Executive Women - Leading the Way

Beverly Anne Bailey is President & CEO of Stronghold Engineering, Inc., a quality driven general contractor with offices in California, Arizona, Hawaii and internationally. Stronghold Engineering currently employs 175 people in the design-build, electrical, general, and civil construction industry. The company continues to demonstrate strength and is expected to post annual sales of $80 million for 2006.

Stronghold is not a typical construction company. Developing a close-knit organization with an ethical and professional culture has always been at the center of Beverly's approach to business. She is highly regarded for her inspiring management approach which includes empowering her workforce in unique and diverse ways.

Beverly is actively involved in philanthropic and industry-related associations, receiving numerous accolades for her efforts. Ernst & Young recognized Beverly as Inland Empire's Entrepreneur of the Year in 2000. That same year, the U.S. Small Business Administration elected Beverly as the Minority Small Business Person of the Year. Stronghold was later ranked in the Top 500 Woman-Owned Companies by Working Women in 2001. The company was also recognized earlier in 2005 by Div2000 as a Top 100 Minority-Owned firm. Beverly served on the National Board of Directors for the Society of American Military Engineers and founded its Small Business Committee. She also serves the Construction Legal Rights Foundation as a Trustee for National Associated Builders, Contractors Business Development Board and is a member of C200.

There is an unprecedented crisis in confidence at both the national and state levels in the fair and independent conduct of elections. We must restore confidence, integrity, and independence in democratic government - and we can start right here in California by electing State Senator Debra Bowen as our next Secretary of State in 2006.

Ever since she was first elected to the State Legislature in 1992, Debra Bowen has been a pioneer in government reform, consumer protection and privacy rights, environmental conservation, and open government. She also is a leading women's advocate, fighting for equality in the workplace and in government, child care, health care and civil rights.

Bowen - as a woman with an incredibly strong record of accomplishment and independence who has been victorious in tough electoral battles in swing districts - is an excellent candidate to be the next California Secretary of State. There isn't even one female constitutional officeholder representing California - and Bowen, based on her record, is a perfect fit for this office.

Bowen has earned attention in the media throughout the state as an effective and independent voice for reform, open government and consumer advocacy. She has declined to accept gifts since taking office, was the first California lawmaker to be accessible through her own state e-mail address (1993), was the first California lawmaker to put up her own government web page (1995), and the first California lawmaker to put her campaign finance reports on the web (August 1995).

Karen Burgess joined the Small Business Administration (SBA) in September 1998 as a Loan Specialist in the Liquidation Loan Center, located at the Santa Ana District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration. In January 2001, she transferred to the SBA Distinct Office and served in the Finance and Outreach Department before joining the 8(a) Business Development Division. She has worked as a Business Development Specialist in the 8(a) Business Development Department for over five years and now serves as the Acting Team Leader for the 8(a) Business Development Department. Her primary role is to assist socially and economically disadvantaged small business owners with an opportunity to sell their products and services to government agencies.

Prior to the SBA, she worked for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) for 11 1/2 years as a Loan Specialist.

She received a Bachelor's of Science degree in Business Management from the University of Redlands, Redlands, California.

Colette Carlson, M.A., travels the country teaching professionals sales, negotiation, and communication strategies to increase their power and influence so they can get what they want! Corporate clients, including Merck, Boeing, Impac and USG benefit from Colette’s 15 years of experience as a former National Sales Trainer for a division of US West and her work experience with professional sales trainers Brian Tracy and Tom Hopkins. As principal of Colette Carlson Communications, she is also a featured author, along with Deepak Chopra, Dr. Lois Frankel and Mark Victor Hansen, in the book Conversations on Success.

Lisa Druxman is the founder and CEO of the fitness franchise Stroller Strides (www.strollerstrides.com). She created the program with her desire to have a career that was supportive of motherhood. After much personal success, she franchised the business so that she could share that opportunity with other women nationwide. The program now has more than 300 locations in over 30 states. Druxman and her program have been featured on The Today Show, CNN and Access Hollywood, and in publications such as Entrepreneur, Woman's Day and more. Stroller Strides was voted one of the top 25 companies in the country to work for by Working Mother magazine because of its support of motherhood.

Druxman is also a nationally recognized speaker and author, and is considered an expert in the field of fitness, particularly pre- and postnatal fitness. Druxman earned her Master's degree at San Diego State University in psychology with an emphasis in exercise adherence and weight control. She created the weight management program, L.E.A.N. Mommy (Learn Eating Awareness and Nutrition), which is the focus of a book she's currently writing that will be published by Time Warner next year.

In addition to running Stroller Strides, Druxman created the Stroller Strides stroller by BOB (www.bobgear.com), and writes and presents regularly on the topics of fitness and motherhood. Due to her commitment to women and motherhood, Druxman has been awarded the prestigious Women Who Mean Business Award by the San Diego Business Journal, was named one of the "Top 40 Under 40" by San Diego Metropolitan Magazine, and was a finalist for the National Association of Women Business Owners' Business Woman of the Year award.

