On Monday, Feb. 24, more than three dozen of Northeast Ohio's leading women in business, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), the nonprofit sector, higher education and more will meet and connect with other women seeking their insights at Mentoring Monday, a special event presented by The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com. The two-hour program, to be held at Cuyahoga Community College's Metropolitan Campus, will include opportunities for one-on-one conversations with the mentors, a speed coaching round and group sessions. The Plain Dealer will also publish a special section Feb. 23 related to the event.
The following is a partial list of mentors scheduled to attend. Tickets to participate are $45 (includes a light breakfast) and are available at cleveland.com/events.
Jean Angus
Jean Angus is CEO of Life Sciences at Saint-Gobain, a global company with more than 180,000 employees.
Working in multiple industries, Angus has more than 25 years of broad-based, global experience, including global business management, strategy development, sales and marketing, manufacturing, supply chain, innovation, and research and development. As Life Sciences CEO, she leads the development and manufacturing of high-performance components and integrated solutions for industries such as biopharmaceuticals, medical, and food and beverage.
She has a master’s of science in business and environmental management from the University of Findlay and a bachelor’s of science in biochemistry from Auburn University.
Jodi Berg
A fourth-generation leader of the family-owned business, Jodi Berg is president and CEO of Vitamix. The company designs, develops and produces its high-performance whole-food machines in Northeast Ohio, to be sold in more than 130 countries.
Although known for transforming the blender industry, the company’s purpose is to liberate and nourish a zest for life. Vitamix helps their customers achieve their health and wellness goals with simple, whole-food meals and a great deal of support. The first line of the organization’s mission statement includes a desire to “create relationships for life.”
Berg received her bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University, a Master of Business Administration from Washington State University and her Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University.
Flo Brett
Flo Brett is the founder and executive director of the Effective Leadership Academy, a Northeast Ohio nonprofit with a mission to help young people develop their most valuable asset — themselves.
Brett, a graduate of Derby University and Loughboro University in England with degrees in nursing and leadership development, specializes in helping teams and individuals achieve improved personal results through action-based team-building strategies, leadership development, goal achievement, and positive attitude development.
Her 25-year career includes accomplishments in direct management (as the lead nurse of the largest intensive care unit in England), and merger and acquisitions, managing complex cultural change, and she has driven quality initiatives across large organizations. She has developed and implemented leadership and development programs from board to operational staff, university-level teaching and teaching within many pre-K to grade 12 establishments.
Destiny Burns
Entrepreneur Destiny Burns is a native Clevelander who moved back after more than 30 years away to realize her dream of opening an urban winery (CLE Urban Winery) here in her beloved hometown.
She is a retired U.S. Navy officer. She served for 20 years on active duty, and I then spent more than 13 years as a business development executive in the defense industry in the Washington, D.C., area. She is also a former volunteer firefighter/EMT.
Burns has lived and traveled around the world, studying and enjoying wine and food. She has advanced degrees in business and professional experience in all aspects of business development, marketing and management.
Patricia Connole (Kendig)
Patricia Connole (Kendig) is the founder and CEO of US Communications and Electric Inc. Connole started the company in 1996 and has led its growth from two employees to more than 110 currently on the US Communication team.
She is an accountant by trade but has had to wear many hats over the years during the company’s rapid growth. Connole is extremely proud of the accomplishments of US Communications and attributes its success to a team of hard-working, diligent and caring individuals. She has instilled a strong sense of responsibility at US Communications toward bettering the community through support of and donations to area hospitals, foundations and the USO.
Connole has participated in fundraisers for cancer research including the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, the Komen 3-day Cancer Walk and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.
Robin Doerschuk
Robin Doerschuk started her career in 2004 with Alliance Solutions Group, a full-service staffing and recruitment agency. In 2011, she became part-owner when leadership bought out the original investor. She maintains her equity in the organization today.
Doerschuk is currently the vice president and general manager of Snip Internet, a fiber internet service provider. Recognizing a need for continuing education for women in business, she founded the Women’s Leadership Conference of Northeast Ohio in 2015, hosting more than 350 attendees. She serves on the board of directors for Cleveland SHRM and is the president of the Cleveland SHRM Foundation.
