Wonder Woman in Business, Toni Cortese

Toni Cortese

Toni Cortese is passionate about developing leaders and teams to achieve their professional goals and guide organizations to greater success by increasing employee engagement, improving processes and culture, and impacting the bottom line. Prior to coaching, Toni led global technology teams during her 25-year tenure in investment banking.

While at Barclays, Toni co-founded and led a highly successful employee engagement program delivered a novel approach to driving tangible firm-wide cultural change. She also ran a training company whose clients included a number of Fortune 500 companies. She leverages a degree in International Relations and 20 years of self-taught forays into behavioral and social sciences to help her coaching clients see things from different angles and create new opportunities with new tools. 

Toni is an avid supporter of diversity, which propelled her to be a founding member of three separate diversity networks at a major investment bank. She received a number of awards including Woman of the Year Award and the honor of ringing the opening and closing bells at the NYSE and NASDAQ. Toni has also partnered with the YWCA for over 17 years and was inducted into the YWCA’s Academy of Women Leaders for coaching, training, and mentoring battered women of all ages.

The combination of her life experiences, approachable nature, and ability to see the broader context is what has led many colleagues to seek Toni’s counsel over the years.

Enjoy the podcast.

Toni Cortese

Connect with Toni

Toni@force9coaching.com

force9coaching.com

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Wonder Woman in Business, Kaitlyn Zhang

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Kaitlyn Zhang

Kaitlyn Zhang is an undergraduate student at UC Berkeley studying Data Science and Economics with a certificate in technology and entrepreneurship. Originally from China, Kaitlyn left her family at 16 to pursue higher education in the United States. With a mindset for growth and a heart for adventure, she is constantly looking for challenges and opportunities to grow both professionally and personally. Studying at Berkeley led Kaitlyn to realize the inequities between California and her home province. Entrepreneurship here is a stark contrast to the lack of creativity and innovation in China’s rural cities. Kaitlyn’s goal is to present the underserved community with the same resources and opportunities. Kaitlyn has co-founded and joined organizations that aim to create real-world impacts and promote diversity and inclusion in both United States and China. With professional experience as a data analyst at tech startups, Kaitlyn will be joining a venture capital firm as an analyst intern this winter.

Enjoy the podcast.

Kaitlyn Zhang

Connect with Kaitlyn

E: kaitlyn.zhang@berkeley.edu

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Wonder Woman in Business, Janet Harvey

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Meet Janet Harvey

Enjoy the podcast.

Janet Harvey

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Wonder Woman in Business, Laurie Forster

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Laurie Forster

Laurie Forster

The Wine Coach®

Laurie Forster is one of America’s leading wine experts and author of the award-winning book The Sipping Point: A Crash Course in Wine. Laurie is a Certified Sommelier, National Speaker and TV personality who is not afraid to tell you her first wine came from a box. Her edgy approach to demystifying wine caught the eye of major networks and led her to guest appearances on The Dr Oz Show, FOX Morning News, Martha Stewart Living Today and ABC News at Noon.

Laurie regularly speaks across the country where she edutains a client list that includes MetLife, Discovery Channel, Microsoft, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, LG Electronics, National Association of Catering Executives, American Cancer Society and McCormick & Company to name a few. Laurie has performed her comedic wine tasting at locations nationwide including Carolines on Broadway, DC IMPROV, Caesars Atlantic City and recently as a headliner for the 2018 HBO Women in Comedy Festival.

Forster is also the host of The Sipping Point  and her mobile application “The Wine Coach” was listed as one of the Top 8 Wine Apps in Wine Enthusiast. A former software sales executive, Laurie’s wine career began in Manhattan where she studied with the American Sommelier Association to obtain her certificate in Viticulture and Vinification.  Laurie has since earned an Advanced Certificate with Merit from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET). She has also trained with the Court of Master Sommeliers and the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley.

Enjoy the podcast

Laurie Forster

Contact Laurie

Laurie would love to help you demystify wine one glass at a time at your next Client Appreciation Dinner, Teambuilding Event or Wine Tasting. Please take a minute to fill out this form and Laurie will set up a time to speak with you about how she can help make your next event a sparkling success!

Laurie@TheWineCoach.com

410-820-4212

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Wonder Woman in Business, Kate Krug

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Kate Krug

As a nonprofit leader, mentor, and volunteer, Kate Krug has dedicated her career to the advancement of women, specifically women in underserved communities in New York. Kate’s advocacy for women is reflected best in her impact within Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW). Kate joined the leadership team of NEW in September 2019 and is responsible for creating and executing a communication and fundraising strategy to increase and sustain revenue contributing to an annual budget of $3.8 million.    

Prior to joining NEW, for more than 17 years Kate has raised critically needed funds that have increased career path opportunities for women, aided survivors of domestic violence in finding safety and shelter, empowered veterans with employment opportunities, and assisted those experiencing homelessness. Additionally, Kate sits on the Board of Directors as Treasurer for the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. 

Kate holds a B.A. in Communications from Seton Hall University and an M.S. in Fundraising Management from Columbia University. 

Connect with Kate

Kate Krug | Vice President of Development and Communications

Pronouns: she, her, hers

Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW)

Hard Hats. Strong Women. Building the Future. 

243 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011

T: 646.291.2373 

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Wonder Woman in Business, Cathy Mott

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Cathy Mott

Cathy Mott is a Master Certified Coach from the International Coaching Federation and is highly skilled at one-on-one coaching, group, and team coaching. She has worked in many different industries, Automotive (Mercedes Benz Financial), Education (Michigan State University), and Healthcare (Trinity Health) just to name a few. She is well known throughout the industry for creative workshops and experiential coaching that has increased employee engagement by 23 % in just a matter of months. Her interactive workshops has an engagement rate of 95-100%. She approaches each client with fresh new eyes to develop a plan that is specific to the organization, business or individual.

Cathy’s journey has been one of continuous growth and purposeful leadership. From Culture Change Professional, Executive Coach, Trainer, and Business Consultant, Cathy has had the privilege of training thousands of individuals on what it means to unleash their personal power and become skilled leaders in life. She has also helped many to hone their skills to become authentic leaders as well as assisted organizations in identifying and developing emerging professionals.

Cathy served on the Board of Directors for the International Coaching Federation – Michigan from 2017-2020. She endeavors to help more organizations develop a coaching culture. One of her professional goals is to help change the perception of the coaching profession from being something punitive for low performers to being a tool for proactive talent development and professional growth throughout organizations.

Cathy Mott is the author of “Shh…Just listen! Great Things Happen in the Silence”. This is a 30-day Emotional Intelligence Workbook that will tug at your heart, challenge your intellect, touch your soul and enlighten your spirit. Inspired by her journey to increasing her emotional intelligence and the work she has done in many organizations, Leadership and Life Coach, Cathy Mott is sharing her personal and professional life experiences, to assist others in creating a safe space as they go on their transformational journey through reflections found in this workbook.

Connect with Cathy

https://cwcleadershipdevelopment.com/

Cathy Mott, MCC, ISEI Professional Leadership Coach

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