Rhonda Carniol is an attorney with Wolff & Samson. She counsels entities in all aspects of media, advertising, technology, corporate and computer law. Her clients include multinational publicly traded companies, advertising agencies, software companies, data and media providers, and start-up ventures. She is the author of many articles on subjects ranging from outsourcing and privacy issues to financing and Internet topics. Her articles have appeared in a wide range of legal and trade publications including the National Law Journal, Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, E-Commerce Law Report, Cyberspace Lawyer, the Health Care Strategic Management Newsletter and New Jersey TechNews. Rhonda was selected as a '2013 Top Rated Lawyer in Technology' based on her AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell. In 2012, Rhonda was named by NJBIZ as one of New Jersey's "Best 50 Women in Business." She received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University and received her J.D. from Emory University School of Law where she was the writing editor of the Emory Law Journal and a member of the Order of the Coif.
Michael L. Thompson is the President and CEO of Fair Oaks Farms, LLC. Mike has significantly increased the size of the company, increased revenue, increased staff and added an additional facility. Fair Oaks Farms serves some of the world's leading food industry customers and has earned several industry awards.
Mike Thompson earned his degree in Business Management and Economics from Cornell University.
Sara Levinson has forged a distinguished career working with several of the world's leading brands, companies that enjoy recognizable and powerful consumer loyalties. Her board experience includes a diverse group of Fortune 500 companies and startup Internet businesses. She has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Macy's and Harley-Davidson for over a decade. She is a board member of Cafe Mom, the popular social network for mothers, where she previously served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. And she serves as an advisory board member with startup company, The Flow.net. In operating roles, Sara was the President of the Women's Publishing Group, Rodale Inc, overseeing some of the largest publishing brands in the health and wellness category, including Prevention Magazine and the South Beach Diet books, among others. She was President of NFL Properties Inc, the marketing, licensing and sponsorship division of the NFL, representing the NFL and all 32 teams. She was named the first "Woman of the Year" by Women in Sports and Entertainment. While at the NFL, Sara introduced fan development programs to expand the NFL's fan base, creating local flag football leagues to involve young fans in the sport, marketing to women and casual fans nationally, for the first time in the League's history. Under her leadership, Advertising Age named the NFL as the Promotional Marketer of the year, recognizing the NFL's innovative promotional efforts with women and kids. Sara also served as the President of MTV, Music Television, and held roles at MTV Networks such as Executive Vice President in charge of new business at MTV, Nickelodeon and VH1, and as Executive Vice President in charge of business operations at MTV. During her tenure at MTV, she architected and directed the network's global expansion with the launches of MTV Brazil, MTV Asia (introducing MTV into over 2 dozen countries in Asia), MTV Japan and MTV Latino (Spanish language MTV covering the entire continent of South and Central America). She also served on the board of MTV Europe and Comedy Central's predecessor, The Comedy Channel. She is responsible for bringing MTV Latino, a one-hour MTV program to Spanish language network Telemondo, in the 1980's. She has also worked at Doyle Dane Bernbach advertising agency as an account executive. And she began her career in media at Showtime Entertainment in the late 70's, starting in the cable business 'before cable was cool.' She currently serves on the Advisory board of National Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) environmental magazine, On Earth. She graduated from Cornell University with a BS degree and from Columbia University with MBA in marketing and finance.
Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., is President and Chief Executive Officer of TIAA-CREF, the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical, and cultural fields and a Fortune 100 financial services organization.
Mr. Ferguson is the former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System. He represented the Federal Reserve on several international policy groups and served on key Federal Reserve System committees, including Payment System Oversight, Reserve Bank Operations, and Supervision and Regulation. As the only Governor in Washington, D.C. on 9/11, he led the Fed's initial response to the terrorist attacks, taking actions that kept the U.S. financial system functioning while reassuring the global financial community that the U.S. economy would not be paralyzed.
Prior to joining TIAA-CREF in April 2008, Mr. Ferguson was head of financial services for Swiss Re, Chairman of Swiss Re America Holding Corporation, and a member of the company's executive committee. From 1984 to 1997, he was an Associate and Partner at McKinsey & Company. He began his career as an attorney at the New York City office of Davis Polk & Wardwell.
