2. WELCOME
This year's theme reflects the voices of all women. W.E. Women is a declaration of the female
strength, independence, and agency that women find in themselves and in each other. On anoth-
er level, it stands for Women Empower Women, a phrase that echoes the collaborative nature of
female empowerment. Our conference serves as the platform for fellow women to inspire, to com-
plement, and to strengthen one another.
We want to thank the WLI board and conference committee for all their work in planning this con-
ference. The event has come together beautifully, and we cannot express our gratitude enough.
We also want to thank our speakers and sponsors for all their contributions that have made this
conference possible. We hope you too have grown as much as we have through this rewarding
journey, and we hope you are just as excited to take part in today’s events.
Welcome to W.E. Women.
Yours,
Irene and Chloe
About the Yale Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI)
WLI seeks to empower future women leaders by creating a campus culture that emphasizes wom-
en’s leadership efforts among the various experiences offered at Yale and in the world.
Februrary 7th, 2015
The Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) was founded in 2006 by five undergraduate women who
desired to create an organization that prioritizes support and mentorship for female leaders on cam-
pus. In its short but remarkable history of eight years, WLI has established a variety of programs for
women at Yale, including biannual Job Shadowing Days, the Leading Ladies Gala that celebrates
more than 200 female student leaders on campus, and our cornerstone event, the Yale Women in
Leadership Conference. Since 2006, the conference has expanded its reach to attract more than
400 student attendees and a vast spectrum of speakers hailing from every discipline, from finance to
sports management to education.
Dear W.E. Women attendees,
Thank you for joining us for the Women’s Leadership Initiative’s
seventh annual conference. We hope you come to the con-
versation excited and open to thinking about what it means
to be a young woman and a female leader today. Our 60
speakers and moderators showcase every facet of female
leadership, from motherhood to entrepreneurship to embrac-
ing and capitalizing on our unique traits. We hope today’s
seasoned speakers and constructive conversations with peers
will shed light on questions you have had about gender—both
the status quo and the potential for future progress. But, most
1
importantly, with speakers, colleagues, and even strangers, we encourage you to develop and
expand the dialogue on women’s leadership.

3. 2
SCHEDULE
9am Registration begins
10am Levinson Auditorium opens
10:15am Opening Remarks
10:30-11:15am Opening Keynote: Ann Shoket, Editor in Chief & Millennial Expert
11:30-12:20pm Session 1:
Social Enterprise: How Business Can Reform the World
Tackling the Silicon Valley “Brogrammer” Culture: Females in Tech Start-Ups
How to Throw Like a Girl: Women in the Sports Industry
Switching Your Career: When Life Calls for a U-Turn
12:30-1:15pm Lunch 1 / Session 2a:
Motherhood Myths: Finding Work-Life Balance
The Difference “Difference” Makes: Double Minority Leadership
Ariana: Recording Artist to Restaurateur
1:30-2:15pm Lunch 2 / Session 2b:
Boss, But Not Bossy
Running to Success: A Story of Personal Resilience
How One Woman Changed Turkey's Food Industry
2:30-3:20pm Session 3:
Life after Residency: Careers in Medicine
Leading Women in STEM
Making it Big on Wall Street: Leading Women in Finance
Madame President: Women Leading the Way in Law and Government
Women in Education and Academia
3:20-4:00pm Coffee and Networking
4:00-4:45pm Closing Keynote: Claudia Chan, Founder of S.H.E. Globl Media Inc.
4:45-5pm Closing Remarks and Gift Giveaways from New Haven businesses
3

4. THE TEAM
Co-Chair, Chloe Siamof BK ‘16
Chloe is a junior architecture major in Berkeley Col-
lege and co-chair of the Women in Leadership
Conference. She was previously a manager for the
2014 Conference, organizing three panels. The W.E.
Women theme is especially important to Chloe as she
is passionate about breaking conventional notions of
female leadership and expanding woman to woman
mentorship. An avid sports fan and runner, Chloe is
particularly interested in sports as a means of female
empowerment and seeks to support women leaders
in the sports industry. Raised in Appleton, Wisconsin by
a family of go-getters, Chloe owned and operated a
popcorn stand for seven years and started an initia-
tive to protect the architecture of her high school.
She is proud of her hometown and hopes to jumpstart
a similar women leadership conference in Appleton.
Co-Chair, Irene Chung BR ‘17
Irene is a sophomore in Branford College from South-
ern California, majoring in Political Science and East
Asian Studies. She is deeply interested in studying
international relations and foreign policy. She helped
organize the 2014 Women in Leadership Conference
as a committee member, planning and moderating
panels on law and government. This year, she is very
excited to present a fresh, new angle of female lead-
ership through W.E. Women. This conference aims to
highlight the collaborative power of fellow women,
how we can join together to defy and redefine fe-
male leadership. Beyond WLI, Irene is a tour guide at
the Yale Center for British Art and a writer for The Yale
Globalist. She is a yoga instructor in Branford College
and also loves to run.
2014-2015 Yale WLI Board
President - Stephany Rhee
Vice President of External Relations - Arielle Miller
Vice President of Internal Relations - Tina Yuan
Alumnae Relations Chair - Siddhi Surana, Dianne Kaiyoorawongs
Business Chair - Audrey Shen
Conference Chairs - Chloe Siamof, Irene Chung
Mentorship Chair - Hanna Jeon
Outreach Chairs - Hiral Doshi, Jessica Gao
Publicity Chair - Kamela Al Qubaisi
Speakers and Workshops Chair - Charlotte Clinger
Managers - Alizeh Maqbool, Amelia Ricketts, Aryssa Damron, Caitlin Purdome, Ellen Kim, Haley Sproull, Meg
McHale, Nur Eken, Rebecca Connelly, Savina Kim, Selcen Yuksel, Tanya Shi, Tasnim Elboute
4
Tasnim Elboute
Tasnim Elboute is a sophomore
in Berkeley College, from
Brooklyn, NY. She is majoring
in environmental studies and
has a particular interest in
environmental justice. For the
conference, she is organizing
the Women in Social Enterprise
panel as well as the Women
in Academia and Education
panel.
Rudi-Ann Miller
Rudi-Ann Miller (SM '17) is
ecstatic to be a part of the
conference. Hailing from
Kingston, Jamaica (by way
of NYC), Rudi is a Political Sci-
ence major who is passionate
about women's rights and
empowerment. Outside of
WLI, she is involved in the Yale
College Council, the Repro-
ductive Rights Action League
for Yale College Students, the
Silliman Administrative and
Activities Committee, and the
Yale Globalist.
Alexandra Small
Alexandra Small is a freshman
in Silliman College from
Connecticut. Her academic
interests include econom-
ics, political science, and
global affairs. She is part of the
Freshman Class Council, Yale
Political Union, and Yale Inter-
national Relations Association.
Crystal Kong
Crystal is a freshman in Berke-
ley College potentially major-
ing in Computer Science and
Ethnicity, Race, and Migration.
Hailing from Cleveland, OH,
she really does say "pop"
instead of soda and enjoys
consuming all types of food.
Outside of WLI, Crystal is the
Co-Community Development
Chair for the Asian American
Student Alliance.
Jennie Callan
Jennie Callan is a sophomore
in Berkeley College. She is a
pre-med student majoring
in History of Art. Apart from
WLI, Jennie runs varsity Cross
Country and Track & Field
and works as a Community
Consent Educator. Born and
raised in San Francisco, CA,
she loves art, music, and the
outdoors, and is passionate
about women in sports.
Kimberly Huang
Kimberly Huang is currently a
sophomore in Saybrook ma-
joring in Molecular Biophysics
and Biochemistry. She loves
being part of WLI and the idea
of empowering women who
are just getting into the real
world. She is fueled by Spotify
and loves music, dance, and
beauty of all sorts.
Hatice Nur Eken
Hatice Nur Eken is a sopho-
more in Jonathan Edwards
College majoring in cognitive
science. Hailing from Turkey,
she has a passion for traveling,
trying different cuisines,
writing, playing the piano, and
learning languages. Apart
from WLI, she is also a member
of the Yale Political Union, en-
joys their debates, and is part
of the MedX Students at Yale.
Alizeh Maqbool
Hailing from Lahore, Pakistan,
Alizeh Maqbool is a sopho-
more in Berkeley College. She
is majoring in Physics, but she
is also involved with several
student groups such as the
Women’s Leadership Initiative,
the Yale Drop Team, Yalies for
Pakistan, and the Yale Interna-
tional Relations Association.
Yelena Gankin
Yelena Gankin is a Ukrainian-
born, California-raised soph-
omore in Berkeley College
double majoring in Political
Science and American Stud-
ies. Outside of WLI, she acted
as Director of Legislation for
this year’s Yale Model Con-
gress, organizes Yale Model
United Nations conferences
domestically and abroad, and
works at the Yale Alumni Fund.
She is delighted to be on the
committee and looks forward
to an incredible conference.
Aileen Huang
Aileen Huang is a sophomore
in Berkeley majoring in com-
puter science and mathemat-
ics. After participating in the
Yale Entrepreneurial Institute's
Tech Bootcamp in the summer
before sophomore year, she
realized that women did not
have a strong presence in
tech entrepreneurship, de-
spite Silicon Valley's increasing
relevance in everyday life.
Her experience inspired the
Brogrammer panel.
5

5. KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Ann
ShoketEditor in Chief, Millennial Expert,
Brand Builder, Content Strategist
Ann Shoket is an innovative editor and millennial thought leader, shaping the conversa-
tion around some of the most important issues facing young women today: bullying, body
image, feminism, and finding their power in the world.
As editor in chief of Seventeen magazine from 2007-2014, Ann Shoket led a period of great
innovation at the iconic fashion and beauty publication, making it an important rite of
passage that helps 13 million readers become confident, self-assured young women.
