faces today and what are the various options for solving it?

“In the social media space, one of the biggest challenges Brickfish faces is staying ahead of the curve as a thoughtleader and technology innovator. Five years ago, Brickfish began developing our cost per engagement™ social media platform and filed patents for our Viral Map® and GeoView® campaign tracking technologies. Since then, Brickfish has generated 500 campaigns and 300 million consumer engagements for advertising agencies and Fortune 1000 marketing leaders like Microsoft and Nike. Brickfish has evolved into a social media thought leader, defining innovative new industry standards with the IAB and Social Media Ad Consortium. Our biggest challenge is competition for social media talent as the industry is rapidly evolving and hundreds of millions of dollars are being invested in the race to own the space.”

What is the biggest business mistake you've ever made and what did you learn from it/what do you do differently today as a result?

“With Brickfish as my seventh startup and in its 5th year, I’ve learned a lot over the course of the road as an technology company entrepreneur. A critical lesson I learned occurred when I launched an early stage company called Pacific Fusion without raising venture capital. We built a sound technology, secured new customers and grew the business into a multi-million dollar run rate all on our own money. When the crash happened in 2001 we didn’t have sufficient operating capital to sustain the dip and continue to innovate. It is nearly impossible to scale a technology business without significant outside capital investment. When I launched Brickfish, I raised venture capital after we proved the concept and had traction instead of trying to scale on a shoestring self-funded budget. In addition to the capital if you are lucky enough to get a good board they will mentor, challenge and coach you to the next level of success as well. Brickfish, a cost per engagement social media platform, is fortunate to have a board comprised of industry leaders and investors.”

An advocate for women in technology, Nichole, who holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Computer Information Systems with a minor in Economics from the University of Montana, gives back as a classroom volunteer in math and science programs.

AOL SVP Erin Clift Named "Best Executive" at 2010 Stevie Awards

Erin Clift, Senior Vice President of Global Sales Development of AOL, was named "Best Executive" at this year's Stevie Awards for Women in Business. The Stevie Awards for Women in Business is an international competition that recognizes outstanding women executives, entrepreneurs, and their companies. Read about the other winners in the market wire press release. 

Patti Patton-Bader - A Woman Making A Difference to our Troops on Thanksgiving

Soldiers' Angels, the military support organization, appointed Ann Davidson as Operations Manager. Ann began as a volunteer team leader in 2007 and was hired by the Pasadena office in late 2009. Read more in the prnewswire press release.

Patti Patton-Bader (pictured), a mother of two American soldiers, is another example of "women making a difference", my feature posts for Thanksgiving week. She started Soldiers' Angels when she heard from her son that some soldiers in his unit, which was deployed, did not receive mail and packages like those sent to him by his mother. She gathered up some volunteers and Soldiers' Angels was born and has grown to be a major force suppoting our troops. Read more about it on soldiersangels.org. We thank those in the armed forces who are deployed and who will not be home for Thanksgiving.

Wall Street Journal to Convene Task Force on Women in the Economy in April, 2011

The Wall Street Journal announced it will hold an "Executive Task Force on Women in the Economy" in April of 2011. The Conference will take a "data-driven" approach to the issues facing women in the economy, with McKinsey & Company as the Journal's official research partner. Read more about it in the press release on globenewswire.com.

Kristina Schake Made Communications Director to the First Lady

The Office of the First Lady appointed Kristina Schake Special Assistant to the President and Communications Director to the First Lady. Kristina is a Co-Founder of Griffin|Schake, a California-based public affairs and strategic communications firm, and also served as the senior communications strategist for California First Lady Maria Shriver, the Women’s Conference and the California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities Initiative. Before forming her firm, she was the Director of the Governor’s Summit on Obesity and the Communications Director for First 5 California, which provides education, health care, child care and nutrition programs for the state’s youngest children. Read more in the White House press release.

Catherine Ngo Made Executive Vice President at Central Pacific

Central Pacific Financial Corp. (NYSE: CPF) and its primary subsidiary, Central Pacific Bank (CPB), appointed Catherine Ngo as its Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. Catherine had been General Counsel of Silicon Valley Bank, Chief Operating Officer of Silicon Valley Bank's investment subsidiary, Alliant Partners, and most recently General Partner of venture capital firm Startup Capital Ventures. Read more in the prnewswire press release.

Ever Heard of a "Cakelet"? Amy Eilert Makes them at CupCakeEnvy!

"Cakelets" are the creation of Amy Eilert of CupCakeEnvy.com. Amy, who holds a Bachelor of Music in Classical Performance and is an accomplished pianist, chose to take a break from her teaching and performing because she wanted to spend more time with her two boys, something we can all relate to. When her oldest son started kindergarten, Amy began making treats for classroom parties and celebrations. As the year progressed, so did her whimsical little treats until people started asking her if this is what she did for a living. After a year and half of research and preparation, Amy launched Cupcake Envy LLC, specializing in custom sculpted mini cakes she calls Cakelets. As her portfolio of designs grew, she decided that Cupcake Envy’s little masterpieces would make great gifts for friends and families. Amy’s cakelets designs are created especially for the recipient (check out the cakelet pictured right - so cute!).

