Kate Hennessy is a Partner and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ at AssetGrade Registered Investment Advisors. 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 The Northern Trust Company for 4 years. Kate frequently speaks as a guest 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 former Director on the Board of Oak Bank and Trustee to ISBI (Illinois State Board of Investment). Kate received her B.A. from St. Mary’s College of Notre Dame.
Joanne Hickman Dodd is a senior executive with more than 36 years in institutional sales management with large, global asset managers. For the past 25 years, she has focused on building and managing consultant relations teams to raise assets and service the needs of consultants and investors on a global basis.
With a Bachelor’s degree at the University of Chicago in Economics and Statistics and a career in finance at various Wall Street firms, owner Teresa Ging left finance to attend Le Cordon Bleu Patisserie program in Paris. When she returned to Chicago she set out to pursue a dream to open the first cupcake boutique in downtown Chicago. In October 2007, Ging launched the catering and delivery side of the business with 20+ flavors in the Sugar Bliss cupcake collection and in January 2009 opened the first Sugar Bliss retail location. Since then Sugar Bliss has expanded their product offerings to variety of baked goods, including cake pops, French macarons, cookies, brownies, morning pastries, and more. Sugar Bliss has been providing sweets in the Downtown Loop since 2009 and is currently located at 122 S Wabash Avenue.
Elizabeth Schuster serves as President of Regina Dominican High School, the premier college preparatory Catholic high school that inspires young women to lead and serve in the global community. Ms Schuster is also the founder of Samadhi, a holistic leadership development company. A 15-year veteran of the financial services industry, most recently at Vanguard helping to launch the ETF business.
Jill White is Founder and CEO of Matrex Exhibits, Inc., headquartered in Addison, Illinois. Matrex brings brands to life thorough events, trade shows, permanent product displays, multi-media presentations, and interactive engagement products. With an international reach she employs over seventy people nationwide and was the first woman-owned, WBENC- certified Exhibit Company in the country.
Barbara Best is a Principal of CAP STRAT, and Founder of the CAP STRAT Women’s Forum.
Connie isaco-founderofPluscios.Shehasover30yearsofexperienceincapitalmarketsandalternativeassetinvestingandservesasthefirmsCIO.
Anita Knotts is a highly accomplished senior executive with nearly 30 years of expertise in sales, marketing, and business development in the competitive wealth management market. After spending the first part of her career as a successful investment advisor followed by years of leadership, Anita is now embarking on the next phase of her career as an entrepreneur.
Angela Miller-May currently serves as the Chief Investment Officer for the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund, a $12.2 billion pension fund that services a membership of over 88,000 active and retired Chicago Public School teachers. She focuses on providing strategic portfolio construction, excellent manager selection and rigorous due diligence and provides leadership to a staff of nine in meeting CTPF’s investment goals. Ms. Miller-May joined the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund in 2010.
Denise is a Senior Consultant at CTS Impact, where she applies the insight and experience she has gained from an extensive financial services career, advising clients on a wide array of business and systems integration issues including business process improvement, design and implementation, corporate compliance, mergers and acquisitions and organizational change.
Lynne Kostakis is Chief Administrative Officer and Head of Strategy for Northern Trust Asset Management, Institutional Client Group which oversees ~$600B in institutional Assets under Management. In this role, Lynne is responsible for developing business strategy and executing key initiatives across the unit primarily focused on strategic change and revenue growth.
Michele has over 25 years of experience in various client relationship management, consultant relations, business development and marketing roles in the financial services industry.
Dr. Moyo is a pre-eminent thinker, who influences key decision-makers in strategic investment and public policy. She is a top-tier opinion former and trusted advisor on Macroeconomics, Geopolitics and Technology themes. She serves on a number of global corporate boards including: 3M Corporation, Chevron and Conde Nast. She worked at the World Bank and Goldman Sachs for nearly a decade. Dr. Dambisa Moyo was also named by TIME Magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World”, and was featured on Oprah Winfrey’s “O” Power List.
Hon. Stephanie D. Neely, Managing Director, is the Head of North America Institutional Central & Canada team for J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Stephanie has spent 3 decades in the financial services arena. Most recently, she was a Vice President and Assistant Treasurer of the Allstate Insurance Company, where she was responsible for the strategic direction and management of liquidity, capital, ratings, corporate finance and corporate structure issues. In addition, she was the chair of Allstate’s pension investment committees and a member of the 401 (k) investment committee.
Leslie McGranahan is a Vice President and Director of Regional Research in the Economic Research Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Her primary research interests relate to the effects of federal, state, and local government policy on individuals and households. She closely follows regional and national developments in government spending and revenues. She received a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University and master’s and doctorate degrees in economics from Northwestern University.
