advisory board
We are thankful to have such a wonderful and dynamic group of advisors.
Bridgette Raes
Bridgette Raes is the owner of Bridgette Raes Style Group which is an image and style consulting company for women. Her mission is the empowerment of women through their image and personal style. Bridgette built her company based on the needs she saw while working as a fashion designer for 10 years. She realized that it wasn’t momentary trends that interested many women, but instead a clear sound way to make getting dressed along with looking good easier. Bridgette’s first book, Style Rx: Dressing the Body You Have to Create the Body You Want, is due out in January of 2008. www.bridgetteraes.com
Cari Sommer
Cari is an attorney, advisor, and investor in a variety of entrepreneurial businesses and real estate ventures. Additionally, Cari is Director of Business Development for Lexolution, LLC, a contract legal staffing firm. Prior to joining Lexolution, Cari was as a litigator at Bryan Cave, LLP, where she spent six years focusing on all aspects of commercial litigation. Cari serves as Chair of the New York Board of Step Up Women’s Network, a national non-profit membership organization devoted to the creation of community resources for women and girls. Cari is a graduate of Cornell University and Brooklyn Law School, and she lives in New York with her husband Dan.
Galia Gichon
Galia Gichon is the Founder of Down-to-Earth Finance. She provides unbiased financial education and planning without selling any investments. She has more than 14 years financial experience and is the author of "My Money Matters" a boxed set of financial affirmation, tip and workbooklet cards. Please visit www.downtoearthfinance.com and www.mymoneykit.com.
Karla Lightfoot
Karla Lightfoot has worked with hundreds of women to help them determine, clarify and achieve their entrepreneurial dreams. She has worked as a Ladies Who Launch Incubator Leader in New York City for the past two years and a licensee of the Ladies Who Launch Incubators in Central and Northeastern New Jersey. Karla is also the founder of compassion couture, a t-shirt company that aims to inspire the world through the power of its positive messages. Her varied work experience includes a background in sales, marketing and management for companies such as Bloomingdale's, Starbucks Coffee Company, and Tribune Interactive. She also co-authored the best-selling cult classic, The BAP Handbook: The Official Guide to the Black American Princess (Random House). Karla is a graduate of Wellesley College and The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and loves encouraging others to follow their entrepreneurial bliss! www.ladieswholaunch.com
Joy Parisi
Joy Parisi is the co-founder of Paragraph, a workspace for writers on 14th Street in New York City. She and her business partner met while earning their Master's in fiction at The New School and started Paragraph to create the kind of writing community they had found in school. Open just two years, Paragraph has several hundred members and a thriving event series. Before starting her own business, Joy worked for over ten years as a project manager on technology projects for large retail and financial institutions. She has a dog named Mister President and hopes to one day publish a lot of fiction. www.paragraphny.com
Karen Rancourt
Karen L. Rancourt, Ph.D. has had her own practice for over 20 years as a management consultant specializing in change management and organizational development and effectiveness. She is also an adjunct associate professor, New York University, Social Sciences, Organizational Behavior and Communication program. A partial list of her clients includes: Credit Suisse; TIAA-CREF; JPMorgan Chase Bank; Shearman and Sterling LLP; Thales Fund Management; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; IBM; Pfizer, Inc; NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.
In addition to her corporate consulting, Karen teaches Effective Parenting, a program she has specifically designed for financially comfortable parents of young and pre-teen children. This program reflects her insights into the dynamics, pressures, and stresses unique to this group of financially stable parents and their children of privilege.
Karen is the author of three books and over a dozen business articles.
Lori Berkowitz
Drawn into photography by a photo-enthusiast father, Lori Berkowitz was one of those kids who always had a camera with her. She got her first Canon SLR at age 12, and she quickly developed an affinity for photographing people. Lori has spent the last 9 years building her reputation as a talented photographer who is capable of handling a variety of jobs for a discerning clientele. Whether it is a high-society wedding, a big-dollar corporate event, a celebrity party, or an A-list social gathering Lori is the one to capture the moments! www.loriberkowitzphoto.com
Recently, Lori co-founded an online-based company called Fresh Surface (www.freshsurfaceart.com). The aim of the business is to showcase and sell the original work of talented emerging artists at affordable prices, in an effort to take quality artwork outside the confines of the traditional arts industry. At Fresh Surface, everyone has the opportunity to live creatively.