Annual Gala & Awards Celebration
Friday, October 24, 2025
11:00 AM - 2:15 PM
Hyatt Regency Greenwich
Friday, October 24, 2025
11:00 AM - 2:15 PM
Hyatt Regency Greenwich
AGENDA
- 11 AM
- Networking Reception & Raffle
- 11:45 AM - 2:15 PM
- Luncheon & Awards Celebration
Additional details regarding the Gala will be posted soon!
Carla Harris
Keynote Speaker
Author and Senior Client Advisor, Morgan Stanley
IMPACT AWARD RECIPIENTS
Natalie Madeira Cofield
Chief Executive Officer & President
Association for Enterprise Opportunity
Gina Criscuolo
Chief Financial Officer
Downes Construction
Donna Murphy
Global Chief Executive Officer
Havas Creative & Havas Health Networks
Kristin Kallergis Rowland
Global Head of Alternative Investments
J.P. Morgan Private Bank
PATRICIA BILLIE MILLER AWARD
FOR OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY SERVICE
Moraima Gutierrez
U.S. Small Business Administration
Deputy District Director
HONORARY CHAIRS AND VICE CHAIRS
The Honorable Susan Bysiewicz
Honorary Chair
Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut
Annie Lamont
Honorary Chair
Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Oak HC/FT, First Lady of Connecticut
Leander Dolphin
Honorary Vice Chair
Managing Partner, Shipman & Goodwin LLP
Jeffrey Flaks
Honorary Vice Chair
President and Chief Executive Officer, Hartford HealthCare
Stacey Kennedy
Honorary Vice Chair
President, Americas Region & CEO of PMI’s U.S. Business
Jean Swift
Honorary Vice Chair
Chief Financial Officer, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation
WOMEN RISING AWARDEES
The Women Rising Award is presented annually to Women’s Business Development Council clients who show a strong commitment to WBDC and demonstrate success in their business and tenacity in pursuing their goals.
Kathleen Cofiell
Charhause Cookie LLC
Bolton
Sasha Fay
Ovelle Coffee
Hartford
Sarah Guercia
Fox and Feather Healing Arts Services LLC
Guilford
Beth Iovinelli
Milk Street Lactation Support Center
Norwalk
Kamara Moodie
Sunshine Daycare
Bridgeport
Dr. Alison Burdick Reichard
Blue Line Traffic
New London
TITLE SPONSOR
IMPACT SPONSORS
INVESTOR SPONSORS
CAPITAL SPONSORS
EMPOWER SPONSORS
ASPIRE SPONSORS
Anantaa-OM Foundation
Ascend Bank
Bank of America
Bankwell
Business Lifelines, LLC
CLA
Cohen and Wolf, P.C.
Moira Collins
CONNSTEP
Laura B. Davis
EY
Fieldpoint Private Bank & Trust
Finn Dixon & Herling LLP
Five Mile Advisors
HARMAN International
Hexcel Corporation
Elizabeth T. Hirsch
iCapital
Patricia Posada Klapper and Brian Klapper
Liberty Bank
Littler Mendelson, PC
M&T Bank Center for Women & Business at Quinnipiac University
Mahoney Sabol CPAs
The Mandell-Braunstein Families
McCarter & English, LLP
Miranda Creative, Inc.
Flavia Naslausky and Edgardo Soares
NBCUniversal
Peter DiNardo Enterprises
Pullman & Comley, LLC
PwC
The Siegfried Group
Union Savings Bank
HOST COMMITTEE
Vanessa Abrahams-John, Adidas*
Accordant – Sage Software
AdvanceCT
Aon
The Honorable Richard Blumenthal
The Honorable Beth Bye
The Honorable Vincent Candelora
Charter Communications
Connecticut Business & Industry Association
The Honorable Joe Courtney
The Honorable Rosa DeLauro
Laura Drynan, Bourgeon Capital Management*
The Honorable Bob Duff
Foxcroft Strategy Group
The Honorable Stephen Harding
The Honorable Jahana Hayes
The Honorable Jim Himes
International Seaways, Inc.
Sharon Kane
Keitha Kinne, AMG Funds*
Anahaita Kotval
The Honorable Ned Lamont
The Honorable John Larson
The Honorable Martin Looney
The Honorable Ceci Maher
The Honorable Patricia Billie Miller
The Honorable Chris Murphy
New Haven Bank
Newtown Savings Bank
The Honorable Daniel O’Keefe
Pfizer
R.C. Bigelow, Inc.
The Honorable Matt Ritter
The Honorable Jason Rojas
Patricia Russo, The Campaign School at Yale
Marian Salzman, PMI
The Honorable Sean Scanlon
Kathleen Silard, MS, BSN, RN, FACHE, Stamford Health*
The Honorable Caroline Simmons
Tara N. Spain, Travelers Foundation*
Stamford Downtown
Steven Mueller Architects, LLC
Charlotte & John Suhler
Glendowlyn Thames, Amazon*
The Honorable Jennifer Tooker
Nichelle Waddell, Watch Me Grow Daycare & Preschool LLC
The Wall Group
Michael Weinstock, M&T Bank*
Elizabeth Zessman, Heidrick & Struggles
*Past Impact Award Recipient
HOST COMMITTEE VIDEOS
Buy Tickets
WBDC
Supporter
Minimum donation: 4 tickets/$20.
Additional tickets: $5/ea.
Purchase raffle tickets to score amazing items and services donated by WBDC clients and CT-based businesses and institutions! Check back often – new items added every week until the Gala. Raffle closes at 9:00 PM on October 29. Ticket sales are final and non-transferable to other raffle bundles.
To donate an item or service to the raffle, contact Laurie Cohen at lauriec@longpointgroup.com.
Buy a Slideshow Tribute/Ad
Sponsorship Levels
ALL SPONSORSHIPS EMPOWER & ABOVE INCLUDE:
- Company logo in all event collateral
- Inclusion in social media
- Mention in two (2) WBDC press releases distributed to over 100 Connecticut and Westchester, NY media outlets
- Two (2) VIP tables of twelve (12) seats each
- Recognition in Welcome Remarks
- Hearst Media Ad Packages
- Speaking Opportunity at Event
- One (1) VIP table of twelve (12) seats
- Recognition in Welcome Remarks
- Hearst Media Ad Packages
- One (1) VIP table of twelve (10) seats
- Recognition in Welcome Remarks
- Hearst Media Ad Packages
- One (1) preferred table of ten (10) seats
- Recognition in Welcome Remarks
- Hearst Media Ad Packages
- One (1) table of ten (10) seats
- Logo in full page Stamford Advocate Ad
- <span data-metadata=""><span data-buffer="">One (1) half-table of five (5) seats
- Logo in full page Stamford Advocate Ad
- Company Branding Across Event Collateral
- Two (2) premium tickets
- Recognition in the invitation and program booklet
Contact Us
Do you have questions? Want more information?Â
Contact Alicia Kalish
- akalish@ctwbdc.org
- (917) 650-0656