Dress for Success
 
Who We Are | Board of Directors

Dress for Success Worldwide Board of Directors

Niki Leondakis
Dorria Ball
Elena Kiam
Clarice Kennedy
Frank Aquila
Bobbi Brown
Doug Checkeris
Donna Griffin
Debra Kelly-Ennis 
Robbin Mitchell
Kim Van Der Zon


Niki Leondakis Chair
Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants

The chief operations officer of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Niki Leondakis oversees operations, marketing and human resources for the company's 39 boutique hotels and restaurants. Ms. Leondakis is a key player in the creation and development of the company's mission statement and culture. In 1998, Ms. Leondakis formed the Mentor Program, aiding in the development and advancement for young women and men in Kimpton's restaurant division. She launched the Diversity Initiative and is an active leader in the company's social responsibility efforts.

Passionate about the advancement of women in the workplace, Ms. Leondakis focuses her time on helping them progress to upper management positions. Today, she is a mentor for not only women at Kimpton but also those outside of the company.

Prior to joining Kimpton, Ms. Leondakis worked for the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company in Marina Del Rey, California, Atlanta and San Francisco from 1985 to 1993.

Ms. Leondakis has received numerous industry awards, including recognition by Nations Restaurant News in April 2002 as one of 30 Women Power Players. Every year from 2002 to 2005 the San Francisco Business Times named her one of its Most Influential Women. In August 2002, Travel Agent magazine named her one of the Most Powerful Women in Travel.

An avid contributor to the community, Ms. Leondakis is also an active board member for the National Restaurant Association and serves on the advisory board of the USF Hospitality Management Program. Ms. Leondakis holds a B.S. degree in hotel, restaurant management and travel administration from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

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Dorria L. Ball Vice Chair
Kraft Foods, Inc.

Dorria L. Ball is the senior director of Human Resources, Beverages, for Kraft Foods, headquartered in Tarrytown, NY.  In this role, Ms. Ball and her team are responsible for developing and leading the implementation of all human resources strategies and activities in support of all Beverages Business Unit functions from marketing to manufacturing.  Kraft is the largest food company in North America and the second largest in the world, with net revenues exceeding $34 billion, 90,000 employees worldwide and operations in 70 countries.

Ms. Ball began her career with Kraft over 18 years ago in Sales Management, where she held numerous assignments of increasing responsibility, calling on customers and leading teams.  She transitioned into human resources in 1994 and has since held a variety of human resources generalist and specialist assignments across a number of functions and business sectors.  Most recently, Ms. Ball was the Senior Director of Global Diversity and Work Life, where she was responsible for developing and implementing the Global Diversity and Work Life strategy for Kraft Foods worldwide.

Ms. Ball is one of the founding members of ASCENT, and was formerly on the Conference Board's Council on Workforce Diversity , the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund advisory board, the steering team of the William J. Clinton Foundation's Harlem Small Business Initiative, and the Boston College Global Workforce Roundtable Steering Committee.  In addition, Ms. Ball is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and the Abyssinian Baptist Church.

Ms. Ball is a native of Indianapolis, a graduate of Indiana University and a resident of Westchester County, New York.

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Elena Kiam Treasurer
lia sophia

Ms. Kiam is senior vice-president of lia sophia, a direct selling, fashion jewelry company that has selected Dress for Success as its not-for-profit partner. Like Dress for Success, lia sophia's mission is to connect women to their dreams and to help them gain significant financial independence; lia sophia does so by giving women the opportunity to establish their own businesses. Nationally based, lia sophia is one of the fastest growing direct selling companies and currently has over 15,000 sales advisors. lia sophia is known for its elegant, well-priced jewelry as well as its more fashion forward collections designed for press, celebrities and tastemakers. It is the only branded fashion jewelry company that is routinely featured in the national fashion magazines and the weekly entertainment publications, due in part to its celebrity following.

Ms. Kiam oversees the company's marketing and public relations efforts including its valued partnership with Dress for Success. Through this partnership, lia sophia is working to expose Dress for Success' clients to another career possibility as well as to encourage its own base of sales advisors to give back to their communities through Dress for Success.