In 2009, Doerschuk was recognized by Inside Magazine as “One to Watch.” In 2014, she received the Distinguished Marketing and Sales Award from SME Cleveland. In 2015, she received the Women Who Excel Award from Smart Business Network. And in 2017, she was awarded a Women of Achievement Award by the Women’s Network of Ohio.
Susan M. Fuehrer
Susan M. Fuehrer joined the MetroHealth System in July and serves as president of the Institute for H.O.P.E. (Health, Opportunity, Partnership, Empowerment). In this role, she aims to address social determinants of health in an ambitious, comprehensive and coordinated manner. Ideally repairing the root causes affecting the overall well-being of people in the community so everyone can live their healthiest life.
Previously, Fuehrer served as the CEO and director of the VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System. She spent 34 years with the VA.
She completed her bachelor of science from the University of New Hampshire in 1986 and Master of Business Administration from Case Western Reserve University in 1990. She is a graduate of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. She currently serves on the boards of the Greater Cleveland American Red Cross, Cuyahoga Community College Foundation and the Center for Health Affairs. Fuehrer was a recipient of a Presidential Rank Award, the most prestigious award in federal career civil service, in 2019.
Polly Hanff
Polly Hanff is the global regulatory affairs and quality director at Saint-Gobain Life Sciences with overall responsibility to assure the quality and compliance of single-use systems manufactured for the pharmaceutical, cell therapy and medical device industries.
She has 15 years of experience in quality, compliance, risk management and regulatory affairs at several pharmaceutical operating companies.
Anne Harrill
Océanne is a line of minimalist modern jewelry by French designer Anne Harrill.
Established in 2006, Océanne cultivated a following in Cleveland and slowly expanded to apparel and home goods. Outgrowing her spare bedroom and then her first studio, Harrill opened her storefront in 2017, with the help of a team of creative women.
With an aesthetic that merges both the maker utility of the Rust Belt and the enduring beauty of French design, Océanne is a tribute to Harrill’s childhood in France and her journey to the Midwest.
Jennifer Hirt-Marchand
Joining Marcus Thomas in 1995, Jennifer Hirt-Marchand directs research operations for the agency, filling the roles of psychologist, cultural anthropologist, statistician, behavioral economist, sociologist and consumer. She has a background in strategic counsel and brand research and is passionate about translating data into rich insights that uncover new opportunities for her clients.
Hirt-Marchand has led major research initiatives for a range of clients, including Lubrizol, Swagelok, Troy-Bilt, Nationwide, Ohio Lottery and KeyBank. She has earned a reputation for consistently delivering actionable insights to her clients. She is a member of the American Marketing Association and Marketing Research Association.
Hirt-Marchand is a graduate of Cleveland Bridge Builders and has authored both academic and practical industry articles over the past 20 years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Ohio State University.
Ramona Hood
On Jan. 1, Ramona Hood will assume the title of president and CEO of FedEx Custom Critical, where she is currently vice president of operations, strategy and planning. Hood started her career in 1991 as a receptionist for Roberts Express, which was later purchased by FedEx and is now known as FedEx Custom Critical. She was recognized for her leadership within the company when she was awarded the FedEx Five Star award, the highest recognition FedEx employees can receive, in both 2010 and 2016.
In 2016, she received the Crain’s Cleveland Women of Note Award; Smart Women, Honoree of the Progress Woman Award; and the Woman of Influence award from the Women in Trucking Association. She was also recognized by the Greater Akron Chamber with the “30 for the Future” award.
In 2013, she was recognized by Sales & Marketing Executives International with a Distinguished Sales & Marketing Award. She also received the Woman of Inspiration Award from Walsh University.
Hood is a business adviser for the Welty Building Co., a local construction consulting company. She chairs the technology committee for Transportation Intermediary Association and was appointed to serve on its board of directors. She serves on the Summit Education Initiative board and the Cleveland State University Foundation. She served as chairman of the board of trustees for Child Appointed Special Advocates. Hood is a member of the Kent Area Chapter of The Links and Jack and Jill of America, Akron Chapter. Most recently, she was appointed to the board of directors for Walsh University in 2018.
While working at FedEx, Hood obtained a bachelor of arts in business management from Walsh University and an executive MBA from Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management.
Margaret M. Judd
Margaret M. Judd is president and owner of Executive Arrangements, a privately owned destination services firm that helps Northeast Ohio businesses attract and welcome talent from all over the world by providing highly customized community immersion experiences that connect job candidates and their families to the best of what the region has to offer.
