It can certainly be said that Stuart Weitzman’s passion for design has been a lifelong pursuit: he began working at his father’s Massachusetts shoe factory while still in college. After graduating, Weitzman applied himself to the industry with laser-like focus, eventually building the globally renowned company that bears his name. He has been honored with numerous awards from the footwear, bridal, advertising and business communities for his work in the world of fashion and entrepreneurship.

Today, his shoes dominate red carpet events and are worn by loyal celebrity fans like Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Gigi and Bella Hadid, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman, and by millions of other people who buy them in more than 70 countries around the world.

Weitzman approaches his other endeavors with equal commitment. He shares his time with his wife Jane and their two daughters and is personally involved in philanthropic causes close to his heart. Among these is his mentorship of aspiring entrepreneur students at several universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Yale, and the London Business School. Weitzman is a graduate of Penn’s Wharton School of Business, and in 2019, the university honored him by renaming their design school the Stuart Weitzman School of Design.

During his free time, you may find him on the tennis court or at the ping-pong table. If you’ve got a racquet or paddle, he’ll welcome the challenge.

Kathy Korman Frey teaches Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership, a USASBE Excellence in Entrepreneurship Education national award-winning course, at the GW School of Business.

In 2010, Frey’s women’s leadership research venture, the Hot Mommas Project, became the world’s largest women’s case library. The project takes the stories of women in our lives and makes those stories teachable. The project fills a gap that exists in educational publishing: exposure to female mentors and role models. Such access is shown to increase self-efficacy, or the ability to set personal goals and control outcomes. The project has directly reached women from 138 countries with its Women’s Leadership Academies, is the winner of a Coleman Foundation Case Award, and measurably increases confidence from 21 to 300 percent (depending on length of class).

Frey's background is in the merger and acquisition and venture-funded start up field. She served as managing director for a strategic planning consulting firm and as COO for a venture arm of a major aging nonprofit. She recently served as special advisor to the U.S. Small Business Administration around a women's entrepreneurship learning platform set to launch in 2020. Frey earned her BA from the University of Virginia and MBA from Harvard Business School.

Major Jade Root graduated from the United States Military Academy in 2008, earning degrees in Civil Engineering and General Psychology as well as her commission in the U.S. Army as a human resources officer. Jade also graduated from the George Washington University in 2017, earning a Master's in Business Administration. She also holds a Master's of Military Studies degree.

Throughout her military career, Jade has served in various military organizations at several echelons. Maj. Root served as a platoon leader in the 18th Human Resources Company, 82d Sustainment Brigade at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Later, she served as the Essential Personnel Services chief as well as Rear Detachment G1 for the 82d Airborne Division. During her tenure with the 82d Airborne Division, Maj. Root deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Bagram, Afghanistan, as the Military Mail Terminal supervisor, providing mail services for the entire Combined Joint Operations Area - Afghanistan. Following her deployment, Jade went on to serve as the senior human resources manager with prestigious organizations such as the 81st Civil Affairs Battalion and the 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade out of Fort Hood, Texas, as well as the Joint Interagency Task Force – National Capital Region, where she currently serves as the human resources director in Arlington, Virginia.

Jade’s awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters and the Parachutist Badge. Outside of her military career, Jade dedicates her time to her business as a health and wellness coach, fulfilling her passion to empower women and cultivate their self-worth by living healthy and balanced lives. Jade is married to Kevin Mumaw, a retired Army officer, and is the proud mother of three children, Jayla, Jason and Bryson.

Anna Stewart is the founder and owner of Gaucha Chica, LLC, a specialized product import initiative whose goal is to identify highly skilled artisans in Argentina to design and craft modern accessories and home products that reflect the native cultural traditions of the country while also providing a positive social and economic benefit to the native craftspeople and their communities. Gaucha Chica sources adventurous styles and exclusive designs made with the world’s highest quality leather and organic pieces to bring them into homes in the U.S.A.

Anna provides over 18 years of collective fundraising, strategic partnerships, cause marketing and Board management expertise from health focused non-profit organizations. Prior to her entrepreneurial ventures, Anna served as the Senior Director for Development at the Cancer Support Community (CSC) - the largest worldwide provider of free psychosocial and emotional support for cancer patients and their families - where she led the direction, planning, execution and evaluation of fundraising strategies for the organization.

