Lisa Brummel is the chief people officer at Microsoft, and has led Human Resources at the company since May 2005. For 8 years prior to that, she served as corporate vice president of the Home & Retail Division, where she was responsible for overseeing worldwide development and business strategy for Microsoft's line of consumer hardware, software and Macintosh products. This included the Works product line, the Encarta product line, the Office for Macintosh product line, the Virtual PC product line and Microsoft mice and keyboard products. In addition she was responsible for worldwide operations and localization for Microsoft's retail business.
During her tenure at Microsoft since 1989, Brummel has held a number of management positions, including general manager of Microsoft's Consumer Productivity business, product unit manager of Microsoft's Kids business and product unit manager of Desktop and Decision reference products. In addition, she led product marketing for the Interactive Media Division, the Visual FoxPro database product group and Microsoft's line of applications for Macintosh. Before joining Microsoft in 1989, Brummel held various sales management and marketing positions with Prentice Hall Inc. publishing company.
Brummel holds a master's degree in business administration from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Yale University. She is active in charitable ventures associated with Hopelink community services, the University of Washington Medical Center, Yale University, the Human Rights Campaign and the Women's Funding Alliance.
Naomi Fried, Ph.D. is Boston Children’s Hospital’s first Chief Innovation Officer and is building and developing a program in clinical innovation, aimed at improving care quality and assisting the hospital in shaping the future of health care.
Previously, she was the Vice President of Innovation and Advanced Technology at Kaiser Permanente (KP) where she led an effort to identify and assess new and emerging technology and trends in the delivery of care; chaired the board of its internal Innovation Fund for Technology, which provided funding for innovative technology projects within KP; formed and chaired KP’s Telehealth Working Group, which developed strategy for Kaiser in the emerging area of telehealth; and was involved in the start-up and governance of KP’s Innovation laboratory, the Sidney R. Garfield Center for Health Care Innovation. Prior to this position, she was Managing Director of KP’s Archimedes Project.
Before KP, Naomi advised two venture capital firms on life science and health care information technology investments; served as the General Manager and Vice President for Business Development of 1747, Inc., which conducts online clinical trials for new drugs; and was instrumental in the formation of the medical informatics internet start-up company (e-SKOLAR, formerly SHINE) spun out of Stanford School of Medicine, serving as interim President for its first year. Naomi has a BS in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley and a Ph.D. in Materials Science from MIT.
Laura Sen is President and Chief Executive Officer of BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc. and serves on its Board of Directors. She has had a 30 year career in retail, and was appointed to her current positions in February 2009. Ms. Sen most recently guided BJ’s through a successful acquisition, at the conclusion of which in September 2011 the Company was taken private by Leonard Green Partners and CVC Capital Partners.
Ms. Sen began her career in retail shortly after her graduation from Boston College in 1978 when she joined storied Boston retailer Jordan Marsh as an Executive Trainee. In 1979 she moved to Zayre Corporation, a discount chain based in Natick, Massachusetts. Over the next 10 years she held positions of increasing responsibility at Zayre, including, Buyer and Assistant Vice President, Divisional Merchandise Manager.
In 1989 Zayre Corporation sold its name plate to Ames Department Stores, and shortly thereafter BJ’s was spun off as part of Waban, Inc. (In 1997, BJ’s became an independent, publicly traded company.) Ms. Sen joined BJ’s shortly after the spinout as Assistant Vice President, Manager of Logistics. In 1991 she was promoted to Vice President, Logistics Director; in 1993 she became Senior Vice President, General Merchandise Manager of Non-Food; and in 1997 she assumed the role of Executive Vice President of Merchandising.
In 2003, Ms. Sen left BJ’s to work as an independent consultant. She returned to the Company in January 2007 as Executive Vice President of Merchandising and Logistics to join the team seeking to turn around the Company after several years of disappointing results. She was promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer in January 2008, and in February 2009 she became President and Chief Executive Officer and joined the Board.
Ms. Sen is active in the retail industry and her community. In January 2012, she was appointed to the Board of Directors of rue21. As well, she serves on the Boards of the National Retail Federation, The Pine Street Inn (the largest homeless shelter in New England), Dana Farber Cancer Institute and The Boston Ballet. She is involved with the 21st Century Fund, Brookline High School’s venture capital for education initiative; ATASK (Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence); the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership (MACP); and The American Heart Association. She also works with St. Coletta & Cardinal Cushing Schools of Massachusetts in Hanover.
