Elea Carey is a native of Memphis, Tennessee, where I was raised in the sixties and seventies by a mom from a migrant working family and a dad who was the descendent of Mississippi's political elite. They offered us a marvelously radical education and rare insights into social justice movements from an early age. My work has always been in how to best communicate and has ranged from writing and editing to large scale communications campaigns. I've also produced vinyl records, counseled incarcerated military troops, and served as the longtime writing coach for an author on Florida's death row. Most of my current work is in supporting public transit in their communications during these challenging pandemic times--I tend to take up causes others might call "lost," and I relish finding opportunity in crisis. I have also worked extensively in a tech startup and venture and early-stage investing, including focusing on out-of-the-box initiatives like Bee Partners' voting rights campaign.
Wonder Woman in Business, Eileen Scully
In Eileen’s own words…
In my 20+ years working in and around the research and advisory field, I’ve worked with and for an impressive list of companies and clients, In doing so, I’ve learned from some of the smartest leaders anyone could ever hope to know and witnessed first-hand the growth of a dynamic and fascinating industry.
I’ve also had the good fortune to work beside some great leaders and some fantastic mentors. It is from these individuals that my passion for strengthening the roles women can play in each other’s success grew. As women, not only are the demands on our professional lives extending but as our personal lives are continuing to flourish, I believe we need to move closer to a business culture that appropriately supports both. We need to help each other get to a place where the work/family debate is behind us.
"Stories about women who have succeeded are great and necessary — but I want to tell the stories about why we can’t stop there — why we need to use that platform to make the journey easier for the next ones."
In June of 2016, I was honored to be invited by the Obama White House to participate in the United State of Women, one of five thousand global advocates for women and girls. My summary report can be found here.
In November of 2017 and again in November of 2018, I was named one of Irish America Magazine's Business 100 honorees.
In August of 2018, I keynoted the IEEE's first Women's event in Tunisia. In September of 2018, I was invited to go back to Tunisia to give my first TEDx talk in Sfax, Tunisia. In March of 2019, I spoke at the ArabWIC (Women in Computing) conference in Rabat, Morocco on International Women's Day. In April of 2019, I was named to Irish Echo's Community Champions.
And in September of 2019, my first book was published.
You are welcome to review my professional credentials here.
Contact Eileen
Eileen Scully
Founder, The Rising Tides
Author, In the Company of Men
International Keynote Speaker, reel
+1 203-895-6433
Wonder Woman in Business, Melanie Kiely
Melanie Kiely is Sr. Counsel for T-Mobile's Engineering, Products and Information Technology organization’s and partners with her Technology clients in bringing the Un-carrier revolution to T-Mobile’s customers. Her practice includes legal guidance for T-Mobile’s network deployment strategy involving thousands of cell sites, distributed antennas systems (DAS), and in-building facilities providing wireless coverage to T-Mobile’s 100+ million customers and propelling 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT) into the future. She also focuses on commercial transactions involving software licenses, software as a service, cloud computing, data collection, privacy and cyber security and all aspects assisting the digitalization of T-Mobile’s systems. Melanie supports the business with acquisitions, integrations, and divestitures.
Additionally, Melanie was the Chairperson of the Women’s Leadership Network, an internal leadership organization that drives gender diversity at T-Mobile and empowers its 16,000 members across 53 Chapters nationwide reach for opportunity and thrive in their personal and professional lives. She also is a Board Member of Law360’s Telecommunications Editorial Advisory Board and advises the publication on trends in the telecommunications industry. Prior to joining T-Mobile, Melanie served as Managing Attorney at American Tower Corporation and led an organization in the securitization of the company’s most valuable real estate tower assets. Melanie graduated with a J.D. from New England School of Law and a B.A. from Brandeis University, where she was a 3-sport varsity captain and recipient of the Max I. Silber award for being an outstanding student-athlete. She is a champion for diversity and advocate for gender and racial equality.
Contact Melanie
Melanie K. Kiely
Sr. Corporate Counsel
T-Mobile | 12920 S.E. 38th Street | Bellevue, WA 98006
melanie.kiely@t-mobile.com | Mobile: (617) 480.0587
Twitter: @KielyMelanie
Wonder Woman in Business, Ruth Gotian, EdD, MS
RUTH GOTIAN, Ed.D., M.S.
