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1. Jane Silber

Nominated by: Phillip Hofmeyr, [email protected] Monu Joseph, [email protected] Marios Andreou, [email protected]

MBA, 2003 Dean’s List

· Professional excellence and accomplishment – “Apart from her success at General Dynamics, Jane has built from a 5- person organization in a bedroom to a 300 strong industry leader. is now the version of choice consumers.”

“Aside from her numerous degrees and incredible smile, she builds companies. Her first, to my knowledge, was a software company in the US Defense space. While there she held a top secret US security clearance and was integrally involved in dealings with the US Pentagon and Department of Defense. She was the integral driver of the sale of that business to General Dynamics, one of the world’s largest defense firms. While there Jane rose to run one of General Dynamic’s five business units and was a direct report to CXO level officers. Please keep in mind that she built a company and made her millions in one of the most fiercely competitive and male dominated sectors in the global economy.

After graduating Jane was pursued by many employers with ties to the defense space including many of the world’s largest investment banks. Eschewing the world of defense, she instead joined in his living room to launch Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, one of the world’s most beloved software products. This effort started in a living room in 2004 and today it is a global player with hundreds of employees in a wide variety of countries, advancing a business and social agenda. Jane is now the CEO and has brought to Canonical what she brought to SBS, an unmistakable knack for excellence. I feel priviledged to know her and to have had a front row seat to the entire adventure.”

· Demonstrates strategic vision and effective implementation, at either the organisational, industry or community level – Worth mentioning strategic partnerships she forged with companies like Dell and also governments seeking not to be dependent on proprietary software.

· Recognised among peers for leadership capabilities/potential and professional achievements – “Newsweek magazine just named her one of the rising stars of Silicon Valley. And the list goes on…”

· Brings out the best in team members and optimises the skills and resources available to her – “Every single employee at Canonical would tell you she is brilliant at this”

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· Takes a values-driven approach to work and community activities – “Self evident – Ubuntu is FREE and is focused on bringing computing to all parts of the world.”

· Identifies as a ‘mid-career’ or senior professional – “She’s the CEO of a power player in the linux space. She routinely deals with CXO level officers from the largest technology corporations in the world.”

Other information:

Jane Silber - Chief Operating Officer Jane joined Canonical Ltd in 2004, prior to the first release of Ubuntu. Based in London, she currently oversees all business development and operational activities, including customer support and services, marketing and partnerships, as well as the corporate financial and administrative functions. Prior to joining Canonical, Jane was Vice President of Command and Control Systems at General Dynamics C4 Systems, and her early career included artificial intelligence research and product development for Teijin Ltd in Yokohama, Japan. She holds degrees from the University of Oxford, Vanderbilt University and Haverford College.

(from http://www.canonical.com/aboutus/team )

See links: http://screencast.com/t/MWVhZDVjNTY http://photo.newsweek.com/2010/4/tech-pioneers.slide8.html http://blip.tv/file/1105916 (video interview) 3

2. Kylie Wright Ford

MBA, 2005 Contact 1: Rebecca Gordon, Gerson Lehrman Group ( [email protected] , +1 (212) 750 1872) Contact 2: Andrew Philpott (+44 7766 137071)

Kylie Wright-Ford has distinguished her career to date by professionalism and excellence underscored by sheer tenacity to achieve goals. Growing up in Australia, Kylie navigated through academic and commercial challenges to work in world class organizations and entrepreneurial pursuits from Canberra to London and now in New York where she is Director of Research for the Americas at Gerson Lehrman Group – the world’s largest expert network and a true success story. Kylie leads 130 professionals across the US and Latin America and works with the world’s leading financial institutions, professional services firms, corporations and law firms to enhance their decision making and help them learn.

Key success points in Kylie’s journey through 14 years of professional accomplishment include rising through the competitive environment of stockbroking to become one of the youngest management team members within the stockbroking arm of Goldman Sachs JBWere and successfully completing an MBA at SAID Business School while raising her three year old son. After SAID, Kylie transitioned to an entrepreneurial firm in which she has been part of the team increasing the company revenue approximately $100 million and growing the employee base from 250 to 650.

Kylie has defined her success by seamlessly demonstrating excellence in client service, personal leadership and commercial agility. Specializing in equity derivatives at Goldman Sachs JBWere, she navigated a technically challenging and highly volatile environment to be a thought partner for her clients, mentor for her colleagues and clear future leader. After 8 successful years with Goldman Sachs JBWere, Kylie’s keen focus on leadership and organizational excellence led her to pursue an MBA at Oxford. The year spent at Oxford was critical as Kylie sought to change geography, industry and growth trajectory within her career.

