SUZY WELCH
Business Journalist; Author of 10-10-10: A Life-Transforming Idea; Co-Author of the bestselling book Winning

Suzy Welch is an author, commentator, and business journalist. The weekly column, The Welch Way, that she writes with her husband, Jack Welch, appears in BusinessWeek magazine and is published by the New York Times syndicate in more than 45 major newspapers around the world, reaching more than 8 million readers. The Welches are also the co-authors of Winning, a #1 Wall Street Journal and international bestseller, and its companion volume, Winning: The Answers. On her own, Suzy is a columnist for O, The Oprah Magazine, where she writes frequently about balancing work and life, as well as the delicate art of managing career challenges.

Born in Portland, Oregon, Suzy received her BA from Harvard College in 1981 and then joined The Miami Herald as a reporter. She left daily journalism to attend Harvard Business School, where she graduated as a Baker Scholar in 1988. After Harvard Business School, Suzy worked as a management consultant, specializing in strategy and manufacturing. She joined the Harvard Business Review as a senior editor in 1995 and was named editor-in-chief in 2001. During her tenure at HBR, Suzy was the author of numerous articles on leadership, change, creativity and organizational behavior, as well as the contributor to several books on management.

Suzy is the mother of 4 children, ages 14 to 19. She is actively involved with several non-profit boards, including Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program.

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About 10-10-10

From columnist and bestselling author Suzy Welch comes a powerful, proven strategy for making difficult decisions and clarifying life choices.

As a transformative new approach to decision-making, 10-10-10 is a tool for reclaiming your life. The process is clear, straightforward, and transparent. All it takes to begin are three simple questions: When faced with a complex dilemma, stop and ask, "What will the consequences of my options be in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years?" Yet the outcomes are illuminating, and seldom predictable.

Sound simple? Not quite. Drawing 10-10-10 moments from her own life and the lives of others, Welch provides the tools to tease apart our deepest goals and values, candidly face our fears and dreams, and rid ourselves of angst, frustration and regret.

10-10-10’s applicability is uniquely broad. From college students to busy mothers to senior business executives, from artists to government administrators to entrepreneurs, 10-10-10 has shown its effectiveness in decisions large and small, routine and radical, changing lives for the better at home, in love, at work, and in friendship.

Abha Dawesar
Award-winning Novelist
Author of “That Summer in Paris,” “Babyji,” “Miniplanner”

Abha Dawesar is the author of three critically acclaimed novels: That Summer in Paris (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday 2006, also available in paperback from Anchor Books), Babyji (Anchor Books, February 2005) and Miniplanner (Cleis Press, November 2000). She is the recepient of numerous honors including the American Library Association's Stonewall Award for 2006 as well as a Lambda Literary Award for 2005.

New York's weekly magazine Time Out listed Dawesar as one of 25 People who will make their mark in 2005. India's leading weekly magazine India Today named Dawesar as one of twenty-five path-breaking Indians in 2007. She has also been called one of India's 12 remarkable women by Femina magazine and named by the leading national English language newspaper, The Hindustan Times, with a list of eleven other authors in its Next Big Things for 2005. The New York Foundation of the Arts awarded Dawesar a Fiction Fellowship in 2000. Babyji was short-listed for France's most important literary award for foreign fiction Le Prix Médicis Roman Etranger and also for Le Prix Bel Ami in 2006-2007.

Babyji was named one of the ten best books of fiction for 2005 by the Boston Phoenix. It was reviewed nationally and internationally in the US media, India, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. The French producer-director Claude Berri recently optioned the film rights for Babyji following the success of the book in France. For further information check out the press page. Dawesar has been interviewed extensively on radio and television in the USA (Sree Srinivasan's "The Voice" on American Desi TV network, Ashok Vyas's program on ITV and Gayatri Iyer's "The Diaspora" on South Asia TV), France, and India. You can hear her speak to Barry Vogel on Radio Curious or watch her on the French Senate's public channel on a panel hosted by Jean-Pierre Elkabbach. Writer and journalist Sagarika Ghose of CNN-IBN in India invited Dawesar on a panel in early 2007 on The State of the Nation.

Dawesar has been invited to read, speak and conduct seminars in various cities in the U.S., Europe, and India including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, Ann Arbor, New York, Paris, London, York, New Delhi, Chandigarh and Bangalore. Her work has been published in 9 countries. For upcoming events including book signing and visual arts exhibitions check here.

