Marjorie Alfus,
Johnnie Booker, Adelia
C.Chung,
Shanell S. Davis,
Tammy D. Baker-Dickerson,
Jacqueline Gish,
Kim Goedde,
Vicki Gordon,
Donna Hegdahl,
Betty Y. Jang,
Konikaye Jeschke,
Christine King,
Jean Lacefield,
Marla Letizia,
Judi Sheppard Missett and Shanna Missett Nelson,
Rebecca Olsen,
Ann Tardy, Lisa
J. Whaley, Celeste Wooten
MARJORIE ALFUS
A woman ahead of her time, Ms. Marjorie Alfus,
President of Alfus Family, L.P., could be the poster child for women
determined to ‘have it all.’ Alfus, Chair of the Board of Directors of The
Center for Women’s Business Research, was determined to have a family and
career more than fifty years ago when she received her Master of Science
Degree in biochemistry at the age of eighteen from Ohio State University.
Following a stint as a fellow in Pediatrics at
New York University’s Bellevue Hospital, Alfus moved to writing popular
science articles, to an editorship at McGraw-Hill, and to producing science
shows for local television. She then took up a career in local television
producing women’s daytime Fashion & Beauty Shows with both WNBC and WABC in
New York.
In 1951, she quit TV to get married, and joined
her husband in running his leather sportswear business which led to her
interest in creating a high fashion knitwear operation in Italy when apparel
importing was in its infancy. Her first factory in the mountains north of
Venice consisted of two machines in a loft where, she says, she learned three
important rules of business: "How to drink (Grappa) and speak Italian; How to
stay warm, ‘it’s always colder when you are struggling,’ and the knit business
the hard way."
Generally credited for introducing knitwear
fashions made in Italy to major U.S. specialty retailers, by 1968 her $5
million business consisted of four factories and two boutiques in Rome
capitalizing on the tourist trade. In the 1960s, Alfus attended night
school and earned her law degree from New York University, an effort, she
says, "to escape" the business life she promised her father she would never
pursue. After graduating, she sold her business.
Starting in 1969, Alfus served as general
counsel and reporting head of Kmart’s Foreign Department for twenty years. She
then convinced the company to start its own in-house manufacturing division.
As President of that wholly owned subsidiary, she traveled to every corner of
the globe setting up plants and related businesses. The division would add
more than $5 billion to Kmart’s operations.
Alfus’ family and work life attest to her
strong family ethic. She has been active with American Friends of Hebrew
University and was instrumental in establishing their Kmart Center for
International Retailing and Marketing. She is a member of the Foreign
Trade Committees of the American Import/Export Association and the National
Retail Merchants Association and the Industry Sectoral Advisory Committee, a
division of the International Trade Administration. A member of the
American, New York State and New York Women’s Bar Associations, she serves on
the Board of Directors of Servico, Inc.
Alfus is active in buying land and developing
both commercial and residential real estate. She has owned a highly
successful children’s day camp, several hotels, a .com venture, and actively
manages her family partnership investments in public and private equity
ventures.
She is still blazing new paths. As a board
member of the Committee of 200 (C200) Foundation, Alfus created the Marjorie
Alfus/C200 Initiative with Harvard Business School to produce case studies
featuring women as the protagonists – truly a landmark endeavor to highlight
the accomplishments of women business owners throughout the country.
"One of the things I recognize is my
responsibility to be a role model for the younger generations of women," said
Alfus. "My goal is that our data increasingly impacts the growth in the
numbers, power, clout, and impact of women business owners in all facets of
our economy and society."
JOHNNIE B. BOOKER
Ms. Johnnie B. Booker joined The Coca-Cola
Company in April 200l as Director of Supplier Diversity where she is
responsible for developing and implementing the Company’s U. S. based supplier
diversity program and initiatives to assure contracting opportunities for
minority and women owned businesses. Booker got down to business immediately:
during her first year with the Company, contracts with minority and women
owned businesses increased over the prior year by 50 percent, and exceeded the
company’s goal by 27 percent. In addition, under her leadership the Company
exceeded its 2002 and 2003 goals.
Immediately prior to joining The Coca-Cola
Company, Booker worked as a consultant to a number of national agencies and
corporations, helping them develop supplier and employment diversity
initiatives and programs. She also served in the federal government at the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as Director of the Office of
Equal Opportunity, and Vice President of the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC).
In this role, she created unprecedented contracting and investor opportunities
for minority and women owned businesses and law firms. She commissioned the
first disparity study by a federal agency, and increased contracting fees for
minority and women owned businesses from 18 percent to over 48 percent.
Before the RTC, Booker served as Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity with the U. S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development. While there, she established a
new office of affirmative action and equal opportunity and successfully
revamped the Department’s fragmented approach to discrimination complaint
processing and affirmative employment programs. She also served in management
capacities with the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the National Urban
League.
Johnnie Booker received a Masters of Social
Work Degree from the Atlanta University School of Social Work, and a Bachelor
of Science Degree from Hampton University. She serves on the boards of the
National Minority Development Council, Women’s Business Enterprise National
Council, US Pan-Asian Chamber of Commerce, Atlanta Business League, DC
Chartered Health Plan, and the Fair Housing Advisory Board for the Aspen
Publishing Group.
Despite the demands of her career, Booker
devotes her time to serving her community where she is affiliated with Delta
Sigma Theta Sorority, The Links, Inc., NAACP, Urban League, National Black
Child Development and Big Bethel A.M.E. Church. She has received numerous
honors and awards for her outstanding professional contributions and
accomplishments.
