George Talks Business is a series of 30-minute interviews with notable alumni and respected thought leaders in the business, government and nonprofit arenas. Our guests share insights on technology, leadership, global developments, ethics, and other timely and relevant topics.

Image

Image

Image

 Upcoming guests

See What’s Next

Image

Join us for a special edition of George Talks Business as we formally introduce Dr. Sevin Yeltekin, the new Dean of the GW School of Business, in a conversation moderated by GW President Ellen Granberg. This 30-minute conversation will explore Dean Yeltekin’s leadership journey, her vision for the School of Business, and her outlook on the future of business education.

The Future of Business Education

September 10, 2025 | 6:00 PM

Jack Morton Auditorium

805 21st St NW

Washington, DC 20052

Learn More and Sign Up 

Our Most Recent Guest 

Past Events

Couldn’t attend in person or online? In this archive, you’ll find detailed information – plus the full video – from every George Talks Business event to date.

Fall 2024

November 19, 2024 - Dylan Lissette, Chairperson, Utz Brands, and Jamie Lissette, President, PopUp Bagels

Learn how to navigate your path to success with Dylan Lissette, chairperson of Utz Brands, and Jamie Lissette, president of PopUp Bagels, as they share insights from their dynamic leadership experiences — Dylan from his journey with Utz, one of America's most iconic snack brands, and Jamie from building PopUp Bagels into a fast-growing retail success. This George Talks Business event was moderated by Vanessa Perry, Ph.D., interim dean and professor of marketing and of strategic management and public policy at the George Washington University School of Business.

 

 

Image

Image

Dylan B. Lissette was appointed chairperson of Utz in May 2023, after previously serving as the company’s executive chairperson since December 2022, and chief executive officer since January 2013. In addition, Mr. Lissette has served as a member of the board of managers of Utz members since June 2004. Prior to serving as chief executive officer, Mr. Lissette served as chief operating officer from January 2011 to January 2013 and executive vice president of sales and marketing from January 2008 to January 2011. 

Read more

Prior to his service as an executive officer of Utz, Mr. Lissette served Utz in several capacities since joining in 1995, including as a retail sales manager, key account director, and director of marketing. In 2007, Mr. Lissette was promoted to the position of senior vice president of sales operations, where he had direct responsibility for route sales development in the company’s mid-Atlantic core markets and system-wide administration of the company’s DSD operations. Mr. Lissette represents the fourth generation of family leadership and involvement at Utz and is the son-in-law of Michael W. Rice, who serves as director and chairperson emeritus. Mr. Lissette also served on the board of directors of Hanover Hospital from August 2011 until August 2018. Mr. Lissette currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Athletic Brewing Company, a private, craft non-alcoholic beer company, having served in this role since March 2021, prior to which he served as a member of the advisory board from November 2019. Mr. Lissette holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Economics and Public Policy from the George Washington University. Mr. Lissette brings extensive institutional knowledge and executive experience to his position on the board the company, having served as the former vice chairperson, president, and chief executive officer of Utz.

 

Jamie Lissette is the president of PopUp Bagels, a rapidly expanding retail concept poised for franchising and specializing in made-to-order hot bagels. He was an early investor and formerly served as the company's CEO. In his current role, he oversees finance, HR, real estate, franchise and retail operations. He collaborates closely with the founder, the board of directors, and shareholders on all strategic decisions. PopUp Bagels currently employs more than 140 teammates and recently completed a change of control to its main investor, Stripes (a NYC-based private equity company).

Read more

Prior to his current position, Jaime was the chief operating officer and an early investor at Athletic Brewing Company. His responsibilities encompassed many areas: planning, forecasting, warehouse and facility construction, international operations, shipping, logistics, procurement, e-commerce fulfillment, customer service, government liaisons, IT, and partnership agreements. Additionally, he played a key role in shaping the company's strategic and financial direction, leading a team of 50 out of 250 employees. Before his tenure at Athletic Brewing, he founded Hammerstone Markets and served as its CEO for seventeen years while maintaining sole ownership. He successfully sold Hammerstone to Catena Media, a Nasdaq-listed company, in June 2018. Hammerstone Markets is renowned for its real-time breaking news and instant market analysis, providing faster insights than traditional sources through community engagement, historical Wall Street research, and proprietary data mining. With over 900 institutional clients and partnerships with industry giants like Think or Swim, Hammerstone Markets distributes content via Interactive Brokers, Bloomberg, Symphony, and OpenFin Apps. Jaime managed all aspects of business growth at Hammerstone Markets, from content creation and app development to market research, business development, operations, accounting, client outreach, finance, and M&A activities. He is a GWU (93') and Wharton alumnus, completing the Advanced Management Program (AMP) in 2019. Additionally, he is an investor in several notable companies.