In addition to being an artist (see adjacent column) Dawesar keeps an on and off blog on art, French cinema, and books. She also occasionally writes for other publications. Some recent articles are:
Hanuman Sapiens for Mad in India published by the French photographers collective Tendance Floue upcoming Summer 2008.
Crime & Punishment for the review of the French photographers collective OEIL PUBLIC upcoming Fall 2008.
Bombay vs. Delhi for the French cultural magazine Senso. March 2008.
Les intellectuals jugent… in Le Monde, Mar 22, 2007.
Past contributions have included Muze Magazine (France), Verve Magazine (India), Publishers Weekly (USA) and General-Anzeiger (Germany). Dawesar also has an essay in the Indians Abroad: The Diaspora Writes Back published by STE Publishers, Johannesburg.

Abha Dawesar's next novel Family Values will be released by Penguin Books in India in January 2009 and Editions Héloïse d’Ormesson in the Spring of 2009 in France. ASA and and SA are bringing the book out in Portugal and Brazil respectively. If you are interested in rights please email Sarah Hirsch (sarah at editions-heloisedormesson.com) with a cc to the author (abha.dawesar at gmail.com).

SHAZI VISRAM
CEO & Founder
HAPPYBABY -premium organic meals for the family; One of three national finalists of the NBC-American Express SHINE A LIGHT national small business contest

Shazi first created her vision for convenient, healthy meals for babies and children as she listened with a compassionate ear to a friend's anguish about the difficulty of finding the time to make her own baby food between caring for her baby, keeping up with her work, and all of the other demands of her very full life. In that instant, HAPPYBABY was born. A passionate supporter of health, wellness and sustainability, she was saddened to see the choices for parents when it came to store-bought baby food and understood the importance of starting babies on the tastes of fresh whole foods. She saw the opportunity to create a business that could positively impact the health of our children from the very start, offer parents peace of mind, support sustainable agriculture and simultaneously give back to those in need.

In a past life, Shazi founded and ran a marketing and media buying consultancy to help small business grow their brands. Her desire to utilize her talents to make a difference in the world coupled with her entrepreneurial nature took her to business school where she began developing HAPPYBABY in 2003. Shazi holds a BA from Columbia University in History and Visual Arts and an MBA from Columbia Business School in Management and Entrepreneurship. She lives in Jersey City, NJ with her husband Joe and is expecting her first HAPPYBABY in January.

BARBARA ADACHI
National Managing Principal
Initiative for the Retention & Advancement of Women,
Deloitte
Principal,
Deloitte Consulting LLP

Barbara Adachi is the National Managing Princi¬pal for Deloitte LLP’s award-winning Women’s Initia¬tive (WIN). In this role, she devotes her energy to building on the remarkable foundation of WIN, which Deloitte started 16 years ago, to drive marketplace growth and create a culture where the best (women and men) choose to be. Before taking on this role, she led the Northern Pacific region WIN activities for five years.

Barbara is the new national Chief Talent Officer for Human Capital Consulting. Prior to this, Barbara led Deloitte Consult¬ing LLP’s Human Capital Practice for the West region for 8 years where she was responsible for financial performance and operations, talent recruitment and develop¬ment, and delivery of human capital consulting services across the region. She joined Deloitte in 1990 to start the Bay Area Human Capital practice in San Francisco and specializes in total rewards, health benefits strategy and plan design. Barbara still actively serves clients and is the LCSP for the University of California system, one of the largest employers in the state.

In addition, Barbara serves on the board of Deloitte Consulting LLP. She has been named one of the “100 Most Influential Women in Business” by San Francisco Business Times from 2003 through 2009.Barbara was also named “Women Worth Watching in 2009” by Profiles in Diversity Magazine.

Barbara also serves on the boards of Girl Scouts of the USA, Professional Business Women of California Advisory Council, Santa Clara University HR Leader¬ship Advisory Board and Blue Cross of California Consumer Relations Committee. She was chair of the 2007 American Heart Association (AHA) Go Red Luncheon for San Francisco Bay Area and continues to be active with the AHA.

