[Past Event] The Challenges & Opportunities of Remote Leading and the Power of Partnerships

Wendy Cai-Lee is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Piermont Bank, a women-founded, entrepreneur-led, technology-fortified commercial bank. Piermont is digitally-enabled and human-delivered, providing an unprecedented banking experience that blends the best of financial services and agile startups.

As a successful entrepreneur and executive, Wendy has 25 years of management and business-building experience in commercial and consumer banking, mergers & acquisitions, and cross-border investment advisory services at Fortune 500 financial organizations as well as start-up companies.

Prior to spearheading the formation of Piermont Bank, she was an Executive Vice President at East West Bank, responsible for its Commercial and Consumer Businesses in the U.S. During her tenure, she was instrumental in helping the bank grow from $22 billion to $36 billion in total assets. She also helped build de novo lending business units in several new industry sectors and in new geographies, including the Greater New York area and Texas.

Prior to East West, Wendy was a Managing Director at Deloitte LLP, where she managed its U.S./China cross-border M&A business. She started her banking career with JP Morgan Chase and held various management positions at both Chase and Citi.

Wendy is a member of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s New York State Committee for the Advancement of Women in Leadership in Financial Services, and leads the FinTech Task Force for the Committee. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Friends of UNFPA (the United Nations Population Fund) since 2007 and served as its chairperson for seven years. She serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board at
Douglass College.

Wendy is a recipient of numerous industry honors, including “50 Most Important People in Commercial Real Estate Finance” by the Mortgage Observer in 2015 and frequently invited to speak at industry forums and media programs including CNBC. Wendy received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Rutgers University.

Kristy Wallace is the CEO of Ellevate Network, and is responsible for executing Ellevate Network’s mission of changing the culture of business from the inside out by providing professional women with a supportive community to lean on and learn from. She directs the Network’s staff, is responsible for business growth and strategy, and works closely with Ellevate’s Chapter Leaders, Business Partners, and Champions to further Ellevate’s impact.

Kristy is host of the Ellevate Podcast: Conversations with Women Changing the Face of Business and is also a regular speaker and thought leader on Leadership, Diversity, Social Entrepreneurship, Networking, and Entrepreneurialism.  Most recently, Kristy was recognized as a Woman of Influence by the New York Business Journal. 

Kristy strives to support women and girls in achieving their dreams. She is an Angel Investor with Pipeline Angels, an organization creating capital for women and non-binary femme social entrepreneurs; a Member of the UN Women Global Innovation Coalition for Change; an Advisor for the 92Y Women in Power Fellowship for Rising Female Leaders; on the Advisory Council for the Villanova University Innovation, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship Institute; Co-Chair of the Leadership Advisory Board for the Girl Scouts of Greater NYC; and a Board Member at Workforce Professionals Training Institute.

Prior to joining Ellevate, Kristy was a founding team member of Zeel.com, where she oversaw operations, business modeling, brand development, partnerships, and fundraising. Prior to Zeel, Kristy served as VP of North America Ad Sales and then GM of International Operations at Vault.com.

Kristy obtained her BA in English/Sociology from Villanova University and began her career as a financial analyst at KeyBank. A passionate runner, reader and world traveler, Kristy lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn with her husband and three wonderful children.

An entrepreneur with a career rooted in the luxury consumer goods industry, Bertha González Nieves has been identified by Forbes as “One of the 50 most powerful women in Mexico”. She has also been named “One of Mexico’s top young businesswomen” by Revista Expansión, Mexico’s leading business magazine. For the last 20 years, her career has been centered on the spirits industry, specifically tequila. During that time, she has been certified as the first female Maestra Tequilera by the Academia Mexicana de Catadores de Tequila, the organization recognized by The Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT). A distinction held only by men in the industry, until now. Los Angeles Times calls González Nieves “The First Lady of Tequila,” Food & Wine and Fortune magazines named her one of “The Most Innovative Women in Food & Drink,” and the Financial Times noted Bertha as “a tough entrepreneur and co-founder of one of the chicest brands in a business rooted firmly in Mexican machismo.”

In 2009, Casa Dragones debuted Tequila Casa Dragones Joven, a rare blend of 100% Blue Agave silver and extra aged tequila, handcrafted with meticulous attention to detail, especially for sipping and pairing with food. In 2014, the producer expanded its collection with Tequila Casa Dragones Blanco, 100% Blue Agave silver tequila crafted to deliver the pure essence of agave, and perfect for enjoying in cocktails or on the rocks. In 2020, Casa Dragones released Tequila Casa Dragones Barrel Blend, its first 100% Blue Agave añejo tequila distinguished by its custom barrel aging process.

