SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Informa Markets, part of the world’s largest and leading B2B events organizer, today announced that Lori Silva, managing director, Advanced Manufacturing Group, has been recognized by the Business Council for Peace (Bpeace) for the Lifetime Impact Award. The Bpeace Women Forward Awards will celebrate Silva, alongside nine female leader winners, at the Cornell Club in New York City on Thursday, June 6. Proceeds from the breakfast will support Bpeace’s International Mentoring and Advisory program for businesswomen in historically violent communities.
“Effecting change within an organization has always been a strategic priority for me; it is truly an honor to be recognized by the Bpeace Women Forward Awards for the programs I have worked to develop that markedly improve gender diversity and advance women leaders,” said Silva. “This award encourages us to further accelerate our efforts to advance diversity and design cultures where women want to work and thrive.”
The Bpeace Women Forward Awards honor organizations and individuals who are mentoring women forward. Following a nationwide call for nominations, winners were determined by a blue-ribbon panel of female CEO-level judges selected from among 45 finalists representing a range of industries and sectors.
The Bpeace Women Forward Judges were Alicia Hamilton, SVP of Strategy and Growth, Worth; Lisa Hetfield, interim director, Rutgers Institute for Women’s Leadership; Kathleen King, Founder, Tate’s Bake Shop; and Karen Vander Linde, executive mentor, Merryck & Co.
“Bpeace wanted to shine a light on the impact individual leaders can have mentoring women forward in U.S. corporations, much the same way Bpeace volunteers mentor businesswomen forward in economically challenged communities like El Salvador and Guatemala,” said Toni Maloney, CEO, Bpeace. “At Bpeace we recognize and celebrate the power of courageous individuals to advance women, both at home and abroad.”
The 2019 Women Forward Awards individual winners are:
LIFETIME IMPACT AWARD
Lori Silva, Informa Markets – Throughout Lori Silva’s professional career she has focused on being a positive role model and mentor to women in her industry. In 2017 she was appointed as the global lead for gender diversity at UBM Plc, a global B2B events and exhibitions organizer where she works to further advance the careers of women in the organization. Lori stated recently, “Even outside of business I support programs that support young girls, both in building their confidence and helping them to understand that they can have careers, lead, and be strong, professional women.”
Liz Smith, AllianceBernstein – Liz Smith has spent her career mentoring women inside Alliance Bernstein, the global asset management firm, and across the financial services industry. From organizing events on women’s advancement, bringing groups of dynamic women together to share knowledge and foster growth, providing individual mentorship to arranging diversity conferences to raise her clients’ awareness of the issue, Liz demonstrates the way to advance women through her own leadership example. Liz believes, “Every woman has to be responsible for helping another woman, because we can't do it alone.”
Mary Stutts, Stanford Health Care – Mary Stutts has impacted the careers of thousands of women as a senior Communications leader at top companies like Genentech, Kaiser, Comcast and, currently, Stanford Health. Her many personal mentoring experiences, workshops, speaking engagements, her book, The Missing Mentor: Women Advising Women on Power, Progress and Priorities, and her nonprofit The Excellent Life Center, have allowed her to share her hard-earned career lessons with thousands of women. Mary stated that, “the highlight of my career has just been the opportunity to mentor so many incredible men and women, whether they reported to me, were on my team, or I met as I was out speaking.”
Fran Pastore, Women’s Business Development Council – Fran Pastore is both a mentor to women around the world as well as a catalyst for thousands of mentorships stemming from her position as the Founder and CEO of the Women’s Business Development Council (WBDC). Fran said recently, “I know how important it is to have someone who helps restore your confidence and believes in you because the biggest challenge and the biggest threat to a woman's success, I believe, is a lack of confidence.”
Kenneth Roman, Ogilvy & Mather (retired) – Kenneth Roman joined Ogilvy & Mather in 1963, becoming a catalyst for change when it came to promoting women into senior roles in the agency. Among his many firsts, both at the company and within the industry: female account executive; female General Counsel; female board member; company sponsored Day Care Facility; opened all company training programs to women. Ken was gender blind when looking for the best talent to grow the business. In his own words, “It just never occurred to me to do anything but to hire the best person.”
