Elissa Ellis-Sangster

Executive Director
Forté Foundation

Elissa serves as Executive Director for the Forté Foundation, an organization dedicated to inspiring women business leaders. Elissa brings to the role extensive knowledge of issues affecting women’s abilities to seek, prepare for and attain business leadership positions, drawn from her prior experience as Assistant Dean and Director of the MBA Program at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.  There she oversaw all activities related to the full-time McCombs MBA program including marketing, admissions, student services, and alumni relations.

Elissa received her MBA and her B.A. in English from Texas A&M University, where she was the Assistant Director of the MBA Program until 1997.  She is also past Chair of the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) Annual Industry Conference. Elissa formerly served as chair of the MBA Student Services Professionals (MBA SSP).  She is an ex-officio member of the Forté Foundation Executive Committee.

Lisa Westlake Chen 

Director of Marketing
Forté Foundation

Lisa has more than 15 years of experience in marketing, brand building, consumer behavior and market research.  Prior to Forté, Lisa was Director of Brand Development at The Walt Disney Company where she provided strategic counsel on marketing and branding issues across Disney, ESPN and ABC business units.  Prior to Disney, Lisa was a management consultant at the Monitor Group in the marketing strategy practice, and worked in the New York, Los Angeles, and South Africa offices.  While in South Africa, Lisa also taught business strategy at CIDA College in Johannesburg. 

Lisa received her MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. At Wharton, she worked in the Career Center as a career counselor and was the co-Director of Wharton’s a cappella group The Whartones.  Prior to her MBA, Lisa worked in public relations.  She has a BA in psychology from Cornell University.

Lisa is an avid traveler.  She has traveled to 30+ countries, across 6 continents and has lived in China, Taiwan, Japan, Argentina, Spain, and South Africa.  She currently lives in Austin, TX with her husband and
their Havanese dog.

Nicole Ferris

Director of Development
Forté Foundation

Nicole is a social sector executive with 15 years of experience. Her career path includes The White House, UN-consultative NGOs, a business school, corporate foundation and Fortune 500 consultancy.  Her leadership in philanthropy has encompassed capital campaigns, foundation partnerships, corporate social responsibility, cause branding, executive engagement, board relations and global public affairs.
 
She holds an MA in International Administration, certificate in Conflict Resolution, and Human Rights specialization from the University of Denver and a BA from Gettysburg College. Nicole studied graduate economics in Prague and has extensively traveled throughout emerging market regions. Her earliest career experience was in The White House Office for Women’s Initiatives and Outreach inspired interest in economic equity. In 1998, the wage gap was then 74¢ and today it stands at 77¢.
 
As a first-generation American, Nicole believes in entrepreneurship and educational access. Through volunteer work for The Fellowship Initiative – an innovative pilot program by JPMorgan Chase Foundation – she witnessed how winning one scholarship can transform confidence. Nicole proudly mentors two exceptional young students who overcame much urban adversity and achieved their collegiate dreams this spring. Nicole is based in Manhattan – and loves the Red Sox.

Denise Montana

Director of Corporate Relations and Programs
Forté Foundation

Denise has an extensive background in Human Resources, with over 20 years experience in leading firms including Philip Morris (now Altria), Citigroup, and Deutsche Bank.   For over 10 years, Denise has focused on Diversity and Inclusion, starting the first Diversity function at Citibank and managing Diversity in the Americas for Deutsche Bank.    Her expertise includes developing and enhancing the effectiveness of Diversity programs and strategies, consulting with senior leaders to develop practical solutions to business issues, enhancing the effectiveness of employee resource groups, and implementing professional development programming for diverse populations.  In addition, Denise has experience in HR Legal Compliance, Recruiting, Generalist and Employee Relations functions. 

She has a J.D. from New York Law School and a B.S. from Pace University.  She lives in Harding Township, New Jersey with her husband Steve and Bichon Frise, Maddie.

Laurie Stewart

Director of School Relations
Forté Foundation

Laurie Stewart jointed the Forté Foundation in March 2012 as Director of School Relations and serves as the primary point of contact for Forté's school sponsors.  Previously, she was Executive Director of Masters Admissions at Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business, where she spent many years in graduate admissions and student services.  Laurie initially began her professional career in product engineering at General Motors in the Pontiac Division.  She holds an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering—completed at Kettering University as a co-op student, with co-op assignments across manufacturing, engineering and administrative functions.  She later received a GM Fellowship to pursue her MBA at Carnegie Mellon and returned to GM and the automotive industry—before a project completed while an MBA student led to the opportunity to join her alma mater as a staff member.

Laurie has served as a primary representative to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) and as a Board Member for the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management.  She has also enjoyed collaborating with many industry colleagues on various committees for the Forté Foundation, the Consortium and GMAC over the years.  She is into technology and gadgets, enjoys golf and divides her time between Pittsburgh and northern Michigan.

