2015 Conference
Plenary Speakers
Kathy E. Kram, Ph.D.Author and R.C. Shipley Professor in Management, Boston University
Keynote address: Relationships That Matter: How mentoring and developmental networks enable women's success at work and in life
Kathy E. Kram is the R.C.Shipley Professor in Management at Boston University. Her primary interests are in the areas of adult development, relational learning, mentoring and developmental networks, leadership development, and gender dynamics in organizations. In addition to her foundational book, Mentoring at Work, she has published in a wide range of journals including Organizational Dynamics, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Harvard Business Review, Business Horizons, Qualitative Sociology, Mentoring International, Journal of Management Development, Journal of Management Education, Journal of Management Inquiry, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, Career Development International, and Psychology of Women Quarterly. She is co-editor of The Handbook of Mentoring at Work: Theory, Research and Practice with Dr. Belle Rose Ragins. She is a founding member of the Center for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations (CREIO). During 2000-2001, she served as a visiting scholar at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) when she completed a study of executive coaching and its role in developing emotional competence in leaders. She served as a member of the Center's Board of Governors from 2002-2009. Her new book Strategic Relationships at Work: Creating your Circle of mentors, sponsors and peers for success in business and life was co-authored with Prof. Wendy Murphy (Babson College). She and her husband, Peter Yeager, enjoy hiking, traveling, and listening to their musician son, Jason, perform in a variety of venues.
Kathleen McChesney, Ph.D.
Former Executive Assistant Director, FBI; Management Consultant, Kinsale Management
Consulting
Plenary address: Ask Me to Lead: Leadership Lessons from the FBI
Kathleen McChesney has held unique leadership positions in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Catholic Bishops' Conference and The Walt Disney Company before establishing Kinsale Management Consulting. She served in many leadership positions in the FBI, heading its field offices in Chicago, Illinois and Portland, Oregon and the FBI's International Training Academy, before being appointed as an Executive Assistant Director - the Bureau's third highest position.
Dr. McChesney is the co-author/co-editor of two books: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church: A Decade of Crisis (2012); and Pick Up Your Own Brass: Leadership the FBI Way (2010). She received her Ph.D. in Public Administration from Golden Gate University, her M.A. in Public Administration from Seattle University and her B.S. in Police Science and Administration from Washington State University.
Susan Dumond, Ph.D.
Vice President, Talent and Organizational Effectiveness
Disney ABC Television Group
Plenary address: Mentorship – how to make it work for you and your organization
Susan Dumond is vice president, Talent & Organizational Effectiveness at Disney-ABC Television Group, reporting to Steve Milovich, senior vice president, Human Resources, Disney-ABC Television Group. In this position, Dr. Dumond leads global talent management strategies that attract, develop and retain both the current and future workforce of The Walt Disney Company's worldwide entertainment and news television properties. She oversees the organization development, learning and development, HR analytics and insights, and HR marketing functions.
In addition, Dr. Dumond is also responsible for establishing The Walt Disney Company's new Employee Digital Media organization. Prior to joining Disney, Dr. Dumond held executive consulting positions in the strategic change practices at IBM, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, and Survey Design Consultants, Inc. Prior to her consulting experience, Dr. Dumond was a literary agent for The Coppage Company, representing television writers.
Dr. Dumond received a master's degree in organizational behavior and her doctorate degree in organizational psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles, CA. She also holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg, VA. Dr. Dumond resides in Topanga, California with her husband. In her free time, she is an avid master's swimmer and Disney Tri-team member and enjoys cooking for family and friends
View the program brochure from the 2015 Conference.
2014 Conference
Plenary Speakers
Dr. Janet Z. Giele is Professor Emerita of Sociology, Social Policy, and Women's Studies at the Heller
School for Social Policy and Management of Brandeis University. Her pioneering research
on the changing lives of women shows how different life patterns are variously shaped
in each generation by each person's unique identity, social networks, personal drive,
and response to change. Giele's 1995 book Two Paths to Women's Equality) shows how
temperance and suffrage women drew on their different life experiences to achieve
the vote for women. Women today are similarly diverse in focusing on home or work
or both, but they have a common purpose in wanting to find a satisfying life for themselves,
their families, and the larger society. Professor Giele's newest book, Family Policy
and the American Safety Net, shows how changes in women's lives have led to a wide
range of public policies to strengthen family life. Professor Giele is an alumna of
Earlham College and received her doctorate in sociology from Harvard University. She
is currently president of Wellesley at Home, a community organization in Wellesley,
Massachusetts that helps seniors to live independently as long as possible in their
own homes.
