Highest Leaf Awards

WOMEN’S VENTURE FUND’S HIGHEST LEAF AWARDS

June 10th, 2010 from 7:30 - 10:30 A.M.

2010 HIGHEST LEAF AWARDS PRESS RELEASE

2010 Honorees
Geeta B. Aiyer President, Chief Investment Officer, Boston Common Asset Management Geeta Aiyer, CFA, President and Founder of Boston Common Asset Management, LLC., Boston, MA, an employee owned investment management firm specializing in US and international sustainable investing. Boston Common is committed to the pursuit of financial return and social change. Working as a portfolio manager for institutions and individuals allows Geeta to combine her commitment to sustainability with her training and experience in investment theory and finance. Geeta was formerly President of the Walden Asset Management division of the United States Trust Company of Boston. She has worked with investments for 25 years. Geeta’s prior work experience includes tenure with United States Trust Co. Boston and Cambridge Associates as well as public administration and rural development in India. She has founded two prior companies, Walden Capital Management (1994) and East India Spice (1987). She received her MBA from Harvard University and her BA and MA degrees from the University of Delhi, India. Geeta serves on the boards of the Worldwatch Institute and the New England Foundation for the Arts.

Friday Abernethy Vice President, National Accounts/Field Operations, Affiliate Sales and Marketing, MTV Networks Friday started her career at MTV Networks as an Account Manager in 1998, where she completed the year as the highest salesperson for all of Affiliate Sales and Marketing, nationwide. In 2000 she transitioned into a Director role and was quickly promoted to a Senior Director, where she structured and negotiated MTV Networks Content Distribution transactions representing over $ 4M in gross revenue. In her current role as Vice President, Friday is responsible for generating revenue, increasing distribution, and negotiating MTVN/BETN multi-platform content agreements. She played a lead role in developing the future strategy of her company in a paradigm shift in finding new and innovative ways to promote their premium programming to consumers. In addition to her core role and responsibilities, Friday has overseen a Diversity Council that works to maximize on-boarding and talent retention efforts.

Ellen Hives Vice President, Media & Entertainment Capgemini Ellen Hives is vice president in the Media & Entertainment practice of Capgemini, a global provider of consulting, technology and outsourcing services. In this role she is responsible for practice development, client delivery, and business growth. In addition to her leadership role, Ms. Hives manages a number of accounts with major media and publishing companies based in the East. Ms. Hives has spent most of her career focused on business and technology strategy and implementation for the media & entertainment industry, with more than 25 years of experience at Capgemini and Ernst & Young. She has consulted on and led the implementation of solutions that span the digital content and supply chain, financial and human resource systems and intellectual property management. Her areas of expertise include digital transformation strategies, shared services planning and implementation, product platform roadmaps and post- merger integration. She acts as an advisor on strategic initiatives to a number of C-level executives. An ardent supporter of diversity in the workplace, Ms. Hives co-founded with Ciara Smyth, “Women In Media: Building Our Own,” and industry group focused on bringing executive women together to discuss, inform and impact the advancement of women into leadership positions. In 2010, the Women’s Venture Fund honored her with the Highest Leaf Award for her leadership in mentoring other women. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Hamilton College and lives in New York.

Gail Koff Founding Partner, Jacoby & Meyers Law Office Gail’s advocacy in bringing high quality legal care to the average citizen began when she co-founded Jacoby & Meyers over thirty years ago. Jacoby & Meyers was the country’s first national law firm established to serve the individual and to advertise the availability of legal services. Today, Jacoby & Meyers remains of the most recognized legal brand name in America, and one of the nation’s leading consumer, mass tort and personal injury law firms. Founded in 1972, the firm has offices and attorneys throughout the United States, with regional offices in Southern California, Arizona, Miami and New York. As one of the early women in the legal profession as well as an entrepreneur, Gail has mentored many women and serves on the boards of a number of educational institutions, including The Calhoun School and the Newark Educators’ Community Charter School. Gail is also a charter member of the Committee of 200, a group of leading women entrepreneurs.

Rhonda Joy McLean Deputy General Counsel, Time Inc. Rhonda Joy McLean is Deputy General Counsel of Time Inc. and former Assistant Regional Director of the Northeast Region of the Federal Trade Commission. A graduate of Yale Law School, she has served as chair of its alumni association and was recently elected to its fund board of directors. In 2007, McLean was chosen as one of The Network Journal’s “25 Influential Black Women in Business” and she is currently Vice President of the Better Business Bureau board of directors for metropolitan New York. She was featured in the February, 2008 issue of *ESSENCE* magazine in an article that highlighted her experiences when integrating the schools in her home town in North Carolina as a teenager in 1965. In March, 2010 her first book, “*The Little Black Book of Success: Laws of Leadership for Black Women*,” was published by Random House/One World Press. She wrote the book with her longtime friends and professional colleagues Elaine Meryl Brown, a former producer and creative director at Home Box Office (“HBO”) and Marsha Haygood, a former New Line Cinema senior executive who is now a renowned executive coach and public speaker. Born in Chicago, IL and reared in Smithfield, NC, Ms. McLean is a classically trained pianist and mezzo-soprano. She performs sacred music with chorales throughout the New York metropolitan area, where she resides.

Sheila M. Murphy Associate General Counsel MetLife, Inc. Sheila M. Murphy is an Associate General Counsel at MetLife Inc. where she heads up the Financial Products & Insurance Litigation Practice Group (“FinPro”). FinPro consists of the Policy Litigation Unit, the Institution Benefits Litigation Unit and the Product and Distribution Litigation Unit (which Ms. Murphy also heads). Ms. Murphy’s focus is on disputes relating to the sale, suitability or performance of life insurance products, annuities and investments and matters arising from alleged sales of unauthorized products and investments. Ms. Murphy also defends the Company in product design and claims cases and FINRA, SEC and state regulatory matters. Ms. Murphy handles pre-litigation requests for legal advice and proactively advises on enhancements to compliance and mitigates litigation risk. Ms. Murphy is a member of the Legal Affairs IT Governance Committee, and the Retention and Development Subcommittee of the Diversity Committee. Ms. Murphy also spearheads the Litigation Support Business Owner’s Committee and actively advises on e-discovery issues. Prior to joining MetLife, Ms. Murphy was a litigation associate at the law firm of Thacher Proffitt & Wood. Her practice focused on complex financial litigation. Ms. Murphy is a member of the Steering Committee of the CARE Women’s Initiative of New York which seeks to raise funds, advocate for and increase awareness of CARE’s work empowering women in the developing world. Ms. Murphy also is a member of the National Association of Women Lawyers, where she participates in its International and General Counsel Institute Committees and a member of 85 Broads. . Ms. Murphy is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the School of Management at the State University of New York at Binghamton where she graduated magna cum laude.

Neraida (Neddy) Perez Vice President – Inclusion and Diversity, National Grid Neddy Perez is the Vice President of Inclusion and Diversity at National Grid. National Grid is an international Electricity and Gas Company, and one of the largest investor-owned energy Companies in the world. National Grid plays a vital role in delivering gas and electricity to millions of people across Great Britain and the northeastern US in an efficient, reliable and safe manner. National Grid is committed to safeguarding the global environment for future generations and providing all of its customers with the highest standards of service through investment in its networks, and through its talented and diverse workforce. Prior to her current role, Neddy served as KPMG LLP's Chief Diversity Officer. She has more than 18 years experience in leading and implementing Human Resources and Diversity initiatives at the national and international level for corporations like Sodexo, Royal Dutch/Shell and United Parcel Service. Neddy is the founder of the Association of Employee Resource Groups (AERG). The organization provides both companies and employee network groups with consulting services and resources that support the implementation of corporate diversity initiatives. She has authored a series of guidebooks called Diversity Basics. In addition to her experience in the US, Neddy has worked in the UK, the Netherlands and Latin America. Neddy is a nationally recognized speaker and leader in the area of diversity management. An active community leader she serves on the executive board of the National Hispanic Leadership Institute, the Corporate Diversity Council of the Asia Society, Linkage Diversity Summit Advisory Committee, and the Women of ALPFA Advisory Board. She is a founder of the organization Latinos in Diversity and Human Resources (LIDHR) as well as the Inclusion & Diversity Officers’ Roundtable. In 2009, she was named to the “Woman Worth Watching List for 2010” by Profiles in Diversity Journal and in 2006 she was inducted into Houston's Hispanic Women’s Hall of Fame. Born in Havana, Cuba she grew up in South Florida and Chicago. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Public Relations from the University of Florida and a Masters Degree in HR Management and International Business from Nova Southeastern University.

Lesley N. Pinckney General Manager, Essence.com, Essence Communications Inc. Lesley Pinckney is the General Manager for Essence.com, where she oversees sales and marketing efforts and site development. Responsible for strategic partnerships and multi-platform development, she plays an integral role in the development of the brand’s online content and the creation and distribution of original programming produced by the magazine’s multimedia division. With a broad range of online and television expertise, Pinckney also spearheaded the online integration of a number of ESSENCE’s events and initiatives including: ESSENCE’s Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon; the Essence Music Festival; ESSENCE’s Will You Marry Me? Contest; Essence.com’s Makeover Magic virtual tool (the first digital makeover application created for African-American women); the ESSENCE It Girl model search and much more. . Pinckney led the way in the cross-divisional collaboration between Telepictures and Essence Communications to launch Essence.com as the premier online destination for African-American women. . Essence.com is currently the largest and fastest growing African-American magazine website. The site's growth is unsurpassed and reaches more than a million monthly unique visitors. The new Essence.com launched in September 2008 as one of the first projects to come from the partnership between The Warner Bros. Television Group and Time Inc.’s Essence Communications Inc.