With an editorial strategy of “Seventeen Everywhere,” Shoket drove seventeen.com to
record-breaking traffic and engagement and led the brand to become one of the top
magazines on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. Shoket relaunched Seventeen’s video
strategy on YouTube in 2014, solidifying its place as the number one women’s magazine on
YouTube. In addition, Shoket oversaw the creation of the first app developed at Hearst to
reach 1 million downloads and later led the development of Seventeen for the iPhone—a
first-of-its-kind app experience that unifies all of the brand’s platforms into a single mobile
feed. In 2014, Seventeen was named to Adweek’s Hotlist as the Hottest Magazine on So-
cial Media and the Hottest Teen Magazine.
Shoket has been named to Forbes’ Most Powerful U.S. Fashion Magazine Editors list. She
has also been honored by the Young Women’s Leadership School, the Girl Scouts, and
Planned Parenthood. She currently serves on the Media Advisory Board for The National
Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
6
Claudia
ChanCEO & Founder of S.H.E. GLOBL Media Inc.
Claudia Chan is the CEO and Founder of S.H.E. Globl Media Inc., the multi-platform wom-
en’s empowerment company behind the renowned global women’s conference, S.H.E.
Summit. As a women’s empowerment expert and social entrepreneur, Claudia’s life pas-
sion is to help women unleash their potential in career and life while igniting them to drive
change for other women. By making empowerment content, conferences, and programs
accessible to all women on the planet, Claudia believes women can change the world.
In just 3 years, S.H.E. Summit has become a globally-celebrated women’s leadership and
lifestyle event, convening hundreds of today’s change-makers and participation from
women and men in over 100 countries. Her website, ClaudiaChan.com, called “the as-
pirational Facebook for women,” by Forbes, is a mentorship-on-demand resource for
women to gain advice from hundreds of the world’s most accomplished women that
Claudia has personally interviewed, including her own “optimal leading and living man-
tras.” Recently announced the 2015 global spokesperson for Gillette Venus #UseYourAnd
empowerment campaign, Claudia has also been widely quoted and featured in top
media outlets. She is referred to as the “Richard Branson of Women’s Empowerment” by
FastCompany, “SHE Who Must Be Obeyed” by Newsweek/The Daily Beast, a “Success
Story” by FOX Business, a “MAKER” by the AOL platform MAKERS, “Steering One of the
Most Influential Women’s Movements” by Refinery29, and “One of the world’s most curious
people” by Vanity Fair. Prior to S.H.E. Globl, Claudia served as the President and Co-Owner
of women’s entertainment company, Shecky’s, for 10 years. She graduated from all-wom-
en’s Smith College.
7

6. SESSION 1
Social Enterprise: How Business Can Reform the World
Charities aren’t the only organizations contributing meaningfully to social issues these days. Around the globe,
businesses are cropping up with a mission, and it’s not to maximize revenue but to serve the common good.
Defying traditional notions of business, social enterprises look beyond profit and use their contributions to social
and environmental causes as bottom lines. This panel will explore the future of mission driven business, its rela-
tionship with social advocacy, and the female leaders who are pioneering the field.
Co-Moderator: Schuyler Arakawa, SY ‘15
Schuyler Arakawa is a humanities major interested
in market-based solutions to poverty and interna-
tional development. She co-founded Net Impact,
the undergraduate outlet for social enterprise, in
2012. In 2014, she was the Campus Director for the
Hult Prize at Yale, the world’s largest student com-
petition on social enterprise. While in Indonesia in
the summer of 2014, Schuyler conducted a case
study on the social enterprise East Bali Cashews.
Her other interests include being a 2015 Senior
Class Gift Co-Chair, past contributor for the travel
website, JetSet Times, while abroad in Barcelona,
and teaching English in Tanzania and Nepal.
Co-Moderator: Kara Sheppard-Jones, TC ‘15
Kara Sheppard-Jones is a senior political science
major originally from Montreal, Canada. Her focus
academically has been on the political economy of
development and she just completed her thesis on
the prospects for the solidarity economy in Cuba.
Her freshman year, she co-founded the undergrad-
uate chapter of Net Impact to provide a space for
Yale students to learn about and get involved in all
things relating to social innovation and social entre-
preneurship. After graduation, she plans on returning
to Canada and contributing to the growing social
innovation community.
Jenifer Willig, Co-founder of WHOLE WORLD Water and the-motive.co
Jenifer is the co-founder of WHOLE WORLD Water with Karena Albers, a social enterprise uniting the hospitality & tourism industry
to raise money for clean and safe water projects around the world (www.wholeworldwater.co). WHOLE WORLD Water works
to engage the hospitality and tourism industry to filter, bottle, and sell its own water, and contribute 10% of the proceeds to the
WHOLE WORLD Water Fund. Jenifer is also the co-founder of motive, a social innovation consultancy (the-motive.com) working
with large companies to position and scale their social investments. Clients include Morgan Stanley, Gap Foundation, Old Navy
and the New York Stock Exchange.
Prior to starting motive, Jenifer led the (RED) organization founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver to fight AIDS in Africa. During her
four year tenure (RED) raised $185 million by partnering with iconic brands including Nike, Apple, Dell, Microsoft, and Starbucks
and became a global brand with a social following of over 2.5 million advocates. Jenifer began her career in advertising on
global brands including AT&T, Levi Strauss & Co, British Airways, The Financial Times. She ran the New York office of M&C Saatchi
and developed the dot com business at TBWA/Chiat/Day San Francisco during the tech boom of the late 1990s. In 2013 she
was named one of the 10 Most Generous Marketing Geniuses by Catch a Fire’s Generosity Series featured in Fast Company and
recognized as one of the 40 women to watch over 40.
Amanda Rinderle, Co-founder of Tuckerman & Co.
Amanda is a second-year student at SOM and co-founder of Tuckerman & Co.—a mission-driven brand that provides great-fit-
ting, professional clothing that is sustainably sourced and manufactured. Tuckerman & Co. recently raised over $30,000 on
Kickstarter to produce its first product—a men’s organic cotton dress shirt made from 100% certified organic cotton fabric from
Italy and assembled in the USA. It is the first Benefit Corporation launched out of Yale, and recently won the Connecticut Social
Enterprise Award.
Prior to SOM, Amanda worked as a social impact consultant at FSG, where she supported corporations, foundations, and school
districts on issues of strategy and evaluation. She also co-authored several whitepapers on related topics such as the strategic
value of donor advised funds, corporate social responsibility in India, and immunization training in Sub-Saharan Africa. Before
that, Amanda worked at Trinity Partners as a life sciences consultant and at Oliver Wyman as a traditional management consul-
tant. She graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University where she received the Stephen Whelan ’68 Senior Thesis Prize
and Philo Sherman Bennett Prize in Politics.
Maria Vertkin, Founder and Executive Director of Found in Translation
Maria was born in Russia and lived in Israel before immigrating to the United States. She earned a BSW at Regis College and has
worked with adolescents transitioning out of foster care, in workforce development, and youth and family homelessness, and
domestic violence. Seeing that women and racial, ethnic, and linguistic minorities are over-represented in poor and homeless
communities, Maria saw an opportunity to turn language and culture skills into a profession that could lift low-income bilingual
women out of poverty.
Maria founded the nonprofit Found in Translation in 2011 to provide a Medical Interpreter Certificate training and job placement
to low-income bilingual women at no charge. Found in Translation also provides interpreter services, serving as a direct job
placement to its graduates and generating revenue that helps to fund the interpreter training. Maria is a recipient of the 2009
Veronica Award from the Superstars Foundation, the 2010 Pearson Prize, the 2011 Women of Peace Award from the Women’s
Peacepower Foundation, the 2011 Kip Tiernan Social Justice Fellowship, and the 2013 Echoing Green Global Fellowship.
8
How to Throw Like a Girl: Opportunities in the Sports Industry
In an industry that primarily values strength, masculinity and macho competitive spirit, it can seem impossible
for women to break into the field of athletics. How do we combat the expectations of masculinity that pervade
this realm? In this panel, we will discuss what it is like to be a woman in the sports industry, both on the field and
behind the scenes. Additionally, we will highlight lessons from sports that can be applied to business and profes-
sionalism. From an early age, team sports are used to instill ambition, drive and diligence in young women. How
can these values enhance our careers both in athletics and beyond?
Moderator: Sue Rodin, President of Stars & Strategies, Inc., Founder and Chair Emerita of Women in Sports and Events (WISE)
Sue Rodin is the President of Stars & Strategies, an organization that provides strategic sports marketing for corporate clients such
as the Danskin Women’s Triathlon Series, MassMutual Financial Group, ESPN, espnW, Conde Nast Publications, and The New York
Times. Rodin is also the exclusive marketing representative for ESPN basketball analyst Carolyn Peck and soccer Olympic gold
medalist Carla Overbeck, among other elite female athletes. Prior to launching her company, Rodin served as the in-house con-
sultant for Avon Products’ 1996 Olympic Games sponsorship and licensing programs, for both domestic and global markets. Ad-
ditionally, Rodin is the founder and chair emerita of Women in Sports and Events (WISE), the leading voice and resource for wom-
en in the business of sports since 1993. The not-for-profit professional organization currently has 11 chapters across the country.
Rodin’s most recent honors include her selection as the 2009 Sports Business Woman of the Year by the James H. Warsaw Sports
Marketing Center at the University of Oregon and her induction into SportsBusiness Journal’s inaugural class of “Game Changers:
Women in Sports Business” in 2011. She has chaired conferences for Strategic Research Institute and the American Marketing
Association (AMA), moderated the sports panel at Harvard Business School’s 12th annual “Dynamic Women in Business” confer-
ence, and participated in the 2014 Yale Women in Leadership conference. Rodin has appeared on ESPN, CNN, “NBC Nightly
News,” Fox Sports, and other media outlets. In 2014, in conjunction with the WISE Leadership Institute at the Tuck School at Dart-
mouth College, and with funding from Coca-Cola, WISE established the Rodin Scholarship for Female Entrepreneurs.