Druxman lives in San Diego with her husband and two young children.

Carol Evans founded Working Mother Media by acquiring, with MCG Capital, Working Mother magazine and the National Association for Female Executives in August 2001. She serves as chief executive officer and president. Evans's involvement with Working Mother goes back to 1979 when she sold advertising for the test issue published by McCall Publishing Company. She stayed at Working Mother for ten years, serving as national sales director, advertising director and then publisher until 1989.

During her ten-year tenure, Evans grew advertising at Working Mother from $100,000 to over $14 million, and helped develop the well-known "Best Companies for Working Mothers" initiative. She was the youngest person named as a vice president of the McCall Publishing Company and, under her direction, Working Mother circulation expanded from 100,000 quarterly to 700,000 monthly. She formed an alliance -still in place today- with KinderCare Learning Centers, the nation's largest day care company, and was the first woman to sit on its board of directors. Evans also created Baby! Magazine in 1983, delivered to 3 million new mothers in hospitals, and managed McCall's Special Interest publications.

In 1989, Arthur Levitt, Jr. hired Evans to run the newly acquired Stagebill Inc. As president, she published 30 program magazines, serving 110 arts organizations nationwide including Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. She grew circulation by more than 45 percent. In 1991, she launched the highly successful Arts Integrated Marketing Sponsorship division. She facilitated the sale of Stagebill to Primedia in 1995.

Evans returned to Working Mother in 2001, following five years as Chief Operating Officer of Chief Executive group, publishers of Chief Executive magazine. She brought Chief Executive to profitability through an integrated platform of advertising, events and custom publishing.

Since acquiring Working Mother Media in August 2001, Evans has announced several new initiatives including "The Best Companies for Women of Color" and the re-launch of Working Mother magazine.

A graduate of SUNY-Empire State, Evans holds the position of 1st Vice President of Advertising Women of New York (AWNY), and she serves on the boards of Young Playwrights and IMAG, the independent magazine division of the Magazine Publishers of America. In 2003, she was named as one of MIN Magazine's "21 Most Intriguing People" in the media industry and received the Women's Venture Fund's Highest Leaf Award, for demonstrating exceptional vision and risk-taking and for having created positive change within their enterprises.

Evans lives in Chappaqua, NY with her husband Bob Coulombe and their two children, Robert (16) and Julia Rose (14).

Dr. Lois Frankel literally wrote the book on coaching people to succeed in businesses large and small around the globe. Her last two books, Nice Girls Don't Get The Corner Office and Nice Girls Don't Get Rich are international bestsellers translated into over twenty-five languages and featured on the TODAY Show, CNN and CNBC, in the New York Times, USA Today, and in PEOPLE and TIME Magazines.

BusinessWeek named Corner Office one of the top ten business books of 2004 and Paramount purchased the rights to both books for major motion pictures. Her next book, SEE JANE LEAD, about why women make natural leaders for our time and how to harness your own leadership talent, will be published by Warner Books in April, 2007.

Combining her experience in human resources at a Fortune 10 oil company with a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Southern California, Dr. Frankel is a pioneer in the field of business coaching.

For the past two decades her unique formula has helped thousands of people to create winning strategies to achieve superior career success and business goals. Her client list reads like a who's who of multinational corporations, including Amgen, British Petroleum, GE, KPMG, Ernst & Young, Procter & Gamble, Warner Bros., The Walt Disney Company and Goldman Sachs to name just a few of the hundreds of companies that have invited her back time and again.

Although she grew up in New York, Dr. Frankel now calls Southern California home.

Carol Frohlinger , Esq. is a co-author of Her Place at the Table: A Woman’s Guide to Negotiating Five Key Challenges to Leadership Success (Jossey-Bass/John Wiley, September 2004). The book examines the challenges women face when they assume leadership positions and how negotiation skills help them to meet those challenges. She is also a co-founder of Negotiating Women, Inc, which provides negotiation and leadership training for women and consulting for organizations.

Ms. Frohlinger has worked with major companies to identify and solve performance management problems. She has conducted focus groups, managed 360° feedback surveys as well as consulting with clients on a broad variety of change management processes. As an instructional designer, Ms. Frohlinger has created, developed and delivered many successful training interventions on topics including leadership, team building, sales and sales management. And, of course, she gives talks about the book, sharing lessons learned from savvy, successful women about negotiation.

Innovative companies with whom Ms. Frohlinger has worked include Accenture, Bank of America, CIT Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers and T. Rowe Price. Her coaching clientele includes executives from a variety of industries including banking, law, public accounting and pharmaceuticals.

A nationally recognized speaker and meeting facilitator, a former commercial banker and practicing attorney, Carol holds a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law.