Ms. Andresen is the Technical Director for the Federal Systems and Cyber Solutions division of General Dynamics C4 Systems, located in Needham, Massachusetts. In that role, she is responsible for advancing technological achievements in cybersecurity systems, and determines the direction, technology roadmaps, investments and commercial partnerships required to meet the demands of customers chartered with securing critical military, government and infrastructure networks.
Ms. Andresen has more than 25 years of experience in software and systems engineering, cryptography, secure voice and data communications technologies, enterprise security management, and integration of mobile and cloud based solutions. She has led numerous cross-Industry and cross-Government teams supporting the Department of Defense, NATO and the Department of Homeland Security. Most recently, she is currently leading related initiatives for the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, focused on applying cutting edge technologies to meet cyber defense mission needs.
Ms. Andresen has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University in Boston, MA.
Dr. Bhatia trained at Brown, MIT, Harvard, and MGH. She was a member of the Bioengineering Department at University of California at San Diego for 6 years. She has been awarded the David and Lucile Packard Fellowship given to "the nation's most promising young professors in science and engineering," the MIT TR100 Young Innovators Award, the Global Indus Technovator Award, and been named one of Massachusetts' 'Women to Watch'.
She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. She co-authored the first undergraduate textbook on tissue engineering and is a frequent advisor to governmental organizations on nanobiotechnology, biomedical microsystems, and tissue engineering. She is the co-founder of two startup companies. She holds 15 issued or pending patents and has worked in industry at Pfizer, Genetics Institute, ICI Pharmaceuticals, and Organogenesis.
Ms. Bramson brings to her role as CEO of Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts over 25 years of experience leading diverse teams and executing strategic and business development plans across sectors. Ms. Bramson’s lifetime achievement advancing leadership opportunities for women includes advocacy for gender equity across corporate, government and non-profit sectors.
Prior to joining Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts as the organization’s first CEO in 2008, Ms. Bramson was Senior Vice President of Human Resources for National Grid and Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Shaw’s Supermarkets/Star Markets from 1995-2002. As Shaw’s Supermarkets/Star Markets’ first woman senior executive and Board member, Ms. Bramson continued to break ground with the development of a progressive “Women at Work” campaign, significantly increasing the number of women in managerial roles. Ms. Bramson led the management of multiple organizations’ mergers and acquisitions, including Shaw’s and Start Markets, National Grid and KeySpan and New England Gas, and finally with Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts. While working in the corporate sector, Ms. Bramson established Suited for Success, a nonprofit that supports economically disadvantaged women towards self-sufficiency, leading the organization for six years until its merger with The Crittenden Women’s Union.
Appointed as the first Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Diversity Officer for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the Romney Administration, Ms. Bramson received the Shared Services Leader of the Year for North America Award in 2005 for innovations in state government. In 2010, Ms. Bramson was appointed co-chair of the Diversity Sub-Committee for the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council, and she currently sits on the STEM Council’s Operations Board. Ms. Bramson’s board service includes Junior Achievement, Women’s Advisory Board of the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA), the Board of Governors of Tufts Medical Center, the Board of Overseers for the Mother Caroline Academy & Education Center, the Board of Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, Board of Advisors for the Center for Collaborative Leadership at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She also serves as a Trustee Emeritus at Middlesex Community College.
Ms. Bramson’s recognition of her lifetime achievements include induction to the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame, the Boys & Girls Club of Dorchester New England Women’s Leadership Award, Color Magazine’s Inclusive Change-Agent Award, the Massachusetts Women Political Caucus Abigail Adams Award, the Boston Business Journal’s Lifetime Achievement Award for the Advancement of Women, the Ad Club’s Rosoff Award for External Diversity and the Metro South Chamber of Commerce’s Athena Award. Ms. Bramson is a noted international lecturer, public speaker and author, most recently speaking and writing on STEM education issues, domestic violence prevention, leadership and strategic change. A graduate of Barnard College at Columbia University, Ms. Bramson received a master’s degree from Boston University. She completed Harvard University’s Executive Leadership Program for women and a joint Harvard Law School-MIT negotiation program. She resides in Boston with her husband. They have five children and nine grandchildren.
Wendy Cebula joined Vistaprint in October, 2000 and currently is in the role of management coach. Prior to assuming her current role, Wendy held the position of Chief Operating Officer where she was responsible for overseeing Vistaprint’s North American, European and JANZ business units as well as global capabilities, manufacturing strategy and marketing planning and integration. Prior to that, Wendy served as President of Vistaprint’s North American business unit, CIO and in other executive capacities.
Before joining Vistaprint, Wendy was the Director of Database Marketing and Analysis at MotherNature.com. Prior to that she worked in marketing analytics and management at Partner's First, a direct to consumer financial services company.
Wendy earned a B.S. degree in Finance at Rochester Institute of Technology in 1993.
Dr. Connie Chow became Science Club for Girls’ first Executive Director in 2006. Science Club for Girls is a nonprofit that is changing girls’ minds about who can do science by connecting them with women scientists and engineers who guide them in hands-on explorations. The organization serves about 1,000 girls from K-12th grades each year in eastern Massachusetts. It also has a program in Pokuase, Ghana. The majority of girls served by the organization are Black and Latino, and from under-resourced communities.
Connie co-founded the Boston Area Girls STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) collaborative in 2009 and is also the co-lead for the Southern New England Girls Collaborative Project. Both initiatives brings universities, community organizations and companies together to get girls excited about these subjects, and expose them to careers in these fields.
Connie received her Ph.D. through the program in Virology in the Division of Medical Sciences at Harvard University, and conducted her postdoctoral research at the Harvard School of Public Health. Prior to joining SCFG, Connie was an assistant professor in Biology at Simmons College, where she was the co-principal investigator on a National Science Foundation-funded summer program that introduced technology and science to youth in the Boston public middle schools.
Dr. Chow co-founded the Massachusetts CEDAW Project in 2002, a collaborative that seeks to implement international human rights principles, in particular the international women’s treaty, in local contexts. She served on the Board of Directors of Survivors, Inc., a grassroots organization comprising of low-income women and their allies, and was a member of the steering committee for the Women’s Human Rights program for Amnesty International USA.
John Cole is vice president and general manager of Secure Communications and Computing Technologies for Scottsdale, Arizona-based, General Dynamics C4 Systems. Cole is responsible for the overall executive management of advanced technologies, products and systems that protect many of the nation’s most critical cyber assets, while providing customers with products and capabilities essential to their operations. Customers include multiple U.S. and international civil and government agencies and commercial companies. Secure Communications and Computing Technologies has operations in Arizona, Massachusetts, Florida, Maryland, and the United Kingdom.
Cole’s business area includes secure voice and data products and the Handheld, Manpack, Small Form Fit (HMS) program of software-defined radios including the Rifleman Radio (AN/PRC-154) and two-channel Manpack radio (AN/PRC-155).
Cole has more than 30 years of operations and management experience. He joined General Dynamics in 1979 and became the vice president and general manager for Information Assurance in 2000. Subsequently, Cole has led multiple management units spanning a wide variety of technologies and markets. He graduated from the University of Texas in Austin and served four years as a Naval Officer. Cole received his Masters of Business Administration from Arizona State University.
Diana Cutaia brought her life-long passion for athletics to Wheelock College as the director of athletics beginning with the 2005-06 school year, and under her leadership the department has seen tremendous success. Since her arrival, Wheelock has seen a 200 percent increase in student-athlete participation, and has grown the number of varsity programs from five to 11 in just five years, including adding men's sports for the first time in school history.
During Cutaia's tenure, Wildcat student-athletes have drawn 39 all-conference and 103 academic all-conference accolades, while the programs have earned 17 league sportsmanship awards. Cutaia has also secured a multi-year equipment partnership with New Balance, Inc., while the department and its student-athletes staged fundraisers for earthquake-ravaged Haiti in 2010 and 2011. Thanks to its Walk 4 Haiti, Wheelock was one of 14 Division III institutions to draw a Jostens Community Service Award from the National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators (NADIIIAA) for the 2009-10 school year.
In March 2011, Cutaia provided the keynote speech at the NCAA Division III Regional Career in Sports Forum. Late in 2010, she was one of five Boston-area women lauded for her community service efforts, earning the Activating Confidence Award in the category of advocacy due to her work in advocacy for sport at all levels and for all genders, both locally and on the national level. During her time at Wheelock, she has required her student-athletes undertake community service projects that provide for the betterment of the college, local and world communities.
