Meet the Speakers

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  Sweeny Bansal

  Healthcare Business Executive and Board Member

  Sweeny Bansal is a healthcare business executive known for navigating bold transitions and delivering results across industries — from logistics to investment banking, diagnostics, medical distribution, and health plan operations. She has built and led billion-dollar businesses, shaped value-based care strategies, and driven operational excellence — all by stepping into roles before she felt fully “ready.”

  With 15+ years of experience across strategy, finance, and operations, Sweeny has made a career out of embracing stretch roles that pushed her beyond her comfort zone. Each pivot — across sectors, functions, and leadership levels — was fueled by curiosity, conviction, and the ability to communicate her value to senior stakeholders.

  In this session, Navigating High-Growth Opportunities with Purpose, Sweeny will share how to assess risk vs. reward, reframe fear as fuel, and chart a career path that blends ambition with authenticity. A former Forté Fellow and INSEAD MBA graduate, she’s passionate about helping women recognize their transferable strengths, build executive presence, and say yes to opportunities that stretch and shape them.

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  Gabby Berger Sainati

  Retail & Operations Business Leader, Small business CEO

  Gabby Berger Sainati is an experienced retail, ecommerce and operations business manager. She started her career in PR & marketing for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and global architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) before earning an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management with a focus on marketing and entrepreneurship. After Kellogg, she joined the Nordstrom corporate strategy team focusing on eCommerce, private label merchandising, and international expansion. In 2014, she moved to Amazon where she held multiple roles across the retail business, from launching and scaling premium beauty categories to managing home improvement categories that earned over $1Bn in annual revenue. In 2018, she joined a start-up team in Amazon Operations focused on monetizing Amazon’s in-house logistics capabilities. She spent several years building, launching and scaling Amazon Shipping, an external package shipping service, where she was responsible for multiple functions within the product lifecycle from sales to product management, owned a global P&L and defined the US launch and scale up strategy.

  Gabby is currently taking a sabbatical to spend more time with her family and her passions before diving into her next business venture. She lives in Chicago with her family and serves on the Women’s Board of the Museum of Contemporary Art.

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  Stephani Calderón

  Growth Strategy Manager, Accenture

  Stephani Calderón is a Growth Strategy Manager at Accenture, where she has helped numerous Fortune 500 clients uncover new revenue opportunities, optimize operations, and design strategies for sustainable growth across industries like telecom, utilities, and pharma. Stephani also helps lead her practice’s Gen AI portfolio, driving innovation at the intersection of strategy and emerging technologies. Beyond her corporate work, Stephani is deeply committed to her community and is the founder of Beyond Borders, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering first-gen, women, low-income, and immigrant-background students by expanding access to education, mentorship, and career opportunities. Stephani is also a Forté alum, Jack Kent Cooke alum, and received both her MBA from Darden (UVA) & BBA from McCombs (UT Austin) with $300k+ in scholarships.

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  Lisa Chen

  Senior Vice President, Account Manager, PIMCO

  Ms. Chen is a senior vice president in the New York office and an account manager on PIMCO’s U.S. global wealth management team. She is responsible for strategic relationships and business development with global private banks, national and regional banks, and financial intermediaries across all products and vehicle offerings. She serves on the steering committee and is a founding member of PIMCO LEAP, an employee resource group.

  Prior to joining PIMCO in 2019, she was in the portfolio analytics and corporate strategy groups at BlackRock, focused on the Aladdin platform. In 2022, Ms. Chen received the “Rising Star Award” from the Women’s Bond Club. She has 13 years of investment and financial services experience and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and an undergraduate degree in applied economics from Cornell University. Ms. Chen is a member of the CFA Society New York.

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  Aiofe Considine

  Business Lead and Director, Heathrow Express

  After completing her first degree in Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering at Trinity College Dublin in 2014, Aoife moved from Ireland to the UK to begin her career as a railway engineer. After spending six years working across both public and private railways, Aoife took a year out to pursue an MBA at Imperial College London where she was awarded the ‘Edie Hunt Inspiration Award’ for contributions to advancing women into business leadership positions. Upon graduation, she moved to Scotland to work as an Operations Manager for Amazon’s Pathways Program.

  In 2023, Aoife returned to London to take on the role of Head of Commercial Strategy & Planning for Heathrow Airport. After a six-month secondment as Head of Digital for Heathrow, Aoife returned to the rail industry in 2024 as Business Lead & Director for Heathrow Express – a premium, direct rail link between Heathrow and central London and a company close to Aoife’s heart where she once served as Head of Engineering before pursuing her MBA. Aoife lives in South West London with her husband Ed and her dachshund Juno and spends her spare time pursuing various fitness challenges from Hyrox to marathons. She is also a keen dancer and has been taking ballet classes since the age of two.

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  Imani Grant

  Sr. Manager – Strategic Air Initiatives, Expedia Group

  Imani Grant is a seasoned business strategy and operations leader who thrives at the intersection of strategy, growth, and human experience. A former management consultant at Kearney, general manager at DoorDash, and entrepreneur for a queer womxn’s lifestyle company, Imani has built a career around transforming ambitious ideas into scalable impact. She recently joined Expedia Group as Senior Manager in the Strategic Air Initiatives business unit, where she partners cross-functionally to strengthen performance and profitability for the global Air business.

  Beyond her corporate leadership, Imani is an investor and advisor with Zane Venture Fund, supporting diverse founders and inclusive innovation. A proud New Yorker who calls multiple cities home, she holds an MBA from Cornell University. When she’s not thinking about travel, she can often be found paddle boarding and exploring new ways to recharge outdoors.

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  Liz Hakes

  Human Resources Manager, North America Food Service, General Mills

  Liz serves as an HR Business Partner at General Mills, an international company making food the world loves like Cheerios, Annie’s, and Nature Valley to name a few of her favorites. As an HR Manager supporting General Mills’ foodservice business, she helps leaders and teams to accelerate their potential and grow General Mills’ away-from-home food business.

  Liz joined General Mills in 2019 as an MBA Intern and has served in roles of increasing responsibility over the last 5 years, including a role leading the company’s Onboarding experience for thousands of new hires. Prior to General Mills, Liz spent 5 years dedicated to the growth of Chicago Scholars, a nonprofit that trains talented, under-resourced students to become the next generation of diverse leaders.

  Liz holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and French from the University of Chicago and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management. She is a proud Forté MBA Launch alum, Forté Fellow alum, Forté MBA Mentor, and Edie Hunt Award recipient. She lives in the Twin Cities with her husband and two-year old daughter, and enjoys finding new ways to enjoy the outdoors – yes, even in the depths of Minnesota winter.

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  Kimberly Katsuyama

  Managing Partner, Gartner

  Kimberly Katsuyama is a Managing Partner at Gartner Consulting, where she helps state and local government clients tackle complex, technology-driven transformations. With over 30 years in consulting, Kimberly has had the privilege of working alongside inspiring leaders and watching her teams rise to overcome challenges that once seemed impossible. At Gartner, she’s responsible for growing a dynamic business portfolio and empowering her teams to deliver outstanding value to clients—while always championing diversity, equity, and inclusion. Kimberly earned her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern, so she knows firsthand the excitement and uncertainty of stepping into new roles after business school. She joined Gartner in 2019 and calls Manhattan Beach, California, home. When she’s not at work, you’ll probably find her hiking a new trail or singing along at a concert (bonus points if it’s Taylor Swift!). Kimberly believes consulting is a fantastic adventure—and she’s excited to share her journey and insights with the next generation of women leaders.

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  Jenny Le

  Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Osaic

  Jenny Le is Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Osaic and is part of the team responsible for shaping the long-term strategic vision of the company. Osaic is a leading wealth management platform with more than $700B in assets and nearly 11,000 financial professionals. She previously worked at TIAA and Nuveen on the retirement and asset management strategy and at Kearney as a management consultant advising companies on growth transformation. She has a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School. Jenny is the Alumni Chair of Forté Foundation’s Alumni Leadership Council and is a Board Member of the Osaic Foundation. Personally, she lives in Houston, TX with her husband and daughter and loves playing recreational volleyball and watching Top Chef and Gilded Age.

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  Nikita T. Mitchell

  Director, Social Impact and Inclusion Office, Cisco

  Nikita T. Mitchell is a strategist and speaker with more than 15 years of experience spanning the corporate, nonprofit, and public sectors. She is currently a Director in Cisco’s Social Impact and Inclusion Office, where she leads programs that harness purpose expertise to drive business growth and deliver meaningful social change. She also directs Cisco’s FLEX leadership development program, preparing future leaders in human resources, social impact, and corporate affairs.

  Previously, Nikita created Above the Bottom Line, a business newsletter once named by Fortune as one of the best of its kind, which called on companies to take a stand on social and environmental issues. She also served two terms on the Board of Directors for Planned Parenthood Northern California.

  Nikita earned her BBA from Howard University and her MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. Outside of work, you’ll find her indulging her love of reading, tending to her garden, and enjoying time with her pups. 

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  Michelle Park

  Principal Supply Chain Manager, Amazon

  After earning my MBA/MS degrees from Sloan in 2021, I joined Amazon through a Leadership Development program called Pathways. I led teams in 2 different Amazon robotics operations sites, building and leading teams of 1,000 associates and 25 managers. Recently, I transitioned from operations to the supply chain org, where I help strategize supply chain solutions to improve how we deliver products to customers.

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  Kathryn Reynolds

  Director of Operations Innovation, DaVita

  Kathryn Reynolds is a mission-driven healthcare leader with a dual MBA/MPH from UC Berkeley and over a decade of experience building high-performing teams to drive systems innovation and improve health outcomes. Her early career included global health research in Chile, co-founding a bilingual middle school as an AmeriCorps member, and connecting complex patients to social and medical care through a Houston-based nonprofit.

  After graduate school, Kathryn joined DaVita through the Redwoods program, where she has held operational leadership roles and now leads strategic initiatives on the Operations Innovation team to improve clinical outcomes for kidney patients nationwide. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and one-year-old daughter.

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  Amandine Roche

  Senior Vice President, US Consumer Wealth Business Execution, Citi

  Amandine is currently a Business Management Senior Vice President on the U.S. Consumer Wealth Management Business Execution Team at Citi. During her MBA at the University of Oxford, she was a Forté Fellow. She volunteers with Forté as the Vice Chair of the Membership Committee for the Alumni Leadership Council. She is based in Washington, D.C.

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