YJP's Spotlight on Women

Karyn B. Schoenbart is the Chief Executive Officer of The NPD Group and the best-selling author of Mom.B.A.: Essential Business Advice from One Generation to the Next. Karyn has spent the majority of her career working at The NPD Group, which provides information and advisory services for over 20 industries. NPD combines unique data assets and prescriptive analytics with industry expertise, working with the world's leading brands to support better business decisions and drive growth. Passionate about coaching others to greater levels of achievement, Karyn wrote Mom.B.A.: Essential Business Advice from One Generation to the Next as a practical guides on everything from effective first impressions and workplace politics to relationship development, skill-building, and overcoming the Impostor Syndrome. The book is based on real-life business lessons Karyn amassed during her career. Karyn has received several awards recognizing her outstanding impact as a female business leader including the 2016 Long Island Brava Award and the 2017 Legacy Award from Women in Consumer Technology. She was also named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Women of the Mid-Market by the CEO Connection for the past four years. Karyn currently serves on the advisory board of The Resolution Project, a nonprofit organization that develops socially-responsible young leaders. Karyn has also served on the boards of directors of Civic Science, ARF Women in Analytics and CASRO, the Council of American Survey Research Organizations. She regularly teaches classes in leadership and developing client relationships. Karyn is frequent speaker at industry conference and events, notably:
Beauty and FN (Footwear News) CEO Summits
Advertising Research Foundation's Women in Analytics
Fairchild WWD (Women's Wear Daily)
Long Island University
FFANY (Fashion Footwear Association of NY)
Logitech Corporate Headquarters
Hewlett Packard Annual Meeting
Outsell's Women's Inaugural Conference
Women of Isenberg, Keynote Speaker
Women in Consumer Technology
Women of The Channel East: Leadership Summit
Keurig Dr. Pepper Headquarters
Women's Foodservice Forum
Pilot Pen Corporate Headquarters
Women in Auto Care Winter Conference, Keynote Speaker
Carnegie Mellon University
Young Jewish Professional's Spotlight on Women
Hewlett Packard Corporate Headquarters
Dufry London Corporate Headquarters

Karyn is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, summa cum laude. She and her husband live in Woodbury, NY. They enjoy the beach and spending time with their adult children.

Carla Buffulin joined emerging markets specialist Emso in 2016. Founded in 2000 by Mark Franklin, the firm's CIO, Emso has $5.8 billion of assets under management, including a UCITS fund, and 28 investment professionals working in London and New York. A pioneer in emerging markets investment with 27 years' experience, Buffulin is one of five women on Emso's corporate team and invests principally in fixed income. Prior to joining Emso, she was a Managing Director and Senior Portfolio for Emerging Markets at AIG. Previously, she was Vice President, International Fixed Income and Co-Portfolio Manager of the Global EM Corporate Portfolio at Oppenheimer Funds. Earlier, Buffulin worked for Morgan Stanley as Vice President in the Credit Risk Department for Latin America and as a Project Manager in the Accounting and Valuation Team within the Equity Research group. Prior to that, she was an Associate Director in the Global Structured Finance group at WestLB AG. Buffulin's career began in 1999 at Citibank SA in Sao Paolo, Brazil as Team Head for the Credit Risk Analysis Unit. She received her BBA from Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas, in Brazil.

Carol O'Donnell has over three decades of financial services and investment experience. in 2016, she joined Protege Partners where she is now Chief Executive Officer and Chief Compliance Officer. Protege was established in 2002 and is one of the industry's leading firms investing in and seeding smaller and emerging hedge fund managers. Carol is a key member of the executive team that launched MOVE37, for which she also serves as Chief Executive Officer. MOV37 is an affiliate of Protege Partners which has established itself as a thought leader in identifying and evaluating a new wave of managers engaged in "Autonomous Learning Investment Strategies" (ALIS) which use advanced machine learning, data, and cheap computing power to run investment strategies in revolutionary ways. As CEO, Carol brings a comprehensive understanding of how traditional corporate environments intersect with the entrepreneurial strategies necessary for business expansion. She leaders product structuring and development, operations and counterparty relationships, and contributes to the promotion of products to the global financial community. Prior to joining Protege Partners, Carol served as DARA Capital US, Inc., a Swiss-owned boutique wealth management firm as Director of Legal and Compliance. She was General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of the Permal Group, one of the largest fund of hedge fund international investment firms which grew from $17 billion to $40 billion of AUM with 150+ employees and was acquired by Legg Mason for $1.6 billion during her tenure. Carol was COO and General Counsel of Framework Investment Group, a manager of commodity investments. She has been an attorney specialized in the practice of corporate, securities and commodities law. Carol is a director of Sono-tek Corporation (OTCQZ: SOTK) and is a trustee of a US mutual fund and other private trusts. She holds a JF from the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law and a BS in business and economics from Skidmore College.

