Workplace culture is key to a thriving and successful organization. Join a panel of esteemed industry leaders to learn how to create and foster an innovative company culture.
Moderator:
Susan Duffy, Executive Director of the Center For Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership at Babson College
As the Executive Director of the Babson College Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (CWEL), Susan Duffy educates, inspires and empowers women to transform their entrepreneurial potential into social and economic impact. Under her leadership the CWEL offers a portfolio of world class programs for undergraduate, graduate and executive women; disseminates research into the unique skills and experiences of women entrepreneurial leaders; and advances gender enlightenment as a growth strategy for all individuals and organization. She is the co-founder of Babson’s Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab, an early stage venture accelerator for women who are ready to think big, be bold, and grow successful companies. The CWEL and WIN Lab have been recognized as one of Boston’s 50 on Fire, a pedagogy award finalist for “Specialty Programs” by the United States Association of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, and a Stevie Award winner for “Women in Business”.
Before entering academia Susan was a leader in healthcare foodservice, co-owned a commercial construction company, and owned and operated Ho-Lee-Chow, a Chinese fast-food franchise. She is an advisor to several early stage companies and an angel investor. She also serves on the boards of the Tory Burch Foundation and the Walmart Foundation International Advisory Council.
Panelists:
Marilyn Blanco-Reyes, VP of Legal & Regulatory Affairs for FedEx Express Latin America and Caribbean Division
Marilyn Blanco-Reyes is the Vice President of Legal and Regulatory Affairs for the FedEx Express Latin America and Caribbean Division, headquartered in Miami. In addition to her role as General Counsel, Blanco-Reyes is part of the Division’s senior management team and is actively involved in long-range planning, strategic business initiatives, alliances and new business development.
Fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese, Blanco-Reyes’ expertise in international business transactions, commercial and corporate law, labor and employment issues, as well as aviation and customs matters has set her on an accelerated career path within FedEx.
Blanco-Reyes is three-time recipient of the prestigious FedEx Five-Star Award, a significant recognition bestowed on employees who demonstrate leadership, creativity, superior performance and distinguished efforts in support of FedEx customers. In 2007, the World Trade Center of Miami presented Blanco-Reyes with the International Woman’s Day Award for Exceptional Leadership.
A subject-matter expert on Brazilian-US relations, Blanco-Reyes frequently travels the Americas to lecture on Latin America’s transportation industry, trade facilitation issues and customs and regulatory improvements. She has served as President of the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce of Florida and currently sits on its Board of Directors. She is a trustee of the Pan American Development Foundation and sits on the Global Board of Directors of the International Women’s Forum (IWF). She also sits on the Board of Directors of the Brazil-US Business Council.
Prior to joining FedEx, Blanco-Reyes practiced law as an international attorney with one of Brazil’s top law firms in São Paulo, and with two prominent Miami law firms; Adorno & Zeder and Blackwell & Walker.
She has a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Florida International University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Miami School of Law, where she graduated cum laude.
Rebekah Monson, Co-Founder of WhereBy.Us
Rebekah Monson is the cofounder and VP of Product of WhereBy.Us, a local media startup that connects people to their cities through storytelling and experiences. Its first publication, The New Tropic, produces an email newsletter, original journalism and events in Miami that reached more than half a million curious locals in 2015. WhereBy.Us achieved profitability in its first year of operation. The company launched The Evergrey in Seattle in October and will scale to new markets in 2017.
Before starting WhereBy.Us, Rebekah worked in many newsroom jobs, including reporter, editor, and design director. She also ran communications at the University of Miami School of Communication, where she pursued an M.F.A. in Interactive Media before leaving to start WhereBy.Us. Rebekah also cofounded Code for Miami, a Code for America brigade of volunteers working to transform civic technology in Miami-Dade County, and Hacks/Hackers Miami, a local chapter of an international grassroots organization of journalists, designers and developers who are reinventing media.
Danielle Ungermann, Former Director of Community at LiveNinja
Danielle Ungermann is the Marketing Coordinator for McKenzie Construction + Craft, a boutique, client-focused group based out of Allapattah. In her previous role, she worked as the Director of Community for LiveNinja, a Miami-based communications software startup that was recently acquired by IDT Telecom. In her time there, she helped launch and organize their 3-year running weekly networking event, Waffle Wednesday, which has worked with the startup and tech scene in their weekly, waffle-filled practice pitch sessions.
Outside of her work with LiveNinja, Danielle has contributed to the growth of the Miami startup scene through her weekly curation of the Miami Startup Digest newsletter, and as co-captain of Code for Miami, a local civic hacking brigade focused on helping citizens and government better serve each other.