As WITI celebrates 15 years of serving women in technology, women's roles in business and technology have changed along with the times. Today women are more and more "tech-savvy" thus new skills-sets have led them to many varied and different positions in business, government and world-wide organizations.

This year’s second annual “Women Leading Reinvention and Innovation” program presents a panel of women who embody these “tech-savvy” qualities. The panel consists of senior-level executives who have an interesting, and inspirational, story to tell about how they got to be where they are in their careers and some of the tough decisions they had to make along the way. But, through innovation and perhaps at times reinventing themselves or shifting their goals, they have experienced success.

Cynthia Larose, partner at the law firm of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C, will moderate the panel. Panelists include Dina Chu, president and CEO of New Basics and Chairperson of the Center for Women and Enterprise and Marina Hatsopoulos, CEO of Z Corp.

About Our Speaker(s)

Maureen Chew:
Maureen Chew is the CIO of the Massachusetts Department of Education (DOE). As the CIO, she manages the Information Technology and Services Unit. This Unit provides a stable and secure infrastructure for custom software applications aimed at DOE staff, school districts, educators and the public. The Unit is also responsible for data collections on students, educators and school districts and providing data analysis and reporting information. Recently, the Educator Licensure and Recruitment (ELAR) system won a 2002 NASCIO Award and was responsible for this year’s online recertification of over 65,000 educators. Currently, she sits on the Massachusetts CIO “Kitchen Cabinet” and is a member of the Massachusetts Education Technology Advisory Council.

Ms. Chew’s state career spans 13 years. She has played a role as a Senior Policy Advisor at the MA Information Technology Division and the Legislative Liaison on IT issues. She was successful in coordinating the passage of the $302 million dollar Information Technology Bond (IT Bond) and the $89 million dollar Educational Technology Bond. Further, Maureen has also served as the Project Manager for the Mass Trial Courts and as Executive Director of the Criminal History Systems Board.

In addition to her career in the public sector, Maureen has many years of work experience in the private sector and has held positions with AT&T and State Street Research and Management Co. She holds a Masters Degree from Boston University and Bachelor of Science Degree from Boston State College.

Dina Chu:
Lorrayne Yen Chu, Chairman, CWE Board of Directors and President, CEO, and Co-Founder, New Basics, Inc. Lorrayne "Dina" Chu has earned a solid reputation in the business community as an effective strategic thinker and hands-on problem-solver, proven over two decades as an entrepreneur and a senior marketing executive in corporate America. From the beginning of her career as a Merrill Lynch broker on Wall Street in 1976 until the founding of New Basics, Inc. in May 1998, Ms. Chu has successfully grown businesses and carved out niches of opportunity in competitive marketplaces.

Ms. Chu's experiences as an entrepreneur have given her keen insight into the risks and rewards associated with taking business concepts and turning them into active and fast growth operations. She uses this experience to effectuate New Basics' vision. Ms. Chu and her co-founders at New Basics have successfully developed the New Basics Hair Coloring Brush, the most advanced way to color your hair at home.

Ms. Chu is also known as a community leader with an abiding commitment to education, the arts, and Boston's cultural institutions. Notably, she has served as the Chair of the Board of Directors of First Night, Inc. and was appointed to the Board of Directors of Boston 2000, a non-profit organization guiding Boston's millennial plans through January 1, 2001. In addition, Ms. Chu was elected Chairman of the Board of the Center for Women & Enterprise (CWE) and takes great pleasure in coaching and mentoring businesswomen in programs sponsored by CWE.

Marina Haatsopoulos:
CEO, Director, and Co-Founder of Z Corporation, is Chair of the Committee of Finance and Investment of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, a 120,000-member organization for the technology community. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Nantucket Conference, an invitation-only technology event, and the Board of Overseers of the Boston Children's Museum. She received Mass. High Tech's All-Star Award for Hardware and is a two-time finalist for Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Her background was in corporate finance at Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, and held several operational roles at various Thermo Electron divisions. Ms. Hatsopoulos holds an M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Event Date and Venue

This event will be held from 6:00 p.m - 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 20, 2004 at:

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.
One Financial Center,
Boston, Massachusetts 02111
Map

On the MBTA:
Take the Red Line to the South Station Stop
Exit station, following signs to One Financial Center
At street level, you will see One Financial Center

From Western MA:
Take the Mass. Pike (Route 90) East to exit #24A (South Station)
Follow Atlantic Ave. until you can take a left on Essex Street
One Financial Center is on the corner of Atlantic Ave. and Essex St.
From Points North (for those coming from Route 93, the Tobin Bridge and the Callahan Tunnel.)

Take the Southeast Expressway (93 South) and get off at the South Station/Chinatown exit #22 (exit from left lane)
At end of off-ramp, turn left at traffic signal onto South Street
Take a left onto Essex Street at first traffic light
One Financial Center will be on the left
From Points South

Take the Southeast Expressway (93 North) to exit #20 (Worcester/Logan RTE 90 - South Station)
Follow signs for South Station
Follow Atlantic Ave. until you can take a left on Essex Street
One Financial Center is on the corner of Atlantic Ave. and Essex Street

Parking Tips: Parking is available in the One Financial Center parking garage (617-348-8384 - entrance on Essex Street). Parking is $25.00 for 2.5 hours or more with validation from a Mintz Levin receptionist. There is also a parking lot on Essex Street and a parking garage at the corner of Beach and Lincoln Streets as well as the bus terminal at South Station. Please note parking fees have increased from $21 to $25 ($35 without validation). There is also parking at the bus terminal.

Schedule

POSTPONED: PLEASE CONTACT [email protected] for information

Pre-registration for this event is closed and on-site registrations will not be accepted.

About Our Sponsor(s)

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo is a versatile law firm of more than 450 highly qualified and dedicated attorneys representing a diverse international clientele in many industries, who turn to them for a wide range of legal services and resources. clients include major public corporations, privately held and family businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups and emerging growth companies, investors, underwriters, directors and officers, research scientists, medical and academic institutions, public agencies and industry associations.

Clients benefit from the depth of our expertise in both traditional and cutting-edge practice areas. Our legal expertise is coupled with industry knowledge in a wide range of industries, including recognized leadership in a number of fields where our long track record helping clients to succeed has firmly established us as a "go-to" firm: biotechnology and life sciences, communications and information technology, high technology, and health care. In these dynamic and converging industries, clients need counsel who are particularly good at handling complex and sometimes unprecedented situations, and who bring the valuable perspective and insight that results from many years of in-depth experience.

Attorneys at Mintz Levin are driven by an entrepreneurial zeal that is one of the firm's defining characteristics and which translates into the innovative, energetic representation of clients. Mintz Levin prides themselves on the quality of strategic thinking and ability to think like clients -- to understand the goals, critical issues and opportunities that drive each client. Responsive, aggressive problem-solving is a hallmark of the firm and the foundation on which the firm's success and growth have been built since its founding in 1933.

Contact Us

For more info regarding registration or event details, please contact Jo-An Thomas ([email protected]).

For more details about pre-registration, contact Tech Support.