Upon graduating from SAID, Kylie joined Gerson Lehrman Group, then a little known entity in the UK but a burgeoning power in the independent research field in the US. Testimony to her hardworking attitude, Kylie started at GLG the very day after the final ceremony at Oxford. Kylie has ascended quickly at GLG, achieving outstanding results in each of the five increasingly senior roles she was offered. Starting in London with GLG, Kylie was tasked with building the product, team and client base in the Financial and Business Services practice area for Europe. Within 9 months her ability to drive immediate results and act as a leader resulted in an offer as global head of the Financial and Business Services practice area based in New York. Within a week of being offered the position Kylie moved her family to New York City and has since thrived. While leading the Financial and Business Services team to its peak performance, Kylie developed a reputation as a no-fuss leader skilled at driving success through personal commitment and leading a geographically disperse team towards innovation and financial success.

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My initial experience with Kylie was as her co-pilot in the Financial and Business Services team. Her vision and ability to collaborate while leading transformed the performance of our team and accelerated the abilities of even the most junior team members. I have had the opportunity to see Kylie replicate and improve upon this formula multiple times since we first worked together. Most impressive, Kylie has been able to do all of this while maintaining an active life outside the office walls. She volunteers in support of GLG’s charity efforts, is a devoted wife and mother, and is a true friend. It comes as no surprise that professionals at all levels seek out opportunities to work alongside her and that Kylie has been instrumental in improving the business culture at GLG.

In additional to leading three different client service teams, Kylie was tasked with leading a strategy group during the turmoil of 2009. While spearheading key growth initiatives, Kylie launched GLG’s operations in Latin America, collaborated to strike partnerships with Fortune 500 companies and drove an innovative product development effort.

Kylie’s current role as Director of Research for the Americas is the culmination of her professional versatility and her ability to inspire teams. During her time at GLG she has proven her ability to make consistently clear decisions anchored in what is right for the team she is leading and the firm as a whole. Her hallmarks are commercial decisiveness and ability to develop professional teams. She has personally hired a high number of the firms’ top talent, setting an exciting foundation for the firm’s continued growth trajectory. In summary, Kylie is highly respected for both her significant personal accomplishment and clear ability to leverage resources to make whole teams better. She is a tireless communicator and her optimism and positive attitude is known throughout the firm and symbolized by her most common email sign-off -- “Onward and Upward”.

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3. Sonavi Chopra

Management Research, circa 2007-08

I started my career in the Indian hospitality industry in May 2008 after completing a two year stint at Oxford University. My goal was to build a successful business career and make a significant contribution to society as a Rhodes Scholar.

I joined Sarovar Hotels & Resorts as Executive Assistant to the Executive Director in the Corporate Office in Delhi. This is the fourth largest hotel chain in India having commenced operations in 1994. There were two reasons that governed my decision. The first was to take a major step towards becoming a successful business leader in the corporate world. The second was a great opportunity to closely work and learn from a leading hotelier.

My job profile entailed monitoring the operations of 33 hotels on a daily basis. This involved annual budgeting, tracking the revenue and expenses of all hotels, recruitment, obtaining star classification certification from the Government, keeping abreast with market trends, products, existing and upcoming competition. Another important area of responsibility was to prepare financial feasibility reports for hotels in upcoming locations and markets and to forecast their performance.

As a hotel management company, it is essential to capitalize on new business opportunities that come our way and translate them into long term relationships with Owners for hotel operation and franchise agreements. After a few initial meetings where I was a passive observer, I started actively contributing in negotiations with Owners under the guidance of my boss. Over time I imbibed the core values of the Company namely owner-friendliness, business delivery and professionalism.

At all times my objective has been to excel in applying theoretical management skills to practical situations, enhance team spirit within the organization, and to build a good rapport with my colleagues at all levels. I independently organized office team building functions and informal gatherings and personally supervised two annual office retreats, which were attended by more than 90% of the staff.

In recognition of my initiatives, the company promoted me to Manager-Corporate Affairs and also gave me a special slot to address the Senior Management across India at the Annual Company Meet 2009. I spoke on Responsible Tourism & Hospitality and highlighted the importance of extending business responsibility beyond generating profit with a focus on creating better places for people to live in and to visit. My presentation covered creating culturally sensitive environments, providing access for physically disabled people, and promoting equitable business and fair pay. Other important areas covered were improving energy efficiency along with using natural resources in a sustainable manner, generating employment opportunities for local people and women, enhancing the well-being of host communities, supporting NGO’s, and conserving natural and cultural heritage.