As CEO of The Nuancing® Group, a brand consulting firm that helps both consumer and business to business companies understand the nuances of naming and branding, Liz brings market-tested examples and ideas to her audience. Consumer and business companies such as Quaker Oats, Times Mirror, Sharp HealthCare, ProFlowers, and MusicMatch count on her to help them stand out from the sea of similarity. For two years, this marketer was the branding columnist for Entrepreneurmagazine, and is now a contributing editor.

Joi Gordon is chief executive officer of Dress for Success Worldwide, a grassroots organization that has provided interview suits, confidence boosts and career development services to more than 300,000 low-income women seeking employment since 1997. In this role at the international headquarters of Dress for Success, which oversees 80 affiliates across the globe, Joi is responsible for the continued growth of the organization’s presence and programming, marketing efforts and fundraising initiatives. In addition, Joi maintains close ties with and supplies resources to all of the Dress for Success affiliates around the world.

Joi brings extensive years of non-profit management to this position. "I am incredibly fortunate to have a job that combines my commitment to public service with my passion for women’s issues," says Joi.

An attorney, prior to her work in the non-profit sector Joi was an assistant district attorney in Bronx County Criminal Court.

Among her professional activities and relationships, Joi serves on the board of directors of Urban Brands, owner of both Ashley Stewart and Marianne nameplates, a leading specialty retailer who targets the fashion-savvy urban, multi-cultural woman, and on the advisory board of a non-profit organization, My Daughter’s Keeper and Westchester Community College Retail Board of Advisors. She also is a member of Leadership America, a national non-profit that explores the challenges of effective leadership annually with 100 women of accomplishments and commitments. One of her most rewarding experiences as a volunteer was serving for two years as Principal for a Day in the New York City Board of Education as part of the PENCIL program.

Having earned her B.A. degree in radio/ television broadcasting, Joi received a juris doctorate from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. In July of 2004 Joi was awarded one of the few scholarships offered to attend the Harvard Business School Strategic Perspectives in Non-Profit Management Program as part of the executive leadership track.

Joi lives in Queens with her husband Errol, where they own and operate a fleet of luxury limousines. Her greatest joys are her two children, Sydney and Nicholas.

Dr. Beth Halbert, known as "Dr. Beth," is a licensed child/teen and family psychologist with a big vision and a compassionate heart.

She combines sound clinical practices and parent/teen coaching with warmth and playfulness to build healthy, individuated, responsible, loving relationships between children/teens and parents. Dr. Beth provides products, services and workshops - including the National Hot Topic Teleconference six-week - Series "Bridging the Parent/Teen Communication Gap and Transforming the Bad Teen Rap" that help individuals and families tap into their potential and greatness.

She is also a speaker, author, educator, facilitator, and singer/songwriter. Dr. Beth holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and a Masters of Education in Human Resource Development. www.drbeth.com

Michele Himmelberg is an award-winning journalist at the Orange County Register. Currently, she is the Workplace Reporter and writes a column about work-life integration and a blog about career development. She covers workplace trends with a particular focus on leadership and women at work. A USC journalism graduate, she has also worked as a business editor and a sports reporter covering the Olympics and professional sports. In 1987, she co-founded the Association for Women in Sports Media, (AWSM) a networking group for women in the sports journalism and public relations fields. She served as AWSM's president and later was recognized with the organization's Pioneer Award. Her writing awards include "Best Sports Story of the Year," from the California Newspaper Publishers' Association, and "Best Sports Column of the Year," Women's Sports Foundation.

Julia Hubbel is a successful entrepreneur, professional speaker, seminar leader and prize-winning journalist who specializes in forging links among culturally diverse communities. Her innovative work in networking has resulted in a unique model for meeting others, and is the basis for her forthcoming book,The Handbook for People Who Hate to Network.

In 1997, Julia created a diverse network of top-level professional women in the Inland Northwest, using her model for establishing relationships. The Hubbel Group became a voice for professional women from all backgrounds and spun off companies, partnerships and lasting friendships. The remarkable story of The Hubbel Group is profiled in the bestselling book Networking Magic, by Guerilla Marketing authors Rick Frishman and Jill Lublin.

She has spent nearly three decades in senior corporate and consulting positions in the areas of training and organizational development in America, Australia and New Zealand. Her clients include Dell Computer, Ernst & Young, Intel, Boston Market, Bank of America, Diversity Business.com, Office Depot, the Business Women’s Network, the National Association of Women Business Owners, the United States Post Office, Business and Professional Women USA, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. She is the president of The Hubbel Group, Inc., a consulting and training firm based in Colorado.

Julia is a fully disabled, decorated Vietnam Era veteran who served as a journalist and television producer-director in the Army, and Chief of Military Protocol for the Jimmy Carter Presidential Inaugural in 1977.