Prior to cofounding Casa Dragones, González Nieves spent the last 10 years as a top executive for Jose Cuervo International, the largest tequila company in the world and one of the top ten global spirits. While at the brand, she held senior marketing and commercial positions, including Commercial Director for North America, Global Director of New Business and Innovation and Global Brand Director. Prior to her positions at Jose Cuervo, González Nieves served as a consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton, where she designed and implemented marketing strategies for leading global packaged goods companies.

González Nieves graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Business Administration from Universidad Anahuac in Mexico City and holds a Masters of Science degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from the Medill School of Journalism & J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Among her honors, she received the ‘Arthur E. Tatham Award’ for exceptional performance and outstanding promise in the field of marketing communications.

She currently sits on the board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Latin American Art Initiative, as well as on the Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) Executive Council. Prior, she was a mentor at Endeavor Mexico, a global nonprofit that transforms emerging countries by supporting high-impact entrepreneurs, and in 2018 was awarded the “Pride in Mexico”, for her work in creating a globally-recognized, Mexican luxury brand.  Prior, she served as a Board member of Editorial Mapas in Mexico City and Legal Momentum in New York City, as well as on the marketing committee of El Museo del Barrio in New York City.

For more information about Casa Dragones Co-Founder and CEO Bertha González Nieves, please visit here. For more information on Casa Dragones, please visit this link.

Cate Luzio is the Founder and CEO of Luminary, a global collaboration hub for women who are passionate about professional development and expanding their networks. We are committed to advancing women through community and content. Luminary is the ultimate career advocate and inclusive membership community supporting both individuals and organizations including UBS, WW, JPMorgan Chase, Unilever, Goldman Sachs, Mastercard, Girls Inc., WPP, Blackstone, Verizon and many more corporate members. Every year, Luminary delivers thousands of immersive, professional programs, and experiences to thousands of members.

Cate self-funded and launched Luminary after two decades of leadership in financial services, leading global, multibillion-dollar businesses, and P&Ls. Previously, she was Global Head of Multinational Corporate Banking for HSBC, managing more than 2,000 employees worldwide and prior to that, she served as Head of Multinational Corporate Banking at J.P. Morgan EMEA based in London for 7 years. She spent her early years in Latin America with Bank of America across both consumer and wholesale banking. She started her career working in tech in China. Cate is committed to leveraging her extensive corporate experience to support and encourage women and push for gender equality and pay parity in the workplace. A long-time advocate for empowering women and girls, she serves on the National Board for Girls Inc., sits on the Advisory Board for Pomp & Whimsy, a woman-founded gin brand, and WaterAid.

Cate was named to American Banker’s ‘Most Powerful Women in Banking’ list multiple years in a row, and she’s a three-time Financial Times Global Diversity Champion, and a Yahoo Finance Diversity Hero x2. She was named a Top 100 Female Founder by Inc Magazine in 2019 and has been featured inBloomberg, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, CBS, CNN, WSJ, Forbes, Business Insider, Inc., Entrepreneur, Fast Company, InStyle, Worth, TheStreet, Now This, Women 2.0, Thrive Global, USA Today, New York Post, Bustle, Robb Report, American Banker, Women’s Health, Fortune, Linkedin News, and more. Cate also is contributing writer to Fast Company, Forbes, Business Insider and Worth. She acts as a WE.NYC mentor and was recently announced as University of Maryland’s Entrepreneur of the Year.

Luminary: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook: @BeALuminary 

Cate: @CateLuzio (Instagram) / @KTLuzio (Twitter) 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cluzio/

Website: https://www.luminary-nyc.com/

Juliet currently serves as CEO for media brand Worth, responsible for leading its transformation from a print magazine to a content platform that focuses on ‘Worth beyond Wealth’ and inspires and informs an affluent, influential and successful community of individuals to be their best selves.

Juliet began her career as a management consultant, learning to code at IBM Business Consulting Services, before focusing on business strategy and organizational change, working with clients to solve complex business problems across a variety of sectors through the use of technology.

Her experience in this area took her to a role at Boxwood (now KPMG) where she worked as a senior consultant in strategy and business change, with a focus on the media and technology sector. After working as a consultant with Guardian News & Media on its print to digital strategy, in 2012 she was confirmed in a permanent role to lead strategy and operations for the Guardian Media Group’s commercial division based in London.

Juliet joined the Guardian’s executive committee in 2015 and, as chief delivery officer; was responsible for the strategic implementation of the global three year turnaround plan and subsequent transformation and growth for the Guardian’s US operation, relocating to New York in 2016.

She lives in Westchester with her husband and son, is a keen runner, yogi, and skier.