Spring 2024

February 8, 2024 - Sharifa A. Anderson, Senior VP & Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Fannie Mae

 

 

This George Talks Business event welcomed Sharifa A. Anderson, senior vice president and the first chief diversity and inclusion officer of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae). Now one of the largest entities in the United States, Fannie Mae was created by Congress to provide stability and liquidity for the nation’s mortgage market. In this conversation, attendees learned more about advances in economic and racial equity, the broadening of housing access, and the creation of more inclusive structures for homeownership and housing finance. Attendees also gained insight into how Fannie Mae promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion as values internally and externally through DEI-driven external engagement and other initiatives. The conversation was moderated by Vanessa Perry, M.B.A., Ph.D., interim dean and professor of marketing and of strategic management and public policy at the GW School of Business.

 

 

 

Sharifa A. Anderson is senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion (D&I) officer at Fannie Mae. She reports to the president and serves as a member of the management committee. Ms. Anderson is responsible for leading Fannie Mae’s ongoing efforts to create measurable, positive diversity and inclusion outcomes across the enterprise and with Fannie Mae’s suppliers, business partners, and the people and communities it serves. In her role, she leads a function that works collaboratively across the company to advance diversity, equity and inclusion, supports board oversight of strategic priorities and manages related regulatory and compliance matters.

Read more

Most recently, Ms. Anderson was chief diversity and inclusion officer at Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh. Prior to that role, she held other leadership and legal positions at FHLBank Pittsburgh focused on driving diversity, equity and inclusion and supporting housing finance and community investment. Previously, Ms. Anderson held legal positions at Relman Colfax in Fair Lending Counseling and Compliance, Ballard Spahr in Public Finance and Housing, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Office of General Counsel’s Finance Division.

Earlier in her career, she worked at Fannie Mae as a senior business manager, responsible for a variety of affordable housing and community development initiatives. She is active with the Pennsylvania Bankers Association, where she has served on the Board of Directors and the association’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Group.

Ms. Anderson has a juris doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, a master of arts in public policy from Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a bachelor of arts in economics and law and society from Hood College.

 

Fall 2023

December 5, 2023 - Navigating the Future: A Dialogue with Tourism, Hospitality, and Event Management Industry Leaders

 

 

On Tuesday, December 5, GW alumni, students, faculty and guests explored the insights and expertise of prominent figures in the tourism, hospitality, and event management industries as they discussed the evolving landscape and shared their vision for the future. Our panelists for the evening were Sherrif Karamat, CAE, president and CEO of PCMA and CEMA; Lisa Jordan, senior director of digital marketing at Red Roof; and Don Welsh, president and CEO of Destinations International. This discussion was moderated by Seleni Matus, executive director of the International Institute of Tourism Studies at the GW School of Business.

This is the only George Talks Business event for which there is no video recording.

 

 

 

 

Sherrif Karamat, CAE is president and CEO of PCMA and CEMA, the world’s largest community for business event strategists, providing senior-level education, networking and market intelligence for the global business events industry.

Karamat leads the vision, mission and promise for PCMA’s global family of brands. He is a prominent business architect, enabling communities to become a catalyst for economic and social progress, organizational success, and personal and professional development.

 

Read more

 

PCMA’s vision and purpose is to drive global economic and social transformation through business events. Central to this are expanding PCMA’s reach, enhancing its educational offerings, empowering more people, providing additional personal and professional development, and actively welcoming everyone, regardless of their ideas, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or cultural background. Karamat also emphasizes the need for a fundamental change in the ways meetings and events are approached.

He is chair of the 2023 Events Industry Council’s (EIC) board of directors and serves on the boards for Tourism Diversity Matters and the US Travel Association. Additionally, Karamat is a member of the George Washington University Leadership Council for its Master of Tourism, Hospitality, and Event Management program.

 

 

 

An experienced marketing and communications leader in travel and hospitality, Lisa Jordan is senior director of digital marketing for Red Roof, a leading economy hotel brand. Her professional background includes nearly 20 years of brand development, marketing strategy and implementation, team leadership, and e-commerce in travel. Previously, she served on the executive leadership team at Hostelling International USA as vice president of marketing. She held several positions during a prior 10-year tenure at Sabre Hospitality Solutions.

Read more

 

She is passionate about the behind-the-scenes workings of the travel industry and through her work aims to inspire and support travelers to have moments of discovery and enriching experiences. Elevating professional and leadership opportunities for women in the industry is long-held value for her, and she advocates for women as a volunteer and a speaker.

Lisa serves on the HSMAI Marketing Advisory Board, the HSMAI Washington, D.C. Chapter Marketing Communications Committee, and is an active volunteer for Women in Travel THRIVE.  Recently, Lisa has spoken on conference panels for the Digital Travel Summit, Digital Travel Connect, and Women in Travel THRIVE on topics ranging from social media best practices to unleashing women’s potential.

