Women & Worth Summit 2023

Dan Costa is Chief Content Officer of Worth Media. From 2011 to 2021, he served as Editor-in-Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis. In that time, he ran editorial operations for PCMag.com, AskMen.com, ExtremeTech.com, and Geek.com. During his tenure, PCMag’s audience grew more than 3X and revenues surpassed 5X. He has spoken about technology and innovation around the world and has been a cultural attaché to the U.S. State Department since 2015. During those assignments, he lectured professional and academic audiences in Hong Kong, Oman, Uruguay, Portugal, and Taiwan on AI, 5G, digital privacy, big data, and the broader technology trends that impact business and society.

Currently based in New York City, Eva Crouse is Staff Editor of Worth Media Group. Born and raised in New England, Eva graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor’s in English literature. For Eva, worth comes from the conscious endeavor to create a more inclusive, sustainable, and equitable world for all. She strives toward this definition by highlighting stories on sustainability, gender equality, and social impact.

Currently based in Connecticut, Gabrielle is the Assistant Editor of Worth Media Group. Previously she worked as a Media Relations Manager for a wine-importing company and as a Graduate Assistant for the Bronx Italian American History Initiative. Gabrielle was born in Waccabuc, NY, and grew up between the city, Westchester County, and Connecticut. She graduated from Fordham University with both a bachelor’s in Communications & Culture, and a master’s in Public Media: Strategic Communication. Gabrielle is focused on sustainability, health and wellness, and technology. She will consistently explore how each of these areas intersect in business to help focus on how to create a more equitable and inclusive world.

In November 2022 Sarah Dunn retired as Global Human Resources Officer for Tapestry, a New York-based house of brands that unites the magic of Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman. She was responsible for 16,500 associates in 23 countries, Ms. Dunn focused on unlocking the power of Tapestry’s people to drive its strategic agenda through an engaged, inclusive culture and strong people and career development opportunities. She led Tapestry through Covid-19 and established its hybrid working culture. Prior to joining Tapestry (Coach Inc. at the time) in 2008, Ms. Dunn had spent most of her career in financial information. At Thomson Financial from 2002-2008, she served as Chief Content Officer, and then as Executive Vice President of Human Resources and Organizational Development. From 1986-2002, Ms. Dunn worked for Reuters, first in London, and moving to New York in 1993. She held various positions, including CEO of Lipper Analytics and President of Corporate and Media Division, and she served on the Board of Factiva. Ms. Dunn holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Sciences from University College, London, U.K., and a master’s degree in Information Science from City University, London. She is a board advisor to Windsor Fashions and is the Chair of Renaissance Youth Center, in the Bronx, NY. She lives in Chappaqua, NY with her photographer husband. They have two adult children and one adorable grandchild.

Tamsen Fadal is an award-winning journalist, speaker, author and menopause advocate. She founded Take Flight Productions, a multi-platform media production company dedicated to telling empowering stories that inform and inspire. Tamsen hosts the podcast Coming Up Next which guides women moving through midlife changes, menopause, relationships and new career directions that they may face at this time in their life. She is working on her fourth book.

Jill Faherty Lloyd is Private Wealth Advisor and leader in the women’s wealth space who is on a mission is to help women create agency with their capital. With decades of experience in financial services, Jill joined UBS in 2021 to help female founders and their families navigate successful financial transitions. She does this by providing access to late-stage capital, through UBS’s global reach and family office distribution, M&A advisory, through UBS and their network of boutique investment banks, and by providing in-depth pre-transaction planning and investment management - all of which set women up to become ever more powerful change agents in the world. Prior to joining UBS, Jill was a Managing Director and Financial Advisor at Evercore Wealth Management, where she co-created their women’s wealth platform. She previously worked at Bear Stearns as a Managing Director, Institutional Sales, Credit Lyonnaise Securities as Vice President, Institutional Sales, as well as other finance related positions. Jill’s advocacy for women and their families extends beyond her profession. She is an angel investor, and a venture LP focused on funding diverse management teams. She is a Trustee and Finance Chair for IGNITE, a national movement of young women who are ready and eager to become the next generation of political leaders. She is a member of the Grant-making committee for the CT Community Foundation’s Women and Girls Fund. She is the President Emeritus of ASAP, a creative arts organization where she served as Board President for over nine years. She is an Activator with Coralus (formerly SheEO), a global community of radically generous women working on the world’s to-do list, and she is a member of Highwater Women and 100 Women in Finance.

Sarah Feinberg is the founder of Feinberg Strategies LLC, a strategic communications, public policy and CEO advisory firm. Feinberg founded her firm in 2017, following a career in government and tech. Sarah’s time in government included serving in senior roles on Capitol Hill, in the Obama White House and at the US Department of Transportation. Feinberg most recently served as the President and CEO of New York City Transit – the largest transit agency in North America, home of the iconic NYC Subway, and serving, on average, more than 9 million riders each weekday. Feinberg has also served as the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, the Director of Policy Communications at Facebook, and as Bloomberg LP’s Global Director of Communications and Business Strategy. Feinberg has served on several boards, including the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Amtrak, StoryCorps, the NHP Foundation and 5Boro Institute.