LATINA Style Magazine was the first and currently the most influential national magazine dedicated to the needs and concerns of the contemporary Latina professional working woman and the Latina business owner in the United States. With a national circulation of 150,000 and a readership of over 600,000 LATINA Style is unique in its ability to reach both the seasoned professional and the young Latina entering the workforce for the first time. They are also proud to have created some of the most innovative and respected programs in the Latina community, including: The LATINA Style 50 Report, the LATINA Style Business Series and the National LATINA Symposium. In her role of Director, Ms. De La Garza is vital in the direction of the magazine including editorial content, strategic partnerships, information vehicles and programs.

She is honored to be able to empower the professional and business owning Latina in the United States through LATINA Style Magazine.

As an expert in the field of Women’s empowerment, Youth Voting and the Hispanic community; Veronica has had the unique honor of both covering and being part of news. She has appeared on BBC, Channel One, CNN en Español, CNBC’s Dennis Miller Show, ESPN’s Cold Pizza, Clear Channel, XM Satellite Radio and National Public Radio. She has been featured in articles by the Associated Press, Campaigns and Elections, FoxNews.com, Glamour Magazine, LATINA Magazine, LATINA Style Magazine, MSNBC.com, MTV.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today, and several dozen local newspapers across the country.

Her personal passion of empowering young people to vote served her well as the previous Executive Director of Youth Vote Coalition. Ms. De La Garza directed one of the largest efforts to register and increase the youth vote with the result of a 3.8 million youth voter increase in Elections 2004. She has also trained and encouraged youth political participation in Mexico, Peru, Africa, China, Nicaragua, Israel and Palestine as an expert guest of the U.S. State Department and has been an expert speaker and moderator for conferences across the country; including the U.S. Congress, several Harvard University Conferences and the National Association of Secretaries of States’ meetings.

Marilyn Johnson is Vice President, Market Development for the IBM Corporation, and is based in White Plains, New York. In this capacity, she leads an organization responsible for developing IBM's strategy for and marketing to businesses owned or operated by Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and women. She is an executive with extensive management experience in sales and marketing in the information technology industry. Ms. Johnson's previous IBM positions, with U.S. and worldwide responsibility, include director of financial services sector marketing, director of eBusiness infrastructure, and director of worldwide sales operations. She has held leadership positions in and continues to be a member of the Executive Board of Directors for the National Council of Negro Women, and has served on One World Theater's Board of Directors, IBM's Diversity Campus Executive program, Coalition of 100 Black Women and the Advisory Board to the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

Dianne Legro, Flow Motion Master and leader is an international keynote speaker on growing businesses by growing people. She began her career as an award winning world class singer who has performed on Broadway and world stages like the White House and La Scala Milan. She coaches CEO’s, executives and professionals to achieve their personal excellence using the strategies and methods that brought her to the top. Her somatic coaching helps her clients to quickly attain authentic leadership presence, strong effective voices, and superior communication skills for quantum career leaps and profitable businesses.

NIKI LEONDAKIS
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Committed To Maintaining Company Values Through Geographic Expansion

Niki Leondakis, as chief operating officer for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, oversees all operations, marketing and human resources for the company’s portfolio of 39 hotels and restaurants located nationwide and in Canada.

As a young child, Niki Leondakis often slept in a makeshift bed atop a chopping block in the kitchen of her grandmother’s Massachusetts diner. As an adolescent, she helped her father type performance evaluations for employees of the grocery stores he managed. As a young adult, she studied hotel and restaurant management as well as fine art, at the University of Massachusetts. These are only a few of the early examples that prepared Niki to handle the multiple responsibilities she faces daily in her challenging yet significant role as Chief Operating Officer for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants.

Actively serving on the steering committee and executive committee, Leondakis has been a key player in the development of the Kimpton’s mission and culture statement, leading the growth and expansion of Kimpton’s Hotels and Restaurants in the U.S.

Leondakis’s commitment to maintaining company values and the unique Kimpton culture began in 2003 when she launched the “Diversity Initiative” program for both hotels and restaurants. The Diversity Initiative is committed to creating a culture that acknowledges, understands and accepts values and celebrates differences among people. Leondakis also created the company’s “Mentor Program,” aiding in the growth and development of the young women and men in the restaurant and hotel division. This program has enabled employees to develop skills, discover talents, and build successful careers. In addition, Leondakis furthers the mission of Kimpton University, a training and education program that inspires personal development and growth, by maintaining and constantly evolving the variety of courses and diversity training available to all employees.

