Executive Women's Council Presents:
"Women at the Top"
Wednesday November 20, 2013
11:30 am - 1:30 pm
Rivers Club, Oxford Centre
301 Grant Street
Please join the EWC for an exciting lunchtime conversation with three Executive women featuring panelists A.J. Drexler, an entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience in strategic marketing, advertising and media plan development, Chris Cieslak, top engineer at Oxford Development & Afghan veteran, and Michele Rice, CO-CEO of Rice Enterprises, a company that owns 15 McDonald's franchises that employ between 800 and 1,000 people annually. Moderator for our panel will be Abby S. Bolton, Consultant at TiER1
Performance Solutions.
Cost: $35 for Members
$55 for Non-members
Click here to register: Women at the Top
Read about their accomplishments:
Panelist: A.J. Drexler
A.J. is an entrepreneur, and the former Principal at “Big Picture Communications” with 20+ years of experience in strategic marketing, advertising and media plan development. Her clients have included Range Resources, McDonald’s restaurants and Larrimor’s. She has had leadership roles with the YMCA, Womens Center and Shelter, and Pittsburgh Food Bank, helping them further their missions through effective marketing, planning and strategic tools.
A.J. is an engaged advocate for women in business and is a member of the Women’s Presidents Association.
Panelist: Christen Cieslak, P.E., LEED AP
Chris Cieslak currently serves as Project Director at Oxford Development Company, as well as a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Reserves. A respected engineering and real estate professional, Chris has helped to improve the Pittsburgh region by overseeing the construction of PNC Park, the creation of the North Shore Riverfront Park, and the design and construction of CONSOL Energy Center. Chris’ entrepreneurial spirit led her to the oversight of the construction of the High School for Creative and Performing Arts, the AW Beattie Career, and a number of Pittsburgh elementary schools.
Chris has been a long-time champion of green building initiatives, and is particularly proud of the LEED Gold certifications of both CONSOL Energy Center and AW Beattie Career Center. While deployed, she mentored a newly established Operational Energy Office to reduce fuel consumption in the combat zone.
Chris’ awards include the 2009 World Class Engineer award from Penn State and a Bronze Star from the US Army.
Panelist: Michele Rice
With 15 McDonald's franchises that employ between 800 and 1,000 people in any given year, the Bethel Park-based Rice Enterprises is one of the region's largest minority-owned businesses.
While running her first restaurant, she became enamored with what was going on with the restaurants such that community outreach and business networking efforts were left largely to her father. Today, Ms. Rice said she makes it a point to engage other businesses, participate in community service initiatives and make sure the company maintains a positive image. The key to maintaining that image for any business, she said, is for leaders to remain committed to customers' needs and to try to anticipate them.
Michele was one of 2012’s Pittsburgh Courier’s 50 Women of Excellence and serves on the board of the National Black McDonald’s Operators, CCAC Educational Foundation and the South Hills Chamber of Commerce.
Moderator: Abby S. Bolton
Abby S. Bolton is a Consultant at TiER1 Performance Solutions, a seven-year "Best Place to Work" and "Inc. 5000" company that helps organizations define, build, and maintain a high-performance culture. Abby guides businesses through strategic change initiatives, using leadership alignment, clear communication, and optimized training to smooth employee transitions and enable their best work. TiER1 clients include PPG, PNC, FedEx Ground, Westinghouse, Macy’s, NASA, and Kroger. Prior to TiER1, Abby specialized in marketing communications at the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and was Associate Producer of WPXI-TV’s Our Region’s Business.
A graduate of Smith College and Leadership Pittsburgh (LDI XVI), Abby is passionate about serving our community and empowering women. She is a 2012 "40 Under 40" and "Western PA Rising Star" recipient, a board member at City Theatre, Board Chair & Past President of the New Pittsburgh Collaborative (NPC), and a college mentor with Strong Women Strong Girls.
