Momentum 2020

Coco Brown C92, is a CEO and board member, actively leading Silicon Valley based professional services and tech companies since 1997. From 2002 to 2012 Coco was President and COO of Taos, a Gartner top 20 global IT professional and managed services company servicing hundreds of F1000 and top tier private growth companies nationally. She was also on the board of Taos for 12 years, leading the company through massive economic cycles and business model evolution and growth. Coco led the company to $54m in revenue, and the company has subsequently been sold to IBM. In 2016 Coco founded Athena Alliance, a digital platform for learning and agency for top business women striving for the c-suite and the boardroom. Athena has seen 2.8x growth in membership in the last 12 months since launching as a true subscription model and hosts over 1,000 women leaders today. Coco is a well-published expert and speaker on The Modern Boardroom. She holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. Coco serves on the commercial boards of Athena Alliance, Inc and Archerpoint (an ESOP), as well as the non-profit board of Athena Rising Foundation.

Ali Kriegsman is the co-founder and COO of Bulletin, a B2B wholesale marketplace where retailers go to discover, shop, and support the best brands on the planet. A recipient of "Forbes 30 Under 30" and one of Fast Company’s "Most Creative People in Business," Ali has helped thousands of brands expand their distribution and sell in stores all around the country. She is a salesperson, self-taught publicist, marketer, and growth strategist and has experience scaling both bootstrapped and venture-backed businesses. Ali's new book, "How to Build a Goddamn Empire: Advice on Creating Your Brand with High-Tech Smarts, Elbow Grease, Infinite Hustle, and a Whole Lotta Heart" is available in bookstores now!

Tara Viswanathan W12, M.S. Stanford ’15, spent the last 15 years passionate about helping people make better health-related decisions. From working hands on with chronically ill patients to becoming a certified nutrition counselor to designing Stanford research experiments on the mind-body connection - she developed deep experience across the health space throughout her career. Previously, Tara worked at Parsley Health, Lululemon, and the Stanford d.School. Now, Tara is founder & CEO of Rupa Health, an integrative health tech company that aims to make root cause medicine the standard of care. Their first product, Rupa Labs, is a lab ordering portal for telemedicine providers that turns 15 hours of weekly physician admin work into 15 mins. Rupa is HQ’d in San Francisco and backed by world class investors like First Round Capital, Floodgate Capital, Ron Conway / SV Angel, and more.

Gillian is an entrepreneurial leader who ensures the successful integration of strategic plans, operational goals, and performance targets to drive growth. She applies her background in finance and operations to deliver profitable business outcomes across multiple industries, including asset management, wealth management, transportation, and consulting.  She is adept at managing client relationships and forging partnerships with internal and external stakeholders.

Sarah Ribner C11, is the Founder & CEO of PiperWai, the first all-natural, charcoal-based, nontoxic deodorant. Sarah began her journey with wellness almost a decade ago, however, until five years ago, an effective nontoxic, natural deodorant was the missing piece in her quest to lead a healthy, low waste lifestyle. Deodorant was becoming a controversial personal care product as active ingredients in deodorant and antiperspirant were linked to long term illnesses. When her childhood friend asked her to try her DIY formula, Sarah saw an opportunity to fill a market need and to create a powerful brand to bring this formula to the masses. She holds an MBA from Columbia, a BA from Upenn, and an aromatherapist certification from the New York Institute of Aromatic Studies. Sarah is a proud member of the EY Winning Women Class of 2017, Forbes 30 Under 30 2018, and she has appeared on ABC, HSN, AOL Build, Fox and many other major media outlets. #powerofpennwomen #momentum2020

In founding Robyn, Allison Kaiser Eng09, set out on a mission to make sure no other aspiring, expecting or new parent ever felt as alone and confused as she once did on her journey to parenthood. Prior to launching Robyn, Allison was a Vice President at J.P. Morgan’s Corporate & Investment Bank. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. She is a mom to three boys, Jacob, Freddy, and Billy (Penn Class of 2039 + 2041). Robyn is a digital platform for aspiring, expecting and new parents to find parental wellness providers, resources, and classes.  

Caroline Strzalka C00, WG05, is a serial entrepreneur and media executive. She is the CEO and Co-Founder of It's By U (itsbyu.com) which is a farm-direct subscription company disrupting the floral industry that she founded with her sister Christine. She is also currently acting as an Advisor to Overplay Games. Previously, Caroline held leadership roles at media companies, particularly in the children's and educational spaces.  She was the EVP of Partnerships at Sandbox & Co, VP Digital Content & Global Development at Scholastic, and Director of Digital Media Business Development at Sesame Workshop. She has executed multi-million dollar partnership deals with some of the largest media companies in the world including Google, Netflix, Apple, and Microsoft, and led new media projects in audio, video, and interactive gaming. Prior to this, she was an investment banker in Equity Capital Markets at Salomon Smith Barkey, Citibank and took many companies public, including Kraft, Constellation Brands, GameStop, and Leapfrog. She is a Wharton MBA, Penn undergrad, Startup Leadership Program Fellow, and is on the Council on Foreign Relations. Caroline prides herself in recognizing and monetizing blue sky opportunities, and is particularly passionate about female founded startups and getting women's ideas funded.

Lucy Xu W13, is Founder & CEO of The Port Global, a marketing and business consultancy supporting startups and growing businesses across Greece and the U.S. She holds a business degree from Wharton, is a TEDx speaker, and has a background in technology and marketing (formerly IBM, Curalate, and Startup Grind NYC). In 2017, Lucy moved from New York City to Athens to explore a unique thesis on the potential for innovation, cooperation, and expansion that exists between these markets. 

Dr. Manisha Juthani C94, an Infectious Diseases physician at Yale School of Medicine. She’s helped to lead Yale’s COVID preparedness and treatment of patients as well as runs the Infectious Diseases Fellowship program, which keeps her very busy! She completed her undergraduate training @upenn, attended Cornell University Medical College, completed residency training at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Campus, and was a Chief Resident at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She arrived at Yale School of Medicine in 2002 for Infectious Diseases Fellowship Training and joined the full-time faculty in 2006. She assumed the role of Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program Director in 2012. Her federally funded research has focused on infections in older adults, specifically urinary tract infections and pneumonia. Most notably, she was the Principal Investigator of an R01-funded research project that resulted in the 2016 JAMA publication entitled, “Effect of Cranberry Capsules on Bacteriuria Plus Pyuria Among Older Women in Nursing Homes: A Randomized Clinical Trial.” This publication received widespread attention in the lay press, including The New York Times and CNN to name a few, and achieved an Almetric Attention Score of 1564 that keeps on rising, placing it in the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric. In December 2016, The New Yorker identified this research as one of the most notable medical findings of 2016, and Dr. Juthani was interviewed and featured in the GeriPal and Gastropod podcasts. Additionally, in her parallel work with pneumonia prevention, she was the first author on the 2015 Clinical Infectious Diseases publication entitled, “A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial of a Multicomponent Intervention Protocol for Pneumonia Prevention Among Nursing Home Elders.” In addition to her academic responsibilities, Dr. Juthani enjoys writing about medical topics in the lay press.

