Events
We have a number of phenomenal events held throughout the year.
Your Professional Journey: A Marathon not a Sprint
WIP Co-Founder Joanne Hickman Dodd will moderate a panel of accomplished women from investment consulting and asset management. Each of the panelists will provide an authentic account of their professional journey, discuss opportunities and challenges faced along the way, and share key themes to navigate a work-life balance to create a rewarding career and happy home. The discussion will provide attendees with tips and wisdom to find meaning in the day to day that ultimately brings long-term success.
MODERATOR: Joanne Hickman Dodd, Senior Vice President, Relationship Manager at Capital Group & Co-Founder of WIP
Joanne Hickman Dodd is Senior Vice President, Relationship Manager at Capital Group. She has 35 years of investment industry experience and has been with Capital Group for five years. At Capital Group, Joanne is heavily involved in promoting diversity and inclusion by being a leader in Women in NAD (North American Distribution) Sales Group. Prior to joining Capital Group, she was Managing Director and Global Head of Consultant Relations at Northern Trust Asset Management, and Managing Director and Head of Consultant Relations, Americas, at UBS Global Asset Management. She holds an MBA from Loyola University Chicago Quinlan School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from Elmhurst College. In Joanne’s free time, she works to support her passion of promoting women in the workforce and community.
Joanne is also involved in the following organizations:
- Co-founder and member of Women Investment Professionals, WIP, 1996. Received the WIP Co-Founders Award in October 2016 reflecting WIP’s 20 Year Anniversary.
- Long time mentor for women in investment management (WIP, AIMSE, UBS).
- Board Member, Deborah’s Place, 2015 – Present. A non-profit organization, which is the largest provider of supportive housing for women who are experiencing homelessness in Chicago.
- Board Member, Executive Committee — Open Heart Magic, 2016-Present. A Chicago-based non-profit organization that works to improve the hospital experience for children. OHM’s mission is to use the therapeutic power of magic and laughter to energize and strengthen seriously-ill children to aid their healing.
Previous Organizations:
- Former Board Member and Vice President of the Association of Investment Management Sales Executives (AIMSE), 1999-2005.
- Past President of UBS All Bar None. Contributes to the advancement of women by providing networking, mentoring and leadership opportunities, and by encouraging professional and personal development in an inclusive and welcoming environment.
- Former Member Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Northern Trust, 2010.
- Former Board Member Anima Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus 2000-2006.
PANELIST: Kristen Doyle, CFA, Partner & Head of Public Funds, Aon
Kristen is a Partner within Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting (AHIC), leads the firm’s public sector business as the Public Fund Client Practice Leader, and is a member of the firm’s client advisory group. Kristen is also a member of AHIC’s U.S. Investment Executive Committee, which is led by Steve Cummings, Global Investment Officer and Head of North America Investment Consulting. She is located in Chicago, Illinois. As the public sector business lead, Kristen is responsible for new business development and ensuring that AHIC has the right resources, research, and expertise available for the public sector.
She also works directly with clients and currently works with six retainer consulting clients, where she is either the lead or co lead. These clients range from $200 million to $400 billion in assets under management and are primarily public pension plans. She brings these clients expertise in the areas of asset allocation advice, risk budgeting, asset/liability reviews, investment policy development, bench-marking, manager selection and structure, and asset class structure.
Kristen previously led the trust services team in the U.S. focused on custody, securities lending, and transition management. With regard to transition management, Kristen was also previously the global head of transition management, responsible for managing the transition management research and implementation team in the U.S., UK, and Canada.
In 2014, Kristen was awarded The Rising Stars of the Profession 35 Under 35 Award by Consulting Magazine and in 2016, was named to the list of Knowledge Brokers: New Guard published by AiCIO Magazine, which recognizes five star consultants that will transform their firms and industry in the next five years. Kristen is also a member of the Board of Governors for Opportunity International, a leading micro-finance organization that provides loans and other financial services to the world’s most impoverished, and empowers them to work their way out of poverty. Prior to joining the firm in 2005, Kristen worked at Northern Trust in the custodial operations group for more than two years. She has a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Denison University. She is a CFA charterholder and member of CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Chicago.
PANELIST: Kate Hennessy, CFP, Partner, AssetGrade, LLC and Former Trustee, Illinois State Board of Investment
Kate is a Partner at AssetGrade, a Registered Investment Advisor. Kate’s experience includes:
• Director on Board of Oak Bank and Trustee to ISBI (Illinois State Board of Investment)
• Former Fidelity Investment Executive, managed a team of institutional Investment Consultants overseeing $200 billion in assets
• Industry Expert with over 20 years of Investment Experience
Kate focuses on helping families and individuals achieve their financial goals. Kate enjoys consulting with her clients to find solutions that will have a positive impact on their lives. Before joining AssetGrade in 2016, she was with Fidelity Investments for 15 years and Northern Trust for 4 years.