Ms. Booker is the mother of an adult son, S.
Courtney Booker, III.
ADELIA C. CHUNG
As recently as the late 1970’s, men comprised
more than 90% of the life insurance and financial-services industry. For
the first time in its 77-year history, the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT),
the premier international association of financial professionals, selected a
woman as its president – Ms. Adelia C. Chung, CLU/ChFC – a 22-year veteran in
the industry.
Chung’s strong work ethic and passion for the
business began long before she ever sold her first policy. A native of
Honolulu, Chung was raised in what she calls an "insurance family" and learned
much about hard work, life and life insurance from her father, 26-year MDRT
member Tai Yau Chung, CLU, ChFC. "I grew up hearing about the
life insurance business and the Million Dollar Round Table from my dad. He
taught me to work hard and to stay focused on whatever I was doing."
Her success in the industry is a far cry from
practicing law – what Chung originally perceived as her calling. While on a
break from law school in 1981, Chung began to sell life insurance part time,
working in a West Coast Life Insurance Company agency in which her father was
the general agent.
A quick study, Chung began by servicing orphan
policyholders, though she had no formal training selling life insurance, by
shadowing veteran agents and doing joint work with them. She was a natural. In
fact, Chung did so well that she qualified for MDRT membership during her
first five months in the business (August through December 1981).
Her immediate success, coupled with her
enjoyment of the business, caused Chung to reassess her life’s calling.
Although her father encouraged her to finish law school, she was eager to
prove that she could be successful in the life insurance business. After much
thought, Chung decided to quit law school and to enter the insurance business
full time. And, she has never looked back.
Chung has always been involved in activities
that help others. However, the greatest impact she and her husband, Stephen
Dung, made in the lives of their community stemmed from personal tragedy. In
1996 their 1-year-old daughter, the late Alana, was diagnosed with leukemia.
Chung and her husband worked tirelessly to find a bone marrow donor for their
precious child. Due to their efforts, more than 30,000 individuals registered,
making the Hawaii registry one of the largest bone marrow donor programs in
the United States.
As a result of their experience, Chung and her
husband became impassioned about the need to support research efforts and
co-founded the Alana Dung Research Foundation. Its mission is to give
financial support to worthy research organizations and individuals throughout
the world for clinical studies and research directed at improving the quality
of life for sick children. The foundation has provided grants to fund research
at the Hawaii Cord Blood Bank, Hawaii Children’s Cancer Foundation, University
of Hawaii Medical School, Kapiolani Health Foundation and the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center (Seattle, Washington).
Chung and her father operate Chung Insurance
and Investment Group. While most of her approximately 2,000 clients reside in
Hawaii and California, she also is licensed in Illinois and Oklahoma, as a
result of clients moving to those states.
Ms. Chung and her husband have two children,
Spencer and Erin.
JEWEL W. DANIELS
Utilizing a gift for cooking or vast
understanding of financial markets may plant the seeds for starting a
business. But, understanding how to grow and maintain a company is often some
of the primary entrepreneurial challenges that business owners face. Ms. Jewel
W Daniels, former journalist turned entrepreneur wanted to encourage existing
and future business owners. She decided to share her personal trials as well
as those faced by her colleagues in a motivational book – The Enterprising
Entrepreneur, 10 Powerful Life Lessons for Achieving Business Success (www.enterprisingentrepreneur.com).
"It can not be said enough that
entrepreneurship is not for the faint at heart," Daniels said. "Business
ownership is an evolutionary process that challenges your mental, spiritual,
emotional and most certainly, your financial fortitude."
Daniels became interested in starting a
business while a student at Hampton University. She homed her skills while
working in public relations in New York, attended graduate school in Seoul,
Korea and then found herself living in Hinesville, Georgia as a military
spouse.
After some years spent as a journalist, Daniels
decided to launch a consulting firm that specializes in creating strategic
alliances and marketing programs for small and minority-owned companies. Six
months later, her path to success would be curtailed by a pending divorce that
would have her facing some of her darkest days.
"I took some tough hits but learned some
valuable lessons about managing my personal life which eventually became tools
for navigating through peaks and valleys of my professional career," she said.
"That is the most important part of being successful…learning the lessons that
empower you to achieve greatness."
Those who know Jewel Daniels say that she is
truly dedicated to empowering the minority community and that she is not
reticent when it comes to talking about what it takes to achieve success.
"I wrote this book to offer a realistic account
of what people might face when getting into business and to encourage
entrepreneurs to take stock of what they bring to the table to make their
goals come to fruition," she said. "For me, it is important to bring value not
just to one’s own life, but to those who are supportive along the journey."
SHANELL S. DAVIS, CFCM, MA
Ms. Shanell S. Davis founded Davis Consulting,
Inc. (DCI), a thriving minority-owned enterprise, which specializes in helping
small businesses do business with the Federal government and providing
advisory and assistance services to federal agencies.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Agency
for International Development, U.S. Capitol Police and the General Services
Administration are among the agencies that have engaged DCI’s services.
A Certified Federal Contracts
Manager (CFCM) who holds a Master of Arts degree in Procurement and
Acquisitions Management; a Master of Business Administration degree as well as
a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and Counseling, the 27-year-old
Davis is an example of how intelligence, drive, and determination can help
overcome any obstacle. She has excelled in succeeded at managing a thriving
business despite a lack of mentoring, a teenage pregnancy, and having grown up
in adverse conditions – her mother was addicted to drugs and her father was
incarcerated.