Inaugural Assistant Dean of Mentoring
Executive Director, Mentoring Academy
Chief Learning Officer in Anesthesiology
Assistant Professor of Education in Anesthesiology
Weill Cornell Medicine
Dr. Ruth Gotian is Assistant Dean of Mentoring and Executive Director of the Mentoring Academy at Weill Cornell Medicine, Chief Learning Officer and Assistant Professor of Education in Anesthesiology. Dr. Gotian received her B.S. and M.S. in Business Management from the University at Stony Brook in New York and certificates in Executive Leadership and Managing for Execution from Cornell University. She earned her doctorate at Teachers College Columbia University where she studied Adult Learning and Leadership and focused her research on optimizing success.
Dr. Gotian publishes in both medical education and adult learning journals on topics ranging from diversity and inclusion, networking, mentoring, leadership development and optimizing success. She is the co-editor of a book on medical education and won numerous mentoring awards. She has personally mentored 302 undergraduates and 304 MD-PhD students during her career. She now oversees the success of nearly 1,800 faculty members at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Dr. Gotian credits two of her mentors for their unwavering support. Dr Bert Shapiro oversaw all MD-PhD Programs at the National Institutes of Health. When Dr. Gotian approached him about her idea to return to graduate school and to study successful physician-scientists, he fully embraced the idea and encouraged her wholeheartedly. Most importantly, he checked in with her regularly to provide support and guidance.
Her doctoral advisor, Dr. Marie Volpe, a true renaissance woman, pushed Dr. Gotian further than she ever thought possible. She helped make the impossible, possible.
Stories by Ruth Gotian, EdD:
Mentoring During the COVID-19 Pandemic
By Ruth Gotian
nature.com — Credit: Adapted from Evgeny Karandaev/Shutterstock The coronavirus outbreak has left many of us feeling frightened, worried and overwhelmed. This is affecting people in different ways, but concerns relating to a lack of focus or productivity are not uncommon. Mentors should always provide a support system for trainees and encourage them to prioritize their health above their productivity: especially in testing times such as these.
How Perceptions of a Successful Physician-Scientist Varies with Gender and Academic Rank: Toward Defining Physician-Scientist's Success
By Ruth Gotian, Olaf S. Andersen
bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com — AbstractBackgroundPhysician-scientists (the physician-scientist workforce) are aging, and there are too few physician-scientists in the pipeline to replace those who retire. Moreover, the pipeline is leaky because some trainees and junior physician-scientists choose other career paths. Significant attention has been directed toward patching the leaking pipeline, thereby increasing the quantity of physician-scientists.
Five ‘Power Skills’ for Becoming a Team Leader
By Sarah Groover, Ruth Gotian
nature.com — Leading a diverse team requires effective communication and organization.Credit: Getty Many scientists will oversee a team at some point in their careers, whether it is one or two undergraduates doing a summer internship, an entire research group, or a department with students, technicians and postdoctoral researchers. Scientists are trained in their discipline, but are rarely, if ever, trained in how to manage and mentor trainees.
Put Participants First in Conference Design
By Hannah Turbeville, Ruth Gotian
nature.com — Credit: Adapted from VictoriaBar/Getty Picture this: it’s 7:30 a.m., and conference participants are barely awake. Coffee in hand, they blink sleep away as they enter the room. Rows of chairs lead to a distant stage, and large monitors display the speaker’s slides. One hour of information-packed slides rolls into the next, and attention begins to wane. Students look around eagerly, wondering how they’ll manage to connect with academic luminaries in the five minutes between presentations.
Networking for Introverted Scientists
By Ruth Gotian
nature.com — Credit: Alashi/Getty Many scientists struggle with networking. If you’re one of them, don’t despair. A structured, scientific approach could be all you need. Networking starts at home. Before you go to a conference or another event, identify a core group of people, likely to be there and whom you’d like to meet to advance your career. These might be potential collaborators, employers, funding sources or future conference program organizers.
What Happens When Female Physicians Gather?
blogs.scientificamerican.com — Credit: Robert Daly Getty Images On a recent warm fall day, hundreds of female physicians from all of the New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) campuses in New York City convened for the first time at the New York Academy of Medicine to discuss the overt and covert benefits and challenges of being a female physician in academia. This was not a meeting that encouraged or even provided a platform for whining or preaching to the choir.