In the spring of 2004, Leondakis spearheaded the launch of the Women InTouch program at Kimpton Hotels, designed to meet the specific needs of women travelers. Kimpton’s Women InTouch includes creative packages, unique amenities and strategic partnerships with national women’s organizations. The Kimpton Life Women InTouch website, offers women an online networking and meeting place as well as information on women’s travel packages, spotlights on successful women as well as tips on career, travel and well being. Leondakis played a pivotal role in the partnership with Dress For Success, an international not-for-profit organization that provides interview suits, confidence boosts, and career development assistance to low-income women. Additionally, Leondakis directly oversees the Social Responsibility initiative for the company, Kimpton CARES, which organizes and supports programs at the local and national levels to benefit non-profit organizations focused on women, health, and the environment.

Leondakis’s endless commitment to social responsibility is reflected in Kimpton’s constantly evolving culture aimed at improving the lives of their employees, the community and the world in which we live.

In addition to her many roles and responsibilities at Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Leondakis still has the time to serve on the board of several organizations. She currently serves on the National Board of Directors for the Women’s Foodservice Forum, the National Restaurant Association and the Worldwide Board for Dress for Success, and she heads the founding committee for Dress for Success San Francisco. As a member of the Advisory Board for the University of San Francisco Hospitality Program, Leondakis gives numerous speeches around the country on career development and marketing to women.

Niki began her career as a manager for Marriott Hotels, then joined the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company where she spent eight years working as a Food and Restaurant Director in Marina del Rey, California; Atlanta, Georgia; and San Francisco, California. Niki joined Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants in 1993 as Director of Restaurant Operations. In 2001, she was promoted from Senior Vice President, Restaurants, to Executive Vice President, Hotels and Restaurants. In 2003, she became Chief Operating Officer and has been instrumental in helping to guide Kimpton Hotels’ growth and expansion throughout the United States and Canada.

Rieva Lesonsky brings to her role as editorial director at Entrepreneur Media Inc. a winning combination of expansive high energy and verve, which has served as the basis for the success of numerous brand extensions including the magazines: Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur’s StartUps, Entrepreneur Mexico, and foreign editions in the Philippines, South Africa, Hungary and Russia; the web: Entrepreneur.com, SoyEntrepreneur.com, and Smallbizbooks.com; and book publishing: Entrepreneur Press, Entrepreneur’s eBooks and Business Start-Up Guides.

Each month, millions of established and aspiring entrepreneurs turn to Entrepreneur for the advice, guidance and inspiration generated by Lesonsky and her staff. Under her editorial eye, Entrepreneur Media has become the nation’s leading authority for and about entrepreneurs. Lesonsky wrote the best-selling book Start Your Own Business, currently in its 3rd edition, and has co-authored several other books about starting and growing small businesses.

Lesonsky holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the prestigious journalism program at the University of Missouri, Columbia.

Rosario Marin is the Secretary of State and Consumer Services Agency for the State of California. Secretary Marin was the 41st Treasurer of the United States, serving from 2000-2003.

The entities under the State and Consumer Services Agency are responsible for civil rights enforcement, consumer protection and the licensing of 2.3 million Californians in more than 230 different professions. The Agency also handles procurement of more than $4 billion worth of goods and services, the management and development of state real estate, oversight of two state employee pension funds, collecting state taxes, hiring of state employees, providing information technology services, adopting state building standards and the administration of two state museums. In addition, the Secretary for the State and Consumer Services Agency is the Chair of the California Building Standards Commission and the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board.

Her role as Secretary includes overseeing the Department of General Services. The Department of General Services purchases over $4 billion worth of goods and services annually for the State of California. The Department is also implementing an Executive Order under Governor Schwarzenegger to utilize small businesses and disable veteran business enterprises in contracting. The goal of 25% has been set, and all state agencies, departments, boards and bureaus are reaching out to small businesses to meet this goal.

Nell Merlino is founder, President and CEO of Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence, the leading national not-for-profit provider of on-line business loans and resources for women to grow their micro businesses into $million enterprises.

She is the creative force behind Take Our Daughters to Work Day, which she designed and produced for the Ms. Foundation for Women in 1993. In ten years, over 71 million Americans have participated in the day.

As the driving force behind Count Me In’s goal to getting 1 million women entrepreneurs to a $million in revenue by 2010, Nell has energized and engaged stakeholders in making this vision a reality. In 2005, Count Me In launched the Make Mine a $Million Business™ Program with founding partner OPEN from American Express SM provides money, mentoring and marketing opportunities for women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses to $million. Count Me In is supported by American Express, AIG, Google, MetLife, QVC, Cisco Systems, Intuit along with family foundations and thousands of generous individuals, who are behind women entrepreneurial success. The strategy of moving women from micro to millions builds on Count Me In’s five year experience of helping thousands of women in all 50 states.

For her work on behalf of women and girls, she is recognized in the books, Remarkable Women of the Twentieth Century: 100 Portraits of Achievement and Laws of the Bandit Queens. In April 2004, Nell received the Matrix Award for Achievement from New York Women in Communications. She has also received the Forbes magazine Trailblazer Award in 2000, and was awarded the 1994 Fulbright Award for Outstanding Achievement.