Finally, Lisa is a proud George Washington University alumna who holds a Master of Tourism Administration from the School of Business. Since earning her master’s degree, Lisa has served multiple years in leadership roles, including vice president and president of the program’s alumni association, the GWU Tourism Alumni Network. Starting in 2021, Lisa led efforts to revitalize the network following the pandemic, growing its active membership and alumni engagement and partnering with the program faculty to resume its annual Outstanding Alumni Awards event.

Lisa currently resides in the Washington, D.C. metro area.

 

 

 

A seasoned tourism executive with more than 35 years of experience in the industry, Don Welsh serves as the president and CEO of Destinations International. Since joining the association in March 2016, Welsh has implemented a strategic realignment for the association through a renewed commitment to focus on member needs to deliver the resources members have determined to be essential to the success of their organizations. Prior to joining Destinations International, Welsh served as the president and CEO of Choose Chicago. Welsh also held the CEO position at the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association and the Seattle Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Read more

Prior to joining the destination marketing industry, Welsh served as senior vice president for Westin Hotels at its corporate headquarters, and has also held senior leadership positions in sales and marketing for Westin Hotels and Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, and the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

 

November 1, 2023 - Ellen M. Granberg, President, The George Washington University

 

 

Ellen M. Granberg became the 19^th president of the George Washington University on July 1, 2023. In this special George Talks Business event, we learned more about her professional journey in academia and industry, her early impressions and discussions with the GW community, and what leadership means to her at this pivotal moment in higher education. This event was moderated by GW School of Business Dean Anuj Mehrotra.

 

 

 

Ellen M. Granberg is the 19^th president of the George Washington University, a preeminent research university and the largest institution of higher education in the nation’s capital.

An accomplished academic leader, Dr. Granberg has a record of strengthening teaching and research excellence across disciplines, supporting a diverse and inclusive community of students, faculty, and staff, and collaborating with all stakeholders to drive transformative change and increase institutional prominence. She became the first woman to serve as GW’s president when she took office on July 1, 2023.

Previously, Dr. Granberg served as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and was a professor and senior leader at Clemson University.

Read more

As RIT’s chief academic officer, Dr. Granberg oversaw nine colleges, two degree-granting units, and international campuses in Croatia, Dubai, Kosovo and China. Key initiatives under Dr. Granberg’s leadership included increasing undergraduate student success, expanding doctoral education, improving facilities for instruction and research, and leveraging RIT’s strengths in innovation, creativity, and cross-disciplinary collaboration to advance the academic mission of the university. 

At Clemson, Dr. Granberg served as the senior associate provost and associate provost for faculty affairs. She chaired the development and implementation of the institution’s strategic plan, which spurred growth in research, graduate studies and inclusive excellence. In addition, Dr. Granberg developed a university-wide strategy for faculty recruitment, retention, compensation and development.

A nationally recognized scholar in the sociology of self, identity and mental health, Dr. Granberg began her career in academia as a professor of sociology.

Prior to pursuing graduate studies, Dr. Granberg spent eleven years in the telecommunications industry, leading large integrated software development teams that replaced aging billing and customer service systems.

Dr. Granberg holds a B.A. in history from the University of California at Davis and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in sociology from Vanderbilt University.

 

October 24, 2023 - William Chappell, VP & CTO, Strategic Missions and Technologies Division, Microsoft, and Nitin Natarajan, Deputy Director, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)

 

 

Tuesday, October 24 featured a conversation with William Chappell, vice president and chief technology officer of the Strategic Missions and Technologies Division at Microsoft, and Nitin Natarajan, deputy director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). This panel delved into critical national security, policy and legal issues surrounding cutting-edge technologies and how they impact our nation’s critical infrastructure and businesses. We discussed the cybersecurity challenges arising from rapid technological advancements and the pivotal role that public-private partnerships can play in addressing ethical concerns and risk mitigation. Attendees also gained valuable guidance about how to lead successfully throughout digital transformations. This George Talks Business event was moderated by GW School of Business Dean Anuj Mehrotra, and was hosted in partnership with the GW Department of Athletics.

 

 

 

Dr. William Chappell is the vice president and CTO for the Strategic Missions and Technologies Division at Microsoft. As CTO for SMT, he works across the quantum, 5G, mission, space and federal teams to infuse technologies, such as our AI advances, into the product lines, while developing new concepts for the future of the cloud. On the Mission Engineering team in SMT, he developed the Azure Space and Spectrum team, as well as the strategic modeling and simulation team, which includes silicon cloud design.

