35 Under 35: Sara Grillo, CFA, Principal, Diamond Oak Capital Advisors

Sara_picture-1By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“Lead with your heart and don’t be afraid of who you are,” said Sara Grillo, Principal at Diamond Oak Capital Advisors and Adjunct Professor at Marymount Manhattan College.

She continued, “If you’re a leader, a role model, a mentor, you have to live it. You have to breathe it.”

Grillo takes her duty as a leader seriously, working to mentor or teach as many women as possible that they can succeed if they believe in themselves. Why? Grillo says she is on a crusade to increase the number of female CFA Charter holders to 50% – currently only 19%.

While she serves as a mentor within the New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA), Harvard, and the NYU Stern School of Business, Grillo explained, “Mentors are more in need for women who aren’t in programs – like the woman who gets picked on by her boss or who doesn’t quite fit in with the other girls at school.” From the subway to the schoolroom, Grillo does her best to inspire women to reach higher.

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Voice of Experience: Pamela J. Craig, Chief Financial Officer, Accenture

PamCraigBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

According to Pamela J. Craig, Chief Financial Officer at Accenture, the best piece of advice she has to offer is: “Just go for it.”

“It sounds so simple,” she said. “That was particularly the case with my job as CFO… it just came up. And, my husband and co-workers were supportive and gave me the confidence that made a very big difference. It’s easy to lack confidence. It’s harder to have it. Go for it and make it all it can be. This a big deal for me.”

She continued, “Be open to stretch roles and go out of your comfort zone. It’s easy to say, ‘I’m not sure I can do that.’ You should say, ‘I bet I can do that.’”

Moving Up and Giving Back

“I graduated [from Smith College] in 1979 with a liberal arts degree – and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with that. So I entered an MBA program at NYU in Accounting,” Craig began. “After a couple of years, I realized I didn’t want to be an auditor all my life. I switched to consulting.”

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Next Generation Sustainability: WNSF’S Annual Summit

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Frances Hesselbein

Frances Hesselbein

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

On Tuesday, the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future held its 7th annual summit, entitled “Sustainability, We Get it… Now What?”

Ann Goodman, Ph.D., Executive Director of WNSF, said, “By now the term sustainability has entered the vernacular. Now that everybody gets sustainability, how can we use it to drive [business].

Kathy Robb, Head of Environmental Practice at Hunton & Williams and a WNSF board member, explained explained that WNSF was founded around the belief that “women in business want to bolster sustainability efforts in their companies.”

She continued, “Caring about the environment allows companies to attract and retain women employees, customers, stockholders, and stakeholders – and create a better world for everyone.”

Dr. Goodman introduced the program’s keynote speaker, Frances Hesselbein as a personal “she-ro.” Hesselbein, Chair, Leader to Leader Institute; Chair, Study of Leadership, West Point Military Academy; former CEO, Girl Scouts of the USA is someone who has accomplished much, including being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the US’s highest civilian honor. Yet, in spite of her achievements, Goodman said, Hesselbein continues to be “generous, friendly, down to earth, straight forward, direct, [and] empathetic.”

Hesselbein opened her discussion on creating a sustainable society with a poem:

Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts become your words.
Be careful of your words, for your words become your actions.
Be careful of your actions, for your actions become your habits.
Be careful of your habits, for your habits become your character.
Be careful of your character, for your character becomes your destiny.
– Anonymous

“Today is all about destiny,” she began.

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Voice of Experience: Gina Biondo, Tax Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Gina Lori Berkowitz FIMG_1765By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“Don’t be afraid to make the hard call,” said Gina Biondo, Tax Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. “Stand behind the decisions you make, and get the right people behind you. You get to be a leader because you’re successful – and we need more highly visible women in leadership roles.”

She continued, “At some point, you have a responsibility as a woman to continue to help open doors for the women who will follow us.

Building a Career in Alternative Investments Tax

Biondo, a partner for 14 years, serves as the firm’s tax division lead. She is specialized in distressed debt and special opportunity hybrid classes, and works with business ranging in size from startups to established global firms.

“I’ve grown up in New York City. I started off in the New York City office of Coopers and Lybrand and I’ve been with PricewaterhouseCoopers since career start – just over 22 years.”

Biondo, who studied accounting and economics at Queens College and received her CPA and Master of Finance in taxation from Fordham, said, “I spent the first several years on the tax side on the general corporate team, working in corporate consulting. Then I moved to the financial services practice” for about the next ten years.

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Voice of Experience: Marcy Engel, COO and General Counsel, Eton Park Capital Management

firstchoice-marcyBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“When I was fourteen, I decided I wanted to be a lawyer. I didn’t know what that meant – I didn’t know any lawyers,” Marcy Engel, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Eton Park Capital Management, said with a laugh. Engel went on to attend the University of Michigan and then studied law at the University of Pennsylvania. “During law school, many of my friends were finding jobs with Wall Street law firms. It sounded good to me so I took a position with Sullivan & Cromwell,” she said.

Engel began working in the litigation department, and after three and a half years, she decided it was time to try something new. She explained, “Litigation meant dealing with people’s fights that were three, four, five, six years old. It was very backward looking. I wanted to advise people. I wanted to be forward looking.”

She began a job at Salomon Brothers advising the equity sales and trading groups. “At the time, this was a new area. I had to learn things from the ground up – I didn’t know what a short sale was!” she laughed.

