Bianca Jade Taxman is the Founder of MizzFIT which focuses on delivering fashionable fitness apparel and accessories.
Prior to MizzFit, Taxman worked as a creative art director for Ogilvy and Mather, Saatchi and Saatchi, Chiat Day and several other boutique ad shops.
In late 2009, along with Teen Vogue fitness editor Eva Chen, Taxman was invited by Nike to join their Global Influencer Panel and speak about the role of fitness and fashion in the lives of young women. She's also appeared on the Dr. Manny Show on Fox television as well as NBC's Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda.
Bianca Jade Taxman attended Cornell University and earned a BA in psychology.
Kim K. Azzarelli is Vice President, New Business Ventures & Managing Director, Women in the World at Newsweek Daily Beast. Ms. Azzarelli has held senior legal, public affairs and philanthropic roles in U.S. public companies, including Goldman Sachs, the Hain Celestial Group and Avon Products, seeking to combine her experience in law, business and philanthropy with her passion for women's legal and economic empowerment. She is the co-founder and Chair of the Avon Global Center for Women and Justice at Cornell Law School and serves on the Board of the Avon Foundation for Women.
Kim Azzarelli is a graduate of Cornell Law School, Cornell University and Friends Seminary in NYC where she was born and raised.
Louise Hurlbut is a partner at Beneterre. For the past 30 years, Hurlbut has been engaged in entrepreneurial ventures, corporate management and small service companies providing marketing, planning, research, strategy and new product development expertise. She was an initial funder and partner of the Boppy Company, maker of the eight-time winner of the #1 Baby Product by American Baby Magazine. Her most recent venture is in the eco-friendly market, designing and manufacturing a line of reusable and washable bags for portable food, wine and fresh produce under the brand name Beneterre. Hurlbut with her partner continuously design new products to replace plastic and paper and encourage consumers to be eco-friendly by purchasing and using American made Beneterre products.
Lousie Hurlbut has her undergraduate degree from Mills College and her MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell University.
Archana Shah is a senior executive director in the emerging markets derivative sales group at Morgan Stanley. She currently acts as co-chair of the New York chapter of Woman Advancing Microfinance (WAM), which is an international organization with 13 chapters worldwide, which supports gender issues and women's empowerment. Shah also supports Equity for Africa (EFA), a UK-based charity that provides capital to small business owners through lease financing in northern Tanzania, and is active within the microfinance community at Morgan Stanley.
Her interest is rooted in her diverse upbringing. She was born in Kenya to Indian parents and raised in Hong Kong and Tanzania. She moved to the United States to attend the University of Pennsylvania, where she received a BS in finance and a B.A in French. She continued on to New York University to receive her master's in economics.
Linda Choong is Senior VP, Global Retail Development for the National Basketball Association.
As senior vice president of the NBA's global retail development group, Linda Choong manages the global multi-channel retail businesses for the NBA, WNBA, and NBA Development League. Choong oversees the strategy and execution for league-branded retail, e-commerce, and direct-to-consumer channels. Her areas of responsibility include merchandising, traditional and digital marketing, operations and international expansion. Choong joined the NBA in 1998 to help establish and open the flagship NBA Store on Fifth Avenue, the first retail store to be owned and operated by a North American professional sports league. Choong has also been responsible for the completion of the league's e-commerce partnerships and has overseen several site launches and redesigns.
In July 2008, Choong oversaw the opening of the NBA Store's first retail locations outside the U.S., with two stores in Beijing, China. She also introduced a new global retail design with a new store in Shanghai, China during the 2010 Shanghai Expo. Choong has held several positions at the NBA, including vice president of retail, senior director of retail, and director of e-commerce business operations.
Prior to joining the NBA, Choong was the director of planning at A|X Armani Exchange, where she was responsible for merchandise planning for the U.S. business and served as the primary lead for four Asian buying offices. Before that, she held various planning positions at Ann Taylor.
Choong received a bachelor's degree in design and environmental analysis from Cornell University.
For Elizabeth Classen Ambrose, Bridges Cornell Heights, a premium enhanced assisted living residence located adjacent to Cornell's campus, represents the culmination of more than 20 years of geriatric care immersion. Her journey began in 1989 when she founded a NYS licensed home health care agency in partnership with her sister, Patricia Classen. Within two years, their agency grew from four to more than 120 employees, becoming the largest privately owned licensed agency in upstate NY. Their partnership evolved with the opening of three high quality, assisted living homes in 1994, 1996 and 1998. Through these experiences, Ambrose recognized a strong need for a premium retirement facility closely connected with the cultural and ongoing educational opportunities of Cornell University.
In 2001, Ambrose created Bridges Cornell Heights, the first licensed Enhanced Assisted Living Residence (EALR) in NY, and as such became the prototype for the state's EALR designation. Its training/staff development methods provide a framework for the NYS DOH quality assurance guidelines, and it was recognized for sensitive development in a historic district by Rotary and City of Ithaca. Ambrose's inspiration comes from a love for people, especially older, wiser people, and she plays an active role in the lives of the residents who call Bridges home.
Elizabeth Francis is the Chief Marketing Officer at Intelligent Beauty Intelligent Beauty creates and operates businesses in the personal care, beauty and fashion spaces. The company believes in a better way to launch and grow businesses in the marketplace today, utilizing technology and a disciplined approach to brand building.
Elizabeth Francis has more than a decade of marketing and advertising experience, both offline and online. As CMO of Intelligent Beauty she manages the Interactive Agency, IB Interactive, supporting all divisions of IB Inc. including JustFabulous, Dermstore and SENSA. Intelligent Beauty spends over $60 million annually in advertising across all businesses. In addition to being CMO she is president of IB's newest business, JustFabulous, an online fashion company offering virtual personal styling and hand-selected fashions for customers. She is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the business, driving strategy and marketing. Prior to joining Intelligent Beauty, Francis was a vice president at Alena, a Fox Interactive company and director of marketing at LowerMyBills.com, an Experian Interactive company.
Elizabeth Francis is a graduate of Cornell University.
Nancy Taber Richards is the owner/cheesemaker at Finger Lakes Farmstead Cheese Co. LLC, located between Ithaca and Watkins Glen, NY. All the milk comes from Taber Hill Farms' 50-head Holstein cowherd belonging to her parents and brothers. Nancy's business partner, an experienced Dutch cheesemaker, helped establish the cheesemaking process. Previously, she was a reporter at the Bar Harbor Times. Nancy Richards is a graduate of Cornell University
Not so long ago, Susan Gibbs left a career as a network news producer in New York City in search of something more authentic. A chance encounter with a book about raising sheep sealed her fate. With a great deal of hard work and a towering stack of How-to-Farm books, Susan developed a flock of Cormo sheep and a beautiful herd of angora goats. Today, Juniper Moon Farm is home to a herd of lovely angora goats, some fat, spoiled sheep, two Maremma livestock guardian dogs, and the world's first yarn CSA. In her spare time, Susan does consulting for would-be farmers and has written dozens of published articles on food and farming. But her full-time job is shepherding the flock and blogging about her experiences.