SPEAKERS 2012

Author and Expert on Women in Transition

Barbara Kelley is an expert on women in transition: the obstacles and opportunities in choosing the right path - from college and grad school to today's workplace. Along with her daughter, Shannon Kelley, Barbara is co-author of the book Undecided: How To Ditch The Endless Quest for Perfect and Find the Career - and Life - That's Right For You (Seal Press, 2011).

A journalism professor at Santa Clara University, where she directs the journalism emphasis, Barbara is a featured blogger for Huffington Post, a freelance writer and speaker. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications, including the Christian Science Monitor, Parenting, Health, Redbook, the San Jose Mercury News and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Barbara lives in San Jose, California.

Cathi Hight is a Kaizen consultant and President of Hight Performance Group. She has more than 20 years experience in performance improvement. Using proven strategies, assessments, and intervention tools, Cathi helps clients identify their real problems and solve them. She has worked with a wide range of organizations from the association, education, finance, public, and technology sectors to navigate market changes, streamline operations, increase productivity, and develop staff and customer retention.

Cathi has a diverse career experience which includes being VP of Operations for the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Regional Sales and Marketing Manager for both Dole Foods and Dean Foods, Corporate Training Coordinator for Bank of Hawaii, national program manager for the Kauffman Foundation, and a Motorola University Instructor for cycle time reduction and benchmarking. She specializes in analyzing complex problems, designing custom solutions, and helping teams use existing resources efficiently. From collecting feedback from customers and staff to identifying root performance issues and implementing cost-effective solutions, Cathi has become well known for helping people "work smarter, not harder."

Hight Performance Group employs the principles of Kaizen-continuous improvement, manage gradual change and use existing resources more efficiently and brings "good change" into organizations of all sizes. We leverage performance improvement strategies, assessments, and intervention tools to help organizations navigate change, increase productivity, and develop loyal customers.

Karen C. Handel is Senior Vice-President For Public Policy of the Susan G Komen organization. As senior vice president of public policy, Karen Handel is responsible for leading Susan G. Komen for the Cure in its federal and state advocacy efforts. Her responsibilities include management of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Advocacy Alliance, the organization's public policy arm.

Under Karen's stewardship, the Komen Advocacy Alliance has taken a leading role in efforts to preserve access to vital breast health programs throughout the country. In 2011, the Komen Advocacy Alliance's network of advocates were successful in helping to preserve over $100 million in state funding and $210 million in federal funding for screening programs. Additionally, other important legislation affecting the quality of care for breast cancer patients was passed, including oral chemotherapy parity legislation in Connecticut, Illinois, and Texas; legislation to provide insurance coverage for patients in clinical trials in Illinois; and an expansion in treatment coverage for uninsured women in Oregon.

Handel has been associated with Komen for the Cure and the breast cancer cause for a number of years. Her first connection to Komen was in her early 20's when, as a young staffer for long-time Komen partner Hallmark Cards, she helped to coordinate the company's involvement in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Series. Handel was also involved in the inaugural Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure in Washington, D.C.

Handel joined the staff of Vice President Dan and Marilyn Quayle when Mrs. Quayle chose breast cancer as one of her major platform issues. As Deputy Chief of Staff, Handel coordinated Mrs. Quayle's breast cancer awareness activities, including the initiative to establish October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Prior to joining Komen in April 2011, Handel served as the Secretary of State for the state of Georgia, supervising 400 employees and overseeing elections, corporations, securities and professional licensing boards. In this role, Karen successfully defended Georgia's Photo ID law, and in 2008, she oversaw the largest elections in Georgia's history. She led a top-to-bottom review of the agency, resulting in a 15% reduction in the agency's budget with improvements in efficiency and customer service. During her tenure, the Secretary of State's office uncovered that several national financial services firms had to pay $8.5 million in fines to the State of Georgia and Georgians were able to recover more than $3.5 billion in investments.

Before that role, she served as chair of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners after the former chair unexpectedly resigned and encouraged Handel to run to fill the remainder of his term, which she did and won with nearly 60 percent of the vote. During her tenure, she inherited a budget shortfall of nearly $100 million but balanced the county budget three times without raising taxes.

In 2002, Governor Sonny Perdue asked Handel to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff where she oversaw operations in the Capitol and the Governor's Mansion and served as a senior policy advisor.

Prior to that role, she was president and CEO of the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce where she brought the chamber from the brink of bankruptcy to solvency while driving an aggressive economic development program that helped create tens of thousands of jobs in North Metro Atlanta.

