Organizers and Speakers
Organizers and Speakers' Bios
Katherine Bliss spent 18 years in television news as an anchor/reporter. In 1983, after graduating from Stanford University's Mass Media Institute, she started her career in Reno, Nevada as a reporter. One year later, she was recruited by the ABC affiliate in Tulsa, Oklahoma where she started as the early morning anchor and afternoon reporter. Two years later, it was on to St Louis, Missouri, again an ABC affiliate, where she was the weekend anchor and reporter for the weekday news. Before finally moving to Chicago, Katherine spent 8 years in Kansas City, Missouri, her home town, covering just about every issue as a reporter for the NBC affiliate and filling many different anchor duties, from mornings, weekends to finally the 5pm weekday news. In 1998, Katherine was recruited by the CBS owned and operated station here in Chicago, WBBM where she anchored the weekend news and reported during the week.
Matthew Temple is the Director of Alumni Career Services at the Kellogg School of Management. He has counseled alumni as well as full-time, part-time and executive MBA students on a range of career issues including self-assessment, company and industry research, search strategies, networking, resume and cover letter writing, interview preparation, negotiations and job offer decision-making. Matthew has conducted career management workshops on many topics, helped organize international career treks, and advised companies on recruiting strategies. Last year, Matthew helped develop and facilitate a series of two day workshops focusing on re-entering the workforce. He has worked as a Career Counselor with Harvard Business School and the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Previously, Matthew served as the Director of International Business Development for Ask Jeeves, where he helped establish and manage joint ventures in Asia, Europe and Latin America. He has worked in investment banking, consulting and marketing for Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and Accenture. In addition, he has worked in Asia and Europe.
Matthew holds a BA in European History from Harvard University and an MBA in Finance, Marketing and Organizational Behavior from the Kellogg School of Management. He resides in Los Angeles.
Catherine Clifford is the Co-founder of YourOnRamp.com, an online community where professional women manage their career OffRamps and OnRamps, and connect with employers. YourOnRamp provides women with a targeted job board, social network and career resources, including online career coaches. Catherine is also the co-author of Your Career OnRamp, a woman's guide to re-entering the workforce.
Catherine is an OnRamp expert and has been a featured guest on Lifetime, NBC News, ABC News and The Washington Post. Catherine and YourOnRamp have spoken to thousands of women at Harvard Business School, Tuck, Stanford, Columbia, Hastings, University of Texas and numerous YourOnRamp workshops.
Catherine has 16 years experience in the financial services business, She has 4 children and has been a working mom (full-time and part-time) and a SAHM. She has personally struggled to OnRamp into a new career and her frustration with the lack of resources available to OnRampers led her to launch YourOnRamp.com.
Millie Froeb is the Co-founder of YourOnRamp.com, a destination site for professional women who are in a career transition. The website connects employers with this smart, untapped labor force. Millie is an expert, speaker and consultant on flexibilities, re-entry, and leaving the workforce. She has helped many women and corporations successfully approach these issues. Millie is also the co-author of Your Career OnRamp, a woman's guide to re-entering the workforce.
Millie recieved her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BA from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She has been a featured guest in a variety of national media including Lifetime, ABC News and NBC News, and has spoken at a variety fo conferences including Harvard Business School's Women Leader's Summit and Future Women Leaders' Round Table. Millie leads many of the OffRamp and OnRamp workshops for YourOnRamp.
Millie lives in Tiburon, California with her husband and three children ages 4-7, who appreciate her hard work and flexibility. She loves to cook, enjoys fine wine and is always up to play a hand of bridge with her girlfriends and family.
Bill Chafetz is a Principal within Deloitte Consulting's Human Capital Service Area. He has over eighteen years experience helping global companies improve business performance through their people. Bill has developed and delivered services in the areas of workforce strategy, talent management, change management, and Human Resources functional strategy & design. He also leads multidisciplinary projects and relationships with Deloitte's clients.
Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson are the Founders of CultureRx and creators of the Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE). Their first book, WHY WORK SUCKS AND HOW TO FIX IT, was named “The Year’s Best Book on Work-Life Balance” by Business Week. They have been featured on the cover of Business Week, as well as in the New York Times, TIME Magazine, USA Today, HR Magazine cover story, and on Good Morning America, CNBC and CNN. Ms. Ressler and Ms. Thompson are also nationally recognized keynote speakers and have presented to numerous Fortune 500 companies and prominent trade associations. Prior to founding CultureRx, they worked at Best Buy and led the corporate headquarters into a Results-Only Work Environment.
Charlotte L. Wager is a partner in Jenner & Block’s Chicago office and serves as the Firm's Director of Professional Development and Co-Chair of the Hiring Executive Committee and Hiring Committee. She is a member of the Firm’s Litigation Department and Insurance Litigation and Counseling and Reinsurance Practices.
Ms. Wager is an active member of the Firm's Diversity Committee and has worked closely with the Firm's partners, associates and staff to implement various strategies and initiatives related to diversity and inclusiveness. As Co-Chair of the Hiring Executive Committee she has been involved in designing and implementing programs to expand sourcing and outreach to diverse candidates. As the Director of Professional Development, Ms. Wager is responsible for overseeing all aspects of associate training and development from orientation of new associates through advanced career development plans for senior associates. She chairs the Associate Training Committee. Ms. Wager also chairs the Firmwide Associate Development and Evaluation Committee that conducts performance reviews for all of the Firm's associates. She is an active member of the Firm's Women's Forum and a member of its Steering Committee. Ms. Wager regularly speaks to groups regarding hiring and development matters.
Ms. Wager received an LLB from Queen Mary College, University of London in 1988. She then spent a year as a visiting scholar at the Marshall Wythe School of Law, College of William & Mary. Between 1989 and 1992, Ms. Wager was a visiting instructor of law at the University of Illinois, College of Law, where she taught legal writing and research and appellate advocacy. She obtained her JD from the University of Illinois in January 1992 where she graduated summa cum laude. Ms. Wager joined the Firm in 1992. She is admitted to practice before the Illinois Supreme Court, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (including the Trial Bar) and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Rich Westphal is director of Accenture's US Retain Talent organization. In this role, Rich is responsible for creating and executing a strategy that focuses on all aspects of engaging and retaining employees, including such areas as career management, work/life and wellness and recognition programs.
Over the past five years, he was the Global Employee Engagement Lead, overseeing the transition from employee satisfaction to employee engagement; building an internal people measurement practice; and coordinating large-scale human resources efforts such as a leadership survey; global/team surveys; site visits with employees; and a host of other employee initiatives designed to enable people's personal and professional success. In addition, Rich regularly teaches sessions on engagement at Accenture's Global Training Center.
His vast experience includes two years of internal consulting and seven years as a human performance consultant for the Chemical and Pharmaceutical industries. Rich earned both his bachelor's of science degree in Computer Science Engineering and an MBA in Operations from the University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign.
Denise Nash is an independent marketing consultant who has worked with Aquent as their Director of Work/Life Initiatives for the past four years. Denise’s initial work with Aquent was to compile a national work/life survey that was featured in USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and other publications. In 2007, Denise partnered with Tuck Executive Education and Work+Life Fit Inc. to publish a study on flexibility in the workforce. Most recently, she has worked with Aquent to develop a “Fitness Test” to help individuals better understand the work/life fit they are looking for. She has spoken on the topic of work/life at conferences and events across the country. Denise has over 15 years of marketing and strategy and project management experience both with corporations and civic organizations. Denise holds a bachelors degree in Economics from College of the Holy Cross and an MBA from Columbia University. She resides in the Chicago area with her husband and four children where she works to maintain her own ideal work/life fit. During her career she has worked: full time, 4 days per week, three days per week, two days per week and one day per week. Denise also “opted out” of the workforce for several years while she was living abroad.
Leslie has taught and directed foreign language immersion programs for children since 1985. She founded Language Stars in 1997 and has grown the organization to include over 4,000 children at its 8 Chicagoland locations. Before founding Language Stars, Leslie was Manager of Strategic Planning for Disney Consumer Products and a consultant for Bain & Co. in France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom. Leslie earned her undergraduate and MBA degrees from Harvard. She speaks fluent French, Spanish and Russian and is conversant in German and Japanese. Leslie has two children who are being raised trilingually.