 In 2009, Amy began running weekly classes for students looking to learn new and achievable techniques in cupcake and mini cake design. Classes routinely sell out, as there is a huge demand among people in the area who have seen Cupcake Envy’s cakelets and want to learn how to recreate the designs. Cupcake Envy has also launched a  popular line of How To DVD's covering topics like Cupcake Decorating 101, Fondant - A Crash Course, and Sphere Shaped Cakelet Design giving people who cannot make it to a class the same opportunity to learn Amy's style of cupcake and cakelet designs. Amy was featured as a guest judge for the cupcake category in the 2010, That Takes The Cake; Sugar Art and Cake Competition in Austin as well as on The Food Network. Read more about her on cupcakeenvy.com. Something different for Thanksgiving!

Nanea Reeves Made Chief Strategy Officer at Gaikai Inc.

Gaikai Inc., the cloud-based game streaming service, appointed Nanea Reeves Chief Strategy Officer. Nanea had been Senior Vice President/COO Global Online at Electronic Arts. Read more in the Business Wire press release.

Women Making a Difference - Tania Mulry Creates "EdRover", Melissa Gena Joins Board of Directors

EdRover Inc., creator of the location-based mobile application for school fundraising headquartered in California, appointed Melissa Gena and Tania Mulry (pictured) to its Board of Directors. Melissa is Director of Product and Client Services for Ondeego Inc., an enterprise mobile application management provider. Tania is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of EdRover Inc. See Business Wire press release.

Tania is another example of the women making a difference I am featuring this week, as we all think about giving back for Thanksgiving. Tania is a concerned mother of three boys who is worried about school finances. In response to this concern, she developed the edRover application as a solution to help address school fundraising challenges. Listen to what Tania has to say about it:

Wendy Watson Named to Citizens Financial Board of Directors. Other Women Appointed to Boards

Citizens Financial Group, Inc., headquartered in Rhode Island, appointed Wendy A. Watson (pictured) to its Board of Directors. Wendy is a former Executive Vice President, Global Services at State Street Bank & Trust Company. Read more in the Business Wire press release.

Versar, Inc. (NYSE Amex: VSR), headquartered in Virginia, appointed Ruth I. Dreessen to its Board of Directors. Ruth is a Managing Director of Lion Chemical Capital, a Private Equity firm based in Houston, Texas. Read more in the Business Wire press release.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc., headquartered in California, appointed Jane E. Judd to the Company's Board of Directors. Jane was previously Vice President and Corporate Controller of the Titan Corporation. Read more in the Globe Newswire press release on marketwatch.com.

Rebecca Onie - a Woman Who Makes a Difference All Year Long

Thanksgiving is when most people think about helping others. Harvard Law School alum Rebecca Onie does that all year long. She won a MacArthur Fellowship last fall, a half-million-dollar “genius grant”, for her organization  Project HEALTH. Rebecca says the grant makes a big difference as these volunteers try to change the health care system one family at a time.

Deborah Hsu Serianni Made Group Head of Global Consumer Banking at MasterCard

MasterCard Worldwide appointed Deborah Hsu Serianni Group Head of Global Consumer Marketing. Deborah had been Global Vice President of Personal Care, Hair Care and Wellness for Avon Products, Inc. Read more in the Business Wire press release.

Bonnie Hammer and Lauren Zalaznick Get More Responsibilty in NBC Universal Shakeup by Comcast

Comcast announced its new executive team for NBC Universal after its acquisition of the company, with Bonnie Hammer (pictured left) and Lauren Zalaznick (pictured right) gaining more responsibility. Bonnie will become the Chair of the cable entertainment division,  supervising channels USA, SyFy, E Entertainment, G4, Chiller and Sleuth. Lauren will be Chair of NBC Universal entertainment and digital networks, supervising Bravo and Oxygen as well as iVillage. Read more about all the management changes in the article by Bill Carter on nytimes.com.

Barbara Boyarsky Made Vice President and General Manager of American Water Resources

American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE: AWK), the investor-owned U.S. water and wastewater utility company, appointeded Barbara Boyarsky as Vice President and General Manager of its American Water Resources subsidiary. Barbara had been the Director of Marketing for American Water Resources. Read more in the Business Wire press release. 

Beth Mooney Made President and COO of Key Corp and a Member of their Board of Directors

Key Corp (NYSE: KEY), headquartered in Ohio, announced that Chairman of the Board and CEO Henry L. Meyer III, will retire effective May 1, 2011, and will be succeeded by Beth E. Mooney. Beth is currently Vice Chair of KeyCorp and Leader of Key’s Community Banking business. The Board elected Mooney as President and Chief Operating Officer and a member of the KeyCorp Board of Directors. Read more in the prnewswire press release.