Key Note Speaker Ava Diamond

Ava Diamond is President of the Diamond Success Group, based in Fort Collins, Colorado. She helps people achieve success—in business and in life by providing them with the information, motivation, and tools they need to succeed. She is co-author of Real World Management Strategies that Work.  Her other company, Feisty Woman Productions, focuses on inspiring, empowering, and celebrating women. Her latest book, Great Quotes from Feisty Women, combines inspiring quotations from famous women with Ava’s own insight and down-to earth wisdom

Ava's background includes ten years with a Fortune 100 computer company , where she provided leadership to major change and improvement efforts across the country. She focused on such areasaschange management, business consolidation, diversity, strategic planning, leadership development, and building effective teams. She has also served as Executive Director of Project Open Hand, a non-profit meals-on-wheels program for people with AIDS, and has owned two businesses.

Since 1995, Ava has worked with a variety of organizations, including IBM, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Pepsico, The United Way, Delta Air Lines, AT&T, Boulder Community Hospital, Miller Brewing Company, Sprint, Wachovia Bank, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, as well as government agencies and associations. She has also been a guest lecturer at Georgia State University, Colorado State University, and the Keller Graduate School of Management.

She is an active member of the National Speakers Association, and holds a Masters Degree in Management. Watch for her upcoming book,Women’s Business: What 50 Feisty Women Have Learned About Success.

www.avadiamond.com

www.feistywomen.com

Keynote Speaker Ann Tardy

Ann Tardy is the Founder and President of LifeMoxie!, the only consulting company unleashing economic power in women around the world.  She is the creator of the Women’s Economic Power Day, the Girls’ Economic Power Day, and Inspiration Point, all of which will appear on the national economic power tour launching Fall 2005. In addition, Ann has served as the co-Director of the Entrepreneurial Education program at The Girls’ Middle School in Mountain View, California for the past 5 years. Ann is also a corporate attorney and has been guiding entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley in their business adventures for the past 10 years. Ann has served on the Board of Directors and as the Treasurer of both GirlSource and SheVentures, two non-profit organizations in San Francisco providing economic opportunities and life skills training to low-income, young women. Ann earned an accounting degree from the University of Illinois, a law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law, and a CPA from the State of Illinois. She is licensed to practice law in both Illinois and California. Ann was recently honored as the 2005 Outstanding Business Woman of the Year by the American Business Women Association. Her book “From Glass Ceiling to Open Sky” makes it debut Spring 2006.

Tisa M. Anders, PhD, is the Executive Director of Colorado Women's Agenda in Denver. CWA is a statewide network that champions social justice, political power, and economic security for all Colorado women through grassroots activism, community education, communications, and advocacy.

Stephanie Barron Harrington, Navigator Financial. After graduating form University of Missouri in 1994, Stephanie Barron Harrington took a leap into the unknown and moved to Colorado.  In 1996, she began her career in the mortgage industry as a telemarketer with a large company.  She quickly worked her way up and into management, proving successful with several other companies over the next few years.  After selling her share in a company owned with her female business partner, Stephanie opened her own company, Barron Financial Group, Inc. in 2002.  She has thrived in this role as a sole business owner, running a successful, 100 percent referral-based business.

Susan DeVito, Principal of The DeVito Group has been coaching individuals and leading teams to achieve their goals for over nineteen years.  Susan is President of The DeVito Group, LLC which focuses on personal and team leadership, and project management consulting. She has led Fox Valley Habitat for Humanity’s 7-day Home Blitz Build and implemented a leadership program to grow the blitz program. Prior to starting her business, Susan was Executive Director of Global Marketing and Sales at Lucent Technologies’ Messaging Organization responsible for over $200 million in sales. Susan earned her MBA with honors from The University of Chicago, and her Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University.

Lynn Grasberg helps individuals, business teams and organizations develop top-notch communication skills for selling, teambuilding, diversity training, and conflict resolution. Her client list includes Seagate, Storage Tek, Lucent, EPA, HUD, IBM, Copic Insurance Company, and Western Area Power Administration as well as educational institutions from pre-school to medical school. She also lights up the stage as a keynote speaker, musical comedienne and clown, has performed with Patch Adams, and was a featured performer in a musical produced by Whoopie Goldberg. She is the author of "Bounce Back! The New Play Ethic at Work."