Some of the key outcomes of the above initiative resulted in the formation of Energy Conservation Committees in hotels, acquisition of solar water boilers and acoustic enclosures for Diesel gensets, rain water harvesting, recycling products, planting 6 saplings and trees, promoting local culture through food & beverage festivals, and hiring women, old people, and physically disabled people. My biggest achievement was in establishing a tie-up with the youth volunteer network Make A Difference (MAD) in a cause related marketing programme. MAD teaches English and Computers to 2500 underprivileged children across 11 districts in India.

My biggest challenge was a one and a half month stint where I was sent as a fire- fighter to help a hotel team in an extremely delicate situation viz-a-viz the Owners. It was an eye-opener as I gained immense knowledge in F&B production and service, planning of large-scale events, and marketing. I also learnt to handle difficult staff situations diplomatically.

As of today the company manages a portfolio of 43 hotels in India, 2 hotels in Africa, 2 educational institutions in India, and has 30 new hotels under development. Barring two hotels in the West that were signed by the office of the Managing Director, I have successfully worked on the negotiation and finalization of six new hotel management tie-ups for the Sarovar domestic brands in North, East, and South India in the last one year. I have also initiated the development of hotel videos as an important online marketing tool. Although currently in the pilot stage, I hope to standardize this across all hotels. Further I am working on establishing a sound performance pay model for the company which is lacking at the moment. Other goals involve implementing a “Mystery Audit” procedure for all hotels, increasing camaraderie among employees by re-modelling the Annual Meet which will focus on horizontally spreading best practices of hotels along with giving employees a chance to interact with each other in person rather than through virtual communication.

The future has immense potential and I am already being groomed for my next assignment as a General Manager of one of our upcoming hotels. At the community level I aim to run in the Delhi half marathon later this year and contribute my fund raising to a suitable charity.

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4. Sarita James

MBA, 2003 Nominator: Julie South Gerstle (Said Business School MBA, 2001-2002)

References: 1) Susan Hauser Vice President, Worldwide Industry and Global Accounts Microsoft Corporation (reference for Microsoft New York; Susan was previously head of Microsoft's New York office) Business: (425)706-1840 [email protected]

2) Grady Hedgespeth Director, Office of Financial Assistance Small Business Administration (reference for White House Fellow year) Business: (202)205-7562 [email protected]

I first met Sarita in 2001 in Merton’s dining hall the week before classes started. We’ve been close friends ever since. During our business school year, we were often in study groups together and were part of the same New Business Development team. Sarita has cheered me on during crew races and attended my wedding. Over the years, I’ve watched with pride as her career has risen to new levels.

It’s with great pleasure that I’d like to nominate Sarita James, my friend and former classmate, for the Excellence in Business Leadership Award sponsored by the Women in Business special interest group.

Since our graduation, Sarita has held a number of senior positions in both the public and private sectors. She currently serves as Chief Operating Officer of Citigroup’s Growth Ventures and Innovation team. In this role, she manages Citigroup’s global portfolio of initiatives and investments designed to create areas of growth. For example, in the near future, Citigroup customers will be able to pay for items in a store using their “digital wallets” saved on their cell phones.

In 2008-2009, Sarita received the White House Fellowship, the President’s mid-career leadership award. She was selected as one of fourteen fellows from a pool of more than one thousand applicants. Sarita served as a White House Fellow through both the Bush and Obama Administrations. During the Obama Administration, she ran the Small Business Administration’s Domestic Microloan program, which provides small business loans, primarily to low-income women and minorities. Sarita’s mandate was to grow the program from $100M in outstanding loan volume to $150M to take advantage of funds provided by the U.S. Stimulus Bill. To make this happen, Sarita needed to work with Congress on legislative reform for her program, to hire additional staff, to roll out new IT systems, and to partner with the Treasury Department and others on marketing.

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Immediately prior to the White House Fellowship, Sarita was Executive Vice President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation during Mayor Bloomberg’s second term. She managed the 50-person Strategy and Policy Division, which comprised five departments. One of the members of her team, Saul Shapiro, posted an online recommendation: “Sarita brought vision, rigor and results to the business development efforts of the EDC. Her instincts and breadth of knowledge were welcome and her easy going style encouraged collegiality in an environment naturally prone to politics.” Finally, in the years just after business school, Sarita worked within Microsoft’s financial services vertical. She also served as a consultant within McKinsey & Company’s technology and telecommunications practice.

Sarita’s years in the public sector are not accidental. Since I’ve known her, she’s always been passionate about public service and the emerging area of social entrepreneurship. During business school, she chose to be a member of the only Summer Business Project team serving a non-profit client.