Engel continued, “It was a time of increased regulation, and in terms of derivatives and futures – this was a time when it was really growing.”

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35 Under 35: Lisa Bebchick, Partner at Fried Frank

lisabBy Erin H. Abrams (New York City)

“You need to be able to learn from someone who has the career and work life balance you aspire to,” said Lisa Bebchick, a 33-year old partner in the litigation department at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, explaining why she makes time in her busy schedule to mentor junior associates at her firm. Bebchick, who works in Fried Frank’s New York office, focuses her practice on all aspects of civil and criminal litigation, and has expertise in white collar criminal defense and internal investigations, among other areas. In addition to her billable work, Bebchick also manages to find time for pro bono work, as well as serving on numerous charity boards, taking on leadership initiatives at her firm and recruiting and mentoring the next generation of associates. That’s why Lisa Bebchick is one of the Glass Hammer’s 35 women under 35 to watch, because she is making a difference in the legal world.

The Glass Hammer recently caught up with Bebchick over lunch near her office in the Financial District to learn more about her career choices and her path to partnership at Fried Frank. Here, we share with the Glass Hammer readers some of her advice to aspiring attorneys on how to develop your professional careers, balance work and life, and have fun doing it all.

When asked how she got her start in the law, Bebchick said that she knew relatively early on in life that she wanted to be a lawyer. As an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, Bebchick majored in political science and was fascinated with political communication. She worked on John Kerry’s re-election campaign for the U.S. Senate and in his press office the following year, working for his press secretary. However, she realized that she didn’t want to go into politics herself. She decided to become an attorney because the career seemed like a logical choice for someone with strong writing skills who enjoyed the art of effective communication. “Good communication and strong writing skills are at the heart of being a good litigator,” Bebchick explained. She also was committed to giving back to her community, and saw the legal profession as a great opportunity to do that. After college, she went to law school at Boston University, where she was a member of the Law Review, and graduated magna cum laude in 2001. She began her career as Fried Frank as a summer associate and worked as an associate for eight years before becoming a partner at the firm in the fall of 2009.

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Voice of Experience: Christine Hurtsellers, Chief Investment Officer, Fixed Income, ING Investment Management

christineBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“When I first started, I may have been too competitive,” said Christine Hurtsellers, CIO of Fixed Income and Proprietary Investments for ING Investment Management. She explained, “I had to be the smartest, best, hardest working person… Since then, I’ve learned a lot about working as part of a team. Growing up and evolving is the key to my personal success – as well as great people who’ve helped me out.”

Hurtsellers, a marathon runner and mother of five boys, was one of the individuals charged with turning around ING Investment Management‘s fixed income business 2 years ago. “I’m a pretty driven person,” she said.

Looking forward, she said, “Time flies. In ten years, I see myself continuing to push ahead with many possibilities open to me: running a company as CEO… or stepping back and working in a freelance capacity or on boards… or doing advocacy work for charities.”

“Basically, in charge of the world or giving back to humanity!” she said with a laugh.

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Movers and Shakers: Niamh Bushnell, North America Senior Vice President, MoneyMate

Niamh Bushnell - MoneyMate SVPBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“Advise and evangelize, that’s what interests me,” said Niamh Bushnell, North American Senior Vice President at MoneyMate, a provider of investment data management solutions to global asset managers. Bushnell, who’s worked throughout Europe and now in the US and was recently named one of the 50 Most Influential Irish-American Women in 2010 by the Irish Voice, has made a career of helping technology companies strategically position themselves and their products.

She continued, “I meet a lot of executives – I’m very often impressed by their focus, ambition, and understanding of their industry.”

But, she said, everyday things inspire her just as much as her work. “I’m inspired by unexpected good humor – a bright smile from the server at the deli or the newspaper guy I bump into – the people watching the morning chaos who have the time and the interest to connect with you.”

“When I have that experience I feel it’s a lucky day.”

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Voice of Experience: Alexandra Lebenthal, CEO, Lebenthal / Alexandra & James Co.

Image via JW Magazine

Image via JW Magazine

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

The best piece of advice I ever got,” said Alexandra Lebenthal, CEO of Alexandra & James, a financial firm specializing in tax-free municipal bonds and high net-worth wealth management, “was in reference to driving a boat. ‘Whatever happens, just relax. You’ll always be able to turn around and get out of it.’”

“Sometimes you glide on the water, sometimes you go against a current – as soon as you relax all kind of things can happen.” She joked, “It’s something I should do much more of in life.”

Lebenthal, so far, has navigated her life’s currents well – in addition to having built a successful company from the ground up, she recently published a new novel, The Recessionistas, a book about New York socialites following the 2008 crash.

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Voice of Experience: Erika Karp, Managing Director and Head of Global Sector Research, UBS Investment Bank

karpBy Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

“I believe diversity is an economic imperative – period,” said Erika Karp, Managing Director and Head of Global Sector Research at UBS Investment Bank and Chair of the Global Investment Review Committee.

A founding member of the UBS Executive Diversity Council, a steering committee member of the firm’s All Bar None women’s network, as well as the business champion behind the creation of UBS Pride, UBS’s GLBT employee network, Karp is dedicated to the value of diversity.

Citing the importance of differentiated perspective, creativity, and entrepreneurship that diverse individuals bring to the table, Karp said, “The challenge for anybody is getting to have an important voice…being heard.”

She explained, “The trick is being both patient and assertive.”

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