Judd joined Executive Arrangements in 1991, was named president in 2001, and bought the firm from one of its founders in 2004.
Civic engagement is a core value at Executive Arrangements and Judd is no exception, with volunteer roles in area organizations including: the Playhouse Square Foundation, board member since 2004; COSE, Board of Advisors; Entrepreneurs Organization, board member, Accelerator; Downtown Cleveland Alliance Talent Attraction Advisory Committee; HR Leadership Group of NE Ohio, Membership Committee; Cleveland/Cuyahoga County Workforce Development board since 2018; John Carroll University, Boler School of Business Women’s Entrepreneurship Advisory Council; Leadership Cleveland, Class of 2007; Cleveland Bridge Builders, one of seven founding members, graduate of charter class; In Counsel with Women, member; and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program graduate, 2013.
Judd is co-founder of the annual Tremont Trek Home Tour, created in 2002 to showcase her neighborhood’s diversity, architecture, fine dining and walkability.
Laura Kepley
Laura Kepley became artistic director of the Cleveland Play House in 2013 and has directed numerous main-stage productions including "Every Brilliant Thing; Into the Breeches!"; "Tiny Houses" (world premiere, also at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park); "Sweat"; "The Diary of Anne Frank"; "Shakespeare in Love"; "The Crucible"; "Steel Magnolias"; "The Good Peaches" (world premiere); "Fairfield" (world premiere); "How I Learned to Drive" (also at Syracuse Stage); "The Little Foxes"; "Venus in Fur"; "Good People" (also at Syracuse Stage); "A Carol for Cleveland" (world premiere); "In the Next Room, or the vibrator play"; "My Name is Asher Lev"; and readings of Roe Green Award-winning plays "Tiny Houses"; "The Chinese Lady; Soups, Stews and Casseroles: 1976"; "Marjorie Prime"; and "Daphne’s Dive."
She joined Cleveland Play House in 2010, coming from the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island, where she was resident director and artistic associate for four seasons and interim director of the Brown/Trinity Rep M.F.A. in Directing Program. Kepley has also directed for The Alliance Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Chautauqua Theater Company, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Contemporary American Theatre Festival and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Kepley, an Ohio native, received her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and her master of fine arts from Brown University/Trinity Rep. She is a Drama League Fellow and a recipient of the 2009-2011 National Endowment for the Arts/Theatre Communications Group Career Development Program for Directors.
Autumn Kiser
As senior vice president of revenue and marketing, Autumn Kiser is responsible for guiding Playhouse Square’s institutional and brand marketing and sales and ticket operations for more than 1,000 curtains annually. She oversees the departments of marketing, publicity, communications, digital and social media marketing, season ticket retention and services, group sales, inside sales, sponsorship and the ticket office. In addition, she directs marketing and communications for the Playhouse Square District and the organization’s area development and real estate interests.
Kiser introduced the organization’s first institutional branding program and oversaw the unveiling of the GE Chandelier at a live event for 25,000 people, which garnered a Twitter response reaching 11 million accounts globally.
Her teams strategically grew the KeyBank Broadway Series to 46,000 season ticket holders. The result of this growth allowed for the series to expand to a three-week engagement per show. Cleveland is one of fewer than 10 markets in the country able to sustain that volume.
Prior to her 16 years with Playhouse Square, she spent 15 years with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where her responsibilities included brand development and implementation of marketing plans for season and single-ticket sales for both the Cavaliers and WNBA Rockers, as well as special events, family shows and concerts.
Heather Lennox
Heather Lennox has played a leading role in Jones Day's representations of debtors and potential debtors, creditors' committees, pre-petition secured lenders, bank groups, DIP lenders, credit card processors and other significant creditors in many of the nation's largest in-court and out-of-court corporate and municipal restructurings.
Lennox has substantial experience counseling clients in fraudulent conveyance, illegal dividend, fiduciary duty, piercing the corporate veil and mass tort issues in bankruptcy. She has represented entities in the structuring and consummation of spin-offs, distressed sales and acquisitions, ring-fencing transactions and other out-of-court restructuring transactions.
She is partner-in-charge of the Jones Day Cleveland office, and cleveland.com named her one of Northeast Ohio's Most Influential Women in 2019.