Roger Ferguson received his B.A., J.D., and Ph.D, from Harvard University.
June Hayford is the COO of Courierboard.com which is the Online Delivery Network connecting shippers and businesses needing delivery services to a network of over 1,900 courier companies serving over 19,000 cities throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Previously, Hayford was a Partner at Drake Associates, a Financial Consulting firm providing marketing and finance support services for middle market companies.
June Hayford received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University.
Carol Bushberg founded her own dynamic real estate firm, Carol Bushberg Real Estate in January 2009. Prior to founding her company, Carol was an Associate Broker at Christopher George Real Estate, a small and well-respected office located immediate to the Cornell University campus. During her 18 years at Christopher George Real Estate, Carol worked side by side with Broker and mentor Christopher Anagnost; she became proficient in the sale of commercial property and student housing.
Carol Bushberg graduated with a B.S. in Agronomy from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University.
Ira Brous is a co-owner of Ithaca Bakery. Collegetown Bagels began in 1976 on College Avenue started by three young entrepreneurs from Long Island. The business was sold one year later to a local businessman who also owned and operated Rulloff's next door. Gregar Brous started working for Collegetown Bagels in 1978 during his final two years of college while his parents, Anne and Ira Brous, were professors at Ithaca College. A second location was opened in downtown on Aurora Street in 1979. The stores became available for sale and were purchased by the Brous & Mehaffey family on January 1st, 1980. The five owners include Anne, Ira, Gregar and Ramsey Brous, and Mimi Mehaffey.Brous and Mehaffey
By 1983, CTB Appetizers (now Ithaca Bakery in the Triphammer Mall) was in place, as a gourmet deli and full-service catering center. Seven years later, the acquisition and renovation of the 80-year-old Ithaca Bakery added both a centrally situated, fully equipped bake shop capable of turning out traditional, restaurant-style Italian bread as well as dozens of delicious, creative new artisan breads and pastries. With the addition of the two commissaries Ithaca Bakery and Collegetown Bagels were able to become a full service business with retail, catering, and wholesale delivery of product throughout the area.
What began with a bagel and a dream, has grown into five bustling branches and a workforce of nearly 250 employees. While business keeps growing, one thing remains the same: All of the CTB and Ithaca Bakery locations are independently owned and operated by a family characterized by an unwavering commitment to the local and global community, practicing sustainability in all areas of operation.
Ira Brous is a graduate of Cornell University.
Suzy Welch started her career as a reporter with the Miami Herald and then with the Associated Press. After business school, her professional experience included several years at Bain & Company, a management consulting firm based in Boston, where she focused on manufacturing clients. She later was named editor-in-chief of the Harvard Business Review. Although she has written a novel, she is probably best known as the writer and editor of numerous books and articles dealing with leadership, organizational change, and human resource management. Together with her husband, Jack Welch, she is co-author of the international bestseller Winning, its companion volume, Winning: The Answers, and "The Welch Way", a weekly column on business and career challenges that appeared in BusinessWeek magazine from 2005 to 2009 and was published in 45 major newspapers across the world by the New York Times Syndicate. On her own, Welch has written extensively about work-life balance and other cultural issues for publications ranging from O, The Oprah Magazine to the Wall Street Journal. In addition, her candid commentary has made her a popular commentator on television programs including Good Morning America, The View, Morning Joe, Your World With Neil Cavuto, and Power Lunch. Suzy Welch attended Harvard College and Harvard Business School, from which she graduated as a Baker Scholar, in the top five percent of her class.
Mary Beth Tinker is an American free speech activist known for her role in the 1969 Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District Supreme Court case, which ruled that Warren Harding Junior High School could not punish her for wearing a black armband in school in support of a truce in the Vietnam War. The case set a precedent for student speech in schools. Today, Tinker conducts speaking tours across the United States to teach children and youth about their rights. A youth rights advocate, Tinker has a professional background as a pediatric nurse who is active in union activism and holds masters degrees in both public health and nursing.