April 2022 Newsletter

Forum members Suzi Jaffe, President, S.D.J. Associates and Margaret Booth, Chairman, M Booth & Associates, participated as mentors for the Women’s Enterprise Action Loan Fund (WEALF) in partnership with the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (CWEL) at Babson College. WEALF is a New York based not for profit that helps women entrepreneurs become financially self-sufficient by combining no and low-interest loans with one-to-one mentoring. Babson’s Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership educates and empowers women to create social and economic impact through industry and innovation, and partnerships like the one with WEALF supports their mission to take women entrepreneurs to the next level. Both Suzi and Margi will play an active role in the program mentoring and advising WEALF’s first cohort of women entrepreneurs.

To read more on this strategic partnership between WEALF and CWEL, please visit HERE.

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Kiersten Barnet, Former Global Head, Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, Bloomberg LP, recently accepted the role of Executive Director of the New York Jobs CEO Council – a non-profit organization founded in 2020 with the mission to hire 100,000 low-income New Yorkers into family-sustaining jobs over the next ten years. The Council’s coalition of 30 CEOs lead some of the country’s largest employers and are committed to bridging the skills gap between education and business, and to creating new pathways for underserved and untapped talent.

To read the letter from Kiersten Barnet on her newly accepted position, please visit HERE.

Myra Biblowit, President & CEO, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, announced to the BCRF Board of her plans to retire from her role as President and CEO of BCRF at the end of June, after more than 20 years.

“Truly, leading this glorious organization has been the greatest privilege and joy of my life. I will continue to be involved with the Foundation as President Emeritus. Evelyn Lauder’s vision to harness the power of research has stood the test of time. Indeed, over the past two decades, BCRF has grown from a modest funder of breast cancer research in the United States, to a global powerhouse. When I joined BCRF in 2001, we were supporting 50 researchers in the US. Today we support over 250 of the world’s leading minds in science—and I am so proud that we recently surpassed the $1 billion mark in funds raised. The magnitude and scope of BCRF’s relevance, resonance, and impact are irrefutable, and the opportunities yet to come are breathtaking. Evelyn would be overjoyed to see it. My pride in all we have accomplished is boundless.” – Myra Biblowit

Nina Boone, North America Diversity & Inclusion Practice Leader, Korn Ferry, was welcomed as a featured guest for the Fairways Fore Change 2022 Club Car Championship at The Landings Club. This special event was designed to support inclusivity and diversity in golf by addressing the barriers that exist to making the sport accessible to everyone.

To learn more about Fairways Fore Change, please visit HERE. To read the press release on this event, please visit HERE.

Rohini Dey, Owner & Founder, Vermilion Restaurant & Let’s Talk Womxn, hosted the Let’s Talk Change Summit with help by McKinsey & Co. to kick off Women’s History Month with a virtual forum for women entrepreneurs and executives to galvanize change.

To read the press release, please visit HERE. To watch the segment on Youtube, please visit HERE.

Rohini was also awarded the Nation’s Restaurant News Innovator of the Year Award for Vermilion. “I’m so glad that we get to honor Rohini Dey as the MenuMasters Innovator this year,” said Nation’s Restaurant News senior food and beverage editor Bret Thorn. “I have always admired and enjoyed her food, and with Let’s Talk Womxn she has demonstrated the tremendous impact that a group of like-minded people can have when they work together.”

To learn more about Rohini’s award, please visit HERE.

Rohini was also featured in a number of interviews and articles:

• Better Magazine in an article titled “Let’s Talk Womxn Talks Change”. To read the article, please visit HERE.
• Tock Interview of the Month in an article titled “Rohini Dey: Hustling, Camaraderie & Taking Action.” To read the article, please visit HERE.
• FSR Magazine in an article titled “Leadership Advice from 13 Female Chefs & Restaurateurs.” To read the article, please visit HERE.
• Chicago Tribune discussing restaurateurs efforts during the covid pandemic. To read the article, please visit HERE.

Carole Feuerman, Artist, Sculptor, Author, President, Feuerman-Cohen LLC., spoke on a panel during the Horasis US Global Summit along with fellow artists Wendy Artin, Ilene Sova, Linda Stein, and Dr. Fritz Cicek. Together, they discussed how female artists can confront and change the narrative on gender equality.