Kate frequently speaks as an expert financial advisor about life transitions, college planning, and retirement options for businesses and individuals. Her clients appreciate her experience in the field, honesty and ability to provide solutions.
Kate is a CFP and received her B.A. from St. Mary’s College of Notre Dame.
PANELIST: Lisa Ramirez, CFA, Principal & Senior Portfolio Manager, Segall Bryant & Hamill
Elisa (“Lisa”) Zúñiga Ramírez is a Principal and Senior Portfolio Manager Segall Bryant & Hamill, a money manager with assets under management of $19 billion. She co-manages three equity portfolios totaling $1.0 billion in assets using a value approach to investing. She is the youngest of eight children and is a first-generation college student. Her family relocated to Denver from Carlsbad, New Mexico when she was 2 years old. She attended Adams City Middle and High School in Commerce City and graduated as Valedictorian. She received her BSBA from the University of Colorado at Denver in 1991 and her MBA from Regis University in 1994. She passed the three Chartered Financial Analyst exams consecutively and received her CFA Designation in 1997. She is a Member of the CFA Society of Colorado and the CFA Institute.
Lisa began her career at First Interstate Bank of Denver (the former owner of Denver Investments) in 1989 when she was an intern with INROADS Colorado, a national minority Internship program. Lisa continued with Denver Investments when it became a separate entity in 1995 and ascended from Portfolio Administrator to Research Analyst to Portfolio Manager and Partner. Denver Investments was acquired by Segall Bryant & Hamill in April of 2018 and Lisa joined the combined firm as a Principal and Senior Portfolio Manager.
During the period from 1997-2008, Lisa served on the Boards of INROADS Colorado Alumni Association and the Latin American Educational Foundation (LAEF President from 2005-2008) and was on the Board of Amigos de la Academia Sandoval, the fundraising arm of the DPS magnet elementary school Academia Sandoval, from 2009-2016, serving as Chair from 2012-2015. The Board raised $1.0 million dollars during her tenure, which served the children of this public dual-language Montessori school. Lisa has been a non-board member supporter of numerous community organizations including the Autism Society of Colorado, Latinas Give, Latinas First Foundation, Metro State University Foundation, Escuela de Guadalupe, the Hispanic Chamber Foundation, the CU Foundation, Inside the Orchestra and There with Care.
In 2016, Lisa introduced her firm to Reading Partners, a literacy program that tutors underserved children to help them achieve grade level in reading. She spearheads her firms’ involvement in the program, coordinating tutoring sessions at Garden Place Academy and participating in fundraising for the organization. Lisa is the Chair of her firms’ Diversity and Inclusion program whose mission is to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce and work environment where individuals from varied backgrounds are brought together, supported and valued so that the firm and its employees and clients will benefit from a strong culture, diversity of thought and more robust decision making. The firm was recognized for these efforts in 2017 when they were selected by Northern Trust to be included in a new mutual fund, the Engage360 Fund, which utilizes investment managers with strong track records that demonstrate diversity and inclusion among employees while being highly active in the community.
Lisa was named the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Businesswoman of the Year in 2015 and her family was named Family of the Year by the Autism Society of Colorado that same year. In 2016, Lisa received an “Unsung Heroine” award from the Latinas First Foundation for her work in the Latino community. She has been married to her husband Ron since 1989 and they have identical twin fifteen-year-old boys, Roman Armand & Mason Mateo, as well as two dogs, Breck and Frisco. Her hobbies include running, golf, skiing, hosting exchange students and learning about numerous subjects through the eyes of her boys who see the world differently from their vantage point on the autism spectrum.
Her work history includes:
- Principal & Senior Portfolio Manager, Segall Bryant & Hamill (acquired Denver Investments LLC)
- Partner & Portfolio Manager, Denver Investments LLC
- Senior Equity Analyst, Denver Investments LLC
- Equity Research Analyst, Denver Investments LLC
- Marketing Specialist, Denver Investments LLC
- Portfolio Administrator, Denver Investments LLC
- Inroads Intern – Human Resources Specialist, First Interstate Bank of Denver (previous owner of Denver Investments LLC)
The Trailblazer Dinner is a high point of WIP’s annual calendar of events. Each year we focus on women who inspire us in achieving personal and professional excellence.