Executive Committee
Elizabeth Colton, Chair
Elizabeth is the driving force behind the International Museum of Women,
whose mission is to value the lives of women around the world by amplifying
the voices of women through history, the arts and cultural programs
that educate, create dialogue, build community, and inspire action.
As Board Chair, a position she has held since 1998, she has provided
the leadership to create and develop this visionary new institution.
Elizabeth is a devoted advocate for and philanthropist to women's causes
human rights issues, the arts, and political campaigns. She is a member
of Emily's List Majority Council, the Women's Leadership Forum of the
National Committee, and the International Women's Forum. She is a former
member of the Board of Trustees of Emma Willard School in Troy, New
York and is currently a member of the Campaign Executive Committee.
She serves on the boards of the Women's Leadership Board at Kennedy
School at Harvard University, and Lykes Bros. Inc. a Florida-based agricultural
industry corporation. Elizabeth graduated from Florida State University
with a BA in Sociology.
Cynthia Ann Eisenberg, Treasurer
Cindy brings the rare combination of an expertise in finance, investments,
and business with a demonstrated passion for and involvement in humanitarian
causes. As a Certified Public Accountant, she was one of the first women
to achieve partnership in Arthur Andersen, LLP while the firm enjoyed
unprecedented public regard. Cindy is the cofounder of Community Bank
Investors, an investment hedge fund. She currently devotes her energies
to environment and wildlife conservation and to working to ensure that
women are allowed full entry into all aspects of work and society. An
effective activist in politics. Cindy holds a BA from Colorado Women's
College and an MS from Golden Gate University.
Kathleen H. Cardinal, Vice Chair
Kathleen
is a member of the board of NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, the
nation's oldest and largest women's legal rights organization. For the
last six years she has spearheaded its support efforts in the Bay Area.
For ten years she was an associate consultant with the Management Center
in San Francisco working on organization and planning issues with non-profit
corporations in California. In 1977, she was elected to the board of
directors of Children's Hospital in San Francisco and was named president
in 1984. In 1991 she became chairman of the board of California Pacific
Medical Center, the largest non-profit community medical center in Northern
California. She has served as trustee of Smith College and San Francisco
University High School and as two-term president of the Junior League
in San Francisco.
Chris Yelton, Chief Executive Officer
As a former technology executive, Chris brings over 20 years of international
management, strategic planning, operations and sales experience to the
leadership of the International Museum of Women. Prior to the Museum,
Chris co-founded Higher Ground Associates, a consulting practice devoted
to helping clients develop strategically focused, inspired and effective
organizations. Chris also held corporate positions as vice president/general
manager - Japan - for Lucent Technologies; director of Octel Communications
Worldwide Field Sales Operations, as well as business development director
in Latin America. Passionate about women's issues and advancement, Chris
served on the board of directors of the Professional Businesswomen of
California for four years, including positions as vice president of
strategic planning and vice president of marketing. Chris has a BA in
Business Administration, with minors in Spanish and International Relations
from Indiana University, and is fluent in Spanish.
Board Members
Denise Allen, Secretary
Denise has worked in the healthcare industry for almost 20 years in
both finance and operations, and currently works for the Triage Consulting
Group. Previously, Denise held various positions with Catholic Healthcare
West (CHW), including vice president of finance and senior vice president
for systems design and clinical integration at Mercy Healthcare Sacramento.
Prior to CHW, Denise was a CPA with Arthur Andersen & Co. where she
was a manager in the healthcare division and worked on several hospital
maximization projects.
Mary Cranston
Mary, an outstanding litigator and community leader in San Francisco,
brings international expertise in litigation, intellectual property
technology, energy, and capital markets/finance. As firm chair of Pillsbury
Winthrop LLP, an international law firm with 16 offices and over 700
attorneys worldwide, Mary litigates complex class action cases. She
has litigated over 300 class actions in state and federal courts and
is an expert on class action procedural and trial issues. Mary's substantive
expertise also includes counseling and litigation in the areas of antitrust,
securities and regulated industries. She has been bestowed with a number
of industry and community distinctions, including the Stanford Associates
Award for distinguished service and the Bar Association Award of Merit.
She has also been named one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in California
(Los Angeles Daily Journal), 3000 Highly Recommended Trial
Lawyers by Global Counsel, 50 Most Influential Business Women in the
Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times, and 100 Most
Influential Lawyers in America by the National Law Journal.
She is a fellow of the American College of Trail Lawyers, has served
as an officer of the ABA Antitrust Section and is a past chair of the
Antitrust and Trade Regulation Section of the California State Bar.
Mary received her JD from Stanford Law School, an MA from UCLA and a
BA from Stanford University.
Sally Lovett
Sally
was most recently project coordinator and producer of the documentary,
"Pioneer for Century III," based on the discoveries made while founding
three Centers for Women in Russia. Sally's board expertise and non-profit
representations include: former trustee of San Francisco General Hospital,
San Francisco University High School, former chair Fort Mason Board
of Directors, former president San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum,
and organizing director and investor of Tamalpais Bank. Sally was educated
at Vassar and Columbia University.
