Fran Dean Bishopis the founder and CEO of Aerobodies Inc. a corporate fitness and wellness company in the Washington, DC area. In her role as Chief Executive Officer, Fran has designed and implemented a variety of strategic and behavioral change programs for several Fortune 100 and 500 companies. In her latest venture, Equilibrium Executive Coaching, Fran works with emerging and veteran business leaders to inspire sustained behavioral change and to transform the quality of the executive's work and professional life.

Fran Bishop is an award winning coach and master trainer with a 15-year track record in leadership, teambuilding and public speaking.

Fran earned her Bachelor's Degree in Communications with a minor in Business Marketing from George Mason University. She attended Georgetown University's School of Professional Studies for a certificate in Leadership Coaching. Fran is also a professionally certified master fitness coach and trainer and is a featured speaker for many companies and associations.

Judy Bradt is an expert in government procurement. She brings 20 years of international business development, negotiation and trade policy experience to her practice. Additionally, in 2003, Judy founded “Summit Insight” to build Canada’s success in US government markets. Her corporate clients seek business strategies for US public sector contracts.

Previously, Judy worked at the Embassy of Canada, Trade Commissioner Service in Washington, DC. In this role she helped over 10,000 Canadian firms win over $250 million in US government contracts. She also created the “Canadian Women’s International Business Initiative” resulting in $12 million in international sales and partnerships.

Among Judith’s many awards and distinctions, she has received the 2000 Ministerial Citation for Excellence in International Trade and the 2000 President’s Award by the Canadian-American Business Council.

Reneé Brown, WNBA Chief of Basketball Operations and Player Relations, oversees all player scouting and acquisition for the league as well as the administration of player-related policies and programs. In addition, she is responsible for overseeing the policies for all on-court basketball operations. Brown joined the WNBA in September 1996 as Director of Player Personnel and was promoted to Senior Director in October 1999. She was named Vice President in March 2000.
During the 1995-96 season, Brown served as an assistant coach to Tara VanDerveer for the gold medal-winning USA Basketball Women’s National Team in Colorado Springs, where she helped with game preparation, player conditioning and scouting. She currently serves on the Executive Committee for USA Basketball, as the Vice President for the Senior Women’s Programs for 2000-2004.

Brown, a 1978 graduate of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, also was an assistant coach for the women’s basketball teams at the University of Kansas, Stanford University and San Jose State University. During her tenure at Kansas, she helped guide the Jayhawks to an 88-31 record, four trips to the NCAA tournament and a Big Eight Conference title. Her Stanford team won the NCAA tournament in 1990 and earned a trip to the Final Four in 1991.

For fifteen years, Hattie Bryant taught management, sales and customer service in the classrooms of hundreds of small businesses and from the convention platform. She has presented seminars in 47 states and produced teaching materials for customers like ABC and Frito-Lay.

In May of 1993 Hattie began working with Bruce Camber to bring the "best practices" of small business owners to public television. Today there are over 200 half-hours episodes of Small Business School. Shot entirely on location, from Tampa to Seattle and from San Diego to Boston, small business owners tell how they do what they do. The national sponsors of this television series include Microsoft, the US Postal Service, Thomson Learning, and Verizon. Over the years other national sponsors included AT&T, Business Week, Dun & Bradstreet, Forbes, IBM, Mass Mutual, MCI and Travelers.  Local sponsors have included banks, utility companies and the business press. The series can be seen in nearly 90 million US households via 200+ public television stations and it reaches the world via the US government's Worldnet Global Satellite. The show even has fans in Mauritius and Mongolia.

Vicky Carlson is President and Owner of Office Pavilion San Diego, a Herman Miller furniture dealership. Since taking leadership over a decade ago, Carlson has transformed the company into a support center for progressive workplace environments in San Diego County. She has accomplished this by working from the inside out—first creating a strong internal core culture built on integrity and openness, then commissioning the design of a new facility to support that culture. These efforts have been recognized in business and design publications such as Entrepreneur Magazine, San Diego Union Tribune, Visual Store, Design Architecture Magazine, and San Diego Daily Transcript.