Before founding Davis
Consulting, Inc., Davis spent the majority of her professional career in
Federal Acquisitions Management where she gained valuable experience as a
Senior Acquisition Consultant. She also supported and managed multi-million
dollar contracts in the private sector. Her focus is on helping businesses
succeed in obtaining Federal Government business through strategic marketing,
sound proposal preparation, and demonstrating a professional image in all
aspects.
Davis donates time and money to improving the
lives of the individuals living in the Washington, DC metropolitan community.
She serves as mentor a 16-year-old deaf high school student as well as a young
lady who is drying to get off the welfare rolls. She also is a member of the
Thursday Network and a supporter of Martha’s Table – an outreach program to
help feed and clothe the hungry and homeless.
TAMMY D. BAKER-DICKERSON
Ms. Tammy D. Baker-Dickerson is an event
specialist and founder of The Baker Group (www.tbakergroup.net).
Before launching TBG, Baker-Dickerson enjoyed over thirteen successful years
with The Coca-Cola Company (three as a Project Manager) and Xerox Corporation.
Her vast experience in Marketing and Event / Project management allowed her to
excel in this field and enjoy her enthusiasm for excellence.
While at The Coca-Cola Company, Baker-Dickerson
worked on various high profile national events including the 1996 and 1998
Super Bowl projects and the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay in Los Angeles. She also
oversaw the 2000 new marketing and media launch rally for Coke’s flagship
brand Coca-Cola classic (500 guests). Baker-Dickerson is proud to say
Coca-Cola is now one of TBG's corporate clients.
She resigned from Coca-Cola to pursue her
passion for entrepreneurship. Her first event under The Baker Group –
The Inner City Economic Summit hosted by Operation HOPE, Inc. featured the
Honorable Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States as the special
guest speaker. This high profile event gave her an opportunity to fully launch
her company and gain extraordinary experience in this competitive industry.
Baker-Dickerson prides herself on
professionalism, attention to detail, and delivering a high level of customer
service to each client. She has built her business on relationships and
strives to ensure every client is a "repeat" one. Developing long-term
partnerships that meet and exceed expectations…every time.
She is a graduate of The Anderson School at
UCLA Management Development for Entrepreneurs Program (MDE) and a certified
Women and Minority Business Enterprise supplier (WMBE).
Committed to community service,
Baker-Dickerson is an active member of several organizations including:
National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO-LA) Board of Directors,
Meeting Planners International (MPI), Southern California Regional Purchasing
Council, National Association of Black Meeting Planners, The New Leaders (TNL)
and National Black MBA Association.
JACQUELINE GISH
Widely recognized for significant contributions
to the development of high-energy lasers during her 27-year career at Northrop
Grumman Corporation, Jacqueline Gish, director of directed energy technology
and products for the company's Space Technology sector, is the first woman to
be elected a Fellow of the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS).
"As a result of Jackie Gish's many
accomplishments, Northrop Grumman lasers have achieved a reputation for power
and beam quality performance that has greatly enhanced the credibility of the
directed-energy community and provided the basis for the solid-state laser
development underway today," said Tom Romesser,
the sector’s vice president of technology
development.
"Over the past quarter century, Jackie has made
significant contributions to the directed-energy community through her
personal technical contributions to the field of high-energy laser technology
development at Northrop Grumman," Romesser added.
Gish has led company research efforts in
chemical physics, chemical oxygen iodine lasers (COIL), and solid-state
lasers. Her most significant technical achievements are in the COIL and
solid-state laser areas. For example, in the 1980s she led a team that
demonstrated the highest power supersonic COIL
and her U.S. Air Force-sponsored program demonstrated the first basic
hydrogen-peroxide flow during lasing.
She holds three patents and has authored 38
publications and presentations. She earned a bachelor's degree from the
University of California, Los Angeles; a doctorate from the California
Institute of Technology; and a master's of business administration from the
University of Southern California..
A member of DEPS' Board of Science and
Engineering Advisors Gish is solid evidence that women can indeed excel in the
field of science.
KIM GOEDDE
Charity founder Kim Goedde hasn’t had it easy.
It has been almost five years since she founded The Look for Success, a Miami
based, national charity. The Look for Success (www.thelookforsuccess.org)
helps women and youth, with its makeover programs and unlimited peer
support. Estee Lauder donates all products for the charity and.
Goedde wants others to believe in themselves
and to realize their goals and dreams are within reach.
A single mother of two, and former welfare
recipient, Goedde she says she felt the stigma and shame that the word
‘welfare’ denotes. She has jumped many hurdles to get to her success with The
Look for Success.
Pregnant when she moved from Michigan to Miami,
Florida, Goedde was determined to finish college. She persevered and received
her Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Florida International
University.
"I thought my life had finally taken a
direction when it went from bad to worse. Student loans were due, child
support came to a halt and I was forced to apply for welfare. I was put in the
welfare to work program. I complained that the jobs didn't pay enough and I
wanted a job in entertainment so I was referred to Jeff Rosenberg to help me
with my resume. I had always wanted to do charity work but thought later in
life when I was successful and could afford to I would go back to this idea."