Cutaia has been involved in athletics in a number of capacities for more than 20 years. Prior to arriving at Wheelock, she served as the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Governor's Committee on Physical Fitness and Sport. Cutaia has held positions in marketing and human resources and began her own company, Advance Sports Educational and Consulting Services, in 1999. Advance Sports offered a multitude of services including conducting motivational and educational presentations, produced an instructional basketball CD for youth, and developed S.O.A.R. camps, which creatively introduced sports to young girls. Cutaia has also served as the Boston Public Policy consultant for the Women's Sports Foundation and is the co-founder of the Boston Women's Athletic Administrators Network.
Cutaia's coaching experience includes serving as head women's basketball coach at Curry College, and as assistant women's basketball coach at Mount Holyoke College. Cutaia began her collegiate coaching career after spending three years on the high school level as the head women's basketball coach at Norwalk Community College, where she led the women's basketball program to national prominence in only four years. Her Panthers finished three seasons ranked No. 1 in the New England region and among the top eight in the nation.
In 2009, Cutaia took on an additional role at Wheelock as the director of Sport-Based Initiatives, a new institutional focus, which included the creation of the sport-based youth development academic program and the promotion of professional development programs for youth coaches, administrators and educators. Cutaia continues her work on the local and state level in advocating for increased physical education and activity in schools. Cutaia also teaches courses in the academic sport-based youth development program.
Dr. Susan David, Co-director of Research at the Institute of Coaching of the Harvard Medical School Affiliate, McLean Hospital, is a business psychologist who is known internationally for her research, training programs, and keynote speaking. She specializes in the application of scientific evidence-based methods to emotional intelligence, positive psychology, engagement, coaching, and high performance leadership.
Dr. David holds Bachelors, Honors, two Masters Degrees, and a Ph.D. in Psychology. Her current research focuses on leadership and coaching effectiveness. Susan is Co-director of Research at the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital of Harvard Medical School, a Research Affiliate in the Department of Psychology at Yale University, an Instructor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School, and a Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Dr. David has been awarded sixteen prizes and scholarships, including two for research on emotions in coaching and wellbeing. She was selected as an International Positive Psychology Fellow by the Positive Psychology Network for three consecutive years and served as an external advisor for the first Masters of Applied Positive Psychology program to be implemented in the United Kingdom. Dr. David is currently editing and authoring books on Positive Psychology (Oxford University Press) and Engagement.
Dr. David is on the editorial board for the International Coaching Psychology Review and Coaching: An International Journal of Research, Theory, and Practice. She has been extensively quoted in the media, including USA Today, What Happy Women Know (by Dan Baker, Ph.D.; Rodale Press), and Positive Psychology Coaching (by Robert Biswas-Diener; Wiley).
Dr. David is also a frequent speaker at international conferences, including the Harvard University Coaching Conference (USA), the Breakthrough Leadership Conference (UAE), the annual conference of the Society for Human Resources Management (USA), the International Emotional Intelligence Conference (UK), the Strengths-Based Corporate Development Conference (UK), and the first Positive Psychology, Business and Well-being Conference (UK).
Dr. David is the founding partner of Evidence Based Psychology LLC, a boutique consultancy created to implement evidence-based best practices in organizations. Her clients are leading corporations in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, and Australia.
Abby Fichtner is the Founding Executive Director of hack/reduce, Boston’s big data hacker space. She also writes The Hacker Chick Blog and co-organizes Boston’s 2500 member Lean Startup Circle. Previously Microsoft’s Evangelist for Startups, Abby’s gotten to work with hundreds of startups and has been called both the cheerleader and the guardian angel for Boston startups.
Abby is extremely passionate about building communities where innovation thrives and in helping others to push the edge on what’s possible because she believes that each & every one of us is capable of changing the world.
Jennifer is a technology entrepreneur with extensive experience in building Internet businesses - including strategy, product, marketing, and sales. Before co-founding Smarterer, she was VP of Business Development at High Start Group, a product strategy consulting company in Boston. She was also Founder and CEO of AnswerSmart, which provides candidate skills assessment solutions to SMBs; COO of Eventective, a search engine for the meeting & event space; and Founder of OnDemandCRM.com, which provided CRM for the financial services market.
Emily Green is the President and CEO of Smart Lunches LLC, a rapidly growing Internet retail business bringing fresh nutritious meals to children away from home.
Before taking the reins at Smart Lunches, from 2005 to 2011 she led Yankee Group, a storied technology research firm she helped acquire, leading a transition to exploring the connected future it calls Anywhere. Prior to joining Yankee Group, she had been the President and CEO of Cambridge Energy Research (CERA), leading its sale in 2004 to IHS. From 1995 to 2003, she served with Forrester Research. She launched and built the company’s European operations; on her departure she was the general manager of the North American division.
Earlier in her career, she led product strategy and marketing for a venture-backed fiber-optic networking startup, created with several partners the first 3D architectural design application for the Apple Macintosh, launched marketing and sales for a video services startup, and developed software for film and television special effects.
Emily was granted a B.S.L. cum laude in linguistics from Georgetown University and an M.S.E. in artificial intelligence and computer graphics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of Engineering.
She is a past Chairman of MITX, the nation's largest Internet advocacy association, and currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of the Mass Technology Collaborative, and as a Director on the Board of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. ANYWHERE, her book on the business impact of global connectivity, was published in 2010 by McGraw-Hill. She was named a Mass High-Tech All-Star in 2011.
Jill A. Greenthal is a Senior Advisor in the Private Equity Group. Prior to September 2007, Ms. Greenthal was a Senior Managing Director in the Advisory Group. She is based in Boston.
Before joining Blackstone in 2003, Ms. Greenthal was Co-Head of the Global Media Group, Co-Head of the Boston Office and a member of the Executive Board of Investment Banking at Credit Suisse First Boston. Ms. Greenthal was also Co-Head of the Boston office of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, before its acquisition by CSFB. Prior to joining DLJ, she was Head of the Media Group at Lehman Brothers.
Ms. Greenthal has advised and financed media companies for over 20 years, having worked in all sectors of the business. As a Senior Advisor to Blackstone’s Private Equity group, Ms. Greenthal works closely with the global media and technology teams to assist in investments in those sectors.
Ms. Greenthal graduated as a member of The Academy from Simmons College and received an MBA from Harvard Business School. Ms. Greenthal is on the Board of Directors of Akamai Technologies, Michaels Stores, Inc., Orbitz Worldwide, The Weather Channel and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Ms. Greenthal is also a member of the Women’s Executive Council of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and a Trustee of The James Beard Foundation, Simmons College and Overseer of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
John Harthorne is the Founder and CEO of MassChallenge, a startup accelerator and competition designed to catalyze a startup renaissance by connecting high-impact startups from around the world with the resources they need to launch and succeed.
John received his MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 2007. While at school, John received Grand Prize in the 2007 MIT $100K Business Plan Competition and received the 2007 Patrick J. McGovern Award for impact on quality and visibility of entrepreneurship at MIT. He also led the 10th annual MIT Global Startup Workshop (GSW) held in Trondheim, Norway.
In September 2011, the Boston Business Journal identified John as one of Boston's 50 Most Influential Business Leaders alongside the CEOs of Akamai Technologies, Blue Cross Blue Shield and the Boston Celtics.
John is a life-long Massachusetts resident and an avid Red Sox fan. He currently lives in Somerville with his wife Natalia, their 6-year old son Max and their baby girl Yulia.
Perry Hewitt is an established leader in digital marketing communications, with deep experience in the corporate and not-for-profit sectors. Her background includes both traditional business and marketing strategy, and expertise in digital and social innovation and management. As Chief Digital Officer, Perry is charged with Harvard University’s efforts to develop a comprehensive strategy for digital communications and engagement, as well as to establish best practices for content, multimedia, and technology.
Perry has held significant digital marketing, editorial, and client services roles at firms including Crimson Hexagon, Razorfish, ArsDigita, Harcourt Online, and Lotus Development Corporation. She has been a consultant to major media companies on online product development, and began her career in publishing at the Houghton Mifflin Company.
Perry has been a frequent writer and speaker on topics including the social web; content strategy; user experience; mobile integration; women and leadership; and online communities and networks. She has been quoted on business and internet technology issues in the press including Forbes, CNBC, Mashable, the Pew Internet Project, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. She also for more than 10 years has served as judge for the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX) Awards.
