Speakers
Barbara Cheng
Founder, President, and CEO of Executive Core
In her role as president and CEO of Executive Core, Cheng leads a group of 100 professionals whose mission is to more quickly innovate professional development globally. In the last 15 years, Cheng has worked with thousands of high-potential leaders around the globe at critical turning points in their careers, from successful CEOs to emerging leaders whose careers are fast-tracking. Read full bio »
Robyn Clark
Managing Director of the Leadership, Team and Organization and Talent Solutions Practice with BPI group, North America
Clark has over 20 years experience with talent management, strategic human resources and organizational consulting, business development, and coaching experience. She specializes in leader and team development. She joined BPI group in 2008, and currently leads a team of professionals who provide strategy, program development, and implementation services for clients. Read full bio »
Deanie Elsner, '92 (Keynote)
Executive Vice President and President of Beverages for Kraft Foods North America
Elsner joined Kraft Foods in 1992 as an assistant brand manager for the Viscous Category in Glenview, Illinois. Before rising to her current role as executive vice president and president of Beverages for Kraft, she spent more than 20 years serving in a variety of leadership roles in the company. Read full bio »
Michael J. Gibbs, AB '84, AM '84, PhD '89
Clinical Professor of Economics
Gibbs studies the economics of human resources and organizational design. He recently coauthored the second edition of Personnel Economics in Practice. Read full bio »
linda e. ginzel
Clinical Professor of Managerial Psychology
Ginzel specializes in managerial psychology, leadership development, negotiation skills, and organizational behavior. Her other research interests include social cognition and interpersonal perception, management education, and executive development. Read full bio »
james e. schrager, phd '93
Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management
Schrager studies the use of strategy by executives and venture capital partners. He was drawn to research in entrepreneurship by a fascination with extreme success and a desire to better understand how it happens - or not. Read full bio »
Panelists
marianne bertrand (Moderator
Codirector of the Social Enterprise Initiative and Chris P. Dialynas Professor of Economics
Bertrand is an applied microeconomist who has done work on racial and gender discrimination, CEO pay and incentives, the effects of regulation on employment, and household finance, among other topics. Her research in these areas has been published widely. Read full bio »
Laura Born, '91
Chair of the Columbia Acorn Trust Board and Wanger Asset Trust Board
Born’s business experience is based on almost 20 years working in various Wall Street positions, including 16 years with JP Morgan Chase & Co as an investment banker. She is an adjunct assistant professor of finance at Chicago Booth. Read full bio »
Carolyn Braff, Full-Time MBA Student
Co-Chair of the Marketing Group and the Media, Entertainment & Sports Group at Chicago Booth
Braff began her career as a sports writer in New York, covering college football for CBS Sports, then writing about the business and technology behind sports broadcasting for a sports technology trade association. She spent the summer after her first year at Booth working as a brand management intern at Gatorade in Chicago. Read full bio »
Anita brick, AB '77, '81 (moderator)
Director of Career Advancement Programs at Chicago Booth
In a career of more than two decades that has spanned corporate, entrepreneurial, and academic sectors, Brick has demonstrated accomplishments in consulting, executive coaching, public speaking, writing, and video production to audiences worldwide. Read full bio »
pauline cantin, '08
Vice President of Prudential Annuity Distributors at Prudential Financial, Inc.