MENTOR OF DISTINCTION
Melissa Hartzell, Investors Bank – At Investors Bank, Melissa devotes much of her time to mentoring women through the Women’s Leadership Forum. Melissa also serves as president of the Board of Directors of Dress for Success in Northern New Jersey, the global nonprofit that offers solutions to break the cycle of poverty and empower women to safer and better futures. “I pride myself on recognizing talent and potential in people and working to turn that potential into success.”
Evelyn Isaia, Ratatouille and Company – Ratatouille is a high-end catering company with a mission to provide refugee and immigrant women with the tools they need to become empowered, skilled, and independently successful in the culinary arts. Evelyn is passionate about giving women, particularly immigrants, a chance to succeed, “We work to find women who have an interest in culinary arts, then we train them. And one of our trainees, Tatiana, went on to be garde manager at one of Jean-Georges' restaurants!”
Kristy Wallace, Ellevate Network – As CEO of Ellevate Network, a global network of professional women committed to elevating each other through education, inspiration, and opportunity, Kristy has developed three key mentoring programs: Ellevate Squads, Mentoring Meetups and Leadership Lunches, all to illuminate the pathway to leadership for women through coaching and relationship building. Kristy commented on her passion for mentoring recently, “I just think it's about being a person who's invested in the success of others -- seeing the big picture of more women moving forward and asking what does that impact and what role can we each individually play in driving that impact?”
RISING STAR AWARD
Laura Barger, Raines International – In her role at Raines, a global executive search firm, Laura feels an obligation to mentor the women she hires into the company so that they have the best opportunities to succeed. She also volunteers as a Mentor Coach with America Needs You, providing transformative mentorship and intensive career development for first-generation college students. Even in college Laura volunteered with fifth grade girls helping them to develop a positive self-image. Laura said recently, “I need to do something with my life where I'm a force for good and I need to help the next generation.”
21st CENTURY NEWCOMER
i-tri Theresa Roden – The Inspirational Triathlon Racing International, Inc.(i-tri) grew out of Theresa Roden’s own personal transformation after completing her first triathlon at age 35. Theresa thought that if girls could learn at 13 what she had just learned at 35, it could change their lives immensely. Theresa recalled recently, “That first year we were able to mentor these girls and they learned so much that the following year they mentored the next group of girls. They got so excited they're like, ‘I want to find a girl just like me, a girl who is afraid to swim, and I want to help her.’”
Joining in the honors will be stars from television and Broadway, including:
- Amy Hargreaves, “Homeland”
- Condola Rashad, “Billions”
- Erin Dark, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel “
- Geneva Carr, “Bull”
- Jessica Hecht, “Breaking Bad”
- Jessie Mueller, “Carousel”
- Sakina Jaffrey, “Homeland”
Tickets for the Women Forward Awards Breakfast are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/women-forward-2019-tickets-59069784315
Press Contact
Lauren Lloyd, lauren.lloyd@ubm.com, (310) 266-4792
About Informa Markets
Informa Markets creates platforms for industries and specialist markets to trade, innovate and grow. Our portfolio is comprised of more than 550 international B2B events and brands in markets including Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals to Infrastructure, Construction & Real Estate, Fashion & Apparel, Hospitality, Food & Beverage, and Health & Nutrition, among others. We provide customers and partners around the globe with opportunities to engage, experience and do business through face-to-face exhibitions, specialist digital content and actionable data solutions. As the world’s leading exhibitions organizer, we bring a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them to thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, please visit www.informamarkets.com.
About the nonprofit Bpeace
When women work, violence in a region lessens.
When women lead, historically violent communities stabilize.
And when women business leaders have support, communities accelerate toward peace and prosperity.
Bpeace (the Business Council for Peace) is committed to a world where women business leaders in historically violent communities have the tools and support to succeed, grow, and create good jobs.
More jobs mean less violence®
To learn how your business skills and experience can accelerate peace and prosperity, go to www.bpeace.org