Sarah Hughes, Olympic Gold Medalist Figure Skater and Ambassador for the Women’s Sports Foundation
Sarah won the 2002 Olympic Gold Medal in Figure Skating and skated the most technically demanding long program ever seen
before in the Women’s Olympic figure skating competition. At 16, she became the fourth youngest Olympic women’s figure
skating champion ever and only the seventh American woman to capture gold. Sarah holds a B.A. from Yale University and is
currently an Ambassador for the Women’s Sports Foundation, Board Member for the Skating Club of New York, a member of the
US Figure Skating Memorial Fund Committee, Athlete Advisory Council for the United States Olympic Committee, Ambassador for
the Worldwide Orphans Foundation and is on the Honorary Board of Directors for Figure Skating in Harlem. She is a founder of the
General Electric Heroes for Health program and has been a spokesperson for General Electric and the Campbell’s Soup Labels
for Education program. She has also been an organizer and co-host for charitable events for the National Center for Disabilities
at the Henry Viscardi School since 1998. Her writing has been published in publications such as The New York Times, Wall Street
Journal and Newsweek. She has spoken at schools across the country, at the United Nations alongside Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon, and also actively supports First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” initiative. For the 2014 Olympics, Sarah co-hosted
the daily “Olympic Ice” show on NBCOlympics.com. Sarah is a regular contributor to NBCOlympics.com, TeamUSA.org, US Figure
Skating and the Today Show. Sarah Hughes currently serves as Senior Vice President and Board Member of the Kingsbridge Na-
tional Ice Center. She continues to headline charity skating shows close to her heart and perform in national skating specials.
Dr. Donna Lopiano, President and Founder of Sports Management Resources
Dr. Donna Lopiano is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Women’s Sports Foundation (1992-2007), served for 18 years
as the University of Texas at Austin Director of Women’s Athletics, and is a past-president of the Association for Intercollegiate
Athletics for Women. Currently, Dr. Lopiano is the President and founder of Sports Management Resources (SMR), a consulting
firm that focuses on bringing the knowledge of former athletics directors to scholastic and collegiate athletics departments. She
is also an adjunct lecturer in Sports Management at Southern Connecticut State University. Dr. Lopiano was named one of “The
10 Most Powerful Women in Sports” by Fox Sports and is recognized as one of the foremost national experts on gender equity in
sport.
She received her bachelor’s degree from Southern Connecticut State University, her master’s and doctoral degrees from the
University of Southern California, and is the recipient of five honorary doctoral degrees. She has been a college coach of men’s
and women’s volleyball, women’s basketball and softball and coached the Italian national women’s softball team. As an
athlete herself, she participated in 26 national championships in four sports and was a nine-time All-American at four different
positions in softball.
Laura Gentile, Vice President and Founder of espnW
Laura Gentile is the vice president and founder of espnW, ESPN’s first dedicated business built to serve women who love sports.
espnW initially launched in Dec. 2010 as a blog and evolved as of April 2011 to an enhanced website at espnW.com that aims to
become the premiere site for women’s sports and provides commentary, in-depth features and storytelling on the sports world at
large. espnW is now a multimedia business encompassing digital, social, television, films and events such as The espnW: Women
+ Sports Summit.
Prior to researching and launching espnW, Gentile served as vice president, chief of staff at ESPN. In that role, Gentile worked di-
rectly with George Bodenheimer, President, ESPN, Inc. and ABC Sports, on all aspects of the company’s business. Before working
in the office of the president, Gentile was senior director of brand management within ESPN’s consumer marketing department.
Gentile joined ESPN in January 2003 as director, advertising and marketing.
A graduate of Duke University in 1994 with a double major in English and political science, she earned an MBA in Marketing and
Organizational Behavior from Boston College’s Carroll Graduate School of Management in 1996. While an undergraduate, Gen-
tile garnered All-America and All-ACC honors in field hockey and was a two-time team captain.
9

7. SESSION 1
Switching Your Career: When Life Calls for a U-Turn
College students change their majors an average of three times before they graduate. With the growing
number of majors, from agroecology to homeland security, we have a hard time limiting ourselves to one field.
We ask ourselves, which major will help us land that dream job? Yet many successful professionals end up in
fields they had never anticipated in college. In this panel, we will hear from leading women who made the
bold move of switching careers. How did they know when to take risks? How did they apply their skill sets to a
completely novel career? These panelists will exemplify the value in being open-minded and flexible about the
confusing and elusive “future.”
Moderator: Catherine Chiles, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine
Dr. Catherine Chiles is an Associate Professor/Clinical Educator at the Yale School of Medicine, and a board-certified psychiatrist
with added qualifications in Psychosomatic Medicine. She is Director of the Psychiatry Consultation-Liaison Service at the West
Haven VA, a position she has held since 1995. She trains Yale medical students, residents and fellows in the art of psychiatric
practice at the interface with other medical and surgical services. She serves on the Medical School’s Psychiatry curriculum
review and YSM admission committees. Dr. Chiles has won national awards for education, including the Leah Lowenstein Award
for Humane and Egalitarian Education twice and the Yale Psychiatry Residents Association Teaching Award 4 times.
Dr. Chiles is a Senior National Examiner of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, a Fellow of The American College of
Psychiatrists and the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, and Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
Susan Clark, Former Chief Marketing Officer of The Economist and Managing Director of the Economist Digital
Susan Clark retired in 2014 after a career leading marketing-driven businesses around the world. Her most recent professional
roles were at The Economist where she was Chief Marketing Officer and prior to that, Managing Director, The Economist Digital.
Prior to taking on the Digital role in 2012 Susan was Managing Director, The Economist Group, Continental Europe, Middle East
and Africa. Based in London and then Geneva, Susan was responsible for the regional business results of The Economist, Econo-
mist Conferences and Intelligent Life as well as the company’s global treasury and risk management business Eurofinance.
Susan came to The Economist Group from Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts, where she spent four years in London as Senior Vice-pres-
ident, Worldwide Marketing and Sales. Between 1992 and 2001, Susan was a founding partner in The Phineus Company, a mar-
keting and strategy consultancy serving a range of industries including financial services, entertainment, the internet, healthcare
and communications. She counted Citigroup, JP Morgan, and MasterCard among her clients. Susan spent fifteen years with
the American Express Company, in New York, Washington DC and Sydney, Australia prior to The Phineus Company. In 1984 she
handled all aspects of the company’s Olympic Games sponsorship and she was the creator of several key card benefits, such as
Purchase Protection, now common on credit cards everywhere. Susan has an MA in East Asian Studies – Anthropology and a BA
in East Asian Studies – Art History from Yale University.
Theodora Goss, Writer, Senior Lecturer at Boston University’s College of Arts and Sciences
Theodora Goss was born in Hungary and spent her childhood in various European countries before her family moved to the
United States. She has a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Theodora
practiced corporate law for three years before returning to school to obtain her M.A. and Ph.D in English Literature from Boston
University. She is also a graduate of the Odyssey and Clarion writing workshops, where she sold her first published story, “The Rose
in Twelve Petals.”
Her publications include the short story collection In the Forest of Forgetting (2006); Voices from Fairyland (2008), a poetry anthol-
ogy with critical essays and a selection of her own poems; The Thorn and the Blossom (2012), a novella in a two-sided accordion
format; and the poetry collection Songs for Ophelia (2014). She has been a finalist for the Nebula, Locus, Crawford, Seiun, and
Mythopoeic Awards, as well as on the Tiptree Award Honor List, and her short story “Singing of Mount Abora” won the World Fan-
tasy Award. Theodora currently teaches in the Stonecoast MFA Program in Creative Writing and the Boston University College of
Arts and Sciences Writing Program.
Amy Wax, Robert Mundheim Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School
Amy Wax is the Robert Mundheim Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She holds a B.S. summa cum
laude from Yale. After graduating from Yale, Amy obtained her M.D from Harvard Medical School before pursuing a law career
and earning her J.D. from Columbia. By bringing to bear her training in biomedical sciences and appellate practice as well as
her interest in economic analysis, Wax has developed a uniquely insightful approach to problems in her areas of expertise. She
served as a law clerk to Judge Abner J. Mikva on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and from 1988 to 1994 worked in the Office
of the Solicitor General at the Department of Justice, where she argued 15 cases before the United States Supreme Court. She
taught at the University of Virginia Law School before joining the faculty at Penn Law School in 2001. Her areas of teaching and
research include civil procedure, remedies, appellate and Supreme Court litigation, social welfare law & policy, and the law and
economics of work and family.
10
Tackling the Silicon Valley “Brogrammer” Culture: Females in
Tech Start-ups
The increasing relevance of technological and computer science skills has brought Silicon Valley’s “brogram-
mer,” male-dominated culture to the forefront of national attention. Despite the booming demand for individ-
uals proficient in technological development, the number of women who have tech skills has hit an all-time
low since the 1980s, reflecting the rise of a misogynist and exclusive culture present in technology. This panel
addresses systemic issues that women face on a day-to-day basis that are exacerbated by the “brogrammer”
start-up culture: exclusion of women, female stereotypes of inferiority in acquiring tech skills, a lack of female
tech entrepreneurs in the start-up world, and unequal pay.
Moderator: Shirley Guo, BK ‘15
Shirley is a senior at Yale University double majoring in Psychology and Economics. Through her various experiences in telecom-
munications, Asian American activism and consulting, she has developed a passion for both marketing and strategy. A Master’s
Tea led Shirley to SubLite, a Yale startup that helps students find internships and sublets. She was extremely intrigued by what Sub-
Lite had to offer and joined the SubLite team as the Chief Marketing Officer in early 2014. In her spare time, Shirley enjoys splitting
her time between New Haven and Shenzhen (China), eating tomatoes, reading science fiction and coding.
