Forté Foundation is led by a dynamic team of professionals—from distinguished board members to energetic partners, volunteers and staff—who believe in the value of women in the workplace.

Forté Fellow Representative
Adrienne Martinez

The Johnson School, Cornell University - 2008 MBA

Adrienne completed her MBA at The Johnson School, Cornell University in 2008 with a concentration in Capital Markets and Asset Management.  Upon graduation she joined the consultant relations team at DB Advisors, the institutional asset management business for Deutsche Bank.  As a student at The Johnson School, Adrienne was named a Forté Foundation Fellow, awarded a Toigo Foundation Fellowship, as well as a New America Alliance Institute Fellowship.  Under her leadership as President of the Women’s Management Council, the inaugural WMC Professional Development Trek took place.  She also served as Vice President of Community Outreach for the Hispanic American Business Leadership Association (HABLA) where she co-lead planning for Johnson Means Business 2007; was a student member of the school’s admission committee; and also served on the planning committee for Camp $tart-Up 2008.  A two time Cornellian, Adrienne received her Bachelor of Science degree from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations.  Adrienne is the first alumna to be appointed to the Forté Foundation Board of Directors.

Anika Davis-Pratt

Assistant Dean of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid
NYU-Stern

Anika is currently an Assistant Dean of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid. Her career at NYU began in 1996 in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions where she served as a member of the admissions committee for the College of Arts and Science. In May 2000, she joined Stern's MBA Admissions Office as an Associate Director. Prior to NYU, Ankia spent two years recruiting for Ernst and Young's fast growing Management Consulting practice in New York, after interning for a year in production at the Juilliard School. Anika received an AB from Harvard University in 1993 in Psychology and Art History, and an MA from NYU's School of Education.

Anne Weisberg

Director
Deloitte & Touche USA LLP

As a Director in the Deloitte U.S. Firm’s* Talent organization, Anne Weisberg is involved in the design and implementation of the national strategy for the retention and advancement of women.  She is a specialist in the field of diversity, gender and work/life integration, and most recently is the co-author, with Cathy Benko, of Mass Career Customization: Aligning the Workplace with Today’s Nontraditional Workforce (HBS Press, 2007).

Prior to joining the Deloitte U.S. Firms, Ms. Weisberg was a Senior Director in the Advisory Services practice at Catalyst, where she advised clients on diversity strategies. Ms. Weisberg directed a large-scale study of women in the legal profession, Women in Law: Making the Case (Catalyst 2001).  She is also co-author of Everything a Working Mother Needs to Know (Doubleday 1994). Before writing the book, Ms. Weisberg practiced law in New York and clerked for a federal judge in Chicago.

Ms. Weisberg is on the Board of Directors of the Forte Foundation and an active member of the Committee to Enhance Diversity of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Ms. Weisberg received her Bachelor of Science Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Berkeley and her Juris Doctor cum laude from Harvard Law School. She and her husband live in Manhattan and have five children between them.

Cindy Benton

Director of Student Services
University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business

Cindy has served as the Director of Student Services for the MBA Program at the McCombs School of Business since 2001.  In her role, she oversees all student programs and academic services related the MBA Program. The specific areas include new student orientation, academic advising, course planning and registration, current student scholarship program and advising all MBA student organizations including the Graduate Business Council and assisting with the planning of student activities and events.  Cindy attended Texas A&M University and received a BS in Journalism and a MS in Educational Administration.  Her previous academic post was at the University of South Carolina as the Director of Leadership and Service Programs.   Cindy's involvement with the Forte Foundation has been through membership on the Scholars Committee.  She has been active on the committee since 2004 and chairperson 2004-2007 and is currently a member of the Fellows Advisory Council.

Vice Chair
Colleen McMullen Smith

Director of Diversity Strategies and Programs
Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon

Colleen McMullen Smith leads a comprehensive effort to develop and implement diversity strategies and programs for the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. Their goals are to address 1.) outreach and recruiting of prospective students, faculty and staff 2.) climate and culture issues of the Tepper School community and 3.) research related to topics of diversity in graduate business education.

