THE 2014-2015
COACHING CIRCLE
AMY LIPTON
Chef and Owner of Joyful Kitchen Cooking School
A proud and committed entrepreneur since 1996, I have successfully launched and grown three companies:
two in the food and hospitality business, and 12 years in e-commerce. I am now happily back pursuing my
true passions; cooking, teaching and feeding people with the launch of Joyful Kitchen Cooking School.
ASHLEY LUCAS
VP of Business Development at The Welcoming Committee
Ashley Lucas leads national business development and operations at The Welcoming Committee, a startup
launched in Boston two years ago that currently has roots in six cities. In her role, Ashley is responsible for
overseeing the experience operations team, negotiating all contracts and corporate sponsorships, and
developing strategic partnerships as the organization expands into 20 total cities by the end of 2015.
CAROLINE DANIELS
Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship // Faculty Advisor, John E.
and Alice L. Butler Venture Accelerator Program
Dr. Daniels’ research covers Future Trends and Entrepreneurial Strategy. She has worked on the development
of global business and technology strategies for numerous startups and the following larger corporations:
IBM, Apple, the Economist, Financial Times, Ford of Europe, Boots Pharmaceutical, Shell Oil, GlaxoSmithKline,
Chartham Paper Mills, New York Life, Bank of Ireland, Aetna, Marks & Spencer, Media Companies, and other
leading corporations. She has facilitated multi-client studies for The Economist Group on the future of business.
DIANNE MULCAHY
Senior Fellow, The Kauffman Foundation // Entrepreneurship
Faculty, Babson College
Diane Mulcahy is a Senior Fellow at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, where she manages the
Foundation’s portfolio of private equity, venture capital and real assets investments, as well as investments
in early stage companies. She is the lead author of “We Have Met the Enemy … and He is Us,” a widely read
report on the venture capital industry published by the Kauffman Foundation in 2012. Diane is based in
Boston and is an adjunct lecturer in the Entrepreneurship division at Babson College. She created and
teaches the MBA class The Gig Economy, which was named by Forbes.com as one of the Top 10 Most Innovative
Business School Classes in the country. Diane holds M.P.P and A.B. degrees from Harvard University.
ELAINE EISENMAN
Dean of Executive Education at Babson College
Eisenman is a member of the Babson President’s Cabinet, and is responsible for the strategy and growth of this
Financial Times-top rated executive education division, as well as for the public sector educational and
foundation partner programs in entrepreneurship. She also is responsible for the management of the top‐rated
Babson Executive Conference Center.
Dr. Eisenman’s career includes experience as a business leader and general manager, HR executive, private
and public Board member, and organizational consultant. Her areas of expertise include executive selection,
transition, and succession, and the alignment of strategy, selection, compensation, and performance during
periods of growth and transformation. Additionally, she has managed the human side of acquisition and
integration through multiple acquisitions for three companies.
ELIZABETH HOENSCHEID
Founder & CEO, Top it Off Accessories
Hoenscheid and her business partner, Karena Rasser, were colleagues at a software firm in Cambridge
when they started designing ribbon belts and got their products into Boston stores. They decided to launch
on a full-time basis in 2004. Hoenscheid had majored in marketing at Wharton Business School, and
Rasser held a degree in fashion merchandising from the University of Connecticut. They started off as a
wholesale company, designing and selling accessories and jewelry to stores all over the country. Today,
more than 1,500 stores carry their line of products. They use a warehouse in northern Virginia and have a
sales and marketing office in West Roxbury.
ERIN LIMAN
Founder/Innovation Accelerator, Innovation Is Social
Erin Liman is a management consultant and “Innovation Accelerator.” Her client teams are transformed
into high-performance engines of innovation. Backed by over 20 years of customer research, design and
product management experience, she helps leaders and teams tackle real business problems with creative
problem-solving sessions and design thinking skills transfer. Erin is an alum of the Babson MBA Program,
and currently lives in San Francisco.
GRETCHEN FOX
Founder, Fox RPM Corp.
When Gretchen Fox, CEO, founded Fox in 1988, she recognized that business relocations, which should be
viewed as strategic opportunities were often handled casually, resulting in time lost, cost overruns, and
unnecessary internal stress. By looking at transitions at the strategic level, Gretchen was able to build
best-practice methodologies that coordinated all elements (e.g., design, construction, furnishing and
move) of a transition into one cohesive plan, to minimize stress and business disruption and to provide
opportunity to leverage positive change through all layers of an organization. Gretchen Fox attended
Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, VA, and earned her MBA from Simmons Graduate School
of Management.
JANE EDMONDS
Vice President for Governance at Babson College
Jane C. Edmonds is responsible for performing a variety of high level functions supporting the overall
operations and efficiency of the Boards of Governance and serving as a liaison between the College President,
Governance Boards, internal and external community stakeholders and partners.