Jessica Cole, Outreach Director at Panorama Education
Jessica Cole graduated from Yale College in 2012, obtaining her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a focus on Urban Stud-
ies. She is a veteran of three civic start-ups. While she was still an undergraduate student, Jessica joined the Yale Entrepreneurial
Institute as a fellow and co-founded Roammeo, a site and app that displays New Haven parties and events in real time. She was
the winner of the 2012 Yale Venture challenge, and a finalist in the MassChallenge accelerator program.
Jessica currently serves as Outreach Director at Panorama Education, a YEI and Y Combinator company, and creates feedback
surveys and analytics for K-12 schools that give students and educators a voice in decision making.
Jennifer McFadden, Associate Director for Entrepreneurial Programs at the Yale School of Management, Co-Founder of SkillCrush
Jennifer McFadden is Associate Director of Entrepreneurial Programs at the Yale School of Management. She is also a co-found-
er and advisor to SkillCrush, an educational community that teaches digital skills to professionals. Driven by innovation and
creation, she is passionate about technology, media, and entrepreneurship. While attaining her MBA at the Yale School of Man-
agement in 2007, Ms. McFadden helped launch the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute, which is now one of the leading entrepreneur-
ial organizations at Yale University.
Prior to joining Yale SOM, Ms. McFadden worked as a consultant in media and tech. She was an adjunct professor at the
Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the City University of New York, where she also conducted research at the
intersection of media, tech and entrepreneurship. Having gained invaluable experience in various facets of technological entre-
preneurship and mentorship, Ms. McFadden will be sharing her stories and experience in this panel.
Olivia Pavco-Giaccia, Founder of LabCandy
Olivia Pavco-Giaccia is a junior at Yale University, majoring in cognitive science. Long passionate about encouraging and
engaging girls in the sciences, Olivia was selected to serve as a Fellow at the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute, where she launched
her newest venture, LabCandy, a social enterprise whose mission is to stoke young girls’ interest in STEM. After completing a
successful Kickstarter campaign this fall, Olivia is readying to bring to market LabCandy’s brightly colored lab coats, kid-sized
sparkly lab goggles, and science adventure storybooks. Olivia has collaborated with a variety of girl-serving initiatives including
the Emmy Award winning PBS television show SciGirls, Johns Hopkins’ Cogito magazine, as well as serving as a Member of the
Champions Board of the National Girls Collaborative Project, the country’s largest non-profit organization committed to inform-
ing and encouraging girls to pursue careers in STEM. Prior to joining Yale, Olivia worked as a researcher in laboratories at both
Georgetown University and Stanford University, the latter research serving as the basis for her selection as a Siemens Semi-Finalist.
Her background and focus on the synergies between science and girl-centric, social activism have led to a number of speaking
opportunities and community leadership roles, including participation in the annual USA Science & Engineering Festival in
Washington, DC, the National Geographic JASON Argonauts program, and Think Social, a Yale think tank dedicated to explor-
ing innovative ideas for positive social impact. In her spare time, Olivia enjoys riding horses and playing her cello with the Yale
Symphony and with the all-cello rock group, Low Strung.
11

8. SESSION 2a
Motherhood Myths: Finding Work-Life Balance
As more and more women choose to break out of the traditional role of “stay-at-home mom,” balancing a
personal and professional life is becoming increasingly difficult, especially for mothers. How do you synchronize
family planning and career path? What does it mean to be a mom 24/7 and a professional woman from 9 to
5? This panel seeks to open positive channels of dialogue about contemporary concepts of motherhood, using
each panelist’s experiences as a springboard for discussion.
Moderator: Crystal Kong, BK ‘18
Crystal is a freshman in Berkeley College, potentially majoring in Computer Science and Ethnicity, Race, and Migration. Hailing
from Cleveland, OH, she really does say "pop" instead of “soda”, and enjoys trying all sorts of different cuisines. She also has a
particular personal interest in exploring the intersection of work and family, an interest born from her own experience. Her person-
al background as the child of a working immigrant family lends her a unique perspective on motherhood and the barriers that
mothers in particular face in the professional world. As such, Crystal is passionate about this panel and the work that WLI does to
empower women. Outside of WLI, Crystal is the Co-Community Development Chair for Yale's Asian American Student Alliance.
Jessica Sager, Co-founder and Executive Director of All Our Kin
Jessica Sager is the co-founder and executive director of All Our Kin, a Connecticut-based nonprofit that trains, supports, and
sustains community child care providers to ensure that children and families have the foundation they need to succeed in school
and in life. Through All Our Kin’s programs, caregivers succeed as business owners; working parents find stable, high-quality care
for their children; and children get an educational foundation that lays the groundwork for achievement in school and beyond.
Jessica received a B.A. from Barnard College and a J.D from Yale Law School. She co-founded All Our Kin with Janna Wagner in
the fall of 1999. In addition to her work at All Our Kin, Ms. Sager co-teaches a college seminar on “Child Care, Society, and Public
Policy” at Yale, and is a trustee of the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund. She has been honored by the Connecticut
Women’s Hall of Fame, and has received numerous awards from organizations including Yale University, Soroptimist Internation-
al, The International Alliance for Women, and the U.S. Small Business Administration. Most recently, New Profit hailed her as an
“Extraordinary Female Social Entrepreneur.”
Kimberly Seals Allers, Author, Founder and Editor in Chief of Black Breastfeeding 360, Founder of MochaManual.com
Kimberly Seals Allers is an award-winning journalist, author and a nationally recognized media commentator, consultant and
advocate for breastfeeding and infant health. A former writer at FORTUNE and senior editor at Essence magazine, Kimberly is a
leading voice in the counterculture movement in infant feeding. Her fifth book, a groundbreaking analysis of the social, political
and economic influences on the American breastfeeding landscape, will be published next year. As a consultant, Kimberly has
led innovative community-based projects that explore the impact of “first food deserts”—communities that severely lack resourc-
es to support breastfeeding mothers—and examining how to transform these areas into more supportive environments. Kimberly
is the project director of the First Food Friendly Community Initiative (3FCI), a pilot project to create multi-pronged community
support for breastfeeding in communities of need. In addition, she specializes in issues related to African American motherhood
and breastfeeding. She is the former editorial director of The Black Maternal Health Project of Women’s eNews. In 2011, Kimberly
was named an IATP Food and Community Fellow and works to increase awareness of the first food in vulnerable communities.
She leads nationwide workshops for health care professionals on cultural competency and breastfeeding and is a prominent
speaker on community-based strategies to reduce the racial disparities in breastfeeding and infant mortality rates. Kimberly has
appeared on Good Morning America, CNN, Anderson Cooper, and Fox News. She has been featured in The Guardian (U.K.),
Black Enterprise, and Pregnancy. Kimberly is a graduate of New York University and the Columbia University Graduate School of
Journalism. A divorced mother of two, she lives in Queens, NYC with her children and two turtles. Follow her @iamKSealsAllers.
Migdalia Rivera, Blogger and Founder of LatinaOnAMission.com and Stiletto Media, LLC.
Migdalia Rivera is a Latina Blogger, Speaker, Business Owner, Food and Education Activist, and Associate Campaign Director for
MomsRising.org. Yet, her most important title will always be Mom. It is what drives her.
In 2009, Migdalia founded LatinaOnaMission.com (“LOAM”), a nationally recognized Latina lifestyle blog, to share her cultura
and resources with other moms. In 2011, Migdalia formed Stiletto Media, LLC, a multi-cultural blogger network, to connect blog-
gers with brands. Since its inception, the Stiletto Blogger Network has worked on numerous campaigns with the American Heart
Association, the Women’s Equality Party, the White House, Univision and Glamour Magazine to name a few.
You can follow Migdalia Rivera on Twitter, @MsLatina, and read more about her personal escapades on her personal blog,
LatinaOnaMission.com. You can also follow Stiletto Media on Twitter, @StilettoChat, and on Facebook, facebook.com/stiletto-
media.
12
Mary Zisk, Single adoptive mom, Artist, and Design Director of Strategic Finance magazine
Mary Zisk is a mother, graphic designer, artist, and Jersey girl.
Mary graduated from Ohio University with a BFA in graphic design and illustration. She dragged her portfolio to NYC and began
designing magazines. Decades later, she still is—having been art director of Science Digest, PC Magazine, and Art & Antiques,
among others. Currently she is Design Director of Strategic Finance, the flagship magazine of the Institute of Management
Accountants (IMA).
Mary’s love of travel and painting has taken her on tours with other artists to paint in France, Italy, England, Death Valley, Hawaii,
and China. But, after hitting forty, Mary decided to take a different kind of journey—to single motherhood through adoption. In
1994, she traveled to Russia to adopt her daughter, Anna, who was three years old at the time. When Mary couldn’t find chil-
dren’s books to read to her daughter about single parent adoption, she wrote and illustrated The Best Single Mom in the World:
How I Was Adopted, which was published in 2001. A member of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators, Mary
hopes to publish again.
Ariana: From Recording Artist to Restaurateur
At just 15 years old, Ariana Grinblat exploded onto the Russian music scene and in a few short years, earned 6
Russian Grammy, 3 Song of the Years, and a nomination for Best Russian Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
After introducing R&B music to Russia, Ariana sought to change American perceptions of Russian cuisine with
the opening of her contemporary NYC Russian restaurant Ariana, the only modern Russian restaurant in all of
New York City. From singing to crafting the perfect pickle salad, come hear how Ariana infused her Russian
American heritage into her career and business.
Ariana Grinblat, Owner of Ariana restaurant and Multi-platinum Recording Artist
Introduced by Kimberly Huang, SY ‘17
Ariana is a Russian-American multi-platinum pop/R&B recording artist. She was
signed with Sony Music Russia in 2000 at the tender age of 15, and her career as
a singer blossomed quickly earning her some impressive nods including 6 Russian
Grammys, 3 Song of the Years, and a nomination for Best Russian Act at the MTV
Europe Music Awards. Her debut album “I’ll Do It All Again” sold a remarkable
500,000 units, making her the number two selling artist in Russia in 2002. Her goal was
to pioneer R&B in Russia, but she was best known for her romantic power ballads,
including her break-out single “Under the Spanish Sky” which earned her first two
Russian Grammys, making her the youngest recipient to date (she was 16).