The Wall Street Journal called Andrea Nierenberg a "networking success story." She is a master at helping companies build their businesses by improving employee and client relationships. Andrea's training methods all focus on one principle: take care of your business relationships, and your business will prosper.

With a 25-year sales and marketing background, Andrea heads The Nierenberg Group, a business consulting firm based in New York. Her company works with the world's leading businesses, such as Citigroup, Time Inc., TIAA-CREF, Food Network, Lehman Brothers, Omnicom, Coach, and Tiffany.

Andrea speaks in cross-cultural settings around the globe at internationally-known companies and conferences. Her travels have taken her to 22 countries in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, and to such business hubs as Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, London, Stockholm, Frankfort, and Tel Aviv.

As a respected author and quoted expert, she has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Selling Power, Sales & Marketing Management, Inc. Magazine, The Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, Entrepreneur, and Training & Development. Andrea's wealth of corporate experience makes her a popular expert for television interviews. People recognize her from Bloomberg Business Television, Time-Warner's Fortune Business Report, Fox News Chicago, Wall Street Journal Weekend, and PBS/The Business Channel.

Andrea's book, Nonstop Networking: How To Improve Your Life, Luck and Career, is used by companies as a business development "textbook" and is a top seller at Amazon.com. It has received media coverage across the country and around the world, including Smart Money Magazine, The Toronto Sun, and BBC Radio (London). Her next book, Million Dollar Networking: The Sure Way to Find, Grow and Keep Your Business, will be released in the fall of 2005. Both books are published by Capital Books.

Andrea was honored by Office Depot and the National Association for Female Executives as Business Woman of the Year. She also received a Silver Apple Award from the Direct Marketing Association of New York for her long-time service.

Prior to establishing The Nierenberg Group, Andrea was publisher and sales director of Target Marketing Magazine, and taught Dale Carnegie courses for 14 years. She has taught her business development courses to undergraduate and MBA students at the nation's top educational institutions, including the University of Chicago, Baruch College, and New York University. She is also active in numerous professional associations, including the Financial Women's Association, Executive Club of New York, Advertising Women of New York, and the Direct Marketing Association.

A native of Illinois and a long-time resident of New York City, Andrea graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in Business and Psychology.

Bonnie Nijst is President and CEO of Beverly Hills-based Zeesman Communications, Inc., an award-winning marketing, advertising and design firm that was founded in 1990. Ms. Nijst has more than 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, public relations and communications consulting. Her background includes senior management positions at Medialink Worldwide, MCTV, PR Newswire and Internet Wire (now Market Wire).

As a result of its breadth of experience, finely tuned process and the cross-disciplinary approach of its strategic and creative teams, Zeesman Communications is known for creating and executing marketing programs that engage customers, open doors and help clients meet their business objectives. The company’s extensive capabilities include qualitative market research, marketing strategy and program development, brand identity and design, advertising, direct mail, websites and collateral. Zeesman’s clients have included Pioneer Electronics, Toshiba, Four Seasons Residence Clubs, Walt Disney Company, Rock the Vote, the City of Los Angeles, Griffith Observatory, the University of Southern California, the W.M. Keck Foundation and Goodwill Industries.

In addition to running Zeesman Communications, Ms. Nijst is active in the business community. She is currently president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners and serves as an ex-officio member of the board of directors of the Enterprise Institute, the organization’s non-profit 501(c)3 charitable organization. She is a past president of Women in Communications/Los Angeles and a past Los Angeles board member of the International Association of Business Communicators. She is also a member in good standing of the Women Presidents Organization and the Greater Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.

Sue Parks, CEO, is the primary creative, strategic, marketing and sales leader of WalkStyles, Inc. WalkStyles is an energetic, passionate and values-driven company that creates and sells walking products and services that improve your life through walking. (www.walkstyles.com)

She rose from her early career in sales/marketing positions to her first general management role at Zellerbach, a division of Mead Paper. She was recruited to US West, a major telecom company, where she led several divisions leading to be VP/GM of the $2.6 billion Business and Government group. She was recruited by Gateway, a leading computer manufacturer; to run their Business and Government group which led to her being named Sr. VP of US Markets, the number two position in the company.

Before founding WalkStyles, she was the EVP of Kinkos, having responsibility for all 1100 locations and a variety of centralized services such as marketing, PR, and real estate and more, the number two position in the company.

Walking has been her passion and, after not being able to find the products she desired for her active lifestyle, she started WalkStyles. Sue also has been active in the community, most notably founding the Women's Philanthropy Fund, which now has raised over $4 million since its inception in 2002. She graduated from Iowa State University with a BS in Industrial Administration and has been the recipient of many awards for both her business and community accomplishments.