Carolyn Yachanin C13, is the Founder & CEO of Copina Co. - a company dedicated to redefining the beauty industry through positive messaging and game-changing plant-based vegan collagen blends. Copina Co.’s delicious edible beauty products help you feel amazing in your own skin and promote healthy hair, skin, and nails without the use of animal products. Copina Co. launched in February 2020 and has been featured in Well + Good, Refinery 29, Sporteluxe and more and can now be found in stores from coast-to-coast. A native of California and current San Diego resident, Carolyn is passionate about holistic wellness and plant-based living solutions for all. She spends her free time mentoring young female entrepreneurs and enjoying the outdoors with her husband Alex. Carolyn was on the Penn Momentum 2020 planning committee and served as the Marketing Chair of Wharton Women during her time at Penn. She graduated cum laude with a B.A. in History.

Soyoung Kang is the Chief Marketing Officer at eos Products, the iconic brand and lipcare trailblazer that has sold over half a billion lip balms worldwide. In her role, Soyoung is responsible for driving the overall brand strategy, planning, and operations for all global and regional marketing initiatives. Since joining eos as CMO, Soyoung has led a total brand reboot, from resetting creative and strategic vision, to redesigning and expanding the product portfolio, to launching the global “Make It Awesome” campaign.  Prior to eos, Soyoung spent almost fifteen years at L Brands, most notably as SVP of brand development for Bath & Body Works’ beauty and fragrance business.  She also spent a decade in strategy and consulting, working for The Boston Consulting Group and AT Kearney. Soyoung holds a degree in architecture from MIT and an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School, and was a Fulbright research scholar.

Sophie Beren (C’17, SPP’17), is an entrepreneur from Wichita, KS, who is on a mission to unify the world. Sophie was recently named "25 Under 25" by Social Entrepreneur's Magazine and has dedicated her professional career to empowering young people everywhere to have conversations that matter. Sophie founded her first venture, TableTalk, while at Penn, and has since launched The Conversationalist, the go-to destination to amplify Gen Z voices. Join the community today by texting “UNIFY” to +1 (877) 222 1119.  

Rooshy Roy WG19, is the Co-Founder & CEO of AAVRANI. As a first generation Indian-American, she would often make her own skincare with her mom, who showed Rooshy how to harness the power of raw ingredients—like turmeric and sweet almond oil—to maintain beautiful skin. As an adult searching for an easier way to access those Indian rituals, Rooshy was inspired to create her own brand. AAVRANI skincare unites India’s ancient, all-natural approach with clinically-proven, modern-day elegance. Prior to launching the company in 2018, she worked in Finance at Goldman Sachs and Warburg Pincus. Rooshy went to Indiana University and graduated with an MBA from Wharton in 2019. She is a 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree in the Retail & E-Commerce category.

Caroline Waxler C93, programs summits and festivals for a variety of media companies and brands. She started her career as an investigative reporter at Forbes, where she covered hedge funds and Swiss billionaires. She went on to oversee teams and build content properties for Fortune, TheStreet.com, Business Insider, LearnVest,  Advertising Age, and Condé Nast. Additionally, Waxler has also written extensively for a variety of television, print, and digital outlets, including: ABC, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Fortune. Barron’s and Amazon named her investing book a top business book of the year. She also hosted two seasons of the Writers Guild of America podcast “On Writing.” Most recently, Waxler wrote and produced the Disney+ show “The Big Fib.” 

Jennifer Simpson is the founding executive director of the Aspen Institute's Finance Leaders Fellowship focused on improving public trust in the global finance industry. An entrepreneurial leader, Jennifer has made private equity and debt investments in industrial companies throughThe Gladstone Companies, where she served on a number of industrial company boards; served as the first CEO for Gladstone Securities; worked in leveraged lending and was chief credit officer for National City Bank's $4.7 billion small business loan portfolio; invested with PE firm Morgenthaler Partners; and served as EVP of Finance and Operations at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.  Jennifer began her career as a Lieutenant and platoon leader in the U.S. Army’s Medical Service Corps after studying economics at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, financing it with a four-year Army ROTC scholarship. Her MBA is from Case Western Reserve University. Jennifer serves on the advisory board for Industrial Exchange, was on the executive board of a nonprofit supporting STEM education, and was co-Founder of the Washington, DC chapter of WAVE (Women in Venture Equity). She has also helped raise her 2 children, now out of the house and on a great path to being good citizens.

Kerhyl Gantt WG19, is the Digital Brand Director for Jordan Brand at Nike, with 10+ years of extensive experience orchestrating integrated brand and omni-channel marketing campaigns across Global, North America and Territory regions.  Notable highlights include leading North America digital for Nike's Top Selling Shoe in History, retail and digital marketing for major sport moments, launching the NFL x Nike partnership and building plans to sign Calvin Johnson, Alex Ovechkin and Rory Mcliroy to Nike.

Tereza Nemessanyi is a global strategic alliance manager at Microsoft. A seasoned media and technology entrepreneur and executive, Tereza’s breadth and depth of experience spans high-growth startups and the world's largest enterprises. Companies she has worked with, at senior levels, include PWC, IBM, The Walt Disney Company, Unilever, Symphony IRI, Interpublic Group, and the InterAmerican Development Bank (IADB). She was a ground-floor member of a startup team which IPO’d (CETV). She’s been named a Forbes "Ten Female Entrepreneurs to Watch" (2011) and a “Top 40 over 40” (2015). Tereza is a sought-after speaker (TED, SXSW) and blogger (Reuters, Huffington Post). She holds an MBA from The Wharton School. She lives in New York with her husband and two daughters.

On this week’s Momentum 2020 podcast, Erica Firpo speaks with Dr. Aly Cohen C95. Aly is a rheumatologist, integrative medicine, and environmental health specialist practicing in Princeton, NJ.  Her medical practice, that she founded in 2011, Integrative Rheumatology Associates P.C., focuses on both traditional  western medical management of rheumatologic and other ailments, as well as integrative options for total “wellness”, such as biofeedback, acupuncture, cognitive therapy, diet and exercise counseling, environmental toxin counseling, smoking cessation, stress management and sleep evaluations. Dr. Cohen is active in educating the next generation, writing curriculum on environmental health topics to be made available by high schools nationally. Her recent text, "Integrative Environmental Medicine" was published through Oxford University Press, and her consumer book, "Non-Toxic: Guide to Living Healthy in a Chemical World", also published by Oxford University Press will be out in 2020. She will be presenting at TEDxCapeMay in October 2020 on "Reimagining High School Health & Science Education". Dr. Cohen is a regular health contributor to print, radio, and news broadcasts, and lectures nationally on various health topics including integrative medicine, autoimmune disease/inflammation, health effects of everyday chemicals, and cell phone safety. She shares practical vetted health and prevention tips regularly on her award winning, educational platform, The SmartHuman.com  and on her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds for The Smart Human! #powerofpennwomen #momentum2020

Christyl L. Murray is a Vice President with Firm-wide Talent Development at JPMorgan Chase & Co. She has expertise Leveraging “Human Capital” to facilitate change management and strategically improve business results, with distinguished accomplishments in diversity and inclusion, talent development, communication, coaching and management consulting. Christyl leads the Firmwide roll out of the VP Academy - a leadership development program for high performers. The VP Academy workflow is directly aligned with JPMorgan Chase & Co’s Human Capital objectives of Talent Development, Diversity and Inclusion. Christyl is also an adjunct professor in Leadership and Human Capital Management at NYU. She holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of California Berkeley, and a combined M.A. in International Studies from the Lauder Institute and an M.B.A. from The Wharton Business School, both at the University of Pennsylvania.

Kimberly Esterkin C06, is a Managing Director at ADDO Investor Relations, a strategic investor relations and financial communications firm in Los Angeles. Kimberly rejoined ADDO in 2019 having previously worked at the Company from 2011 to 2015. With over 14 years of experience in investor relations, finance and corporate communications, Kimberly has managed investor and public relations campaigns for pre- and post-IPO companies across the technology, financial services, internet, consumer, engineering & construction, energy and agriculture industries. Kimberly’s clients rely on her for quarterly earnings support, media training, proxy outreach, M&A support, buy-side and sell-side targeting, analyst days, and investor website design.   Before rejoining ADDO, Kimberly helped guide the rapid expansion of Tetra Tech, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTEK),  a leading provider of consulting and engineering services in Pasadena, California, as its in-house Manager of Investor Relations during a period that saw the company triple its market capitalization. Before entering the field of investor relations, Kimberly conducted fixed income market research for a boutique financial consulting firm in New York and supported a private wealth investment team at Goldman Sachs’ Los Angeles office managing more than $9 billion in assets.   Kimberly graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006 and holds certificates in fixed income and accounting from New York University and the New York Institute of Finance. She has been an active volunteer for the University of Pennsylvania Alumni Secondary School Committee for the past 11 years. Kimberly is a member of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI), serves on the NIRI Los Angeles Board of Directors and the NIRI National Annual Conference Planning Committee. Most recently, she was recognized as part of the inaugural class of NIRI’s top “40 under 40” in investor relations in the country and was featured in the Nasdaq Series Intro to an IRO. You can learn more about Kimberly’s investor relations best practices here. Kimberly lives in Los Angeles with her husband Jeremy, her two sons Elias and Connor and her amazing golden retriever Daisy.  Here's Kimberly's thesis:  https://repository.upenn.edu/curej/31/

Beth Ricanati, MD's (C' 92) debut book, Braided: A Journey of a Thousand Challahs chronicles her journey of a thousand challahs and one woman’s quest for wellness and peace. This physician-mother has built her career around bringing wellness into women’s everyday lives, especially busy moms juggling life and children.  She has practiced at the NY-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, the Cleveland Clinic, and now at the Venice Family Clinic in Los Angeles. In addition, her writings have appeared in peer-reviewed medical journals and many lifestyle blogs. 

Ellen Chang C88, WG98, is Principal of BMNT Partners. In this position, she is leading efforts around innovation within the Navy and energetically grows the San Diego ecosystem that supports national security innovation. Ellen is also co-founder/managing partner of Syndicate 708, a deep tech focused investment syndicate that looks to accelerate companies @ LightSpeed. She also founded LightSpeed Innovations, and board an aerospace-focused accelerator dedicated to investing in and fostering startups in the aerospace sector, many of which have become successful going concerns. She speaks often on investment trends and nurturing new starts in this domain. Prior to BMNT, Ellen was VP Operations and VP Commercial Products for Cognitive Medical Systems, a Healthcare IT company that serviced the Veterans Administration. In this role, she led the finance, contracting and services delivery of this $15M company. She led the accounting function ensuring the company passed a GAAP audit on an annual basis and laid in operational processes to improve the development of market entry strategies for the clinical decision support system that Cognitive is developing. Ellen’s career spans from the U.S. Navy as an intelligence officer to JP Morgan where she focused on exploring and facilitating investing in start-ups. She later founded her own start-up in the aviation industry where the team focused on building a B2B aviation part sourcing and brokerage focused on business jets. During her 12 years at Northrop Grumman, she held positions as a systems engineer and program manager, working in design and development of autonomous systems ranging from the Global Hawk to the Unmanned Carrier-based unmanned aerial system and departed as Director of Advanced Systems where she and her team formulated and transitioned concepts targeted at a 5-10 year horizon. Ellen holds a bachelors degree in history from the University of Pennsylvania, an MS in systems engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School, and an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School. Ellen loves to run, taste wine, and travel. She is the chair of the Wharton Angel Network Southern California. She is also co-founder of Wharton Aerospace and runs the innovation-ventures focused Wharton Aerospace Ventures conference in San Francisco.

Bijal Choksi W95, is an organizational consultant, psychologist, and strength-based coach. Her superpowers include going meta on data points, identifying patterns and trends, and her ability to be non-judgmental. Bijal became a founding partner of HuWork after over 20 years of management consulting and HR experience. During her undergraduate years at Wharton, Bijal was pre-med while majoring in health care management. She has always been motivated by being of service to those around her, including her clients. To gain in-house human resource experience, she joined McKinsey & Co’s HR team. After earning her Masters from Columbia University in Organizational Psychology, she joined PwC’s organizational effectiveness group in NYC. Since then, Bijal has consulted and coached with small and large organizations, always with a focus on how to improve the employee experience. Bijal has been published in Forbes in the field of positive psychology. She started a non-profit, Minds Matter Colorado to continue to be of service to her community. Bijal lives in Denver with her husband and two sons. When she's not working, you can find her playing tennis with her family, socializing with friends, or meditating.

Up next on today’s podcast, Tricia Buenvenida talks to Jill Beraud WG86, CEO & Co-Founder Sh’nnong Beverage Company. Jill has over 30 years experience building and transforming iconic global brands as CEO/President and in senior marketing leadership roles across fashion & beauty, food & beverage, luxury and technology with both multi-billion dollar companies and VC/PE-backed start-ups. She has a consistent track record developing high-performing teams, commercializing white space innovation and accelerating profitable growth. Most recently, Jill was CEO of IPPOLITA fine jewelry (2015-18) and Executive Vice President of Tiffany & Co (2014-15) where she oversaw the $4.2B global retail and e-commerce business. From 2011-14, Jill was CEO of Living Proof, a biotech beauty company that utilized advanced technologies from MIT. Under Jill’s leadership, Living Proof more than tripled revenue, accelerated innovation in skin and hair care, as well as brought in Jennifer Aniston as co-owner and spokesperson. At Pepsico (2008-2011) Jill served as President, Starbucks & Lipton Joint Ventures and Global Chief Marketing Officer where she oversaw the $60B food & beverage marketing function and innovation agenda. There, she launched the Pepsi Refresh Project, pledging $40 million to social entrepreneurship, and oversaw the creation of Starbuck’s ready-to-drink Refreshers and Lipton’s Pure Leaf tea reinvention. Before PepsiCo, Jill spent 13 years at Limited Brands in senior marketing leadership roles, including Chief Marketing Officer of Victoria’s Secret where she played a key strategic role in building the brand into $6 billion global powerhouse. She also served as Executive Vice President of Marketing for its broader portfolio of specialty brands, including Bath & Body Works, C.O. Bigelow, Express, Henri Bendel’s, and Limited Stores. Jill began her career in brand management at Procter & Gamble in 1986. Jill received her MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (1986) and BSBA from Boston University (1982). In 2013, Jill was recognized as one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business. She was also awarded the coveted McAlroy Award for Lifetime Achievement by Procter & Gamble alumni association in 2008. Jill is currently on the board of governors for the World of Children and is director of Levi Strauss and Co. https://drinkmyma.com/

Amna Nawaz C01, serves as senior national correspondent and primary substitute anchor for the PBS NewsHour. Prior to joining the NewsHour in April 2018, Nawaz was an anchor and correspondent at ABC News, anchoring breaking news coverage and leading the network’s livestream coverage of the 2016 presidential election. Before that, she served as a foreign correspondent at NBC News, reporting from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Turkey, and the broader region. She is also the founder and former managing editor of NBC’s Asian America platform, built to elevate the voices of America’s fastest-growing population. At the NewsHour, Nawaz reports on politics, education, climate change, health care, national security, culture, and sports. She’s interviewed heads of state, senior Administration officials, and entertainment icons. Her reporting has taken her to border communities along the US-Mexico border and into Central America, to remote parts of the Brazilian Amazon, and to big cities and small towns in every corner of America. In 2019, her reporting as part of a NewsHour series on global plastic pollution was the recipient of a Peabody Award, and was turned into an hour-long, primetime special, The Plastic Problem, for PBS. In 2019, Nawaz also co-hosted the Broken Justice criminal justice podcast, examining the role of public defenders and the story of one man wrongfully imprisoned for decades. While at ABC News, Nawaz reported the documentary, “Roberts County: A Year in the Most Pro-Trump Town,” following four families’ lives over President Trump’s first year in office, and hosted the podcast series, “Uncomfortable,” featuring in-depth, one-on-one conversations with thought leaders on the issues dividing America. Nawaz has also been honored with an Emmy Award for the NBC News Special “Inside the Obama White House,” a Society for Features Journalism Award, and was a recipient of the International Reporting Project fellowship in 2009. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where she captained the varsity field hockey team, and later earned her master's degree from the London School of Economics. She lives with her husband and two daughters in the Washington, D.C. area.  

Lisa Ellen Niver, M.A. Education, is a science teacher and an award-winning travel expert who has explored 101 countries and six continents. She is an award-nominated television host, travel journalist and passionate artist who sailed the seven seas by cruise ship for seven years and backpacked for three years in Asia. She is the founder of We Said Go Travel which is read in 212 countries and named #3 on the top 1000 Travel Blog and the top female travel blogger 3 times in 2019. Find her talking travel at KTLA TV and in her We Said Go Travel videos with over one million views on her YouTube channel. She has hosted Facebook Live for USA Today 10best, is verified on both Twitter and Facebook, has over 160,000 followers across social media and ran fifteen travel competitions publishing over 2500 writers and photographers from 75 countries. She has been a finalist for six Southern California Journalism Awards in the past three years for broadcast television as well as print and digital articles. She won an award for her print Jewish Journal article. Niver has written for AARP, American Airways, Delta Sky, En Route (Air Canada), Hemispheres (United Airlines), Jewish Journal, Luxury Magazine, Ms. Magazine, Myanmar Times, National Geographic, POPSUGAR, Robb Report, Saturday Evening Post, Scuba Diver Life, Sierra Club, Ski Utah, Smithsonian, TODAY.com, Trivago, USA Today 10best, Wharton Magazine and Yahoo. She is writing a book, “Brave Rebel: 50 Scary Challenges Before 50,” about her most recent travels and challenges. Look for her underwater SCUBA diving, in her art studio making ceramics or helping people find their next dream trip.

Allyson Sonenshine C93, has over 25 years of nonprofit, legal and volunteer experience in women’s health. Some would say she is a “tireless advocate” but lately her neck and back have been protesting. Nevertheless, she persists … since 2011, Allyson has served as the Founding Director of the Orange County Women’s Health Project, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing local women’s health through education, collaboration, and advocacy. Before launching the OCWHP, Allyson worked with the Merage Foundations, where she helped establish a nationally recognized Wellness Center at El Sol Academy, a Title I charter school in Santa Ana, and prior to that, she practiced employment and business litigation with Bingham McCutchen (now Morgan Lewis) in Los Angeles. On the volunteer side, Allyson has performed pro bono legal work for Planned Parenthood Federation of America and The Rape Treatment Center, served as the Board Chair for both Essential Access Health and Planned Parenthood of Orange & San Bernardino Counties, and presently serves on the Orange County Health Improvement Partnership. What seems like a lifetime ago, Allyson graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania and earned her JD at USC School of Law. Allyson and her Penn sweetheart Coby CW92 have enjoyed raising two sons in Newport Beach, California. Over the years Allyson has volunteered with her older son’s hockey team, her younger son’s surf team, and their high school boosters association. To let loose, Allyson sings lead vocals with The New Originals, an 80’s cover band, and follows with envy the professional music careers of her friends from Off the Beat.

Women's health startup founder Julia Rose is on a mission to elevate and empower the voice of women and those who support them by amplifying and normalizing the conversation around women's health issues. She is also creating the VaGenie, an innovative solution to pelvic health, which lets women play Kegel controlled video games on their smart phone.

Veronica Woods, WG99, is an entrepreneur and real estate investor. After spending 20 years working in Corporate America in Finance and Product Management roles for companies like Dun & Bradstreet, Merck, and Merrill Lynch, she began her journey into entrepreneurship. Her first venture was an online hair salon review site to help connect consumers with quality hair salons across the country. She published the book "The A-List Salon: Insider Secrets of How Profitable Salons Wow Their Clients." She pivoted from the beauty business into small business consulting, where she advised clients, including a non-profit affordable housing developer in New York City, on how to evaluate strategic opportunities. In 2017, she joined the family real estate business – which was her very first job. Through Daniel Woods Real Estate, founded by her father in 1987, Veronica works with individuals and organizations to buy, sell, rent, and develop residential and small commercial real estate in the Philadelphia metro area. She is passionate about helping her clients create wealth, build a legacy, and design a dream lifestyle through real estate. In her spare time, she volunteers where she can impact change that empowers communities, such as Making the Change Group, Summer Search, and the Community Design Collaborative. Veronica earned her B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University and her M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School.

Jordi Rivera Prince C16, is a PhD student in Bioarchaeology at the University of Florida, where she is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, and a National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Ford Predoctoral Fellow. Her research focuses on skeletal studies of ancient maritime communities (ca. 400 BC - 0) and sociopolitical development on the North Coast of Peru. She is a a project bioarchaeologist for the Huanchaco Archaeology Program (PAHUAN), led by Dr. Gabriel Prieto, and mentors Peruvian archaeology students in skeletal recovery methods during excavation. Rivera Prince graduated from the College in 2016 with a BA in Anthropology with Honors. During her time at Penn, she worked in the Penn Museum Physical Anthropology section, training in human skeletal analysis and active in community educational outreach programming. Rivera Prince’s independent research was supported by her tenure as a College House Research Fellow, and as a member of the University Scholars Program. Furthermore, Rivera Prince was an active in MEChA and La Casa Latina, and was a First-Generation, Low-Income (FGLI) Penn graduate. Since graduation, Rivera Prince has also worked as a Researcher at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), and completed a Fulbright Open Research Award to Peru (2017-2018).

Constantia Constantinou is a pioneer in developing digital, multimedia, and technology initiatives in large university library systems. She began her career at New York University and has held library leadership positions at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook, SUNY Maritime College, City University of New York, Rutgers University, and Iona College. Twice named a Fulbright Scholar, she is an active member of the global university library community, as well as an accomplished classical guitarist, who holds advanced degrees in music theory from the City University of New York, where she also earned her Masters of Library Science.

Miriam Bloom Williams has over a decade of experience working at global brands Coach, Louis Vuitton, J.Crew and L’Occitane, where she held supply chain and operations leadership roles. She oversaw international logistics, WMS and SAP implementations, retail operations and omni- channel distribution. She then spent 18 months leading Logistics Partnerships at Narvar, a venture backed high growth retail technology start-up focused on post purchase customer experiences. She holds a BA in Communications from The University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from The Wharton School. She is a proud WEMBA 39! After 13 years in New York, she now lives with her family in Berkeley, California. In 2018 she co-founded Bloomwell, a maternity wear disruptor offering high tech, versatile clothing for today's exceptional and expecting women. Follow Superkin on instagram @shopsuperkin and be sure to share with any expecting women you know!

Dr. Lara Danziger-Isakov C93, is a Professor at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. She and host Meesh Pierce discuss a variety of covid-19 FAQs. These are strictly Dr. Danziger-Isakov's personal perspectives as she does not speak on behalf of her employer or the University of Pennsylvania.  For more info on Dr. Danziger-Isakov, please tune in to her podcast episode posted Feb. 25, 2020.

Robin Barone C98, is an entrepreneur, writer, and traveler who has visited over 60 countries and lived abroad. Robin is the founder of Diplomat Books, a publishing company that teaches curiosity. Curiosity is the basis of teamwork, collaboration, change management, resiliency, and diversity in the workplace. Curiosity fosters patience and inquisitiveness. People that are curious are less fearful, more open, and more confident. Curious people are happier. The company is known for the series Where is Robin, which uses travel to teach curiosity to kids ages 4 to 8 years. The series has been internationally distributed to over 14 countries and sold in major chain stores. Prior to founding Diplomat Books, Ms. Barone worked in real estate finance where she was known for her ability to formulate win-win solutions. Her career began working as analyst in a mortgage brokerage followed by an investment fund and later right hand to the CFO of a REIT. Robin also serves as an adjunct instructor at NYU and has authored successful white papers about real estate finance. Ms. Barone earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in Mathematics, a M.S. from NYU in Real Estate Finance, and M.B.A. from INSEAD. Her leadership style is described as curious, collaborative, and considerate. When she is not writing or traveling, she can be found skiing, rowing, or playing tennis.

Juliet Glinski graduated from Penn in 1994 and earned her doctorate in psychology at Yeshiva University of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. As a licensed clinical psychologist for the past 20 years, she uses evidence-based treatments and integrates a variety of therapeutic strategies for a "do what works" rather than "one size fits all" approach. Dr. Glinski has published and presented on a variety of topics including adolescent depression, treatment of suicidal youth, weight loss surgery, and parenting programs. 

Lara Danziger-Isakov, MD, MPH, C93, practices pediatric infectious diseases at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center where she is Professor of Pediatrics. She completed her training in Pediatrics at the Cleveland Clinic and Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Saint Louis Children's Hospital. Her interests include pediatric infectious diseases, infections in transplant recipients, and infections in immunocompromised patients. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband, Ronnen, and two children, Avital & Gavin. We discuss the flu, lifelong friendships made at Penn, and her work with pediatric organ transplant patients.  This episode was recorded Feb. 11, 2020. For an update on Coronavirus from Dr. Lara Danziger-Isakov, please tune into the episode from March 15, 2020. 

Dr. Rhonda J Pomerantz C85, is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Dermatology at New York University Medical Center. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She then attended New York University School of Medicine and received her M.D. in 1989. She completed a full internship and residency program in Internal Medicine at New York University Medical Center and was Board Certified in 1992. From 1992 through 1995, she served as a Dermatology resident and Chief Resident at SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn. She became Board Certified in Dermatology in 1995. She joined the dermatology staff at NYU in 1995 where she is actively involved in educating the dermatology residents and supervising the Bellevue Dermatology Clinic. She has twice been presented with the award for Dedication And Excellence In The Teaching Of Dermatology. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Dr. Pomerantz has been practicing dermatology in Manhattan since 1995. Her research is in the area of risk factors for malignant melanoma. She has published articles on this topic and also on medical diseases with dermatologic manifestations and has contributed to published textbooks. She has presented at the Annual American Academy of Dermatology meeting, the National Healthy Skin Program, the Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference and the Advances in Dermatology Meeting at NYU. Dr. Pomerantz is a Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology and she has served a four year term as a member of the youth education committee.  She specializes in Skin Cancer, Acne, Medical Dermatology and Cosmetic problems affecting the skin. Dr. Pomerantz has appeared on national television and cable broadcasts, including the NBC Today Show, Lifetime Channel for Women and Fox News. She has been quoted in numerous beauty and fashion magazines.

Liza Millet WG 99, is an experienced financial/business development professional, passionate about startups and creating opportunities in Jackson, WY. She has worked with over 175 startup businesses, both on strategy, marketing, fund raising and business development.  Before moving to Jackson, Liza spent 12 years on Wall Street on the investment side of the business.  She currently works at Income Focus Portfolio Management, a Registered Investment Advisor.  She is the co-founder of Silicon Couloir, a Jackson-based 501c3 whose mission is to align entrepreneurship with community vision in the greater Teton region.  She co-founded the Silicon Couloir Angel group. She also co-founded and runs the Start Up Intensive, a 10 week intensive entrepreneurial bootcamp under Central Wyoming College and Silicon Couloir.  Liza was awarded the Wyoming Mentor of the Year in 2017.  She has an MBA from The Wharton School of Business and graduated from Dartmouth College.

Natalie Franke Hayes C12, is an entrepreneur, mobilization marketer, community builder, and neuroscience nerd. As one of the Founders of the Rising Tide Society and the Head of Community at HoneyBook, she leads tens of thousands of creatives and small business owners while fostering a spirit of community over competition around the world.

Suzann (“Suzie”) Pileggi Pawelski C’91 LBS’08 is a well-being writer, consultant, and international speaker specializing in the science of happiness and its effects on relationships and health. Her 2010 Scientific American Mind cover story, "The Happy Couple," was the catalyst for Happy Together: Using the Science of Positive Psychology to Build Love That Lasts, the best-selling book that she wrote with her husband James. Together, Suzie and James give Romance and Research™ workshops around the world. Happy Together was named a best book of 2018 by Business Insider, Success magazine, and The Greater Good Science Center. Suzie pens a popular blog for Psychology Today and is a contributing editor for Live Happy. As a columnist for the Newsletter of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), she profiled many of the field’s leading scientists and featured their groundbreaking research. Suzie’s writing and work has been featured in numerous top-tier media including Time magazine, Inc. magazine, Oprah magazine, NPR, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The LA Times, and The London Times.

Sapna Shah C93, W93, is an angel investor, retail expert and three-time entrepreneur. Through Red Giraffe Advisors, Sapna makes angel and early-stage seed investments in retail tech, fashion tech and e-commerce startups. Select investments include: The Wing, Stantt, Findmine, Swoonery, Dough, Modalyst, Monica + Andy and Iterate Studio. Sapna is also the founder of Retail X Series, a retail startup boot camp program for pre-seed stage founders who are revolutionizing the future of retail. Retail X holds monthly events with experts covering topics from customer acquisition, to financial modeling, to seed stage fundraising, targeted specifically to early stage B2B and DTC retail founders. Sapna advises start-ups and judges in the startup competitions at the Wharton School, NYU Stern and Columbia Business School. She has also mentored at a number of New York-based accelerators including Friends of eBay, Grand Central Tech, Monarq, XRC Labs, New York Fashion Tech Lab and Trendseeder. Sapna has also served on the Board of Directors of New York Angels, one of the most active angel groups in the world. Previously, Sapna co-founded and led Retail Eye Partners, a successful independent Wall Street equity research firm. At Retail Eye, Sapna assessed the monthly and quarterly performance of major retailers in the specialty, big box and department store sectors through intensive channel checks and analysis. Sapna also co-founded and launched a menswear e-commerce retailer, Mind the Chap, and led the Marketing and Web Development areas of the company. Prior to Retail Eye Partners, Sapna was Executive Director of Strategy and Customer Insight at Linens & Things, Inc., responsible for customer targeting and segmentation, market and consumer research, corporate strategic planning, new business rollouts and competitive benchmarking. Prior to Linens & Things, Sapna was Director of Strategic Planning &; New Business Development at Ann Taylor, where she worked on launching Ann Taylor’s e-commerce site, developing a color cosmetics line, visioning the store of the future and improving store operations. Sapna also has experience at Gap, Inc. Previous to her career in retail, Sapna worked in investment banking at Punk, Ziegel &; Knoell and at Morgan Stanley as a credit analyst. Sapna received her B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School as well as a B.A. in East Asian Studies from the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.  She received her M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. She is a member of the Women’s Forum of New York.

