2008 Annual Salute to Career Women of Achievement Luncheon
April 29, 2008

The 2008 YWCA Salute to Career Women of Achievement Luncheon was a great success.

We are proud to thank our Sponsors, Supporters and Staff. Without you, this very important event would not be possible.

YWCA Career Women of Achievement Honorees, Mamie Earl Sells Scholarship Recipient and the Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Fund Scholarship Recipient. Back Row: Monica Posey, Gina Drosos, Laura, Brunner, Maribeth Rahe, Crystal Faulkner Front Row: Celine Taribo-Piri, Amber Henderson, Uma Kotagal, Ryan Byes, Sandra Meyer

Event Co-Chair, Kathy Daly, YWCA Board Chair, Penny Pensak, President & CEO, Charlene Ventura, Keynote Speaker, Soledad O’Brien and Event Co-Chair, Adrienne James.

THE YWCA 2008 CAREER WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT

	Laura N. Brunner, Managing Principal, Colliers Turley Martin Tucker First and only female to serve as Managing Principal at CTMT, a $130 million dollar company. Active member of Executive Committee and Board. Personally manages annual budget of $18M and is responsible for 140 employees, including 30 brokers, in Cincinnati and Dayton. First female leader of a major commercial real estate firm in the Cincinnati region First female partner at 40-year old accounting firm Barnes, Denning & Co. One of only two women to serve as Board President of the Dan Beard Council of the Boy Scouts of America, where she championed ScoutREACH, a program targeting inner-city children for Boy Scout participation Passed the CPA exam on first attempt, after completing her degree in only 3 years The Playhouse in the Park, Board Member Christ College of Nursing and Health Science, Treasurer Downtown Cincinnati, Inc., Board Member Cincinnati USA Partnership, Steering Committee Member The Cincinnatus Association, Member
	Gina Drosos, President, Global Personal Beauty, The Procter and Gamble Company President of P&G’s Global Personal Beauty, a $6 billion organization with over 15,000 people. Celebrated 20th anniversary with P&G in 2007 Transformed Olay into leading global franchise increasing sales more than 600 percent Led Olay’s expansion into new beauty segments and global markets including Spain, Russia, Turkey and Poland Launched several breakthrough Olay products including Regenerist (2003), Total Effects (2000), Daily Facials (2000), and Olay Moisturizing Body Wash – the 1st body wash in U.S. Market (1994) Cosmetic Executive Women: 1998 – present 2007 Cosmetic Exec. Women Building Leaders Achiever Award Big Brother/Big Sister – Cincinnati American Cancer Society Event Coordinator – Cincinnati Indoor Tennis Women’s Career League Player – USTA/Cincinnati Youth League Basketball Coach – Cincinnati YMCA & Lutherville/Timonium Recreation League
	Crystal Faulkner, Partner, Cooney, Faulkner & Stevens, LLC First CPA firm to have been awarded the Small Business Excellence Award by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber Founder of Accounting for Kids Day, an annual event that extends statewide, reaching over 10,000 children in 22 Ohio cities in 2007 1st woman President of Assoc. of Corporate Growth in Cincinnati A Freedom’s Hero by National Underground Freedom Center Beacon of Light Award by Lighthouse Youth Services First Woman to Chair the Hamilton County Business Center Former President of Cinci. Ctr. of Certified Public Accountants 2008 Cincinnati Leading Women Awardee Host of the WCPO Channel 9 weekly Business Report Tax Expert for the Cincinnati Enquirer Host and Financial Expert of Fifth Third Business Beat Weekly Radio Host of Business Wise, WNKU & WMKV Serves on Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce Board, Executive Committee & Government Affairs Council Cincinnati Union Bethel Board of Directors, Executive Committee First & only woman to win the Hamilton Co.Development Company Larry Albice Award (2002) 2002 Cincinnati Chamber Community Service Award
	Uma Raman Kotagal, Senior VP, Quality & Transformation; Director, Division of Health Policy & Clinical Effectiveness, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center 1 of top 3 female executives at Cincinnati Children’s. Leads 75 employees, manages annual budget of $4.8m & produced more pediatric evidence-based guidelines than any other institution VP of Quality & Transformation in 2002; Senior VP in 2006 Professor of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati Director, Regional Center for Newborn Intensive Care at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (1990-1993) Director of newborn nurseries at University Hospital (1984-1993) Instrumental in Cincinnati Children’s receiving Quest for Quality Prize (American Hospital Association, 2006) and Innovative Solutions Award (Greater Cincinnati Health Council, 2007) Led 2-year collaborative among 10 area hospitals to implement evidence-based practice to reduce central line and surgical site infections, resulting in Codman Award (2005, Joint Commission) Quality Improvement Advisor for project to improve outcomes for pregnant women & newborns in Malawi, Africa. Travels to Africa every 2-3 months and spends up to 2-weeks coaching staff at 9 hospitals in central Malawi and government leaders and others Volunteer Leadership Award, Health Improvement Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati, 2003
	Sandra P. Meyer President, Duke Energy Ohio and Duke Energy Kentucky Leads Duke Energy’s Ohio and Kentucky operations, serving approx. 650,000 in southwest Ohio and approx. 145,000 customers in 6 northern Kentucky counties First female officer of Texas Eastern Corporation First female Pres. of the Houston Chapter of Financial Executives International Duke Energy Pinnacle Award, 2006 Charlotte, NC Women in Business Achievement Award, 2000  Financial Executives International, National Large Chapter Professional Development Award, 1995 2007 Fine Arts Fund Cabinet Board member: Cincinnati USA Regional Partnership Board, Cincinnati Business Committee, Cinti. City Center Develop. Corp. Board member, Regional Stewardship Council, Bethesda Inc., Ohio Business Roundtable, and United Way of Greater Cincinnati Former Pres. & Board member of ESCAPE Family Resource Center (Houston); Board member Advanced Energy Inc. (Raleigh) PACE Volunteer Leadership Award, 1996
	Celine Taribo Piri President & CEO, TariCel Management Staffing Manages 15 full-time employees and 1,800 temporary employees across three states Small Business Excellence Award finalist, Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, 2007 First woman Vice President and later, President, of the Nigerian Association of Greater Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Human Resources Association, Board member and Diversity Chair Vice Chair, South Central OHMinority Business Council’s MBEIC  President, Nigerian Women Eagles Club  Founding member, Gtr. Cinti. Women Chamber of Commerce Founding member, Women of AT&T Cincinnati Chapter Former member, AT&T Diversity Council Runner-up, 2007 Woman of the Year (WE Celebrate) Nefertiti Award, Cincinnati Herald & Sesh Communications, 2002 Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce, Board member and Membership Chair Cincinnati USA Minority Advisory Board Member CPS, Bethany House and Tender Mercies volunteer
	Monica J. Posey, VP of Academics, Cincinnati State Technical & Community College Manages $30 million budget, 240 full-time & 400 part-time staff Established new programs in Renewable Energy, Power Systems, Safety & Security Management, Legal Assistant, Technology and Pastry Arts, in collaboration with college Deans Negotiated relocation of Gtr. Cinti. Tech Prep Consortium to Cincinnati State Leading Woman Award, 2005 Chair-elect Chief Academic Officer Council, 2007-present, Greater Cincinnati Consortium of College & Universities CPS Woodward Career Tech. High School Advisory Committee Health Improvement Collaborative of Gtr. Cinti., Board of Trustees Minorities in Mathematics, Science & Engineering Board of Trustees; Annual Fundraising Luncheon Co-Chair, 2004 Ohio Learning Network Chair Governing Board, 2005 – 2007  Coop. Educ. Advisory Board, 2003–06, College Mount St. Joseph OH Cooperative Education Assoc. former Exec. Board Member St. Mark Catholic Church Keeping the Dream Alive Award, 2004 Phi Theta Kappa International. Honor Society, Hon.Member, 2004 NKY Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance ML King Convene for the Dream Award, 2003
	Maribeth Rahe, President & CEO, Fort Washington Investment Advisors 1 of 5 women in executive management at Western & Southern Manages an annual budget of over $30 billion Oversees five offices in four states with more than 105 employees Member of the Women’s Markets Steering Committee The Executive Order of the Ohio Commodores, 2007 Athena Award Finalist, 2007 The Committee of 200 (C200), member and Board of Directors Capital Analysts Incorporated, Chairman of the Board (a wholly owned subsidiary of Western & Southern) Center for Women's Business Research, Advisory Council Todd Investment Advisors, Inc., Board Consolidated Communications Illinois Holdings, Inc., Board YWCA Outstanding Career Women of Achievement Chicago '93 Cincinnati Arts Association, Trustee and Treasurer Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, Advisory Board, Xavier University, Williams College of Business, Board of Executive Advisors; CincyTech, Advisory Board Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce, Board

The YWCA gratefully acknowledges the following presenting sponsors of this year's Salute to Career Women of Achievement: The Procter & Gamble Company and The Macy's Fund of the Federated Department Stores Foundation. 

2008 YWCA 2008 Mamie Earl Sells Scholarship Recipient

2008 Charlotte Schmidlapp Fund Scholarship Recipient

Ryan Byes, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Currently studying occupational therapy Participates in the YWCA Employment Retention Program Plans to attend the University of Cincinnati to complete her Bachelor of Arts in Nursing.   Learn more about the Charlotte Schmidlapp Fund Scholarship

2008 Career Women of Achievement Keynote Speaker

Soledad O'Brien

Soledad O'Brien is an anchor and special correspondent for CNN: Special Investigations Unit, reporting hour-long documentaries throughout the year and filming in-depth series on the most important ongoing and breaking news stories for all major CNN programs. O'Brien joined CNN in July 2003 as the co-anchor of the network's flagship morning program, American Morning, and distinguished herself by reporting from the scene on the transformational stories that broke on her watch. Her efforts following Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in Phuket, Thailand, have earned her numerous awards and critical acclaim. In 2007, O'Brien garnered a Gracie Allen Award for her reporting from Cyprus on the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict as well as her reports from the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. The NAACP honored O’Brien with its President's Award in recognition of her humanitarian efforts and journalistic excellence. O'Brien earned the Mickey Leland Humanitarian Award from the National Association of Minorities in Cable in 2006 and has received honorary degrees from Siena College and Mercy College. She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. O'Brien is a graduate of Harvard University with a degree in English and American literature.

Previous Keynote Speakers include Cokie Roberts, Maya Angelou, Anna Quindlen and Alexis Herman.  To view list of past Speakers, click here.