Convenor: Irene Natividad, President, Global Summit of Women

Ms. Natividad, a recognized leader for women in the United States, wears many hats.  Ms. Natividad is President of the Global Summit of Women, an annual international gathering of women leaders from around the world, and co-chairs Corporate Women Directors International, which promotes the increased participation of women on corporate boards globally.  Ms. Natividad served on the Board of Directors of Sallie Mae Corp. and on the Advisory Boards of Cigna, Wyndham International and the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Mark A. Borges is a principal for Mercer Human Resource Consulting in the firm’s Washington Resource Group in Washington, DC.  Previously, Mr. Borges was a Special Counsel in the Office of Rulemaking, Division of Corporation Finance with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.  Mr. Borges also served as General Counsel for ShareData, Inc., the leading provider of software for employee stock plan administration, prior to its acquisition by E*TRADE Group, Inc. in 1998.   His legal background includes varied experience in areas including: equity compensation and insider trading matters as well as venture capital finance. 

Jennifer Fahey is the national Directors’ and Officers’ Liability Practice Leader for  Aon’s Financial Services Group (“FSG”) and manages the FSG Fiduciary Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Fidelity, Special Crime and Data/Knowledge Management practices. Ms. Fahey has over 20 years of experience with financial products broking and underwriting, including positions as Regional Leader for FSG’s Greater New York Region; President of Minet’s Financial Services Division, and Managing Director and Manager of Marsh FINPRO New York Advisory Services. She serves on the Executive Council and Executive Committee for the Financial Services Group, previously a member of Aon’s Diversity Council, and is currently a director with the Duke University Global Capital Markets Advisory Board.

Kathleen M. Gibson, Vice President, Corporate Secretary, and Corporate Governance Officer of Prudential Financial, is responsible for monitoring legal and regulatory developments and best practices relating to board process and governance issues on behalf of the Board of Directors. Previously, Ms. Gibson has served as a corporate secretary and securities counsel to a number of public companies, including Becton Dickinson and Company; Honeywell International, Inc.; and Bell Atlantic Corporation. Her numerous leadership roles include Chair of the Board of Directors of the Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals (2004-2005), Chair of the Society’s Corporate Accountability Taskforce, and former President of the Stockholder Relations Society of New York.

Named the 2004 Director of the Year by NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors), Dr. Reatha Clark King’s broad range of experience extends from philanthropy to chemical research to academic administration.  She is former President and Board Chair of the General Mills Foundation, where she served from 1988 to 2002.  A veteran corporate director, Dr. King serves on numerous corporate and community boards of directors; her current corporate directorships include: Department 56, Inc., ExxonMobil, and Wells Fargo.  Among other honors, the League of Women Voters honored Dr. King with the Civic Leader Award for her pioneering efforts to affect social change (2000).

Denise Lynn Nappier, Treasurer for the State of Connecticut, is the first African-American woman elected to serve as a State Treasurer in the United States and the first African-American woman elected to a statewide office in Connecticut in 1998.  As Connecticut’s chief elected financial officer, Nappier oversees $50 billion in state funds, including one of the nation’s top performing state pension funds.  Widely respected by her peers, she is board member of the National Association of Corporate Directors Connecticut Chapter, and was recently named as one of the nation’s "100 Most Influential People in Finance" by Treasury & Risk Management magazine.

Perhaps best known for his critical role in the creation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Honorable Michael G. Oxley was recently appointed Vice Chairman of The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc.  In this capacity, Mr. Oxley will serve the NASDAQ executive management team and Board with his expertise in public policy, corporate counseling, financial services and capital markets.   Formerly, Mr. Oxley served for 25 years as U.S. Representative of Ohio’s Fourth Congressional District.   He was appointed Chairman of the House of Financial Services Committee in 2001.  During his tenure as Chairman, he co-authored the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was passed in 2002 in the wake of several large-scale accounting and corporate governance scandals.

The Honorable Elena Pisonero has extensive leadership in both the public and private sectors, currently spearheading the Infrastructures and Administration unit for KPMG Spain. Her prior work includes serving as the Vice Minister of Commerce for Spain, Ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and national member and spokesperson for the economy for the Spanish House of Representatives. A recipient of the Gran Cruz de Isabel la Católica for her outstanding contributions to Spain, Ms. Pisonero is a current member of the Scientific Board of the Real Instituto Elcano, and Vice President of the Experts Group of the Economic and Social Council of the Madrid Regional government.

Since 1970, Ms. Toni Rembe has been a partner with the law firm of Pillsbury Winthrop LLP (formerly Pillsbury Madison & Sutro).  She has served as managing partner of the firm’s tax department and on its executive committee.  Ms. Rembe is past president of the Commonwealth Club of California and of the American Conservatory Theater.  She is a member of the National Theatre Council, and is currently president of the Van Loben Sels Foundation.  She currently serves on the boards of AT & T, and AEGON N.V. (a Dutch company).  She held prior corporate directorships in Potlatch Corporation, Transamerica Corporation, Pacific Telesis, Safeco Corporation, and APL Ltd.

She currently sits on the Board of Directors of AT&T Inc., Tupperware Corporation, Anheuser-Busch Companies, Federated Department Stores Inc.

Ms. Mirella Visser is Dutch, holds a Masters degree in Law and completed the General Management Program at CEDEP in Fontainebleau, France. During her extensive career at ING Group and KPMG she held international management functions and was part of ING’s board for South-East Asian operations located in Hong Kong. In 2004 she founded the Centre for Inclusive Leadership, promoting inclusive leadership styles in corporations and institutions. She sits on the Supervisory Board of Royal Swets & Zeitlinger and is business faculty at the Rotterdam School of Management. Dedicated to advancing women in leadership positions, she is President of the European Professional Women’s Network, connecting 3000 business women in 15 cities across Europe.

A former law clerk to Mr. Justice Thurgood Marshall of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Ms. Karen Hastie Williams is a retired partner in the Washington law firm of Crowell & Moring LLP.  Her law practice focused on public contract law, legislation, and strategic diversity counseling for corporate clients.  Ms. Hastie Williams is a frequent lecturer on many issues related to public contract law, and is active in numerous professional associations.  She serves currently as a member of the Boards of Directors of the Chubb Corporation, Continental Airlines, Gannett Corporation, SunTrust Banks, Washington Gas & Light (USA), and the Federal National Mortgage Association Foundation.