Hetal Mehta, is Senior European Economist with responsibility for providing macroeconomic analysis and forecasts for the UK and euro area economies. She joined LGIM in 2011 from Daiwa Capital Markets where she held the role of UK economist and topped the Sunday Times economics league table for best UK forecast. Prior to that, she was a senior economic adviser to the Ernst & Young ITEM Club and an economist at the Oxford Economics Consultancy where she led coverage for a number of European and Asian countries as well as working on numerous bespoke economic modelling projects. Hetal has also worked for HM Treasury and the Office for the Deputy Prime Minister. Hetal graduated from the University of Bath and holds a BSc and MSc in Economics.
Alesia has been studying and practicing the art and science of leadership and organizational development for over 20 years. She has held management and organizational development roles in Fortune 100 financial services organizations, healthcare, and for the federal government. Alesia Latson is the cofounder of LeadvantEDGE, Inc., a Leadership Training and Coaching firm, where she works as the Chief Possibilities Officer. Through expert facilitation and personal coaching, Alesia has developed hundreds of leaders at all levels to expand their management and leadership effectiveness as well as their leadership brand. She provides principles, programs, and systems that improve productivity and enhance workplace culture. Alesia is appreciated for her insight, creativity, and her exceptional skills as a facilitator and coach.
Expertise
Ms. Haigh manages the Private Investments and Real Assets portfolios for Northwestern University’s $11 billion endowment. Ms. Haigh is responsible for all aspects of these portfolios, including venture capital, buyouts, real estate, and natural resources investments.
Jennifer Rosenblum is a senior managing director in Mesirow Wealth Management. She specializes in working with individuals, families, charitable organizations, and business owners to help them create comprehensive financial planning strategies to accumulate, grow, protect, and distribute their wealth.Athena Ole, CAIA
Head of Private Funds
Nasdaq Private Market
Athena is responsible for driving the development of the Private Funds business at Nasdaq Private Market (NPM). NPM is addressing the illiquidity challenge of alternative investment funds with their technology-powered secondary marketplace for private investments. The business has streamlined and centralized secondary liquidity for traditional private market funds, and supports new registered product vehicles that build secondary liquidity into their structures.
Athena joined Nasdaq in early 2018, bringing over 20 years of experience in financial services. At Merrill Lynch, she was a leader across various roles in the Alternative Investments (AI) business for nearly 10 years. In addition to managing relationships with the firm’s AI fund partners, she also hired and led a team that championed adoption of hedge funds and private equity with the largest and most sophisticated clients of the firm. She launched and positioned a wide variety of AI fund strategies and structures through difference market cycles, and led the creation of a custom proposal process for consultative sales with clients.
Before joining Merrill Lynch in 2007, she spent over ten years at Citigroup where she was a Director of Alternative Investment Sales at Citigroup Alternative Investments, driving third party distribution of proprietary hedge funds and private equity. Athena started her career in Citigroup’s Global Corporate & Investment Bank, and spent seven years in NYC, London and Dublin, working in Corporate Finance after completing Citigroup’s prestigious six month Associate Analytics Program.
Athena is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst, and received her B.A. in Economics from Columbia College at Columbia University. She lives in Montebello, NY with her husband Rich and their three boys. Outside of her career and being a hockey mom, she enjoys her directorship on the board of High Water Women and is an accomplished musician and recording artist.
PANELISTS:
Kristina Blaschek
Director of Business and Technology Solutions
William Blair
Kristina Blaschek is director of business and technology solutions for William Blair Investment Management. In this role, she provides strategic direction and oversight regarding technology development, oversees data integrity and governance, and is William Blair Investment Management’s chief liaison with the firm’s human resources, information technology, and recruiting groups. Before assuming this role in November 2017, Kristina was a global research manager, working closely with directors of research to oversee research operations and managing the global and U.S. equity research associates. Before joining the global research team, Kristina was a senior associate in William Blair’s sell-side research group, where she focused on the healthcare sector for six years. She joined William Blair in 2007. Previously, Kristina worked in the advisory investment banking industry as an associate at Lazard Middle Market and as an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Company in Chicago. Before that, Kristina worked in JPMorgan’s equity products division and completed the firm’s capital markets development program, rotating between asset-backed finance, high-yield products, interest-rate-derivative marketing, and equity products. Kristina co-leads the William Blair Women’s Alliance. She received a B.B.A. in finance with honors from Loyola University Chicago and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
Kristin Doyle, CFA
Partner
Aon Investments
Kristen is a Partner within Aon Investments USA and is the firm’s Global Chief Operating Officer. As Global COO Kristen is responsible for executing on and achieving the firm’s strategic initiatives, managing change as the business evolves, acting as a key decision maker in our growth strategy both organic and inorganic, and maintaining a strong culture of compliance and risk management. Kristen also leads the firm’s public sector business as the Public Fund Client Solution Leader. As the public sector business lead, Kristen is responsible for new business development and helping to ensure that Aon has the right resources, research, and expertise available for the public sector.
