Harvard Undergraduate Women In Business is pleased to announce the keynote speakers for this fall's convention! These amazing women have risen to the top of their fields (ranging from Media & Entertainment to Food and Travel and Beauty) while balancing families, and at a very young age! They're ready to take your questions and share their key lessons learned!
Bobbi Brown
CEO of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics » Bobbi Brown changed the face of makeup—literally—with a handful of lipsticks and a simple philosophy: "Women want to look and feel like themselves, only prettier and more confident." As a freelance makeup artist in the Nineties, Bobbi couldn't find makeup shades or textures that looked natural on a wide range of complexions. She eventually took matters into her own hands debuted a collection of 10 lipsticks at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City in 1991. The universally flattering, brown-based lipsticks were a dramatic departure from the cosmetics available at the time, and they ushered in a new era of wearable, natural-looking makeup.
Today, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics offers skincare, face and color products, professional tools and accessories, fragrances, and New York Times best-selling beauty books. In North America, the brand is available in select high-end retailers including Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's and Holt Renfrew in Canada. Internationally, the brand has a presence in 45 markets and 450 doors throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Women around the world appreciate Bobbi's unique approach to beauty and her ability to translate the latest trends into wearable, real-life looks. "I understand real women because I am one," she says. Bobbi regularly shares her expertise as a guest beauty editor in magazines, television, including NBC's "Today Show". She is often called on to create makeup looks for top women's magazines and New York Fashion Week runway shows.
Bobbi's impact extends well beyond the beauty and fashion industries. Committed to empowering women of all ages, Bobbi supports the Jane Addams Vocational High School in the Bronx and Dress for Success Worldwide. She is a board member of both DFS and her alma matter, Emerson College in Boston. And she most recently received an honorary doctorate degree of Humane Letters from Montclair State University acknowledging her professional accomplishments.
As the brand continues to evolve and expand into new lifestyle-oriented categories, the message from Bobbi remains the same, "The secret to beauty is simple—be who you are.”
Stacey Snider
CEO of DreamWorks Studios » Stacey Snider is Co-Chairman and CEO of DreamWorks Studios where she oversees the company’s business strategy as well as the creative and financial aspects of all film development and production. Founded in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen, the company has enjoyed critical and commercial success, responsible for some of the most honored films in recent years, including three consecutive Best Picture Academy Award winners: "American Beauty," "Gladiator," and "A Beautiful Mind" (the latter two being co-productions with Universal Studios). She joined DreamWorks in March 2006.
Since then, the studio's releases included several highly acclaimed features including "Flags of Our Fathers" nominated for two Academy Awards and "Letters from Iwo Jima" nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. Both films were directed by Clint Eastwood and co-produced by DreamWorks and Warner Bros. "Dreamgirls," which garnered eight Academy Award nominations, the most for any film of 2006, the adaptation of the international best-selling book “The Kite Runner,” and the musical "Sweeney Todd," a DreamWorks and Warner Bros. co-production, which was nominated for three Oscars.
Additionally, DreamWorks has had considerable box office success during that time. In 2007, the studio had four consecutive films open #1 at the box office, including “Norbit,” “Blades of Glory,” “Disturbia,” and “Transformers,” which alone has grossed over $700 million worldwide.
Upcoming releases for 2008 include the Ben Stiller-directed comedy “Tropic Thunder” starring Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey, Jr., the comedy “Ghost Town” with Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, and Tea Leoni and directed by David Koepp, the action-thriller “Eagle Eye” starring Shia LaBeouf and directed by D.J. Caruso, “The Soloist,” which is the story of the unexpected friendship between a homeless musical genius and the reporter whobefriends him, directed by the highly acclaimed Joe Wright and starring Jaime Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr., and “Revolutionary Road” which reunites Oscar nominees Kate Winslet and Leonard DiCaprio under the direction of Oscar winner Sam Mendes.
