Executive Women’s Roundtable Forum

The Executive Women’s Roundtable forum provides an environment to support the advancement of women’s careers where female professionals can meet industry leaders, learn from peers and allow each professional the opportunity to build and foster relationships in their network.

Exclusive sessions with industry leaders and peer-learning roundtables foster this network and deliver key information and thought leadership.

Panelists:

Date: 11/11/2010
Time: 4:00pm-6:00pm
Location: Westin Hotel 21 E. 5th St. Cincinnati, OH 45202
Cost: $5 members $10 non-members

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Vanessa Freytag

Vanessa Freytag is Executive Director of The Women’s Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation. The four key areas comprising the Women’s Fund Agenda for the Future are: Promote Women Leaders–lead collaborations that increase leadership development, networking and mentoring; Close the Gap–reduce disparities faced by women of color, women in poverty and women heading households alone; Grow Strong Girls–increase opportunities for girls to connect with their families, peers, school and community; Assess Progress–support opportunities to collect gender-specific data. The Women’s Fund has also spearheaded 1000 Women Strong which includes an online community for women in the region interested in learning about and working on the issues addressed in the Agenda for The Future and a community focused donor circle.

Ms. Freytag previously was President and Founder of W-Insight, Inc., a consultancy, which developed marketing strategies and programs to assist corporations in effectively marketing and selling to women. W-Insight in collaboration with Partners in Change also developed the Women’s Philanthropy Mastermind program to assist non-profits with expanding their efforts to tap into women’s charitable giving. W-Insight has also trained more than 3,000 field salespeople through the program, “Capture The Buying Power of Women?: Best Practices for Selling to Women”.

In 2005, Ms. Freytag became the Co-Publisher and Co-Founder of Women’s Business Cincinnati, a monthly newspaper that reached 20,000 women in the Tristate. Ms. Freytag was named the 2006 Midwest Small Business Journalist of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Before founding her companies, Ms. Freytag was the Senior Vice President/National Director for JP Morgan Chase’s (formerly Bank One) Women’s Initiative. She developed one of the first national strategies to address the banking needs of women entrepreneurs through which Chase captured a leading position in the women’s market. In total, she spent 14 years at various banks in Commercial banking.

Partial List - Books, Articles, Awards:

  • 2008 ATHENA Award Finalist
  • 2007 Woman of Distinction, Girl Scouts Western Ohio Council
  • 2006 Midwest Region Small Business Journalist of the Year, U.S. SBA
  • 2005 YWCA Rising Star Award
  • 1996 Cincinnati Business Courier “Forty Under 40” award
  • Co-Author-“Life Lessons At Her Table” & "Wise Women: Success Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs”
Partial List of Current and Past Community Involvement:
  • Bad Girl Ventures, Advisory Board and Business Mentor
  • Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, Women Excel Advisory Council Member and Co-Chair of WE Celebrate Awards
  • The Greater Cincinnati Foundation, Giving Strategies Committee
  • Women’s Economic Leadership Development (WELD)
  • Women Entrepreneurs Incorporated, Board of Trustees
  • Co-Chair ATHENA PowerLink
  • Leading Women and WE Celebrate Judge



Sue Allen

Sue Allen, Senior Vice President Credit Operations, Macy’s Credit and Customer Services, oversees the Credit Granting, Customer Service and Collection functions for the Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores and the American Express credit programs and is also responsible for the management of key partner relationships for Macy’s.

Sue began her career with Macy’s in 1984 while in college working for Broadway Stores Inc. in Arizona. Sue continued to work in various positions in her early career. After graduation from Arizona State University Sue went to work for American Express in the Western Regional Operation in Phoenix, AZ, until 1991 when Broadway Stores Inc. recruited her back to assist in the consolidation of their credit operations. Federated Department Stores, now Macy’s Inc, eventually acquired Broadway Stores Inc. Sue was ultimately promoted to Managing Director of Credit Granting at the Macy’s Credit and Customer Services West facility. In 1999 she was promoted to Vice President Credit Granting and relocated to the Macy’s Credit and Customer Services Central facility located outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. During her time at Macy’s Sue has held the position of Vice President Risk Management and Business Relationships and Vice President/Relationship Manger for the Macy’s alliance with Citibank. In 2005 Sue was promoted to Senior Vice President Credit Operations, which is the position she currently holds.