Perry holds an A.B. from Harvard University in Russian and Soviet Studies. She has lived and worked in Switzerland, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Australia, and now lives with her family in the greater Boston area.
Tucker is one of nine Technical Advisors at the Microsoft Store in Boston. Tucker’s job is to diagnose and fix any and all computer, slate, phone, and Xbox issues that customers come into the store with as well as have a strong knowledge of all the products and promotions going on in Microsoft Retail. And play Dance Central. Before Microsoft, Tucker worked in the Media Services department at Emerson College in Boston where he managed the distribution and repair of computer and camera equipment for large portions of the student and faculty. After graduating with a BA in Film, he moved to Brighton and now resides on small, peaceful plot of farm land he’s proud to call his own.
Kathleen Kennedy is the Chief Strategy Officer at Technology Review and the President of the MIT Enterprise Forum. In her 12 years at MIT, Kathleen has helped Technology Review to redefine the magazine brand and to achieve success in a rapidly changing market. She has established several new lines of business in the United States as well as in China, India, Singapore, and Spain. She leads events, marketing, sales and international licensing for Technology Review as well as the global team for the MIT Enterprise Forum.
Kathleen started her career in accounting at Deloitte and Touche, but she quickly found her true calling--media. She left the financial world to join a startup that specialized in marketing and media research for the film industry. Kathleen worked on a wide range of movies for major studios, including Warner Bros., Paramount, and 20th Century Fox. She became director of the southeast region, where she led her team to double-digit growth for five consecutive years.
She has received a number of industry awards, including the 2009 Folio: 40 which recognized the most innovative and influential people in magazines.
She studied political theory at the University of Virginia and was a member of the Rising Scholar Program. She studied Business at James Madison University.
Debi Kleiman is the president of MITX, the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange. She is the organization’s chief strategist, community builder, evangelist, inspiration instigator, giver of projects and den mom. Previously, Debi was a marketing leader for major CPG companies such as Coca Cola, Welch’s and Procter & Gamble. Prior to MITX, she focused her talents at Communispace as VP of Product Marketing. She’s also played a key role in a few local start-ups as a mentor, advisor or marketing head. Debi has a BS from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She spends most of her free time with her husband and two sons - cooking, playing, cheering and trying not to get hit by a lacrosse ball or hockey puck.
Allison is the Community Development Specialist for the Microsoft Store in Boston. Allison is responsible for building consumer awareness, perception, understanding, and visitation of the Microsoft Stores. She constructs a robust schedule of events (e.g., Speaker Series, Class Trips) both during and after store hours, so that Microsoft retail brings the technology experience and excitement of our products directly to the consumer. Prior to joining Microsoft in 2012, Allison was at Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts where she focused on membership growth and awareness in the communities of Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville. She holds degrees from the University of South Florida and currently resides in Brighton.
As a parent of an infant son, Zenobia has an enthusiasm and drive to help solve the challenges facing today's families and caregivers that continues to help shape Care.com. In her role as Co-Founder and Vice President of Consumer Marketing at Care.com, Zenobia is primarily responsible for consumer acquisition, conversion and member marketing. She regularly leads initiatives to enhance the safety and security of the service, improve the member experience, and build the online community.
In the four years prior to co-founding Care.com, Zenobia worked as a Web Marketing Manager for Upromise, where she helped families prepare and save for college. From 1998-2001, she served as Senior Product Manager at financial software startup, WorldStreet.
Zenobia holds a M.A. from Brandeis University (1998) and a B.A. from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai (1995).
Eliza is a Product Advisor for the Microsoft Store in Boston. She engages, educates and excites customers of all ages, and runs workshops and gaming events for toddlers, school-age children, and adults. Prior to joining Microsoft, Eliza worked with the Lyric Stage Company of Boston as a stage manager, where she oversaw productions of both plays and musicals. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emerson College.
Dr. Sally Ourieff is founder and principal of Translational Consulting, an executive and leadership consulting firm that specializes in developing the interpersonal and relationship skills leaders need to complement their business expertise. A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Ourieff has worked for over twenty years helping people discover that who they are, how they act, and the relationships they build is key to their success. Translational Consulting focuses on helping leaders connect, collaborate, and communicate so they build the relationships, teams and networks they need to succeed and create cultures that are vibrant, engaged, and thriving.
