FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Officers Elected at Annual Meeting and Conference
New York, NY (August 30) – The Forté Foundation, a consortium of leading corporations, business schools and non-profits dedicated to increasing the number of women in business leadership positions, has named Elissa Ellis as its new Executive Director
Ms. Ellis brings to the role extensive knowledge of issues affecting women’s abilities to seek, prepare for and attain business leadership positions, drawn from her prior experience as Assistant Dean and Director of the MBA Program at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. There she oversaw all activities related to the full-time McCombs MBA program including marketing, admissions, student services, and alumni relations. Additionally for the last six months, Ms. Ellis had served as Acting Executive Director for the Forté Foundation.
Elissa received her MBA and her B.A. in English from Texas A&M University, where she was the Assistant Director of the MBA Program until 1997. She is also Chair of the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) Annual Industry Conference. Elissa formerly served as chair of the MBA Student Services Professionals (MBA SSP). She is an ex-officio member of the Forté Foundation Executive Committee.
At its Annual Meeting and Conference here last month, the Forté Foundation elected a new slate of officers to serve on the Executive Committee. They are:
• Edith A. Hunt, Executive Committee Chair. Ms. Hunt is co-chief operating officer of the Human Capital Management Division at Goldman Sachs & Co., responsible for global recruiting, training and diversity, and a member of the Partnership Committee. She also serves as a member of the Howard University School of Business Board of Visitors, the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women, and the Wharton Employer Advisory Council. She holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and a B.A. and B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania.
• Wendy Huber, Vice Chair. Ms. Huber is Assistant Director of Admissions at Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia, where she devotes a great deal of time to leadership development of women. She brings to her role extensive management experience from Kaplan Inc. and the Marriott Corporation and holds an undergraduate degree from Mary Washington College.
• Sarita Nayyar, Secretary. Ms. Nayyar is Senior Vice President, Kraft Foods and General Manager of the Post Division, where she oversees the advertising, promotion and strategic business growth for many products. She has held many positions at the company since she joined the former General Foods business in 1987. Ms. Nayyar earned a B.S. in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, India; has a Masters in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India and an MBA in Marketing, with distinction, from The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
• Kate Klepper, Treasurer. Ms. Klepper is Dean of Graduate Admissions at Babson College, where she leads marketing, recruiting and enrolling of all graduate students for the school’s innovative programs. Previously, she spent 13 years at Northeastern University in Boston, most recently asthe Director of Graduate Business Programs. Ms. Klepper received her MBA from Northeastern University and her Bachelor’s degree from University of Massachusetts.
Mariska Morse, Marketing Director for the Forté Foundation, is also an ex officio member of the Executive Committee. Formerly the Director of the Women in Business Initiative at the University of Michigan Business School, Mariska brings over twelve years of marketing experience to her position. She holds an undergraduate degree from Boston College and is currently an MBA candidate at Rutgers University.
The Forté Foundation is the only organization that provides a national infrastructure for women to gather the essential information and resources they need before they make life-altering decisions about entering the business world.
Through a combination of research, scholarships and network development, Forté Foundation aims to ignite and sustain women’s participation in the global economy as corporate and entrepreneurial achievers.
“Maximizing opportunities for the involvement of women is a business issue – just as fundamental to success as delivering a quality product,” says Ms. Ellis.
Member companies are: Credit Suisse First Boston; Dell Computer; Deloitte Consulting; Ernst & Young LLP; Goldman, Sachs & Co.; JP Morgan Chase, and Kraft Foods.
Member business schools are: F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College; Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University; Columbia Business School; Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at University of Virginia; Goizueta Business School at Emory University; The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University; London Business School; the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas; Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Stern School of Business at New York University; Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University; Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College; University of Chicago Graduate School of Business; University of Michigan Business School; The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania, and Yale School of Management.
Member non-profits are: The Graduate Management Admission Council® (GMAC®) and The Committee of 200.
ABOUT FORTÉ Forté is a nonprofit organization with the goal of achieving gender parity at all levels of business. Forté works closely with business schools, corporations, and universities to ensure women have access to opportunities at every stage in their careers. Forté offers a wide variety of resources, including MBA prep, professional development, leadership education, and a diverse community of successful women. For more information, visit fortefoundation.org.
Media contacts: Michele Vana, BCW Global, michele.vana@bcw-global.com; Katie Stanfield, Forté Foundation, katies@fortefoundation.org