Mentored by Rosenberg, Goedde formed The
Look for Success, a charity/501c3 non-profit organization in 1999. The Fay
Parkin Foundation provided the organization’s first grant and the Estee Lauder
Companies continue to support the work by
donating all the make-up for the makeovers and
women/clients. Neutrogena supports the organization in Los Angeles.
Her mother Karlene Goedde launched The Look for
Success Michigan office four years ago focusing on women suffering from
domestic violence, the elderly and women diagnosed with cancer and cancer
survivors.
To date The Look for Success has helped over
8000 women and teens in Miami, Michigan and Los Angeles.
VICKI GORDON
Ms. Vicki Gordon is senior vice president,
corporate affairs, for the Americas division of InterContinental Hotels Group
PLC of the United Kingdom, the world’s most global hotel company.
Gordon is responsible for administrative and
communications functions including: public relations and corporate
communications; corporate services; community affairs; government relations;
meetings/conferences; and business continuity planning.
She joined InterContinental Hotels Group in
1989 as regional director of field marketing. Since then she has held
positions of increasing responsibility within the company, including
leadership roles in consumer marketing, new product development, brand
management and environmental programs. A 25-plus year veteran of the
hospitality industry, Gordon has also held operations and management positions
with Ramada and Sheraton.
Gordon is chairman of the board of the
Southeast Chapter for the U.S. Fund for UNICEF in Atlanta, Ga. The mission of
the U.S. Fund for UNICEF is to promote the survival, protection and
development of all children worldwide through fundraising, advocacy and
education. Key priority areas for the organization include girls' education,
immunization against preventable diseases such as measles, tetanus and polio
and the prevention of HIV/AIDS.
"Vicki Gordon's invaluable leadership skills
along with her commitment to our work to ensure health, education, equality
and protection for every child, is a tremendous addition to the board of our
Southeast Chapter and the organization as a whole," said Charles J. Lyons,
president of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. "With more than 25 years in the
hospitality industry, Vicki has the proven ability to rally people through
corporate services, government relations and community affairs and will
inspire others to work toward providing a better future for every child."
"Vicki Gordon and the InterContinental Hotels
Group team have already made an amazing difference in the lives of children
around the world," said Barron Segar, director, US Fund for UNICEF, Southeast
Regional Chapter. "Vicki's leadership and passion for UNICEF's life-saving
work and efforts to raise awareness for the HIV/AIDS program has had
tremendous impact both regionally and nationally."
In May 2004, Gordon visited Peru in support of
UNICEF programs instituted to educate mothers and children regarding the
life-saving benefits of proper nutrition. In Peru, more than 10 percent of
infants suffer from low birth weight due to lack of proper nutrition.
Gordon is a member of the board of P.A.L.S.
(Pets Are Loving Support), RRA (Resources & Residential Alternatives), the
Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the Women’s Leadership Council of the United
Way, and the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. She is also active with
the U.S. Travel Business Roundtable, The MultiCultural Food Service and
Hospitality Alliance, and the American Hotel & Lodging Association.
DONNA HEGDAHL
Ms. Donna Hegdahl is founder, chief executive
officer and corporate visionary of The TransSynergy Group, a certified
woman-owned sales and marketing services company business based in Dallas. The
TransSynergy Group helps entrepreneurs and companies sell and market their
companies, products and services. Hegdahl and her team of 20-plus employees
serve companies of all sizes with strategic consulting, marketing program
development, customer recruitment and retention programs, public relations,
media relations, and customized seminars and workshops.
Hegdahl founded the company in 1995 to fill the
void between "the great idea" and "transforming the idea into success and
profitability." Using her novel back-to-the-basics approach – "Position It,
Tell It, Offer It, Sell It, Retain It" – Hegdahl provides a successful
marketing formula that delivers results. Her expertise includes all aspects of
strategic and tactical marketing and communications, primarily with technology
companies.
Prior to founding TransSynergy (www.transsynergy.com),
Hegdahl served as vice president at Micronyx, a Richardson, Texas, software
company, and at Comtrol, a hardware manufacturer in Minnesota. Key to
Hegdahl's corporate success is her "network to navigate the needs of others"
approach.
She is active with professional organizations
such as The CEO Network, Women's Business Council -Southwest, Women
Presidents’ Organization (WPO), Metroplex Technology Business Council, Fort
Worth Chamber of Commerce, and the Consulting Alliance. She serves on the
Advisory Boards of the International Association of Microsoft Certified
Partners and the Dallas Social Venture Partners.
Ms. Hegdahl also provides pro-bono services to
The Wilkinson Center, a non-profit ministry in Dallas that serves the homeless
and unemployed. She earned a bachelor's degree from Bethel College. During her
spare time, Donna trains for marathons and heads to the lake.
BETTY Y. JANG
Ms. Betty Y. Jang, an associate in the
Champaign, Illinois office of national law firm Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, is
the kind of attorney that makes one ashamed of telling lawyer jokes. "Betty
defines the perfect role model for our firm as well as the local and national
legal communities," said Cheryl Wilke, Chair of the firm’s national Worker’s
Compensation Defense practice group. "An attorney simply can’t be more
committed to the practice of law than Betty. She represents the type of
attorney that Hinshaw strives so hard to promote through its educational and
diversity initiatives. Betty has distinguished herself by her significant
contributions to the Association, the profession, and the community. We are
all so proud."
Jang concentrates her legal practice on
representing employers before state and local administrative agencies, as well
as in state and federal courts, on a wide variety of issues facing employers.
She advises employers on negligent hiring, retaliatory discharge and
termination of employees.