Gloria Feldt is an acclaimed expert on women, power and leadership with frontline leadership experience, a bestselling author and in-demand keynote speaker. She is cofounder and president of Take The Lead, whose mission reflects her life’s passion: to prepare, develop, inspire and propel women to take their fair and equal share of leadership positions across all sectors by 2025 by providing breakthrough training, mentoring and coaching, role modeling and thought leadership. She is the bestselling author of five books. Her latest, Intentioning: Sex, Power, Pandemics and How Women Will Take The Lead launched September 28, 2021, shows how we can seize the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of massive disruption to build back stronger with women at the center of the recovery. Through the lens of women’s stories, it delivers a fresh set of leadership tools, skills, and concepts that help all women reach their own highest intentions, purposefully creating new norms, while guiding institutions to break through the remaining barriers to gender and racial parity for everyone’s good. She is formerly president and CEO of the world’s largest reproductive health and advocacy organization, Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She was named by Vanity Fair one of “America’s Top 200 Women Leaders, Legends and Trailblazers,” Glamour’s “Woman of the Year,” She Knows Media Inspiring Woman, Women’s eNews 21 Leaders for the 21st Century, Women Economic Forum Circle of Light award, Texas Monthly’s Texas 20, Martin Luther King Living the Dream Award, Diversity Leadership Alliance Diversity Leader Award and Forbes 40 Over 40. She teaches “Women, Power and Leadership” at Arizona State University. Feldt has been widely quoted and published, including by the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, The Daily Beast, Forbes, Fast Company, Time, Huffington Post, Glamour, Elle and Ms. She has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, The Today Show, Good Morning America and The Daily Show, and an infinite number of podcasts. Gloria is an awesome chili maker. She and her husband Alex Barbanell live in New York City and Scottsdale, Arizona; they share a combined family of six children and 15 grandchildren. She spends too much time on social media and invites you to connect with her there @GloriaFeldt.

Sarah is a senior finance and operating professional with over 23 years of experience investing in angel- to leveraged buyout-stage companies across a variety of industries. She has held multiple corporate executive, investment and board of director positions assisting companies through growth to turnaround stages of development. Sarah manages SWAT Equity Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm focused exclusively on consumer-branded products and services. The firm invests at the Seed to Series A stages of development and has accumulated 26 portfolio companies since inception in 2017. Sectors of focus include health, wellness and beauty, food and beverage, household products, apparel, and consumer tech. Previously, Sarah spent over two years as CFO of Eleni’s NYC Inc., a manufacturer and marketer of hand-iced and conventional crisp cookies sold through multiple channels of distribution, including wholesale, e-commerce, retail and custom. Prior to joining Eleni’s, Sarah was a Director and Co-Head of Acquisitions for a nascent North American infrastructure fund at Deutsche Bank Asset Management. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Sarah was a Principal at Chartwell Investments, a middle-market private equity fund where she was responsible for originating, executing and monitoring portfolio investments. While at Chartwell Investments, she executed approximately $500 million of transactions across consumer products, consumer services and industrial manufacturing industries. Sarah began her career in Morgan Stanley’s Mergers & Acquisitions department and at Greenhill & Co. She graduated from Northwestern University with a dual BA degree with honors in Mathematical Methods in Social Sciences and Economics.

Heather Hartnett is a General Partner and CEO of Human Ventures, where she has created one of New York’s premier venture studios and early-stage venture funds. Since launching under Heather’s leadership, Human Ventures has invested in and co-built more than 65 companies, with key investments including Current, Headspace, TheSkimm, Tiny Organics, and Tia Health. Heather is active in the venture community, serving on the leadership board of tech: nyc, Transact Global, Trilantic Capital Partners Founder’s Council, Jack Creek Investment Corp, AARP’s Innovation Council, and Summit Impact. She is a member of the Kauffman Fellowship and has been listed in Entrepreneur’s 100 Women of Influence and The 50 Most Influential Women in America by Marie Claire. Heather is a frequent speaker at TechCrunch Disrupt, Fortune Brainstorm Tech, and is a regular contributor to Fast Company and Forbes, where she covers a range of venture capital topics.

Lara serves as President & CEO of NOW Corp, a company she co-founded to free small businesses from the burden of being a free bank to their customers. Lara co-founded Nourish Inc, and introduced its first patented products for children. Lara experienced the challenge of waiting to get paid. Not finding a solution that worked, she launched Now® Corp and created NowAccount®, the first payment system that enables B2B businesses to get paid immediately in a way that feels like taking a credit card for payment (not a loan or factoring) Lara serves as an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Harvard Business School. Lara co-authored “Level Up: Rise Above the Hidden Forces Holding your Business Back,” an award-winning book written with Stacey Abrams and with Heather Cabot, and published by Portfolio Penguin. Lara is an internationally recognized speaker on creativity, innovation and access to capital. Internationally, Lara has worked in Koriyama, Japan with the U.S. Defense Department’s EAGLE Japan Program and served as the Ambassador to Lebanon for the 1996 Olympic Games. Lara received an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and a BS in Aerospace Engineering with highest honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She was featured in USA Today as one of the top 20 students in the US, was the ODK National Leader of the Year and was a scholarship member of Georgia Tech’s Track & Field team. Lara currently serves as a Trustee of the Georgia Tech Foundation and as President of the Board of Atlanta Heights Charter School, which she co-founded. Lara is a member of the Leadership Georgia Class of 2005 and the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2004. Lara was a 2018 Southeast US Finalist for E&Y’s Entrepreneur of the Year and was named one of twelve 2019 E&Y Entrepreneurial Winning Women.