Sue currently serves as a YWCA of Greater Cincinnati Board Member and is the Co-Chair for the Mamie Earl Sells Scholarship Award Committee. Sue also serves on the YWCA Career Women of Achievement Steering Committee. Sue is active in supporting the United Way and was a Macy's Representative on the 2007 Greater Cincinnati United Way Campaign Cabinet. This cabinet was challenged to reach the Cincinnati business community during the annual campaign. Through the Macy’s Partners in Time program, Sue joins many volunteer opportunities, such as the MS Walk and People Working Cooperatively Fall Prepare Affair. Sue served as a mentor for many years in the Macy’s Credit and Customer Services Mentoring program.

Sue holds her Bachelor of Science in Finance from Arizona State University. She also holds a Masters of Business Administration from Arizona State University. She resides outside of Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and three year old son.


Sue Allen

Laura Brunner is a passionate, energetic, solutions-driven business leader with a stronghold of experience in the accounting, management consulting and commercial real estate industries. Leadership skills and financial savvy honed from more than twenty five years of corporate and nonprofit board experience anchor a career focused on accountability and discipline to drive sound decisions and deliver results.

Laura spent the initial 15 years of her career in public accounting -- the majority as a firm principal -- most recently at Barnes, Dennig & Company, a regional firm of 80 professionals which counts among its client base both high-net worth individuals and privately held middle-market companies. Laura performed audit and tax work for both, and increasingly was sought out for counsel on operational and business strategy matters by company CEO’s and executives who appreciated the forthright manner in which she delivered advice.

Recognizing a niche for sound, principled counsel for mid-sized firms hitting growth plateaus for a variety of reasons, she then co-founded a management consulting practice focused on strategic planning, performance measurement and executive compensation design. Laura and her partners built long-term relationships and contributed to many significant client successes. Clients with high-level personnel challenges often proved most rewarding for Laura’s practice. She guided CEOs through the terminations of long-time executives, partner buy-outs and transitions to next-generation family ownership.

In 2005, Laura was recruited to lead two offices of one of the nation’s largest commercial real estate brokerage firms, a company with significant focus in sale and lease transactions, asset and property management and investment services. She served on the company’s board of directors and executive committee. This was another groundbreaking position for Laura – she was the first woman managing principal of any Colliers International office in the US, and was quickly recognized for her ability as a rainmaker, as well as to recruit and retain women brokers in this predominately male field. Laura, throughout her career, has demonstrated an unflagging ability to position women to achieve higher ranks in a corporate structure; and at the same time created the environment that helped make that happen; without disenfranchising the opportunities of others.

In 2008, Laura was recruited to a new position at a 114-year-old real estate development and design-build construction firm as executive vice president of business development. Laura leads strategic business development, the sales team, environmental sustainability, marketing and public relations and serves on the firm’s executive committee. Her focus is forging high-performance alliances between firms to meet the complex demands of a changing marketplace.


Sue Allen

While Diane hails from humble Cincinnati beginnings, her desire to make a difference in the world took her on a journey that led her to historic and culturally rich Liberia, West Africa. There she owned a successful business, served as a midwife, and she witnessed the 1980 military coup. Those experiences taught Diane the value of purpose, passion, and persistence. Diane uses these keys to guide organizations and coach individuals through transformational processes that unlock their potential and lead them to achieve their goals. Diane recently published historical novel, FREE SOIL, which is her dramatic account of a tragic period in Liberia’s history.

Diane’s professional career spans three decades. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati with Bachelor and Master Degrees in Education. She holds formal certifications in Organization and Human Resource Development, Leading Learning Organizations, and Strategic Leadership Development. A Class XXXII member of Leadership Cincinnati, she co-chairs the Inclusion Weekend Program. Diane is a Class I alumna of Urban League Leadership Development Program, and returns each year to facilitate Human Services Day.