She provides invaluable counsel to her clients
in lost wage disputes and the interconnection between employment issues, such
as FMLA, ADA and retaliatory discharge, with risk management issues, such as
workers’ compensation claims. Jang has given numerous presentations on topics
including negligent hiring, new Illinois Employment Laws and reducing the
costs of workers’ compensation claims.
In addition to her impressive legal work at
Hinshaw, Jang is recognized for her commitment to teaching three courses as an
adjunct professor at the University of Illinois, College of Law, in the Trial
Advocacy Program. As a member of the faculty, she has the opportunity to
mentor young lawyers, law students, and undergraduate students.
Professionally active, Jang is a member of the
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and American Bar Association.
She has been repeatedly appointed to serve on the Women and Minority Standing
Participation Committee of the Illinois State Bar Association. She volunteers
as chairperson of the Public Service Committee for the East Central Illinois
Women Attorneys Association. As chairperson, she created a mock trial workshop
to highlight careers in the law for children and sponsored a summer toy drive
to benefit children residing at a local shelter. She provides pro bono legal
services in dissolution of marriage proceedings and was the chairperson of the
Champaign County Bar Association Pro Bono Committee for the past two years.
Jang contributes to the advancement of the
legal profession by volunteering her time to legal and civic organizations.
She is a guest lecturer in the Political Science undergraduate program at the
University of Illinois and discusses the judicial system. She also has
been a keynote speaker several times to various student organizations on the
model minority myth and the law. Currently, she is helping plan a three-day
symposium which will focus on Asian Americans and the roles they play in their
relationship to the law and legal systems. She has also served on the Board of
a local mentoring program and raised funds for the United Way.
Respected by her peers, Jang received the
Illinois State Bar Association’s (ISBA) Young Lawyer of the Year
award (outside Cook County) in 2004 – an honor based on achievements in the
practice of law, including outstanding litigation, zealous advocacy, or
counseling and advancements to the legal profession, along with other
contributions to the advancement of the Bar of Illinois, such as public
service, community service and pro bono activities.
KONIKAYE JESCHKE
Ms. KoniKaye Jeschke never planned to be the
CEO of a successful IT consultancy. As a child, she dreamed of playing
the cello for a living, a dream that was made possible by attending
prestigious Julliard. Through her musical studies and a period playing in the
Utah and St. Paul Symphony orchestras, Jeschke came to realize that music was
her passion but not necessarily her living.
Jeschke changed career paths and worked for
almost two decades as a computer programmer, analyst, COO and CEO at various
IT consultancies. Through these experiences, she came to believe that
there was a better way to run an IT consultancy.
She wanted to hire full time consultants, treat
them like employees, and invest money in their career development. Her
goal was to do things right the first time and ensure that IT projects would
serve true business purposes. In 1996, Jeschke, along with her husband,
Jerry, formed Upstream Solutions, an IT consultancy that placed a project
manager in between business and technology. This was one of the
differences that Jeschke had dreamed about injecting into IT consultancy
firms.
Recently Jeschke re-branded her company "myC.R.O.
Solutions." She was named one of Finance & Commerce Magazine’s
2004 Innovators of the Year for the development of the myC.R.O. model, a
breakthrough IT security risk measurement tool that measures companies’ risk
on a scale of 0 (no risk) to 100 (maximum risk).
Jeschke is now taking another risk by changing
the model of her company. She is searching for $2 Million in Venture
Capital to make the myC.R.O. model accessible to companies that desire to
model "what if" IT risk scenarios. She likens this "what if" tool to MS
Excel, which allows financials to be modeled via software – prior to being
executed.
With funding, Jeschke believes that
myC.R.O. Solutions (www.myCROSolutions.com)
could develop IT risk modeling and measurement services and software for the
next generation.
CHRISTINE KING
Ms. Christine King was a hippie who fell in
love with an idealist, got married young and had children right out of high
school. Unfortunately, her husband left her and overnight, she became a single
mother struggling to raise two children with no job and no money.
She turned to welfare assistance for help in
raising her children – a position King decided she never wanted to be in
again, leading her to go to college. She worked her way through school and
earned a degree in engineering. She went on to work for IBM and during her
25-year career in semiconductors, got beyond the glass ceiling to become VP of
IBM's microelectronics division.
In August of 2001 King was selected by the AMIS
board as the person to take on the job of president and CEO of the company –
the first female CEO of a semiconductor company. When she joined AMIS, the
company was more than 30 years old with a healthy product family and strong
customer ties in its targeted end-markets, but she envisioned a company that
could be more. King made the decision, along with the board, that AMIS was a
company that deserved to be public. So, she took the company public in a
highly successful IPO on the NASDAQ in September 2003, and it is currently
trading at $16.00.
King has continued her strategy of growth
through M&A with the acquisition of Dspfactory in September 2004. Her message
is that AMIS provides solutions for the real world, like medical devices that
help enhance and save consumer lives or various parts of an automobile that
make consumer lives easier and safer. She believes that the acquisition of
Dspfactory will make AMIS the leading provider of mixed-signal ASICs for the
medical market and provide a new wealth of innovation that will take the
company’s product line to the cutting-edge of implantable medical devices.
Following on the heels of the acquisition,
Chris King and her management team organized and announced a new company
business unit devoted to medical and wireless technology. This effort was made
to further demonstrate AMI Semiconductor’s commitment to medical technology
and spawn a platform for new product offerings to address low-power design
needs for medical customers.