As a former executive with major companies such as CIBA Vision and the accounting firm of KPMG, Handel has extensive private sector management, which has proven invaluable in public office and her public policy efforts.



Jacki W. Lowe is Vice President of West Region, Georgia Power.

She joined Georgia Power in 1974 and progressed through various roles in the company including Compensation Manager in 1989.

Lowe transferred to Alabama Power in 1991 as Benefits Manager and became Compensation and Benefits Manager in 1992. In 1996, she became Land Manager in Corporate Real Estate. She was named Assistant to the President of Alabama Power in 1998, and in 1999 was elected Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Alabama Power Company and Regional Chief Information Officer for Alabama, Southern Nuclear and Southern Company Services, Birmingham.

Lowe was named Vice President, Southern Company Supply Chain Management in 2001 where her responsibilities included oversight of the Southern Company Volume Procurement and Strategic Sourcing, as well as purchasing and materials for Georgia Power.

Lowe was named Vice President of West Region, Georgia Power in February of 2005.

She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Georgia State University (cum laude) and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Samford University. She is a member of Alpha Gamma Delta social fraternity and Beta Gamma Sigma National Business Honorary.

Lowe is a graduate of Leadership Birmingham (1999) and was a member of The Birmingham Kiwanis Club. She has served on the Board of Directors of Pantellos Corporation and has also served on the Board of Directors of the Cahaba Girl Scout Council. She has been PAC campaign chairperson, American Heart Association campaign coordinator, and the American Cancer Society Relay for Life campaign co-chair. She is also a lifetime member of the State of Georgia PTA, an honor bestowed upon her for her work with elementary school children and BSA Cub Scouts groups while living in Atlanta.

Lowe currently serves on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce where she chairs the Transportation Committee. She is the 2010 chair of the Valley Partnership Joint Development Authority. She serves on the United Way Board of the Chattahoochee Valley. Lowe also serves on the Columbus Economic Development Corporation Board, Muscogee Educational Excellence Foundation, Columbus Technical College Foundation, Goodwill Industries of the Southern Rivers Board and is the newly appointed Secretary for the downtown Columbus Rotary Club. Lowe was recently named a member of the 2008 women to watch by Diversity Journal Magazine.

Lowe's interests include swimming, antique shopping, traveling, and sports. She is currently enjoying her grandsons, Samuel & Gaines along with sons and daughters-in-law, Jeremy and Haley and Matt and Anna.

Founder and CEO

Elisabeth L. Marchant is a change agent - this is at the core of every one of her many accomplishments - that ability to identify opportunities and provide transformative leadership to realize her vision. The Founder and CEO of Womenetics, embodies a true visionary spirit - someone who's synthesized the challenges she's faced as an individual professional woman with her experiences and rewards gained domestically and internationally, to coalesce and reinvest almost two decades of thought-capital with the launch of Womenetics. Since 2009, Womenetics has developed into a global media platform, reaching readers in more than 140 countries. Their executive events bring global thought leaders from every aspect of business and society together for the enrichment of attendees. Their online platform is infused with relevant and substantive content that reaches a global audience.

A product of being educated in an atmosphere that fostered independent thinking women, combined with continued studies here and abroad -at the university systems of Montreal at McGill University, New York City at The Parsons School of Environmental Design and at The Sorbonne, in Paris - Elisabeth has achieved a level of experience that is truly inspirational.

A lifelong entrepreneur, Marchant's professional experience began in a family-owned business specializing in construction and manufacturing. After 15 years and reaching the position of President and CEO, she went into business for herself and entered the publishing and media industry, launching her first endeavor with b3 Magazine, a national technology publication targeted at C-level executives; a success which led to the production of 15 annual executive conferences throughout the United States.

With growing recognition in the industry, Marchant became publisher of Business to Business magazine at The Leader Publishing Group where she founded Atlanta Woman magazine, subsequently praised for its inspiration, standards and encouragement of women in the workplace. Marchant was later named President and CEO and was responsible for four titles, 12 custom publications and 45 annual events.

In 2005, she joined Multicast Media Networks, an international leader specializing in broadband media. There, she served as executive director for the corporate and nonprofit division of the company.

While Elisabeth Marchant will tell you that her greatest reward has been the transformative effect of Womenetics on individual women and the visionary organizations embracing their lesson and message, it's worth noting that Marchant has been recognized by her peers through numerous community honors, including the YMCA's Academy of Women Achievers, the Atlanta Business Chronicle's Top 10 Women in Business.