Experience
Kristen previously led the trust services team in the U.S. focused on custody, securities lending, and transition management. With regard to transition management, she 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[1]. In 2019 the Women Investment Professionals (WIP) recognized Kristen with the 2019 Distinguished Woman Investment Professional of the Year [2]. 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.
Kristen previously led the trust services team in the U.S. focused on custody, securities lending, and transition management. With regard to transition management, she 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[1]. In 2019 the Women Investment Professionals (WIP) recognized Kristen with the 2019 Distinguished Woman Investment Professional of the Year [2]. 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.
Education
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 B.A. in economics from Denison University. She is a CFA charterholder and member of CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Chicago.
[1] Each year, the editors of CIO magazine build a list of the industry’s top knowledge brokers. These are the people tasked with identifying the best investment managers and financial firms, as well as how to put them all together in a portfolio that will perform well. This list is based on their discretion, knowledge of industry trends & insight across the CIO perspective. The ranking was conducted by the editors of CIO magazine. No advisor paid a fee to participate.
Kristen Doyle https://www.ai-cio.com/lists/2017-knowledge-brokers/?pid=25075 *
*This site contains information that has been created, published, maintained or otherwise posted by institutions or organizations independent of Aon Investments. Aon Investments does not endorse, approve, certify or control these websites and does not assume responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or timeliness of the information located there.
[2] On an annual basis the Women Investment Professionals (WIP) recognizes an outstanding woman in the investment industry who, over a distinguished career and through her personal conduct, commitment and activities, has exemplified her support for the advancement of women within the industry and her community. Kristen Doyle was named the 2019 Distinguished Woman Investment Professional of the Year. Selection criteria for this award includes nominees with 1) exceptional leadership qualities as a proven leader in the investment industry 2) exemplifies integrity, collaboration, and concern for others, and 3) acts as a strong supporter of women in the institutional investment industry consistent with the mission of the WIP. Kristen’s receipt of this award is no way indicative of any individual client or investor’s experience with Kristen or her future performance. No fees were paid to be on this list or included as a nominee. The universe of individuals considered for this award generally are members of WIP.
[1] Each year, the editors of CIO magazine build a list of the industry’s top knowledge brokers. These are the people tasked with identifying the best investment managers and financial firms, as well as how to put them all together in a portfolio that will perform well. This list is based on their discretion, knowledge of industry trends & insight across the CIO perspective. The ranking was conducted by the editors of CIO magazine. No advisor paid a fee to participate.
Kristen Doyle https://www.ai-cio.com/lists/2017-knowledge-brokers/?pid=25075 *
Sabrina MacPherson
Product Manager
Morningstar
Sabrina is a Product Manager at Morningstar, driving strategy and product development for several core APIs that support internal products in their mission to empower investor success. She also oversees the product strategy for Morningstar Developer, a developer portal and management tool for enterprise offerings in the form of APIs and web components.
Shauna Conza is a Senior Investment Director at Legal & General Investment Management America (LGIMA). In her role, she focuses on Public and Taft-Hartley institutions, to broaden LGIMA’s presence within those markets.
Public speaking and communication expert Lauren Sergy has helped thousands of people become more effective leaders by developing critical communication skills such as persuasion, presentation, and executive presence. Known for her highly practical and inter-disciplinary approach, Lauren tackles tough speaking and communication issues with refreshing humor and candor. A member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers, she has worked with a variety of clients and audiences in Canada, the US, the UK, and Europe including KPMG, T-Mobile, Grant Thornton, the Government of Alberta, the University of Alberta, Hypertension Canada, and many more. She holds a Master’s degree in Library and Information Studies and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, and a certificate in Management Development. Her book, 
Christine Fuchs
Tara Giuliano
Angela Miller-May currently serves as the Chief Investment Officer for the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund, a $10.8 billion pension fund that services a membership of over 88,000 active and retired Chicago Public School teachers. She focuses on providing strategic portfolio construction, excellent manager selection and rigorous due diligence and provides leadership to a staff of nine in meeting CTPF’s investment goals. Ms. Miller-May joined the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund in 2010.