Colleen began her career at West Virginia University, where she served 10 years in various positions including Student Program Advisor, Programs and Publications Coordinator, and Manager of Community and University Services for the Center for Black Culture and Research. Prior to joining the Carnegie Mellon team in 1998, she served as a Student Services Specialist and Academic Advisor at the University of Pittsburgh, College of Business Administration. Colleen received her B.A. in Business Administration and Liberal Arts from West Virginia University and is currently completing an M.Ed and Ed.D in Higher Education Administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

Chair Emeritus
Ellen Glazerman

Executive Director
Ernst & Young Foundation

Ellen Glazerman is the Executive Director of the Ernst & Young Foundation, and the America’s Director of University Relations for Ernst & Young LLP. She is on the advisory Boards of the firm’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts and formal tax education program. She supports a variety of initiatives within the firm’s Office of Public Policy. She joined Ernst & Young LLP in May of 1993 as the Director of the Ernst & Young Foundation.
 
In 1996, Ellen assumed responsibility for the firm's campus recruiting efforts in support of the assurance and tax practices for Ernst & Young. As the Americas Director of Campus Recruiting, her responsibilities included providing strategic direction, focus, and infrastructure support for campus recruiters firmwide until spring, 2001. Ellen then took responsibility for beginning the analysis of corporate giving throughout the U.S. firm until the firm formed its CSR initiatives in 2003. 

Ellen is Chair of the Forte Foundation Board of Directors, a not-for-profit dedicated to “inspiring women business leaders.” She is a member of the Board of Advisors for the Leventhal School of Accounting, the Haas School of Business’ Center for Financial Reporting and a member of the Board of Directors for the Accounting Administrators’ Programs Group. She is a member of the Tyra Banks’ T-Zone Foundation Board of Directors and is a longtime member of the Board of Directors of the Gina Gibney Dance Company a dance company in New York with a strong mission of community involvement. She speaks frequently and has written on fundraising and corporate philanthropy. Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Ellen spent nine years as a development officer, raising private money for several universities.
 
She earned her B.A. at Wesleyan University and her MBA at the University of Southern California. 

Secretary
Jacqueline Murray

Regional Head, Graduate Resourcing-Americas
Deutsche Bank

Jacueline has had an extensive career in Graduate Recruitment and Training in both Financial Services and Management Consulting . Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, she worked at  McKinsey & Company, AT Kearney, and for a brief period at Sun Mircosystems.  She has been employed at Deutsche Bank for 9 years.  After an assignment in London as UK Head of Resourcing where she participated in building the professional resourcing function, Jacqueline recently returned to New York to take the role of Regional Head of Graduate Resourcing-Americas. Jacqueline believes that given her experience in both the professional and graduate markets, she is well positioned to assist in the enhancement of Forte's mission objectives.

Chair
Julie DeWitt

Manager, Business Recruiting and Staffing
Eli Lilly and Company

Since 2002, Julie DeWitt has managed the Business Recruiting and Staffing activities for diverse groups within Eli Lilly and Company, including Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, Corporate Communications and Legal. She oversees the global recruitment of MBA professionals for all disciplines globally, and is responsible for the Corporate MBA Development Program.

Julie began her career with Eli Lilly in 1995 coordinating the LillyPAC and Grassroots program. She educated employees and retirees on the importance of legislative and regulatory issues facing the company, while also increasing participation in both the grassroots and LillyPAC membership. Prior to this, Julie managed the distribution of mutual funds and money market investments for NBD Bank Investment Division. Her career began on Wall Street with Thomson McKinnon Securities, Inc., marketing Unit Investment Trusts (tax-exempt municipal bond portfolios). Julie earned her undergraduate degree in Economics from DePauw University.

Treasurer
Julie Strong

Senior Associate Director of MBA Admissions
MIT Sloan School of Management

Since 1989, Julie Strong has served MBA students as Director of Career Services, an international MBA Marketing Consultant and Senior Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Arthur D. Little, The MBA Tour and MIT Sloan, respectively. She is the staff representative for the MIT Sloan Women in Management Club and is responsible for awarding Forté scholarships at MIT Sloan. In addition, Julie represents MIT Sloan on the Pathfinder Committee for GMAC, on local MBA consortiums and as a guest speaker at national and regional conferences.

Prior to academia, Julie worked for an oil company in international development, primarily in Latin America and Africa. During her seven-year career there, she was Director of Distribution, Director of International Reinvestment and Director of Corporate Communications. Julie also served two years in the Peace Corps in Ecuador. She has a B.A. degree from the School for International Training and a Masters in Education from Harvard University.