Karen Offen, Ph.D.
Karen is a historian and independent scholar at the Institute for Research
in Women and Gender, Stanford University. She holds a doctorate in modern
and contemporary history from Stanford University. She is a founding
officer of the International Federation for Research in Women's History
and is past president of the Western Association of Women Historians.
She has authored and co-edited many books and has published many articles
in French and comparative European history. The focus of her writings
has been on the history of women, gender, and feminism from a political
perspective. She has received fellowships from the Fulbright Program,
the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Rockefeller Foundation,
and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Her current projects concern
international women's studies and exhibition development for the Museum.
In May 2004, the University of Idaho awarded her an honorary doctorate
for her contributions to the advancement of women's history.
Sylvia Reynolds
Sylvia is chief marketing officer of Wells Fargo & Company, where she
is responsible for regional marketing and advertising for all 23 banking
states. She has more than 20 years of marketing experience in the mortgage
and financial services industries and has held senior management positions
with Bank of America, Ceridian and Citicorp Mortgage. Sylvia is an active
member of several community organizations, was a committee member of
the Mortgage Bankers Association, and served on the boards of the University
of Denver Performance Management Institute and the Boys and Girls Club
of America. She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor degree in
management from the University of Denver, where she also earned a master
of business administration.
Carrie Schwab Pomerantz
Carrie is a leading advocate for individual investors. In her role as
vice president at Charles Schwab and Co., Inc. she is dedicated to raising
the level of financial literacy for all consumers. She is also president
of the Charles Schwab Foundation, where she focuses Schwab's philanthropic
resources on helping economically disadvantaged teens and young adults
achieve financial success while encouraging and supporting Schwab employee
philanthropy. With her father, company founder, chairman and CEO Charles
Schwab, she co-authored It Pays to Talk: How to Have the Essential
Conversations with Your Family about Money and Investing (Crown
Business: 2002). In 2001, Working Woman magazine recognized her as one
of four "Market Movers" in America who are "rewriting the rules of finance,"
and she was also recognized as one of the "25 Power Elite" in the financial
services industry by Investment News. For three consecutive
years The San Francisco Business Times named her one of the
San Francisco Bay Area's 100 Most Influential Women in Business (2003,
2004 and 2005). In addition to serving on the board of the International
Museum of Women, she is a national trustee of Boys & Girls Clubs of
America and a board member of Commonsensemedia.org. She is a member
of the International Women's Forum and a founding member of Women in
Finance for the Atlanta Women's Fund. A graduate of the University of
California, Berkeley, with a bachelor's degree in Political Science,
Schwab Pomerantz later earned a master's degree in Business Administration
from George Washington University.
Anu Shukla
Anu is a successful entrepreneur with more than 20 years experience
in the high-tech industry. She is founder, former CEO and current director
of MyBuys Inc., a venture backed company she started in 2002 that creates
an OnDemand consumer marketing service for multi-channel retailers.
Previously, Anu was founder and CEO of Rubric, Inc., served as vice
president of marketing and product strategy at Versata (VATA), was COO
of mFactory, Inc. and vice president of worldwide marketing and project
management at Compuware/Uniface Corp. She serves on the board of directors
of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives and the Advisory
Board for the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University. In
2004, Anu was named as one of the computer industries “Dream Team” by
Business 2.0 magazine and in 2005, received the YSU Distinguished Alumni
award and was recognized as the Entrepreneur of the Year by the Dialogue
on Diversity organization.
Bettie Alexander Steiger
Bettie is recognized as a futurist and an agent of change. She was named
the 2004 "Woman of the Year" by Washington State University, from which
she holds a BS in Pre-Law, Political Science. She is recognized as a
pioneer in the high tech industry having co-founded several companies
followed by a decade with Xerox Corporation at the Palo Alto Research
Center. She is president of Steiger Associates, specializing in strategic
marketing and business management, and recently launched Power Image
Making, capitalizing on her mentoring and motivating skills. Bettie
holds an executive MBA from Harvard Business School.
N. Leigh Wasson
Ms. Wasson is a Managing Director with Citi Private Bank where she is the Global Market Manager for the Northern California High Net Worth region. Ms. Wasson’s responsibilities include expanding and deepening the Private Bank’s presence in Northern California, Northern Nevada and Hawaii. She coordinates the team of bankers and specialists focused on providing a solutions oriented approach to the wealth management needs of high net worth individuals and families. Prior to joining Citi, Ms. Wasson spent 16 years with JP Morgan with both the private bank and the institutional investment management division, where her various roles included regional manager, relationship officer, and equity research analyst, and included assignments in Australia and London, in addition to New York, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley. Ms. Wasson has a B.B.A in Finance from The University of Texas and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the Women’s Leadership Board, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Ms. Wasson is an active supporter of the Lucille Packard Foundation for Children’s Health in Palo Alto and a number of microfinance organizations. She is on the Advisory Board of the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the signature publication of the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Ms. Wasson is a member of the Corporate Board of the San Francisco Opera, and the Advisory Council of Astia. Ms. Wasson resides in Sausalito.