In total, King has lead AMIS through three
acquisitions during her tenure including: Dspfactory, the Micro Power Products
Division of Microsemi Corporation and the Mixed Signal Division of Alcatel
Microelectronics. All of these acquisitions were made in an effort to make
AMIS the mixed-signal powerhouse in semiconductors and add specific
capabilities to strengthen the company’s focus on its target end-markets.
As evidenced, King has been through many
personal struggles to get to where she is today. She has accomplished this
with tremendous grace and style. At the end of the day, you will not find
Chris King sneaking off early or looking at her stock portfolio. She will be
walking the halls of AMIS, meeting with engineers or management staff,
constantly working to build upon AMI Semiconductor’s already outstanding
success.
King is a devoted mother to two young adults
and a wife truly in love with her engineer husband. She has a passion for her
ranch and her horses. In her spare time, she looks after her two parents and
spends as much time as she can with them between her business and personal
commitments. She is a strong supporter and contributor to United Way, leading
AMIS to be the largest annual contributor to the United Way of Southeastern
Idaho. She has also spoken at various women's organizational conferences.
In sum, King is a true inspiration to all
people, but especially women. She is respected and admired because she sets a
goal and works until she has met it.
JEAN LACEFIELD
Ms. Jean is currently Manager
of Supplier Diversity for Frito-Lay North America, Frito-Lay North America,
the $11 Billion, number one snack company in the world. Frito-Lay is the snack
division of $27 Billion PepsiCo, which also includes Pepsi-Cola, Quaker Foods,
Gatorade and Tropicana.
Lacefield is responsible for
promoting the growth of minority and women-owned business advocacy throughout
Frito-Lay and across the PepsiCo organization for both Point of Sale category
and Packaging Film and Bottle Labels. Frito-Lay’s Supplier Diversity
initiative ended 2004 with expenditures of $284 millions a growth of 12% over
prior year.
She promotes internal and
external activities that foster relationships with minority and women-owned
businesses. Internally, her position requires routine interaction with all
levels of management for the establishment and review of strategic plans. In
addition, she externally has regular contact with suppliers, local and
national Chambers, minority and women bsiness organizations and community
groups.
Lacefield has received several
awards for her efforts in the minority business community, such as Frito-Lay’s
prestigious Jim H. O’Neal Advocate Award, YWCA’s Corporate Women’s
Achievement Award, Frito-Lay Advocate of the Year by the
Engineering Department as well as being recognized by Minority Business
NewsUSA in a featured article "Women Who Mean Business". She currently is
a member of Frito-Lay’s Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee, Greater
Asian Chamber of Commerce Advisory Board, the Planning Committee of the Plano
Chamber of Commerce for MEDWEEK, member of the Board of Directors for Plano
Chamber of Commerce and DFW Minority Business Council Supplier Diversity
Professional committee.
Lacefield joined Frito-Lay in
1995 with many years of procurement experience, as a Manager of Engineering
Procurement for Corporate Engineering and progressed to Manager of E-Commerce
Integration in the Strategic Sourcing Department to her present position.
She has a Bachelor of Science
degree in Business Administration from Tennessee State University and resides
in Dallas, Texas where she enjoys listening to contemporary jazz, relaxation
spas and raising Australian Grey cockatiels.
MARLA LETIZIA
Ms. Marla Letizia has spent the last 20 years
being innovative in a variety of industries in Las Vegas, Nevada. From working
her way up the ladder in broadcasting to her latest achievement of
transforming the outdoor billboard advertising medium, Letizia has found that
the formula for success is personal service and putting client’s results
first.
Her latest venture, Mobile Billboards of Las
Vegas (MBBLV), has taken billboards off of permanent stilts and put them onto
the streets, eye-level, right in people’s faces. The Company has grown at an
incredible rate since its inception in 2001. Letizia started with a single
truck, selling 30 time slots, and has now seen her fleet grow to five,
equipped with 10’x20’ billboards, with over 300 time slots (avails) sold
monthly.
This success is due to Letizia’s revolutionary
idea of selling time instead of space, which puts outdoor advertising in the
same media buying patterns as radio and television. She gives her clients the
power to determine where they would like their advertisements, and at what
time of the day or night based on the competitive intelligence information
they receive.
This concept has proven effective for Mobile
Billboard’s clients, which range from local companies such as Findlay Toyota,
Lotus Broadcasting, IGT, Mandalay Bay and the LVCVA, R & R Partners to
national organizations like Saks Fifth Avenue and Subway. Letizia oversees the
daily operations firsthand, and is constantly implementing the visions for the
future of the company.
A 1975 graduate of Arizona State University in
Tempe with a Bachelor of Science in Communications and a Minor in Speech,
Letizia was the first female Director in Las Vegas. While at KTNV, she hosted
of her own community talk show, "Las Vegas Turnaround," and later became a
weather anchor. Letizia ventured into the national television news syndication
industry by developing, producing and hosting the Parenting Network News
Series, which was eventually bought out by Warner Brothers.
Her love for the airwaves led to Letizia’s
purchase of three radio stations, KPAH 92.7 FM in Tonopah, NV, KROL 870 AM in
Laughlin, NV, and KKJY 100.5 FM in Albuquerque, NM, as well as Reno’s first
independent television station, KAME-TV 21, a Fox affiliate. Still wanting a
challenge, she went to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas to further her
education in 1994, and in four years, after taking all 10 graduate level
accounting courses, was qualified to sit for the State Certified Public
Accountants exam. Letizia’s focus changed with the success of MBBLV (www.mbblv.com).
