WLS Presenters

(R4) Women’s Leadership: Promoting and Nurturing Community Economic Development
Ms. Poonam Ahluwalia is the founder and president of Youth Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Inc., an international nonprofit and development organization based in Cambridge College, Mass. YES has networks in 55 countries and offices in Boston, New Delhi, Mexico City and Lima, Peru. It was formed to work with young people all over the world to resolve the challenge of development and poverty.

(R6) Advancing Society by Advancing Women
Aniceta R. Alip is the research director of the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development), a group of mutually reinforcing, poverty-focused microfinance institutions that provides credit, savings, microinsurance and business development services to landless poor women through solidarity groups using the ASA individual lending approach.

((R6) Advancing Society by Advancing Women
Irene Alvarado has a Masters in Business Administration with emphasis in Marketing from the Technological Institute of Costa Rica, and an Agricultural Engineering Degree with emphasis in Plant Science from the University of Costa Rica. Presently she is a candidate (graduating in 2009) to obtain a PhD in Economic and Entrepreneurial Sciences from the Latin University of Costa Rica.  

(L1) Women in Political Leadership: Government is back- How are we redefining it?
Arnie Arnesen is an award-winning radio and TV talk host. She was the Democratic nominee for New Hampshire governor in 1992 and for Congress in 1996. John Nichols of The Nation named her one of the most important progressives in America in 2007 and Politicker.com ranked her one of the state’s most influential political players in 2008. She has been a visiting scholar at the Harvard School of Public Health and a fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard’s Kennedy School. She was featured in “Skirting Tradition: Women in Politics Speak to the Next Generation” and is a former columnist for The Boston Globe Weekly.

(P10) Leading Your Job Search: Professional Tips That Insure Success
Amanda Arria is the Northeast regional talent acquisition manager for BAE Systems. Since 2004 she has provided human resources business partner and leadership support to various areas of the business. Prior to joining BAE Systems she worked in a variety of human resources roles for Cisco Systems and Plexus Corporation. Arria is a mentor for the Society of Human Resources Management and the Merrimack College Alumni mentor program. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Merrimack College and a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Southern New Hampshire University. She also has a professional human resources management certification.

(L8) Reflecting on Leadership
Denise Askin, Ph.D., is a retired professor of English and chairs the President’s Advisory Council on Inclusiveness at Saint Anselm College. A former director of the New Hampshire Humanities Council, she serves as a facilitator for its civic reflection programs, including “Literature and Medicine” at New Hampshire hospitals and “Shifting Ground: Religion and Civic Life in America.”

(R2) New Realities: Responding to the Critical Signals of Change   (Executive seminar limited to 25 people)
Annabel Beerel is a Professor of Social Ethics at Southern New Hampshire University where she holds the Christos and Mary Papoutsy Distinguished Chair in Ethics. Annabel earned her Ph.D. in Ethics at Boston University; she holds a Masters Degree in Theology from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Massachusetts, and an MBA from Cranfield University in England. Annabel is also a South African trained Chartered Accountant.

Annabel spans the two worlds of business and academia. Prior to coming to the United States she practiced as an accountant; worked in the City of London as a Corporate Financier and Investment Banker; and started and ran her own business in Artificial Intelligence for eight years. During that time she created an international distributorship for her organization’s products and services.

Over the past twelve years, Annabel has conducted classes and seminars in Leadership and Ethics to a variety of audiences ranging from undergraduates to adult learners to senior executives. She runs her own international consultancy practice. Annabel continues to travel extensively, and present at numerous conferences.

She is the author of six books; her most recent one published by Sage Publications is named Leadership and Change Management.  Her latest book project is entitled Silence is Not Golden: The Shadow Side of Corporate America.

(P3) Reinventing Yourself 2009: A Career Update
Judith Bowman, president of Protocol Consultants International, hosted “Etiquette First” and “Mind Your Manners,” a weekly feature on New England Cable News for a combined total of four years. She frequently appears on local and national radio and television shows, including “Martha Stewart Living,” “CBS This Morning,” Fox News, UPN 38/WBZ, “Chronicle,” CN8 – “Money Matters,” the Food Network and more. She is the author of the recently released book, "Don't Take the Last Donut: New Rules of Business Etiquette" (Career Press, New York).

(L6) Leaders Prepared to Lead the Nonprofit Sector of the 21st Century
Caroline J. Boyd is president and CEO of the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire, which she joined in 2006. She has 23 years of corporate experience and has held senior roles at Fidelity Investments and Ernst & Young. She holds a B.A. in psychology and an M.B.A. in marketing.