I can also say that Sarita is very down-to-earth and understated about her accomplishments. I was surprised to learn at the start of our second term of business school together that she’d won the world science fair as a high school student and was invited to attend the Nobel Prize Ceremonies! I only found out because a classmate of ours had discovered it from Googling her.

I believe that Sarita James has the character, community commitment, and track record of leadership to be an ideal choice for the Said Business School’s inaugural Excellence in Business Leadership award.

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5. Keely Stevenson

MBA, 2005 [email protected] Nominators: Grace Sai, Jordyan Edmiston, Lara Vogel, Louis Dorval and Shawn Smith

References: • Pamela Hartigan, Director Skoll Centre [email protected] • Sally Osberg, CEO Skoll Foundation [email protected] • Eric Berkowitz, CIO of Bamboo Finance [email protected] • Marc Ventresca, Oxford University [email protected]

Keely has an outstanding track record of professional achievement, in synergy with meaningful international social contributions. She has been and continues to be a role model and leader within the SBS MBA alumni community and we are convinced that not only is she deserving of this award, but that its associated recognition will help Keely further her professional and broader societal contribution.

To substantiate our claims, we will first provide a short summary of Keely’s professional career and will share some of the personal reasons why we are so actively supporting her candidacy. Biography

Between her degree in politics (Honours Alumni Scholar) at UC Berkeley and her MBA at Oxford’s Said Business School (Skoll Scholar), Keely led a career comprised of several dynamic leadership roles in social entrepreneurship and community development. She served as the Interim Executive Director for a start-up professional development program for social entrepreneurs in India (Social-Impact International) as well as for the ProPeru Fund where she led the integrated design and development of a unique hybrid non-profit for-profit enterprise model. She helped set up the Skoll Foundation, where she focused on the creation of its microfinance and technology grant-making programmes and then created the world's first online community for social entrepreneurs, Social Edge.

Previously, she worked for a US senator in the California legislature and was awarded a unique one-year fellowship with the United Nations where she designed and taught a course on international relations at UC Berkeley. She has since guest lectured at the University of San Francisco, Stanford University, IESE Business School in Spain and the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India. Keely's career path has been inspired by her years of volunteer work in a hospice, where she supported patients with terminal illnesses and learned from their reflections on what is really important in life.

Keely decided to pursue her MBA to strengthen her leadership skills and her knowledge of finance and entrepreneurship. She was allured by the kaleidoscope of international students at Oxford and the vision for the new Centre dedicated to social entrepreneurship. In the Financial Times newspaper article that profiled Keely, she 10 stated, "My time at Oxford was the best year of my life." One of the highlights of her year was "applying all the academic material in a practical way through my team's consulting project in South Africa where we advised on the economic development programme of Africa's wealthiest tribal community, the Royal Bafokeng Nation."

After the MBA, Keely worked as a consultant on a new risk capital fund at Triodos Bank and was awarded a Fellowship with the Acumen Fund, a social venture capital fund. She helped set-up their Nairobi office and provided management support (distribution and pricing strategies) to AtoZ in Tanzania, Acumen's number one portfolio investment and Africa's only manufacturer of long-lasting mosquito nets to prevent malaria.

Most recently, Keely has been acting as a founding member and executive of the Bamboo Finance team. Bamboo Finance is a commercial private equity firm specializing in social entrepreneurship and impact investing. Keely was responsible for developing its global portfolio strategy as well as building and managing its African and Latin American portfolios. Last month, she moved from Geneva to San Francisco and now serves as CEO for Bamboo Finance USA. More Evidence

To complement this track record of professional accomplishment and international societal contribution, here is a list of further arguments to support Keely’s nomination for this award:

Leadership – In groups and organizations, Keely clearly has the “leadership reflex”. Further to her entre/intrapreneurial ventures, she was the co-chair of the SE-OBN during her MBA and is the founder and chair of the Skoll Skollar Community. Intellectually, she co-authored a paper with Oxford’s Skoll Centre on Social Capital Markets.

Social Contribution – Keely currently serves on the Board of Directors of 4 profit- making social enterprises: Housing Company in Pakistan, Healthcare Company in South Africa, Education Company in Mexico and Energy company in Mozambique. Further, she volunteers in many community events (most recently helping to form a women’s group, event organization with a lung disease organization, etc.) and serves on several advisory boards related to development issues.

In closing, the main reason we decided to nominate Keely for this award is because the five of us, only a few months after meeting Keely for the first time, feel inspired and thankful for the role she has played in our lives. Keely reaches out to people to offer support (500+ LinkedIn connections). But more than charity, she’s on a constant look out for sustainable and mutually beneficial partnerships. Her expertise is deep, her contact network is wide, and her ambition as large and compassionate as it is contagious.