Kerrie Halmi of Halmi Performance Consulting specializes in coaching women managers to succeed in business.  Kerrie has over twelve years of experience in the Human Resources field.  Client companies include Wells Fargo, Kaiser Permanente, NUMMI, John Muir Medical Center, Camico Insurance, the City of Oakland, Cisco Systems and Planned Parenthood. Kerrie received her MBA from the University of Michigan with an emphasis on Human Resources and her BS in Industrial Psychology from the University of Illinois.  She is certified in coaching with Corporate Coach University International (CCUI) and is certified in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).   She lives with her husband, two daughters and dog in Oakland.

Joanna (Jo) Kitto, JD is a partner in the law firm of Ambroziak Kitto, LLC.  She is also a former tax accountant and now specializes in commercial litigation, including contract and other business disputes, as well as employment and intellectual property, as well as estate planning.  Her law firm specializes in providing sophisticated yet affordable legal counsel to Denver-based businesses and individuals.

Dana Lynch, President of Elements of Image, has 15+ years experience in retail clothing sales and management.  Advising clients form all over the world on clothing and accessories purchases led to her love of helping others plan and attain complete wardrobes.  Elements of Image is a full service image management firm which provides honest, objective feedback to its clients helping them create powerful, dynamic images.  Specializing in wardrobing, services include style guides, closet audits, and persona shopping.  Dana holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Textiles/Clothing room Colorado State University and has trained at the Conselle Institute of Image Management.

Jenifer Madson, Financial Coach. It’s ‘Suze Orman meets Dear Abby’ when Jenifer Madson shows up: her experience spans fifteen years of coaching people in the key areas of relationships and money – first as the owner of a dating business, then as a financial services broker- she teaches you how to attract and manage money for the sake of what you love! She has built multi-million dollar franchise territories for the dating industry, led award-winning branch offices for a national financial services firm and developed an international coaching clientele. Her great mission is to empower and inspire people to truly be ‘financially free’!

Sue Malone, President of Strategies for Small Business is the number one provider of the SBA Community Express Loan Program through Innovative Bank.  Sue’s involvement began with the program’s inception in 2002. Since then, Sue has helped fund over10,900 SBA Community Express loans.  She travels the nation meeting, promoting and funding small business owners.  She is fueled by her passion to help small business owners pursue their dreams.

Chanin Paul has an Associates Degree in Legal Assisting, a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice and a Masters Degree in Business Management, Chanin spent the past ten years working in the legal and criminal justice fields.  With these credentials along with her skills in communication and training, Chanin seized the opportunity to become a Financial Advisor.  Since July of 2004, she has been working with Waddell & Reed Financial Services.  As a mother, dancer and horseback rider, Chanin is an example of a woman who has embraced her economic power!

Linda Ward, EA, PA, ABA In the public accounting arena for over 30 years.  Worked with two CPA firms before forming my own accounting firm in 1989. Specialize in small businesses (corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships, LLCs) with preparation of financial statements and tax returns as required, and of course, individual income taxed (including farm returns).  Other areas of practice consist of bookkeeping services (monthly, quarterly and payroll), working with nonprofit organizations, fiduciary and retirement plan returns, plus QuickBooks training. Member of PASC, NSA NAEA, CoSEA, NAWBO

Claudia Waterloo Tornquist is a Vice President and Financial Advisor for Morgan Stanley, where she focuses on helping women manage their finances with confidence and success.  She previously worked fro nearly 20 years as a journalist for publications that included the prestigious Wall Street Journal.  She is a frequent speaker on “Women and Investing” and aspires to writing a book that provides insights and recommendations on how investing can be a satisfying and fulfilling aspect of women’s lives.  Claudia and her husband are parents to two sons and twin daughters.  She is a graduate of Northwestern University, and studied a year abroad at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Michelle Wiegman, Director of Denver Chapter of eWomenNetwork. As a successful entrepreneur and owner of Simply Better Business, Michelle Wiegman knows firsthand what challenges business owners face and how to provide simple and effective solutions to grow their businesses.  As a successful corporate trainer, she is a sought after speaker who educates, entertains, and inspires.  She is known for her infectious enthusiasm and practical, easy-to-implement information that you can use immediately.  She teaches effective communication, public speaking, networking and relationship selling skills to individuals, teams, companies and organizations.  She is also the Denver, Colorado Executive Managing Director for eWomenNetwork, an international businesswomen’s networking group.

Susan Van Dorsten is an executive coach and president of Global Career Coaching.  She works with professional and executive clientele specializing in maximizing sales and personal productivity.  Susan has over fourteen years of corporate experience and was a Vice-President of Sales and Marketing for a multi-billion dollar health care company.   She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Arizona State University, and Corporate coach U, an accredited coaching program through the International Coaching Federation.  She is a member of the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE), and a board member for the Women’s Business Executives (WBE).