2010 Panel

Barb Allen

Retired President, Proactive Partners

Barb Allen is on the Board of RLI Corporation, a specialty commercial insurance company and serves on the compensation and strategy committees. In addition, Ms. Allen has served on the Board of Maytag (appliance manufacturer), Tyson (chicken and beef), Converse (athletic shoes), Charthouse (restaurants), Lance (snack foods) and Coty (fragrances) where she served on the audit and compensation committees for each of these companies.

Barb recently retired as president of Proactive Partners, a corporate wellness and fitness program management organization. She spent a substantial part of her career with Quaker Oats where she was Executive Vice President of the International Foods. Barb was also a partner with The Everest Group, a growth strategy consulting firm, President of Corporate Supplier Solutions at Corporate Express, a business-to-business office supply company, and CEO of Women’s United Soccer Association, where she directed the launch of the women’s professional soccer league.

Karen May

Executive Vice President, Human Resources, Kraft Foods

Karen May is Executive Vice President of Global Human Resources for Kraft Foods Inc. She is responsible for the company’s human resources function worldwide.

Prior to joining Kraft in 2005, Karen was with Baxter International Inc. where she most recently served as Corporate Vice President, Human Resources. Before heading up the human resources function at Baxter, Karen served in a variety of roles within the company including Vice President /Controller of Baxter’s Hospital Supply Division, Vice President of Corporate Audit, Vice President of International Finance and Vice President Human Resources, Global Talent Planning and Staffing. Prior to joining Baxter International, Karen worked in the audit practice of PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Karen has served on the Board of Directors of MB Financial Inc., since 2004. She previously served on the Board of the Human Resources Management Association of Chicago between 2005 and 2008. Karen holds a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Gloria Santona

 
Gloria Santona is the chief legal officer of McDonald’s Corporation, the world’s largest quick service restaurant company, with over 31,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. In this role, she leads McDonald’s worldwide legal, compliance, regulatory and corporate governance functions. As part of McDonald’s senior leadership team, Ms. Santona is also actively involved in the company’s strategic direction and growth. Ms. Santona has fostered the legal department’s diversity efforts and on-going engagement in pro-bono legal services, which have garnered the McDonald’s Legal Department awards in recognition of the legal and educational services it has provided to underserved communities.

Ms. Santona joined McDonald’s as an attorney upon her graduation from the University of Michigan Law School, and subsequently held a number of management positions in the legal department. She became the company’s corporate secretary in 1996 and has served as general counsel since 2001. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Aon Corporation, serving on its Audit and Governance Committees and as Chairman of its Compliance Committee. In addition, Ms. Santona serves on the Board of the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago, and as a trustee of Rush University Medical Center and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Santona is a member of several professional organizations and is a frequent speaker and panel member on a variety of diversity, legal, compliance and corporate governance topics. She was named one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics by Hispanic Business Magazine and has received numerous awards, including the Women with Vision Award from the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, the Excellence in Corporate Practice Award from the Association of Corporate Counsel, the Women of Achievement Award from the Anti-Defamation League and the National Hispanic Woman of the Year Award from the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation. In addition, Ms. Santona has been recognized as one of America’s Top General Counsel by Corporate Board Member magazine.

2010 Panel Facilitator

Debra Nelms

 
Debra Nelms is the President and a founding member of Corporate Board Link (CBL) a consulting firm dedicated to advancing women into the corporate board room. Leveraging her 25 years of strategic organizational build out, C-Suite executive coaching and board level executive search leadership, she specializes in developing sustainable, high impact Executive and Board of Director initiatives that include a full array of solution based offerings. She is also the President of Network Search, Inc. (NSI) which focuses on executive level impact analysis and advisory services to organizations and individuals. Together CBL/NSI provides a customized suite of integrated services that include: New product, programming and benefit development, curriculum development and associated content frameworks, co-branding and alliance development, corporate board and advisory board development both new and existing, gap analysis, succession planning and Board of Director referral services.

Prior to Network Search, Debra was a partner at Baker, Nelms & Montgomery (BN&M), a boutique executive search firm based in Chicago. During her 10-year career at BN&M, she founded the Professional Services group which specialized in Direct Admit Partner and Board of Director Searches, The Emerging Technology Consultancy practice and The Advisory Board Services group which focused on developing and managing advisory boards and councils within public, private and not for profit organizations.

Debra began her career in the nascent technology search arena with Ledger, Nelms & Associates. She developed a reputation for working at the most senior levels in an organization. She has extensive experience building practices and internal programs for global organizations. Additionally, she has made major contributions to several emerging and pre-IPO strategy, technology and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) organizations as well as various niche-oriented consulting firms. She has led engagements with venture-backed enterprises where extensive organizational “roll-up” strategies were used and where assignments included enterprise level build out for newly defined organizations.

As a speaker, webinar and workshop developer, Debra focuses on her passion for increasing diversity on boards. A few recent engagements include the Independent Directors Association (IDA), USA–Russian Business Forum and the Center for Business Ethics and Corporate Governance in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg, Russia; Balancing the Boardroom. For W2W Link (www.w2wlink.com) a 3 part web based seminar on Board Readiness. The Women Foodservice Forum (WFF); Roadmap to Your Board Seat and The Committee of 200; Where are the Women on Corporate Boards?

Debra is an alumnae of The Art Institute of Chicago and is an active mentor and board coach. She also participates in several community and civic organizations.