For more information contact: EWC Administrator
Email: ewcpittsburgh@gmail.com
Executive Women's Council of Greater Pittsburgh
P.O. Box 23095, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
"Women at the Top"
Wednesday November 20, 2013
11:30 am - 1:30 pm
Rivers Club, Oxford Centre
301 Grant Street
Please join the EWC for an exciting lunchtime conversation with three Executive women featuring panelists A.J. Drexler, an entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience in strategic marketing, advertising and media plan development, Chris Cieslak, top engineer at Oxford Development & Afghan veteran, and Michele Rice, CO-CEO of Rice Enterprises, a company that owns 15 McDonald's franchises that employ between 800 and 1,000 people annually. Moderator for our panel will be Abby S. Bolton, Consultant at TiER1
Performance Solutions.
Cost: $35 for Members
$55 for Non-members
Click here to register: Women at the Top
Read about their accomplishments:
A.J. is an entrepreneur, and the former Principal at “Big Picture Communications” with 20+ years of experience in strategic marketing, advertising and media plan development. Her clients have included Range Resources, McDonald’s restaurants and Larrimor’s. She has had leadership roles with the YMCA, Womens Center and Shelter, and Pittsburgh Food Bank, helping them further their missions through effective marketing, planning and strategic tools.
A.J. is an engaged advocate for women in business and is a member of the Women’s Presidents Association.
Panelist: Christen Cieslak, P.E., LEED AP
Chris Cieslak currently serves as Project Director at Oxford Development Company, as well as a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Reserves. A respected engineering and real estate professional, Chris has helped to improve the Pittsburgh region by overseeing the construction of PNC Park, the creation of the North Shore Riverfront Park, and the design and construction of CONSOL Energy Center. Chris’ entrepreneurial spirit led her to the oversight of the construction of the High School for Creative and Performing Arts, the AW Beattie Career, and a number of Pittsburgh elementary schools.
Chris has been a long-time champion of green building initiatives, and is particularly proud of the LEED Gold certifications of both CONSOL Energy Center and AW Beattie Career Center. While deployed, she mentored a newly established Operational Energy Office to reduce fuel consumption in the combat zone.
Chris’ awards include the 2009 World Class Engineer award from Penn State and a Bronze Star from the US Army.
Panelist: Michele Rice
With 15 McDonald's franchises that employ between 800 and 1,000 people in any given year, the Bethel Park-based Rice Enterprises is one of the region's largest minority-owned businesses.
While running her first restaurant, she became enamored with what was going on with the restaurants such that community outreach and business networking efforts were left largely to her father. Today, Ms. Rice said she makes it a point to engage other businesses, participate in community service initiatives and make sure the company maintains a positive image. The key to maintaining that image for any business, she said, is for leaders to remain committed to customers' needs and to try to anticipate them.
Michele was one of 2012’s Pittsburgh Courier’s 50 Women of Excellence and serves on the board of the National Black McDonald’s Operators, CCAC Educational Foundation and the South Hills Chamber of Commerce.
Moderator: Abby S. Bolton
Abby S. Bolton is a Consultant at TiER1 Performance Solutions, a seven-year "Best Place to Work" and "Inc. 5000" company that helps organizations define, build, and maintain a high-performance culture. Abby guides businesses through strategic change initiatives, using leadership alignment, clear communication, and optimized training to smooth employee transitions and enable their best work. TiER1 clients include PPG, PNC, FedEx Ground, Westinghouse, Macy’s, NASA, and Kroger. Prior to TiER1, Abby specialized in marketing communications at the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and was Associate Producer of WPXI-TV’s Our Region’s Business.
A graduate of Smith College and Leadership Pittsburgh (LDI XVI), Abby is passionate about serving our community and empowering women. She is a 2012 "40 Under 40" and "Western PA Rising Star" recipient, a board member at City Theatre, Board Chair & Past President of the New Pittsburgh Collaborative (NPC), and a college mentor with Strong Women Strong Girls.
For more information contact: EWC Administrator
Email: ewcpittsburgh@gmail.com
Executive Women's Council of Greater Pittsburgh
P.O. Box 23095, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Posted on behalf of
Dreamweaver Marketing Associates. Joyce
Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support
company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance,
creative design services and light bookkeeping.
Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work
'on' their business rather than 'in' their business. www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh
