Nancy Schlichting is president and chief executive officer of the Henry Ford Health System. Schlichting previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer for the system and was responsible for its hospitals, community care services, hospital joint ventures, physician practice development, and integrated support services. In addition, she served as the president and chief executive officer of Henry Ford Hospital and was responsible for the operation of the Detroit Campus, which includes the hospital and the ambulatory services. Prior to joining Henry Ford Health System in 1998, Schlichting was executive vice president and chief operating officer of Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio. She has also served as president of the Eastern Region of Catholic Health Initiatives, president and chief executive officer of Riverside Methodist Hospitals, and executive vice president and chief operating officer of Akron City Hospital. Nancy Schlichting earned her bachelor's degree in public policy studies from Duke University where she graduated magna cum laude. She received her Masters in Business Administration in Hospital Administration and Accounting from Cornell University. Schlichting served her Administrative Residency at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and her Administrative Fellowship at the American Hospital Association/Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
Marilyn Higgins is the Vice President of Economic Development at National Grid. In this role, she plans, directs and implements the economic development strategy of the Corporation in New York. She is responsible for attracting new business investment and jobs into the Corporation's thirty-seven county, upstate New York service territory. Working collaboratively with federal, state and local government officials and regional public and private development entities, Higgins provides leadership, strategy and resources for the revitalization of Upstate New York communities. She manages a multi-million dollar economic development fund and supervises a team of economic development professionals engaged in marketing, national and international business recruitment, site development and community renewal.
Marilyn Higgins received a BS in Political Science from SUNY Oswego.
Kimberly Steele is currently working with the law firm of Maney, McConville & Liccardi, PC. She specializes in construction, surety, commercial transactions and banking law.
Prior to joining Maney, McConville & Liccardi, PC, Steele was an associate with a nationally known boutique law firm that practices in the area of construction and surety law. Steele also was a vice president of and acted as corporate counsel for Oswego County National Bank (now Alliance Bank).
Kimberly Steele is admitted to practice in the State Courts of New York and Massachusetts, and all Federal and Bankruptcy Courts of New York and Massachusetts. She is also admitted to the United States Court of Appeals, First and Second Circuit. Steele graduated magna cum laude from Elmira College and received her Juris Doctor from Albany Law School of Union University.
Tracy Higginbotham is the founder of Women TIES, a company dedicated to creating a regional marketplace for women entrepreneurs. Higginbotham has been an entrepreneur for twelve years as President of Five Star Events, a special event management company specializing in the execution, planning and coordination of events for corporations, organizations, and individuals. For nine years, Higginbotham was President of the Women's Business Owners Connections, a networking and support organization for women business owners in Syracuse. She helped grow it from 8 members to 130 members when she stepped down in 2005. Tracy Higginbotham is a graduate of the State University of New York at Oswego where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.
Jessica Gelman is the Director of New Business Development for the New England Patriots. In this role, she is a key strategic and operational advisor to the Patriots' Executive Management Team. Her responsibilities include identifying, evaluating and creating new businesses and providing strategic analysis to leverage the Patriots' assets.
Most notable is the development and management of the first sports loyalty rewards credit card program, Extra Points, which has been rolled out throughout the NFL.
Jessica Gelman a BA, cum laude, from Harvard College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She was honored as Female Athlete of the Year after leading Harvard to consecutive basketball championships and NCAA appearances. She played professionally in Europe prior to her role with the New England Patriots.
Karen Harper is Vice President of Cognitive Systems and Principal Scientist At Charles River Analytics.
Harper leads projects focused in the development of Human Behavior Representations (HBRs) modeling the human decision-making process in high-stress, time-critical situations. She is responsible for the continuing development and application of Charles River Analytics' agent-based model of human behavior known as SAMPLE.
Before joining Charles River Analytics, Harper obtained her MS from the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at Boston University where she worked in robotics and control research and focused on biologically-inspired robot locomotion strategies.
Marisa is an associate in the Boston law office of Mintz Levin. She practices in the Immigration section of the firm and her work involves business immigration, including work visas and immigrant petitions. She also works with tax-exempt organizations on a variety of corporate matters.
Prior to joining Mintz Levin, Marisa worked as a Summer Associate for Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt in Portland, Oregon, and served as a student intern to the Legal Aid Society of New York.
Marisa Howe earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Dartmouth College and her J.D. from New York University School of Law.
Lindsay Hyde is founder and executive director of Strong Women, Strong Girls, Inc. (SWSG), a Massachusetts not-for-profit organization which helps at-risk girls in grades 3-5 build positive self-esteem and skills.
Hyde was named one of Glamour Magazine's "Top Ten College Women" in 2003. She was also awarded the Seventeen Magazine National Youth Volunteerism Award.
Lindsay Hyde is a graduate of Harvard University.
Jeanne Shaheen was the first woman to be elected governor of the U.S. State of New Hampshire. Elected in 1996, not only was she the first woman governor, but was also the first Democrat elected governor in the state in sixteen years. She was re-elected in 1998 and 2000, becoming only the fourth governor in New Hampshire history elected to three consecutive terms. In 2002 she narrowly lost her bid for the United States Senate.
She currently serves as Director of the Harvard Institute of Politics.
Jeanne Shaheen received a Bachelor's degree in English from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and a Master's degree in political science from the University of Mississippi.