Dr. Ourieff has held c-level positions in healthcare, including at Merit Behavioral Healthcare and has held director positions leading clinical care teams in both Boston hospitals and community programs. She has consulted for and coached leaders at academic institutions, biotech, tech, healthcare, law, and financial services including at Bain Capital, Cisco, Intel, Harvard Medical School, Brandeis University, and more. She has been brought in to manage teams during times of crisis, as well as help de-railed teams get back to being energized, collaborative, focused, and productive.
Prior to medical school, Dr. Ourieff worked as a journalist for the Lowell Sun Newspaper. She then combined her journalism and medical background working as an on-air radio host, script advisor for several NBC television shows, and on-air host for several local teen television programs, one of which won a regional Emmy award. Her media experience, along with her very first profession as a dancer with the Los Angeles Ballet, has taught her the power of communication and presence in professional success.
In addition to her consulting and coaching work at Translational Consulting, Dr. Ourieff co-founded and co-directs a nonprofit that provides medical and educational development in the Northeast Andes of Peru above the Amazon Basin. Each year, Hatun Runa brings teams of professionals and students into the Andes, 2,000 miles from Lima, to a remote region where life has changed little in the past hundreds of years. In partnership with local leaders, they created the regions first library and helped develop the local hospital. They continue to provide health and education training, and trek deep into the Andes and high jungle to install solar power, vaccine refrigerators, radios and medical supplies in the most remote mountain health posts and bring teaching resources to mountain village school rooms. Leading in extreme environments and being immersed in the Andean culture, has guided Dr. Ourieff’s understanding of leadership, overcoming challenges, the meaning of support, and the power behind making dreams come true.
Pamela Reeve is Chair of The Commonwealth Institute, working with women CEOs, entrepreneurs and business leaders to help them grow their businesses and their careers. She is the former CEO of Lightbridge, Inc. a company she ran from start up in 1989, took public in 1996, and ran for 15 years. Prior to joining Lightbridge, Reeve spent eleven years at the Boston Consulting Group, one of the world’s leading management consulting firms. Her prior experience includes National Project Manager for a program funded by National Endowment for the Humanities, and real estate finance and development.
Pam was the founding CEO of opennairboston.net, the Boston wireless initiative, appointed by Boston’s Mayor Thomas Menino, and ran that project from 2006-2008. She is the lead director of American Tower Corporation (NYSE: AMT) and serves on the boards of Frontier Communications (NYSE: FTR) and DSM. She is a member of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee of the Mass Technology Leadership Council (former and first female Chair, Chair of the Policy Committee and Chair of the 2020 Challenge Task Force); Vice Chair of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization Board of Trustees, on the board of Partners Community Healthcare, Inc. and the Partners IS Committee. In 2011 was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to the Board of the Massachusetts Tech Collaborative. She is co-founder and vice chair of the Winchester Community Service Foundation, which created the service learning program operating in the Winchester school system since 2004.
Reeve was chosen as the 2000 Entrepreneur of the Year in Software and Technology by Ernst & Young, 2002 CEO of the Year by the Massachusetts Telecom Council, and has received numerous other leadership recognitions and awards.
Reeve earned her MBA degree, with distinction, from the Harvard Business School, and received her undergraduate degree, with honors, from the University of Georgia Honors Program. She has four children, coached soccer for over 20 years and has been active in her community soccer clubs and the Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association. She chairs the Church Council of the Crawford Memorial United Methodist Church in Winchester.
Diane Ripstein, Chief Communicator at Diane Ripstein Consulting, helps very smart people sound as smart as they are. After working with Diane, business executives and management teams deliver winning communications and presentations: to their prospects and peers, to the public and to the press. Going far beyond basic Presentation and Media Interview skills, Diane uses her theatrical training, sales experience, coaching flair and emphasis on Executive Presence to inspire her clients and help them to become communicators of influence.
For the past 15 years, Diane’s consulting firm has worked with executives at over 100 client companies: in financial services, management consulting, life sciences, technology, marketing and the media; from Fortune 100 firms to small, funky design shops.
Executives have profited by learning to give more powerful presentations, more succinct sales pitches, more compelling investment-raising road shows, and more credible interviews to the media, ultimately creating more successful client relationships.