Dr. Stone has written widely on a range of subjects related to women in the labor force, including
the gender wage gap and the work-family interface. Her most recent book, Opting Out? Why Women Really Quit Careers and Head Home (University of California Press) won the 2009 William J. Goode Book Award of the
American Sociological Association. Her work has been featured in numerous publications
including The New York Times, Washington Post, Time, and Working Mother, as well as
in other media including the CBS Nightly News and NBC's Today Show. In research currently
underway, she is conducting a follow-up of the study that was the basis for Opting
Out?
View the program brochure from the 2014 Conference.
2013 Conference
Plenary Speakers
Joyce M. Davis is an award winning journalist and internationally acclaimed author, a writer and
media consultant. Currently, she and her husband provide media consulting services
as Davis & Goodman International Media Consultants. She is the former foreign correspondent
and editor for National Public Radio and Knight Ridder Newspapers. She has written
extensively on terrorism, national security and Islam. Davis and lived and worked
in a senior role providing radio and internet services to Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan
and other countries in Central Asia. She has received numerous awards including twice
receiving the “DuPont-Columbia Award” Silver Baton for international reporting. She
is a founding member of Women in International Security and a member of the board
of directors of the World Affairs Councils of America. She is founder and President
of the World Affairs Council in Harrisburg, PA, where she also lives with her husband
and son.
Dr. Linda M. Thor is chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, one of the most
prominent community college districts in the nation, serving some 65,000 students
each year in Silicon Valley. Before joining Foothill-De Anza, Dr. Thor served for
nearly 20 years as president of Rio Salado College in Tempe, Arizona and for four
years as the president of West Los Angeles College in Culver City, CA. Active at the
national level, she serves on the board of the League for Innovation in the Community
College, the executive council of the WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies
(WCET), the Commission on Lifelong Learning for the American Council on Education,
and the board of the Community College Baccalaureate Association. U.S. Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan appointed her to serve on the Committee on Measures of Student
Success, made up of 15 higher education leaders.
Ms. Nana M E Magomola Bsc. LLB., is a South African lawyer, business leader and the chairman of Thamaga Investments.
A General Nurse and Midwife, soon after graduating from City University of New York,
she was appointed as a professional nurse at New York Hospital and later joined Johnson
and Johnson in South Africa. Former President Nelson Mandela appointed her as Trustee
of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and more recently Chair of Nelson Mandela Children's
Hospital. Her passion for women's development led her to co-found the Business Woman's
Association. Together with other prominent South African women leaders they established
the local chapter of the International Women's Forum (IWF). Magomola is also the current
Chair of IWF's Presidents' Council. At the recent IWF Leadership Conference held in
San Francisco, Ms Magomola was inducted as one of "WOMEN WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE" as
a tribute to her contribution towards women leadership development and empowerment.
Dr. Janet Z. Giele is Professor Emerita of Sociology, Social Policy, and Women's Studies at the Heller
School for Social Policy and Management of Brandeis University. Her pioneering research
on the changing lives of women shows how different life patterns are variously shaped
in each generation by each person's unique identity, social networks, personal drive,
and response to change. Giele's 1995 book Two Paths to Women's Equality) shows how temperance and suffrage women drew on their different life experiences
to achieve the vote for women. Women today are similarly diverse in focusing on home
or work or both, but they have a common purpose in wanting to find a satisfying life
for themselves, their families, and the larger society. Professor Giele's newest book,
Family Policy and the American Safety Net, shows how changes in women's lives have
led to a wide range of public policies to strengthen family life. Professor Giele
is an alumna of Earlham College and received her doctorate in sociology from Harvard
University. She is currently president of Wellesley at Home, a community organization
in Wellesley, Massachusetts that helps seniors to live independently as long as possible
in their own homes.
View the program brochure from the 2013 Conference.