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
Judy Miller
Managing Director & Chief of Staff
JP Morgan Chase & Co.
Gina Criscuolo
Chief Financial Officer
Downes Construction
Donna Murphy
Title
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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
President
Americas Region & CEO of PMI’s U.S. Business
Jean Swift
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
Kamara Moodie
Little Miss Sunshine Home Daycare
Bridgeport
Sasha Fay
Ovelle Coffee
West Hartford
Sarah Guercia
Fox and Feather Healing Arts Services LLC
Guilford
Beth Iovinelli
Milk Street Lactation Support Center
Norwalk
Allison Reichard
Blue Line Traffic
New London
TITLE SPONSOR
IMPACT SPONSORS
INVESTOR SPONSORS
CAPITAL SPONSORS
EMPOWER SPONSORS
ASPIRE SPONSORS
AARP Connecticut
Bank of America
Bankwell
Bernstein Private Wealth Management
CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
CONNSTEP
CorePlus Credit Union
JPMorganChase / Laura B. Davis
Deloitte LLP
DLA Piper LLP
Downes Construction Company
Fieldpoint Private
Finn Dixon & Herling LLP
Five Mile Advisors
Forbes Media
Foxcroft Strategy Group LLC
Fragomen Del Rey Bernsen & Loewy
FunkkOFF! Inc.
Guilford Savings Bank
Elizabeth T. Hirsch
iCapital
Impact Staffing Solutions
KeyBank
Miranda Creative, Inc
Monica Moore
Flavia Naslausky & Edgardo Soares
NBC Sports
Pavarini North East Construction Co., LLC
Pfizer
Pullman & Comley LLC
Sacred Heart University
The Siegfried Group
Stamford Downtown
Troutman Pepper
The Workplace
Yale University Office of New Haven Affairs
HOST COMMITTEE
Vanessa Abrahams-John, Adidas
AdvanceCT
Nisha and Harry Arora
Eryn and Mike Bingle
The Honorable Richard Blumenthal
Charter Communications
Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA)
The Honorable Joe Courtney
The Honorable Rosa DeLauro
Laura Drynan, Bourgeon Capital Management
The Honorable Bob Duff
The Honorable Justin Elicker
F.D. Rich Company
The First Bank of Greenwich
Galia Gichon, Tidal River Fund
The Honorable Jahana Hayes
The Honorable Jim Himes
Anika Howard, WondrNation
International Seaways, Inc.
Anahaita Kotval
Pam Kushmerick and Jim Smith
The Honorable Ned and Annie Lamont
The Honorable John Larson
Live Oak Bank
The Honorable Martin Looney
The Honorable Dannel and Cathy Malloy
The Honorable Patricia Billie Miller
Mintz + Hoke
The Honorable Chris Murphy
Murtha Cullina LLP
The Honorable Daniel O’Keefe
The Honorable Michael Passero
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
Thomaston Savings Bank
The Honorable Jennifer Tooker
Nichelle Waddell, Watch Me Grow Daycare & Preschool LLC
Michael Weinstock, M&T Bank
Elisa Wilson
Elizabeth Zessman, Heidrick & Struggles
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
- 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?
Contact Alicia Kalish
- akalish@ctwbdc.org
- (917) 650-0656