Prior to joining DreamWorks, Snider served as Chairman of Universal Pictures where she oversaw all domestic and international business units of Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Universal Home Video, and Universal Pictures Franchise Development, including production, distribution, marketing as well as acquisitions, strategic planning, finance, and business development. She originally joined Universal Pictures in December 1996 as Co-President of Production and was promoted to head of production in April 1998. Later that year, she was named President of Production, then Co-Chairman, and in 1999 she was promoted to Chairman.
During her tenure at Universal, Snider experienced remarkable success with a consistent output of films that were both domestic and international box-office hits, while garnering wide critical praise. Some of the franchises she originated and oversaw include “The Bourne” series, “The Mummy” series, the “American Pie” series, “The Fast and the Furious” series, and “Meet the Parents” and “Meet the Fockers.” "Erin Brockovich," “Seabiscuit, "Ray," “Lost in Translation,” and “Brokeback Mountain” were among the films that won critical and Academy Award recognition.
Before she came to Universal, Snider was President of TriStar Pictures. She came to Tri-Star following her position as Executive Vice-President of Guber Peters Entertainment.
In addition to her many professional achievements, Snider currently serves on the Board of the Special Olympics of Southern California by whom she has been honored, the American Film Institute, and in 2004, the American Jewish Committee honored Snider with the Dorothy and Sherrill C. Corwain Human Relations Award for her professional and civic endeavors that have helped to promote tolerance and understanding.
She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and UCLA Law School and resides in Los Angeles with her husband, Gary Jones, and her two daughters.
Tracey Weber
Chief Operating Officer- North America,Travelocity » In her role as COO, Weber is responsible for the day-to-day management of Travelocity's North American flights, hotels, rental cars, and cruise lines of business and its TotalTripSM and Last Minute Deals dynamic packaging products. Additionally, Weber leads the Travelocity sales and customer care team, Travelocity.caSM and sister company Site59.
Previously, Weber served as Travelocity's senior vice president air, car and last minute deals. Prior to this, she was deeply involved in the launch of Travelocity's TotalTrip dynamic packaging shopping engine as well as in the development of Travelocity's industry leading net rate hotel program, playing a key role in operations, content strategy and management. Weber came to Travelocity from Site59 when it was acquired by Travelocity in March 2002. She was a co-founder of Site59 and also served as the company's chief operating officer.
Weber earned her master’s of business administration from The Wharton School of Management and her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.
Sukhinder Signh Cassidy
President of Google, Asia Pacific and Latin America Operations » Sukhinder Singh Cassidy is Google's President for Asia-Pacific (APAC) & Latin America Operations. In this role, she is responsible for all of Google’s commercial operations in both regions, and has established the company’s presence through 18 offices in 18 countries serving Google’s users, advertisers and partners throughout APAC and Latin America.
Prior to Google, Sukhinder drove sales and business development with leading Internet companies in the consumer and financial services sectors. From 1999-2003, Sukhinder was Co-founder and Senior Vice President of Business Development for Yodlee.com Inc., a leading solutions provider to the global financial services industry. For her entrepreneurship and contributions to the financial services industry, Sukhinder has been profiled in publications including Business Week Online, Canada Post, and Innovation Nation, a book profiling Canadian business leaders (Jossey-Bass, 2002). Sukhinder started her Internet career in strategy and business development for leading e-commerce company Amazon.com and public interactive TV solutions provider OpenTV.
Sukhinder previously worked in strategy for leading British Pay TV provider, BSkyB, a division of News Corporation, and in investment banking for Merrill Lynch in both New York and London.
Sukhinder is a board member of OICW, an organization focused on vocational training for troubled youth and adults, and is a graduate of the Ivey School of Business Administration at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
Shelly Hwang
Shelly Hwang is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Pinkberry. Hwang has a degree from the University of Southern California and started the Los Angeles-based frozen yogurt phenomenon with her partner Young Lee in 2005. Today the company has 65 stores across Southern California and New York.