(R8) The Continuing Adventure We Call Life!
Jean E. Brown has been the Executive Dirctor of the Friends of Norris Cotton Cancer Center since 2003. Previously, Jean as the Director of the Public Relations for Slim-Fast Foods, for Lender's Bagels in West Haven, CT, and was a partner in a Madison Avenue marketing public relations agency. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, Jean has lived in Hanover with her family since 2002.

(P6) Science and Technology: Why You Should Be Interested
Christine A. Carberry is vice president of Program & Alliance Management at Biogen Idec Inc. She leads a team of program executives who manage Biogen Idec’s development programs. Carberry holds a Master of Science in innovation and technology management from Boston University, a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of New Hampshire and graduate certificates in biotechnology leadership and management studies from Harvard University.

(L2) Getting the Most from an Intergenerational Workforce
Cathy Champagne was born and raised in New Hampshire (one of 5 children), and started working at Jutras Signs in 1980. While a freshman in High School she worked at the company part time after school.  During this time, Cathy worked closely with her father, Roland Paradis, who was the President and former owner of Jutras Signs. This exposure was instrumental in her interest and desire to work in the sign industry. Cathy has worked full time at Jutras Signs since 1985, and after graduating from New Hampshire College (now Southern New Hampshire University) with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, she decided to make the sign industry her full time career. In 1998, after accumulating nearly 20 years of experience in the sign industry, she purchased the business and 20,000 square foot building. In addition to her work at Jutras Signs, she has served on the Advisory Board of the Salvation Army in Manchester as well as having served as Treasurer on the Board of Directors of the Catholic Medical Center Associates. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees at Southern New Hampshire University as well as on the Board of Directors at the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, the MDC (Manchester Development Corporation) Board of Directors and the Board of Directors of the World Sign Association headquartered in Denver, Co. She lives in Goffstown, NH with her husband, Joe.

(L2) Getting the Most from an Intergenerational Workforce
Maryse R. Charbonneau is senior vice president of Human Resources for Swiss Re, a global reinsurance company. As senior HR business partner, she is responsible for coordinating all human resources activities between Zurich, Switzerland, and the Americas. Charbonneau has 30 years of human resources experience. She previously has served as director of human resources at Saint Anselm College and director of Employment and Employee Relations at AIG/New Hampshire Insurance Group. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Rivier College and a master’s in community psychology from Springfield College. She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and serves on the group’s New Hampshire State Council.

(P2) Social Networking: Is This The Future of Job Searches?
J. Stephanie Collins is currently a professor of Computer and Information Technology at Southern New Hampshire University.  She also consults for a variety of information technology projects.  She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from the University of Wisconsin, and has extensive experience in industry and academia.  She has participated in information design and implementation projects for government agencies at the state and federal level.  She has also worked with clients in industries as varied as document management and aerospace.  She has taught at the university level for more than twenty years, and has published research in scholarly journals.

(P9) Mastering the Front of the Room
Jennifer Comeau has one focus: to inspire and unleash people who are changing the world or who wish to. She does this using leader workshops, motivational speaking, coaching and through her original music. Founder of I-Amplitude LLC, and JenniferComeau.com, for over twenty-five years Jennifer has led organizational initiatives in strategy, people development, operational improvement, and knowledge systems for non-profits and corporations.

In addition to her Masters of Engineering degree from the SUNY at Buffalo and a Bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering from General Motors Institute, Jen is a coach certified by Front & Center Communications. Her post-education in organizational development include workshops in Strategy, Balanced Scorecard, Gestalt Techniques, Facilitation, and Instructional Design.

(L4) Getting a position on a Corporate Board
Sally Crawford currently serves as a member of the Strategic Advisory Group at Bayer HealthCare, Diabetes Care Division in Tarrytown, NY. From 1985-1997, Sally was Chief Operating Officer of Healthsource, Inc., a publicly traded NYSE managed care company located in New Hampshire. Ms. Crawford chairs the Compensation Committee at Hologic, Inc., a publicly traded company headquartered in Bedford, MA that develops, manufactures and markets products for medical diagnostic applications primarily focused on women’s health.

(R1) Next Chapters: Accomplished, Engaged and Turning the Page
The Honorable Linda Stewart Dalianis is the first woman to serve on the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Prior to her appointment in 2000, she served for almost 20 years as an associate justice and chief justice of the Superior Court and was the first woman named to that court.