JEANNE DASARO
Founder, Wonder Women of Boston
Jeanne helps women leaders, artists, and professionals of diverse backgrounds connect with and support
each other. In 2013, Jeanne served as the Innovator-In-Residence at Wentworth Institute of Technology,
working to expand networking opportunities for students, faculty, and staff with entrepreneurs and leaders
in the innovation space, and collaborate with faculty and staff to advance Wentworth’s position in Boston’s
local innovation economy. From 2008-2012, Jeanne served as Co-Founder of The New Prosperity Initiative
(NPi), a community media organization dedicated to social justice, knowledge-sharing, and dialogue
across for-profit and nonprofit sectors.
JENNIFER BAILEY
Assistant Professor of Technology & Operations Management,
Babson College
Jennifer received her Ph.D. in Operations Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Scheller
School of Business, a B.S.E in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.B.A
with concentrations in Operations Management and Information Technology Management from the Georgia
Institute of Technology. Prior to academia, Jennifer spent 10 years in industry in various engineering,
consulting and supply chain management roles. She current teaches Operations Management and
Integrated Product Design, an inter-disciplinary three college collaborative course with Babson College,
Olin College of Engineering and Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
JO MCCHESNEY
President, Tashmoo Enterprises
Jo McChesney is an entrepreneur with 18 years of strategic and operational experience in consumer products
and services across the Health & Wellness and Parenting industries. She was the Co-Founder & CEO of Isis
Parenting and also served as a strategy consultant at Accenture and a project director at the Harvard School
of Public Health. Jo holds an MBA from The Tuck School at Dartmouth College and a BA from Kenyon College.
KIM MILES
Founder, Miles In Heels Productions, LLC
What do you call a successful business woman with a vibrant financial advisory practice, over 20 years of
sales experience, a background in performing, and a serious shoe habit? Kim Miles! A firm believer in
messaging by “conversation, not presentation,” Kim partners with small start-ups and large corporations
alike, to deliver critical content in a way that resonates and engages, and could ultimately be described
as…fun! Designed to connect and empower, Miles In Heels Productions inspires the articulation and
pursuit of big ideas, by creating communities of talented people whose collective gifts support the goals of
the individual.
LAUREN MURPHY
Senior Product Team Manager, Cengage Learning
Lauren has spent her career in publishing of some kind, whether in textbooks or with user generated
content on mobile devices or with gaming apps. Her experience has been in marketing and product
development at public and private companies with a focus in the consumer space. Her passion is in
creating experiences that compel a user to do something that they love. Currently, Lauren is in the
educational space, working to address how to improve teaching computing to today’s students.
LYNNE ZAGAMI RIQUELME
Partner at Gesmer Updegrove
Lynne’s unique perspective comes from combining her experience in a growing company and in law firms.
Lynne has represented companies of all stages – from startup to public – and investors of all sizes – from
angel to buyout. And having participated in the management of an emerging technology company, she
understands that these companies and the investors who partner with them have particular needs.
MARIE JOHNS
Founder and President of L & L Consulting
The Honorable Marie C. Johns has been a leader in business, community and government service for more than
30 years. From 2010 through June 2013, Marie was the Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business
Administration (SBA); she was nominated by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the U.S.
Senate.She, also, is an entrepreneur, founding L&L Consulting, LLC, a business development, organizational
effectiveness and public policy consulting practice. A recipient of over 100 awards for her community service,
Marie earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Public Administration degrees from the School of Public
and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, where she later served as a Director for the Tobias Center for
Leadership Excellence. She is the recipient of honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degrees from Trinity
University (Washington, D.C.) Howard University and the University of the District of Columbia.
MARY ANN PERRY
Educational Technology Product Advisor
Mary Ann Perry is a recognized leader in teaching and learning technology products, working with small
and large companies and institutions. As SVP of Learning Applications for Pearson Higher Education, she
led design and development of industry-leading math, science, and English technology products -- from
first design reviews to successful implementation by over 4 million faculty and student users globally. Mary
Ann also shares her experience as a language teacher, curriculum author, director of refugee education
programs, working mother, and devotee of Southern country cooking.
MARY GALE
Entreprenuership Faculty, Babson College
Ms. Gale is an entrepreneur, business leader, and consultant with over 20 years of strategic, marketing, and
operations experience across a broad range of industries including software-based services, diagnostics,
telecommunications, surface preparation, consumer electronics, consumer packaged goods and education.
Ms. Gale has been involved in eight start-ups as an investor, director, and/or senior executive. Most recently,
she served as CEO of a start-up software services business, Pet Health Network, Inc. She was also a senior
marketing executive at IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. during a period of early growth through IPO. She began her
career in product management at General Foods. Her consulting experience includes Booz, Allen; Marketing
Corporation of America (boutique consulting firm in Westport, Connecticut); and her own assignments.