Nancy Pedot
Managing Director, GOLDEN SEEDS
Former CEO, GYMBOREE

Managing Director of Golden Seeds, an angel investing group that identifies and invests in women-led ventures with the potential to grow into multi-million dollar businesses. She is the former President/CEO of Party City, a nationwide chain of franchise and corporate party stores, and also former President and CEO of Gymboree, the publicly traded child development and retail chain.

From 1994 through 1997, Nancy was President and CEO of Gymboree Corporation, a leading retailer of children’s apparel and play programs based in California.Under her leadership as CEO, Gymboree grew from approximately $14 million in sales to more than $430 million and expanded from 33 to more than 360 stores in the United States, Canada and Europe.She joined Gymboree as Senior Vice President of Merchandising in 1989, two years after the company opened its first retail store.For her achievements at Gymboree, Nancy was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Inc. magazine and was featured on the cover of Business Week as CEO of one of America’s fastest growing companies. She has served as a director on the board of several retail companies including PetsMart, Cost Plus World Markets, Gymboree, and Party City.

Boards: Director, Mercado Global; Director, Glimmerglass Opera; Trustee Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Madeline Nelson-Small
Executive Director
MARY J. BLIGE AND STEVE STOUTE FOUNDATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN NOW (FFAWN)

As the Executive Director of Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now (FFAWN), the two-year old organization founded by Grammy-winning singer/ songwriter Mary J. Blige and marketing and branding executive Steve Stoute, music industry veteran Madeline Nelson-Small is on a mission. “My passion for what we’re doing at FFAWN is limitless,” Nelson explains. “It was our goal from the beginning to make FFAWN a grassroots relationship between ourselves and the community of women we’ve vowed to help.”
A Harlem native and City College graduate who strongly believes in the idea of “paying it forward,” Madeline Nelson-Small arrived at FFAWN with a strong desire to help under-served women feel empowered to reach their full potential with scholarships, grants, and other supporting programs.

“Having gone through years of mental and physical abuse when I was a child, I can understand all too well what happens when a woman feels she has no hope.”
With Mary J. Blige, Steve Stoute, Shawn Carter, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Kendu Isaacs currently sitting on the board of directors of FFAWN, Nelson helped draft the foundation’s founding principles. “I like to think of them as guideposts through our journey,” Nelson says.

FFAWN is currently partnering with the Shawn Carter Scholarship Fund (SCSF) and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund to help young women reach their dream of attending college, just one of the goals brought to fruition by the organization. “With our passion and strengths, we pride ourselves as being more than just another celebrity foundation,” Madeline says.

As a teenager, Madeline began working in the television industry as an intern at Showtime At the Apollo. Nelson quickly worked her way up to Associate Producer on the legendary television show, where she produced segments and booked professional talent. The constant interaction with the musicians booked for the Apollo led her to explore a career in music. After working for the Apollo, Madeline later joined New Jack Swing Productions/Interscope Records where she worked her way up to Vice President of Music Operations. During her time at New Jack Swing/Interscope, she managed hit-makers BlackStreet to 6 million plus records and worked with other great talents such as Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dog, and Pharrell Williams.

Def Comedy Jam, The Soap Opera Digest Awards, Essence Awards, and B.E.T. Awards Shows are some of the shows for which Madeline worked as talent coordinator and producer. In addition, she has been a producer and event coordinator for Ray Allen, Allen Iverson, Ray Lewis, Denzel Washington for Boys and Girls Club, Bob Johnson, Lenny Kravitz, Faith Hill, and Rihanna.
Madeline's diverse job opportunities have afforded her the good fortune to work with many very talented and driven people. However, she always knew she was not fulfilling her own personal destiny. “When Mary J. and Steve Stoute came to me about spearheading FFAWN, a name I helped conceive, I knew this was my chance to put every privilege I’ve ever had in life toward helping others.”

Currently, FFAWN’s calendar of events for this year includes the 2009 Friends of FFAWN Dinner, “Gucci for FFAWN Day” (an alliance with Gucci’s flagship store to donate 10% of all sales on September 16th) and a partnership with Extreme Makeover Home Edition to re-build the home of a woman who has dedicated her life to helping women and children in need (the program will air on ABC Television on September 27th).Driven by soulful compassion and the dedication to make a difference, FFAWN’s senior director Madeline Nelson-Small is more than ready for the challenge. “This is just the beginning of our mission,” she says. “Believe me, the goals of FFAWN know no boundaries.”