Featured Session: Voices Live Chicago Conference
Moderators:
Margaret Resce Milkint, Managing Partner, The Jacobson Group; WING Co-Founder; ITF Board Member David Mendelsohn, Managing Partner, DLA Piper; WING Co-Founder Panelists: ![]() Danelle Kent, Consultant¸ SWC Technology Partners
I graduated in 2010 from University of Illinois at Chicago’s Liberal Arts College with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature Studies and Pre-Renaissance History. Shortly after graduating from UIC, I began working for Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Executive Education Programs as a Program Management Assistant. I was promoted shortly after starting to a Technology Associate of Web Content Management and Database Administration. In 2012 I became a certified Project Manager with a concentration in Information Systems. I am currently a graduate student at Northwestern University graduating in June 2015 with a Masters in Science in Information Systems Management. I currently work for SWC Technology Partners, a mid-market software solutions firm as a Business Analyst with a passion for quality assurance analysis.
![]() Cynthia Clarke, CIO, Mesirow Financial Advances Strategies
Cynthia is the Chief Information Officer for Mesirow Financial Advanced Strategies. She has worked in the financial services industry throughout her career to develop technology strategy that includes the integration of vended applications and proprietary development to deliver holistic solutions to the business. A graduate of the university of Illinois college of engineering, she spent the early part of her career developing real time arbitrage systems and risk systems for O'Connor and Associates and subsequently helped tailor and scale these applications globally. Cynthia served as Chief Information Officer at UBS Asset Management during the global integration of SBC and UBS, then at the Northern Trust as Director of Investment Systems. Cynthia lives in the Chicago area with her husband and 2 boys. |
Fri March 13 10:00 PST
Fri March 13 13:00 EST Fri March 13 17:00 UTC Sat March 14 22:30 IST Sat March 14 4:00 Sydney Duration: 2.00 Hours |
Marisa Cabrera, IT Rotational Associate, Information Technology, CNA Financial Corporation
Marisa Cabrera is an IT Rotational Associate at CNA Financial. Through her rotations, she has worked as a business analyst supporting HR in both large and small projects. Currently, she works as a project manager supporting large finance projects. Prior to joining CNA, Marisa has held internships in project management, finance, accounting and reporting, and retail operations for companies such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, Northern Trust, and Target. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Accountancy from the University of Illinois and received her MBA from Purdue University this past May. As part of her MBA program, Marisa was a graduate assistant for the Executive Forum, a course in which corporate executives from all industries give undergraduate students a look into their career paths. She was also the VP of Events for the MBA Wine Club. Words of Wisdom “Whatever the past has been, you have a spotless future” – Unknown I have made many mistakes and had challenges throughout my short career, but I believe those experiences have given me opportunities for the future. They often times have helped me realize what I do and do not want for myself. |
Jeff Hughes, Vice President, Information Technology, CNA Financial Corporation
Jeff Hughes leads CNA’s Systems Development and Vendor Management organizations. In these roles, Jeff has accountability for successful delivery of CNA’s IT-enabled business programs and ownership of CNA’s delivery methodology. He directly manages CNA’s relationships with managed services partners within application development. As part of the Vendor Management Office, he oversees the contracting and performance management of all of CNA’s third party spending in technology. Prior to joining CNA, Jeff a partner with McKinsey and Company, where he was a leader in the Insurance practice and the Business Technology Office; and a partner with Diamond Management and Technology Consultants (now PWC Advisory Services). Across both organizations, he served 6 of the top 10 US life insurance carriers and 7 of the top 10 property and casualty carriers. His engagements included development of business enabled technology strategies, IT architecture, oversight of large program deployments, support for outsourcing efforts, and development of operating and organization models for IT organizations. He began his career with the US Naval Reactors Program, designing nuclear power plans for the US Navy’s submarine and aircraft carrier fleets. Jeff is private pilot and a member of the board of directors for the Chicago Children’s Theater. He has degrees in nuclear reactor physics from the University of Michigan (BA), University of California (MS), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Ph.D.) |