To learn more about the Horasis Global Summit meeting, please visit HERE.

Ellen Futter, President, American Museum of Natural History, unveiled the opening date of the American Museum of Natural History’s $431 million new science center called the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation, created in response to the mounting dangers of climate change and the coronavirus pandemic. The new center will house about 12 percent of the museum’s collection, displaying objects on three floors, and providing views into storage areas where scientists and collections staff can retrieve, examine and study specimens.

“It’s only become more intensified and urgent in a post-truth world where we also have acute threats to human health in the form of the pandemic and to the environment,” Ellen said in an interview. “At the same time, we have a crisis in science literacy and education in this country and we have denial of science.”

To read the full article, please visit HERE.

Dr. Ludy Green, Agency Lead on Counter-Trafficking, US Agency for International Development, featured fellow Forum member Barbara Marcus, President & Publisher, Random House Children’s Books on her podcast “Ending Domestic Abuse” where Barbara discusses the calculated risks and career-changing steps she has taken in her life, including pursuing children’s publishing against the advice of others and leading the publishing effort for Scholastic of the Harry Potter Series. Dr. Ludy Green uses her platform to sit down with women at the top of their fields to ask them about their successes, failures, and journeys throughout their career paths. Dr. Green uses her podcast to economically empower women and girls through advice from experts and to discuss everything from overcoming imposter syndrome, to raising awareness to human trafficking which primarily affects women and girls.

To listen to Dr. Green’s latest episode featuring fellow Forum member Barbara Marcus, please visit HERE. “Ending Domestic Abuse” is available on Spotify or wherever you find podcasts!

Carla Harris, Vice Chairman, Global Wealth Management and Senior Client Advisor, Morgan Stanley, was interviewed by The Grio and discussed how 2022 is ripe for more Black corporate leadership. A fierce advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion, Carla highlighted noticeable developments in the corporate world for people of color:

• “The age of “being the first” or “being the only” in the workplace is gone!”
• “Generation “Z” and Millennials find inspiration and comfort when the people in power of the companies they work for come from diverse backgrounds.”
• “We can’t think we are done. We have to think about this as a continuum that needs to evolve.”

To read the full article, please visit HERE.

Sallie Krawcheck, CEO & Co-Founder, Ellevest, was highlighted in an article featured on TechCrunch written by Margot De Broglie, Co-Founder of financial educational app for women called Your Juno. In the article, Margot discusses the need for financial products built for women and points out how Sallie identified six money gaps that persist – – including gender gaps in wage, debt, investing, funding, issues with unpaid labor, and the “pink tax” (the higher cost of consumer products targeting women), making it clear that, women face different financial challenges compared with men.

“I’m really putting my life towards helping women to invest, and there’s a circular reference here because if women can invest and give themselves the opportunity to earn higher returns, they can start those businesses. They can go to work with a little more confidence to ask for that promotion, to ask for the new assignment, etc.” – Sallie Krawcheck, Co-Founder of Ellevest

To read the article, please visit HERE.

Susan McPherson, Founder, CEO & Author, McPherson Strategies, wrote an article featured on Reboot titled “The Power of Connection and Memory: A Tale From the Dupont Plaza Hotel Fire” where she discusses the vital importance of bearing witness, of reporting and sharing loss and tragedy, by recounting an intimate experience she shared with a friend of her late father’s.

To read more, please visit HERE.

Donna Palumbo-Miele, Founder & CEO, Concordia Supply Chain Group LLC, was featured in Warner Communications Top 10 Women in Supply Chain list, released in honor of International Women’s Month. The list highlights smart women leaders who are helping businesses position themselves for greater resiliency and productivity in a future where “business as usual” is a fond memory. They’re making a difference and paving the way for future generations. 

To read more on the Top 10 Women in Supply Chain list, please visit HERE.

Valerie Paley, Senior Vice President and Chief Historian; Director, Center for Women’s History, New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, was honored in a campaign launched by OUTFRONT Media Inc. for Women’s History Month called “Lifted up” which highlighted leading women across a diverse spectrum of industries. The campaign applauded 40 of today’s leaders for the impact of their achievements, while also acknowledging those who helped make them possible: the women who came before.