Why You Need a Support Team
By Ruth Gotian
nature.com — Credit: Adapted from Wei/iStock/Getty It’s crucial to have a ‘personal advisory board’. This is a group of dependable, reliable, clear-eyed peers — who can be nearby or scattered worldwide — from whom you can seek advice, counsel, support and perspective (and to whom you can, in turn, offer those things). Sometimes, perhaps even often, others’ points of view can help to inform your own decisions, and can prompt you to find a solution to what might otherwise have seemed an insurmountable obstacle.
Three Steps to Landing an Undergraduate Research Internship
By Ruth Gotian, Ushma S. Neill
nature.com — Credit: Adapted from Getty Research-intensive internship programs for undergraduates offered by medical and graduate schools are always in high demand. Here, based on our 25 years of collective experience running these programs in the United States, we outline the three most essential components of a successful application.
Lame Advice for Female Professionals
By Ruth Gotian, Ushma S. Neill
blogs.scientificamerican.com — Even Olympic athletes have coaches. So it stands to reason that two fairly accomplished academics who have given their fair share of public talks might attend a seminar about how women, in particular, could improve communication skills, or at least, be aware of how we are often perceived so we can adjust accordingly in an effort to ensure that a message is delivered effectively. The presenter was a communications expert experienced at training C-suite executives.
Academics Should Provide More Platforms to Learn from Each Other at Their Own Institutions (essay)
By Ruth Gotian
insidehighered.com — During my academic career, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to receive three degrees from two educational institutions; one was a state institution, the other an Ivy League. And for the last two decades, I have had the distinct privilege of working with three top-tier institutions of higher learning. I led classes and workshops, participated in meetings, and learned formally and informally from spectacular, award-winning faculty members. The best part?
Contact Ruth Gotian, EdD:
Ruth Gotian, EdD, MS
https://twitter.com/RuthGotian
Wonder Woman in Business, Karen Catlin
After spending 25 years building software products and serving as a vice president of engineering at Macromedia and Adobe, Karen Catlin witnessed a sharp decline in the number of women working in tech. Frustrated but galvanized, she knew it was time to switch gears.
Today, Karen is a vocal advocate for inclusion, a leadership coach, a keynote speaker, and the author of three books: "Present! A Techie's Guide to Public Speaking" (with Poornima Vijayashanker), "Better Allies: Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces," and "The Better Allies™ Approach to Hiring."
Contact Karen:
Karen Catlin (she/her)
Coach | Speaker | Author | Advocate for Inclusive Workplaces
Wonder Woman in Business, Michelle Wimes
Michelle P. Wimes serves as the Chief Diversity and Professional Development Officer at Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., one of the nation’s largest labor and employment law firms. In her role, Michelle leads the firm’s efforts to attract, develop, retain, promote and advance a diverse group of attorneys across the firm’s national platform of 53 offices in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Additionally, Michelle leads the firm’s attorney training and professional development efforts. She is based in Ogletree Deakins’ Kansas City office.
Michelle has extensive experience in delivering strategic leadership, client development, and talent management programming. She is deft at implementing change management strategies necessary for comprehensive and effective diversity and inclusion and professional development initiatives and programming. Previously, Michelle practiced law for 14 years where she handled all aspects of employment litigation while serving as an equity partner at a Kansas City-based firm. She focused on matters involving employment discrimination, harassment, and civil rights issues while representing clients before the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, as well as local, state and federal courts.
Later, Michelle spent four years on the senior management team of a premier Am Law 100 law firm as their Director of Strategic Initiatives, spearheading diversity and inclusion strategies and programming for lawyers across nine offices in the United States and Europe.
Prior to a career in law, Michelle was an elementary and middle school teacher in Kansas City. She received a B.A. from the University of Missouri and performed graduate work at the University of Seville in Spain and undergraduate work at the University of Xalapa in Veracruz, Mexico. Due to her studies and her extensive legal work in Latin America, she is fluent in Spanish. Michelle earned her law degree, with trial advocacy honors, from Tulane Law School. She is the proud wife of federal district court judge Brian C. Wimes and the mother of three daughters, Sydney, Gabrielle, and Saige.
Connect with Michelle
LinkedIn; https: in/michellepattersonwimes
E: michelle.wimes@ogletree.com
P: (816) 410-1801
4520 Main Street
Suite 400
Kansas City MO 64111