Further details will be posted as it becomes available, so please check back soon!
To view last year's Agenda, Compass Award/Keynote Speakers and Workshop Descriptions please click here!
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 | Vicki Donlan is the author of HER TURN: Why It’s Time For Women To Lead in America (Praeger Publishing 2007). Most recently she is the founder and former publisher of Women’s Business Boston, a 25,000 controlled-circulation newspaper devoted to women in business in the Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island region. She is a regular guest discussing women’s business issues on New England Cable News’ Business Day.
Ms. Donlan was the first Executive Director of The Commonwealth Institute, a nonprofit organization founded by twelve prominent Boston women CEOs to assist women entrepreneurs in the growth of their businesses.
As co-founder and first Executive Director of the South Shore Women’s Business Network and founder of The Alliance of Women’s Business and Professional Organizations, Ms. Donlan has been instrumental in the growth of networking for women entrepreneurs and corporate leaders. She was honored by the U.S. Small Business Administration as the Massachusetts and New England Women Business Advocate for 1994 for her efforts in working with women in small to medium businesses. In 1997, she was honored with the South Shore Women’s Business Network’s Women Mean Business Award for her continuing efforts to help women achieve business success. The Boston YWCAinducted her into their Women of Achievement Class of 1999 and she was honored, June 2000, with the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus’ Abigail Adams Award as an outstanding Massachusetts woman. Pine Manor College recognized her at its 2001 graduation with a honorary Doctors of Letters degree as its most distinguished alumnae. Patriots’ Trail Girl Scout Council recognized her as a 2002 Leading Woman. The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce honored her with its Achievement in Business at the 2002 Pinnacle Awards. In 2004 the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston honored her with their Achievement Award. Bryant University recognized her in 2005 as New England Businesswoman of the Year.
At the community level, Ms. Donlan is the former president of the Patriots Trail Girl Scout Council, serves on the Campaign Cabinet of the United Way of Mass Bay and the Advisory Board of Key Bank.
Ms. Donlan fulfilled a dream launching a newspaper giving ego to women and continues this passion by sharing her vision for women’s leadership in America. |
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Judy George
Entrepreneur, author and mentor |
 | Judy George is an entrepreneur, author, leading businesswoman and recognized expert in the home furnishings industry. Best known for introducing fashionable lifestyle furnishings in award winning retail formats, George broke new ground in the home furnishings industry and forever changed the way women shop for furniture. The early success of her cutting-edge business model, Domain Home, was highly praised and publicized, paving the way for competitors and creating a new retail landscape in the U.S. A pioneer throughout her career, George has taken her lifetime of achievements, expertise and business savvy to her newest consulting venture, Judy George International, a highly skilled think tank of diverse industry experts who challenge the status quo to discover alternative strategies to achieve high impact results.
Ms. George is the co-author of two books: The Domain Book of Intuitive Home Design, and The Intuitive Businesswoman Judy applies the same concept to women and business. Judy continues to sit on the Sodexo Business Advisory Board and the Secaucus, NJ-based Daffy’s Clothing Board of Advisors. In addition, Judy’s past board appointments have included Shoplink.com, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and AGA Foodservice Group. |
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Lolita, Founder
Designs by Lolita |
 | Sophisticated, contemporary, sexy, flirty, and fabulously fun are all words that have been used to describe Lolita and her designs. Whether it’s one of her signature Martini glasses from her “Love My Martini” collection, a pilsner from her newest collection, or a fashion accessory such as her ladies totes, Lolita’s collections show enormous attention to detail and her passion for design. Take for example her new Red-hot Martini, the base and stem of the glass are covered with exquisite crystals that make anyone holding it feel glamorous. On the bottom of the glass, as with all her designs, is the recipe for the Red-hot Martini. Lolita glasses are all about creating and celebrating the special moments that define our lives.
It was while drinking Martinis with girlfriends at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis that the idea to hand-paint crystal barware first came to Lolita. In 2000, the Love My Martini collection was born, a line of martini glasses whose designs are inspired by the everhot martini recipe. Lolita had come full circle, returning to her first love, art and design. “After being in the fashion industry, I learned how to launch a product line. I knew this is what I wanted to do. I knew it involved licensing if you wanted it to be a hit and reach as many consumers as possible,” she says. The Love My Martini collection represents a product line that has definitely hit a fantastic pool of consumers and has become a collectible. “Retired glasses are now going for over $100 on E-bay,” says Lolita, “go figure!”
When it came to naming her company, Lolita chose her given name, one that came from her grandmother’s name, Lola. It must be fate that the name Lolita means “beautiful one”. One look at her collection and there is no doubt that the company is aptly named. From the whimsical Bikini-tini to the sophisticated Cosmopolitan each glass is beautifully crafted with obvious attention to detail; note the flip flops on the base of the Bikini-tini. |
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 | Joanna Meiseles is the creative mind, founder and president of Snip-its, the fastest-growing franchise of children’s hair salons in North America. Under Joanna’s direction, Snip-its has revolutionized the children’s hair salon industry by creating a branded entertainment concept designed to ease the fears and challenges experienced by parents, children and hair stylists.