(L4) Getting a Position on a Corporate Board
Darlene Deptula-Hicks currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of iCAD, Inc., (Nasdaq: ICAD) a publicly traded medical device company providing industry leading Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) solutions for the early identification of cancer. iCAD is entrusted with the task of early identification of breast cancer by over two thousand women’s healthcare centers worldwide. Previous to iCAD, Inc., Ms. Deptula-Hicks served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of ONI Medical Systems, Inc., a venture capital-backed designer and manufacturer of high-field diagnostic imaging systems for orthopedic applications. Previous to ONI Medical Systems, Inc., Ms. Deptula-Hicks was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Implant Sciences Corporation, (Amex:IMX) an early stage publicly traded medical device company that had its initial public offering in June of 1999. Ms. Deptula-Hicks led the pre-IPO and post-IPO activities for the company.  Ms. Deptula-Hicks has also held various senior financial and accounting positions at Abiomed, Incorporated; GCA Corporation; Edwards High Vacuum International and Puritan Bennett Corporation. She received her B.S. degree in Accounting from New Hampshire College and her MBA degree from Rivier College and brings extensive experience in finance, corporate governance and operations with over twenty five years experience in financial management positions in the high technology and life science sectors.

(R7) Sustainability: The New Frontier of Revenue Growth
Stacey Doll recently accepted the position of Public Relations Manager for Mount Washington Resort’s marketing department after serving as the Resort’s Property Owners Association and Foundation Coordinator for the past two years.  Stacey also serves as the Resort Sustainability Coordinator and has lead the Sustainable Operations Committee, multiple planning and visioning sessions, and recently completed the Five Year Sustainability Plan for the Resort.

Prior to joining the resort, Stacey worked for North Country Council Regional Planning Commission for nearly seven years as Community Planning Coordinator.  Stacey worked with the fifty-one towns in the region on the development of master plans, strategic planning documents, adoption of smart growth techniques, and regulatory review.  She also developed the first comprehensive Community Education and Outreach Program, a proactive training program for planning boards in the North Country region of New Hampshire.

Stacey began her planning career in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina serving as the town planner.  Her responsibilities included revisions of the town regulations, development of innovative land use controls, staffing assistant to the planning board and zoning board of adjustment, and floodplain plat reviews.

(R7) Sustainability: The New Frontier of Revenue Growth
Julia Betjemann Dundorf cofounded The New Hampshire Carbon ChallengeTM (NHCC) with Denise Blaha in 2006 as a University of New Hampshire initiative committed to providing NH residents and communities with the information, tools and support necessary for NH households to reduce their residential carbon dioxide emissions by 10,000 pounds per year.  With the demand to take the Carbon Challenge model to broader audiences, the NHCC recently became a joint initiative of UNH and Clean Air - Cool Planet (CA-CP), a nonprofit working to solve the global warming problem through civic engagement, education and effective policy. Julia is now co-directing the Carbon Challenge and serving as CA-CP’s Manager of Community Relations. In this capacity Julia also develops collaborations, trainings and resources for local energy committees and communities to address local energy/climate related challenges and opportunities for a more sustainable future.  Her passion for grassroots and community organizing also lead her to current work as a founding and Steering Committee Member of Barrington Energy Task Force, co-founder of the Rockingham/Strafford Energy Committee Alliance, a grassroots convening of established local energy committees in the NH Seacoast area and member of the Carbon Coalition Local Energy Committee Working Group.;

(P4) Back to Basics: Grounding Strategies for Enhancing Your Value to Your Organization
Susan Duprey is a shareholder and former president of Devine, Millimet & Branch, P.A. She has served on the Planning Board and the Heritage Commission in Concord, N.H., and is a former Concord city councilor. New Hampshire Magazine has named her an “Ideal Lawyer” and New Hampshire Editions Magazine named her one of the 30 Most Powerful Women in New Hampshire. Duprey has sat on a number of boards and is a former chair of Heritage United Way and a director of Ocean Bank. She is active with national political campaigns and recently served on the steering committee of McCain for President.

(L3) What Got You Here Will Not Get You Where You Want to Be
Anne Fitzgerald is an organizational development consultant, leadership coach and professional facilitator. Her expertise is in women's leadership and building partnerships for purpose. Her consultancy, ~Spirit at Work Global~, based in Waltham, MA engages her nationally and on projects with women in Kenya, Iraq, and India.