Lisa Marks

Vice President
American Express

American Express (1994 - present) in various marketing, sales, product development and management roles.  Currently, as the  Vice President of Account Development for the NorthEast US,  I have ultimate accountability for more than $9B in annual charge volume across more than 500 corporate clients.  I lead more than 50 virtually-based professionals and maintain and nurture senior level relationships with clients across multiple industries. Prior to American Express, I worked at Budget Rent a Car and Europe Assistance (a vendor of American Express) in sales and marketing.   Additionally, during college, I interned at both Hill & Knowlton and the White House Press Office.  I have a Bachelor's of Arts (Communication major) from Michigan State University and live in South Orange, NJ with my husband of 14 years, Cory, and my 9 year old daughter, Jessica.
 

Mae Jennifer Shores

Assistant Dean of MBA Admissions and Financial
UCLA, Anderson School of Management

Mae Jennifer Shores is Assistant Dean and Director of MBA Admissions & Financial Aid at UCLA Anderson after serving as Senior Associate Director at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She serves on the School Advisory Board of the Forté Foundation and the Advisory Board of The MBA Tour.                                                                                              

Mae Jennifer taught Organizational Behavior and Negotiations at the International University of Moscow and worked for think tanks in Arizona and New York. She earned BA degrees in Economics and History from Guilford College and Arizona State University, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She also earned an MBA degree from Columbia University in NY.

Paige Ross

Vice President of Human Resources - North America
Avon

Paige leads an HR team of 26 serving more than 6,000 Avon Associates who serve more than 600,000 Avon Representatives throughout North America.  Prior to assuming this role in 2007, Paige supported Avon’s Global Supply Chain organization and the Global Talent Management team.  This broad-based experience in Avon Operations allowed her to work with matrix partners to redesign many key functions to better align with current business requirements.  A strong advocate of talent development, she has increased HR’s focus on talent management to ensure there is a consistent approach throughout the organization.  Paige’s experience also includes serving as Director, OMD for PepsiCola North America. She has a PhD from Hofstra University.

Pepe Carreras

Director, Products and Marketing Services
GMAC

Roxanne Hori

Assistant Dean and Director, Career Management
Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management

Roxanne has been the Assistant Dean of Career Management at the Kellogg School of Management for 12 years.  Prior to joining Kellogg she worked in a corporate environment for a total of 16 years in various roles within Human Resources.  She currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Women’s Business Association and several task forces and search committees.  In the past Roxanne has also served on both the school’s and her former employer’s diversity committee.  In addition, has served as President of a regional and board member of a national professional organization.  Roxanne has over 15 years of experience in higher education coaching and counseling students on career choices which she believes is a valuable to the organization.

Sandra Hurse

Vice President, Equities/FICC Recruiting
Goldman Sachs

Sandra joined Goldman Sachs in 2006 as Global Head of Securities Campus Recruiting.  Prior to joining Goldman, Sandra spent 8 years at JP Morgan Chase in various Human Resources and Marketing Roles.

Sandra holds a BBA in Finance from Baruch College and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Michigan.

Stacy Poindexter-Owen

Director of MBA Admissions
Wake Forest University Schools of Business

Stacy's career at Wake Forest University began in 1999; she has been the Director of Admissions since 2003. Her responsibilities include admissions for the Full-time MBA and Master of Arts in Management programs. Prior to joining Wake Forest, she worked for Burlington Industries in both operations and marketing positions. Stacy's education includes BS and MS degrees from North Carolina State University. Prior board positions include serving as a member of GMAC's Annual Conference Advisory Board and a four-year term on NC State's College of Management Alumni Board. She is currently on the Board of Directors for the Junior League of Winston-Salem. Her Forte roles include the Marketing Committee, the Forums Committee and City Captain for Atlanta 2005 and 2006.

Suni Harford

Managing Director and Citgroup’s Regional Head of Markets for North America
Citi

Suni Harford is a Managing Director and Citi's Regional Head of Markets, NA.  In this capacity she oversees Citi's Sales, Trading and Origination businesses in the United States and Canada. Ms. Harford has served in a variety of posistions, including Global Head of Fixed Income Research and Co-Head of Citi's Capital Markets Origination business.  Ms. Harford has a bachelors degree in Physics and Math from Denison University and an MBA from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth. Suni is currently on the MBA Advisory Board at Tuck.  She lives in NYC with her husband and three children, Devon (11), Jenna (8) and Liam (5).