Featured Speaker(s)

Featured speakers include:
Linda Hughes, consultant, The North Highland Company and interim director of CIO services of CARE USA. Linda has over 20 years of experience in the IT field. Her experience includes staff, director, and CIO level responsibilities for companies in a variety of industries. She returned to consulting after leading IT initiatives as director of IT for Coca-Cola for over 14 years. Linda has extensive experience in all areas of information technology including application and portfolio development, IT infrastructure services, IT relationship management, technology research and development, and IT strategic vendor partnerships. Most recently Linda has worked with CIO’s across the U.S. to build long-term strategic plans for their IT departments in support of company business objectives. Linda obtained her Bachelor of Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech.

Etheline Desir, managing partner, The LeROI Group, LLC.
Etheline has over 16 years of experience in client management, career coaching and executive search with special competency in addressing workforce diversity issues. She has served as senior executive recruiter to the Office of the Chair for Dell Computer Corporation and held leadership positions in several national organizations. Etheline has developed and delivered career development seminars to organizations such as Morehouse College, the Institute for Diversity in Health Management, NAHSE, the Urban League, and InRoads. She also served as the featured career professional advisor for Black Professional Magazine for two years. Etheline holds an M.B.A. from Northeastern University in Boston, MA, and a B.S. from Atlantic Union College, South Lancaster, MA.

Kathy Maloney, partner, Ray & Berndtson
Kathy is a partner in the technology and e-Business practices and the managing partner of the firm's Atlanta office. She currently serves on the firm's U.S. board of directors. Kathy spent more than 25 years in the technology and telecommunications industry and is a member of the Society of International Business Fellows. Her focuses primarily on serving clients in technology and telecommunications companies. Kathy is active in the venture capital community and has worked closely with them to build skillful executive teams to lead their portfolio companies. Immediately prior to entering the search profession, Kathy was executive director of the research and development lab at BellSouth Cellular Corporation. She began her career IBM and held various management positions in Boulder, Colorado and IBM headquarters in White Plains, New York, as well as IBM Europe in Paris, France. Kathy earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland.

Janet Schultz, director and managing principal, IGS Global Services, IBM, will moderate. She has over 24 years of information technology experience and an extensive background in all phases of consulting and systems integration services, both as a practitioner and as an executive with P&L responsibilities. As a consultant, Ms. Schultz managed numerous client engagements with an emphasis on developing large custom application systems in partnership with her clients. As an IBM executive, she has managed services units with $100 - $250 million in revenue, primarily in the management consulting, systems development and systems integration market space. Janet obtained a M.S. in Information Systems from Virginia Commonwealth University and a B.S. in Accounting and Information Management Systems from the University of Virginia.