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Women’s Business Development Council has added four high-impact business professionals to its Board of Directors

Women’s Business Development Council has added four high-impact business professionals to its Board of Directors

Four outstanding women business leaders join WBDC’s Board of Directors

As the Women’s Business Development Council (WBDC) continues to empower women business owners and entrepreneurs, the WBDC has added four high-impact business professionals to its Board of Directors to provide direction and drive valuable resources to women-owned businesses throughout the state. Click here to view the entire WBDC Board of Directors.

Elif Affan is the Director of Strategy and Transformation for Henkel Corporation, a global leader in consumer and industrial products. A business professional and worldtraveler, Elif brings a wealth of national and international experience to the WBDC and to businesses throughout the state of Connecticut. Her experience co-founding Henkel’s Professional Women’s Forum, a 200+ member employee resource group, makes her uniquely suited to help guide the efforts of the WBDC.

Sandra Arkell is Executive Vice President, Controller and Principal Accounting Officer at Mastercard. Sandra has a public accounting background, and serves on the Accounting Advisory Board for Penn State University’s College of Business and the Board of Finance for Wilton, CT. She brings with her over 25 years of broad-based finance and risk management experiences, including organizational transformation and mergers & acquisitions. Her strategic insight and effective leadership will be invaluable to the WBDC, its clients, and the state of Connecticut.

Denise Kaufman is a Financial Services Executive specializing in Consumer and Small Business Banking. She has worked at both commercial and regional financial institutions during her career including Citibank, Chase, and Bank of NY. Most recently, Denise was the SVP and Region Executive for Webster Bank where she led four district teams in Connecticut and New York. Skilled in team building, initiating change to influence outcomes, creating and executing strategic visions as an innovative leader, Denise has a proven track record that will support WBDC in furthering its mission.

Flavia Naslausky is the Co-Owner of Zaniac Greenwich, an after-school program providing children with Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) enrichment from PreK-8th grade. Flavia previously worked at Chase Manhattan in Emerging Markets, served as a Director at the Royal Bank of Scotland, a Director at Foreign Exchange, and as a Board Member of Brazil Foundation, a non-profit seeking to promote equality, social justice, and economic opportunity for all Brazilians. Flavia’s dynamic personal and professional background lends a highly qualified perspective to WBDC and its clients.

 

About the Women’s Business Development Council
Since 1997, the Women’s Business Development Council (WBDC) has educated and trained more than 18,000 clients—helping women to launch and scale over 6,000 businesses, create and maintain over 8,100 jobs in Connecticut, and access more than $18.6 in capital. WBDC is the only agency in Connecticut reflective the statewide demographic makeup offering comprehensive micro-enterprise training, with services ranging from financial education, entrepreneurial development and access to capital programs.