“As leaders, we have a responsibility to elevate those around us,” said Jodi Senese, Chief Marketing Officer, OUTFRONT. “But as women, lifting up one another takes on even more importance, and becomes our almost-sacred duty to each other. Our honorees in the ‘Lifted Up’ campaign represent that ideal, blazing their own trails while lighting the way for those who follow.”

To learn more about OUTFRONT Media Inc.’s campaign “Lifted Up”, please visit HERE.

Westina Matthews Shatteen, Managing Director (Ret), Merrill Lynch, was highlighted by The Executive Leadership Council (ELC) for her many years of initiating and chairing the highly acclaimed annual Black Women’s Leadership Summit.

To view The ELC’s tribute to Forum member Westina Matthews, please visit HERE. To learn more about Westina’s different speaking engagements, please visit HERE.

Lisa Sherman, President & CEO, Ad Council, acted as a judge for the Anthem Awards which honors people and organizations from sports and entertainment to business leaders and celebrities, who are all working towards systemic change for the social good. Anthem Award winners were chosen by members of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Members include Ashley Judd (Author, Actor, and Social Justice Humanitarian), Sarah Kate Ellis (president and CEO, GLAAD), and Lisa, among others.

To learn more, please visit HERE.

Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, Chair, NYC Landmarks55+ Alliance, Chair, Historic Landmarks Preservation Center, was appointed by President Biden to the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts which was established in 1958 by President Eisenhower. The President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts (PACA) serves as a national forum. Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel is an advocate for the arts, architecture, preservation, design, and public policy. At the White House, she helped create the White House Fellows and the Presidential Scholars programs, as well as the first and only White House Festival of the Arts in 1965. Diamonstein-Spielvogel was the first Director of Cultural Affairs for New York City and the longest-serving Commissioner of the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. Previous presidential appointments include the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, and the American Battle Monuments Commission. She has also served as Chair and CEO on the New York State Council on the Arts. The recipient of numerous honors and awards, Diamonstein-Spielvogel earned her doctorate with high honors from New York University. She is the author of 24 books about art, architecture, photography, crafts, design, and public policy. Diamonstein-Spielvogel serves on numerous, diverse, cultural and community-oriented boards. She currently serves as the Chair of the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Foundation.

To learn more, please visit HERE.

Linda Willett, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary (Retired), Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, has been elected to the CareSource Board of Directors effective April 1, 2022. CareSource is a multi-state health plan recognized as a national leader in managed care. Founded in 1989, CareSource administers one of the nation’s largest Medicaid managed care plans and serves 2 million members in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. Linda was also appointed to serve on the Audit, Nominating & Governance, and Strategy committees of the CareSource Board.

“With her expertise in value-based care, corporate transformation, compliance and risk best practices, Linda will be an asset to the board as CareSource continues to aggressively pursue growth opportunities in new and current markets,” said Anthony J. Principi, Chairman of the CareSource Board of Directors. “Her industry experience, as well as her business and legal background, will bring a valuable perspective as we set the strategic direction for the organization.”

To learn more on Linda’s newly appointed role, please visit HERE.

Cheryl Wills, President & CEO, Wills Publishing & Productions, LLC, Anchor/Reporter-NY1 News, celebrated Women’s History Month on NY1 by highlighting women in education. Pamela J. Craig, President of the Women’s Forum of New York, and Tenille Warren, a Scholar of the Women’s Forum of New York Education Fund, joined Cheryl for her In Focus segment, to discuss how the organization is helping women facing severe adversity to go back to school and pursue their educational dreams through the Education Fund.

To view the segment, please visit HERE.

Julie Yoo, Former Head of Media & Entertainment Strategy and Operations, Google, is now in the position of SVP & Head of M&A, Fanatics. Fanatics is a global digital sports platform that has offerings including licensed sports merchandise; trading cards and collectibles; digital collectibles & NFT’s; and sports betting and iGaming. In her current role, Julie leads all of Fanatics’ M&A efforts.

To learn more, please visit HERE.