Prior to developing her own business, Diane worked in the trenches of broadcast (WEEI and WSSH radio) and print (Boston Herald) media advertising sales and management for 15 years.
With both a Masters Degree in Education and performance experience as a dancer and actress, Diane’s technical expertise and theatrical flair translate into high-impact, high-energy programs.
Clients have included Fidelity Investments, IBM, Boston Consulting Group, American Express, Serono Pharmaceuticals, John Hancock Funds, Manulife Asset Management, Au Bon Pain, Office Depot, Novartis, Pyramis Global Advisors, Corey McPherson Nash.
Diane is an active professional member of the National Speakers Association.
Rudina joined Fairhaven Capital at its inception in 2007. She has invested in and served on the boards of CrowdTwist and FashionPlaytes.
Previously, Rudina was a Senior Manager in the Corporate Development Group at Microsoft Corporation. In this position, she was responsible for sourcing, structuring, and negotiating Microsoft's acquisitions and strategic investments including acquisitions such as iView Multimedia, DeepMetrix, and Lionhead Studios. Prior to Microsoft, she worked as an investment banker in the Technology Group at Credit Suisse. Rudina executed transactions in mergers and acquisitions and capital markets.
Rudina graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College with a BA in Economics and International Relations, and received her MBA from The Harvard Business School. She has been elected to the Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Epsilon honor societies.
Rudina Seseri serves on the Advisory Board of L’Oreal’s Women in Digital. She is also a 2011 Boston Business Journal 40-under-40 honoree for her professional accomplishments and community involvement.
Orit Shaer is the Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Media Arts and Sciences at Wellesley College. She also directs the Wellesley College HCI Lab. Dr Shaer is currently a Visiting Professor at the Olin College of Engineering.
Her research in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) focuses on tangible, tabletop, and mobile interaction as well as on computer-supported collaborative learning. Her current projects include the design and evaluation of a tabletop user interface for genomic research and the development of computational tools for enhancing innovation in bio-design. Dr Shaer is a recipient of multiple research awards funded by the National Science Foundation as well as by industry partners including the prestigious NSF CAREER Award.
Dr Shaer received her PhD and MSc in Computer Science from Tufts University. She has been a research fellow in the Design Machine Group at the University of Washington and in the University College London Interaction Center. Previously, she served as a system engineer at Orbotech Ltd, where she led an interdisciplinary development team.
Dr Shaer serves as a Chair of the international ACM Interactive Tabletops and Surfaces 2012. She is an author of numerous articles and conference proceedings, and serves on the program committee and editorial board of leading human-computer interaction conferences and journals.
Sara Spalding is the Senior Director of Microsoft's New England Research & Development Center, where she leads the team responsible for Microsoft's Cambridge Campus and the company’s technical and local outreach. Sara joined Microsoft in 1991, and has worked on wide range of products and technologies, including Windows, Internet Explorer, the .NET Framework and MSDN, in a range of roles including Technical Evangelist, Program Manager and Product Unit Manager. After a short vacation from the company in 2005-2007, she rejoined Microsoft in 2007 here in Cambridge. Sara has a BS in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Puget Sound. She lives in Wellesley with her husband and two children.
After five years as a corporate attorney for two different large firms in Boston, Rob's career took a major pivot in 2004 when he began providing coaching and training centered around practical applications of personality type. He has coached and trained thousands of executives, leaders, and sales professionals in Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Sweden, and throughout the United States. His first company, An Extraordinary Life®, was formed in January 2004 and remains focused on assisting professionals through complex career transitions. In 2005, Rob joined forces with SpeedReading People®, growing its client list to include more than 20 Fortune 500 firms. TypeCoach represents the latest incarnation of Rob's focus on delivering personal and professional results through the application of personality type.
Rob's law practice began with Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault and then with Weil, Gotshal & Manges in Boston, where he focused primarily on venture capital and leveraged buy-out transactions. He holds a B.A. with honors in both Philosophy and English Literature from Trinity College in Hartford, CT, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa. Rob also holds a J.D. from Boston University School of Law.
Lisa Brummel
Chief People Officer, Microsoft
Naomi Fried
Chief Innovation Officer, Boston Children’s Hospital
Laura Sen
President & CEO, BJ’s Wholesale Club