Lulu Ge WG19, is the Founder and CEO of Elix, the first menstrual wellness brand to deliver personalized herbal treatments for hormonal health by combining Chinese medicine with clinical research on an algorithmic platform. She is passionate about democratizing access to science-backed holistic remedies for chronic conditions so that we can all live more fulfilling and productive lives. Prior to founding Elix, Lulu led the Change and Transformation function at Hudson’s Bay Company and Saks Fifth Avenue. The team was responsible for a portfolio of strategic initiatives valued at $350M+ across an employee population of 45,000+. There she identified opportunity to leverage data and analytics in creating personalized customer experiences that fostered loyalty and community, a foundational pillar of Elix. Earlier in her career, Lulu spent several years in Management Consulting at both a “Big-Four”and a boutique firm where she led diverse projects consulting to Fortune 100organizations in strategy, business transformation, customer experience, technology enablement, organization design, change management and leadership effectiveness. She has also worked abroad in China, creating leadership development programs for Chinese government and business leaders. Lulu holds a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Social-Organizational Psychology from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Political Science and Art History from the University of California, San Diego. She is certified in varied assessments and methodologies including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI)and Prosci ADKAR®Model for individual change to drive organizational transformation. Lulu currently lives in New York City with her husband and numerous houseplants. She enjoys cooking plant-based recipes, practicing ashtanga-style yoga, traveling to different wine regions of the world and discovering new healing herbs. You can connect with her on Instagram: @luluge

Jane Gutman CW’73, PAR’14, PAR’16 has been instrumental in so many Penn efforts on the West Coast, tackling everything from opening Penn's first Western office,  to launching the Southern California Regional Advisory Board (SCRAB)  to expanding Penn's admissions, fund raising and alumni relations efforts.  Jane worked as the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Admission and Director of the Western Regional Office for UPenn for over thirteen years, and then became an active volunteer for Penn in Los Angeles. For the past 20 years, with an added Clinical Psych degree, she has been helping  students  of all backgrounds with the college admissions process as a speaker and counselor. Jane is truly all things Penn and all things volunteering, so when the opportunity arose to start Penn Serves LA, Jane was right there making it happen. On any given day, you might find her planning Penn events by scoping out Penn Serves' next projects or advocating in D.C. for global human rights or adventuring and trekking in faraway places where she is supporting women’s crafts collectives and doing good. Jane was recognized with the 1999 Alumni Award of Merit by Penn for her outstanding lifetime achievements and contributions to the University.   

Jordana Horn is a host and the head writer of the Call Your Mother podcast from Kveller, where Jews and Jewish-adjacent people are interviewed and nothing in life goes unexamined. She was the New York bureau chief for The Jerusalem Post, and has written for various newspapers and magazines; she is a lawyer and has practiced law in both New York and London. She's also a mother to six kids and has been deemed a "parenting expert" by both NBC's Today Show, on which she's appeared with Matt Lauer, and Fox and Friends -- so it must be true (!). One day, she hopes to write a book, but in the meantime, she's busy - she's President of Penn's Class of 1995, and is tremendously excited about her upcoming 25th reunion!

Wendy Prager (C89, PAR18) Wendy is the Executive Director of the one2one USA Foundation. She is also the Managing Partner and Counsel at Bridge Mountain Partners where she does legal and non-profit consulting. Previously, Wendy worked at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in NYC as counsel in the Private Equity Group until 2014. Before that, she was Senior Counsel at ING Investment Management Co. for 14 years until 2010. Wendy also worked at Seward & Kissel as an attorney in their Private Investment Funds group. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and received her JD from Fordham University School of Law.  Wendy is passionate about many causes and devotes her time to several non-profit organizations, providing pro bono legal assistance, acting as a mentor, or in a board capacity, and is also active with several alumni organizations of the University of Pennsylvania. After transitioning out of her long career as a hedge fund and PE lawyer, Wendy joined one2one USA after bumping into an old Penn friend at Engaging Minds. His idea about personalizing philanthropy and making it more transparent and connective for donor and donee really resonated with Wendy. Through extensive tax planning and meetings with the IRS, one2one was able to do something unprecedented in the realm of charitable giving. Wendy lives in New Jersey with her husband, Brett (W88, EAS88) three daughters, and two rescue labs, Maui & Kona.   More on One2One in the Wall Street Journal and the Penn Gazette  

Lisa Tretler, C94, WG99, MA99, is the CEO of Business Boosters Consulting, a company focused on the professional development of women business owners and advising on entrepreneurship, business growth and intrapreneurship. Lisa has nearly 25 years of experience training, coaching and consulting to individuals and companies in the areas of goal setting, business plan development, and marketing and growth strategies. Lisa co-founded The Acceleration Project (TAP), a nonprofit which harnesses the talent of professionals to accelerate small business growth. Prior to her current work, Lisa worked as a business strategy consultant at American Express, Accenture and Towers Perrin. Lisa has been a member of the Professional Faculty at the Wharton School of Business, where she has taught multinational marketing strategy and consulting skills development. She has lectured for the International Relations Program and the Fox Leadership Institute at Penn and developed courses and facilitated workshops in entrepreneurship and career development. Lisa received a BA in International Relations from Penn, an MBA from Wharton, and an MA in International Affairs/Spanish from the Lauder Institute.

Jalak Jobanputra is Founding Partner of FuturePerfect Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund in NYC focused on next generation technology such as blockchain and machine learning. FPV’s portfolio includes Abra, Open Garden, Blockstream, Bitpesa, FuseMachines, Everledger and Blockchain. Jalak was awarded Institutional Investor’s Top Fintech Dealmakers in 2017 and 2016. In 2017, she was cited as a “Top 5 Investor Powering the Blockchain Boom” and CB Insights noted FPV as one of the top VC funds in blockchain “before it was cool”. Since founding the firm, she has spoken on blockchain technology at many global conferences, including the Milken Global Institute, Dutch Development Bank/FMO annual meeting, and The Economist Buttonwood Gathering. Prior to FPV, Jobanputra was the Director of Emerging Market Mobile Investments at Omidyar Network, a philanthrocapitalist fund started by Pierre Omidyar, co-founder of eBay. Previously, she worked at Intel Capital investing in enterprise software in Silicon Valley from 1999-2003. as well as New Venture Partners and the NYC Investment Fund where she formed one of NYC's first seed funds and helped establish the Fintech Innovation Lab in 2010. She started her career as a media/tech/telecom investment banker in NYC and London. Jobanputra is also active in supporting education reform and social entrepreneurship. She served as a Trustee of Achievement First Bushwick Charter Schools (Brooklyn). She is on the Board of Directors for the Center for an Urban Future, Advisory Board of L’Oreal’s Women in Digital Initiative, member of Mayor DeBlasio’s Broadband Taskforce, and former Access to Capital Committee member of the US Secretary of State Clinton Women’s Leadership Council. She is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, with a B.S. in Economics (concentration in Finance) from The Wharton School and a B.A. in Communications from the Annenberg School. She received her MBA from Kellogg in 1999.

Katlyn Grasso W15, is the founder and CEO of GenHERation. In her role as CEO, she has created the GenHERation Summer Leadership Series, developed original GenHERation webisodes, and grown the GenHERation community to more than 250,000 members. She is a recent graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she received a B.S. in Economics with concentrations in finance and strategic globalization. She is one of the inaugural recipients of the President’s Engagement Prize created by Dr. Amy Gutmann at the University of Pennsylvania. This award provides graduating seniors with $150,000 to develop innovative projects that have the potential to change the world. Katlyn is a Seventeen Power Girl and was also named to the magazine’s list of “Real Girls Doing Amazing Things.” Katlyn was selected to participate in the 2015 Millennial Trains Project, a cross country trip for 25 social innovators from around the world sponsored by NBCUniversal. During the journey, she was named one of the “5 Innovators to Look Out for on the 2015 Millennial Trains Project” by Innovator’s Peak. After the trip, she was awarded a 2015 Impact Grant from NBCUniversal to produce webisodes of the GenHERation Summer Leadership Series 2015 as one of the most innovative, socially-impactful projects that came out of this year’s journey. She was featured on the cover of Philly Biz Magazine as the youngest woman on the “Women to Watch” list. Katlyn is a serial entrepreneur who has started two nonprofit organizations, the dance exercise program Tap for Tots, and a technology commercialization venture. She also serves on the Advisory Board for the Center of the Advancement of Girls at the Agnes Irwin School. Katlyn is a frequent television and radio contributor and has appeared on CNBC, NBC New York, NBC Washington, D.C.,  SiriusXM Radio, CBS Radio Los Angeles, and Kiss 104.1.Originally from Hamburg, New York, Katlyn is now a bicoastal entrepreneur spending her time between New York City, Philadelphia, and California. During her time at Penn, she was the Managing Practice Leader of the Wharton Small Business Development Center (SBDC). She was responsible for managing the daily operations of the High Impact Growth Consulting Program, which included overseeing the work of more than 60 undergraduate and MBA students and 80 cases per year. Within an 18 month period, she helped the SBDC team generate $30 million in revenue and new investments for their clients. She was a founding team member of the SBDC’s Accelerator Program and served as the CEO of the Women’s Vertical. In recognition of her contributions to the Wharton SBDC, Katlyn received the 2014 Wells Fargo Distinguished Leadership Award. In addition to her work at the Wharton SDBC, Katlyn served as the Co-President of Wharton Ambassadors, a member of the Wharton Venture Initiation Program, a Neff Entrepreneurial Intern Fellow, a Wharton Peer Advising Fellow, a Turner Social Impact Society Intern Fellow, a National Student Ambassador for Women in Toys, and a member of Soundworks Tap Factory.  She was honored with several awards at Penn, including the 2015 Wharton Vice Dean’s Award of Service, 2015 Wharton Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award, 2015 Penn Student Award of Merit, 2014 Wharton Venture Award, 2014 Snider Seed Award, 2014 Social Impact Research Experience (SIRE) Grant Award, 2014 Trustees’ Council of Penn Women Grant Award, 2014 Women in Toys Scholarship recipient for being a promising female student entrepreneur, 2013-2015 Wharton Innovation Fund Grant, 2013 Wharton Social Impact Initiative Research Grant, and the 2013 Herbert S. Steuer Memorial Prize as one of the most outstanding Wharton students in scholarship, personality, and leadership. Katlyn is an avid researcher and has conducted international research on girl’s leadership development. She has interviewed more than 1,500 girls, 200 executives, and 100 educators across all 50 states, 9 countries, and 4 continents. She created the Leadership Camp for Girls 2013 to test her research hypotheses. As a recipient of the 2014 Wharton SIRE Grant, she studied how girls’ consumption of media influences leadership development in the 21st century.  She completed an independent study with Wharton’s Vice Dean of Social Impact to analyze female leadership development through a literature review. In spring 2015, she worked with Wharton’s Management Department to organize an analysis of the global venture capital industry. Katlyn speaks nationally about entrepreneurship, technology, and the advancement of women. She has been a featured speaker at the Kronos Women’s Forum, Leading for Change Conference, Forbes CMO Excursion, Heads Network Annual Meeting, Young Entrepreneur’s Academy CEO Round Table, the Sea Crest School’s Innovators’ Symposium, Nichols College Institute for Women’s Leadership, and has introduced a presidential candidate for the 2016 election. Her work has been featured in national media outlets, including Seventeen, Forbes, NBCUniversal, The Huffington Post, HuffPost Live, Yahoo Travel, Penn Current, Penn Gazette, Philadelphia Daily News, Philly.com, Technically Philly, The Daily Pennsylvanian, Innovator’s Peak, Idea Forge, Washington Times, Miami Herald, Catalyst, The WALK Magazine, CollegeFashionista, Neon Tommy, Macaroni Kid, Poets & Quants, Knowledge@Wharton High School, Wharton International Business Review, and Wharton Magazine.

Communication has been the keystone to Ashlee Stokes C94 two-decades-plus experience in public relations.   Ashlee transformed her Asian Studies and Japanese language major into a successful career as consultant, leading strategic communication and change management efforts for Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies.  Corporate roles include Director of Communications at ING Direct USA, Manager of Employee Communications at JPMorgan Chase, and Adjunct Professor of Public Speaking and Writing at Temple University. She serves as Class of 1994 Executive Vice President and a reunion co-chair, and is a volunteer with Girls on the Run and Paws & Affection.

Mona Bijoor C98, WG05, is a partner at King Circle Capital LLC, an investment and advisory firm, where she has holdings in real estate, franchises, start-ups, and online businesses. Mona is also the founder of JOOR, the premier online global B2B marketplace for wholesale buying that directly connects brands and retailers. Mona’s experience as a brand consultant for the fashion industry and within buying departments for global retailers inspired her to create JOOR in 2010 to solve some of the incredible challenges and time constraints she encountered during her career. By 2016, she had grown the company to process over $10 billion in gross merchandise value. Based in New York City, Mona expanded to offices in Los Angeles, London, Paris, Milan, Sydney, and Melbourne, increasing the team to one hundred employees worldwide. Clients include Neiman Marcus, Harrods, Michael Kors, and Kate Spade. While at JOOR, Mona was recognized by Crain’s 40 under 40 and Wharton’s 40 under 40, as well as receiving the Big Apple Entrepreneur of the Year Award. She is the author of Startups and Downs, The Secrets of Resilient Entrepreneurs and a frequent contributor to TechCrunch, Entrepreneur, and Thrive Global. Mona earned a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters.