Recognizing 20 Women of Influence this Women's History Month

Sivkheang Ly, Product Designer, Mindr
Siv is a UI/UX Designer focused on transforming design problems into practical solutions to help bridge the gap between the needs of end users and the products they leverage. Siv gathers user insights and client stakeholders' perspectives to understand their needs and create effective products. One of the most powerful skills Siv has obtained is communicating the status of the design process and explaining the design choices to all stakeholders, internal and external. She recently joined the Mindr team full time after several months as a contractor and is excited to support the team in scaling Mindr Connect to continue build belonging in the world's leading workplaces.

Susan Stefanelli, Vice President SEC Reporting, QIAGEN
‍Susan joined QIAGEN in 1998 shortly after the company’s IPO to establish and lead the financial reporting process. Prior to joining QIAGEN, Susan developed an expertise in complex financial consolidations, accounting transactions and external reporting at Arthur Andersen LLP, with a specialty focus on employee benefit plans. She has a master’s degree in Accounting from the University of San Diego and is a Certified Public Accountant. She currently serves as co-chair of the Executive Council on Equal Opportunity, the company’s diversity council, is one of the founders of the QIAGEN Communities, the company’s employee resource groups, and co-chairs QIAwomen. She is passionate about people and actively supports how to make improvements in QIAGENer’s lives possible.

Amy Spira, Head of Legal - Group Corporate & Deputy Company Secretary, Domain
Amy is passionate about corporate and commercial law with practice interests in mergers and acquisitions, media, technology and corporate governance. She has overseen various acquisitions where she has been responsible for end-to-end negotiations and demonstrated impressive deal management skills. Amy is known for her principled and relationship-focused negotiation style, optimising legal outcomes while laying the foundations for strong working relationships. She invests heavily in supporting junior attorneys as a committed mentor and leans in deeply to Domain Group's corporate strategy, bringing a strong solutions-focus on both legal and commercial challenges to help stakeholders understand the value of involving legal advisors. Amy was recognised as the ACC Corporate Lawyer of the Year 2019, an Australasian Lawyer In-House Leader in 2020, and in the GC Powerlist Rising Stars Australia in 2022.

Alicia Moody, Global Human Resources Director, Business Partner, Thermo Fisher Scientific
Alicia is a passionate, thoughtful and value driven HR leader who has supported recruitment, employee relations, talent development, operations, organizational design and program management while serving on leadership teams for over 10 years. In her current role as HR Director, Business Partner, she now supports the Commercial Process and Operations for Life Sciences and Laboratory Products business. Alicia passionately serves in diversity, equity and inclusion as a mediator in her local community, currently serving as the African Heritage Business Resource Group, Global Leader after previously leading the Career Development Pillar and supporting recruitment efforts for non-profits.

Chelsea Little, Senior Associate, Inclusion & Diversity, Philanthropy and Culture, Ares Management
‍Chelsea is the ERG Lead at Ares Management Corporation in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Department. Under her leadership, Ares has launched over thirteen communities with more than 1,000 global employees involved, and reestablished the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council with over 60 senior members at the firm. Previously, Chelsea worked in the Philanthropy Department managing Ares’s volunteering, giving, and engagement programs. With Chelsea’s understanding of DEI and fostering workplace belonging, she provides a centered space for the communities that she supports, as well as opportunities for allies to get involved, build community, and learn how to support. In 2020, Chelsea won the Women Worth Watching award in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Sonya Rubin, Chief Financial Officer, NYC Health + Hospitals
Sonya has extensive experience overseeing company budgets and forecasts to incorporate changing projections and operational strategies. In her role as Chief Financial Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals, she prepares and presents summary documents for City Council, the Deputy Mayor, and the H+H Board with a focus on political climate and internal/external relations. Sonya has developed and improved workflows to optimize Supply Chain, Account Payable, and vendor processes in accordance with federal funding requirements. Sonya has a Master of Public Administration (MPA), Urban Policy, Management, Immigration, Education, Labor Policy.

Samadhi Pelenda, Investor, Tidal Ventures
Samadhi is an investor at Tidal Ventures, an Australian Seed focused venture capital fund investing in B2B SaaS and software startups. Before joining Tidal, Sami worked in Investment Banking doing sector coverage of financial institutions, however longed for the chance to work alongside founders in their formative stages of building a company. Throughout her time in venture investing, Samadhi has become an advocate for elevating the voices of South Asians and women in the Australian technology community.

Heather Haigh, Managing Director and Head of Human Resources at Capstone Investment Advisors
As Head of Human Resources and Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Heather is responsible for leading Capstone’s global Human Resources strategy across all areas of talent management including onboarding, employee engagement, recognition, training and development, compensation and benefits, as well as leading initiatives that work to define and build a culture that embraces diversity and inclusion. Prior to joining Capstone in 2017, Heather was on the Human Capital team at Point72 where she led HR operations, compensation, benefits, HRIS and global mobility.  Heather has expertise in process reengineering and optimization, building teams and developing talent at all levels.

Amy VanHaren, CEO and Founder, pumpspotting
‍Amy is a working mother of two who felt deep isolation while trying to navigate the demands of both her career and breastfeeding, which inspired her to unite the nursing and pumping women of the world and to create a solution that makes it easy for organizations to attract, support, and delight families. In a quest to support mothers and families the pumpspotting team traveled 45,000 miles cross-country in their 40-foot RV called the Breast Express. Pumpspotting has since helped over 55,000 women meet their breastfeeding goals, pitched on a moving escalator on Apple’s reality show Planet of the Apps, been featured in FastCompany, and named a Next 1000 Entrepreneur by Forbes. Amy is passionate about creating feeding-friendly cultures and supporting women in their endeavors to work and mother, nurse and pump, and build companies that help women thrive.

Jordan Lubkeman, Principal, Impact Investing, Apollo Global Management
Jordan Lubkeman is a Principal on Apollo’s impact equity investment team, which focuses on investing in companies whose business models help achieve positive social and environmental impact to grow societal and financial value. Jordan helped develop the impact strategy at Apollo and firmly believes that business can be used as a force for good to drive scaled change in the world. She strives to use every opportunity in her career to make a positive impact in partnership with the companies and people she works with every day. Jordan is co-chair and a co-founder of MOSAIC, Apollo’s affinity network whose mission is to help enable the success and inclusion of Apollo’s ethnically-diverse employees.  She believes that improving the experience of ethnically-diverse colleagues at Apollo should be the work of all employees, regardless of their heritage – we each have an active role to play in expanding opportunity and making our community a better place for everyone.

Tish Archie-Oliver, Chief Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Officer, Unilever
‍Tish Archie-Oliver is twenty years into a successful career as a Diversity & Inclusion Practitioner and Talent Management expert. After spending the majority of her career in the financial services industry, she decided to transition to the Consumer Packaged Goods industry to diversify her experience and for the opportunity to build a best-in-class campus recruitment function. Tish dedicates her life to serving the community and developing the next generation of leaders. She serves as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Scholarship Cha of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Bergen-Passaic Chapter and an Advisory Board member for Brooklyn College’s School of Business.

Dawn Dortch, Senior Human Resources Business Partner, Signature Aviation
Dawn is a human resources leader experienced in helping managers understand the strong connection between diversity, inclusion, employee engagement, and business results.  She serves as chair of Signature’s Diversity & Inclusion Steering Committee and is extremely passionate about creating an inclusive environment where every member of the team has an equal opportunity to thrive. Prior to joining Signature, Dawn served as Director of Diversity & Inclusion at PulteGroup where she led the development of strategic diversity and inclusion initiatives aimed at increasing representation and belonging.

Jaime Schechter, Strategy & Operations Partner, Investment Funds Group, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Jaime holds broad responsibility for platform delivery of the Investment Fund Group’s market-leading data, strategic insights and know-how at Kirkland & Ellis. Her time is dedicated to innovative, project-based initiatives that highlight the Investment Funds Group’s (and Firm's) commitment to best practices, innovation, attracting and retaining top talent, training and development and delivering unparalleled shared resources. Jaime has advised large financial services firms, particularly investment advisers and sponsors of mutual funds, private equity funds and other pooled investment vehicles, regarding ongoing regulatory and compliance issues and private offerings of securities and has significant experience counseling registered open-and closed-end funds and their independent directors.

Margot Schmorak, CEO and Co-Founder, Hostfully
Margot is the CEO and Co-Founder at Hostfully, a software platform that helps tens of thousands of short term and vacation rental managers.  Hostfully brings bookings from Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, or direct bookings sites into a central calendar, automates guest communication, and facilitates payments.  Before Hostfully, Margot worked at Apple, launching the iPhone Developer Program in 2008. She was also Vice President of Marketing for $250M business unit at ServiceSource (NASDAQ SREV). Margot loves being mom to her three young kids, spending time with her husband, and singing with her a cappella group. She advises early stage startups, is an angel investor and LP, and is an ardent advocate for female / PoC founders. Margot is also a Co-Founder of VC-Backed Moms, and Co-Chair of the VRMA Committee on DEI.

Jennifer Leuer, Chief Executive Officer, Shootproof
‍Jennifer is focused on leading teams to learn, grow and achieve - consistently driving dramatic revenue and profit growth across both B2C and B2B markets. Jennifer believes this starts with articulating a vision, clarifying a strategy to get there, creating an intentional culture to provide a strong foundation, and being continually curious about the market and customers. She builds and fosters strong, aligned and diverse teams of great people who share her passion for curiosity, achievement and learning. Jennifer also serves on the Board of BigRentz and is co-chair of the non-profit Octane. She is known as a good and kind person both at home and in the workplace. And she is passionate about helping individuals thrive throughout their career journeys.

Sharisse Francisco, Vocalist, Performer, and Self-Empowerment Coach
Sharisse is a Queer, Afro Latina artist, performer, and vocalist. In addition to her creative pursuits, she is also a mental health advocate and mindfulness, self expression, and self empowerment coach. Sharisse supports clients by providing tools and practices that help them regulate their nervous system, enhance their emotional intelligence, and activate their voice and self-expression. Through her work, Sharisse helps her clients build their communication skills and gain confidence to access, embrace, and amplify their authentic selves.

Cristin McDaniel, Head of M&A Integration, Experian
Cristin is a leader with notable expertise in M&A Integration, where she has earned a reputation for empathetic leadership, productively challenging the status quo, and effectively managing competing interests of stakeholders. Cristin is a consultative and facilitative leader skilled in cultivating authentic relationships and collaborating with executives, management staff, and front-line employees to optimize organizational structures and foster operational excellence. Cristin has demonstrated an ability to ramp knowledge quickly across diverse industries, evolve governance, identify and address risks, and develop strategies that drive shareholder value.

Sarah Paiji Yoo, CEO and Co-Founder, Blueland
‍Sarah is the Co-Founder and CEO at Blueland, where she is revolutionizing conventional cleaning and personal care products to eliminate the need for single-use plastic packaging, while prioritizing the planet and people. Sarah is a purpose-driven serial entrepreneur passionate about innovation and using business as a force for good. She was previously a Partner at LAUNCH, creating and operating new consumer businesses including M.Gemi, Rockets of Awesome and Follain. Prior to LAUNCH, was co-founder and CEO of Snapette, the largest mobile platform for local fashion shopping, which was sold to leading e-commerce platform PriceGrabber in 2013. Sarah has contributed to The Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Forbes, Time, InStyle and Glamour, and previous speaking engagements and appearances include the Today Show, CNBC, ABC News, Harvard, and Shark Tank.