Bianca Bickford

Online Marketing Manager
Forté Foundation

Bianca Bickford is a Microsoft Certified Professional with over 11 years of web technology experience and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese Language and Culture from The University of Texas at Austin. Her websites have been Notable Achievements at the Texas Interactive Media Awards and a finalist in SXSW Web Awards. Bianca was a finalist for the Dewey Winburne Community Service Award and is a member of the Leadership Austin Emerge class.

Bianca has volunteered with organizations including Austin Free Net, Knowbility, Girlstart, and Animal Trustees of Austin. Bianca recently served on the City of Austin Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission and is a volunteer at Wells Branch Community Library.

Jessica Cowan

Partner Marketing Manager
Forté Foundation

Jessica Cowan is Program Marketing Coordinator for Forté Foundation.  Jessica joined Forté Foundation in the fall of 2004 as the Events Coordinator.  In her current role, she works to develop and implement marketing plans that drive awareness to the organization and its events.  Specifically, she’s responsible for the development of online content for web pages and HTML email campaigns, managing the creation of marketing assets and other event related activities.  Beyond marketing organizational programming and events, Jessica is responsible for managing a team of interns each semester.

Prior to working for Forté Foundation, Jessica worked for the Texas Council of Administrators of Special Education, a state education association.  Working on behalf of school administrators from around the state of Texas, she planned a number professional development conferences and seminars yearly.  Jessica earned her BA from Texas State University, graduating Cum Laude with a degree in Communications.   Jessica loves living in Austin, Texas, and enjoys running.  She is currently training for her 8th marathon.

Melissa Graham

Executive Assistant
Forté Foundation

Melissa Graham jointed the Forté Foundation in March 2012 as Executive Assistant. Melissa is responsible for bookkeeping, multiple administrative duties, and website inquiry support. She is a certified legal administrative assistant and brings over 12 years of experience to her role at Forté.

Prior to working at Forté, she spent 12 years at Westgate Pet & Bird Hospital where she provided direct administrative support to the Hospital Administrator, Hospital Director and four other physicians.

Melissa, her husband William, their daughter Madison and several pets enjoy life in a small town outside of Austin, Texas. In their free time, they volunteer with a group that helps to rebuild and build houses of those affected by natural disasters.

Veronica Lee

Program and Events Coordinator
Forté Foundation

With over seven years of diverse project management experience, Veronica brings her qualifications to the Program and Events Coordinator position with exceptional multi-project management abilities and vendor and client relations expertise.  At Forté Foundation, Veronica is responsible for over 15 events annually, ranging in size from regional seminars to large national conferences.  She is responsible for overseeing the entire planning process, from inception to completion, including site selection, event identity development, budget management, pre-event logistics coordination and onsite event management.

Prior to working for Forté Foundation, Veronica was an Event Manager for the largest Association Management firm in Texas, CMP Management.  With both local and national events for seven different clients under her direction, she was integral in ensuring that revenue, attendance and educational goals were consistently met or exceeded.  Veronica is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication.  A born and bred Californian, she now loves living in the quaint town of Dripping Springs just outside of Austin, Texas with her husband Justin, son Gunnar and their two dogs, Daisy and Beau.

Beth Lopez

Executive Assistant
Forté Foundation

Beth Lopez joined Forté in September of 2006 as the Executive Assistant, in which capacity she handles data management and provides bookkeeping, administrative and marketing support. In addition, she is responsible for updating and maintaining content on the Forté Foundation website.

Prior to working for Forté, Beth spent 7 years at Executive Association Management Incorporated.  She was the executive and publications assistant to seven local, state and national associations. 

Beth enjoys living in San Antonio with her husband Alex, son Gabriel and Boston Terrier, P-Nut.

Arrion Rathsack

Manager of Sponsor Relations and Programs
Forté Foundation

As the Manager of Sponsor Relations and Programs, Arrion manages speakers and panelists for Forté Forums and webinars throughout the year. She also manages the admissions process for the Financial Services FAST track program. Finally, she works closely with the Director of School Sponsor Relations in the strategy, planning and delivery of college outreach programs.

Arrion brings extensive experience in graduate business education. Most recently, she was the Director of MBA Admissions at The Cox School of Business at SMU where she oversaw the marketing and recruiting for the full-time MBA program. Prior to that, she worked at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin in Graduate Alumni Relations and at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University in MBA Student Services. Arrion is a co-founder and former chair of the MBA Student Services Professionals  and has served on various Graduate Management Admissions Coucil program committees.

She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business from the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona. She lives in Austin, TX with her husband Ben and their two children, Alex and Kaylee.