(L4) Getting a Position on a Corporate Board
Patricia M. Flynn, Trustee Professor of Economics and Management at Bentley University, served as dean of the McCallum Graduate School of Business from 1992 to 2002. She has served on numerous corporate and not-for profit boards. Currently, she chairs the Board of Visitors at New England Baptist Hospital, and is a director of RiverSource Funds (formerly American Express Funds). She previously served on the boards of the Federal Savings Bank, U.S. Trust, and Boston Fed Bancorp.  Pat is a director of the National Association of Corporate Directors(NACD)/New England, where she is a member of the Selection Committee of the Director of the Year Awards, and is a faculty member in the ‘Leading Practices of Effective Boards’ Program.  Pat is co-author of the Boston’s Club’s Annual Census of Women Directors and Executive Officers of Massachusetts Public Companies.

Morning Keynote
Dr. Lois Frankel literally wrote the book on coaching people to succeed in businesses large and small around the globe.  Nice Girls Don’t Get The Corner Office and Nice Girls Don’t Get Rich are international bestsellers translated into over twenty-five languages and featured on the TODAY Show, CNN and CNBC, in the New York Times, USA Today, and in People and Time Magazines.  BusinessWeek named Corner Office one of the top ten business books of the year and ABC Television purchased the rights for a comedy series.  Her most recent book, See Jane Lead, furthers the premise that women make natural leaders for our time and explains how to harness your own leadership talent. 

 

(L2) Getting the Most from an Intergenerational Workforce
Anna Charbonneau Gerdes is currently a Ph.D. student in Clinical Psychology at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Washington. She earned her Masters degree in Clinical Psychology from Seattle Pacific University and her B.A. degree in Psychology from Stonehill College in Stoneham, MA.

As part of her doctoral training, Anna is completing her practicum work at the Cancer Lifeline in Seattle. She has held positions including Graduate Research Assistant at Seattle Pacific University, Research Staff Assistant at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle, and a Research Assistant at the VA/Harvard Psycho-physiological Research Laboratory in Manchester, NH.

Among other accomplishments, Anna was awarded 1st place in the Regional Brain Bee Competition and placed 3rd in the National Competition in Washington, D.C. in 1999, and was the recipient of the Stonehill Prologue Award for Excellence in Writing in 2001. Anna is a member of the American Psychological Association.

(P3) Reinventing Yourself 2009: A Career Update
Ellen Ryder Griffin is the dean of the School of Professional and Continuing Education at Southern New Hampshire University.  The School oversees programs for adult and nontraditional students as well as the professional disciplines of Culinary Arts and Justice Studies.  She became dean in 2006 after serving as the director of the campus-based CE center for two years.

Griffin began her career as a coordinator of TRIO programs at Salem State College. After completing her master's degree at Northeastern University, she served as Academic Counselor for Endicott College for 5 years before embarking on a career change to training and development. Between 1994 and 2005, Griffin managed the staff development departments of two hospitals, New Hampshire's state psychiatric hospital and Lowell General Hospital. She spent an interim year in 2001 as the statewide training manager of UNH’s Small Business Development Center.

Griffin is the chair of the Association of Continuing Higher Education’s New England region and has been recently elected to the Board of Directors of the New Hampshire Women in Higher Education Leadership. She lives with her husband, Dan, and two children, Olivia and Harry, in Epping, NH.

(R1) Next Chapters: Accomplished, Engaged and Turning the Page
Lisa Guertin is senior vice president of Marketing and Product at WellPoint Inc. and is one of the most senior female executives at the nation’s largest health insurer. WellPoint operates Blue Cross plans in 14 states with total membership in excess of 35 million.

(R8) The Continuing Adventure We Call Life!
Roberta Hollinger has been a teacher for 30 years and taught in all settings. Hollinger has been a classroom teacher, reading specialist, adjunct professor, ESL and bilingual teacher. She has also owned a private school and worked in the public system. Six years ago, Hollinger realized a passion for children with autism. She is now a consultant to families and children with autism.

(L6) Leaders Prepared to Lead the Nonprofit Sector of the 21st Century
Mary Ellen Jackson (Masters Degree in Organizational Management from New England College) serves as Executive Director of the New Hampshire Center for Non Profits. Previously, Mary Ellen served as Executive Director for Familystrength, a statewide nonprofit providing a range of behavioral health home-based services for children and families and before this position directed The HUB Family Resource Center of Strafford County which provides a variety of  family support programs.

(R1) Next Chapters: Accomplished, Engaged and Turning the Page
Linda Johnson is a director at the McLane law firm. She has more than 25 years of experience representing the interests of companies and schools in all aspects of employment matters, including risk management, trainings and litigation.

(R3) Women as Social Change Agents
Marianne M. Jones is the Executive Director of the Women’s Fund of New Hampshire
Marianne has over 20 years of leadership experience in philanthropy and nonprofit management, in New Hampshire as well as in the Seattle and Boston areas. Her background includes experience with corporate philanthropy, national foundation networks, and as well as establishing new community-based initiatives, such as Giving Circles, Venture Philanthropy, and new media strategies. She is also an active community volunteer having served on several nonprofit Boards. She and her husband are raising three daughters and live in Concord.

(P5) Leading the Corporate Soul
Daryl Koehn is the Executive Director of the Center for Business Ethics at Cameron School of Business at Houston’s University of St. Thomas and the author of many books and articles on ethics.

(L6) Leaders Prepared to Lead the Nonprofit Sector of the 21st Century
Ann McLane Kuster, attorney, is the leader of the Rath, Young and Pignatelli Education and Nonprofit Law Practice Group and serves on the boards of trustees of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and New Hampshire Public Radio. She represents Dartmouth College and the New Hampshire Independent Schools before the New Hampshire Legislature and serves as a consultant to the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits and Child and Family Services of New Hampshire.

 

Lunch Keynote Speaker
Loretta LaRoche is the hilarious “Siren of Stress” that young and old (and everyone in between) just can’t resist. She is an internationally-acclaimed stress management and humor consultant, author and PBS star devoted to raising the humor potential in all of us.  For more than 30 years, Loretta has used her incredible wit and irreverent humor to get people to laugh, listen and “live it up.”

The founder and president of The Humor Potential, Inc, a company offering programs and products for life style management, Loretta’s special brand of optimistic psychology has an incontestable positive effect on the health of all that are exposed to her. Organizations worldwide use Loretta's prescription for laughter to manage stress in the workplace and improve morale.

Loretta is one of the unique performers who can truly cross generational boundaries and appeal to young and old alike. Her material not only entertains and enlightens, it facilitates interaction on the challenges common to all people today – challenges like too much stress.

(P1) Unclutter Your Negotiations and Focus on What Really Matters (limited to 25 participants)
(P7) Unclutter Your Negotiations and Focus on What Really Matters (limited to 25 participants)
Dr. Tammy Lenski (EdD, University of VT) has more than 15 years experience in negotiation, conflict resolution and leadership education. She's the Principal of Tammy Lenski LLC, an organizational conflict management firm based in New England.  Formerly, Dr. Lenski served as core faculty in the Mediation & Applied Conflict Studies graduate program at Woodbury College and as vice president at a women's college, Trinity College of Vermont. Her blog, Conflict Zen, is read and discussed worldwide.

(L1) Women in Political Leadership: Government is back- How are we redefining it?
Donnalee Lozeau was elected the 55th Mayor of the City of Nashua in November of 2007.  As mayor she serves a four-year term, managing New Hampshire’s second largest city with 87,000 residents and 2,850 employees.  In this capacity she also chairs the city’s Finance Committee and Board of Public Works.

   Mayor Lozeau’s career in public service began in 1984 when she was first elected state representative from Nashua Ward 5. During her 16 years in the legislature, she was a leader on criminal justice, housing, healthcare, and youth programs, while also tackling key issues such as kindergarten, school funding, juvenile justice, and the death penalty. As Deputy Speaker of the House in 1998, Mayor Lozeau was named to New Hampshire Magazine’s list of Ten Most Powerful Women.

(R8) The Continuing Adventure We Call Life!
Christine Lundberg has been active in cultural arts media for over twenty years. Prior to establishing Red Dory Productions, LLC in 2002, she was Corporate Vice-President of Public Media Incorporated, a worldwide film acquisition and distribution company. When Ms. Lundberg moved to Cape Ann, MA she decided to utilize her business knowledge and reach for her dream of producing documentary films. Her first effort, Virginia Lee Burton: A Sense of Place, about the author/ of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and the Caldecott Award-winning, The Little House, who is considered to be one of the most significant author/illustrators of the 20th Century, has aired on WGBH/Boston PBS, and has been licensed for broadcast by close to 80 PBS stations nationwide. The film has received a number of awards and is currently in distribution to schools, libraries and the home media market.

(L7) Take Charge and Control Your Future
Dr. Traci Lynn is a published author, founder, and president of Traci Lynn International, Inc. which includes
Keynote presentations, workshops, and successful retail businesses. She was the recipient of three prestigious
awards, the Madame CJ Walker Award for entrepreneur excellence, University of Pennsylvania Carrier of
Hope Award for her community service, and The Spirit of Greatness Award for Outstanding Leadership in
Business. Dr. Traci Lynn was also featured on Good Morning America for owning one of the top grossing
businesses among young entrepreneurs and Essence Magazine for innovative business success.

(P3) Reinventing Yourself 2009: A Career Update
Charlene Martin, Ed.D., a specialist in older adult learning, established Pathfinders Retirement Innovations after acquiring almost 30 years of experience in higher education. Most recently she was the dean of Continuing Education at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., where she advised and created programs for adult learners. She is the founding director of the first Lifelong Learning Institute in central Massachusetts, the Worcester Institute for Senior Education. Martin and her company were featured in the October 2008 issue of More magazine.

(R4) Women’s Leadership: Promoting and Nurturing Community Economic Development
Grace S. Mattern is the executive director of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, where she has worked for the past 27 years. She is involved with public policy and systems advocacy to promote effective community interventions in response to domestic and sexual violence and coordinates a statewide network of programs that assist victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. She serves on the Governor’s Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence, the Access to Justice Commission, the Attorney General’s Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect, the Grafton County Greenbook Project Executive Committee, the Elder Abuse Council and the AmeriCorps Victim Assistance Program Partnership. She has served as a co-chair of the National Greenbook Policy Advisory Council and is on the board of directors of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. 

(P6) Science and Technology: Why You Should Be Interested
Patricia Mellor is the CEO of Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains. She grew up as a Girl Scout in Swift Water Council and has served on the board of directors in many positions, including council president for three terms. She is a lifetime member who earned the Girl Scout Gold Award as a teenager (the highest award a girl can earn in girl scouting). Mellor lives in Merrimack, N.H., with her husband, Steve, and young son, Simon.

(P4) Back to Basics: Grounding Strategies for Enhancing Your Value to Your Organization
Dianne Mercier is President of Ocean Bank. She has 22 years of banking experience in New Hampshire. She currently serves on the boards of Elliot Hospital and The Manchester Chamber of Commerce Foundation and is past Chair of the Nashua Chamber of Commerce. She is an alumnus of Southern New Hampshire University and resides in Manchester with her husband and two children.

(|L5) So You Want To Start A Business?
Amy Millman is a longtime advocate of national business development and policy initiatives. In 2001, she co-founded the non-profit venture, Springboard Enterprises. Their mission is to help women entrepreneurs gain access to equity markets. The organization offers educational programs and forums to provide women entrepreneurs with access to investors and information about equity capital. Springboard has showcased more than 380 women-led, emerging growth businesses at its Forums. Those businesses have raised over $4 billion in equity, grants and strategic investments.

Amy is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and holds a masters degree from The George Washington University. She and her family reside in the Washington, D.C. area.

(L6) Leaders Prepared to Lead the Nonprofit Sector of the 21st Century
Cynthia Mills, CAE, CMC, has been president and CEO of a 2000-plus-member national trade association for 10 years. She is a certified coach, a consultant and an adjunct faculty in not-for-profit management for New England College.

(P6) Science and Technology: Why You Should Be Interested
Christine Miska is a systems engineering functional manager at BAE Systems in Lexington, Mass. She manages a team of systems engineers who design and build infrared imaging systems, including thermal weapon sights, night-vision goggles and numerous surveillance products. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a master’s degree from Syracuse University, both in electrical engineering.  She and her husband live in Ayer, Mass., with their two children. 

(R5) Strong Women Live Longer
Dr. Miriam Nelson is a member of LLuminari, the parent company of BeWell.com. She is the author of international best-selling books “Strong Women Strong Hearts,” “Strong Women Stay Young,” “Strong Women Stay Slim,” “Strong Women Strong Bone,” “Strong Women Eat Well,” “Strong Women and Men Beat Arthritis” and “Strong Women Strong Backs.” She is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and founder of the Strong Women movement; she lectures around the world about women’s health.

(R8) The Continuing Adventure We Call Life!
Susan Nye is a freelance writer and entrepreneur. A corporate dropout, Susan left a twenty-year career in international, high tech sales and marketing for the fun, flexibility and fear of self-employment. Her engaging style has won her loyal readers in magazines and newspapers throughout New England. She works with businesses and nonprofits organizations, providing relationship management programs, strategic planning and marketing services. A popular speaker, Susan is delighted to share her insights on everything from strategic customer relationships and branding to cooking and entertaining. Her catering company, Around the Table, provides cooking classes and catering services. Susan is an active volunteer, serving on the Women’s Business Center Board, mentoring MBA students and writing for the ASPLT. She shares some of her work and favorite recipes on-line at http://www.susannye.com/ and http://www.susannye.blogspot.com/.

(L1) Women in Political Leadership: Government is back- How are we redefining it?
Terie Norelli is the first female Democratic Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives.  She is serving her seventh two-year term in the House and is serving as Speaker for her second term. A graduate of the University of New Hampshire, she was awarded her Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics Education summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa.  Prior to her run for the legislature, Speaker Norelli was a high school mathematics educator at Winnacunnet High School in Hampton, New Hampshire.  She also served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention last year.

(P3) Reinventing Yourself 2009: A Career Update
Susan Osborne, president of Be Image Consulting, is an image and fashion consultant, licensed makeover stylist and image strategist. She has been featured on WMUR-TV’s “Chronicle” and has published articles on professional image in publications such as the New Hampshire Business Review, Applaud Magazine and Entrepreneur.com.

(R4) Women’s Leadership: Promoting and Nurturing Community Economic Development
Dr. Puneetha Palakurthi is currently an Assistant Professor of Community Economic Development at Southern New Hampshire University.  She teaches project management, research and evaluation of development projects.
She specializes in participatory and qualitative approaches for assessments in designing and implementing development projects.

Welcome from Hostess
Mary Papoutsy, together with her husband, businessman and philanthropist Christos Papoutsy, has established a number of charitable ventures, including the successful John C. Rouman Classical Lecture Series at the University of New Hampshire, the Christos and Mary Papoutsy Distinguished Chair in Business Ethics at Southern New Hampshire University, the Christos and Mary Papoutsy Foundation for the Revitalization of Vatoussa, Lesvos (Greece), and a not-for-profit news and information service for Greek communities in the U.S. and abroad, Hellenic Communication Service.  Mrs. Papoutsy completed her degrees at the University of Southern Maine and at Rutgers University where she earned an MA in both Greek and Latin, culminating in numerous awards and professional presentations at meetings for Classicists at St. Andrews in Scotland, St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and for the Foreign Language Association of Maine. She received an appointment to the New Hampshire Humanities Council, was named a trustee of The Greek Institute of Boston, and founded the Hellenic Historical and Genealogical Association, a member affiliate of the National Genealogical Society.

(L4) Getting a Position on a Corporate Board
Ellen B. Richstone has 30 years of experience, including serving as a director on the boards of a number of companies, including APC-S&P 500 Company, Blue-Shift Technologies, Entrepreneurial Resources Group (as non-executive chairman) and nonprofit boards. She now chairs two audit committees and serves on two compensation committees. She is an experienced SEC financial expert and is the executive vice president and CFO of Luminus Devices Inc., a global manufacturing company-with leadership in large chip LEDs. She has also been the president and CEO of the Entrepreneurial Resources Group and the CFO for companies ranging in size from $100 million up to $2.5 billion in revenue. She holds two graduate degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

(R6) Advancing Society by Advancing Women
Catherine Rielly is an Associate Professor and Chair of the International Academic programs, School of Community Economic Development at Southern New Hampshire University. Catherine has conducted research, training, and technical assistance on gender, public policy, economics, democratization and governance, refugees and HIV/AIDS for the Harvard Institute for International Development, UNIFEM, UNFPA, UNDP, the Asian Development Bank, USAID, Women for Women Coalition, and the governments of Mali, Zambia, and Uganda, and the Kennedy School of Government. At Abt Associates, she built an international governance practice focusing on Executive Office capacity and decentralization, funded by the World Bank, UNDP, Asian Development Bank, and USAID. Catherine assisted Offices of the President, Prime Minister and Cabinet in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, and worked in over 20 countries, including: Mali, Zambia, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Madagascar, Rwanda, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Philippines, Botswana, Canada, Australia, France, Great Britain, West Bank/Gaza. Her research focuses on the economic empowerment of women to counter HIV/AIDS.

(R3) Women as Social Change Agents
Rachel Rouillard is the Executive Director of the New Hampshire Women’s Policy Institute (WPI). Rachel holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School where she co-authored The Citizen Jane Project, a project aimed at understanding women’s engagement in the US political system. She is also a fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar in Salzburg, Austria where she worked internationally to expand women’s political engagement and leadership. Prior to coming to the WPI she served two terms as the first executive director of the NH Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, investing over $25 million in the conservation and preservation of the state’s most important natural, cultural and historic resources.  Rachel is a native of NH and lives in Durham with her husband and son.