Carlson received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Wyoming. She serves as the President of the Steering Council for the National Dealer Alliance and is a professional member of TEC, Women President's Organization, Economic Development Council, Business Summit Committee for San Diego Chamber of Commerce, Herman Miller's Certified Network, and University of California San Diego Chancellor's Associates Program.

Alice Lusk is an experienced executive in both major corporations and an entrepreneur.  Alice Lusk is currently leading her own company, Lusk-Moore and Associates, after a 23 year corporate career in technology. She is a Senior Advisor to numerous start-up companies and serves on a variety of boards.

As an entrepreneur, she is a founding partner of Lusk-Moore and Associates an advanced technology development company in 1999.  Currently, Ms. Lusk is focused on completing development of a quantitative engine to measure the thinking patterns of business executives.  In her capacity as an advisor to female executives, a specific focus on gender patterns is nearing completion.    

Ms. Lusk graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a BA degree in German and Geography. She received her MBA at the University of Georgia.  She was honored as a distinguished alumnus of the University of Georgia in 1994.

Jeff Crilley is an Emmy Award winning TV reporter in Dallas. During his 20 years in television news he has made hundreds of national news appearances including CNN, CNN Headline News, FOX News, The Discovery Channel, Good Morning America and The CBS Early Show.

He has been recognized by his peers with dozens of national and regional awards including the Emmy, the National Headliners Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award, the Thurgood Marshall Award and in 2004 was named by the Texas Associated Press, "The Best TV Reporter in the state."

As a general assignment reporter he covers a wide range of topics from presidential elections to Spam cooking contests at the State Fair. His day-to-day news gathering experience has given him special insight into what the news covers and why.

When he is not covering the news as a reporter and anchor, he’s teaching people how to get covered on the news. Contact Jeff to book him for your next meeting.

Linda Larsen has worked extensively throughout the U.S., Canada and Australia. She has inspired, educated and entertained hundreds of thousands of people, giving them dynamic tools to create positive, lasting changes in their lives. Her client list includes LL Bean, Jaguar Cars, Verizon, Pfizer, and The American Heart Association, to name a few.

Linda has a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work from the University of South Florida and a Master of Fine Arts Degree from Florida State University. As a communication trial consultant and CLE provider for attorneys, she has served as part of the guest adjunct faculty for colleges and universities throughout the United States. Linda is also the Executive Vice President of the newly-formed Cable Access Guild, an association serving members of the Public, Educational and Governmental television industry.

She has been featured in or has written articles for publications such as The Chicago Tribune, Personal Excellence and Investor's Business Daily. She is featured in the new book Masters of Success and is the author of the best selling audio programs, 12 Secrets to High Self-Esteem, and PowerTips on CD, and the critically acclaimed book, True Power.

Rosemary McDowell is an experienced professional with over 25 years of management experience in both the Federal and Commercial Sectors. She established RSDN—a strategic business development and proposal management consulting practice—in 2001 supporting clients in planning and marketing programs and solutions in the areas of systems integration, business development, financial operations, client relations, business models, software development, program development, strategy development, acquisition support, and e-commerce. RSDN focuses on business strategy definition, strategy integration in the business life cycle, and program/proposal development support with an 85% win rate. Client firms are in the Federal, Defense, state, local, and commercial sectors. During 2005, Ms. McDowell contributed to winning proposal efforts with a combined value in excess of $10 billion.

Ms. McDowell is an accomplished speaker and presenter on Federal Government contracting for small to mid-size businesses communicating advice on marketing, proposal, and pricing strategies drawing on her 16 years in the Federal Government (including eight years as a Contracting Officer and Technical Representative); and 10 years in the private sector as a senior manager at billion dollar corporations and small businesses.

As entrepreneur, corporate executive, author, motivational speaker, philanthropist and mother, LuAn Mitchell-Halter has lived a life of wide experience, harsh reality, and repeated triumph.

Mitchell-Halter has reached the pinnacle of business success being named one of the 40 Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World and has been honored by them annually since 2001. McGill University of Montreal has named LuAn as the 2003 recipient of the McGill Management Achievement Award for excellence of achievement in business and community service.

Mitchell-Halter is President and CEO of Save The Planet Holdings, and led Mitchell's Gourmet Foods from 1998 to 2003 as Chair of the Board. She serves on several outside boards, and is in constant demand as a motivational speaker.  She has appeared on the internationally acclaimed Hour of Power television broadcast as featured guest of Rev. Robert Schuller.

Lifestyle Expert, Kimberly Fulcher, has been dubbed America’s Reinvention Coach. She is the founder, president and CEO of Compass Life and Business Designs, a professional coaching, training, and publishing company. Her work as an entrepreneur, company leader, author, speaker, and professional coach has resulted in her national recognition as an expert in personal and professional success.

Kim works with her clients to revitalize and balance their busy lives, deepen their family connections, and establish passion and purpose in their lives and work. She speaks to organizations around the world on subjects ranging from leadership to life balance. She is the author of the upcoming book “Remodel Your Reality; Seven Steps to Rebalance Your Life and Reclaim Your Passion” and co-author of “Lead With Purpose. Live With Passion. A Femalepreneur’s Guide to Small Business Success”.

Her professional experience includes the co-founding of SkillsVillage.com, a human capital management software company, which was subsequently sold for $38 million dollars and management of a leading Silicon Valley consulting firm. In addition, Kim has held positions as a board member and executive for numerous coach training organizations, including The Silicon Valley Coach Federation and Coachville.com.

Through her coaching company, Kim has provided coaching to executives, small business owners and home-makers alike. She has been featured in numerous publications, including Time, San Jose and Gentry Magazines, and her articles have been broadly published throughout the internet.

Debbie Mrazek loves sales. That's why she named her highly successful consulting practice The Sales Company. Her vision of igniting sales for veterans and beginners alike fuels the company's services. Programs like Rent-A-Sales-Manager, The Sales Coach and The Sales Audit put The Sales Company on a fast track working with companies that have been seed funded to the Fortune 50.

She focuses on a proven sales process developed during her 20-year career that started with technology giant Texas Instruments and continued through the technology outsourcing revolution. nominee for the Richardson YWCA's Women of Achievement Awards event.

Debbie holds a degree in Management with a specialization in Organizational Behavior from the University of Houston.

Tracy Myers co-founded The Advertising Arts College, an accredited, four-year college specializing in preparing students for careers in Advertising, Graphic Design, Web Page Design, Animation and Digital Arts. It was the first school in the country to offer a Bachelor’s Degree in Digital Arts. In October 2000, twenty years after it was founded, the college was purchased by an enterprise traded on the Nasdaq, The Art Institutes, a system of colleges that spans the United States.

Today, Ms. Myers consults to San Diego area businesses, concentrating in corporate operations, performance standards, and personnel evaluations. She is the facilitator for the San Diego chapter of Women Presidents’ Organization, a membership organization for women entrepreneurs that promotes the acceptance and advancement of women entrepreneurs in all industries.

Ms. Myers is a graduate of San Diego State University, hobbies and leisure include voice-overs for corporate training, jewelry design, gourmet cooking, gardening, yoga, travel and her English Bulldogs Big Ben and Elliott.

Donna Orender was named President of the Women’s National Basketball Association in February of 2005.  She oversees all business and league operations and brings more than 20 years of sports business experience to her position with the WNBA.

Prior to joining the league, she spent more than 17 years with the PGA Tour serving, most recently as Senior Vice President of Strategic Development in the Office of the Commissioner.
Orender’s television production career began at ABC Sports and continued at SportsChannel.  Orender also owned her own production company, Primo Donna Productions. 

A graduate of Queens College in New York, Orender did graduate studies in social work at Adelphi University.  She comes to the WNBA with a significant basketball history and a true passion for the game. She played three seasons in the Women’s Professional Basketball League (WBL), where she was an All-Star.  She also was an All-American basketball player during her collegiate years.

Delia Passi is a nationally-recognized and highly regarded businesswoman in the field of marketing and business development.  As President and CEO of Medelia Communications, Passi supports companies in their efforts to gain market share of women consumers and target markets. Passi also trains sales representatives to better sell to women and couples through a series of sales development training programs that she created.  Most recently Passi was the Vice President of the Working Woman Network and Group Publisher of Working Woman and Working Mother magazines.

Ms. Passi recently founded Small Business Recovery, Inc. (SBR), a non-profit organization whose mission is to be a long term recovery partner assisting U.S. small business owners (SBOs) rebuild businesses that have been impacted by natural and man-made disasters and prepare them for future potential disasters. 

Passi earned her BA degree in Psychology/Business and her certification in education, Magna Cum Laude, from the College of New Rochelle.

Syndi Seid is a professional speaker, trainer, and founder of Advanced Etiquette, based in San Francisco.  She is the etiquette expert of choice  to companies and individuals seeking comprehensive training and consulting  in international business and social etiquette and protocol.   In Seid’s own words, “We provide the missing link to a complete  professional education.”  
 
Syndi is a  graduate of The Protocol School of Washington, in our nation’s capital. She  holds the highest certifications available as an Independent Corporate,  International, Youth and Teen, and Afternoon Tea trainer and consultant, and  is a Certified Protocol Officer, Level I.  She is also  active in the National Speakers Association and International Association of  Protocol Consultants.

She has been  featured on local, national, and international TV and radio programs,  including Good Morning America on ABC” Party At Home, on HGTV;  Picture This, on Discovery Home Channel; and Trading Spouses  on Fox.  She is also the Ask The Expert on etiquette for  www.Staples.com and has regular video  tips on www.bnet.com . She  also appears on Office Depot’s Web Café.

Her clients  include:  Hewlett-Packard Worldwide, Sprint International,  The Miss Universe Pageant, San Jose and San Francisco State Universities,  The Marriott Corporation, and Mandarin Oriental Hotel San  Francisco.

Sharon Roberts is a keynote speaker, author, and speaking coach. Her research-based messages, delivered with fun and flair, have a reputation for moving people to action. Sharon has been a featured guest on CNN, Let’s Talk Business Radio, and numerous other mass media forums. Her “At the Table” column is a monthly feature in a national trade publication. She is a frequent keynote speaker at sales conventions, award ceremonies, business associations and high profile product launch events.

Sharon is author of the book, Selling to Women & Couples and co-author of Fast Fatless Facts™ on Negotiating.  Her forthcoming book is titled Women Do Not Gossip, They Advertise Ô.

Sharon is president and founder of Selling To Women, a Texas-based affiliate of Roberts & Roberts Associates and she is a graduate of the University of Texas.  Sharon is happily married to her high school sweetheart, Dr. Lon Roberts. They have two children and live in Plano, TX.

Andrea Sittig-Rolf is a successful entrepreneur, author and sales trainer, and is in high demand as a speaker and workshop leader.  She has served on the board as President of The Business Network International, Seattle chapter, Vice President of Programs for Sales and Marketing Executives International, Seattle chapter, as well as founded and served as President of The Alliance, a group of sales professionals who offered a B to B “one-stop shopping” service for their shared clients.

Andrea is the author of a compelling sales book called Business-to-Business Prospecting:  Innovative Techniques to Get Your Foot in the Door with any Prospect, (Aspatore Books, 2005).  She is also the creator and exclusive writer of the column entitled Sales Solutions featured biweekly in The Puget Sound Business Journal, and is a contributing writer to SellingPower.com’s One Minute Tip, featured daily on the SellingPower.com website.

Andrea is the founder and President of Sittig Incorporated, a sales training and consulting organization based in Redmond, WA.  She is also the developer and exclusive provider of The Blitz Experience®, an activity-based sales training program.

Kim Sharan is executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Ameriprise Financial, Inc., (formerly known as American Express Financial Corporation).  She joined the company in 2002, and since 2004, has had overall responsibility for branding and advertising as well as client and advisor marketing.

Sharan has been working in the financial services industry for 26 years and gained international experience working five years in Tokyo for both Citibank and Merrill Lynch.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Drew University in Madison, N.J., and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago.  In addition, she holds several securities licenses, and serves on the board of directors for the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

Dr. Jane E. Smith is Executive Director of the Spelman College Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement.  She began her professional career in 1975 at Spelman College.  In 1991, Mrs. Coretta Scott King invited Dr. Smith to serve as Director of Development at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change.  From 1994 to 1998, she directed the award-winning Atlanta Project at The Carter Center, where she reported to former President Jimmy Carter.  From 1998-2001, Dr. Smith was President and CEO of the National Council of Negro Women.  Prior to rejoining Spelman College in 2004, Dr. Smith was CEO of Business and Professional Women/USA. 

Dr. Smith is a member of numerous advisory boards including the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit.  Dr. Smith was appointed by former President William Clinton to the National Women’s Business Council and by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to the United Nations Beijing Plus Five Conference delegation. 

Dr. Smith holds a Doctorate of Education in Social Policy Analysis from Harvard University, a Masters in Sociology from Emory University, a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Spelman College, and honorary doctorates from Spelman College and Texas College.  She has received numerous awards and recognitions.

"I love the sheer honesty and accessibility of the wellness-lifestyle brand Origins. It has been PR-driven since its inception, and that really excites me about the possibilities."

Trenesa Stanford-Danuser is the Vice President, Global Communications for Origins Natural Resources a division of the Estée Lauder Companies. Since early 2004, her highly creative and strategic communications acumen has led the brand's global media interactions launching well-known franchises such as the delectable, trend-leading cocoa therapy™ and the groundbreaking integrative skin-care philosophy of Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins™. Her global strategy development and communications responsibilities span the 25 countries and territories where Origins is sold, including Japan, Hong Kong, Spain, France, Australia and the United Kingdom.

While a Lifestyles & Trends Vice President and account management executive in agency pubic relations, she served several blue chip clients in the consumer products sector, representing recognizable brands such as Wonderbra, Braun, Cover Girl, Vidal Sassoon, Head & Shoulders, Max Factor Cosmetics and Puig's Créme d'Olives. Stanford-Danuser began her career as an investigative reporter and producer for television and radio in a small market in Florida.

A graduate of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, Stanford-Danuser has a Bachelor of Science in Broadcast Journalism. She is an active member of Fashion Group International and Cosmetic Executive Women. Stanford-Danuser has been featured in Harper's Bazaar, Essence, BE, Shape, Beauty Fashion and Cosmetics World.

Ruth Vivrett re-invented herself as a Personal Advisor with Ameriprise Financial, Inc.s in 2001 to offer comprehensive financial planning services for individuals, families, and women-owned small businesses. She provides personalized advisory and implementation support toward such financial goals as retirement, protection, estate, and wealth accumulation planning and is certified for Gold Financial Services.

A long time Dallas financial services executive, Ruth has served as Senior and Division Vice President for major banking institutions and technology processing firms. She was also a pioneer in developing Electronic Funds Transfer, specifically the MPACT automated teller network and debit cards. In addition, she was a Managing Consultant with a Big 5 firm advising clients worldwide on how to improve their relationships with their customers. She holds an MBA from the University of Dallas in Irving. 

A former practicing lawyer, Francine Ward is now an inspiring author, success strategist, and a powerful motivator with a proven track record of achievement.  Her mission is simply: To support women in walking through their fear in order to create significant changes in their lives.

The author of Esteemable Acts: 10 Actions for Building Real Self-Esteem and 52 Weeks of Esteemable Acts: A Guide to Right Living, hers is a story that movies are made of.