Now, Ariana owns her own contemporary Russian restaurant, Ariana. The restaurant
introduces New Yorkers’ palates to traditional Russian favorites that have been
deconstructed, reimagined, and refined through the incorporation of seasonal
ingredients often of higher quality than those upon which the dishes were originally
based. The chefs are trained in top culinary institutes around the world. Ariana also
features a Craft Vodka Bar, where mixologist Orson Salicetti reinvigorates vodka’s
popularity in a surprising and revolutionary manner.
13

9. SESSION 2a
Marielle Legair, Global Public Relations Manager at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limite, Communications Director for ColorComm
Marielle is an international public relations professional with over 10 years of experience working with senior leaders and brands
to generate media coverage around the world. Her work has been published in top-tier media outlets including: BBC, Financial
Times, USA Today, Forbes, Bloomberg, and more.
Marielle currently works as a global public relations manager at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), where she is responsible
for creating and implementing global media strategies to promote the Deloitte brand externally. In this role, she provides media
counsel to Deloitte Global executives, utilizing a broad range of communication strategies.
A keen supporter of the advancement of women, she is the Communications Director for ColorComm, a professional network
and membership organization aimed at women working in communication industries. In her spare time, she blogs at www.
BritChickNY.com – a lifestyle blog covering food, travel and New York life.
She relocated from London to New York in 2012. Marielle held a range of PR and communications roles in London including posi-
tions at: Deloitte UK, Experian, Grant Thornton, and GolinHarris.
Dr. Angelica Perez-Litwin, Founder of Latinas Think Big and the ELLA Institute
Recognized as one of the “Top 50 Influential Latinos” in the United States by Hispanic Business Magazine in 2013, Dr. Perez-Litwin
is a visionary leader devoted to advancing the careers and influence of Latinas in the United States and abroad. She’s the
Founder of the Latinas Think Big platform and ELLA Institute, a career innovation company, proudly supported by Google and
other companies.
Named a “Latina Tech Leader” by NBC Latino, Dr. Perez-Litwin has leveraged technology and social media to build a powerful
community of influential Latinas, and connect them to career and entrepreneurial opportunities. She’s the founding manager
of the Latina Leadership Network, an online community with over 4,000 Latina professionals and entrepreneurs. Dr. Perez-Litwin
is a regular contributor on the Huffington Post, and has made guest expert appearances on National Public Radio (NPR), Today
Show, PBS News, Univision, Telemundo and HTIN.
A practicing Psychologist, Dr. Perez-Litwin formerly held a research faculty appointment at New York University School of Med-
icine. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Columbia University, and a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Fordham
University.
Moderator: Dianne Lake, ES ‘16
Born in Sierra Leone, Dianne Lake is a junior in Ezra Stiles College double majoring in Political Science and Women’s, Gender, and
Sexuality Studies. Dianne is a member of the a cappella group Shades, Secretary General of the Yale Undergraduate Associa-
tion for African Peace and Development (YAAPD), a Corporate Sponsorship Coordinator for the Black Solidarity Conference,
a Communication and Consent Educator, and a student manager for the Political Science Department at Yale. Dianne has a
strong interest in international development, social justice and women’s rights, and is interested in pursuing a career in foreign
policy and international law.
The Difference “Difference” Makes: Double Minority
Leadership
With one foot in the discussion on race and the other fighting for gender equality, how do minority women
cope with the tension of these two identities? Women hold less than 20 percent of leadership positions in the
American workforce, and the achievement gap only widens when you are both a female and a minority. This
panel will discuss issues of identity with regard to gender and race. Panelists will address the equality discourse,
tackling the question, How can leadership emerge from such a unique perspective?
14
Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Author, Director of Strategic Engagement and Communications at The National Women’s Business
Council
Samhita Mukhopadhyay is a writer, speaker and technologist residing in NYC. She is a leader in the field of feminism, social entre-
preneurship and creative content production dedicated to engaging people around social issues. She also likes to make people
laugh. She is the former Executive Editor of the award-winning blog, Feministing.com and author of Outdated: Why Dating is
Ruining Your Love Life - an intervention to mainstream dating books.
She is currently the Director of Strategic Engagement and Communications at the National Women’s Business Council - a federal
advisory council to The White House, Congress and the SBA on issues of women and entrepreneurship. Prior to that she was on
the strategy team at Purpose and the training and technology coordinator at the Center for Media Justice.
Her writing can be found at The Nation, The American Prospect, The Guardian, Alternet and Al Jazeera. She has been profiled for
her work in The Globe and Mail, The Rumpus, Salon, India Currents Magazine, Nirali Magazine, Brown Girl Magazine, Rabble.ca
and on Alternet.
Jamia Wilson, Executive Director at Women, Action and the Media
Women, Action, and the Media's Executive Director Jamia Wilson has been movement building and storytelling for over a de-
cade. Recognized as one of the “17 Faces of the Future of Feminism” by Refinery29, Wilson has served as the Executive Director
of YTH (Youth Tech Health), TED Prize Storyteller, VP of Programs at The Women’s Media Center, and principal for Planned Par-
enthood’s youth program. A leading next-generation voice on gender justice, her work and words have appeared in New York
Magazine, Rookie Magazine, The Today Show, CNN, Ms., The Washington Post and more. Jamia has contributed to books such
as Madonna and Me, the 40th edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves and I Still Believe Anita Hill.
Passionate about intergenerational partnerships, Jamia’s experiences working with gender justice advocates including Gloria
Steinem, Gloria Feldt, and Loretta Ross has informed her view and vision. A spirited speaker, Jamia has taken the stage at Net-
roots Nation, Facing Race, the Anita Hill 20 Years Later conference, The National Conference on Media Reform and more.
A southerner who grew up in Saudi Arabia, Jamia holds a B.A. in communications from American University and a M.A. in human-
ities and social thought from New York University.
15

10. SESSION 2b
Boss, But Not Bossy
There is an unspoken code of professional conduct for both men and women. But for women, there exists
another set of expectations, a double standard. In a professional capacity, how do we respond to the conven-
tions and assumptions placed on us? From “proper” professional wardrobes to “proper” roles and behaviors
in company hierarchies, how can we defy this prescribed mold for ourselves and change the status quo? In
this panel, we will explore ways to maintain individuality in a professional setting. We will seek to differentiate
between “acting like a man” and “acting like a woman.” How can we move from a culturally imposed profes-
sional image to a self-imposed one?
Emilie Aries, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bossed Up
Emilie Aries is the founder and CEO of Bossed Up, a personal and professional training organization that helps women craft
sustainable careers. Emilie and her team have trained hundreds of women from across the country to help them navigate career
transition and prevent burnout, and was recently nominated for a Young Women of Achievement award by the Women's Infor-
mation Network for her work with Bossed Up. This past fall, Emilie delivered a TED talk on the "Power of No" about drawing healthy
boundaries and investing in sustainable long-term achievement. Aries also served as a keynote speaker at Brown University's
Women's Mentorship Program Kickoff and presented on gender bias and it's implications on hiring for Brandeis University's Hiatt
Career Center. She was also a featured speaker in this fall's Women in Leadership program through the University of Maryland's
Carey School of Law. Previously, Emilie has served in politics as a digital strategist and grassroots organizer, with an array of online
and offline campaign experience. Aries served as the Rhode Island state director for Organizing for America and managed
digital strategy for the Senate Democratic SuperPAC, MajorityPAC, working in some of the nation’s closest Senate campaigns
in 2012. She earned her B.A. in political science from Brown University and completed a Fellowship on Organizing at the Harvard
Kennedy School of Government. Emilie is based in Washington, DC and is a regular contributor writing on gender roles and work-
place culture at RoleReboot.org, The Huffington Post, and the Levo League.
Chloe Drew, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Appointments, City of New York
Chloe Drew is the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Appointments. She leads the team that runs the de Blasio Administration’s
recruitment, selection and appointment process for all Commissioners and senior staff across 40 city agencies. She also works di-
rectly with Deputy Mayors and Commissioners to recruit highly qualified individuals for appointment to over 200 municipal boards
and commissions. She is responsible for overseeing efforts to attract, develop and retain talented public servants.
From 2008 to 2013 Drew served as the Executive Director of the Council of Urban Professionals, administering a multi-million dollar
budget and a portfolio of results-oriented initiatives that advanced leadership development, diversity across the public, private
and nonprofit sectors, and access to capital for the next generation of business and civic leaders in New York City and Los Ange-
les. Drew previously served as Campaign Director for U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee in California’s 9th congressional district.
She also co-founded and served as a founding board member of OaklandVOTE, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing voter
participation in underserved communities. Before her work for the Lee campaign, Drew taught social studies and math at the
Colegio Americano de Quito in Ecuador, and was Deputy Finance Director of the Mark Udall for U.S. Congress campaign.
Drew earned an A.B. from Harvard University in History and Literature. She is a former board member of Latino Justice, Dance
Theatre of Harlem, Wellesley Centers for Women, Emerge America and One Voice PAC.
Lex Schroeder, Editor at the Lean Enterprise Institute and Blogger for Take the Lead Women
Lex Schroeder is a writer, editor, and facilitator focused on how work is changing, systems change, and all kinds of collaborative
problem solving. Whether she’s co-designing an event, facilitating a meeting, or making order on the page, Lex helps individuals
and groups initiate change and navigate chaos.
