Nannette de Gaspé Beaubien

Vice Chair, T Corp.

Nannette de Gaspé Beaubien is a seasoned marketing and finance executive with an emphasis on the biotech and beauty industries. She has spent her career in corporate banking, corporate finance and private equity in Toronto, New York and Montreal. Since 2003, Nannette has been Vice-Chair at T Investment Corporation (formerly Telemedia Ventures), a private holding company with a strong focus on scouting, funding, and nurturing industry disruptive and innovative companies and technologies. In 2014, Nannette took on the role of Strategic Advisor at Holt Renfrew, and in the same year, she was appointed to the board of the National Research Council of Canada. In 2015, Nannette took on the role of Executive Chair of Biomod Concepts, a biotech company with both cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications, where she spearheaded the commercialization of their proprietary technologies. In 2016, Nannette launched her own global luxury beauty brand, Nannette de Gaspé, and is the company’s Brand Founder and CEO.

Philippe de Gaspé Beaubien III

President and Chairman, T. Corp.

Carol L. Bernick

CEO, Polished Nickel Capital Management

Carol Bernick serves as CEO of Polished Nickel Capital Management, a privately held company that manages diversified investments and owned operating companies in retail and professional sports.  Ms. Bernick also serves as Chairman of the Board of Northwestern Memorial Healthcare.  

She served as Executive Chairman of Alberto-Culver Company, a $1.6 billion global manufacturer of consumer products including Alberto VO5, TRESemme, Nexxus, Motions, St. Ives, Noxzema, Simple Skin Care, Mrs. Dash and Static Guard -- the latter two brands which she created -- until the company’s May, 2011 acquisition by Unilever, a process which she initiated and directed.  Carol became president of Alberto-Culver’s consumer products unit in 1994 and served in that role until elected executive chairman in 2004.  In the president’s role, she reenergized the consumer businesses, dramatically increasing the company’s growth rate growth rate while instituting a nationally-recognized cultural overhaul of the company profiled in the June, 2001 Harvard Business Review and as recently as 2014 in Resurgence - The Four Stages of Market-Focused Reinvention [Palgrave MacMillan Trade].  As chairman, in 2006 Carol oversaw the process that separated the then $3.7 billion company’s consumer products business and its Sally Beauty Company into two free-standing public companies and she remained executive chairman of the consumer products company.

Among various community commitments, in addition to Northwestern Memorial Healthcare, a board she has served on for over 17 years, she serves as a vice chair of the Board of Tulane University, a member of the Board of Directors of the Economic Club of Chicago, a member of the Executive Committee of the Global Advisory Board for Northwestern University’s Kellogg Management School and a member of the Women’s Leadership Board of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a member of the Women’s Board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago,. She founded a support group for Prentice Women’s Hospital that has raised millions of dollars to benefit women’s and children’s health.  In 2005 she was named National Working Mother of the Year by the Moms in Business Network. Carol holds an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Lewis University and has recently been honored by Athena International and Legal Momentum for her role in mentoring and advancing women’s careers and by the Illinois chapter of Children’s Home & Aid with its Love of Children award.  Mrs. Bernick has three adult children and four grandchildren.

Mitchell Kaneff

Chairman and CEO, Arkay Packaging

Peter Willson

Chairman & CEO, Willson International Limited

Peter Willson joined Willson in 1997, and is the 4th generation of active Willson family management. Prior to joining the company Peter worked with Ernst & Young specializing in the audit of healthcare and mining companies.  Willson International specializes in Customs brokerage and transborder logistics with a predominant focus on Canada-US Trade. Peter is involved deeply in the community and currently sits on the Advisory Board for Heart & Stroke-Ontario. He has served as a Director and Chair of the Upper Canada Chapter of Young Presidents Organization, has been a member of the Regional council for YPO and of the Regional Board of Directors. Peter served as a director of the Trillium Health Centre Foundation, from 2007 to 2013 and as Chair of the Foundation from 2010 to 2013. During this time, he was also a Director of the Trillium Health Centre. In recognition of his community service, Peter was awarded Volunteer of the Year from the Golden Horseshoe Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.   Peter holds a Metallurgical Engineering degree from Queens University and an MBA from the University of Toronto.  He is a chartered accountant and a Certified Director from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Peter lives in Oakville, Canada with his wife Carol and d aughters Sofie (17) and Maya (15) and 3 dogs.  Peter is an avid cyclist, golfer & wingshooter.

Mitzi Perdue

Perdue Farms

Mitzi Perdue is the spouse of the late Frank Perdue and holds degrees from Harvard University and George Washington University, is a past president of the 35,000 member American Agri-Women and was one of the U.S. Delegates to the United Nations Conference on Women in Nairobi.  She currently writes for the Academy of Women’s Health,  and GEN, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.