(P6) Science and Technology: Why You Should Be Interested
Amy Shevlin is vice president of Human Resources for the Electronics, Intelligence and Support Operating Group. She is responsible for delivering human resources services to more than 33,000 employees across the United States and the United Kingdom.

(R7) Sustainability: The New Frontier of Revenue Growth
 Molly Hodgson Smith returned to New Hampshire in 1994 following a corporate career and joined the Dover Chamber of Commerce as its special events and community development manager, overseeing the Cochecho Arts Festival and various other community and business events.

In 1998 she became the first executive director of the statewide marketing and promotional campaign for New Hampshire-made products and services. She grew the organization from 12 pilot members to more than 500 members in less than five years.

Hodgson Smith shared her knack for membership development as the manager of Individual Giving for New Hampshire Public Television before taking on the role as the first executive director of New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility.

Afternoon Keynote Speaker
Gloria Steinem is a writer, lecturer, editor, and feminist activist. She travels in this and other countries as an organizer and lecturer and is a frequent media spokeswoman on issues of equality. She is particularly interested in the shared origins of sex and race caste systems, gender roles and child abuse as roots of violence, nonviolent conflict resolution, the cultures of indigenous peoples, and organizing across boundaries for peace and justice.

In 1972, she co-founded Ms. magazine, and remained one of its editors for fifteen years. She continues to serve as a consulting editor for Ms., and was instrumental in the magazine's recent move to join and be published by the Feminist Majority Foundation. In 1968, she had helped to found New York magazine, where she was a political columnist and wrote feature articles. As a freelance writer, she has been published in Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, and many women's magazines as well as in publications in other countries. Her books include the bestsellers Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem, Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, Moving Beyond Words, and Marilyn: Norma Jean, on the life of Marilyn Monroe. Her writing also appears in many anthologies and textbooks, and she was an editor of Houghton Mifflin's The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History.

(L1) Women in Political Leadership: Government is back - How are we redefining it?
Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter is the first woman elected to national office in the history of the state of New Hampshire.

Carol's large family has deep roots in New Hampshire going back many generations. She graduated from public high school in Durham, New Hampshire and then worked her way through the University of New Hampshire, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Social Services and later a Master of Arts in Public Administration.

Carol was sworn into office on January 4, 2007. She is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the Committee on Education and Labor.

(L1) Women in Political Leadership: Government is back - How are we redefining it?
Jane M. Swift, former Governor of Massachusetts is the founder of WNP Consulting, LLC providing expert advice and guidance to early stage education companies. Swift serves on the boards of Animated Speech Corporation, Sally Ride Science, Suburban Propane (SPH) and K12, Inc (LRN). She is on the Women’s Initiative External Advisory Council for Deloitte & Touche.  Swift also speaks professionally on issues of leadership, work-family integration, and public education policy and is an instructor in the Leadership Studies program at Williams College.  From 2003 -2006, Swift was a General Partner at Arcadia Partners, the leading venture capital firm focused exclusively on the education industry.

(P8) Economic Realities: What Not to Do With Your Money
Sherrill St. Germain, MBA, CFP®, is founder and principal of New Means Financial Planning, a Hollis, NH-based, fee-only financial planning firm.  She provides financial advice on an hourly, consulting basis.

(P10) Leading Your Job Search: Professional Tips That Insure Success
Ingrid Vasquez is a talent acquisition recruiter for the Electronics, Intelligence and Support operating group at BAE Systems. She oversees both professional and college recruiting activities in the Northeast region. She is also a subject matter expert on several leading-edge social media and networking recruiting techniques. Vasquez holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Endicott College and a master’s degree in organizational leadership with a focus in human resources management from Southern New Hampshire University.

(P6) Science and Technology: Why You Should Be Interested
Kimberly L. Vecchione is a chemical engineer in the Hi-Tech Division at New Hampshire Ball Bearings Inc. in Peterborough, N.H.  She is responsible for all materials as well as testing and implementation of new materials in the plant. Her efforts involve energy and resource conservation and environmental, health and safety improvements. She graduated from Clarkson University in May 2003 with a B.S. in chemical engineering and is a part-time graduate student studying environmental engineering at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. 

(R1) Next Chapters: Accomplished, Engaged and Turning the Page
Dr. Barbara Walters is senior medical director for Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s Southern New Hampshire Community Group Practices, where she manages ambulatory practice operations. She is board-certified in psychiatry and neurology.