She is listed in the "Guide to the World's Leading Insolvency and Restructuring Lawyers," is a conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference (2012-present) and a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy. She is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association. Lawdragon 500 listed her among the Leading Lawyers in America in 2017.
Stacey L. Pfeifer
Stacey L. Pfeifer is the global customer service manager at Saint-Gobain, Bioprocess Solutions Division.
Prior to joining Saint-Gobain, she worked for two Northeast Ohio manufacturing companies as customer service/marketing manager and director of customer experience.
Pfeifer is a 2013 magna cum laude MBA graduate of Lake Erie College. She is a supporter of the American Cancer Society and has led the Relay For Life Teams in Lake County.
Tari S. Rivera
Tari S. Rivera founded Regency Construction Services in 1994. She has grown a three-person startup firm into a multimillion-dollar enterprise with a staff of 45 and a diverse health care, higher education, K-12 and civic client base.
As one of Ohio’s largest female owned construction management, design/build and general contracting firms, Regency has remained steadfast to Rivera’s early commitments to diversity and opportunity in the workplace and to creating a professional organization that encourages and empowers women and minorities in construction.
Rivera serves as past chair of the ACE Mentor Program in Cleveland and has been part of this initiative since its inception. The ACE program is very important to Rivera because it provides an opportunity to work with and mentor female and minority high school students about career opportunities in the construction industry. She is past chair and current board member of the Sisters of Charity Cleveland Foundation. Her awards include:
- 2019 YWCA Woman of Achievement Award
- 2008 Cleveland Engineering Society Hall of Fame
- 2006 National Association of Women in Construction Crystal Vision Award
- 2005 Arizona State University/NAWIC Outstanding Woman in Construction Award
- 2004 NAWIC Industry Appreciation Award
- 2004 Top 10 Women Business Owners in Northeast Ohio Award
- 2004 Athena Award Finalist
- 2001 The University of Akron distinguished alumnus, College of Engineering
Rivera is also a member of the National Association of Women in Construction and the American Society of Healthcare Engineering and is a Construction Employers Association board member.
Ana Rodriguez
Ana Rodriguez is the chief human resources officer at Lubrizol Corp. and is responsible for ensuring that Lubrizol hires, deploys, develops and retains the global talent necessary to achieve business objectives.
Prior to working for Lubrizol, Rodriguez was the chief human resources officer at Sotera Health, PolyOne and Molex. Rodriguez spent her formative career as an attorney and was general counsel at Molex before becoming the chief human resources officer. She holds a degree from the University of Michigan Law School.
She has had expatriate assignments in several countries and is fluent in Spanish, French and Italian.
Simrit Sandhu
Simrit Sandhu is the chief supply chain and support services officer at the Cleveland Clinic. In this role, Sandhu leads a multidisciplinary team that spans sourcing, procurement, materials management, and support services including food service, linen and laundry, patient transport, Cleveland Clinic’s Red Coat program and service express (call center).
Sandhu joined the Clinic in 2007. During her time there, she has developed and implemented a change management program and infrastructure that redefined supply chain from a site specific department to an organizational strategic imperative enabling the enterprise to save more than $560 million since 2010.
She has more than 15 years of experience in supply chain management, including health care supply chain, materials management, group purchasing and business development.
In 2015, in partnership with Vizient, she helped launch a joint-venture supply services company called Excelerate.
Sandhu received her bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and both a master of science in information systems and an MBA from Boston University.
Carol Simbeya
Carol Simbeya, vice president of sales and marketing at Charter Senior Living, has nine years of senior living sales experience and multi-site marketing leadership experience in independent living, assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing.
Her areas of expertise include multi-site sales support, sales strategy development, sales training and analyzing sales statistics and plan development based on data review.
Dalithia Smith
Dalithia Smith recently joined the Oatey Co., a global manufacturing leader in the residential and commercial plumbing industry, as the vice president of human resources. Smith serves as the strategic partner to the chief executive officer in leading the global human resources function.
Prior to joining Oatey, Smith served as the vice president of human resources of Americas Welding segment at Lincoln Electric, a global manufacturer of welding products. Prior to that, she managed the University Relations function at the Timken Co. in Canton. She also held various management positions in human resources, diversity, corporate finance and retail banking at organizations such as Ernst & Young and KeyBank.
