Nell Merlino
President & Founder
of
Count Me In
and
Make Mine a Million $ Business™

Nell Merlino is founder, President and CEO of Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence, the leading national not-for-profit provider of on-line business loans and resources for women to grow their micro businesses into $million enterprises.

Throughout her career, Nell has been inspiring millions of people to take action. She is the creative force behind Take Our Daughters to Work Day, which she designed and produced for the Ms. Foundation for Women in 1993. Since then, over 71 million Americans have participated in the day.

As the driving force behind Count Me In’s goal to getting 1 million women entrepreneurs to a $million in revenue by 2010, Nell has energized and engaged stakeholders in making this vision a reality. In 2005, Count Me In launched the Make Mine a $Million Business™ Program with founding partner OPEN from American Express SM provides money, mentoring and marketing opportunities for women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses to $million.

Count Me In is supported by American Express, Google, MetLife, QVC, Cisco Systems and Office Depot along with family foundations and thousands of generous individuals, who are behind women entrepreneurial success. The strategy of moving women from micro to millions builds on Count Me In’s year’s of experience helping thousands of women in all 50 states.

Merlino is also the founder and President of Strategy Communication Action, Ltd. (SCA) in New York City, a firm specializing in the creation of public education campaigns that motivate people to act. Prior to founding Count Me In and SCA, Merlino worked in two state governments, was an advance woman in presidential politics, a union organizer and a Fulbright Scholar.

For her work on behalf of women and girls, she is recognized in the books, Remarkable Women of the Twentieth Century: 100 Portraits of Achievement and Laws of the Bandit Queens. In April 2004, Nell received the Matrix Award for Achievement from New York Women in Communications. She has also received the Forbes magazine Trailblazer Award in 2000, and was awarded the 1994 Fulbright Award for Outstanding Achievement.

Merlino lives in Manhattan with her husband, Gary Conger.

Susan Bysiewicz
Connecticut’s
Secretary of the State

www.ct.gov

Susan Bysiewicz is Connecticut’s 72nd Secretary of the State, first elected in 1998 and then re-elected in 2002 and 2006.

Having previously served three terms in the state legislature from 1992 to 1998, representing the 100th Assembly District towns of Middletown, Durham and Middlefield, Secretary Bysiewicz came to her current position a dedicated public servant with significant experience in business, the legislative process, and elections.

As Secretary of the State, Susan Bysiewicz continues to open her office to the general public, ensuring that the records and information housed in her office are indeed accessible to all Connecticut citizens.

She was the first Secretary of the State to provide on-line access to search for essential information about the more than 310,000 companies registered to do business in Connecticut, and to seek campaign finance reports on the internet. Bringing such integral parts of the Secretary of the State’s office to the global community was a groundbreaking effort on Secretary Bysiewicz’s behalf, and both of these systems have been recognized nationally for their innovative use of technology.

Beth Polish
Publisher of DROOM ®
(Don’t Run Out Of Money)

www.bethpolish.com

Beth Polish is a nationally-recognized expert on entrepreneurship, strategy and finance and is a frequent speaker at conferences around the country and on national television. 

With senior management positions in diverse industries, including media, finance, private investment, and technology (founding CFO of iVillage; CFO of Goldman Sachs Ventures, president of Anthony Robbins’s Dreamlife, etc.), she has mobilized and led teams through startup, merger and acquisition, and turnaround, and has secured initial and follow-on financings from and worked with Allen & Co., Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, RRE, TCI, AOL, Mitsubishi and many others.

Ms. Polish teaches entrepreneurship at NYU and was chosen as the first woman professor at Trump University.  She is the creator and author of the multi-media program “Business Plan Power: Creating A Tool That Works For Your Company” and the DROOM® (Don’t Run Out Of Money) primer series, “In The Market For Money®”.  (For more information go to www.bethpolish.com.)  Ms. Polish is on the Executive Committee of the Women’s Leadership Exchange and is a director and treasurer of ThinkQuest New York City. 

Beth Polish received her MBA from Harvard Business School.

Gwendolyn Sykes
CFO, Yale University

As Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Yale University, Ms. Sykes is responsible for the financial stewardship of the University, including budgeting, accounting and transaction management, financial reporting, internal control and the integrity of financial information. One of Ms. Sykes primary areas of focus is on the use of technology and process redesign to increase the efficiency and quality of core activities such as accounts payable, payroll, financial budgeting and reporting.

Ms. Sykes is Yale’s first CFO. The establishment of this position at the 306-year old institution marks a new phase in the University’s financial management. It reflects the increasing demands that come with growth in the size, complexity, and resources of the University and the increasing regulatory and fiduciary demands facing universities today. Yale has an operating budget of $1.8 billion, investment assets of $32 billion, and capital expenditures at $380 million a year and growing. The role of the Chief Financial Officer is to provide Yale with the most sophisticated financial management systems, practices, and processes to effectively utilize and manage these resources. 

Prior to joining Yale, Ms. Sykes was appointed by President George W. Bush to the post of CFO at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate.  At NASA, she oversaw the financial management and health of the agency’s $16 billion appropriation. She led over 500 finance professionals across the United States in the development and execution of financial policies, processes and procedures. She also provided financial impact analysis for NASA's strategic and operational decision making, and implemented a centralized accounting system for the agency. She is credited with having established a solid foundation of financial systems, practices, and information for NASA as it moves forward in space exploration.

Before joining NASA, Sykes served as an analyst for the Department of Defense. She also worked in Congress for U.S. Senator Ted Stevens from Alaska. She earned her B.A. in accounting from Catholic University and her M.P.A. from American University. Ms. Sykes now serves as an Adjunct Professor in American University’s School of Public Affairs.

In 2006, Sykes was named as one of the 50 Most Powerful Black Women in Business by Black Enterprise, and she was recognized by Newsweek magazine as one of the top women leaders in her field. She was the recipient of the David P. Richardson Jr. Nation Builder Award from the National Black Caucus of State Legislators in 2005. The previous year, she was awarded the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for her leadership of the Columbia Families First Team and in the creation of the NASA Family Assistance Fund. She won a 2003 NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for outstanding budgetary and financial leadership.

Gina DeLucca
Owner, Once Upon a Time Development Center

Gina DeLucca attended the University of Connecticut to acquire a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.  Her intention was to teach high school English.  She had danced for 25 years (tap, ballet, jazz and Hawaiian) and taught children in her later years at the studio.  Also, in college she became a teacher in a daycare center.  She found that she loved the younger age groups.

Upon graduation, she was offered a full time position with the Hartford Region YWCA.  She continued to work for the YWCA child care programs, transferring to Waterbury in 1994.  She headed the department bringing enrollment from 55 children to 85 children.  When the YWCA closed down unexpectedly in 1996, she went on to teach a program for childcare professionals at a business school.  She missed working with children and had her own daughter by this time.   She decided to look for space to open her own daycare center. 

Gina opened her development center in December, 1997.  She was 27 years old and expecting her second child at the time.  She now has three children of her own. The most important thing was to her was to be there for her children, being as involved as possible in their lives and activities.  She also desired a career, utilizing her degree, knowledge of children and child development and making a difference!
 
Gina feels that she has had the best of both worlds; that of being with her children, as well as a professional career.  She has owned and run Once Upon A Time Development Center for over 10 years.  She belongs to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, Milford Rotary Club and Milford Chamber of Commerce.  She is also a Founders Club member of the United Way.

Tina DeNapoles
Owner, Tranquility Mind
& Body Wellness Spa

Tina DeNapoles had a vision.  It would be a place where one could flow into an enchanted world and be filled with a state of grace…of peace…of Tranquility.  As a result, she created Tranquility Mind & Body Wellness Spa;  the largest day spa in Conn; where one could escape the stresses of their lives, even for just a few hours.  Tranquility was named Best Spa in Connecticut for facials and massages in 2005,2006,2007,& 2008.  The Spa’s mission is customer service at its best, assuring that everyone who walks through Tranquility’s doors is treated like royalty!

Tina’s background was far from the spa industry.  She has a Bachelors of Science in Marketing and Business Administration.  Her background has been diverse in the field of medical sales, advertising, real estate development, construction and property management.  Tina is also a Ct. Real Estate Broker and manages several companies.  When asked how she ended up in the Spa business, she replies “a vision, good business sense and LACK OF FEAR!”  Tina has had a successful business career over the last 28 years and has raised 4 wonderful sons in the midst of it all.  She is a member of the Chamber, Rotary International, Milford Progress, Board of Realtors, and the highly accredited Day Spa Association.