A member of the 2004 Class of Leadership Atlanta, she is deeply involved in her community, having served on boards for the Atlanta Community Food Bank, the Henry W. Grady Hospital Foundation and the board of governors of The Buckhead Club and the Chair's Council of the Atlanta Women's Foundation.

Mimi's latest book is about success and football: Necessary Roughness: New Rules for the Contact Sport of Life. As a very funny, football female, Mimi uses football as a metaphor for shaking off the bad plays, or roadblocks of challenging times, and leading with perseverance and courage.

For over twenty years, Mimi has captivated audiences from the Fortune 100 to the just plain fortunate. She's won acclaim for her rousing keynote speeches, compelling workshops, and in-house training programs. She has shared the keynote platform with Colin Powell, Katie Couric and Maya Angelou.

She holds a Bachelors Degree in Speech and Dramatic Arts from the University of Iowa, and a Masters Degree in Education from Columbia University. For 10 years, she was a staff Human Resources Specialist with Walt Disney Company, Northrop Aircraft, and Rockwell International.

Mimi has been a visiting professor at Harvard University's Center for Public Leadership at the Kennedy School of Government. She was the "pitch coach" on ABC's American Inventor and coached the contestants to success persuading judges and America.

Mimi Donaldson is co-author of Negotiating for Dummies, published in six languages and sold over 1 million copies worldwide.

Her second book in 2006 was Bless Your Stress: It Means You're Still Alive!

Sally Helgesen, an internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and consultant, is one of the world's brand-name experts on women's leadership and was named by Leadership Gurus as number 15 in its annual survey of the world's most influential experts on the topic. Her latest book, The Female Vision: Women's Real Power at Work, explores the strategic insights women bring to organizations. Sally is also author of The Female Advantage: Women's Ways of Leadership, considered "the classic book" on women's leadership strengths; it has been continually in print for 21 years, translated into 12 languages, and is used in schools and organizations around the world. Her highly influential The Web of Inclusion: A New Architecture for Building Great Organizations, was cited in The Wall Street Journal as one of the best books on leadership of all time.

Sally delivers keynotes and develops leadership programs for corporations, educational institutions and associations around the globe. Clients include Microsoft, IBM, Prudential Financial, Deloitte, The World Bank, Johnson & Johnson, and the US Military Academy at West Point. She has consulted with the United Nations Development Program on strengthening women's programs in Africa and Asia, served on Air War University's Board of Visitors, and has led seminars at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Smith College. She is a contributing editor to strategy+business magazine and a member of the International Women's Forum. Articles about her work have been featured in Fortune, The New York Times, Fast Company, and Business Week. She lives in Chatham New York.


Author and Expert on Women in Transition

Shannon Kelley is an expert on women in transition-the obstacles and opportunities in choosing the right path, from college and grad school to today's workplace-and, along with her mother Barbara, is co-author of the book Undecided: How To Ditch The Endless Quest for Perfect and Find the Career - and Life - That's Right For You (Seal Press, 2011).

Shannon is a featured blogger for the Huffington Post, a freelance writer, speaker, and personal and career coach. A columnist at the Santa Barbara Independent, her work also has appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, Woman's Day, The Arizona Republic, More.com and Santa Barbara Magazine, and her essay "Something Worth Saving" from the 2008 anthology Submerged: Tales from the Basin was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Shannon lives in Santa Barbara, California.


Karen Walrond's bestselling book, *The Beauty of Different is a chronicle of imagery and portraiture, combined with written essays and observations on the concept that what makes us different makes us beautiful -- and may even be the source of our superpowers. I The book inspired BlogHer's Own Your Beauty initiative, where Karen was the lead blogger, and which also appeared as part of USA Today's campaign. She is a sought-after keynote speaker, including having covered topics as varied as parenthood, social media and women in leadership. She has appeared on both local and national television shows and other news media, including The Huffington Post, being quoted on CNN.com, and making an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Karen is also the author of Chookooloonks, an award-winning photoblog. Her fine art photography pieces and projects have been included in exhibits around the country. She is a contributor to the book Expressive Photography: A Shutter Sisters' Guide to Shooting from the Heart, a guide for beginning and intermediate photographers for adding heart and soul to their imagery. Karen's writing, images and other projects have been featured on CNN.com, USA Today, Good Housekeeping and Wondertime magazines, among others. Karen is originally from Trinidad & Tobago, but currently lives in Houston, Texas with Marcus (her English husband), Alex (her American daughter), and Rufus the Wonderdog. She holds a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Texas A&M University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Houston.