2010 Panel
Janet Dolan
President, Act III. Enterprises
Janet Dolan is the past President and Chief Executive Officer of Tennant Company. She retired from Tennant in December, 2005.
Janet joined Tennant in 1986 as Associate General Counsel. She advanced to Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel in 1990, and to Senior Vice President and General Counsel in 1995. In 1996, Janet was promoted to Executive Vice President, and then assumed the role of President and Chief Operating Officer in 1998. In April 1999, she was named President and CEO. Before joining Tennant, she was a trial lawyer for 10 years.
After 10 years as a trial lawyer and 20 years in Corporate America, Janet has moved on to what she calls “Act III.” in life. This is the time in life when you get to do what you want to do, rather than what you have to do. In Janet’s Act III., she is trying her hand at writing fiction and she is on the speaker’s circuit. She is also focusing her time and money on wind energy and scholarships for minority students.
She also continues to serve on boards. Janet chairs the board of Wenger Corporation and serves on the boards of Donaldson Company, Inc and Travelers Companies, Inc., as well as Minnesota Public Radio/American Public Media Board of Trustees. She is also a member of the NYSE Listed Company Advisory Committee and has served on the SEC Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies. She is a Board Member on the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights – U.S. Foundation and a Board Member on the Norway House.
In addition, Janet has started her own business called Act III. Enterprises, a consulting firm established to help others plan for their own Act III.
A native of Benson, Minnesota, Janet has a bachelor’s degree from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, and a JD from the William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul. Janet lives in Minneapolis with her husband, William Moore. Her interests include reading, cooking, long distance running, travel and enjoying time with family and friends.
Leslie Frécon
CEO, LFE Capital
Leslie Frécon is the CEO of LFE Capital, a business she founded in 1999. In 2002, she completed the capitalization of LFE Capital Fund I, a private equity fund providing growth capital to smaller middle market Midwest businesses, with a special focus on businesses owned or led by women, and businesses targeting the female market. She launched Fund II in 2006, with a $20 million commitment from Wells Fargo Bank, an investor in her first fund.
Prior to founding LFE Capital, Leslie was senior vice president, corporate finance, for General Mills, a global consumer foods company. In that position she was responsible for pension fund asset and financial liability management. She managed the corporate growth and treasury functions and, as a member of the senior management team, was active in setting the strategic direction of the company. In her over 16 years at General Mills, she held management positions in operations and corporate finance, and completed numerous acquisitions, joint ventures, divestitures and spin-offs. Prior to joining General Mills, Leslie was Assistant Vice President at Bank of America in Los Angeles, where she managed the banking relationships for companies in manufacturing and agribusiness.
Leslie serves on corporate and community non-profit boards. She is a director and former audit committee chair for The Ryland Group, NYSE, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders. She is a director of Portero, Avant Healthcare, Global ID and Immaculate Baking Company, investments of LFE Capital, and of Associated Packaging Technologies, a Castle Harlan fund investment. LFE Capital has a strategic alliance with Castle Harlan. Leslie’s non-profit board positions have included serving as a trustee and executive committee member of the Greater Twin Cities United Way, Breck School and the Minnesota Opera. She serves on the national advisory boards of WomenVenture and Enterprising Women. She is a member of the Minnesota Women’s Economic Roundtable and of the Women Presidents’ Organization. Leslie speaks regularly at business conferences and has appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, where she was featured in an article about women chairing the audit committees of corporate boards. She was profiled in the book Outstanding in Their Field – How Women Corporate Directors Succeed, and in the November 2008 issue of Directors&Boards. She received the “Director of the Year” award from Women on Boards. In 2006 she received the Twin Cities Business Outstanding Director’s award. The Business Journal selected her to receive the “Most Innovative Women” award and Finance and Commerce recognized her with the “Top Women in Finance” award. Leslie holds an MBA in Finance from UCLA and a BA with Distinction from Stanford University. She is married and has two children.
Jeanne M. Voigt
Catherine Bromilow
Partner, US Corporate Governance Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Catherine L. Bromilow, CPA, is a partner in the Corporate Governance Group of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. She works with boards of directors and audit committees of major companies and institutions, providing insight on leading practice, enhancing their ability to comply with evolving regulations and expectations, and benchmarking their processes against leading practices. She has worked extensively with boards and directors from a number of countries, including the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Mexico, the United States, and Venezuela.
For the past 12 years, Ms. Bromilow has been active in researching and advising on matters relating to board-level governance. She oversees numerous publications for audit committees and boards, including PricewaterhouseCoopers’ annual Current Developments for Directors and the quarterly periodical, To the Point. She is a regular guest on This Week in the Boardroom, an on-demand webcast for directors covering emerging issues. She was the principal author of Audit Committee Effectiveness – What Works Best, 3rd Edition, released in 2005, which helps audit committees understand the leading practices in discharging their many and complex responsibilities. She also was the project manager and principal author for the 2nd Edition of that book and its companion report, Corporate Governance and the Board – What Works Best, both of which were released in 2000. In 2009, for the third consecutive year, Directorship magazine named her as one of the 100 most influential people in corporate governance.
Ms. Bromilow speaks frequently about leading corporate governance practices at conferences and seminars, and has lectured at the university level. She is a Certified Public Accountant (licensed in New Jersey), a Chartered Accountant from Canada, and holds a Master of Accounting degree from the University of Waterloo in Canada.
Panel Facilitator
Beth Kieffer Leonard is the managing partner of Lurie Besikof Lapidus & Company, LLP. In her role, Beth has led the Firm's sponsorship and support of business opportunities for a wide-range or clients. Lurie Besikof Lapidus & Company, LLP has a strong entrepreneurial culture and Beth continues the tradition through her leadership.
With her energetic approach to strategic partnerships, valuable insights, business development skills, and her vast network of advisors, Beth consults with her clients to help them achieve their goals. Her areas of expertise are as varied as the businesses in our community.
Active in several civic organizations, her leadership role has won recognition from numerous national and regional associations including: “Women in Business Champion" for the Small Business Administration—Minnesota and the Advocacy Award from the Women’s Business Development Center in Chicago. Beth received her Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting at the University of Minnesota—Carlson School of Management. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants.
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