Perdue Farms is the family-owned parent company of Perdue Foods and Perdue AgriBusiness. Perdue Farms is a major chicken processing company based in Salisbury, Maryland, United States with annual sales in excess of $6 billion. The company was founded in 1920 and is 95 years old this year.

Most recently, Mitzi authored Tough Man, Tender Chicken, Business and Life Lessons from Frank Perdue, and I Didn't Bargain for This, her story of growing up as a hotel heiress. She also programmed a computer app, B Healthy U, designed to help people track the interactions of lifestyle factors that influence their energy, sleep, hunger, mood, and ability to handle stress.  In addition to being a programmer and software developer, Mitzi is also an artist and designer of EveningEggs™ handbags.

In addition, Mitzi is the author of the I Want to EggScape™ Book, A Quick Guide To Successful Media Appearances, and six cookbooks, including The Farmers' Cookbook series and the Perdue Chicken Cookbook. She is also the author of more than 1600 newspaper and magazine articles on food, agriculture, the environment, philanthropy, biotechnology genetic engineering, and women's health.
 
She was a syndicated columnist for 22 years, and her weekly environmental columns were distributed first by California’s Capitol News and later, by Scripps Howard News Service, to roughly 420 newspapers.  For two years she served as one of the commissioners for the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science.
 
Mitzi also produced and hosted more than 400 half hour interview shows, Mitzi's Country Magazine on KXTV, the CBS affiliate in Sacramento, California. In addition, she hosted and produced more than 300 editions of Mitzi's Country Comments, which was syndicated to 76 stations. Her radio series, Tips from the Farmer to You, was broadcast weekly for two years on the Coast to Coast Radio Network.

Paula Marshall

Chief Executive Officer, Bama Companies

As Bama’s Chief Executive Officer, Paula Marshall provides strategic leadership and direction to the entire organization. Her vision stands as a beacon for Bama team members, inspiring the organization to achieve the Bama mission – “People Helping People Be Successful”.

Paula assumed responsibility as CEO of the Bama Companies in 1984, which now includes Bama Pie, Bama Foods, Bama Frozen Dough, Beijing Bama and Bama Europa. Under her leadership Bama has expanded to provide a wide variety of frozen desserts and baked goods to fast food chains and casual and family dining restaurants.

Paula received her Bachelor of Science in business from Oklahoma City University (OCU) in 1982, and her PhD in commercial science, also from OCU, in 1993.

Paula is the author of four books, the most recent was co-authored with New York Times bestselling author Jim Stovall. The Executive Entrepreneur is an important conversation starter about how all business people must embrace both entrepreneurship and management to succeed. 

Bama Companies was founded in the 1920s as the Bama Pie Company by Cornelia Alabama Marshall and her husband Frank. Since the 1960s, Bama Companies have been an innovator of wholesome bakery products that cater to the needs of the largest and most well known restaurant chains on the planet. The company’s core product lines are hand-held pies, biscuits, buns, pie shells, and pizza crusts and it develops and maintain long-term partnerships with customers that include:

• the #1 hamburger chain in the world
• the #1 pizza chain in the world
• the #1 Mexican food chain in America
• the #1 retailer in the world
• the #1 fried chicken chain in the world 

Sam J. Susser

Director, Susser Holdings Corporation

Sam J. Susser is the former chairman and chief executive officer, and a member of the Board of Directors of Susser Holdings Corporation. Previously, Mr. Susser was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Plexus Financial Services, a holding company based in Dallas, Texas, from 1987 through 1991. Mr. Susser's experience includes various positions with The Southland Corporation, Plexus Financial Services and CITGO Petroleum Company, 1 where he served as President. Mr. Susser is a director and past chairman of the Audit Committee of Alberto-Culver Company. Mr. Susser previously has served on the Board of Directors of Garden Ridge Pottery and Computer Craft, Inc. He is the father of Sam L. Susser, Susser Holding Corporations President and Chief Executive Officer and a director.

The Susser family's gasoline and convenience store business began when Minna Schwartz won the heart of an entrepreneur. In 1938 her husband, Sam Susser, took over operation of two service stations Minna had inherited and began selling fuel to local companies.

In his first year, Sam sold 360,000 gallons of gasoline. The business has flourished to become the largest non-refiner fuel distributor in Texas. Sam and Minna's two sons, Jerry and Sam J. joined Susser Petroleum Company in the 1960's. Together they invented the first system that allowed customers to purchase gasoline with a credit card from unattended stations.

Sam J.'s son, Sam L. Susser, joined the business in 1988. The company then became Southguard Corporation to acquire 26 7-Eleven stores. Southguard was merged into Susser Holdings LLC in 1998. The company's retail convenience store operations are conducted through its subsidiary, Stripes LLC. From 1988 to 2002, Susser successfully completed nine major acquisitions, including A. N. Rusche Distributing Company. Rusche was a well-respected Houston-based jobber, and significantly strengthened the Company's wholesale platform. Susser consolidated its wholesale operations in Houston through its subsidiary, Susser Petroleum Company LLC. Other significant acquisitions include Circle Ks, Tex Marts and Coastal/Maverick Markets. Susser Holdings Corporation also provides a broad range of environmental consulting, maintenance and construction management services to the petroleum and convenience store industry through another subsidiary, Applied Petroleum Technologies, Ltd.