Read more

 

 

Prior to joining Microsoft, he was the director of the Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the Department of Defense. Serving in this position, he focused the office on three key priorities important to national security. These thrusts included ensuring unfettered use of the electromagnetic spectrum, building an alternative business model for acquiring advanced DoD electronics that feature built-in trust, and developing circuit architectures for next-generation machine learning. MTO creates the MEMS, photonic, and electronic components needed to gracefully bridge the divide between the physical world in which we live and the digital realm where our information resides. Under Dr. Chappell’s leadership, MTO developed the basic underpinnings of computation and sensing needed for an effective, information-driven society. 

Prior to his work in government, Dr. Chappell was a professor at Purdue University specializing in electromagnetics. Dr. Chappell received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering, all from the University of Michigan.

 

 

 

 

 

Nitin Natarajan was appointed deputy director for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on February 16, 2021. Prior to joining CISA, Natarajan served in a variety of public and private sector positions spanning over 30 years. 

Most recently he served as a consulting firm executive, providing subject matter expertise on a variety of national security topics. Natarajan also held a number of federal government roles, including deputy assistant administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, director of critical infrastructure policy at the White House/National Security Council, and director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services overseeing healthcare and public health programs.

 

Read more

 

 

At the beginning of his career, Natarajan spent 13 years as a first responder in New York, which included service as a flight paramedic. He was the commander of a federal medical response team based in New York and has extensive experience deploying to natural and man-made disasters throughout the nation.

He holds an undergraduate degree from the State University of New York and a graduate degree from the United States Naval Postgraduate School.

 

 

 

September 27, 2023 - Robin Hayes, CEO, JetBlue Airways

 

 

Wednesday, September 27 featured a conversation with Robin Hayes, CEO of JetBlue Airways, who discussed his career journey to becoming CEO, the current state of the airline industry, and what makes JetBlue stand out. We delved into airline route planning, explored insights on leadership and decision making, and examined the pivotal role of company culture. This George Talks Business event was moderated by GW School of Business Dean Anuj Mehrotra.

 

 

 

 

Robin Hayes is chief executive officer of JetBlue Airways Corp., which encompasses JetBlue – New York’s Hometown Airline® – as well as subsidiaries JetBlue Technology Ventures and JetBlue Travel Products.

He joined JetBlue in 2008 and served as the company’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer until becoming president of the airline in January 2014. In February 2015 he was appointed as JetBlue’s third chief executive officer, serving as president and CEO until 2018.

Read more

 

Prior to joining JetBlue, Robin was executive vice president for the Americas at British Airways. Over the span of a wide-ranging 19-year career with BA, he also served as area general manager for Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Robin serves as chair of the board of Airlines for America (A4A); past chair of the Board of Governors of the International Air Transport Association (IATA); and a member of the board of KeyCorp and Make-A-Wish Connecticut.

Robin is a graduate in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Bath in the United Kingdom. He received a BSc and a master’s in engineering from the university.

 

 

Spring and Summer 2023

July 25, 2023 - Pablo Breuer, Sally Kenyon Grant and Renata Spinks

 

 

Tuesday, July 25 was a summer evening of networking and conversation as we continued the George Talks Business series with an in-person session featuring technology leaders from the government and industry: Pablo Breuer, executive director for security policy, control oversight, and regulatory alignment at Morgan Stanley; Sally Kenyon Grant, vice president of Darktrace Federal; and Renata Spinks, assistant IT director/deputy CIO of IC4 at Headquarters Marine Corps. Moderated by GW School of Business Dean Anuj Mehrotra, this discussion built on the themes of the GW Business and Policy Forum with the focus on cybersecurity and emerging technologies from the lens of market and regulation.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Pablo Breuer is an executive director for Security Policy, Control Oversight, and Regulatory Alignment at Morgan Stanley, a senior expert at the Hybrid Threat COE, and a member of the Loomis Innovation Council. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy with tours including U.S. Special Operations Command SOFWERX, the National Security Agency, U.S. Cyber Command, Combined Forces Command Afghanistan, and U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. He has been on the faculty at the Naval Postgraduate School, National University, California State University Monterey Bay, and Carnegie Mellon CERT/SEI and is a Defcon Black Badge winner. Pablo is also a co-founder of the DISARM Foundation and coauthor of the DISARM (Disinformation Analysis and Response Measures) framework.

 

 

Sally Kenyon Grant is Vice President of Darktrace Federal delivering sophisticated autonomous AI and adaptive cybersecurity protection leveraging self-learning AI and unsupervised machine learning to detect Nation State attacks and insider threats, attacks on cloud SaaS and IoT and novel malware and ransomware. With over 8400 customers in 110 countries including 130 patents, Darktrace has launched a new Federal office located in Reston, Virginia supporting the U.S. Department of Defense, Intelligence Community and the Federal Civilian Agencies.

Continue reading

Sally Kenyon Grant’s dynamic leadership incorporates threat analysis and risk assessment with innovative Cyber AI autonomous capabilities to counter Adversarial AI.  Due to real-time alerts and automated response and reporting for C5ISR, C2 decision-making is delivered at tactical levels for mission targets.

In addition to defending National Security with our NATO Allies, Ms. Grant leads Government Officials, C-Suite business Cybersecurity and Chief Data Officer Executives with sophisticated AI and Machine Learning capabilities to deliver advanced data analytics to counter anomalous threat activity/attacks and mis-information/dis-information campaigns for increased production and speed efficiency, integration acceleration and improved revenue margins with risk assessment.

Supporting pillars of leadership with honor and high standards, it is important to note Ms. Grant’s work includes best practices and shared services with exceptional support for training and service to include a profound level of sophisticated cybersecurity AI/ML.  Sally Kenyon Grant is accelerating the transformation of security and data with high values, ethics, human rights and data governance and explainability.

As background, Ms. Grant was formerly at Lucd AI, Semantic AI and Point3 Security, premier companies whose leadership served with USSF, USAF, AFRL, JAIC, USMC, USN, JSOC, Army Futures Command, USSS, FBI, USSOCOM, the National Security Agency and USCyberCom including DIA and CIA.  In addition, Ms. Grant served as Director of Cybersecurity at Comtech Telecommunications Corp. and Director of Cybersecurity for the “NSA Day of Cyber.”  Ms. Grant was a senior Congressional and White House Cybersecurity Liaison for the Maryland Department of Commerce serving under General Mike Haye’s Military Affairs Team and Governor O’Malley’s CyberMaryland Initiative. Most notably, Ms. Grant served under the exceptional leadership of Dr. David Bauer, Chief Data Scientist formerly with the U.S. Army Intelligence community.

Ms. Grant’s government relations career expands over 30 years, serving in both the Clinton and Obama White House, Congresswoman Claudine Schneider’s Washington, D.C. Office and with the Cybersecurity firm, The Ventura Group with Col. Mike Sierra including a position with Cassidy & Associates working on Defense Appropriations under the leadership of General P.X. Kelley.

Sally’s critical mission work for Darktrace Federal continues to emphasize machine speed defense against Nation-State attacks across the globe. Sally’s priority is to lead with defensive superiority supporting the cyber warfighter.

 

 

Ms. Renata Spinks currently serves as the Assistant IT Director/Deputy CIO of Information, Command, Control, Communications, and Computers (IC4) at Headquarters Marine Corps. In this capacity, she also serves as the Department of Navy (DON) Deputy Senior Information Security Officer for the Marine Corps. Ms. Spinks was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in August 2021, having joined Executive Service as a Senior Leader in August 2018, serving at Marine Forces Cyberspace Command (MARFORCYBER) as the nation’s first Cyber Technology Officer. In this role, she deployed cyber based technology and served as the Executive Sponsor for intelligence informed Defense Cyber Operations (DCO) and is responsible for transitioning the USMC to a mobile workforce using Microsoft O365 in record timing.

Continue reading

Prior to Ms. Spinks’ assignment to MARFORCYBER, her federal career path included serving in the U.S. Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security. She is a decorated combat veteran from the 28th Combat Support Hospital, U.S. Army 44th Medical Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Ms. Spinks’ love for cyber grew when she worked with DHS ICE, DOJ, CIA and the ODNI while serving as a criminal research specialist; utilizing forensics and human intelligence to investigate human trafficking and child exploitation.

Ms. Spinks holds a BS in Information Systems, a MS in Technology Management, multiple information technology certifications, and is pursuing her doctorate in Cybersecurity.

 

March 15, 2023 - George Talks Business in London, England with Christine Brown-Quinn, Slim Feriani and Christophe G. de Taurines

 

 

Wednesday, March 15 featured a special edition of the George Talks Business series at the Churchill War Rooms in London, England hosted in partnership with the George Washington University UK Alumni Network. GW School of Business Dean Anuj Mehrotra moderated a panel discussion with Christine Brown-Quinn (MBA ’92), Amazon #1 best-selling author, founder of career consultancy The Female Capitalist®, and GW School of Business Dean’s Board of Advisors member; Dr. Slim Feriani (MBA '89, PhD '96), CEO of the Sovereign Fund of Djibouti; and Christophe G. de Taurines (BBA '86), senior advisor and partner at Long Harbour LTD London and member of the GWSB Dean's Advisory Council, as they discussed the most pressing global challenges, opportunities and solutions.

 

 

 

Following decades in international business, Christine Brown-Quinn embarked on a new career in 2010 to share with aspiring professionals globally, practical, hands-on business strategies to fast track their careers. She‘s been on a mission to bust the myth that a rewarding career and a fulfilling personal life have to be at loggerheads. Known as the ‘Female Capitalist’, Christine unveils what really matters in getting ahead in demanding corporate environments through her webinars, workshops and one-one coaching. As a former managing director in International Finance in London, Christine is well versed in what it takes to forge a thriving career in highly pressurized, alpha environments.

In March 2020 Christine launched her book Unlock Your Career Success – Knowing the Unwritten Rules Changes Everything, a five-star rated Amazon #1 Best Seller in Business & Finance. According to one reviewer, Michaela Jedinak, a fashion designer and entrepreneur, "Unlock Your Career Success empowers women with truth-telling facts from the real business world paired with practical advice and insider knowledge that will help you to be promoted to the top. Essential and inspiring reading for every working woman to realize their ambitions and aspirations.”

Christine is an accomplished international speaker and commentator on a range of issues relevant to the success of female professionals through podcasts, blogs, articles, radio & tv shows. Christine has an undergraduate degree in Foreign Languages from Georgetown University (Cum Laude) and an MBA in International Business from the George Washington University (Beta Gamma Sigma scholar). Christine is currently president of the George Washington University Alumni Association and a member of the GW School of Business Dean’s Board of Advisors as well as the Dean’s Diversity Council.

 

Christophe G. de Taurines is currently the head of business development at Long Harbour LTD, a London-based asset manager. He is responsible for all aspects of its business development, including product development, fundraising and investor relations. Under his leadership, Long Harbour developed its UK residential Built-to-Rent platform from less than GBP 300M to over GBP 1.2 bn. in AUM and is currently developing its expansion into continental Europe.

Mr. de Taurines has previously served as managing director of European business development and investor relations at Colony Capital; founder and CEO of Capital & Marketing Group, a global capital market agency focused on alternative investments (real estate, infrastructure and corporate private equity), which he sold to LBO France in 2013, becoming a member of its executive committee and a partner of the real estate private funds group of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (now part of Credit Suisse); managing director of LaSalle Investment Management in London; resident vice president at Citibank in the Corporate Real Estate Team; and assistant vice president in the Debt Capital Markets Division of Credit Commercial de France (now part of HSBC).

Over his career, Mr, de Taurines, with his various teams, acted and advised on over €40.0 billion of equity; for over 60 vehicles, attracting investors from around the globe. He is a trustee and member of the Investment Committee of the Saint Martin in the Fields Trust, a member of the Advisory Board of the School of Business of the George Washington University, a past board member of Sussex Place Ventures (the London Business School affiliated venture capital investment manager), and an investor in various ventures, and the past finance chair of the London Chapter of the Young Presidents Organisation. He is a regular speaker at various professional forums and exhibitions. Mr. de Taurines holds an MBA from the London Business School and a BBA from the George Washington University, achieving the Dean’s List. He speaks English, German and French as a native and is conversational in five other languages. He is an Approved Person under the Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom.

 

Dr. Slim Feriani is the CEO of the Sovereign Fund of Djibouti. He is the former Minister of Industry, Energy, Mining, Renewable Energy and SMEs of Tunisia (2017-2020). He has worked at a number of financial services firms in the United Kingdom, including investment bank Nomura and asset management firms Martin Currie (acquired by Templeton) and Advance Emerging Capital (acquired by Aberdeen Asset Management). He has held senior executive positions including chairman, CEO and CIO as well as NED board roles in listed and privately owned companies. He is a dual British and Tunisian citizen and has lived and worked in the US, UK, Tunisia and Djibouti. He has covered and invested in more than 90 countries and visited more than 60 of them. He is fluent in English, French and Arabic. Dr. Feriani holds an MBA and a Ph.D. in Finance, Investment and International Finance from the George Washington University in Washington D.C., where he taught courses in these fields and sat on the board of advisors of the GW School of Business.

March 8, 2023 - Globant Women in Technology Award Winners Panel with Marie-Philippe Gill, Nelly Ortiz, Joti Balani, Ellen Joyce and Kathy Korman Frey

 

 

GWSB is a proud sponsor of the Women that Build Awards, sponsored by Globant, a global technology and IT organization. This event featured a panel discussion from this year's Women that Build award-winners, who advance careers in technology, manage innovation and collaboration, and promote diversity and inclusion. We explored specific challenges they have faced in their careers, and the strategies they have used to overcome them and become extraordinary women that build. This panel included Marie-Philippe Gill, NLP research developer at Croesus, Nelly Ortiz, director of business hacking and U.S. co-lead at Globant, Joti Balani, founder and managing director of Freshriver.ai, and Ellen Joyce, founder and CEO of Digital Leader Academy.

The panel was moderated by Kathy Korman Frey, professorial lecturer of management and director of the Center For Entrepreneurial Excellence (CFEE) at the GW School of Business. It was also co-moderated by GW students and CFEE Leadership Fellows Lena Ebadi, Alexis Nazitto and Maiah Zaky.

This event was hosted in partnership with the GW School of Business Dean's Diversity Council and in conjunction with the Howard Hoffman Distinguished Lecture Series presented by the Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence at the GW School of Business.

 

 

Marie-Philippe Gill, @girlknowstech on Instagram, is one of the biggest names in female tech blogging and is currently the NLP research developer at Croesus. Despite its humble beginnings as practice writing in her second language, Marie’s blog Girls Know Tech is now a hub of tech tutorials, interviews, and articles on other women in the tech industry. She studied software engineering at École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS) in Montreal.

Aside from blogging, Marie is passionately involved with hackathons and other tech events. She was part of the student lab Dronolab, which creates drones that enter competitions in Canada and the US, as well as INGénieuses de l´ÉTS, a student group who encourage women to pursue STEM-related careers. The organization occupies a close place in Marie’s heart, as she hopes it will help inspire more women to forge a career in software engineering.

 

 

Nelly Ortiz is an international speaker, certified design thinking coach, and award-winning business woman in tech. With a background in consulting and leadership, her career expands over several industries including financial services, retail, and real estate. She is passionate about helping her clients redefine their businesses through innovation, at the intersection of business, technology, and design. Even though Nelly’s background in digital strategy with Fortune 500 companies might suggest her talks are serious in nature, she’s anything but boring! Nelly understands the power of laughter and humor when teaching complex concepts. She even did standup, as she believes comedians are the best public speakers. Event planners love working with Nelly, often describing her as the energizer bunny of their events. Nelly has earned her master’s degree from New York University in integrated marketing (digital and brand), and a business administration title from Los Andes University in Colombia. Her most recent leadership roles have been in technology companies like Globant, Mindtree and IBM. Growing up as a “Navy brat,” Nelly went through 11 schools before college, making her hugely adaptable and eager to keep learning from different cultures. She believes diversity is a great catalyst for innovation. As a Colombian, she gives presentations in both English and Spanish, and as a true Latina she’s loud and claims that dancing is the best sport.

 

 

Joti Balani, founder and managing director of Freshriver.ai, is an award-winning creative architect designing and delivering complex enterprise, human and systemic transformations. She created a multidimensional transformation framework blending AI, data science, engineering, cybersecurity and social sciences. She leads transformative innovations at Fortune 100 enterprises to create emotional, economic and brand value with her team, who represent the empowered human race in all dimensions.

She is the AI impact lead at Innovation of Large Organizations (ILO), G100 US Country Chair for Robotics & Automation, Intrapreneurship Conclave Governance Council Member/Unfold India, as well as AI Advisor to Web3 focused startups, Titlechain and Inpeak.xyz solving critical, global problems in business and society with courage, creativity and technology. Joti also leads Open Voice Network’s (OVON) Industry Advisory Council to share her Conversational AI framework with the industry and is co-founder of Women in Voice/WiV, New Jersey, US chapter.

 

 

Ellen Joyce is the founder and CEO of Digital Leader Academy. Being one of four girls, it makes sense that she ended up in the world of chaos that is startups. Originally from Ireland and being the eldest of four means she has been training to be a CEO her whole life. The Irish “gift of the gab” plus the ability to convince 3 younger sisters to do things they really didn't want to do has prepared her well.

Ellen has been an educator her whole life. Her passion is working with students to help them reach their potential. This all began when she started tutoring her younger sister Sarah, who is dyslexic, and it inspired her to start a business that focused on math education for students with learning difficulties while completing her undergraduate degree in computer science and statistics at Trinity College Dublin. She grew the school from 1 student to 50 students and $32k ARR in 2019.

In 2019, Ellen received a Naughton Scholarship to complete a Masters of Science in Technology Entrepreneurship at the University of Notre Dame. While at Notre Dame, Ellen started to investigate why there are fewer women in computer science in 2020 than there were in 1980 and how could you increase the number of women in tech. This led to her founding Digital Leader Academy (DLA), a startup that is on a mission to increase the size and the diversity of the tech workforce.

This year, Ellen was invited back to be an adjunct professor at the University of Notre Dame where she is teaching “Technology for Startups” to the next generation of entrepreneurs. It has been an honor to work with so many bright minds and help them start the companies of the future.

 

 

Kathy Korman Frey is a professorial lecturer of management and the director of the Center For Entrepreneurial Excellence at the George Washington University School of Business (GWSB). She helped develop and currently teaches Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (WEL) at GWSB. WEL is the winner of a USASBE Excellence in Entrepreneurship Education Award. Frey is the founder of the edtech social venture The Hot Mommas Project, the world’s largest women’s case study library providing access to diverse, teachable, scalable role models and mentors from around the world. The venture’s Women’s Leadership Academies and group coaching workshops have directly reached women from 138 countries, increasing self-efficacy of participants 21 percent in a half-hour workshop and up to 300 percent in a 10-module session. The Hot Mommas Project is the winner of a Coleman Foundation Case Award and is included in the mission of the GWSB Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence. Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership and the Hot Mommas Project have been featured in the media including the Washington Post Magazine, NPR, Working Mother, Forbes, BBC and TIME.

February 23, 2023 - Scott Smith, Partner and Principal, Ernst & Young and Brandon Wales, Executive Director, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)

 

 

Thursday, February 23 featured a conversation about some of the most critical issues surrounding cybersecurity risks and opportunities through the lens of national security, global business and regulation. Scott Smith, partner and principal at Ernst & Young, and Brandon Wales (CCAS '99), executive director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), were interviewed by Dr. Anuj Mehrotra, dean of the GW School of Business. We discussed the latest efforts in reducing risk to the cyber ecosystem and the new models of public-private collaboration required to meet the scale and pace of the emerging cyber threat.

 

 

 

Scott Smith is a partner and principal at the consulting
practice of Ernst & Young (EY), LLP and has 25+ years
of commercial and federal experience leading
engagements with the U.S. Navy, Defense Logistics
Agency, U.S. Army, Department of Homeland Security,
and multiple DoD Intelligence Agencies.

Mr. Smith leads the EY Government and Public Sector
Cybersecurity practice. He has a proven track record of
successfully leading complex programs providing
support ranging from cybersecurity, full life-cycle
systems integration, and infrastructure operations to
application development and IT strategy.

Prior to consulting, Mr. Smith served in the U.S. Navy as
a surface warfare and intelligence officer.

 

Brandon Wales is the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) first executive director, serving as the senior career executive helping oversee execution of CISA operations. He is responsible for leading long-term strategy development, managing CISA-wide policy initiatives and ensuring effective operational collaboration across the Agency.

In February 2022, Wales was appointed as the lead for the federal government’s domestic preparedness and response related to the Russian-Ukraine crisis. In this capacity, Wales was responsible for establishing and leading an interagency Unified Coordination Group (UCG) to ensure unity of effort, building U.S. government-wide strategic objectives, identifying and resolving gaps in operations and interagency coordination, and coordinating with federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial officials, as well as representatives of private sector and non-governmental entities.

From November 2020 through July 2021, Wales was the acting director of CISA. In this capacity, he led CISA’s efforts to defend civilian networks, manage systemic risk to national critical functions, and work across both the public and private sectors to raise the security baseline of the nation’s cyber and physical infrastructure. From August 2017 to December 2019, Wales directly supported the Secretary of Homeland Security, beginning as the senior counselor to the secretary for cyber and resilience and then serving as the deputy chief of staff (acting).

From 2009 to 2014, Wales was the director of the Homeland Infrastructure Threat and Risk Analysis Center (HITRAC), an all-hazards analytic resource for public and private sector partners covering the full array of risks facing the infrastructure community.

Wales’ contributions have been recognized with an Exceptional Performance Award from the director of national intelligence, a DHS Secretary’s Award for Excellence, and two DHS Distinguished Service Medals, the department’s highest civilian award.

Wales received his bachelor’s degree from the George Washington University and his master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

February 6, 2023 - Elena Richards, Principal & Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, KPMG

 

 

As an opening event during the GW School of Business Diversity and Allyship Week, this session on Monday, February 6 featured Elena Richards, principal and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at KPMG LLP. We discussed how diversity drives innovation, her role as a first-time CDO, and the firm’s strategy for creating an equitable workplace and sustainable societal change.

Following the interview, Dean Mehrotra invited our students to network with alumni and representatives from KPMG. Welcome remarks were delivered by Caroline Laguerre-Brown, J.D., vice provost for diversity, equity, and community engagement at the George Washington University, and Şenay Ağca, chief diversity officer and professor of finance at the George Washington University School of Business (GWSB).

 

 

Elena Richards is a principal and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at KPMG LLP. She is an accomplished HR, talent management and diversity professional with deep knowledge of the professional services industry. Partnering with KPMG’s management committee and board of directors, she helps to advance the firm’s Accelerate 2025 strategy, a commitment for more underrepresented talent to choose KPMG as their employer of choice, experience thriving careers within an inclusive culture, and advance to partnership and leadership levels.

A certified executive coach, Elena earned her BA in criminal justice at the University at Albany, State University of New York.

Previous Years