Danielle is the SVP, Client Partner at Essence Global, a digital-first agency whose mission is to make advertising more valuable to the world. As a global strategic business lead for the Google account, Danielle oversees the team responsible for Google's digital advertising strategy on key products such as Chromebooks, Chrome browser, Google Play, and the Android operating system. In addition to producing business results, Danielle is passionate about coaching young leaders and helping them focus on developing a strong team culture. In 2018, she was named to FOLIO: Top Women in Media in the "Up and Comers" category, and she was named a Rising Star of Madison Ave by Business Insider. In her tenure at Essence Global, Danielle has also held the roles of North American Google Business Lead (working on large product launches including Pixel Phone, Google Home, and YouTubeRed), Client Director for the Google Entertainment Business (YouTube and Google Play), and Director of Investment for North America (leading key strategic projects for clients and overseeing large scale negotiations with top media publishers). Prior to joining Essence Global, Danielle held roles at IPG Media Lab, directing the client service (engagement) team; UM, managing digital planning and buying for Sony Network Entertainment & Sony Corporate; and Carat, managing integrated communications planning on Gillette. Danielle earned her B.A. from Vassar College. When not working, she is a skater and President of Gotham Girls Roller Derby, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to developing and promoting the physical and mental strength and independent spirit of amateur female athletes. Danielle lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Jasen, and their dog, Ripley.

Elizabeth Galbut is a venture capitalist, designer, professor, and global speaker on healthcare innovation. She is Managing Partner of SoGal Ventures which invests in diverse founding teams in the US and Asia. With over 50 investments to date, she is actively seeking to back exceptional startups revolutionizing how the next generation lives, works, and stays healthy. She recently was honored as Forbes 30 Under 30 in Venture Capital, NYC’s 33 Under 33 top innovators, and TechWeek100 Innovative Investor.

Elizabeth believes women are one of the only remaining investment arbitrage opportunities. SoGal is on a mission to redefine the next generation of founders and funders, building the foundation for gender parity for venture-backed entrepreneurs and VC investors.

SoGal Ventures is Elizabeth’s second VC firm. She co-founded A-Level Capital in 2015 at only 25 years old while in graduate school at Johns Hopkins. The start of Elizabeth’s VC career was personal – during grad school her father was diagnosed with cancer, while at the same time she was advising digital pathology startup, Proscia. The startup was facing difficulty raising their initial seed round, and she knew first-hand how necessary the new technology was for improving the diagnostic process for cancer. She made it her mission to be the first outside investor into the company, so other families wouldn’t have to endure the pain that hers did. A-Level Capital wrote the first check and by the time the CEO graduated a few months later, he closed an oversubscribed seed round to bring his technology to market.

Elizabeth’s favorite investment area is the intersection of smart design and machine learning/AI fueling major health tech innovation. Her portfolio of digital health startups include lab platform Everlywell, sexual wellness brand Unbound, digital pathology analytics pioneer Proscia, medication adherence tech eMocha, AI-powered drug discovery Insilico Medicine, smart socks Siren Care, data-driven skincare technology HelloAva, asthma management tool Tueo Health, and veterinary immunotherapy technology Vetivax.

Prior to graduate studies, as a Strategy and Operations Consultant at Deloitte Consulting, Elizabeth focused her attention on developing long-term strategy for a variety of large healthcare clients. She contributed to business development efforts leading to over $200M of new work. Elizabeth is an alumnus of Georgetown University, London School of Economics, Johns Hopkins University, and Maryland Institute College of Art.

Katia is an acclaimed creative director and one of New York’s most influential visual visionaries, who works seamlessly between editorial, packaging, advertising, product development and brand identity as a 360-degree storyteller. She began her career in 2002 at Lloyd & Co. as a freelance art director for clients including Estee Lauder, Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci. Finding balance in independent and commercial work, Kuethe produced her own magazine—"Editor & Art Director - The Glossy Zine— under her own company Studio Von Birken from 2004-2009, while also producing creative work for brands such as J. Crew, Jimmy Choo, Babyphat, Brioni and Ann Taylor. In 2010 Katia joined Teen Vogue as Creative Director to re-design the magazine’s visual language, as well as TeenVogue.com. Following her stint at there, Katia joined Kate Spade New York as Senior Director of Creative, where she served as the global lead on all brand creative and initiatives, from print and video campaigns to e-commerce, retail, copy, packaging and social media. In this role, she oversaw the re-launch of katespade.com, and designed and launched the brand’s latest fragrance. Kuethe has earned numerous awards, including those for excellence in design from FiFi, The Art Director’s Club New York, The Society of Publication Designers and The One Club. She also completed a redesign of Lucky magazine & developed the identity for LuckyShops - Lucky’s e-com platform, including logo, packaging & site look/feel. Katia is currently the Creative Director of Brand Marketing at Bergdorf Goodman, and lives in Manhattan with her son, Paz.

Nicole Kushner Meyer has been a partner and owner in all of Kushner Companies real estate investments since 1985. Her investment portfolio at Kushner Companies include ownership interests in over 15,000 multifamily units and 10 million sqft of commercial space. As an owner and member of the board, Nicole has been involved in monitoring the portfolio as well as new projects and investments. In 2015, Nicole took a more active role in Kushner Companies as Principal, where she focuses on new developments, repositioning of existing assets, retail and commercial portfolio management. Kushner is currently planning and coordinating over 10 million sqft of new construction and currently manages a retail portfolio that consists of over 2.2 million sqft and commercial portfolio of 5.4 million sqft. Nicole’s responsibilities also include acquisitions and is involved in sourcing and the assessment of new opportunities. Nicole graduated Phi Beta Kappa from NYU in 2004 with a degree in Architecture and Urban Design, and received a Masters in Urban Planning from the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service in 2006.

Nilu De Silva is currently the Head of Social Media and Content Strategy at bareMinerals. She is responsible for brand partnerships, content development and overall social strategy and channel growth for the brand. Prior to that, she was the Global Digital Director at Urban Decay Cosmetics at L'Oreal, and the Global Social Media Strategy lead at The Estee Lauder Companies Center of Digital Excellence. Nilu has also spent time at leading advertising agencies JWT and BBDO before transitioning to the client side. She has a BA in History from Mount Holyoke College and an MA is Global Communications from The American University of Paris.

Amy joined Merrill Lynch in 2002 as a Global Markets Equity Derivatives Trader in Hong Kong and moved back to her hometown of New York City in 2006 to cover institutional clients for structuring and origination. She joined the Global Wealth Management structured products team in 2010 and is now responsible for product development within Capital Markets for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Amy received a B.S. in Finance and Management from New York University Stern School of Business and holds Series 3, 7, 63, and 24 FINRA Licenses, as well as the Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) designation. Amy is an active leader in Diversity and Inclusion efforts: a strong supporter and alum of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO), past Co-Chair of the NY Metro Chapter of the Parents and Caregivers Network, a proud Ally to LGBT, and spearheads key initiatives within her line of business Diversity and Inclusion Council. She resides in Queens, New York with her husband and their three children.

Booke Malman is an Audit Senior Manager with approximately 11 years of experience at RSM. She provides financial statement audit and review services to middle-market clients in a variety of industries. Based in the New York office, she works with the senior management of private, multistate and multinational clients focusing primarily in professional services, technology and consumer products. Brooke Malman is a graduate of the University of Maryland - College Park.

Laila Zemrani is the Co-founder and CEO of Fitnescity, a company that aims at empowering people to learn more about their wellness. Fitnescity offers fitness and wellness tests that enable anyone to uncover data about their own wellness.

Laila is an early-adopter, leader and advocate of the Quantified Self movement, an initiative that empowers people to make more informed decisions about their wellness using self-collected data. Laila’s work on the topic of personalized wellness, biohacking and the Quantified Self was featured in numerous media outlets and venues. She has spoken at the United Nations, Stanford Medicine, MIT, Harvard, NYU, the Quantified Self, CES (Consumer Electronics Show) and Future Healthcare Week.

Prior to Fitnescity, she was a founding employee at Dataxis, a global data analysis firm. In 2011, Laila was awarded a fellowship from the MasterCard Foundation and the Legatum Center for Entrepreneurship, while attending graduate school at MIT. Laila has an MBA from MIT Sloan. As an undergraduate, she studied engineering and management at Télécom ParisTech.

Tali bring things to life, literally and figuratively from founding an IoT startup that balances screen time on all platforms, to saving the lives of a dying child and founding a nonprofit that promotes CPR education. She is an entrepreneur, engineer, writer, and a thought leader on the topic of balancing screen time and technology. She is the co-founder of Wible, a powerful vlogging tool that enables social media experience for creators and for anyone that wants to share their project's journey with the world. Prior to Wible, Tali founded and served as the CEO of Screen. An IoT startfup in the consumer electronic space, with the mission to help families strike a healthy balance with their electronic devices. Tali lives in NY with her family and was covered in the Huffington Post on how to build a successful business & grow a family at the same time. You can find Tali's articles on Thrive covering different angles of screen addiction and technology.

Hayley Cohen is responsible for investor relations. Prior to joining R. G. Niederhoffer Capital Management in January 2010, Ms. Cohen worked at Kyte Capital Advisors LLP in London as a Senior Research Analyst. She began her career at Old Mutual in South Africa in 1998 and has worked in the hedge fund industry since 2004. Ms. Cohen holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Honors in Financial Management from the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Hayley is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst and holds the Investment Management Certificate (IMC).

Irene is a Director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and has joined the firm in 2001.

Irene is accountable for the risk and controls of the Global Markets Client Facing Technology, which includes a cross-asset global digital channel used by thousands of companies for analytics, research, trading execution and post trading operations.

Irene is a Bank of America corporate member of the Women’s Bond Club of New York City where she serves on the corporate outreach committee. The Women’s Bond Club provides education, mentoring and networking opportunities for women in financial services and related industries.

Jennifer Wallace is a curator, art director, and business owner. As co-founder of nAscent Art New York, an art consultancy in its 12th year, Jen helps clients develop and execute thoughtful fine art plans for building lobbies, company offices, and leading hotels. A sought-after art expert, Jen often speaks on panels to discuss art, the art industry, & emerging artists. Host of the long-running web series Art Seen (100+ episodes), Jen has produced dozens of exhibitions and events viewed by hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, has curated shows in a variety of venues. Her curatorial work has been covered by international major media, including Le Monde. When not shaking up the art world, Jen also serves as an executive producer (& sometimes craft services) at Mastodon Films.

Jodie Cohen has been marketing books and audiobooks to readers, parents, and educators for almost 20 years. She has extensive expertise in planning and implementing innovative multi-channel marketing campaigns that build brand awareness and increase revenue. Jodie loves coming up with creative ideas that connect with new audiences and she often builds beneficial partnerships. Jodie is a detail-oriented project manager and event planner who delivers dynamic results and successful events under budget. Currently, Jodie is the Director of Marketing at Scholastic.

Melissa Munnerlyn is the co-founder of Cherry Pick, a next-gen social intelligence platform that uses the latest in AI and machine learning to understand consumer comments on social media. Cherry Pick empowers brands, influencers, and retailers to make product development, merchandising, and marketing decisions reactive to real-time consumer intent. Previously, Melissa spent the last seven years founding marketing organizations for multiple fashion and beauty e-commerce startups.