Mona Lisa Placey is Vice President for Olive Tree Publishing and Founder and Editor at Large for Professional Woman's Magazine, and vice president of California Tax Data, it would be an understatement to say that Mona Lisa Placey wears many hats. And yes that's her real name. Creative thinker, entrepreneur and sales and marketing guru are all monikers used to describe a woman OC Metro named on its list of Orange County Women Making a Difference, ranking her in its Ten Most Influential Women for 1999. More recently, in 2003 and 2006, she was nominated for the Orange County Business Journal's Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award.

Mona Lisa's talent as a visionary and entrepreneur is highlighted by the achievements of her company, Olive Tree Publishing, Inc. Birthed in her sister's home, the company was founded to help provide supplier diversity and equal opportunity jobs within Orange County's business community. Olive Tree Publishing, whose name is symbolic of peace, launched its first publication, the Black EOE Journal in 1991.

Never content to rest on her laurels, Mona Lisa's vision continued to grow, and Olive Tree eventually launched two additional publications, the Hispanic Network Magazine (HN) and the Professional Woman's Magazine (PWM). HN's focus piggybacked on the success of the Black EOE Journal and targeted the professional Hispanic market.

By all accounts, Olive Tree Publishing, Inc is poised for growth. All of its magazines are available nationwide and growing each year.

With three quarterly magazines under her belt, Mona Lisa Placey is more than just a behind-the-scenes publishing guru; she's a role model for young women everywhere who long to think outside the box and pursue a dream.

Lisa Shevy, President & CEO of the Women’s Business Enterprise Council-West, an affiliate organization of WBENC, the nation’s largest third-party certifier of Woman Owned Businesses.

The WBENC certification is recognized and accepted by more than 700 corporations and government entities across the United States and is the premier certification for Women Business Enterprises. WBENC is approaching its 10 year anniversary and offers many benefits to its members.

Under Ms. Shevy’s leadership, WBEC-West has increased its WBE applications by 150% through the states of Arizona, Colorado, Southern California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Hawaii.

Additionally, through focused outreach efforts, Lisa has successfully commenced partnerships with more than 15 organizations such as local NAWBO chapters, Hispanic Chambers’ of Commerce and municipalities to further raise the visibility of Women Business Enterprises, and the importance of the inclusion of diversity within supply chains. Lisa graduated of the ASU School of Nonprofit Leadership and Management and the Tuck-IBM-WBENC program at Dartmouth. She holds a seat on the WBENC National Board of Directors, is a member of the NAWBO-LA Advisory Board.

Maria de Lourdes Sobrino is Founder and CEO of Lulu’s Dessert® Corporation. Established in 1982, Lulu’s Dessert®, is ranked among the largest and fastest growing Hispanic owned businesses in the United States.

Born and raised in Mexico City, Ms. Sobrino’s first business was in the tourism industry with an initial focus on organizing conventions and events. She later expanded her business to a travel agency, which grew so rapidly that she decided to open an office in Los Angeles. In 1982, Ms. Sobrino had to close her Mexican travel business due to the unstable economic conditions in Mexico; however, her entrepreneurial spirit grew stronger and she began to explore other passions and ideas.

Ms. Sobrino came with this great idea of ready-to-eat gelatin when looking for the popular dessert while living in the U.S.A staple in her native Mexico, the concept was new to the U.S. and a novelty when she introduced it to American grocers in California. Ms. Sobrino recognized a need, filled it and revolutionized the food industry by creating the first-ever ready-to-eat gelatin category, based on her own mother’s recipe.

From the initial production of 300 cups of gelatin a day, Lulu’s Dessert® has overcome many challenges and obstacles to become a leading maker of ready-to-eat desserts.

Ms. Sobrino’s leadership also got her recognized and invited to be part of President George W. Bush’s, Economic Forum in Waco, Texas to represent "Small Businesses". She lent her expertise to identify obstacles to increase jobs and economy in America.

Ms. Sobrino’s business, leadership, community efforts and dedication to supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses have won her much recognition by many corporations and the media.

The Schlesinger Library of the Radcliffe Institute for Advance Study at Harvard University honored Maria De Lourdes Sobrino (Lulu) in the National traveling exhibition that reinterprets the History of American Women and American Business. "Enterprising Women, the Businesswomen of America: 1750-2000" 250 years of History of American Women Entrepreneurs. Among 40 intriguing women who helped shape the landscape of American Business such as: Meg Whitman, Madam CJ Walker, Martha Stewart and Oprah Winfrey among others. www.enterprisingwomenexhibit.org

Currently, she is on the advisory board for Latina Style Magazine in Washington DC and NAFIN (Nacional Financiera, an investment bank in Mexico). She also serves as an advisor to Rancho Santiago College Foundation, NAWBO Enterprise Institute, BWN (Business Women Network) in Washington DC, US-Mexico Chamber of Commerce California Chapter, Enterprising Women Magazine and Otra Beer Company. Also she is a member of the Working Families for Wal-Mart (WFWM) steering committee.