At present, the company operates over 510 convenience stores under the Stripes® and Town & Country brands. The company also supplies fuel to 372 branded and unbranded dealers, five unattended fueling facilities and a significant number of other commercial customers.

Julie Charlestein

President & CEO, Premier Dental Products Company

Bill Yoh

Chairman, Yoh, a Day & Zimmermann Company

Lansing Crane

Former Chairman and CEO, Crane & Co. Inc.; Chairman, Canal Insurance Company, SOG Specialty Knives & Tools and Wells Enterprises; Director, Ginsey Home Solutions

Lansing Crane retired in 2007 from Crane & Co. Inc. after 12 years as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. A member of Crane's Board of Directors from 1985 until 2007, He is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of Canal Insurance Company of Greenville, South Carolina, a Director of Wells' Dairy Inc. of Le Mars, Iowa, and a Senior Advisor on mergers and acquisitions and family corporate matters to Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Mr. Crane is also Executive-in-Residence at the Family Business Center of the Loyola School of Business in Chicago Illinois, and a member of the Business Advisory Board of the Family Firm Institute.

Mr. Crane is a sixth-generation descendant of the founder of Crane. During Mr. Crane's tenure at Crane & Co., the company moved from being a New England manufacturer of niche products to a diversified, global company while still retaining the values and culture of a unique legacy company. Mr. Crane led a professionalization of Crane's board of directors, management and family governance structures.

Trained as a lawyer, Mr. Crane practiced law in New Haven, Connecticut and taught in the Yale School of Medicine until joining Crane & Co. He and his wife, Katharine, now reside in Boulder, Colorado.

Crane was established in 1801 and has been privately owned by the Crane family since then. Crane is a world leader in the manufacture and sale of high security currency products, fine cotton stationery and high performance, nonwoven materials for filtration and insulation. Crane has supplied the U.S. Treasury with all of its currency paper requirements since 1879, and has developed banknote security features that are present in the currencies of the United States, the European Union, and many nations of the world.

With its 2001 acquisition and subsequent modernization of the banknote printing and paper facilities of the Central Bank of Sweden outside Stockholm, Sweden, Crane Currency has become a fully integrated supplier of banknotes, banknote paper and security features for governments worldwide.

In the United States, Crane's branded 100% cotton stationery has been the standard for business and social correspondence, and important social occasions, for generations.

Crane's nonwoven products are sold worldwide for fine water filtration, cleaning emissions from coal burning power plants and diesel engines, and safely insulating office panels and computer chips.

Cameron Nutting Williams

Preston Root

President, Root Family Board of Directors

Preston Root is President of the Root Family Board of Directors, a position that has been continuously occupied by a family member for 110 years.

He is the great grandson of C.J. Root who founded Root Glass Company in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1901. Root Glass Company designed , patented and manufactured the original 6 1/2 ounce Coca-cola bottle in 1916.

Root Company relocated to Florida in 1950 and started to build what would become one of the largest independent bottlers of Coca - Cola in the United States. Preston has worked for the family business for 35 years in roles ranging from route sales to radio station manager.

In addition, he currently works for MRN Radio--"The Voice of NASCAR"--America's largest independent sports radio network, broadcasting NASCAR and Rolex Grand-Am races from all across North America.

Preston has served on the Board of Directors for the YMCA of Volusia County , Museum of Arts and Sciences of Daytona Beach and The Arc of Volusia and Flagler Counties. In 2010 Preston was named "Top Volunteer in the State of Florida" by The Arc. He also serves on Halifax Health Foundation.

Preston is a certified SCUBA instructor and an EMT. His interests include mountain biking and aviation.

Gary Katz

Managing Partner, Downtown Capital Partners

Tara Bahn

Director of Shareholder Services, The Clemens Family Corporation

Tara Bahn is Director of Shareholder Services for The Clemens Family Corporation.  She previously served as Corporate Counsel for the company.  She was formerly an associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where she was named a Washington, D.C. Rising Star in Environmental Law by Super Lawyers.  She also served as a trial attorney in the US Department of Justice.  She earned her JD at Tulane University.

Scenic Root

5th Generation Family Member, The Root Glass Company

Scenic Root is a 5th generation steward of Root Glass Company, which designed and patented the original Coca-Cola bottle in 1916. 

John Neretlis

Rowntree Enterprises

Allan Grafman

CEO, All Media Ventures

Ellie Frey Zagel

Vice Chair and Trustee, The Frey Foundation