NANCY CREMINS
Partner at Gesmer Updegrove
Nancy helps entrepreneurs and early stage companies handle a range of issues, including employment
matters and dispute resolution. She was a member of the inaugural Boston class of the Pipeline Fellows,
which trains women to become angel investors. Nancy is also a founding board member of Prosperity Catalyst,
an organization that educates, trains, and supports women in distressed parts of the world to become
entrepreneurs. She is a Past President (2011-12) and board member of the Women's Bar Association of
Massachusetts, an organization committed to the full and equal participation of women in the legal
profession and in a just society. She was named a 40 Under 40 by the Boston Business Journal in 2013 and
a Top Woman of Law by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly in 2012. She holds an undergraduate degree in
biology from Boston College and a law degree from Northeastern.
NANCY LINDEMER
Director of Marketing & Sales, Babson Executive Conference Center
A 17-year conference center professional specializing in revenue growth, product positioning and managing
transition, Nancy Lindemer began her career in sales with Harrison Lodging at the Harrison Conference Center
at Lake Bluff. In her current position with FLIK Conference Center Management, she has multi-property
responsibility as the Regional Director of Sales and Marketing at Babson Executive Conference Center.
NETTIE NITZBERG
Founder and CEO of Wow! Transformations
Nettie Nitzberg loves watching a cool culture take root in a growing company, and she’s made it her mission
to help companies around the world create work environments that attract — and keep — top talent. Her
clients range from an international chemicals company to a Boston-based mobile consulting company. The
common element in all her work? Executive teams who see the value in engaged, developing employees.
Since launching WOW! transformations in 1994, Nettie has supported clients talent development
initiatives in a variety of industries. As a master instructional designer who is a creative, strategic
thinker, her projects have helped her clients develop important initiatives that ensure long-term
employee success. She also created and trademarked an end-to-end talent management initiative
called beyondboarding™- a strategic approach to employee and organizational growth and development
that focuses on maximizing company's investments in their most valuable resources, its talent.
PAT HENRIQUES
Seriel Entrepreneur
Patricia Henriques is a relationship-driven, serial entrepreneur. Henriques led Management Alternatives for
20 years from start-up to an industry-recognized, national leader in corporate relocation management,
providing outsourced services to a diverse client base across broad industry segments. She sold the
company in 2002. As Founding Principal of The Henlee Group, a Washington DC-based consulting practice,
she continues to work with executives to develop sound business strategies for emerging and high growth
companies. In recent years, she has held a variety of appointments in higher education developing and
delivering coursework and programs in entrepreneurship.
SARA HARTMANN
Co-Founder at Secret Ships
Sara is a ecommerce and garment industry industry professional with expertise in production and marketing
for apparel and lifestyle start-ups and small businesses. Sara Co-Founded Secret Ships, a ecommerce and
mobile retail shop specializing in globally sourced textiles and accessories for the American millennial
woman.
SIIRI MORLEY
Founding Executive Director of Prosperity Catalyst
Siiri is also a Founding Partner of Prosperity Catalyst’s sister social enterprise, Prosperity Candle. While
helping launch Prosperity Candle she managed the company’s sales, marketing, brand management and
partnership development efforts. Before joining Prosperity Candle, Siiri worked on poverty reduction and
sustainable economic development projects focused on women in Afghanistan, Croatia, Ecuador and
Kenya. She began her career as a business capacity development advisor with the Peace Corps in Lesotho
where she worked with a women-led weaving business for three years. She received her MBA from the Heller
School of Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University in 2009. In 2012, Siiri was recognized as 1
of 60 notable women in Fast Company’s “League of Extraordinary Women” and was profiled as an “Agent
of Change” by PBS Newshour in 2013. Siiri lives in Boston, MA with her husband and puppy.
SUSAN LACZ
CEO and Principal of Ridgewells Catering
Susan Lacz, a recognized leader and sought-after speaker in the catering and special events industry, is
Chief Executive Officer and Principal of Ridgewells Catering. As caterers, we create delicious gourmet
cuisine and craft events that are unique and memorable for clients and their guests. We’ve set the bar on
the Washington D.C. social scene for over 85 years. To us special events are about joy, artistry and creative
possibility.
TRACY NOONAN
CEO of Wicked Good Cupcakes, LLC
Tracey Noonan began Wicked Good Cupcakes® with her daughter Danielle Vilagie after taking cake
decorating classes as a way to spend quality time together. After posting their work online for friends and
family, they found themselves being asked to create cupcakes for various events. The demand for their
product became so high that they opened their first retail location in Cohasset, Massachusetts in October
of 2011. Tracey manages new product development, marketing and PR.
TRISH FONTANILLA
Vice President of Community & Customer Experience at Vsnap
In addition to her role at Vsnap, the award-winning video messaging platform used by clients in sales and
support to bring warmth into customer interactions, Trish produces the Customer Love Summit and
Customer Love Meetups in Boston and NYC. When she's not vsnapping, Trish works to empower women and
girls by serving on the Events Committees for Wonder Women of Boston and the Asian American Women in
Leadership Conference, as well as mentoring for the Technovation Challenge.