She will share her story in her first book "Thriving Latinas Entrepreneurs in the United States" along with interviews with outstanding Latinas and their successful stories - May 2007.

Rayona Sharpnack founded the Institute for Women's Leadership in 1991 an organization renown for its groundbreaking work throughout the United States, Australia, and Canada. Drawing from her successful careers in education, professional sports and business, Rayona has become an inspirational coach and mentor for executives in Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, emerging businesses and non-profit organizations.

Rayona is one of several featured authors for an upcoming book, Enlightened Power: How Women Are Transforming the Practice of Leadership.

More than 5000 professionals have relied on Rayona and the Institute for Women's Leadership to produce breakthrough results both at work and in their personal lives. Her groundbreaking work has earned her an appointment on the Kennedy School, Women's Leadership Board at Harvard.

Dr. Betty C. Spence, Ph.D. became President of The National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) in 2001. From 1994-1999 at Catalyst, a non-profit committed to the advancement of women, Spence served as VP of communications and publications. She wrote Be Your Own Mentor (2001), a book on propelling your own advancement. In addition, she crafted speeches for the president and oversaw the editing and publication of two other books, Advancing Women in Business: Best Practices from the Corporate Leaders (1998) and Creating Women's Networks (1999). Spence cut her PR teeth at Hill and Knowlton in media relations, speech writing, and crisis counseling. Her career also included a stint at Chief Executive magazine and work as a contributing writer to the Los Angeles Times and The Christian Science Monitor. She holds a Ph.D. in English literature and honed her writing skills teaching literature, writing, and film studies at college and high school levels.

Linda Tischler
Senior Writer, Fast Company Magazine

As a senior writer at Fast Company, Linda Tischler writes on a variety of topics, including workplace culture, leadership, innovation, design, and marketing. She has written cover stories on women's careers, masters of design, corporate turnarounds, Al Jazeera, and extreme jobs. Tischler joined Fast Company in June, 2000, as the managing editor of the magazine's award-winning Web site, and oversaw the editorial direction of Fast Company's CEO roundtables, "Fast Talk." In 2006, she won the Society of Professional Journalists’ top award for feature writing for her story, "Join the Circus," on Cirque du Soleil.

Prior to joining Fast Company, Tischler was a managing editor and columnist at the Boston Herald , editor in chief of New England Travel magazine, and senior editor at Boston Magazine, where she originated the New England Design Awards. She has appeared on Bloomberg TV, NPR's "Talk of the Nation," and ABC World News This Morning, and was a guest host of CNNfn's "Flipside."

Tischler received a BA and MA in English and American literature and an MS in journalism from Boston University, and has served on the board of Arts Boston.

Quinn Tran is co-founder and CEO of GlobAll Connect, a technology company focusing on communications and e-commerce solutions. Prior to founding GlobAll Connect, Quinn served as Chief Marketing Officer for Kodak NexPress. Quinn was also co-founder, Vice President and General Manager for Xerox ColorgrafX Systems, where she developed a business from start-up to over $115 million in revenue in less than five years. She grew up in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States in 1975 as part of the first wave of post-war refugees. Quinn is also active in the community and serves as a board member for several nonprofit organizations.

Debra Valle, MCC, is President for Marketing U, Inc., a coaching company and virtual university. She is the author of Selling the Brand when it's YOU!® - a workbook designed to help professionals understand and bring their unique talents to the marketplace.

Valle is a highly-respected national coach engaged by professionals, senior executives, mid-level managers, and entrepreneurs interested in accelerating their leadership skills and business mastery.

As an executive coach and business consultant, her clients count on her as a trusted advisor, sounding board, and brainstorming partner on a range of issues, including: strategic planning and business development, brand development and marketing communication, creating collaborative work environments, time management and organization and improving work/life balance.

Some of her recent corporate clients have included executives from Toyota, Cisco, Southern California Edison, Campbell-Ewald, Bank of the West, Experian, Taco Bell and many more. In the small business sector, she has worked with lawyers, architects and interior designers, dentists, graphic designers, financial planners and asset managers looking to build or expand market presence.

Before her coaching and consulting career, Debra was Vice President of Direct Marketing for McCann Direct, a division of McCann Erickson. Her background includes an 18-year career working in both corporate and agency environments where she was responsible for brand positioning, strategic planning, advertising and direct marketing for companies as diverse as Michigan Opera, Chrysler, Mazda, and Nestle.

Debra is credentialed by the International Coach Federation as a Master Certified Coach and is a graduate of Coach University. She has a BA in Communications from Albion College, is on the leadership team of the Orange County chapter of the ICF, and is affiliated with the National Speakers Association through the Los Angeles Chapter.

Linda Tischler Senior Writer, Fast Company Magazine

Linda Tischler
Senior Writer, Fast Company Magazine