Imagine Yourself in the C-Suite

Inspiring female leadership

Save the Dates

 

March 12, 2020
Event  Postponed

Imagine Yourself in the C-Suite Panel
 

April 7, 2020
Woodlands Community

Elaine Duke

“Imagine Yourself in the C-Suite” is an educational event series that provides an opportunity for school-aged girls across Chicagoland to engage in dialogue with leading professionals and with one another. Featured speakers include CEOs and executives who share their success stories – as well as the failures that helped shape their professional development – to inspire achievement, build confidence and embolden girls to forge pathways to excellence.

The speaker series covers a vast range of topics aimed at preparation and empowerment, including insights, experiences and lessons learned that allow each student to reflect on her interests and discover potential career pathways. Featuring presenters that hold a variety of executive-level positions, the conversations encourage students to explore opportunities for global leadership in the fields of science, technology, engineering, math, business and beyond.

In addition to the Woodlands students and invited-guests only events--which last year welcomed Connie Capone, Chief Financial Officer for SpotHero and this year Eric Smith, Chief Executive Officer Fifth Third Bank (Chicago)--the series includes annual programming open to the public. Last year’s inaugural public event took place on Wednesday, April 17 featuring an all-female powerhouse panel of executives from various industries. It welcomed 250 guests. Read about our April 2019 event in Forest & Bluff. 

Upcoming Speakers

M. Julie McKinley '74
March 12, 2020

Woodlands Academy alumna M. Julie McKinley '74 is President and Chief Executive Officer of Fiduciary Counselling Inc., one of the country’s largest registered investment advisory firms. Knowledgeable in both banking and investments, her very successful career has included prior service as senior vice president and managing director at Northern Trust in Chicago for nearly 20 years. Ms. McKinley, whose daughter is also a Woodlands Academy alumna, has served on the school’s board of trustees and its alumnae board.

Read Full Bio about M. Julie McKinley '74
Mary Callahan Erdoes '85
March 12, 2020

Named American Banker’s "most powerful woman in finance,"  Mary Callahan Erdoes '85 has led the investment management and private banking arm of JPMorgan Chase for the last decade. She sits on the JPMorgan Chase's Operating Committee, and serves on the boards of the U.S.-China Business Council, the Robin Hood Foundation of New York City and Georgetown University.

Read Full Bio about Mary Callahan Erdoes '85
Wan Ling Martello
March 12, 2020

Wan Ling Martello is a Co-Founder & Partner of BayPine. She is the former CEO for Nestlé’s Asia, Oceania and Sub-Saharan Africa (AOA) region. Wan Ling led a team of 105,000 employees in 92 countries spanning three continents, generating revenue of US$ 21 billion. She joined Nestlé in 2011 as the Global Chief Financial Officer, and was CEO of AOA from 2015 to 2018.

Read Full Bio about Wan Ling Martello
Elaine Duke
April 7, 2020

The Honorable Elaine Duke was the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from April 10, 2017 to April 15, 2018. She also served as the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security from July 31, 2017 to December 6, 2017.

Read Full Bio about Elaine Duke

Past Speakers

Eric Smith

Eric Smith is chief operating officer of Fifth Third Bank (Chicago), which includes more than $9.7 billion in assets. He is responsible for the growth and strategic alignment of our Commercial, Wealth & Asset Management and Consumer businesses to deliver distinctive value to our customers and community impact in the region.

Read Full Bio about Eric Smith
Connie Capone

Connie Capone is Chief Financial Officer at SpotHero. In this role, she oversees the company’s financial functions as it enters its next phase of growth, and brings extensive experience from her previous roles in operations, consulting and venture capital. Prior to SpotHero, Connie served as the CFO and Chief Administrative Officer at GeoDigital, an Atlanta-based high tech software company.

Read Full Bio about Connie Capone
Charlotte Kremer

Charlotte Kremer M.D., MBA is currently the executive vice president and head of Medical Affairs for Astellas Pharma Inc. In this role, Kremer provides leadership for the Medical Affairs organization globally. She joined Astellas in 2012 with 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry.

Read Full Bio about Charlotte Kremer
Patricia Besser

Patricia Besser, Managing Director, is responsible for leading teams in Chicago focused on the wealthiest families in the world. Ms. Besser joined Bank of America’s private wealth group in 2001 following over 20 years in corporate finance and investment banking with several other U.S. and international financial firms.

Read Full Bio about Patricia Besser
Kathleen Williams

Kathleen Williams is the Global Program Director at Capgemini. She is responsible for managing the delivery, customer satisfaction and sales across all of Capgemini’s service lines including consulting, systems integration, application management, and business process outsourcing.

Read Full Bio about Kathleen Williams

Importance of Good Role Models of Female Leadership

Woodlands alumna and C-Suite guest speaker Vanessa Ruiz '01 shares the importance of having strong role models of female leadership. Ms. Ruiz serves as Creative Director for WoltersKluwer Health and spoke to our students as a part of our "Imagine Yourself in the C-Suite" speaker series.