Not only is Letizia a successful businesswoman
in the Las Vegas community, she is actively involved in an array of
professional organizations. She is Vice President of Administration for
Congregation Ner Tamid, and has served on the Make-A-Wish Advisory Board since
1995. She is also a board member of the Las Vegas Bowl, and a former member of
Women’s Division of the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas. Letizia is a member at
large of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America and the Transportation
Advertising Council of America. She was a founding member of the Board of
Trustees for The Meadows School, and sat on the board for 18 years.
Letizia has been married to Tom Letizia for 24
years. She stayed at home to raise her two children, Harmony and Russell.
"These sacrifices make us who we are," Letizia says. "A woman can have it all,
motherhood and a career, just not at the same time."
JUDI SHEPPARD MISSETT and SHANNA MISSETT NELSON
When Ms. Judi Sheppard Missett taught her first
"just for fun" dance class in 1969, she had no idea it would grow into an
international fitness dynasty that she would be leading with the help of her
daughter. Personal fitness was nearly unheard of at the time, not to mention
women serving as CEOs and business owners.
But just three decades later, CEO Missett and
daughter, executive vice president Shanna Missett Nelson, are celebrating
Jazzercise's (www.jazzercise.com)
35th anniversary with the company's best year ever. The family's
multi-million dollar fitness business is posting record revenues for the third
consecutive year and maintaining Jazzercise's worldwide leadership position.
According to Missett, who still teaches classes
and runs the business every day, the milestone represents two of her greatest
accomplishments: a program that has helped millions of people and a successful
business relationship with her daughter.
"My own mother was a great inspiration and
helped me get to where I am today. She was passionate about helping me
to dance and sacrificed so much for me to take lessons," Missett says.
"As Jazzercise has grown, I've been able to channel that same passion and
creative energy into helping people take charge of their well-being. No one
understands that legacy better than my daughter, Shanna. She shares my
vision, and
having her as a business partner and successor
is invaluable to me."
Nelson, who grew up with Jazzercise, admits she
didn't really grasp the enormity of what her mother had created until she was
a junior in college in the late 1980s. She says that it took moving away
to college for her to realize just how popular Jazzercise was outside of
Southern California.
The duo now run the multi-division company,
developing new choreography, organizing large-scale annual events for
thousands of Jazzercise faithfuls worldwide, promoting the Jazzertogs line of
fitness apparel and fundraising for charities.
Together in the past year, they've led the
company to a record $70 million in systemwide sales, released a new line of
fitness DVDs and joined their instructors and customers in raising more than
$500,000 for a variety of causes. Both say they anticipate continuing that
momentum because they're able to draw on each other's strengths.
"We bring different perspectives to the table,"
Missett says. "We talk through new ideas for the brand and the
choreography, and that collaboration generates something even greater.
We complement and challenge each other to remain cutting-edge without going to
extremes."
For Nelson, her CEO mom has taught her that
it's often the simple things that help to sustain a growing business. "My mom
has shown me just what can happen when you do something you love, trust your
gut and treat employees well," Nelson says.
REBECCA OLSON
A former North Dakotan farm girl, with seven
sisters, Ms. Rebecca Olson has always displayed a "can and will do" attitude.
She taught herself to drive at an early age and by the age of 19 had secured
her private pilot's license.
After working at a local IT consultancy for
eight years, Olson launched Hamel, MN-based Evolving Solutions with co-partner
Jaime Gmach. They started their company in a warehouse with two desks, two
computers, and two phones. There they sold recertified hardware directly from
the warehouse. When they moved into the office portion of their rented
space, one of the offices had a hole large enough that a towel had to be
stuffed into it to keep out the cold air.
Soon the company evolved into the position of a
data-on-demand expert. Currently they help companies, specifically medical
organizations, to more effectively store and retrieve medical imagery such as
digital X-Rays and MRI's.
Olson has successfully grown Evolving Solutions
(www.EvolvingSol.com)
to a $45 Million company, with more than 40 employees, and anticipates
increased growth as she continues to penetrate the medical market with storage
solutions.
From picking rocks out of farm fields to rising
at 6 AM everyday to go flying, from founding Evolving Solutions to walking 60
miles in three days for Breast Cancer (a cause close to her heart), Rebecca
Olson is highly motivated and confident – and with every reason. She is a
strong businesswoman who is succeeding by incorporating the work ethic,
compassion, confidence, and the "can and will do" attitude instilled at an
early age by her parents on their female-dominated North Dakotan farm.
ANN TARDY
This is not your grandmother’s generation of
financial dependence. If Ms. Ann Tardy, founder and president of LifeMoxie!,
the only women’s education and consulting firm committed to training and
inspiring women of all ages to live life with economic power, has her way, all
women will feel empowered to take on their lives.
"All women have economic power. With education,
inspiration, confidence and the tools to get started, we can seize it and live
to our fullest potential," said Tardy, 34, who grew up on a farm outside of
Chicago and went on to become both a CPA and an attorney. "Economic power is a
journey, not a destination, and I want to help women better understand this
journey."
Founded in 2002, San Francisco,
California-based LifeMoxie! (www.lifemoxie.com)
is the reality of Tardy’s dream to offer women the education, skills and
training they need to succeed and thrive in life. With events and programs
soon to be offered nationwide, Tardy is committed to spreading moxie wherever
she can.
