2018 A View from the Top: Perspectives from Successful Women
Success should be shared. Fordham alumnae discussed how they have navigated both professional and personal obstacles to break into the upper echelons of their industries.
Morning Session | Afternoon Session
Morning Session
Moderator
Gilda Bonanno, Principal, Gilda Bonanno LLC; Adviser, Women’s Business Development Council, Connecticut
Gilda Bonanno helps people in various industries transform their communication and leadership skills so they can have more confidence, influence, and success. She has worked with leading organizations, including GE, Travelers, Praxair, Assa Abloy, Wells Fargo, and Yale University, on four continents from Chicago to Shanghai and Rio to Rome.
Panelists
Patricia A. David, Senior Diversity Adviser, JPMorgan Chase
Patricia A. David is the senior diversity adviser for JPMorgan Chase. She provides strategic advice to the firm on a wide range of diversity topics affecting the work environment, and to the heads of the Talent Management & Diversity and the Advancing Black Leaders & Diversity Advancement Strategies programs. She is a member of the JPMorgan Chase Diversity Council, and, in collaboration with key business leaders, helps communicate diversity and inclusion efforts within the organization through various means.
T. Dessa Glasser, Principal, Financial Risk Group; Independent Board Member, Oppenheimer & Co.
Dessa Glasser, Ph.D., is a principal at Financial Risk Group with a 30-year track record designing and implementing innovative solutions and organizations in risk, data, and analytics. She is an Independent Member of the Board of Directors for Oppenheimer & Co.
Mary Jane F. McCartney, Retired Con Edison Executive; Volunteer Tutor and Teacher
Mary Jane F. McCartney earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1969 as part of the second graduating class of Fordham University’s Thomas More College. After 11 years in various IT and trading posts at Royal Dutch/Shell, she joined Con Edison as its first female director of fuel supply.
Marianne Reilly, Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Manhattan College
Marianne Reilly returned to her alma mater, Manhattan College, as director of intercollegiate athletics in 2016. Reilly was one of only 39 female intercollegiate athletic directors out of 351 NCAA Division I schools at the time of her hire. She arrived with a diverse portfolio of work in collegiate athletics administration after spending three decades at Fordham University, where she began her career as an assistant in recreation, facility management, and club sports.
Afternoon Session
Moderator
Gilda Bonanno, Principal, Gilda Bonanno LLC; Adviser, Women’s Business Development Council, Connecticut
Gilda Bonanno helps people in various industries transform their communication and leadership skills so they can have more confidence, influence, and success. She has worked with leading organizations, including GE, Travelers, Praxair, Assa Abloy, Wells Fargo, and Yale University, on four continents from Chicago to Shanghai and Rio to Rome.
Panelists
Margaret J. Bia, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Medicine, Yale University
Margaret Johnson Bia, M.D., was part of the first graduating class of Thomas More College, Fordham University, in 1968. After graduation, she married fellow Fordham graduate Frank Bia in the University Church. At Yale University School of Medicine, Bia has been recognized for her excellence in medical education; leadership in transplantation and education; and advocacy for women’s issues.
Fionna Sciame Elliot, Vice President of Communications, Sciame Homes, New York
After graduating from Fordham College at Rose Hill in 2009 with a degree in communication and media studies and a minor in French, Fionna Sciame Elliot joined Sciame Development, where she worked in acquisitions and sales.
Karla G. Sanchez, Former Executive Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice, New York Attorney General’s Office
Karla G. Sanchez was the executive deputy attorney general for economic justice for the New York Attorney General’s Office responsible for the AG’s agenda on all issues involving antitrust, consumer frauds, the Internet and technology, investor protection, and real estate finance.