Prior to lia sophia, Ms. Kiam had a 14-year career at J.P. Morgan primarily in the Asset Management/Private Banking division, where she was responsible for advising private companies and high net worth individuals on a range of financial matters. She helped establish J.P. Morgan's' businesses in Colorado, Texas and other western states prior to the company's opening offices in these areas.

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Clarice Kennedy Secretary
Resources Global Professionals.

Clarice Kennedy is the senior director of Information Management for Resources Global Professionals, www.ResourcesGlobal.com.  NASDAQ:  RECN.

Ms. Kennedy brings 20 years of experience in the technology industry and in this role manages the strategic development of the Information Management practice, specifically in the areas of business (IT) governance, business process transformation and program and project management.

Prior to joining Resources, Ms Kennedy was the founder and CEO of CCN, Inc., a technology staffing firm.  During the last two decades, she guided its growth and expansion into a full-service provider of technology services and talent management solutions for some of the world's leading companies.

Ms. Kennedy began her career as a systems programmer, then transitioned into a network engineering role supporting European traders at Security Pacific Bank, now Bank of America. Two years later, the entrepreneurial 24-year-old founded CCN and strategically fulfilled the emerging need for IT services as North American companies began widespread deployment of personal computers across the enterprise.

Ms. Kennedy is a member of Columbia University's mentoring program within the Executive Master of Science in Technology Management degree program, offered by Columbia's School of Continuing Education.  She serves on the New York Leadership Board of Women in Technology International (WITI) and is an active board member for the New York Society of Information Managers (SIM).

Ms. Kennedy holds a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from Buffalo State University, Buffalo, New York. She lives in New York with her husband and her three greatest accomplishments - her children, Dylan, Connor and Aidan.

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Frank Aquila
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Frank Aquila has been an attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell since 1983 and a partner of the firm since 1992.  He has served as the partner in charge of legal recruiting and is currently one of the partners responsible for associate matters.  Mr. Aquila's practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, takeover defense, strategic alliances and corporate governance matters for a broad range of leading international companies.  He serves as regular advisor to global leaders such as Amgen, British Airways, Diageo and InBev. He can be regularly seen and heard discussing M&A activity and trends on CNBC TV, Bloomberg Radio, Bloomberg TV and Fox Business News. In demand as an author and lecturer on M&A and corporate governance, Mr. Aquila received The Burton Award for Legal Achievement 2005 in recognition of his article, "Back to the Future! Recent Hostile Bids Make Takeover Defenses Relevant" (The M&A Lawyer, April 2004).

Mr. Aquila has been featured twice in The American Lawyer, "Daddys Weekend on the Phone" (January 2002) and "Supersonic Lawyers" (May 2004), and once in The Wall Street Journal, "Business Trips Leave Little Time for Luxuries" (May 31, 1996). Mr. Aquila is chair-elect of the board of trustees of The NALP Foundation for Law Career Research and Education and is a member of the board of advisors of the Salvation Army of Greater New York.

Mr. Aquila is a native of New York City and a graduate of Columbia College (Columbia University) and Brooklyn Law School.


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Bobbi Brown
Bobbi Brown Cosmetics

In 1991 Bobbi Brown started a makeup revolution with a handful of lipsticks and a simple philosophy: Women want to look and feel like themselves, only prettier and more confident. Her dream came true when she debuted her line of cosmetics just 10 brown-based lipsticks at Bergdorf Goodman in New York City.

Ms. Brown's love affair with makeup started at an early age when she discovered her mothers collection of cosmetics. Driven by her passion, Ms. Brown went to learn the art of theatrical makeup at Emerson College in Boston, then headed for New York City to work as a professional makeup artist.

Tackling the challenges that face any novice in her industry building a portfolio from scratch, making contacts Ms. Brown found that her biggest frustration was the lack of flattering makeup products. A chance meeting with a chemist at a magazine photo shoot changed everything. The chemist made the lipstick following Ms. Browns exacting specifications and the result was Brown Lip Color, a pinky-brown shade. Nine other brown-based lipstick shades followed soon after, and Ms. Browns set of lipsticks was complete.