As Co-CEO, Mellody is responsible for management, strategic planning and growth for all areas of Ariel Investments outside of research and portfolio management. Additionally, she serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ariel Investment Trust—the company’s publicly traded mutual funds. Prior to being named Co-CEO, Mellody spent nearly two decades as the firm’s President.
Ben Blaisdell is a Managing Director, and Head of Solutions Oversight & Data Analytics for Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), a division of Bank of America Corporation. In this role, Ben is responsible for systematic review of GWIM’s investment offerings across the firm’s portfolios and Investments. This also includes the development of many of the Chief Investment Office’s quantitative functions including investment screening, analytical modeling, automation, data procurement, artificial intelligence and tool development.
Kelley Conway is a Managing Director at Accenture, a member of the Financial Services leadership team. She leads the Technology Advisory practice, partnering with clients to drive practical and rapid business impact by strategically applying new technologies and approaches such as Agile-DevOps, Cloud, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Blockchain. Kelley brings 25 years of experience, and is a recognized leader in financial services, regularly presenting at industry conferences and publishing thought leadership. A passionate advocate of diversity, she is a member of Leadership Greater Chicago class of 2018 and sits on the board of Year Up Chicago.
Joanna Kanakis is Director of Enterprise Sales at Halo Investing, LLC. In her role, Joanna is leading sales initiatives to institutional clients in the Americas, working to democratize and disrupt the world of defined outcome investing. At Halo, she is working to provide efficient access for investors to understand and purchase structured notes, annuities and structured ETFs.
Margo Cook is an asset management leader who believes that every client’s unique investment needs should be an asset manager’s top priority. Margo brings more than 30 years of executive management, operating experience and innovative thinking as an investor and business leader. Over Margo’s career, she has built and led several business transformation efforts, delivering strong results and high client retention.
Stacy is a partner within the Wealth-Investments business. Currently, she is working on issues related to Mercer Investments’ global strategy across business and client segments. Stacy has 24 years of experience within the pension, investment and banking industries. Stacy has held several global leadership roles within Mercer, including being the Global Leader for the Multinational Corporate Client Segment from 2002 – 2005 and 2011 – 2016, as well as being the Global Leader and founding member of the Mercer Sentinel® Group from 2005 – 2011. Mercer Sentinel is a specialist business unit within Mercer focused on operational and execution risks. Before founding Sentinel, Stacy led the UK Implementation Consulting teams. Prior to joining Mercer in the UK, Stacy was based in Mercer’s Chicago, Illinois office, where she led the United States Custody and Asset Administration team and the Defined Contribution Resource Centre.
Lori Lucas, CFA, is the President and CEO of EBRI. Lori is responsible for leading EBRI in its mission to provide unbiased, fact-based research and data on retirement, health care, and other benefits that provide financial security for American workers.
Jessica leads Cerulli’s U.S. Retirement practice and oversees three annual research reports, consulting engagements, and the quarterly issues of The Cerulli Edge—U.S. Retirement edition.
Katharine Wyatt, CFA is the Director of Investments for Abbott Laboratories retirement programs and is responsible for oversight of investments of Abbott’s Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution assets. Katharine is involved in all aspects of portfolio management, including asset allocation, manager selection and monitoring, and portfolio construction covering both public and private markets. In addition to the US plans, Katharine also oversees the investments of Abbott’s pension assets in Puerto Rico and Germany. Prior to joining Abbott, she was a research analyst at a multi-family investment office covering hedge fund and private equity investments. Katharine holds both an MS and a BA in Finance, Investment and Banking from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and was part of the Applied Security Analysis Program during her graduate studies. Katharine is a CFA charter holder.
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.2017
This is a great opportunity to network with other financial professionals while enjoying the summer weather (fingers crossed!) in one of the most beautiful spots in the city.
Mindy Mackenzie – or the “Velvet Hammer” as she was known during her days at liquor giant Jim Beam – is currently a sought-after speaker and CEO advisor to Fortune 500 companies. She is the author of the WSJ bestseller, The Courage Solution: The Power of Truth Telling with Your Boss, Peers, and Team. Mindy is also a Senior Advisor at McKinsey & Company along with being a frequent guest lecturer for the MBA and Executive Education programs at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
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.2016
The Trailblazer Dinner is the high point of our yearly programs focusing on women who inspire us in achieving personal and professional excellence.
The Trailblazer Dinner is the high point of our yearly programs, focusing on women who inspire us in achieving professional and personal excellence.
This is a great opportunity to network with other financial professionals while enjoying the summer weather (fingers crossed!) in one of the most beautiful spots in the city.