Elizabeth Ngonzi is an entrepreneur who in 2001, founded Amazing Taste, leveraging her professional career in Corporate America, her global upbringing and personal commitment to making a social impact - all of which have directly influenced her business approach and philosophy. Since its inception, Amazing Taste has evolved into a recognized consulting firm dedicated to helping its clients achieve their strategic objectives through high-impact marketing campaigns, high-profile events, and ground-breaking educational - that demonstrate a commitment to Global Sustainability, Social Impact and Community Investment.
Amazing Taste draws from Ms. Ngonzi's unique perspective as a self-proclaimed "world citizen". Her mother was a diplomat and women's rights advocate, and her late father was a renowned African playwright, and a one-time director of the National Theatre in Kenya. Ms. Ngonzi obtained her primary and secondary education at the United Nations International School, where she studied French and Spanish, and has traveled throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and the Caribbean.
Ms. Ngonzi began her career with Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) as one of sixteen participants in its Marketing Development Program. She next went to work for MICROS Systems, Inc. - where she was ranked as one of its top-ten sales people. Prior to founding Amazing Taste, Ms. Ngonzi was a business consulting manager for Arthur Andersen, where she directed engagements for clients in the Hospitality, Telecommunications and Energy industries.
Elizabeth Ngonzi obtained a Master of Management in Hospitality degree from Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration and completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems at Syracuse University's School of Information Studies.
Christine Marchuska is CEO of c. marchuska. c. marchuska is an eco-friendly clothing line by Christine Marchuska and Brooke Bresnan, which provides chic and sustainable clothing at affordable prices. Manufactured in New York City, the clothing is designed to embody versatility throughout different trends and seasons in order to stay true to the sustainable fashion mantra of producing less waste.
Christine Marchuska's comments are from a panel entitled "Fashion With Social Awareness" from the Entrepreneurship at Cornell Celebration in April 2010.
Christine Marchuska is a graduate of Cornell University.
Verneda White is the founder and Creative Director of Human Intonation. Human Intonation is a unisex apparel brand dedicated to raising social awareness while giving 15% of the proceeds from each sale to growing non-profits. Verneda White's comments are from a panel entitled "Fashion With Social Awareness" from the Entrepreneurship at Cornell Celebration in April 2010. Verneda White is a graduate of Cornell University.
Deborah J. Muller brings more than 20 years of employee relations and workplace investigation experience and expertise to her role as Founder and President of HR Acuity, LLC.
Prior to founding the firm, Muller held HR leadership positions in numerous Fortune 500 companies, including Honeywell, Citibank and Marsh & McLennan, where she developed a seasoned approach to conducting workplace investigations into allegations of misconduct. She has been instrumental in leading fact-finding cases involving a wide range of complex investigations, including sexual harassment, discrimination and inappropriate use of company funds. In her senior HR roles, Muller was also responsible for strategic organization redesigns, extensive change management initiatives, coaching and development of senior executives, and performing due diligence and integration activities for company acquisitions.
Deborah Muller earned a BS degree from Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and a MA from the University of Maryland.
Marlene Quijano is Director R&D for Cereals, Bars, Better For You Platforms and Open Innovation for the Snacks & Cereal Sector at Kraft. She is responsible for Category Leadership across Growth, Quality and Core Programs across North American Cereal, Bars, Back To Nature and South Beach Diet Categories.
Prior to moving into this assignment, Quijano had prior leadership roles in the Snacks & Cereal Sector. Quijano was the Director for Snacks & Cereal Productivity and Pilot Plant Operations, responsible for Raw & Pack productivity across Biscuit, Snacks, & Confections, involving major product and process cost optimization initiatives and Pilot Plant Operations supporting Growth, Quality and Productivity for the sector. She also served as the Director Packaging and Engineering where she oversaw all of the Packaging and Engineering activities for Biscuit, Snacks & Confections businesses.
Quijano also held a leadership role in Human Resources where she was responsible for guiding the Kraft diversity agenda and focusing on effective strategies to meet quantitative and qualitative goals across the Westchester and New Jersey management sites.
Quijano began her career with the company in 1984 as an intern in the Beverage Division at General Foods Corporation. A year later, she joined the company as a technical researcher in Beverages. She has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility including Senior Engineer for Maxwell House and Asset Planning Manager for Maxwell House Logistics. In 1995, she was named Beverages Operations Quality Manager where she focused on leading and implementing food safety and quality assurance initiatives. A year later, she was named Technology Section Manager for the Beverages Division and then in 1998 became Technology Section Manager for Kraft's Coffee & Cereals Division.
In 1999 Marlene was promoted to Associate Director for Beverages, Desserts & Snacks with overall technical business leadership across two categories - Ready-to-drink beverages and new product development for the entire division. She progressed in that capacity to overseeing the overall technical business leadership across Kraft's Dessert businesses.
Marlene Quijano has a bachelor's of science in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University.
Erica Perreault is the Merchandising Director at Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, MI. She joined Zingerman's in 2000, drawn by the fun atmosphere and her passion for sales. Initially on the retail service staff in the Deli, Erica was promoted to Deli Merchandising Manager in 2002. In this position she is responsible for the Deli's merchandising budget and the overall "Look and Feel" of the store, including displays, signage, promotional materials and menus. Each month Erica and her staff of two work with the 18 other Deli managers to implement a targeted promotional package that typically includes posters, flyers, vendor support, product tastings, dinners and demos.
Erica regularly teaches an internal staff class, Merchandising 101: Building Great Displays and works with ZingTrain clients who want to improve their organization's merchandising and display.
Elizabeth A. Mannix is the Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Management and Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion at the Johnson School at Cornell University.
Professor Mannix's research and teaching interests include: Effective performance in managerial teams, diversity in organizations and teams, power and alliances, negotiation and conflict, and organizational change and renewal. Recently, she has been studying the effects of informal power in teams, and the multi-faceted effects of diversity on performance in organizational groups.
Elizabeth Mannix received her PhD from the University of Chicago.
Julie Eskay-Eagle is the Managing Director at September Ventures LLC.
Eskay-Eagle was a full time employee of The Wellcome Trust in London, UK from 2001-2004 where she established a formal Direct Investment Program. Prior to joining the Trust she was a Vice President with Lazard Freres in Health Care Investment Banking and a founding member of Lazard Technology Partners.
Before joining Lazard, Eskay-Eagle was a Health Care Specialist with McKinsey & Co. in New York.
Julie Eskay-Eagle has a bachelor's degree in Biomedical Ethics from Cornell University and an MBA from Columbia University.
Anne Loehr is a partner in Riverstone Endeavors. Loehr has owned and managed eco-friendly hotels and safari companies in Kenya for over 15 years. While managing 500 employees there, Loehr could not find seasoned trainers to teach leadership, coaching, and teambuilding skills. She began to study these skills herself, and after selling her properties she returned to the United States to specialize in executive coaching and leadership development.
Loehr has also co-founded Safaris for the Soul, leadership retreats that help senior managers find their organizational values and purpose. These trips take place around the world and have been featured in The Washingtonian, Business Traveler and Body+Soul. Loehr's award-winning book "A Manager's Guide to Coaching: Simple and Effective Ways to Get the Best Out of Your Employees," was published by the American Management Association in 2008. Her work has been covered in Newsweek International, National Geographic Traveler, CNN Money, Sunday Times (UK), Guardian (UK) and other international media.
Anne Loehr is a graduate of Cornell Universityâ€[TM]s School of Hotel Administration.