Co-Founder and COO at Womaness, Michelle Jacobs is a strategic development leader with a sweet spot in brand building, leading sales (e-commerce and traditional), branding, partnerships, licensing and logistics. She’s worked across multiple categories from home to health, décor to baby, for both start-ups and established brands. Prior to Womaness Michelle spent a decade with Time Inc., launching and developing the licensing and retail business for Real Simple, Cooking Light and InStyle magazines with mass retail partners including Target, Bed, Bath & Beyond, BJs Wholesale Club and Crate & Barrel. Michelle was then recruited to QVC/HSN to manage the retail rollout for The Joy Mangano brand (inventor of the Miracle Mop and Huggable Hangers).

The Honorable Valerie Jarrett is Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of the Barack Obama Foundation. She is also a Senior Distinguished Fellow at The University of Chicago Law School. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling book Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward, published in April 2019. She serves as Board Chairman of Civic Nation and Co-Chair of The United State of Women. Jarrett also serves on the boards of Walgreens Boot Alliance, Inc., Ralph Lauren Corporation, Lyft, Inc., Sweetgreen, Inc., Ariel Investments, The University of Chicago, Sesame Street Workshop and The Economic Club of Chicago. Jarrett also serves on the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women Advisory Board, the Bank of America Enterprise Executive Development Council, and the Microsoft Advisory Council. Ms. Jarrett was the Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama from 2009-2017, making her the longest serving senior advisor to a president in history. She oversaw the Offices of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs and Chaired the White House Council on Women and Girls. Ms. Jarrett has a background in both the public and private sectors. She served as the Chief Executive Officer of The Habitat Company in Chicago, the Commissioner of Planning and Development for the city of Chicago, Deputy Chief of Staff for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and she practiced law for ten years in the private and public sector. She also previously served as the director of numerous corporate and not-for-profit boards including leadership roles as Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Stock Exchange, Chairman of the University of Chicago Medical Center Board of Trustees, Vice Chairman of the University of Chicago Board of Trustees, Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Chair of Chicago Transit Board. Ms. Jarrett has also received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including TIME’s “100 Most Influential People” Award. Jarrett received her B.A. from Stanford University in 1978 and her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981.

Jenny Just is a visionary powerhouse, and one of the few self-made female billionaires in the United States. From the days of cutting her teeth on the trading floor in Chicago to now running a fintech empire, she has started and/or turned around more than fifteen companies. She has also made hundreds of private investments, including in such companies as Webull, Stash, QuantumScape, and Thrasio. Jenny co-founded PEAK6 in 1997 with $1.5M in seed capital as a proprietary options trading firm and since then has grown it into a multibillion-dollar financial services and technology giant housing the next generation of products & service brands including PEAK6 Capital Management, PEAK6 Strategic Capital, Apex Fintech Solutions, Apex Crypto, PEAK6 InsurTech, Evil Geniuses, and Zogo. With a true knack for unearthing talent and opportunities, Jenny looks for underfunded and underappreciated sectors to transform into high-growth businesses. Her passion specifically lies in finding opportunities for women to succeed at every table — from the classroom, to the conference room, to the poker room, to the boardroom. This passion led her to launch Poker Power in 2020, a woman-led company that teaches poker to all who identify as female, and by extension, teaches women strategic thinking, capital allocation, and decision-making skills. Additionally, Jenny has created programs to help women advance their careers in trading, fintech, and technology. She founded the Women’s Trading Experience and Women’s Technology Experience programs in order to create a path for more women in fintech. Finally, Jenny created Fintech In Action (FIA), a coalition of action-oriented corporations to accelerate progress, innovation, and opportunity in fintech and finance for Black students and professionals. FIA seeks to tangibly increase the pipeline of Black professionals for careers in fintech and finance and affect long-term change through equitable hiring, promotion, and talent retention.

Josh is the CEO of Worth Media Group where he oversees the overall strategic direction of the organization as well as works closely with the management teams of the individual portfolio companies to build scalable products and services. Prior to Worth, Josh served as CEO of Techonomy Media, which was sold to Clarim Holdings in 2018. At Techonomy, Josh spent 8 years driving sustainable business growth through strategic partnerships and new product development. He built Techonomy to be one of the leading media companies covering technology and it’s impact on business and society. Josh holds a MBA from Boston University and a BA from Brandeis University.

Kange is the Vice President of SAP.iO Foundries North and Latin America and Caribbean, SAP’s global network of no-equity ask external startup accelerators. SAP.iO Foundries provide technical and go-to-market support to help startups integrate into SAP’s portfolio and accelerate entry into SAP’s ecosystem to be easily accessed and deployed by SAP customers. In her role she has overseen sourcing for 6 cohorts and has accelerated 38 startups, 66% of which are led by underrepresented individuals. This has resulted in 1 exit and $570M+ raised by the startups collectively.

She has spent her career in enterprise software at SAP and Manhattan Associates focusing on partnerships, acquisitions, go-to-market strategy and consulting.

Kange has a passion for diversity and creating equally distributed access to opportunity. She is an angel investor with Pipeline Angels group, a group of female investors who invest in female founders. She is a mentor for entrepreneurs as a volunteer for Defy Ventures, a non-profit organization that invests in founders who are currently or formerly incarcerated. Kange is also a scout for a VC syndicate. Finally, Kange is the chair of the board of KIPP NYC, a network of 18 public charter schools that focuses on education parity.

Kange has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Michigan and a Master of Business Administration from New York University Stern School of Business. She lives in Brooklyn, New York and loves international travel, cooking, Michael Jackson, dance and theater.

Stacy Kerr is a strategic communications expert with more than two decades of experience as a trusted advisor to CEOs, global executives, and elected officials who have relied on her judgment, perspective, innovative ideas, and strategic insights. She is a partner at Penta, a global public affairs firm where she is a member of the leadership responsible for managing the business. Stacy is a board member of the Trust for the National Mall, where she brings unique perspective having represented a number of high-profile, Washington-based institutions with global footprints. She served as Georgetown University’s chief communications officer, where she was responsible for maintaining and elevating the institution’s iconic, global reputation during a time of increasing complexity and disruption, including the University’s public understanding of and engagement with descendants of slaves who helped build the university; the establishment of the new Big East Athletic Conference; the growth and development within Washington, D.C.;and the university’s campus in Doha, Qatar. Stacy spent 15 years working in national politics, including presidential and Congressional campaigns. She served for a decade as a senior aide to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, playing a role in historic issues and legislation, including the 2008 financial crisis and the Affordable Care Act. Stacy traveled to more than 50 congressional districts and across the world with Speaker Pelosi and Members of Congress. Stacy has appeared as a commentator on MSNBC, the BBC and Bloomberg Television. She regularly hosts the What’s At Stake podcast and offers expertise and commentary on the Macrocast podcast. She earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University and holds an undergraduate degree from Smith College.

Sallie Krawcheck’s professional mission is to help women reach their financial and professional goals (or, put more bluntly, to get more money into the hands of women), thus enabling them to live better lives and unleashing a positive ripple effect for our families, our communities and our economy. To that end, she is the CEO and co-founder of Ellevest, a digital-first, mission-driven investment platform for women. Ellevest is one of the fastest growing digital investment platforms and has been named a #24 on CNBC’s top 50 "Disruptor" list, #14 on LinkedIn’s 50 “Most Sought-After Startups” (and #2 in New York), and one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 100 Brilliant Ideas. Krawcheck is also Chair of the Ellevate Network, a 135K-strong global professional women’s network; she is Chair of the Pax Ellevate Global Women’s Leadership Fund, a fund that invests in the top-rated companies for advancing women; and she is the best-selling author of “Own It: The Power of Women at Work.” Krawcheck, one of few executives to find success in large complex companies and as a startup CEO, is widely recognized as one of the most influential women in business. She has been recognized by Inc . as a “Top Female Founder”, called "The Last Honest Analyst" by Fortune magazine, was named the seventh most powerful woman in the world by Forbes, was #9 on Fast Company's list of the "100 Most Creative People in Business." She has been called one of the top 10 up and coming entrepreneurs to watch by Entrepreneur magazine and has landed on Vanity Fair’s “The 2018 New Establishment List.” Before launching Ellevest, Krawcheck built a successful career on Wall Street: She was the CEO of Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney, US Trust, the Citi Private Bank, and Sanford C. Bernstein. She was also Chief Financial Officer for Citigroup. Prior to that, Krawcheck was a top-ranked research analyst covering the securities industry. Krawcheck received a BA summa cum laude from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA with honors from Columbia Business School. She has two children and two cats.

For more than 25 years, Pam has helped investors make the very most of their money. She founded Wealthramp to ensure every investor can find an advisor with integrity, transparency, and a focus on each client’s best interests – not on their own. She is the creator and co-host of MoneyTrack, seen on more than 250 PBS stations, and the co-host of the popular Friends Talk Money podcast. She’s also the recipient of two Gracie Awards and the 2021 NAPFA Special Achievement award for her work educating the public about the value of fee-only financial advice. Pam is committed to helping the underserved segments succeed in their financial journey. As a big supporter of children's financial literacy, she is also the official spokesperson for the California Jump$tart Coalition, where she created one of their most successful curricula available for K-12 called, Investing Pays Off For Kids.

Elizabeth Layne is the Chief Marketing Officer of Rebag. Prior to Rebag, Elizabeth was the Chief Marketing Officer of London-based retail / real estate startup, Appear Here, where she supervised all marketing and creative functions, as well as launched the business in Paris and New York. Previously, Elizabeth was Marketing Director for one of the US's fastest growing menswear brands, Bonobos, acquired by Walmart in 2017. Elizabeth’s work in retail began while at Harvard Business School when she joined Birchbox to launch their marketing efforts. She began her career as Business Development Manager at the global advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather. She earned her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BA Magna Cum Laude from Brown University.

Shelly Lombard has over 30 years of experience in finance on Wall Street, with expertise in capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and investing in restructurings and turnarounds. She is currently on the boards of Bed Bath & Beyond and Craft 1861, where she is a member of the audit and nominating/governance committees. Shelly also served on the boards of INNOVATE Corp, Spartacus Acquisition Corp, and Alaska Communications, where she was either the chair of or a member of the audit committee. In 2021, she was selected as a Directorship Honoree by the National Association of Corporate Directors. From 2003 to 2010, Shelly was a high yield bond analyst and one of the most frequently quoted automotive analysts on Wall Street, appearing in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and on CNBC. Before that, she invested in and managed proprietary investments for ING Bank, Barclays Bank, Credit Lyonnais, and Chase Manhattan Bank where she helped start the bank debt trading desk. Shelly is one of the general partners of Causeway Investments, a recently launched venture capital secondary fund. And she recently launched Schmooze, a newsletter which features interviews with thought leaders, specifically about women and business relationships – how to better cultivate, nurture, and leverage them

Jim McCann is a successful entrepreneur, business leader, author, media personality and philanthropist whose passion is helping people deliver smiles. Jim’s belief in the universal need for social connections and interaction led to his founding of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc., which he has grown into one of the world’s leading floral and gourmet gifting companies. Jim’s willingness to embrace new technologies that enhance customer engagement, such as 800 phone numbers and e-commerce, often long before other retailers, has consistently kept 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. ahead of the curve and positioned it as a leading innovator in the marketplace. These innovations have played a vital role in strengthening customer engagement, something that has always been a key element of Jim’s business philosophy. Jim’s strategy for growth has included an effective combination of birthing and acquiring new businesses and brands that resonate with customers for their gifting and celebratory occasions. The company’s gift offerings include iconic brands such as Harry & David®, Wolferman’s®, Cheryl’s® Cookies and The Popcorn Factory®, as well as Simply Chocolate®, Personalization Universe® and 1-800-Baskets.com®, among others. Jim is also deeply involved in philanthropy and is especially devoted to helping individuals with developmental disabilities. This includes his continued work as Founder and Chairman of Smile Farms, a 501(c)3 organization established in 2015. Smile Farms provides meaningful jobs in agricultural settings to young adults and adults with developmental disabilities, allowing them to master new skills, experience teamwork, contribute to their community and, importantly, take home a paycheck. As a result, Jim was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Long Island Business News 2019 Corporate Citizenship Awards. In 2018, Jim established Clarim Holdings, a private holding company that expands market opportunities for clients by providing capital along with an extensive network of high-tier support partners. Jim also serves as a director for The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, Amyris and International Game Technology PLC, as well as a variety of private and not-for-profit boards.

Doris oversees M&T Bank’s Wealth Management business, including Wilmington Trust Wealth Advisory Services, Wilmington Advisors @ M&T, and Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors, Inc. She is Chairman and CEO of Wilmington Trust Company and of Wilmington Trust, N.A. She is also Senior Executive Vice President of M&T Bank Corporation and a member of its Management Committee. Doris has four decades of financial and executive management experience. Prior to joining Wilmington Trust in 2016, she served as president of U.S. Markets for BNY Mellon Wealth Management, was Managing Director of the New York office of Bernstein Global Wealth Management, and founded and headed the Private Banking and Investment Group at Merrill Lynch. Doris holds a Master’s degree in Finance and Marketing from The University of Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Smith College. She is on the board of the Museum of the City of New York and is a member of two preeminent women’s organizations: the Committee of 200, where she is the former chair of the Northeast Region;and The Women’s Forum of New York, where she served as president. In addition, she is a member of the Economic Club of New York. Doris and her husband, Gil, reside in New York City and East Hampton, NY with their twin daughters.

Zara Nanu is the Chief Executive Officer of Gapsquare, an award-winning organisation offering employers intuitive pay and people analytics and services for tackling gender, ethnicity, disability and wider pay gap and pay inequity issues. Gapsquare's vision is of a world where work is fair, where pay meets value and diverse talent thrives. Zara is a pay equity expert using tech to help create a fair future of work.

Jacqueline Newman is the managing partner of the matrimonial law firm of Berkman Bottger Newman & Schein LLP in New York City, which is one of the largest matrimonial law firms in New York. Jacqueline’s practice consists of litigation, collaborative law and mediation and negotiating prenuptial agreements. Ms. Newman is the author of the book, “The New Rules of Divorce: Twelve Secrets to Protecting Your Wealth, Health and Happiness” which was published by Simon & Schuster in January 2020. She has appeared as an expert commentator on various television and radio shows and has been quoted as an expert in numerous publications, including Fox’s Business, NBC News, ABC News, CBS News, The New York Times, Woman’s Day, Glamour, the New York Post, Reuters.com, Crain’s New York Business, U.S. News and World Report, Business Insider, Time.com, USA Today, Yahoo Parenting, Woman’s Day, CNBC.com and The Huffington Post. Ms. Newman is an adjunct professor at Cardozo School of Law, teaching Divorce Processes. She previously taught Family Law Practice with Barry Berkman at Fordham University School of Law. Ms. Newman received a certificate in Negotiation Mastery from Harvard Business School Online in 2021. These activities and her reputation for ethical standards and professional ability among her fellow lawyers have earned her the highest rating, AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale Hubbell. From 2019 on, Ms. Newman has been selected as a Family/Matrimonial attorney serving high net-worth clients in New York by Chambers and Partners, a highly respected international lawyer research company. Ms. Newman is honored to be selected for inclusion in Thompson Reuters New York-Metro Super Lawyers Top 50 Women Attorneys since 2013, and Best Lawyers in America since 2016. Since 2022, Ms. Newman was chosen by Super Lawyers as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in New York City.

Laura Nix Gerson is VP of Partnerships for Worth Media Group where she drives strategic partnerships and business development opportunities for the company. Additionally, Laura spearheads community and events for Women & Worth, bringing groundbreaking business leaders, innovative founders and industry experts together to accelerate progress toward a more equitable economy for women. Laura has led both agency and corporate environments, where business development, marketing strategy, community building, audience growth and communications have been key components of her expertise. Laura has a knack for seeing the opportunities in specific introductions and is known for creating strategic partnerships that garner results. Throughout her career, Laura has advised start-ups and entrepreneurs on business growth strategies. An advocate for female founders, she launched FOUNDED, a curated community for female founders focused on strategic introductions, to help founders grow and scale their businesses. She is also the host and producer of the Venture F Podcast, delving into conversations with founders, funders and financial experts discovering solutions for creating greater opportunity, gender equity and wealth for women. As the CEO and Co-Founder of Nix|Gerson Media, a development and production company with a focus on storytelling that celebrates women, she produced The Riveter Stories, and developed four series for television. An expert at content development she has booked hundreds of top-tier speakers for interview series, panel discussions, events and conferences to include four years of the annual SoCal Wellness Summit, The MomFair (career conferences to help moms return to work), the United State of Women, Women's Entrepreneurship Day and numerous events during her tenure at Leader Publishing Group. Via her platform MomAngeles Media, she spent 10 years working with brands in the parenting and women's and maternal health & wellness space. This was a formative time in her career that she credits with a deeper appreciation for the ability of women to innovate, launching businesses that solve challenges women and moms deal with every day. As a writer, she has been a contributor to CBS LA Local, Babble and Modern Mom.

Holly Parker is one of Manhattan's real estate industry powerhouses with well over $10 billion in sales;Holly and her team have won the most coveted New York real estate awards, year after year. She is an avid real estate investor, savvy businesswoman, and strong supporter for women in business. She is the author of Back On the Market: A Realtor's Guide to Love and Life, an executive producer of award winning documentary Anxious Nation, consummate connector of people, world traveler & twin mom.

Ms. Pinelli is a global executive and CEO of Strategic Growth Advisors LLC. She was appointed to the Board of International Game Technologies PLC in January 2022 and is Chair of the Audit Committee. She also currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors and the Audit Committee for Globant S.A., and as a member of the Board of Directors, Chair of the Audit Committee, and a member of the Compensation Committee for Archer Aviation, Inc. From 2020-2022, Ms. Pinelli served as a board director and Chair of the Audit Committee for Clarim Acquisition Corporation. She served in a variety of leadership roles at Ernst & Young (EY) from October 1986 to November 2020, including, Global Vice Chair, Global IPO Leader, Consumer Products and Retail Leader, Technology Leader and Americas Leader of Strategic Growth Markets. In her role as an advisor at EY, she successfully led more than 20 initial public offerings in four different countries and more than 25 merger and acquisition transactions worldwide and testified before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee on the state of the capital markets. A CPA in multiple countries, her experience includes strategic transactions and due diligence advice, Sarbanes-Oxley implementation and stakeholder management. She has served as an advisor to some of the world’s most iconic e-commerce, consumer products, and retail brands. A frequent speaker and commentator on business issues and recipient of several awards, she was recognized as one of the Square Mile's most inspiring Power 100 Women which highlights the talkers, the thinkers, the women of influence in London.

Sarah Puil is the founder and CEO of BOXT, a female-founded and 99% female run Austin startup that's reimagining the way we all enjoy a glass of fine wine at home while setting new standards of environmental and social impact in the wine industry. In just 2 years, Sarah has grown BOXT into an award-winning, direct-to-consumer fine wine experience with 10x growth year over year. The BOXT social good program, BOXT Gives Back, has engaged dozens of cause-based organizations and given back thousands of dollars in its first year. Before creating BOXT, Sarah ran global strategic partnerships for Apollo Education Group and served as senior vice president of product development at Strayer Education. In 2019 she was named Next Coast Ventures’ Entrepreneur in Residence, where BOXT was born.

Recently named one the first 250 entrepreneurs on the Forbes Next 1000 List, Illana Raia is the founder and CEO of Être—a mentorship platform for girls. Believing that mentors matter as early as middle school, Illana brings girls directly into companies they select to meet female leaders face to face. Illana is a member of the International Space Station U.S. National Lab Education Subcommittee and serves on the National Girls’ Collaborative Champions Board. She has appeared on TV, radio and podcasts and speaks on topics including mentorship, leadership and what girls eyeing – and entering – the workforce are thinking. Illana has also authored 60+ articles for HuffPost, Ms. Magazine and Thrive Global, and her award-winning book Être: Girls, Who Do You Want To Be? was released on Day of the Girl 2019. Her next book, The Epic Mentor Guide, arrives on International Women's Day 2022. Prior to launching Être, Illana was a corporate attorney at Skadden Arps and a guest lecturer at Columbia University. She graduated from Smith College and the University of Chicago Law School and lives happily in NYC.

Growing up, Marvina S. Robinson’s love affair with champagne began quite humbly as a college student. She and her friends would often pool their limited funds to purchase a bottle of Moet & Chandon, White Star. They frequented a liquor store on Fulton Street and St. James Place within the neighborhood she was raised. They would do the traditional toast, cheers and proudly sip out of their plastic cups. Although this Bottle of Nostalgia was discontinued, it stoked a love for champagne in Marvina’s heart that would burn brightly until this day. Marvina studied Biology at Norfolk State University where she received her Baccalaureate and went on receive her Master’s in Statistics at Columbia University. Marvina desired her own brand of champagne to serve as a private label at her upcoming champagne bar. To achieve that goal, she worked with a vineyard in France to create B. Stuyvesant Champagne. The brand publicly launched in February 2020 with two signature cuvees. Due to COVID-19, Marvina made the decision to delay the champagne bar and focus on expanding the portfolio of B. Stuyvesant Champagne. The portfolio now consists of eight cuvees in various bottle sizes. Marvina has a zest for life and travels and hopes to bring a taste of home, spice and culture to the Champagne community. She is one of the few African American women owning a Champagne brand. Her love for her hometown, Bedford-Stuyvesant (Brooklyn, NY), inspired the name of her brand, B. Stuyvesant Champagne.

Robyn is the Senior Director of the Gender Diverse Investing Collective being incubated at the Tara Health Foundation. The Gender Diverse Investing Collective builds on evidence showing gender-diverse teams outperform and aims to build a movement to change the face of finance with the goal of having 33% of assets managed by gender-diverse teams by 2033. Robyn began her career on Capitol Hill working as Legislative Director for a Congressman from Chicago who sat on the Appropriations Committee. She left the Hill to work at the United Nations Foundation where she helped lead a multi-million-dollar pooled fund to advocate for international women’s health and rights. While at the UN Foundation, Robyn stood up and led a private sector initiative where she worked with global corporations, from Unilever to Nordstrom, to make time-bound measurable commitments to invest in the health and well-being of women workers in their global supply chains. Robyn also wrote a report about how to reduce maternal mortality and improve health outcomes for low-income women of color in the District of Columbia that was featured in the Washington Post. Robyn holds a Master's of Applied Science in Population Health Management at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University and a Master’s degree in Government from Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Ruth Shaber created the Tara Health Foundation in 2014 after more than two decades working on the frontlines of women’s health care. After founding the Women’s Health Research Institute at Kaiser Permanente, she committed to building a foundation that would apply the principles of evidence-based medicine and science to philanthropy.

Prior to founding Tara Health, Dr. Shaber read Impact Investing: Transforming How We Make Money While Making a Difference for, which inspired her to deploy the full potential of the foundation’s philanthropic capital, committing 100% of its assets to its core mission of identifying and supporting innovative solutions that improve the health and well-being of women and girls. This commitment means all of Tara Health’s investments -- including grants, public equities and private equities -- are aligned with our mission. The foundation is dedicated to furthering the health and well-being of women in the United States.

Rachel Braun Scherl is a seasoned business executive focused on sexual health and reproductive health. As Managing Partner and Co-Founder (1998) of SPARK Solutions for Growth, a strategic and marketing consultancy, Rachel built an international CPG and healthcare client list that includes Johnson & Johnson, Allergan, Pfizer, Merck, Bayer and Church & Dwight, as well as many venture-backed start-ups. With her passion and commitment, Rachel has successfully launched, built and revitalized companies around the globe, based on the belief that sustainable, profitable growth requires focused execution that is built not only on sound strategies, also on continually connecting with customers and partners to drive growth. Rachel’s career-long findings, learnings and recommendations are at the heart of her best-selling book: Orgasmic Leadership: Profiting from the Coming Surge in Women’s Health and Wellness. Orgasmic Leadership provides unique perspectives on leadership and business building, and the money that can be made by capitalizing on market opportunities. It highlights the factors that drive, inspire, and sustain entrepreneurs in the rapidly growing global sexual health and wellness space. As an accomplished speaker, Rachel is featured at leadership and entrepreneurship events at colleges, universities, corporations and conferences, including CES, SXSW, Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, Pennsylvania Conference for Women, Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Duke University, Yale University, among others. Rachel has appeared on ABC News, CBS News and MSNBC, and has been interviewed for major platforms including The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Forbes, and CNN. After graduating Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Duke, Rachel earned an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Capitalizing on her strategic and business growth expertise, she serves on the Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards for companies in sexual and reproductive health. In addition, she serves as a mentor to many female entrepreneurs.

Lisa Shallet is the Co-Founder of Extraordinary Women on Boards, a private membership community for highly accomplished women who are experienced corporate board directors. Representing hundreds of public and private for-profit boards across a wide range of industries and sectors, EWOB members are focused on being excellent directors and making boards better. EWOB provides an innovative and trusted forum to learn peer-to-peer, develop relationships and access additional board opportunities.

Shamina Singh is Founder & President, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and Executive Vice President, Sustainability at Mastercard. For more than 20 years, Shamina Singh has been on the frontline of developing and implementing solutions to make the global economy work for everyone, everywhere. Shamina is the Founder & President of the Center for Inclusive Growth, the social impact hub of Mastercard. She also serves as Executive Vice President of Sustainability and is a member of the company’s Management Committee. Since 2014, she has led the Center with a remit to leverage Mastercard’s data, technology, capital and expertise for social impact. In her role as EVP for Sustainability, she is responsible for the development and implementation of the environmental, social and governance strategy across the company. Shamina has held senior positions in the White House and the U.S. House of Representatives, and she has studied at Harvard, Yale, Stanford and the Indian School of Business. She earned a Bachelor of Science from Old Dominion University and a Master of Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin.

Keith E. Sonderling was confirmed by the U.S. Senate, with a bipartisan vote, to be a Commissioner on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 2020. Until January of 2021, he served as the Commission’s Vice-Chair. His term expires July of 2024. The EEOC is the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person's race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information. Since joining the EEOC, one of Commissioner Sonderling’s highest priorities is ensuring that artificial intelligence and workplace technologies are designed and deployed consistent with long-standing civil rights laws. Commissioner Sonderling has published numerous articles on the benefits and potential harms of using artificial intelligence-based technology in the workplace and speaks globally on these emerging issues. Prior to his confirmation to the EEOC, Commissioner Sonderling served as the Acting and Deputy Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division at the U.S. Department of Labor. Before joining the Department of Labor in 2017, Commissioner Sonderling practiced Labor and Employment law in Florida. Commissioner Sonderling also serves as a Professional Lecturer in the Law at George Washington University Law School, teaching employment discrimination.

Breen Sullivan is the Founder of The Fourth Floor, a Market Network on a mission to close the gender power, wealth, and funding gap by diversifying boardrooms and cap tables. The Fourth Floor matches startups and companies to board-ready women in a trusted, efficient and cost-effective way to disrupt the traditional board search process and overcome systemic barriers that have kept women out of the board candidate pipeline. The Fourth Floor also matches under-represented founders and fund managers with women angels and LPs because women invest differently than men, and that difference will unlock a missed opportunity worth trillions of dollars. The Fourth Floor online community and on-demand talent marketplace includes a Board Seat Exchange, Private Investment Club, Job Board and Membership Community. The Fourth Floor along with approximately 800 ecosystem companies, 1,500+ board-ready women and 100+ women-led funds and investors is breaking the systemic barriers that contribute to the inequities in the startup ecosystem and company boardrooms. Breen is a C-Suite executive with experience in operations, commercial contracting, human resources and employment matters; organization, corporate and deal strategy; Board of Director communications and responsibilities; privacy and risk management; financial matters, and occasionally novel challenges. As a career GC, Breen has worked with startup and high growth companies for over a decade, specializing in technology, SaaS, energy efficiency and data science. Breen and The Fourth Floor have been featured by Forbes, Corporate Counsel Magazine, Law.com, The American Lawyer, Above The Law, Women On The Record Podcast, and Her CEO Journey: The Business Finance Podcast for Women Entrepreneurs. She holds a JD from Tulane, and a BA from Yale University. She has earned certificates and completed coursework at Boalt Hall, Berkeley, Universita Degli Studi di Firenzi, and Humboldt-Universität Zu. Breen also personally invests in startups and enjoys serving as a Board Advisor to startup and growth companies. You can follow Breen and The Fourth Floor on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Alisa Volkman is a serial entrepreneur who has built and sold several digital companies related to her own life phases: Nerve (sex & relationships), acquired by IAC;Nerve Personals/Spring Street Networks (online dating platform), acquired by FriendFinder;and Babble (parenting), acquired by The Walt Disney Company. Her latest venture, The Swell, is a fast-growing community and learning platform that helps people navigate the second half of their lives.

Women & Worth Summit 2023

Speakers