Women's Symposium

The symposium is taking place in the Chiang-Elghanayan Center for Innovation and Collaboration.

Program Schedule:

Registration/check-in: 9:30 a.m.
Keynote & morning session: 10 a.m.
Lunch & networking: 12 p.m.
Afternoon session: 1 p.m.

Keynote:
Fireside Chat on Leading with a Purpose

Kawanzaa King ’92, Owner & Principal Consultant, Harvest Partners

I am the owner of and principal consultant for Harvest Partners, a certified minority and women-owned enterprise. I partner with corporations, small business enterprises, nonprofits and entrepreneurs to develop their talent, brand presence and business strategy. I’ve partnered with LinkedIn and American Express Global Business Travel and had the pleasure of coaching leaders at the United Nations, CUNY, Facebook, L’Oréal, WarnerMedia, Weizmann Institute of Science, Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, and West Side High School in Newark, New Jersey.

I was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. Before attending Blair as a freshman, I rarely traveled more than fifteen miles outside of Newark. I graduated from Goucher College in Maryland and married my college sweetheart Alan L. King Jr., who matriculated at Morehouse College. It was a long-distance courtship, and an even longer distance when I decided to study in Paris for two semesters during our junior year. Together we share the joy and challenges of parenting our son, Noah (21), and daughter, Nala (18).

My professional career began in telecommunications with Lucent Technologies. I excelledat sales because I enjoyed building relationships. In many ways, my Blair experience taught me how to connect with people, particularly, people who do not look like me. In 2002, I stepped away from my professional career to focus full-time on my most rewarding role—mom. Over the next 15 years, I would gain experience in several industry verticals: real estate, retail, education, media, hospitality, professional services and, of course, homeroom mother and youth recreational basketball coach.

Melissa Matarazzo ’93, Principal & Coach, Huron Studer Education

Melissa Matarazzo ’93 is a former teacher, principal and school district leader who helps schools create engaging cultures of continuous improvement to drive student outcomes. As a principal on the Studer Education team at Huron Consulting Group, Melissa applies more than 20 years of experience in K12 education to her coaching work with school boards, superintendents, school and department leaders. Her passion is for developing leaders’ skills and defining the organizational processes necessary to evolve their institutions, increase stakeholder engagement and enhance student success.

Prior to joining Huron Studer Education, Melissa served as the executive director for achievement and accountability in South Carolina’s Charleston County School District, a middle school principal in the Peabody Public Schools in Massachusetts and as an eighth-grade teacher and assistant principal in the Derry Cooperative School District in New Hampshire. She served as adjunct lecturer and supervisor of student teachers at American International College and the College of Charleston. Melissa earned her bachelor’s degree in history from Brown University and, from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, she received her master’s in school leadership and doctorate of education in urban superintendency. A New Jersey native, she currently lives outside of Rochester, New York.

Morning Session:
Inspiring Thoughts and Inquiry on Burnout

Leigh Aschoff ’98, Person-Centered Healing Practitioner

Leigh Aschoff ’98 is a human and a person-centered healing practitioner. She is the founder of Heart-Peace Healing, which invites participants to actively return to self-connection and wholeness. Leigh currently offers weekly Honoring sessions and a variety of Akashic healings. 

Leigh is certified in Transpersonal Energy Healing, Advanced Akashic Records and Intuitive Energy Healing. Sacred creativity is woven through all the healing approaches she shares. Leigh is currently in the professional Compassionate Inquiry training with Gabor Maté and Sat Dharam with the intention of becoming certified in 2023. 

Leigh graduated from Blair Academy in 1998 and went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts, with honors, from the School of Visual Arts in New York where she studied photography. After completing her undergraduate degree, Leigh went on to explore music and improv and she played in a few bands. Eventually, she returned to school to receive her master’s in Neuroscience and Education from Columbia University’s Teacher’s College. A practitioner of Hatha Yoga, Therapeutic Yoga and Yin Yoga, she is a 200+ registered yoga teacher. Leigh is also a lifelong student of decolonial alchemy. 

Working with a healing practitioner is an essential part of ongoing spiritual/emotional work and Leigh is honored to be with others in dialogue and presence during healing sessions while she walks with them on their path to discovering wholeness through self-connection and compassion. 

To learn more about Leigh Aschoff and Heart-Peace Healing, visit her website: www.leighaschoff.com 

Afternoon Session: 
How to Live Your Best Financial Life panel discussion

Moderator: 
Ashley Thompson ’08, Co-Creator & CEO, MUSH

Ashley Thompson ’08 co-founded MUSH in 2015 with the conviction that easy, delicious and nutritious food can elevate the world in powerful ways.
After earning a degree in economics and mathematics from Columbia University in 2011, Ashley worked on Wall Street as a trading analyst at Goldman Sachs. During the first few months, Goldman’s intense, fast-paced environment and long hours shed light on the difficulty of eating well in modern-day America. A huge white space of delicious and portable nutrition existed, and it intrigued her far more than Eurodollar futures. After contemplating her own desire to buy snacks that balance simplicity, flavor and sustenance, she decided to commercialize what she initially created as a “hack” as a kid: cereal and oatmeal soaked in milk. That hack eventually became MUSH, a fast-growing brand on a mission to make a difference.  
MUSH’s first product line of nutrient-dense, plant-based, ready-to-eat oats is both novel and accessible. Ashley believes that public health is a public good, which underpins several elements of product design including flavor profiles, portion sizes and more affordable price points as the business scales.
 
Named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in 2020, Thompson confidently espouses that when you eat well, you feel well, and when you feel well, you do well. She’s driven by the concept of a healthy, harmonious world and has the bold goal of getting MUSH into every human’s hands.


Panelists: 
Evelyn Tilney ’05, Sales Associate, Kienlen Lattmann Sotheby's International Realty

Evelyn Tilney ’05 looks at real estate from all facets—financial, creative and logistical. Working with a roster of clients that includes buyers, investors, and sellers, she focuses on serving them with integrity and honesty while providing excellent data analysis, knowledgeable architectural design and precise execution. 
Previously affiliated with Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty in the Boston metro area, this New Jersey native is well-versed in highly competitive and time-sensitive real-estate transactions. In addition to brokering sales, her work encompasses building networks and making connections while serving as a consultant and concierge—whether clients need to be connected to an agent in another city, state or country; are searching for the right real-estate attorney; want to be introduced to a lender who understands their personal financial picture; or need the help of a design professional to reimagine a space.
Evelyn holds a Bachelor of Arts in architectural studies from Brown University and a master’s in architecture and urban culture from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra/Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona. She has worked as a strategist, project manager, producer for architecture, design and real-estate projects, including New York Fashion Week runway shows, museum installations, conferences and street art festivals. Though her roots lie in rural New Jersey, she has resided in Manhattan, Barcelona, Boston and Providence.

Quinn Kennedy ’13, Senior Associate, Investor Partners Group at Golub Capital

Quinn Kennedy ’13 joined Golub Capital in 2019 and is a Senior Associate on the Product Specialist team. She is responsible for supporting business development and investor relations as a subject-matter expert for the Firm’s private funds. Prior to Golub Capital, Ms. Kennedy was a Business Analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., where she supported senior management in the Private Client Division. Ms. Kennedy earned her BSBA degree cum laude in Finance from Elon University.

Rocky Granahan P'24, Managing Director Head of Institutional Relationship Management North America for State Street Global Advisors

Managing Director of State Street Global Advisors (“SSGA”) Rocky Granahan P’24 leads Client Engagement for the North America Institutional Client Group. She oversees a team of institutional relationship managers who offer investment services for defined benefit, defined contribution, endowment, foundations, federal and state government plans as well as institutional subadvisory and recordkeeping clients. 
Prior to joining SSGA, Rocky spent 24 years at OppenheimerFunds, Inc. in product development roles overseeing the launch of their 529 college savings plans, as well as donor advised and pooled income funds.  She also held sales and relationship management roles across their retail and institutional asset management business.  
 
Rocky studied marketing at Iona College, and went on to earn her Master of Business Administration in 2018 from Columbia Business School, where she was elected by her cohorts as the student commencement speaker.

SSGA manages over $4 trillion in assets for institutional clients and has over 2,500 employees across 30 offices globally. SSGA is the asset management arm of State Street Corporation–one of the largest global custodian banks with over $43 trillion assets under custody. SSGA is considered one of the earliest pioneers of index and exchange-traded fund (ETF) investing. They launched their first index fund in 1978 for institutional clients. In 1993, together with the American Stock Exchange, SSGA launched the first U.S.-listed ETF known as SPY, to offer investors broader, more efficient access to capital markets. SSGA’s mission is to invest responsibly to enable economic prosperity and social progress. You may recognize SSGA for its work highlighting the need for gender diversity across corporate boards via our Fearless Girl Campaign in 2017.

Alumni
Jim Naisby '57
Bob Van Stone '69
Cristianna Gibbs '80 P'15
Chuck Inkeles '88
Anita Ricketts '88
Kawanzaa (Upshaw) King ’92
Melissa Matarazzo ’93
Nicole (Nicusanti) Tipton '93
Megan (Hobbs) Brodbeck '96
Christina Almeida '97
Joanna Schwartz '97
Leigh Aschoff '98
Kim (Sandwall) Foster '98
Rob Apgar '99
Meredith Gal '02
Evie Tilney '05
Winnie (Adrien) Lizardo Orbe '06
Matt Gallira '08
Ashley Thompson '08
Dan Smith '09
Emily Collins '11
Kathleen Kennedy '11
Jack Januszewski '13
Missy Levinson '15
Morgan Valeo '15
Will Pemberton '16
Campbell Craig '21
Grace Higgins '21

Parents
Claire Bailey P'22
Suzanne Chamberlin P'11 '15
Hilary Craig P'21
Sarah Dyer Dana P'22
Leslie Fahey P'09 '10 '14 '15
Diana Garces P'23
Rocky Granahan P'24
Aimee Greene P'24
Diane Haviland P'93
Erin Higgins P'21
Joan Aschoff-Schumann P'98

Grandparents
Mandy Dana P'87 '92

Friends
Arlene Washburn
 

Faculty
Carolyn Conforti-Browse '79
Peter Curran
Jim Moore
Ann Williams