Smith holds Senior Professional in Human Resources and the SHRM-Senior Certified Professional certifications. She is a national and local member of the Society for Human Resource Management. Past accomplishments include being recognized as one of Crain’s 2018 Notable Women in Manufacturing. Smith was previously appointed as a mayoral selection for the Cleveland/Cuyahoga County Workforce Investment Board and currently sits on the boards of The Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio and the YMCA.
She earned a bachelor of business administration in marketing with a minor in fashion merchandising from Ohio University. She also has an MBA from Cleveland State University.
Carol Stefano
As the aerospace commercial and technical director at the Saint-Gobain aerospace business unit, Carol Stefano leverages more than 30 years of experience in technical organizations across a variety of industries. She is responsible for the sales, marketing and customer service teams at three global sites and leads the engineering efforts.
In addition to her corporate experience, Stefano has started her own company and currently serves on the board of a family-owned business.
She is passionate about mentoring team talent to advance an individual's personal goals as well as business objectives. Stefano is especially committed to supporting minorities in pursuing STEM careers.
Jill Van Auken
Jill Van Auken is the principal and majority owner of Van Auken Akins Architects, an award-winning architecture, interior design and construction management firm in Cleveland.
With more than 35 years of professional experience, she has facilitated projects in nearly every sector.
She was recognized by the National Association of Women Business Owners as a Top Ten Business Owner, is a member of Smart Business’ Smart 50 Class of 2019 and was recently regarded as one of Greater Cleveland’s Most Influential Women by cleveland.com.
Jackie Wachter
Jackie Wachter is a co-founder and the creative director at Fount, a handbag and accessory brand focused on creating quality goods that are designed to last.
Wachter and her husband, Phillip, began their creative journey with Fount more than five years ago in their Cleveland Heights apartment, where they made all of the bags, wallets and necklaces.
Fount is now based in a warehouse studio in downtown Cleveland and has a retail location on Detroit Avenue in the Gordon Square Arts District.
Julie A. Weagraff
Julie Weagraff is the vice president of fund development for Girl Scouts of North East Ohio. She has more than 25 years of nonprofit management experience, and in 2014, she attained the Certified Fund Raising Executive credential.
She holds a master’s degree in nonprofit management from Case Western Reserve University and a bachelor’s degree in public relations with honors from Westminster College.
Weagraff currently serves on the boards of directors for the Northern Ohio Charitable Gift Planners and the Akron Symphony Orchestra. She also serves as a member of the Leadership Council of the Cleveland Leadership Center.
Kate Weber
Kate Weber, a native of Richmond Heights, developed a passion for journalism as early as high school. Although she went to the University of Pittsburgh to pursue a degree in medicine, journalism (this time the business side) was what she pursued post-college.
Always seeking new adventure, Weber drove to Boulder, Colorado, and after a brief stint at a local mall, landed her dream job with the Boulder Daily Camera. Over the following 16 years, she led several sales teams, product innovations and new business ventures, finding success where others had not.
In 2011, Weber was recruited to work with the Erie Times-News and goerie.com. Then in 2013, she took an opportunity to work in suburban Chicago as a publisher.
Weber now is back where it all began, in Cleveland, as the chief revenue officer for Advance Ohio.
Sue B. Workman
Sue B. Workman is vice president for university technology and the CIO at Case Western Reserve University, where she is responsible for creating the vision and strategies that enable the delivery of technology solutions to support the university’s mission of teaching, learning and research, and the day‐to‐day functions of the university. She has served as the NEOCC board president since the organization was incorporated. She is vice chair of the board of directors for EDUCAUSE and is an active board member for the First Mutual Holding Co. in Lakewood, while also serving on the board of DigitalC, a nonprofit civic tech collaboration that partners with the community to design technology-driven programs and services. She is involved with advisory boards for Internet2 and the Ohio Department of Higher Education CIO Committee.
Workman has played a key role in a collaboration between CWRU and the Cleveland Clinic with Microsoft to develop the first educational application for HoloLens, Microsoft’s augmented reality device.
Before joining CWRU, Workman served as Indiana University’s associate vice president for client services and support, where her team received multiple awards for innovative projects.
She has a bachelor of science from the University of Indianapolis in mathematics and secondary education. Workman has published widely in industry and higher education journals and gives presentations on many topics, offering her insights on topics including the change process, leadership, team-building practices and long-range and strategic planning.
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