Cantin has enjoyed a 21-year career at Prudential Financial. She currently holds the position of vice president, Prudential Annuity Distributors, and is accountable for the sales and distribution of annuity products for one of the largest regions in the country. Her clients include Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, UBS, and Wells Fargo Advisors. Read full bio »
kate coleman, MBA '78, MLA '98
Senior Vice President and CMO at YMCA of the USA
Coleman joined the YMCA of the USA (Y-USA) in 2007. As SVP and chief strategy and marketing officer, she leads the Marketing Communications Department, the Planning and Project Management Office, and the Strategic Initiatives Fund. Read full bio »
martina v. dimova-martinez, '08
Manager of New Business Initiatives at Cars.com
Dimova-Martinez currently holds the role of manager of new business initiatives at Cars.com, a position she has held since April 2012. In her role, she primarily focuses on exploring emerging business opportunities for the company Read full bio »
jan anne dubin, '94 (XP-63)
Principal at Jan Anne Dubin Consulting
With more than 28 years of experience advising senior management of law firms, consulting firms, and other businesses, Dubin is a pioneer in the field of professional services firm marketing and communications with particular expertise in the areas of revenue generation through effective business development and client service strategies. Read full bio »
Liz Kammel, Weekend MBA Student
CEO and Cofounder of ZipFit.me
Kammel came up with the idea for ZipFit.me, a company that uses a predictive algorithm to help match a man to a perfect fit of jeans, while carpooling to and from Chicago Booth with seven male classmates. Kammel knows fit and math, so she's responsible for the methodology behind ZipFit.me and the strategic direction of the company. Read full bio »
maria kim, '12 (xp-81)
Chief Operating Officer of The Cara Program
After 13 years in the insurance industry (with her last position leading the technology division for a $400 million insurance firm), Kim joined The Cara Program - a social purpose organization helping men and women affected by homelessness and poverty to secure and sustain quality employment - in 2005. Read full bio »
Suzanne Martin, '95
CMO of Revenew
As CMO of Revenew, Martin is responsible for leading marketing, product, and business strategy for this dynamic Chicago-based cloud software start-up. Revenew is on the cutting edge of social business and is the leading cloud-based marketing network for the consumer electronics industry. Read full bio »
Daphne Mazarakis, '99
Founder of Tula Foods, Inc.
Mazarakis has gained consumer marketing knowledge during her eight years with Kraft Foods, where she managed several of their flagship brands including Kraft Singles, Kraft Salad Dressings, and Velveeta. She also worked in global markets where she led new product development initiatives. Read full bio »
Toya Mitchell, '12 (XP-81)
Director of New Media Solutions for SymphonyIRI Group
Mitchell's work in reaching multicultural as well as general-market consumers has led to innovative media connections that delivered quantifiable, incremental growth for her clients. She has developed plans for several top Fortune 500 companies including P&G, Sears, Ford, Volkswagen, Comedy Central, Exxon/Mobil, and American Airlines, to name a few.
Adrienne Nazon, '12 (XP-81)
Senior Director of Marketing at Chicago Booth
In addition to being the operational lead for the marketing function and the lead for all strategic initiatives at Chicago Booth, Nazon is responsible for leading a team of marketers who consult on go-to-market strategies, management of user experiences, and overall brand management across the enterprise. Read full bio »
Ellen A. Rudnick, '73 (Moderator)
Executive Director of the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship
Rudnick spent 25 years in business management and entrepreneurial activities, primarily in the health care and information services industries, prior to joining the Chicago Booth faculty. During this time, she was president and CEO of Healthcare Knowledge Resources, president of HCIA, chairman of Pacific Biometrics, and corporate vice president of Baxter Healthcare Corporation. Read full bio »
Jamie L. Russo, ’04
Owner of Enerspace, LLC
Russo’s passion is health and wellness, particularly helping people create a lifestyle that enables them to excel at their business endeavors and achieve superior mental and physical wellness. Through her start-up, Enerspace, Russo is shaping people’s ability to choose a working environment that fosters optimal well-being. Read full bio »
Andrea Sreshta, Full-Time MBA student
Cofounder of LuminAID Lab
Shresta is a second-year student in the Full-Time MBA Program and cofounder of LuminAID Lab, a company dedicated to innovative technology solutions for humanitarian aid, which won the 2012 Social New Venture Challenge.
valerie j. van meter, '04 (xp-73)
Senior Vice President and CFO for the Seventh Federal Reserve District
In her current role as senior vice president and CFO, Van Meter leads the central bank services division for the Seventh Federal Reserve District, which includes discount window lending, payments system risk, reserve accounting, and statistical and financial reporting. The seventh district comprises five states, including Illinois, and is among the most populous of the nation’s 12 reserve bank districts. Read full bio »
jenniffer weigel (moderator)
Columnist for the Chicago Tribune and Regular Contributor for WGN TV, WGN Radio, and CLTV
Weigel is an Emmy Award-winning broadcaster from Chicago. Her career started in radio, where she cohosted her own radio show for WLS-AM and WGN-AM. Read full bio »
joyce winnecke, '05 (Xp-74)
Vice President and Associate Editor at the Chicago Tribune
As vice president and associate editor at the Chicago Tribune, Winnecke leads a product developmental team, serving as chief liaison between the newsroom and the advertising and marketing groups. She works on new business ideas for media and journalism, directing strategic initiatives to increase audience and profitability through innovation, organizational design, and content development across all platforms.