Just a little more than two years ago, Tardy
was working full-time as a corporate attorney. During her daily commute from
San Francisco to the Silicon Valley, she perfected her idea of launching a
women-only education and advocacy firm that provides resources and training
programs. Tardy started by planning and executing the first Women’s Economic
Power Day in San Francisco last spring. The inspiring day of education, skill
shops, speakers and networking opportunities was a huge success, and led to an
even more popular second event in September. The next women’s summits are
scheduled for March 2005 in Sacramento, and April 2005 in San Francisco.
Currently in the role of president and founder,
entrepreneur and consultant, Tardy is also an educator, connector and mentor.
For the last four years she has co-directed the Entrepreneurial
Education program at The Girls’ Middle School in Mountain View, California,
training and inspiring 12-year-old girls to start and run their own
businesses. In addition, Tardy has served on the board of directors and as the
treasurer of both GirlSource and SheVentures, two non-profit organizations in
San Francisco providing economic opportunities and life skills training to
low-income young women.
According to Ann Tardy, economic power is as
simple as becoming fully aware of your ability to take care of yourself. You
accomplish this by making better choices through education and questioning,
then taking action to make changes.
The end result, said Tardy, is "gaining the
freedom to pursue your dreams and thrive. That’s what I’m trying to help women
accomplish." She also wants to see that they get some moxie along the way.
LISA J. WHALEY
Ms. Lisa J. Whaley has 22 years of experience working
for a major Fortune 500 company and has held a wide variety of positions in
mid-level and executive-level management. As a wife, mother and executive who
appeared to ‘have it all. "I really did feel as if I could run into a phone
booth and change out of my business suit into a spandex jumpsuit with a big
‘S’ on my chest, for I truly believed that I was Super Mom." Then Whaley found
herself in the ‘perfect storm’ of life a few years ago.
Suddenly, as a person who had been
perceived as having scaled the top to reach the epitome of a perfect life,
Whaley watched it unravel before her eyes. Life and work had become totally
out of harmony and, after doing some deep soul searching, Whaley decided to
take the necessary actions and do the hard work to reclaim her spirit, her
family and put her life back in order.
"I was a poster girl of a young,
beautiful woman pursuing the American dream with a great career, wonderful
marriage, two beautiful children, a nice home and car," says Whaley. "But I
ignored my own values and faith and let other people define the person I had
become."
Using a practical and disciplined
approach, Whaley not only regained harmony and synergy in her life and work,
but found total fulfillment and happiness in all dimensions of her life –
physically, emotionally and spiritually.
Whaley founded Life Work Synergy (www.lifeworksynergy.com)
because she became truly passionate about sharing her experiences to help
others grow and become stronger beings.
She is the author of Reclaiming My
Soul From The Lost and Found, a candid story about her life, her
perspective as a woman trying to have it all while practically losing
everything in the process.
Whaley describes how she came crashing
down from incredible heights and found the strength to lift herself back up,
finding genuine peace and serenity in her personal and professional lives.
She holds a BS in Business Management
from Hampton University, and is a graduate of executive leadership symposiums
at Harvard University and UCLA. She was honored at the 2001 Women of Color
Technology Awards Conference sponsored by US Black and Hispanic Engineer
Magazines. She also is a member of the International Coach Federation.
Whaley is active in the community and mentors youth at
risk. She is a professional life coach and a frequent motivational and
inspirational speaker who speaks candidly and honestly from the heart. She
lives in New Fairfield, Connecticut with her husband Jim and their two
daughters.
CELESTE WOOTEN
In a relatively short period of time Ms.
Celeste Wooten, President and Chief Operating Officer of Elkridge, MD-based
Wirespan, she has led the company to be the fastest growing, woman-owned
telecommunications enterprise in the region: the broadband firm achieved 736
percent growth in revenue from 2002 to 2003. "We reached this point this
quickly because my team and I use our expertise, strategic vision and
determination to build the company every day," said Wooten.
Wirespan's core services include broadband and
digital cable installations. Last year, the company launched Total Coverage®,
a division that provides wireless network (Wi-Fi), structured wiring and
network integration to increasingly more residential as well as industry
leading commercial clients.
Her 20 years of technology installation
management experience was a catalyst to launching Wirespan. Previously, she
managed 1,500 technical employees and a $40 million budget as a general
manager at the Fortune 10 company, Verizon Communications, Inc. Wooten held a
diverse array of positions providing her with a cross-functional operational
perspective. During her tenure, she held technical positions in programming;
supervisory positions in field operations; management positions in dispatch;
and executive positions in operations.
Incorporated in January 2002, Wirespan
Communications, Inc., (www.wirespan.com)
was created and launched to take advantage of the increasing wiring
installation service needs of residential and commercial customers. The
company also benefits from the rapidly increasing adoption of wireless 802.11b
(Wi-Fi) technology, the most popular standard for wireless local area
networks.
Wooten manages all aspects of the company’s
growth; and ensures that the company continues to meet its financial and
operating objectives.
She has a B.S. Degree in Computer Science from
American University and her management experience gained while at Verizon,
ideally positions her for her role at Wirespan.
Celeste Wooten lives in Clarksville, Maryland
with her husband, Clarence Wooten Jr. – Wirespan’s Co-Founder and CEO
– and their daughters, Jordan and Avery.