Before joining the CSC team, Anna helped lead the development efforts for the nation's largest public health foundation dedicated to tobacco prevention and cessation, the American Legacy Foundation (currently the Truth Initiative). There she served as an integral part of the planning and implementation of a newly created Development component and subsequently helped manage the development strategic priorities for the organization. During the start-up years at Truth Initiative, Anna served as the primary liaison to external & internal partners on behalf of the CEO and Board of Directors, strategically managing these relationships to enhance partner relations and extend mission visibility.

Anna holds an MBA with a focus on strategy and organizational behavior from the George Washington University and a BS in Business Management and Marketing from George Mason University.

W. Russell (Russ) Ramsey is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Ramsey Asset Management (RAM), an alternative asset management firm with aggregate assets in excess of $500MM. Founded in 2001, RAM is an institutional firm which has a range of directional equity-hedging products which leverage a common research platform, fundamental analysis, and a proprietary approach to identifying investment opportunities. Key to the firm's approach is identifying those companies that exhibit either improving or declining business prospects for which the firm believes its view is sufficiently divergent from that of Wall Street.

Russ is also known for his role as Co-founder, President, and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group (NYSE: FBR) and its sister company FBR Capital Markets (NASDAQ: FBCM). After co-founding FBR in 1989, Russ helped the firm capitalize on the broad institutionalization of the capital markets, particularly during the downturn of the late 1980's and early 1990's by correctly analyzing the troubles and solutions faced by both the financial services and real estate industries at that time. Russ co-founded FBR's investment banking division, helping the firm become one of the nation's premier underwriters, and co-founded FBR's first venture capital fund focused on the Internet, e-commerce, and software, and simultaneously launching FBR's Technology Investment Banking and Research practices. Under his leadership, FBR completed tens of billions of initial public offerings, secondary offerings, private placements, and mergers and acquisitions.

Newsweek magazine has recognized Russ for his successes by naming him one of the four "people to see" in the Washington financial community. Russ sits on the National Geographic Society's Council of Advisors and serves as the Chairman Emeritus of The George Washington University's Board of Trustees. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has served on the Governor's Commission on Information Technology, was a Trustee for the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, and is a founding member of One Virginia.

Mr. Ramsey is a native Washingtonian and has been an active philanthropist through the Ramsey Foundation, which has funded many causes including Knock Out Abuse Against Women, the innovative Venture Philanthropy Partners, four-year scholarships for the DC Capital Area's Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Potomac School, Fight Night, Fight for Children, and the Inova Fairfax Hospital System.

Russ received a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the George Washington University and was named to the GWU All-Century Baseball Team and Athletic Hall of Fame.

Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. is president and chief executive officer of TIAA, the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical, and cultural fields and a Fortune 100 financial services organization.

Mr. Ferguson is the former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System. He represented the Federal Reserve on several international policy groups and served on key Federal Reserve System committees, including Payment System Oversight, Reserve Bank Operations, and Supervision and Regulation. As the only Governor in Washington, D.C. on 9/11, he led the Fed’s initial response to the terrorist attacks, taking actions that kept the U.S. financial system functioning while reassuring the global financial community that the U.S. economy would not be paralyzed.

Prior to joining TIAA in April 2008, Mr. Ferguson was head of financial services for Swiss Re, Chairman of Swiss Re America Holding Corporation, and a member of the company’s executive committee. From 1984 to 1997, he was an Associate and Partner at McKinsey & Company. He began his career as an attorney at the New York City office of Davis Polk & Wardwell.

Mr. Ferguson is a member of the Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents and serves on the New York State Insurance Advisory Board. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and co-chairs its Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education. He serves on the boards of Alphabet, Inc.; General Mills, Inc.; and International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc.

He is chairman of the conference board and serves on the boards of the American Council of Life Insurers, the Institute for Advanced Study and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He is a fellow of the American Philosophical Society and a member of the Economic Club of New York, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Group of Thirty and the National Association for Business Economics.

Mr. Ferguson served on President Barack Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness as well as its predecessor, the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, and he co-chaired the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on the Long-Run Macro-Economic Effects of the Aging U.S. Population.

Mr. Ferguson holds a B.A., J.D., and a Ph.D. in economics, all from Harvard University.

David Brickman is chief executive officer of Freddie Mac, one of the largest providers of mortgage financing in the United States. He is also a member of the company’s board of directors.

Previously, Brickman served as president of Freddie Mac and was responsible for all three of Freddie Mac's business lines – Single-Family, Multifamily and Capital Markets – as well as the information technology and operations areas that support these business lines. Prior to this role, he was the head of Freddie Mac Multifamily, where he presided over a remarkable period of growth – raising annual production from $16 billion in 2010 to almost $80 billion in 2018 and increasing the organization from 300 staff members in four offices to approximately 1000 employees in a dozen locations across the country.

He also firmly established the company's flagship K-Deal Securitization program as one of the leading securitized products in the structured finance markets. Brickman also drove significant innovation and an expansion in Freddie Mac's products and offerings – particularly those that serve the growing need for affordable and workforce housing.

Before serving as head of Multifamily, Brickman served as senior vice president and vice president in charge of the Multifamily Capital Markets business area. In these positions, he oversaw all functions relating to Freddie Mac's multifamily and CMBS investment and capital markets activities. He is the key architect behind several of Freddie Mac's innovative multifamily financing products, including the Capital Markets Execution and K-Deal program, Reference Bill ARM, fixed-to-float suite of products, and Performance-Based PC, for which he holds a U.S. patent.

Prior to joining Freddie Mac in 1999, Brickman co-led the Mortgage Finance and Credit Analysis consulting group at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Brickman completed all doctoral coursework for his Ph.D. in economics and real estate at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He holds a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University and a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He has held appointments as a professorial lecturer of finance at the George Washington University and as an adjunct professor of finance at Johns Hopkins University.

Andy Walker has consulted to communications, media and high tech companies for the past 20 years, focusing on helping them develop the strategies, operating models and roadmaps needed for them to make measurable strategic and financial improvements to their businesses.

His particular area of focus involves supporting companies as they establish and launch new businesses or substantially transform their existing ones. He has developed and launched multiple businesses for Global 100 CMT clients, and has helped a number of others make transformational pivots toward new products and services.

Prior to his career in consulting, Andy spent four years serving as a policy advisor to several Members of Congress. He is a frequent speaker at conferences, and has published in the M&A Journal, the Journal of Telecommunications, CFO.com and WSJ.com.

Dr. Mitchell is principal in Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Government and Public Services Practice (GPS) with more than 15 years of consulting experience. Throughout his tenure, Dr. Mitchell has demonstrated experience guiding security and law enforcement executives through strategic and operational transformations to address emerging security threats. Previously Dr. Mitchell also served as the Strategy Offering Lead within Deloitte GPS’s Strategy & Analytics Offering Portfolio.

As a leader, Dr. Mitchell is passionate about mentoring and developing the next generation of diverse leaders. Dr. Mitchell served in several talent leadership roles, including Diversity & Inclusion Leader for Deloitte Consulting, Federal Inclusion Leader, National Champion for Pro Bono and Skills-Based Volunteering programs, and is actively involved in campus recruiting efforts.

Dr. Mitchell served over 40 clients across Deloitte’s Federal and Commercial practices. More specifically, he has supported mission programs within the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, Department of Defense, & Financial Services, Telecommunications, Technology & Energy.

Kwasi holds a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from Northwestern University, an MBA from Drexel University, and B.A. from Kalamazoo College.

Andre Chen is Global CEO at Denham – Trendy International Group, a fashion and lifestyle retail corporation that provides leisure, jeans, luxury, and other fashion styles. Previously, Mr. Chen served as CEO at Miss Sixty and Superdry China at Trendy International Group and CEO at Pengda Sports.

Prior to this, Mr. Chen spent 18 years at NIKE where he held a number of positions, including Commercial Director at NIKE Greater China, General Manager at NIKE South East Asia (Singapore), Apparel Business Director at NIKE China, New Business (Golf/Equipment/Outdoors) at NIKE Taiwan, Sport Marketing Manager at NIKE Asia Pacific Headquarters (Hong Kong), and Sport Marketing at NIKE Taiwan.

Mr. Chen received an MBA from The George Washington University and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from National Taiwan University.

Mauricio Ortiz is the president of Latin American Operations at Boston Scientific Corporation and has under his responsibility all Latin American countries, divided into five regions: Brazil, the Southern Cone, the Andean Region, Mexico & Central America, and the Caribbean.

Mauricio joined Boston Scientific in 1997 and has held several positions since then, such as country manager of Colombia, country manager of Brazil, vice president of Brazil, and vice president and general manager of Latin America.

Prior to joining Boston Scientific, he was employed by Tyco International as the general manager of Andean Countries and by Abbott Laboratories as the director of Sales & Marketing.

Mauricio has a bachelor's degree in Economics from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana of Bogota.

George Cristian Maior has been accredited as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania to the United States, as per Decree no 583 of June 29th, 2015, signed by the President of Romania. He has officially commenced his mandate on September 17th, 2015, upon presenting his Letters of Credence to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States of America.

Between 1992 and 1997, he was a diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, within the Department of Treaties and Department of Strategic Affairs. Between 1997 and 1999, he was Chargé D’affaires at the Romanian Embassy in Dublin, Ireland. In 2004, he was conferred the rank of Ambassador.

Between 2000 and 2004, he held the position of State Secretary and head of the Department for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Defense Policy within the Ministry of National Defense. In November 2004, Mr. Maior was elected Senator in the Romanian Parliament, where he held various positions, including Chairman of the Committee for Defense, Public Order and National Security; member of Joint Committee for the Parliamentary Oversight on the Foreign Intelligence Service Activity, and member of the Senate Committee for Human Rights, Cults and Minorities.

Following his nomination by the President of Romania and the vote received from the Romanian Parliament, on October 4th, 2006, George Cristian Maior was appointed the 4th Director of the Romanian Intelligence Service.

A Law graduate, Mr. Maior received in 1992 his LL.M. in International and Comparative Law at the George Washington University, Washington DC. In 1997, he was conferred a Ph.D. in International Law at the “Babeş Bolyai” University in Cluj Napoca. He is a university professor and Ph.D. coordinator at the Department of International Relations and European Integration within the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration in Bucharest.

The President of Romania awarded George Cristian Maior the National Order of “Faithful Service” in rank of Knight, the National Order “Star of Romania” in rank of Knight and the National Order “Star of Romania” in rank of Officer. In April 2014, he became a Knight of the “Legion of Honor” order, a title conferred by the President of France. In 2017, The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) awarded George Cristian Maior the “Earl Warren Medallion” for the outstanding partnership with the United States and exceptional leadership during his tenure as Director of Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI). Additionally, he is a Doctor Honoris Causa of the Military Technical Academy in Bucharest, of the “Andrei Saguna” University in Constanta, and of the West University in Timisoara.

He was born on November 16, 1967, in Cluj-Napoca. He is married to Anamaria Maior and has two children.

As Mayor of her hometown, Muriel Bowser is committed to building pathways to the middle class and making sure every Washingtonian gets a fair shot. Washington, D.C. is a growing and prospering city—now more than 700,000 residents strong. To keep up with this growth, the Bowser Administration remains focused on making DC’s prosperity more inclusive, advancing DC values, ensuring that families and workers across the income spectrum can afford to live and thrive in D.C., and building safer, stronger, and healthier neighborhoods across all eight wards of the District.

On November 6, 2018, Muriel Bowser became the first woman ever re-elected as the mayor of Washington, D.C. and the first mayor to earn a second term in 16 years. During her first term, Mayor Bowser took bold steps to expand employment opportunities, build a health care system that meets the needs of residents in every corner of D.C., drive down homelessness, and invest in programs and policies that set more families up for success. Today, Washington, D.C. is a diverse and inclusive city, a leader in tech and innovation, and a place where residents and entrepreneurs of all backgrounds can thrive.

First sworn in on January 2, 2015, Mayor Bowser pledged to bring a fresh start to the District of Columbia and foster a culture of inclusion, transparency, and action. Prior to her time as Mayor, Bowser served as the Ward 4 Councilmember on the Council of the District of Columbia – first elected in a special election in 2007, and re-elected in 2008 and 2012. As a Councilmember, Bowser served as the Chairwoman of the Committee on Economic Development which created more than 5,000 units of affordable housing, passed legislation to build a new soccer stadium and secured from the federal government the best portion of the Walter Reed campus for DC. Bowser led her colleagues to pass comprehensive ethics reform and increased transparency in government contracting.

Bowser, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Chatham University and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from American University, entered public service as an advisory neighborhood commissioner in the Riggs Park neighborhood.

Charles Bendit is the co-chief executive officer of Taconic Investment Partners, an owner, operator and developer of commercial and residential real estate. Prior to founding Taconic in 1997, Mr. Bendit founded CBC Properties and, earlier in his career, Mr. Bendit was a managing director at Jones Lang Wootton.

A graduate of George Washington University, Charlie is actively involved in the educational community serving on The George Washington University Board of Trustees, the GW School of Business' Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis, and has served as a Regent of the New York State Board of Education as well as a board member and Principal for a Day for PENCIL. In addition, Charlie is a member of the Board of Governors of the Real Estate Board of New York.

Peter Chun leads SocialCode’s platform strategy and growth to maximize client performance, innovation, and drive revenue growth. He has over 15 years of experience in digital marketing, performance advertising, and consumer mobile, working with the world’s largest consumer Internet brands. Prior to SocialCode, he was the head of solutions at Clickable (acquired by Syncapse) and was a managing director at LinkShare (acquired by Rakuten.) Most recently he was the co-founder at Swaag, the first sneaker and fashion community featured by Apple.

Dr. Vivian Wang is a founding partner of Beautiful Mind Capital (BMC) since 2018. BMC is a leveraged buy-out fund focused on acquiring European companies with synergies with China business. With Dr. Wang’s extensive China-Europe M&A and investment banking experience, most recently BMC has acquired Cordenka AG for Euro240M. Dr. Wang has previously worked at Fortis Bank, Commerzbank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, and Credit Suisse as chief representative of Credit Suisse Shanghai. Dr. Wang earned BS in Chemistry and Ph.D. in Economics from Fudan University. She is also a board trustee at Fudan University, the board director at the School of Medical Science of Fudan University, and the co-chairman of Fudan University China Financier Club.

As co-founder, COO, and head of product at Peloton, Tom Cortese is responsible for driving operational cohesion against critical initiatives to drive growth and further excite Peloton’s growing and loyal member base. In addition, Tom heads up Peloton’s Product Development teams, overseeing product definition, design, engineering, and quality — all with a dedicated approach to highly addictive, user-centered experiences across all Peloton member touch-points. Prior to Peloton, Tom held product management and executive roles at IAC/InterActiveCorp and Revolution Health Group. He holds a BA in Philosophy from the George Washington University and spends his free time chasing his three children around the yard, training for races with his wife, and racing up the leaderboard on his Peloton Bike & Tread.

David P. Paul has served as president and chief operating officer at JBG SMITH since the formation transaction. Mr. Paul has over 25 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry and worked at JBG from September 2007 until the formation transaction, serving as a Managing Partner and member of JBG's Executive Committee, Management Committee and Investment Committee. Prior to joining JBG, Mr. Paul worked in commercial and retail real estate development and investment with several firms, including WP Commercial, Archon Group, a subsidiary of Goldman, Sachs & Co (NYSE: GS), Starwood Urban Investments, and Trammell Crow Company, and has been involved in both domestic and international real estate investment. He began his career with the consulting firm Bain & Company. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Vanderbilt University and Master of Business Administration from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Justin Bakewell is an executive director and banker with the J.P. Morgan Private Bank in Baltimore. The Private Bank provides individuals, families, public and private foundations, and endowments with comprehensive wealth management strategies, ongoing guidance, and customized plans to address their balance sheet needs.

Before joining J.P. Morgan, Mr. Bakewell served as a Client Advisor at Brown Advisory where he led a number of client relationships and had a leadership role on the firm’s business development team. Prior to this, he was a Client Advisor at Bernstein Global Wealth Management. He also spent eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps serving in a variety of roles.

Mr. Bakewell serves on the Board of Advisors and as Chairman of the Finance Committee for Teach for America (D.C.), on the Board of Directors and as Treasurer for Rocketship Education (D.C.), and on the Board of Advisors of the George Washington University School of Business.

Mr. Bakewell was recognized by the Washington Business Journal as a top 40 Under 40 for both his professional and philanthropic leadership in the Washington, D.C. area. He holds an MBA from the George Washington University, a Graduate Certificate in Taxation from the Kogod School of Business at American University, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Lourdes Tiglao serves as the strategic partnerships officer for Team Rubicon Global, responsible for establishing relationships with the 50 most disaster-prone countries around the world. She is a U.S. Air Force veteran who served in the medical field as part of the 3-person USAF Critical Care Air Transport Team while also a member of the International Health Specialist Team for the US Air Force, using medicine as an approach to crossing cultural barriers. Her career in aerospace medicine deployed her to multiple countries, including Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and the Philippines until 2007. During those years, she assisted in launching the first Critical Care Medical Attendant Team in the Pacific for the US Air Force, helped standardize the aeromedical evacuation protocol for Camp Lester Naval Hospital in Okinawa, and integrated naval personnel into the specialized 3-person teams.

After her honorable discharge, Lourdes joined Team Rubicon, deploying numerous times with the organization to include Hurricane Sandy in New York and Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and has been a staunch veteran advocate, speaking on various topics, ranging from Team Rubicon, non-profit management, medicine, veteran transition, humanitarian response, and volunteer mobilization at several venues including the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C., the New York and San Francisco Philippine consulates, the State Department, as a guest speaker by an international television network, universities, as well as academic and scientific conferences. Most recently, she has taught Civil-Military Coordination and preparedness to participants from 25+ countries in Germany as part of UN OCHA's facilitation team.

Ms. Tiglao has appeared on ABS-CBN News, The Loyolan, US News & World Report, Republic of the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs, The Filipino Channel, GWToday, Stars and Stripes, Philippines News Central, CNN, The View, ChannelOne, and others.

She holds a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Maryland University College, a certificate in graduate medical education from Georgetown University, and her World Executive MBA degree from George Washington University.

Corinne McCormack is a seasoned executive and entrepreneur who conceived and created a brand of designer eyewear in 1993 that carved a new niche in the eyewear industry. In 2009, McCormack sold her company to Foster Grant (FGX International), the largest manufacture of popular priced reading and sunglasses. Her expertise in creating her own brand gives her a unique perspective on consulting for other businesses and professionals who want to grow their business.

Corinne developed her eponymous brand into a recognized leader in premium reading glasses. Today, Corinne McCormack Reading Glasses are sold in over 2000 stores in the U.S., including Bloomingdales, Nordstrom and Barnes & Noble.

When McCormack launched her eyewear collection, she was the first designer to see the potential in high end, optical quality reading glasses. Her prior professional background included executive positions with such best in class companies as Macy’s and Avon Products. With the start of her own company, Corinne designed a unique and fashionable line of eyewear accessories that was distinctive in the product design, quality and packaging. The packaging established her brand in retailers including LensCrafters and Sunglass Hut.

Corinne McCormack understands how to build businesses and make them profitable with limited resources. She is both creative and analytical with an intuitive understanding of future trends. Her ability to understand the needs and priorities of modern consumers has been translated into her innovative designs and also enabled her to receive 5 patents.

As the appeal and distribution of her collections has grown, Corinne McCormack has enjoyed prominent coverage in major national and influential print and broadcast outlets including Live with Kelly, the TODAY Show, CNN and Good Morning New York. Her products have been showcased in such major vehicles as In Style, Oprah, WWD, Good Housekeeping, Glamour and important trade publications.

While running her own company, Corinne McCormack has also been active in many high visibility industry organizations. She was the President and on the national board of the OWA (Optical Woman’s Association) for over 10 years. She received the OWA’s inaugural Pinnacle Award in March 2017 for her service and contributions in the industry.

McCormack has been consistently active with The Vision Council, the leading industry association, where she was the Chair of the Marketing/Communications Committee and served for over 10 years. She is also active in the Accessories Council, a major association promoting the profile of fashion accessories globally.

In 2010, McCormack was recognized as one of the Most Influential Women in Optical by Vision Monday, a leading trade publication.

A skilled presenter, McCormack is an accredited ABO (American Board of Opticianry) speaker and has developed and taught several Continuing Education courses for the Optical Industry. She has also been a speaker at Fashion Institute of Technology in NY and represented woman owned businesses at a press conference with Mayor Guilani in 1994.

Corinne holds a BS degree from George Washington University.

David M. Rubenstein is a co-founder and co-executive chairman of The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest and most successful private investment firms. Mr. Rubenstein co-founded the firm in 1987. Since then, Carlyle has grown into a firm managing $222 billion from 33 offices around the world.

Mr. Rubenstein is Chairman of the Boards of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Council on Foreign Relations; a Fellow of the Harvard Corporation; a Trustee of the National Gallery of Art, the University of Chicago, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins Medicine, the Institute for Advanced Study, the Brookings Institution, and the World Economic Forum; a Director of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; and President of the Economic Club of Washington.

Mr. Rubenstein is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Philosophical Society, Business Council, Harvard Global Advisory Council (Chairman), Madison Council of the Library of Congress (Chairman), Board of Dean’s Advisors of the Business School at Harvard, Advisory Board of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University (former Chairman), and Board of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers Community.

Mr. Rubenstein has served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Duke University and Co-Chairman of the Board of the Brookings Institution.

Mr. Rubenstein is an original signer of The Giving Pledge, a significant donor to all of the above-mentioned non-profit organizations, and a recipient of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, and the MoMA’s David Rockefeller Award, among other philanthropic awards.

Mr. Rubenstein has been a leader in the area of Patriotic Philanthropy, having made transformative gifts for the restoration or repair of the Washington Monument, Monticello, Montpelier, Mount Vernon, Arlington House, Iwo Jima Memorial, the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian, the National Archives, the National Zoo, the Library of Congress, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Mr. Rubenstein has also provided to the U.S. government long-term loans of his rare copies of the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th Amendment, the first map of the U.S. (Abel Buell map), and the first book printed in the U.S. (Bay Psalm Book).

Mr. Rubenstein is the host of The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations on Bloomberg TV and PBS.

Mr. Rubenstein, a native of Baltimore, is a 1970 magna cum laude graduate of Duke University, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa. Following Duke, Mr. Rubenstein graduated in 1973 from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was an editor of the Law Review. From 1973-1975, Mr. Rubenstein practiced law in New York with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. From 1975-1976, he served as Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments. From 1977-1981, during the Carter Administration, Mr. Rubenstein was Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy. After his White House service and before co-founding Carlyle, Mr. Rubenstein practiced law in Washington with Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman).

Nelson A. Carbonell, Jr., chairman emeritus of the Board of Trustees of the George Washington University, is an entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience. He has founded companies including Cysive, a software engineering services company he took public in 1999; Snowbird Capital, which provided equity and mezzanine debt to middle market companies; and Nelson Carbonell and Associates, which assists companies with strategy, financing, operations and technology. Mr. Carbonell has chaired several key committees of the George Washington University Board of Trustees, most notably, the committee that led the full board to approve the construction of the Science and Engineering Hall. He serves on the board of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, and is a former chairman of the Washington-Baltimore Young President's Organization, as well as a former member of YPO's International Board. Mr. Carbonell also serves on several corporate boards. Mr. Carbonell earned his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from GW graduating with distinction in 1985.

Nelson was born and raised in the Washington, D.C. area. He is of Cuban decent and speaks fluent Spanish. He resides with his wife Michele in Great Falls, Virginia. Nelson and Michele have four adult children: Carmen, Roxy, Dylan and Sophia. Nelson spends his free time skiing, golfing, hiking and relaxing at his vacation home in Deer Valley, Utah. He enjoys fine wine, good food, and reading history and physics.

Dr. Herman Aguinis is the Avram Tucker Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Management at the George Washington University School of Business (GWSB). Prior to joining GWSB, he was the John F. Mee Chair of Management and the Founding and Managing Director of the Institute for Global Organizational Effectiveness in the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. In addition, he has been a visiting scholar at universities in the People's Republic of China (Beijing and Hong Kong), Malaysia, Singapore, Argentina, France, Spain, Puerto Rico, Australia, and South Africa.

His research is multidisciplinary and addresses the acquisition and deployment of talent in organizations and organizational research methods. Dr. Aguinis is the recipient of the 2017 Michael R. Losey Excellence in Human Resource Research Award. The award is given for lifetime achievement in human resource research and recognizes an individual for significant past and ongoing research contributions that impact the HR management field.

Learn more about Dr. Aguinis

Dawn Cacciotti, founder of EngageHRnow, has more than 25 years of strategic HR experience. As a human resources strategist, co-author of Cultivating Culture, and passionate speaker, Dawn is an advocate for the importance of strategic HR to the success of all organizations. EngageHRnow, founded in 2014, is a human resources consulting and outsourcing firm specializing in employee engagement, organizational culture, and strategic human capital solutions for small to mid-size associations and for-profit business.

Dawn has won numerous honors for her leadership in the area of Engagement, Strategy and Well-being. In 2014, she was recognized by Employee Benefits News as the “Benefits Leadership – Judges Choice” award winner, led the strategic human capital change at the National Restaurant Association allowing them to be awarded the coveted Washington Post Top Workplace list in Washington, D.C., and was a Human Resources Strategic Alignment honoree for the HRLA awards.

Dawn has shared her strategic HR insights at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce small business summit, Association Trends events, BLR webinars, SHRM events, executive leadership retreats and has conducted numerous organizational training sessions on how to build a healthy culture and drive employee engagement. She holds certifications as a Senior Professional of Human Resources (SPHR), SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) and Human Capital Strategist (HCS) and has her Bachelors of Science in Human Resources Management.

Since July 2011, Christine Lagarde has been the eleventh and first woman Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. She was reelected to a second five-year term in 2016. A lawyer by background, Christine Lagarde practiced for 20 years with the international law firm Baker McKenzie, of which she became global Chairman in 1999. In 2005, she joined the French Government as Minister for Foreign Trade. Two years later, she became the first woman to hold the post of Finance and Economy Minister of a G7 country.

Brazilian-born and Miami-made, Romero Britto is an international artist who uses vibrant, bold and colorful patterns to reflect his optimistic view of the world around him. Britto has created a visual language of hope and happiness all its own that is relatable to all, inspiring millions. Self-taught at an early age, Britto painted on scraps of paper or cardboard or any medium he could find before coming into his own and traveling to Paris where he was introduced to the works of Matisse and Picasso. His appreciation of these masters influenced him to create an iconic style that, as The New York Times described, “exudes warmth, optimism and love”.

Britto’s work has been exhibited in galleries and museums in more than 100 countries, including the Salon de la Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts exhibition at the Carrousel du Louvre in 2008 and 2010. In 2013, Maria Elena and Carlos Slim Domit invited Romero to be the first living artist to exhibit at MuseoSoumaya. He has created public art installations for the 02 Dome in Berlin, New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, Cirque Du Soleil at Super Bowl XLI, and has been credited with the largest monumental sculpture in London’s Hyde Park history. Britto served as an official artist for the 2010 World Cup, Ambassador to the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil and was recently invited to be an honorary torch bearer for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Britto’s pop sensibility has since leant itself to many collaborations with international brands such as Audi, Bentley, Coca-Cola, Walt Disney, Evian, Hublot, and Mattel to name a few.

Romero is an activist for charitable organizations worldwide and most of all an artist who believes “art is too important not to share.” Britto has donated time, art, and resources to more than 250 charitable organizations. Not a silent activist, Britto was a selected speaker for the arts at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. In addition, Romero Britto is proudly an Inaugural Founding Benefactor of the Harvard International Negotiation Program. He holds a seat on several boards such as Best Buddies International, and St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, and was recently appointed to the board of HRH The Prince of Wales charity, The Prince’s Trust. A believer in the role of an artist as an agent of positive change, Romero Britto is committed to developing and supporting the role art will continue to play in world issues.

Within the industry and among his own team, Dan Simons is known for his energetic leadership style and passion for hospitality. An impressive career in the management ranks at several large, high-volume restaurants helped propel him toward starting his own firm, VSAG, which he founded in 2004 with mentor Michael Vucurevich. The two form a well-balanced partnership based on mutual respect and a shared vision, which proved critical in their formation of Farmers Restaurant Group (FRG) in 2011.

As co-owner and skilled communicator, Dan is frequently called upon to serve as the voice of FRG’s growing group of restaurants. Whether inspiring potential investors, accepting multiple awards for the socially conscious ways of the restaurants or sharing his knowledge at hospitality and educational events, Dan is a champion for responsible industry standards and takes great pride in being able to continually incorporate sustainability methods and local initiatives that give back to the environment and the community.

Dave Zilko founded his first specialty food company more than 20 years ago with a $2,500 credit card loan. While today Dave remains an equity partner in several food-oriented enterprises, he recently exited active involvement in the industry when he engineered the sale of Garden Fresh Gourmet, makers of the number one brand of fresh salsa in North America, to the Campbell’s Soup Company for $231 million. Dave was a partner at Garden Fresh for 13 years, serving as Vice Chairman with primary responsibility for strategy and sales.

In 2016, Dave published a book, via Wiley & Sons nationwide, detailing his experience as an entrepreneur in general and his experiences with Garden Fresh in particular. The book, “Irrational Persistence: Seven Secrets That Turned a Bankrupt Startup Into a $231,000,000 Business,” has become a national bestseller.

Today Dave has invested in and assumed the role of CEO at FUEL Leadership, a digital media property that also organizes exclusive business events. He is an operating partner at Huron Capital, a Detroit-based private equity firm with over $1 billion under management, and serves on the boards of the $60 million Grow Michigan venture fund; Jimmy Buffett's charitable foundation, Singing for Change; and the executive board of the largest food rescue organization in the country, Forgotten Harvest. Dave graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in finance and earned a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from the George Washington University.

The Board of Trustees of the George Washington University unanimously elected Thomas J. LeBlanc as the university's 17th President on January 6, 2017. Dr. LeBlanc is an accomplished academic leader, who previously served as the executive vice president, provost and professor of computer science and electrical and computer engineering at the University of Miami.

Read President LeBlanc's full biography