Take one look at the Bobbi Brown line today and it is clear that Ms. Browns mission remains the same to give women options. As a working makeup artist, entrepreneur, wife and mother of three, Ms. Browns approach strikes a chord with consumers it is about achieving and maintaining balance, cultivating a positive outlook and loving yourself the way you are.

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Doug Checkeris
MediaCom

Doug was named CEO of MediaCom U.S. in the fall of 2007.  Since signing on as head of the agency's U.S. operation, Doug's focus has been leading MediaCom's strategic reinvention.  During the period that Doug has held this position, the agency has achieved several successes, including deepened relationships with - and several significant new assignments from - a diversity of clients, consolidation of the GlaxoSmtihKline media business under MediaCom, stewardship of the WPP Dell account and the continued holistic integration of digital media into the core of the agency.

Doug began his career at MBS in Canada 25 years ago as a media trainee.  He joined the MBS management committee in 1986 and was named managing partner in 1996, one year before MBS joined forces with MediaCom to form The Media Company, MediaCom's Canadian operations.  In 2003 he was named president and CEO of The Media Company and during his tenure he was instrumental in the company's placement as #1 for several successive years on RECMA's ranking of Canadian agencies.  Throughout his career, he has successfully pitched and run a broad range of clients spanning virtually every category, some of which include: TD Canada Trust, BMW Canada, Procter & Gamble, Nokia, Staples, Warner Bros., LVMH, GlaxoSmithKline and Rogers and Michelin.

Doug's involvement on the community level includes serving on the boards of the arts-focused Canadian Fringe Festival and Canadian Stage Company and participating in the charitable groups Reach for the Rainbow, an organization that enables disabled children to attend summer camp, and Mothers Trust Foundation, which helps children in need.  He also led MediaCom Canada's strong participation with the United Way.  Since coming to the U.S., Doug has embraced MediaCom's participation with Dress for Success, spearheading a volunteer day at the Brooklyn, NY warehouse and establishing an internship program with the organization.

When he's not working, Doug enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, competing in Masters Lacrosse and Basketball and pursuing his admitted obsession with Ski Racing.  He also plans to run in the charity-based JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge and ride in a 200K, 3-day bike ride to benefit a leading Canadian cancer institute.

 

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Donna Griffin
Citibank North America

Donna Griffin is the senior vice president and national human resources director for Citibank North America. Having been with Citigroup for over 32 years, Ms. Griffin began her career in St. Louis, Missouri while attending college and then moving into a number of managerial positions in the areas of Credit Policy and Operations Control for the Consumer Sales Finance and Mortgage Divisions.

Ms. Griffin relocated with Citibank in 1982 to San Francisco, California, where she began her career in human resources. Over the subsequent 17 years, she oversaw Employee Relations, Recruiting, Training, Compensation and Benefits.

After relocating to New York during the summer of 2000 she was appointed to her current role, where she directs a team of 140 human resources professionals to support Citibank North America's Retail Branch network of 1,000 branches and 18,000 employees across the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. She directs all aspects of Citibank's people initiatives, including developing talent, managing performance, rewarding results and creating an environment where people want to work to build their careers. In her current capacity Ms. Griffin has proudly worked with Dress for Success' job fairs to support our clients in their employment transitions.

Dedicated to giving back to the community, Ms. Griffin has been involved with Habitat for Humanity, March of Dimes, United Way, AIDS Foundation and the American Cancer Society.

Ms. Griffin holds a BS in business education from the University of St. Louis-Missouri. Recently married 25 years, Ms. Griffin enjoys all health and fitness activities, home decorating, wine tasting and dogs-she is the proud owner of Snowball, a 7-lb. Maltese.

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Debra Kelly-Ennis
Diageo

Debra Kelly-Ennis currently serves as president and CEO of Diageo Canada.  Diageo is the world's leading spirits, wine and beer company, and Canada is Diageo's seventh largest market.  Prior to this, Ms. Kelly-Ennis served as chief marketing officer of Diageo North America, where she oversaw all marketing activities for Diageo's array of brands including Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray, Smirnoff and Guinness.  She joined Diageo in April 2005 from General Motors subsidiary Saab USA where she served as president and chief operating officer.

Under her leadership as CMO the marketing department at Diageo flourished, resulting in the creation of award-winning advertising, breakthrough digital work, large-scale portfolio programs and a step change in the company's multicultural marketing expertise and activities. One of her personal achievements has been pioneering a groundbreaking venture between Ciroc vodka and entertainment and lifestyle icon Sean "Diddy" Combs.

As president and COO of Saab Cars USA Ms. Kelly-Ennis led the division to set U.S. sales records for new and used cars, as well as parts and accessories in 2003. She is a recipient of the Women's Automotive International Professional Achievement Award in 2003 and is very proud to have led General Motor's United Way marketing campaign in 2002. Since 1997 Ms. Kelly-Ennis has served as a member of the Pulte Corporation's Board of Directors where she chairs the governance committee and serves as a member of the audit committee.

Ms. Kelly-Ennis earned a bachelor's degree from University of Texas, an MBA from the University of Houston and completed the executive leadership program at Harvard Business School.

She has been married for nearly 25 years to Timothy Ennis and divides her time between New York City and Palm Beach.

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Robbin Mitchell
Polo Ralph Lauren

Robbin Mitchell is currently senior vice president, chief of staff at Polo Ralph Lauren (PRL).  Ms. Mitchell is responsible for working across all businesses and brands on a worldwide basis synchronizing global management activities, fostering business process improvements and helping to streamline key decision-making.

Prior to this role, Ms. Mitchell was senior vice president, Supply Chain Business Process Integration, managing Polo's largest global business initiative, which involved implementing a new Global ERP System across all global wholesale brands, including menswear, childrenswear, womenswear, footwear and accessories in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.  This initiative included re-engineering current business processes and implementing a common business and operational infrastructure across all divisions.  Ms. Mitchell began working for PRL in 2001 as vice president, Wholesale Replenishment for the Polo Brands Wholesale Division, where she managed all aspects of the men's wholesale replenishment business.

Ms. Mitchell's career in the apparel industry has spanned more than 15 years; she has previously held positions at both the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation and GFT USA, which encompasses brands such as Giorgio Armani Le Collezioni Men's and Women's, Joseph Abboud, Calvin Klein Men's Apparel and Valentino Men's and Women's.

Ms. Mitchell's apparel experience includes her involvement with McKinsey & Company, Inc. as a retail practice consultant, where she focused on product development reengineering, global supply chain management, and global sourcing and production management.  Before entering business school, she spent two years at The Boston Consulting Group and two years in the mergers and acquisitions department at Lehman Brothers, where she concentrated on the retail industry.

Ms. Mitchell has served as both a keynote speaker and panelist at the 2004 and 2006 annual User Conference of Logility & Company, a global industry leader in planning, forecasting, logistics and supply chain software. She was also named one of the top 25 Visionaries by Consumer Goods Technology magazine in 2006.

Ms. Mitchell received her BA from Stanford University and was awarded an MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business.

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Kim Van Der Zon
Egon Zehnder International

Kim Van Der Zon currently serves as a partner in the New York office of Egon Zehnder International.  Egon Zender International is the largest privately-held search firm in the world, with more than 300 consultants located in 63 wholly-owned offices in 36 countries.  The firm specializes in senior level executive search, board consulting and board director search, and talent management.  Ms. Van Der Zon's expertise is in CEO/president/general manager and board of director searches, working primarily with global Fortune 500 clients both domestically and internationally.

Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Ms. Van Der Zon served as vice president, corporate marketing for Bank of Montreal in Canada.  In this role, she provided strategic marketing leadership to the $250 billion national financial services institution.  Previously, she spent more than four years in senior management positions at LaBatt/InBev, including director or new business development, where she led new business initiatives.  Kim also has strong packaged goods marketing experience, including P&L responsibilities, which she established in her six years at Proctor & Gamble.

Ms. Van Der Zon earned an MBA from the University of Toronto, and an undergraduate degree in business administration from Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada.  She is from Toronto and has enjoyed living in New York City since 1998.

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Dress for Success Worldwide :: 32 East 31st Street 7th Floor :: New York, NY 10016 Ph: 212.532.1922 | Fax: 212.684.9563