The company was born in 1993 after Joanna experienced a heartbreaking hair salon experience with her then 3-year-old son, Ben. A young mother, she arrived at a local salon with baby gear in tow to videotape her son’s first cut. It soon became clear to her that the salon wasn’t interested in cutting her son’s hair nor was it trained to deal with little customers. With no business experience and motivated by her entrepreneur instincts, Joanna set out to create a magical and comfortable children’s grooming brand and salon specifically designed for young customers. After raising funding, she opened her first salon in Framingham, Massachusetts in 1995.
Today, Snip-its is a thriving franchise with 62+ salons nationwide and cuts the hair of more than 1 million children annually. Each salon is a magical and positive adventure with vibrant colors, wholesome larger-than-life animated characters such as Snips and Flyer Joe Dryer, plus games and parties.
Away from Snip-its, Joanna is active with The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) and is regular blog contributor for INC.com’s Great Entrepreneurial Minds. Joanna holds a B.A. from Duke University and resides in Wayland, Massachusetts with her husband and four children. |
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 | Nancy Michaels is a nationally-known business development coach, author, speaker and consultant to women and minority business owners, as well as to companies that target women business owners. Her specialty is helping her clients -- both small business owners and large corporations -- to land and maintain long-term client relationships through creative, innovative and strategic sales and marketing strategies that distinguish them from their competitors and increase and develop their businesses.
Nancy is the author of several popular business books including; Off the Wall Marketing Ideas, which she co-authored with Debbie Karpowicz Kickham (Adams Media, 2000); and Perfecting Your Pitch (Career Press, 2005). She has also written articles for numerous business publications such as, Entrepreneur Magazine, US News & World Report, Franchise Times, New York Post, Business Week, Fortune Small Business, Area Developer, and The Costco Connection. In addition, she is often invited to speak to business groups throughout the country.
Nancy began her career in public relations and marketing as publicist for Matt Lauer, current co-host of the Today Show, when he hosted a daily television show in Boston. |
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Beth Polish
Director of Corporate Innovation for Hearst Corporation and Senior Vice President of Hearst Interactive Media |
 | Beth Polish is Director of Corporate Innovation for Hearst Corporation and Senior Vice President of Hearst Interactive Media. In this newly created position, Polish is developing and leading an employee innovation program focusing on inspiring Hearst’s nearly 20,000 employees, across more than 200 businesses, to develop their creative business ideas into profitable ventures with the support of the company.
Polish has held senior management positions in media, finance, private investment and technology. She was president of Anthony Robbins’ Dreamlife, Inc., founding CFO of iVillage, Inc., CFO of Goldman Sachs Ventures, and managing director at KPMG.
“Building great ideas into thriving businesses is the cornerstone of my work and personal passion,” Polish says.
Polish is the creator and author of the multi-media program Business Plan Power: Creating a Tool that Works for Your Company and the DROOM® (Don’t Run Out Of Money) primer series, In The Market For Money. A frequent speaker on the subject of strategies for growth, Polish teaches entrepreneurship at NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies and has lead workshops at many WLE conferences since 2002. She serves on the executive committee of the Women's Leadership Exchange® and is the past co-chair of the New York New Media Association’s Venture Downtown Technology Showcase Conference. Polish has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. |
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 | Lynn Robinson, M.Ed., is one of the nation's leading experts on the topic of intuition. She’s a popular and widely recognized author and motivational speaker who works with businesses and individuals as an intuition consultant, offering insights into goals, decisions and strategies, and teaching the use of intuitive skills for assessment of information.
She has authored five books on the topic of intuition, including Divine Intuition: Your Guide to Creating a Life You Love (DK Books, 2001, which became a featured selection of One Spirit Book Club. Amazon.com named it a “Best of 2001” and ranked it among the top ten books of the year in the “Spirituality” category. She’s also the author of Trust Your Gut: How the Power of Intuition Can Grow Your Business (Kaplan 2006), Real Prosperity (Andrews McMeel, 2004) and Compass of the Soul: 52 Ways Intuition Can Guide You to the Life of Your Dreams (Andrews McMeel, April 2003.) Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages.
Lynn has been featured in the Boston Globe, USA Today, and the Chicago Tribune and has been a guest on many national radio and television programs including ABC, Fox News and the Wisdom Television Network. She’s also been quoted in such publications as The New York Times, Investor’s Business Daily, Woman’s Day, Redbook, Glamour, Self, Good Housekeeping, Woman's World, More, and First for Women. She often works directly with corporations on projects that include mergers, acquisitions, new business, marketing, key hires, and occasionally on a new product launch, such as the introduction of the Schick® Intuition® razor. |