Diane is a systems thinker and critical listener, two strengths that helped propel her thirteen-year career success at Beech Acres Parenting Center, first as Vice President of Organizational Effectiveness and then as Chief Operating Officer, the position she holds today. She effectively leads the organization to achieve annual plans and budgets. She authored the application and led the process that positioned the organization to become the inaugural overall winner of the Organizations of Noteworthy Excellence, ONE Award, sponsored by Cincinnati Business Courier. She navigated the change process that transformed Beech Acres into a learning organization. As acting CEO in the CEO’s absence, Diane led the organization through the 2001 civil unrest and the September 11, 2001 crises. As spokesperson, she appeared on television to discuss how to talk to your children about the news.

As a process facilitator and speaker, Diane has a wealth of stories of will and wanting, joy and sorrow, truth and discovery, which she uses to keep audiences on the edge of their seat with humor and enthusiasm. She offers practical tips that are immediately applicable. She has conducted board development for numerous organizations and she is a sought after executive coach.

Diane is a 2010 YWCA Career Woman of Achievement and a 2009 Fifth Third Bank Profile in Courage honoree. She recently participated in the 100 Wise Women breakfast panel. Diane was listed among the one hundred notable African Americans in the July 13, 2008 Cincinnati Enquirer and was profiled in the July 2005 Cincinnati Women’s Business.

Diane is a member of Toastmasters International, A Small Group, Vistage Key Group, and the Society for Human Resource Management, Cincinnati Urban League, board member of Elementz Hip Hop Center and Sankofa Enrichment, and a past board member of Lighthouse Youth Services, Comprehensive Community Child Care (4 C), and the American Heart Association (Cincinnati Affiliate). Diane was a community facilitator for the ARIA Group, which data led to the Cincinnati Collaborative Agreement. Her former advisory affiliations include the National Advisory Committee for Cultural Competence of the Child Welfare League of America and Children’s Defense Fund.


Karen Bankston

Karen Bankston, Ph.D., M.S.N., FACHE, is the senior vice president of Drake Center, Inc., part of the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati., and an adjunct professor in graduate nursing at Xavier University. Dr. Bankston previously served as the senior vice president of external affairs for the Health Alliance responsible for local, state and federal government relations, community relations, marketing and public relations. She also served as the external affairs liaison to neighborhood councils, the Uptown Consortium, United Way and other community agencies, and oversaw the Health Alliance departments of community health and diversity.

Prior to that she held positions as vice president of operations and vice president for patient care/chief nursing officer at University Hospital in Cincinnati. She served as associate dean of clinical services and clinical assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing and Health. She also held nursing and nurse management positions at Western Reserve Care System in Youngstown, Ohio.

She is actively involved in numerous boards including the Greater Cincinnati Health Council, YWCA, United Way of Greater Cincinnati, Cincinnati State Technical & Community College, Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, and the Hamilton County Office on Maternal & Infant Health and Mortality Reduction.

Dr. Bankston was elected to a three-year term on the governing council of the American Hospital Association’s Section for Long-Term Care & Rehabilitation in January 2008, which advises AHA on policy issues, advocacy positions, emerging issues, and member service strategies. She also served on the national task force to assist the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) with identifying criteria for admission to post-acute care services.

Locally, she is involved in the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber’s Agenda 360, co-leading the Inclusion Priority Focus area and continues to volunteer in efforts supporting the need for care to the poor and in the development of young African-American professionals. She played a role in getting legislation changed for distribution of medication for the charitable pharmacy established by St. Vincent DePaul, and was a member of its founding board. She is former chair and member of the board of the Center for Closing the Health Gap and was responsible for the formation of this organization. She led United Way’s Oral Health Initiative which created the foundation for a regional approach to dental services in the eight-county region.

She has received numerous awards and honors, including: 2010 United Way Joseph A. Hall award for Promoting Diversity, Cincy Magazine Athena Finalist 2009; Corporate Woman of the Year–USA Regional Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce; YWCA Career Woman of Achievement Award; Business Courier Health Care Hero; Linda Bates Parker Legacy Award 2010; Cincinnati Human Relations Pope Leadership Award; Girl Scouts Woman of Distinction Award, and Cincinnati YMCA Black Achiever. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, Delta XI, International Nursing Honor Society and the Cincinnati Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta. She is a graduate of Leadership Cincinnati Class XXVII.

Dr. Bankston earned an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree from Youngstown State University, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) from Kent State University, and a doctoral degree (PhD) from the University of Cincinnati with a focus on administration and organizational behavior.