Lex works as a convener and blogger for Take The Lead Women, an organization dedicated to achieving leadership parity
across all sectors by 2025, and an editor at The Lean Enterprise Institute, the leading research organization on lean thinking and
practice. Prior to these roles, Lex spent four years in the Boston entrepreneurial community as co-founder of a media startup
dedicated to knowledge sharing and worked as content manager at The Berkana Institute. She has written on leadership for
Boston.com and Color Magazine, among other publications, and given workshops on leadership during times of transition at the
Harvard School of Public Health, The Kauffman Foundation, and other organizations. As co-founder of FeministsAtWork, Lex co-
hosts salons on feminism in practice around NYC. She is also an advisor for Wonder Women of Boston. Lex lives in NYC and works
in NYC and Cambridge, Mass.
Moderator: Kimberly Huang, SY ‘17
Kimberly Huang is currently a sophomore at Yale, majoring in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. She is so excited to be a
part of the Women’s Leadership Initiative and is very passionate about women empowerment and gender equality, especially in
such a pivotal time in social culture. Kimberly speaks avidly about women’s rights – both to children of all ages and recently at the
United Nations.
In addition to her involvement in WLI, Kimberly plays flute with the Concordia Flute Ensemble. She is fueled by Spotify and loves
music, dance, and beauty of all sorts.
16
Running to Success: A Story of Personal Resilience
In this one-woman narrative, Yemisi tells us how female empowerment, personal resilience, and exceptional
athletic abilities impacted her life. Raised as an orphan in Nigeria, Yemi’s determination, intelligence, and ath-
letic ability allowed her to travel to Europe and the United States, where she embraced educational opportuni-
ties. Today, she is a neurosurgery resident at the Yale School of Medicine.
Dr. Eyiyemisi Damisah, Neurosurgery Resident at the Yale School of Medicine
Introduced by Alexandra Small, SM ‘18
Yemisi is 4th year neurosurgery resident at Yale.
As a Neurosurgery resident, she spends most of her time in the operating room and the laboratory, learning about
brain and spine injury. Before starting her residency at Yale, she obtained her MD, MHS from Yale School of Medi-
cine where she was the recipient of the Laura Weinstein and Farr Scholar awards, and has several publications.
She is currently the Neurosurgery Education Foundation vascular section fellow and is working on using optical
imaging to understand brain function.
When she is not in the hospital, you can find her in the gym or on various running trails in New Haven.
How One Woman Changed Turkey’s Food Industry
After working a variety of jobs for 10 years in Istanbul, Pinar Kaftancioglu needed a change. In search of a slow-
paced, pastoral life for her family, Pinar moved to a village in the Aegean region of Turkey and established a
family farm. Her small farm quickly became a large ecological farming business with Pinar producing her own
all-natural produce and products. Since its founding, Pinar’s business has dramatically expanded, and today
her customer base numbers 50,000. But above all, Pinar’s farming business is a social responsibility project. The
farm, named “Ipek Hanim’in Ciftligi” after her little daughter, provides jobs for 150 local women.
Pinar Kaftancioglu, Farmer, Businesswoman, and Founder of Ipek Hanim’in Ciftligi
Introduced by Hatice Nur Eken, JE ‘17
Pinar Kaftancioglu was the second child and only daughter of the famous Turkish author Ümit Kaftancıoğlu. When
Pinar was 12 years old, her father was murdered outside their Istanbul home. To cope with her father’s death and
later challenges in her life, Pinar immersed herself in work.
After working various positions in Istanbul for ten years, Pinar moved to a small village in the Aegean region of Turkey
to provide a bucolic life for her two children. There, she quickly established a family farm that produced natural
produce and goods. Word of her organic products spread and soon orders from all over Turkey came flooding into
Pinar’s office. The sustainable farm now serves thousands, but Pinar’s business is still a family affair. Pinar regards all of
her costumers as the “extended family” of her farm which is named after her little daughter, Ipek.
17

11. SESSION 3
Leading Women in STEM
Interested in STEM? Today, despite programs and active efforts to engage more women in STEM, gender dispar-
ities persist in this arena. Are you interested in knowing how the status quo of women in STEM has changed over
the last few decades? Do you want to be a part of a greater move towards equality in representation and
opportunities for STEM majors and practitioners? How can you personally overcome these pre-existing hurdles
and conditions? Whether you are a science major or simply would like to connect with leading women in STEM,
this panel will stimulate timely discussion on questions at the academic forefront.
Moderator: Barbara Santiago, PC ‘17
Barbara Santiago is a sophomore Physics major in Pierson College. She is originally from Brazil. Barbara became passionate
about physics in high school when she participated in several different science Olympiads from the regional to international
level in physics, astronomy, math, chemistry and more! While she was representing Brazil in the International Young Physicists’
Tournament, a research based competition, Barbara realized that she wanted to follow a career in research and academia.
Last summer, she conducted research with Professor Sarah Demers at CERN on the decay of the Higgs boson to tau leptons
under the funding of the Tetelman Fellowship for International Research in the Sciences. Currently, she is a board member of the
Yale Women in Physics group, and she was one of the organizers of the this year’s American Physical Society Conference for
Undergraduate Women in Physics.
Dr. Melissa Franklin, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University
Melissa Franklin is the Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University. She is an experimental particle physicist who is
working on studies of hadron collisions produced by the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory with the Collider Detector Facility
(CDF) and the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). She works in a collaboration of over 600 international phys-
icists who discovered the top quark at CDF, and 3000 physicists at ATLAS where she studies particle interactions and symmetries
at the highest energies now available worldwide when the accelerator turns on this fall. Professor Franklin, born and raised in
Canada, received her B.Sc. from the University of Toronto and her Doctorate from Stanford University. She worked as a post-doc-
toral fellow at Lawrence Berkeley Lab, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois in Champagne/Urbana and was a Junior
Fellow in the Society of Fellows at Harvard, before joining the Harvard faculty in 1989 and becoming the first female tenured
faculty member in the department of physics in 1992.
Dr. Bonnie Berger, Professor of Applied Mathematics at the MIT-CSAIL
Bonnie Berger is Professor of Applied Mathematics, and on the faculty of the Computation and Biology group at the MIT-CSAIL.
She is also an affiliate member of Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST), and MIT's Computer Science
and Systems Biology initiative (CSBi). Bonnie Berger received the A.B. in computer science from Brandeis University, the S.M. and
Ph.D. in computer science from MIT in 1986 and 90. She continued as a post-doctoral fellow at MIT while simultaneously serving
as a mathematical consultant at AT&T Bell Labs. She joined the MIT faculty in applied mathematics in 1992, holding a joint ap-
pointment at the Lab for Computer Science (now known as CSAIL), and became head of the computation and biology group
in 1994. She was promoted to professor in 2002. Professor Berger's major areas of research are in applying mathematical tech-
niques to problems in molecular biology. The focus of her research has been on the following core problem areas: comparative
genomics, protein structural motif recognition and discovery, molecular self-assembly and mis-assembly, and functional ge-
nomics. In 1997, she received MIT's Samuel A. Goldblith Career Development Professorship, and in 1998 the Biophysical Society's
Dayhoff Award. She was selected for Technology Review's TR100 Award in 1999, as one of the 100 top young innovators for 21st
century. Professor Berger was selected to give the Margaret Pittman Lecture of the NIH in 2011. In 2012 she was made a fellow of
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as the International Society for Computational Biology.
Dr. Yvonne Will, Head of Science and Technology Strategy for Drug Safety, Pfizer
Dr. Yvonne Will was born and raised in Germany where she studied Human Nutrition at the University of Bonn while working
full time in the Dept. of Equine Exercise Physiology. In 1992, Dr. Will had an internship at the College of Veterinary Medicine at
Oregon State University, where she enrolled the same year to obtain her MS degree. Dr. Will obtained her PhD in Biochemistry
and Biophysics from Oregon State University in 2000. Her thesis focused on the relationships between glutathione deficiency and
cellular and mitochondrial function/dysfunction. During her three years at the biotechnology company MitoKor she was involved
in drug discovery aimed on improving mitochondrial function or preventing mitochondrial dysfunction in obesity, diabetes, and
CNS related diseases. From 2003 until 2007, Dr. Will was a group leader in Drug Safety at Pfizer La Jolla, pioneering a screening
paradigm for drug induced mitochondrial toxicity, supporting many therapeutic areas. This platform has since been adapted
throughout all major pharmaceutical companies. During that time she also held an adjunct faculty position at San Diego State
University in the Toxicology program. In the fall of 2007 Dr. Will transferred to Pfizer Groton and in September of 2014, Dr. Will be-
came the Head of Science and Technology for Drug Safety within Pfizer, working on her passion to develop the next generation
of scientists through mentoring and a postdoctoral program. In addition to her many national and international lectures, Dr. Will
has published a book on drug induced mitochondrial toxicity and is working on a new book on drug discovery toxicology. In
2012, Dr. Will was honored with the Connecticut Technology Council’s Woman Research Innovation and Leadership Award. Dr.
Will enjoys spending time with her family, in particular her 11 year old daughter Natalia, and riding dressage on her horse Mocca.
18
Dr. Alicia Abella, Assistant Vice President of Cloud Technologies and Services Research Organization at AT&T
With 20 years of research experience, Dr. Abella has held positions that allow her to demonstrate her skills in a broad research
spectrum which have unfolded into her organization’s current responsibilities which include research in cloud computing, distrib-
uted storage, human-computer interaction, mobile services, and Internet of Things.
In 2013, Dr. Abella received Columbia University’s Medal of Excellence, an award given each year to an alumnus or alumna, un-
der 45 years of age, whose record in scholarship, public service, or professional life is outstanding. This is the first time since 1929
--when the award was first given-- that Columbia has awarded the medal to an engineer. In 2011, she was selected by President
Obama to be on his Presidential Advisory Commission for Educational Excellence for Hispanics. Also in 2011, she was inducted
into the prestigious WITI (Women in Technology International) Hall of Fame.
Besides her technical contributions, Dr. Abella has been a strong advocate in fostering the development of minorities and
women in science and engineering. She received her B.S. in Computer Science from NYU and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer
Science from Columbia University.
Madame President: Women Leading the Way in Law and
Government
Abigail Adams, wife of the second president of the United States John Adams, once wrote to her husband say-
ing, “If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will
not hold ourselves bound by any laws, in which we have no voice or representation.” Only 20% of the members
of Congress are female, and no woman has achieved the highest office in the land (…yet). With persisting legal
barriers to female empowerment in the public and private sector, this panel will highlight the women breaking
boundaries in law and government.
Moderator: Stephanie Krent, LAW ‘16
Stephanie Krent is a second-year law student at Yale Law School. There, she serves as Chair of Yale Law Women and as an editor
of the Yale Law Journal. Prior to law school, she worked as a researcher for the Advisory Board Company, studying the effect
of accountable health care systems on the delivery of imaging and radiology services. She graduated from Barnard College in
2011. Her academic work focuses on gender, work, and the welfare state.
Elizabeth Esty, U.S. Representative for the 5th Congressional District of Connecticut
Elizabeth Esty is the U.S. Representative for the 5th Congressional District of Connecticut. The district spans northwest and central
Connecticut and includes Danbury, Litchfield County, the Farmington Valley, the Naugatuck Valley, and her hometown of
Cheshire. Rep. Esty was elected to Congress on November 6, 2012. She serves on the Transportation and Infrastructure Commit-
tee and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Rep. Esty is also a vice chair of the Congressional Gun Violence
Prevention Task Force. Rep. Esty is committed to reinvigorating the district’s manufacturing tradition through investments in infra-
structure, research and development, and job training.
Before coming to Congress, Rep. Esty served in the Connecticut General Assembly (2009-2011) and the Cheshire Town Council
(2005-2008) where she made her mark as an advocate for responsible budgeting and job creation.
Rep. Esty graduated from Harvard University in 1981 and earned her law degree from Yale Law School in 1985. After clerking for
U.S. District Judge Robert Keeton of Massachusetts, she joined the firm of Sidley Austin and served as a member of the Supreme
Court bar. She later went on to work in health care and Medicare policy as a Senior Research scholar at Yale and to teach as an
adjunct professor at American University. Rep. Esty lives in Cheshire with her husband of 30 years, Dan Esty and her three children:
Sarah, Thomas, and Jonathan.
Continued on the next page
19

12. Madame President: Women Leading the Way in Law and
Government (Continued)
Heather Gerken, J. Skelly Wright Professor of Law at the Yale Law School
Heather Gerken is the J. Skelly Wright Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Professor Gerken specializes in election law and
constitutional law. Her most recent scholarship explores questions of election reform, federalism, diversity, and dissent. Her work
has been featured in The Atlantic “Ideas of the Year” section and the Ideas Section of the Boston Globe. She has won teaching
awards at both Yale and Harvard, been named one of the nation’s “twenty-six best law teachers,” won a Green Bag award for
legal writing, and testified before Congress. Professor Gerken served as a senior legal adviser in the “Boiler Room” for the Obama
for America campaign in 2008 and 2012. Her proposal for creating a “Democracy Index” was incorporated into separate bills by
then-Senator Hillary Clinton, then-Senator Barack Obama, and Congressman Israel and turned into reality by the Pew Charitable
Trusts.
Kelly Barrett, Assistant Federal Public Defender
Kelly is currently working as an Assistant Federal Defender in the District of Connecticut where she represents indigent persons
accused of federal crimes. She recently defended an individual accused of providing material support for terrorism and defend-
ed a police officer accused of excessive force in a case that resolved in a not guilty verdict at trial. Prior to joining the Federal
Defender Office, Kelly clerked for the Hon. Stefan R. Underhill, U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut and then for the
Hon. Dolores K. Sloviter, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Following her clerkships, Kelly worked as a litigation associate
at Arnold & Porter LLP (New York) where she worked on white collar criminal and commercial litigation matters. Kelly graduated
from the American University Washington College of Law summa cum laude, Order of the Coif, where she was a Public Interest/
Public Service (PIPS) scholar, and was the recipient of the Gillette prize and the Outstanding Graduate Award at graduation.
Kelly graduated from Yale University in 2002 with a BA in history and was a recipient of the Richard U. Light Fellowship to study
abroad in Japan. Kelly was also a four-year member of the Yale Women’s Crew Team.
Denise Merrill, Connecticut Secretary of State
Connecticut's 73rd Secretary of the State, Denise W. Merrill, was sworn into her second term of office on January 7, 2015 and
serves as chief elections official and business registrar for Connecticut. As Secretary of the State, Denise Merrill is committed to
supporting and expanding democratic participation, ensuring that every citizen's voting rights are protected and that every vote
is counted accurately. Secretary Merrill has worked closely with Governor Dannel Malloy to expand voting rights by enacting
Election Day registration, and implementing secure online voter registration for any adult Connecticut citizen with a driver’s
license. Secretary Merrill has also made significant strides to modernize business interactions within the office of the Secretary of
the State. Since taking office, she has implemented online filing of annual reports for all registered Connecticut businesses, and
established an online business startup tool to help new entrepreneurs navigate through required state and federal agencies. Prior
to her election as Secretary of the State, Denise Merrill served as State Representative from the 54th General Assembly district for
17 years, representing the towns of Mansfield and Chaplin. She served as House Majority leader from 2008-10 and House chair of
the budget writing Appropriations Committee from 2005-08. Denise Merrill also served as Vice Chair of the committees on Educa-
tion from 1994-98 and Government Administration and Elections from 1994-96. She is a graduate of the University of Connecticut,
is licensed to practice law in California, and is a classically trained pianist. Her family includes husband Dr. Stephen Leach and his
sons William and Edward; her daughter Nicole, son-in-law Brett, son Alex and his wife Alexa, son Nate, and four grandchildren.
SESSION 3
20
Life After Residency: Careers in Medicine
You fulfilled all of your pre-med requirements and mastered the MCAT, but do you really know what path in
medicine you wish to pursue? Is med school your only option? How do you determine what to specialize in?
Most importantly, what is life as a doctor or medical researcher really like? This panel will explore the opportu-
nities and challenges facing women in medicine from med school and MD-PhD programs to doctor-patient
relationships and the lab lifestyle.
Moderator: Elise Wilson, PC ‘15
Elise is a senior Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology major in Pierson College. She is looking forward to attending
medical school after graduation. At Yale, Elise was a co-president of the Yale Medical Professions Outreach program. She has
also been involved in teaching health education through CHE, volunteering at Yale New-Haven Hospital, and competing with
the Equestrian Team. She is currently working on a research project studying neural regeneration, and has also conducted
research projects on cancer at Oxford University, UCSF, and UCSD. During her off-time, she’s an avid traveller, scuba diver, and
snow-skier.
Dr. Debra Petrucci, Assistant Professor in Department of Neurosurgery at the Yale School of Medicine
Dr. Debra Petrucci is an Assistant Professor in the Spine Section of the Department of Neurosurgery. She is a board certified neuro-
surgeon who has a full-time clinical practice at Yale-New Haven Hospital and Greenwich Hospital. Before coming to Yale Dr.
Petrucci was in private practice for twenty years in Westchester County, NY. She served as Chief of Neurosurgery at White Plains
Hospital and Lincoln Hospital. Her clinical interests are the treatment of spinal disorders and her research interests include clinical
trials and new technologies and innovations in spine surgery. Dr. Petrucci grew up in the Boston area. She earned her bachelor's
degree at Harvard University, graduating with honors, and received her Doctor of Medicine degree from George Washing-
ton University School of Medicine and was admitted into Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA), medicine's highest honor society. After
medical school, Dr. Petrucci completed her internship in General Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital and became
the first woman accepted and trained in the Neurological Surgery residency program at Harvard University at the Massachusetts
General Hospital.
Dr. Isabel Cunningham, Hematologist-Oncologist, Associate Research Scientist at Columbia University
Isabel Cunningham, MD graduated from Bryn Mawr College and Yale Medical School. She trained in medicine at Columbia
and in hematology/oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering. Isabel has held academic positions in several medical schools, car-
ing for patients with hematologic malignancies, teaching, and analyzing clinical data to improve treatment. Her work recently
evolved to answering basic questions about tumor resistance.
Though well-prepared intellectually to become a physician, Isabel was not aware her field would have so few female leaders.
She regretted the time and energy wasted to learn the benefits of being a female doctor and learning how the academic doc-
tor game is played so she has taken an active role in mentoring medical students at Columbia. Isabel and her peers encourage
students to make every effort to approach women professionals, the majority of whom are eager to share their experiences in
the medical field.
Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla, President of the American Medical Women’s Association, Author, anchor of Mission Critical Health
Farzanna Sherene Haffizulla, MD FACP is the national President of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA). During
her tenure as President she spearheaded the formation of the AMWA affiliate program and continues to speak nationally
on improving cohesion among health care organizations and physicians. She is also the the chair and founder for AMWA’s
Preventive Medicine Task Force, and the organization’s fellowship program. Previously, she served as the South Florida AMWA
branch President. Dr. Haffizulla graduated summa cum laude from the University of Central Florida and completed medical
school at The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Her residency training was at the Cleveland Clinic Florida and at
the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio and she is Board Certified in Internal Medicine. In 2008, Dr. Haffizulla founded her own
concierge, Internal Medicine hybrid private practice. In addition to her private practice and work for the AMWA, Dr. Haffizulla is
the on-camera show host, anchor and medical correspondent for the nationwide health program, Mission Critical Health. She
is also a nationally recognized speaker on work/life balance. In July 2014, Dr. Haffizulla published her second book: “Lead with
your Heart: A Doctor’s Rx for Personal and Professional Success.” The recipient of many accolades, including “Leading Physician
of the World Award” from the International Association of Healthcare Professionals, Dr. Haffizulla is an Affiliate Clinical Assistant
Professor of Biomedical Science at the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Haffizulla lives in
South Florida with her husband Dr. Jason Haffizulla and their four children.
21

13. SESSION 3
Women in Education and Academia
When Yalies select their course schedules, they are almost twice as likely to find classes with a male professor
than with a female one. And while more women graduate from universities, men still dominate the academia
world. This panel focuses on educational systems and how women fit in them. Panelists will explore gendered
classroom dynamics, women's representation in education, as well as why they chose to pursue education as a
profession.
Moderator: Jennifer Frederick, PhD, Executive Director of the Yale Center for Teaching and Learning
Jennifer Frederick is the Executive Director of the Yale Center for Teaching and Learning, which provides comprehensive support
for the educational mission of the University. Jenny received her B.A. with honors in Chemistry from Cornell University and her
Ph.D. in Chemistry from Yale. Following her faculty teaching appointments at both public and private universities in Connecticut,
Jenny returned to Yale in 2007 as the Associate Director and Science Education Specialist at the Graduate Teaching Center.
She went on to assume positions of increasing responsibility within the University, including the role of Co-Director of the Center
for Scientific Teaching at Yale. In September 2013 she was promoted to Director of the Center for Scientific Teaching where she
has advanced a national effort to transform undergraduate science teaching at colleges and universities across the United
States. She is a recognized leader in the field of pedagogy and has organized several national workshops focused on teaching,
including summer sessions at Yale for faculty pedagogy. Her accomplishments in this area include leading presentations and
workshops focused on STEM teaching, and the publication of numerous journal articles. The Center for Scientific Teaching inte-
grated with other teaching support offices on campus in 2014 when the Yale Center for Teaching and Learning was launched.
Jenny was appointed Executive Director for the new center. Jenny comes to this new role with notable interdisciplinary teaching
experience and a commitment to inclusive teaching practices in higher education. She lives in Hamden, CT with husband Ste-
phen Healey and their two sons.
Dr. Catherine Cushinberry, National Executive Director of Parents for Public Schools, Inc.
Dr. Catherine Cushinberry is the National Executive Director of Parents for Public Schools, Inc. Dr. Cushinberry is tasked with
expanding the organization’s revenue to support existing programs while establishing partnerships to develop new program
models.
Prior to coming to PPS, she was the Director of Research for Girls Inc. She has also served as an Executive Director of a Boys and
Girls Club and was responsible for multiple sites and opened a teen center. Also, she has worked with nonprofits such as 4-H, Unit-
ed Way, Cheers to the Designated Driver, and grassroots organizations such as Camp PROMISE and Justice by Uniting in Creative
Energy (J.U.I.C.E.). In 2004, she began a consulting business in Los Angeles, California. She provided consulting to nonprofit and
for-profit organizations in the areas of organizational development and change, evaluation, and staff development and training.
She worked with an overseas client in Southeast Asia in the Philippines where she lived for almost a year.
She is a native of Memphis, TN and received her B.S. degree from Murray State University and M.A. from the University of Memphis
in Communication. In 2004, she received her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Missouri-Co-
lumbia.
Erin Benham, Middle School Literacy Teacher, President of the Meriden Federation of Teachers, Member of the Connecticut State
Board of Education
Erin D. Benham was appointed to the Connecticut State Board of Education by Governor Dannel P.Malloy in August 2014. She
has taught in Meriden Public Schools for 35 years and currently is a Literacy teacher at Lincoln Middle School. She is also Presi-
dent of the Meriden Federation of Teachers and Executive Committee Vice President of the Connecticut AFT. Erin serves on the
board of directors for Project Excel and The Sisters’ Project.
Mrs. Benham earned a bachelor’s degree from Saint Joseph College, a master’s degree and Educational Leadership Degree
from Southern Connecticut State University. Mrs. Benham was the recipient of the President’s Award by AFT Connecticut in 2013.
Erin coordinates and oversees the extended learning schools and the planning committees.
Merle McGee, Chief Program Officer at the YWCA of the City of New York
Merle McGee is Chief Program Officer at the YWCA of the City of New York. Her portfolio includes education and youth services,
workforce development, racial justice and gender equity initiatives. Ms. McGee brings to the YWCA extensive experience in
nonprofit management, youth development, staff development, organizational change management and leadership. Prior to
joining the YWCA of the City of New York, she served as Vice President of Programs for the Harlem Educational Activities Fund,
an award winning college preparatory organization based in Upper Manhattan, responsible for providing strategic direction and
oversight for all program operations. Previously, she was Program Officer at The After-School Corporation and Director at The
Door and at Morningside Area Alliance. Ms. McGee has consulted on numerous educational and leadership development proj-
ects for nonprofit organizations including Johns Hopkins University's Center for Talented Youth, The After School Corporation, The
CollegeBoard, Sports and Arts Foundation and the Partnership for After School Education and is a frequent presenter on youth
development, leadership and program design and development. She received her B.F.A. from the Tisch School at New York
University and holds a M.S. in Non-Profit Management from the Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban
Policy at New School University. She was named a Robert Bowne Research Fellow and selected for Coro Leadership New York.
Ms. McGee has completed Executive Education Programs at Harvard University and Columbia Business School, and has been an
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University since 2006.
22
Susana Fernandez-Poyatos, High School Spanish Teacher at Livingston High School, Adjunct Teacher at Montclair State University
Susana Fernandez-Poyatos has been a Spanish teacher at Livingston (N.J.) High School for the past 10 years. An AATSP member,
she serves as the school's Spanish Honor Society adviser and National Spanish Exam trainer. Additionally, since 2005 she has
worked as an adjunct teacher at New Jersey City University. In 2011, she was also an adjunct teacher at Montclair State Universi-
ty. In 2012, she became an Honorary Member of Sociedad Nacional Honoraria Hispánica, Tau Tau Chapter, at NJCU.During her
summers, she has taught Spanish to middle and high school students at the Middlebury Monterey Language Academy in Ver-
mont and at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth in Spain, while learning new teaching methodologies and preparing
curricula for the school year. Susana first became a teacher in her native Spain, specializing in early childhood education at the
Complutense University. She later studied psychology at Granada University and Applied Linguistics in the Teaching of Spanish as
a Second Language at the Antonio Nebrija University of Madrid. In addition, she was co-presenter of "Culturally Based Thematic
Curriculum for the Spanish Classroom" presented at the FLENJ, NECTFL, AATSP International (Spain) and MaFLA conferences.
During her graduate years in college, she worked in the tourist industry throughout Europe and in North Africa. While living in Lon-
don for a year, she was exposed to different approaches to language learning. Back in Spain, she taught Culture and Civilization
of Spain to Americans as part of an adult summer program. The experience stimulated her interest in second language learning,
and compelled her to apply to the Visiting International Faculty program in 2000. VIF brought her to East Orange, N.J., where she
taught elementary school Spanish.
23

14. SESSION 3
Making it Big on Wall Street: Leading Women in Finance
According to a report done by the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress, women make up 46.4%
of all Fortune 500 company employees. But they represent only 7.6% of top earning executive officers, and a
mere 2.4% of CEOs. This panel focuses on women who have beat these statistical odds and shattered the glass
ceiling. It offers speakers from various backgrounds who will share their personal and professional experiences,
with a particular focus on overcoming the barriers that females face in this male-dominated field and advice
for women aspiring to break into this industry.
Moderator: Katharine Spooner, TD ‘16
Katharine is a junior history major in Timothy Dwight College. On campus, she is involved with the Yale Center for British Art and
this year is the Head Guide of the Student-Guides program. She has also served as President of the Timothy Dwight College
Student Activities Council. She fences on the Yale varsity team, and runs the mentorship program for Smart Woman Securities, a
campus finance organization. In her freshmen summer, she taught at Yale Young Global Scholars, a program for gifted youth,
before interning in the Barclays Investment Banking division as a rising junior, where she will return to intern in summer 2015. Katha-
rine was born and raised in London and holds dual UK-US citizenship.
Danielle Landrein, Analyst at Goldman Sachs
Danielle Landrein is second year analyst at Goldman Sachs. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Eco-
nomics in June of 2013 and interned in the Securities Division at Goldman during the summers of 2012 and 2011.
After graduating from the University of Chicago, she joined the Commodities Structuring group in the Securities Division at Gold-
man Sachs full-time. Danielle’s team builds commodity-linked financial and physical solutions to improve their clients’ working
capital efficiency, monetize future cash flows, capitalize acquisitions, and manage commodity price risk exposure.
In her free time Danielle enjoys running marathons, barre ballet, reading, and going to the theatre.
Diana Wagner, Partner and Portfolio Manager/Investment Analyst at Capital World Investors
Diana Wagner is a Partner and Portfolio Manager/Investment Analyst for Capital World Investors, a division of the Capital Group
Companies. Capital Group is a privately-held investment management firm founded in 1931. The firm manages the American
Funds mutual fund family, with $1.4 trillion in assets.
In addition to her role as a diversified Portfolio Manager, Diana also has analyst responsibility for the firm's investments in the
following industries: U.S. health care services, global paper and forest products, and global semiconductor capital equipment.
Diana joined Capital in 2000 after receiving an MBA from Columbia Business School. She also holds a BA in Art History from Yale.
Prior to business school, Diana worked in investment banking at ING Barings in London and at SG Warburg in New York. Diana is
based in Capital’s New York office. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and two children.
Molly Padien-Havens, Senior Vice President at EastDil Secured
Molly Padien-Havens is a 2001 Yale alumnus, holding a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. After graduation, Padien-Havens
worked as a Real Estate Investing Banking Analyst at Morgan Stanley for three years prior to taking a leadership position as the
Vice President of EastDil Secured, a real estate financial advisory firm. She is currently the Senior Vice President of EastDil Secured.
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15. 2015