Bush has over 20 years experience as a communications attorney and is a Partner at Skadden, Arps. She had previously worked with Skadden, Arps, before becoming Executive Vice President of Northpoint Technology and Broadwave USA, which was a system of satellite-terrestrial sharing. Prior to joining Skadden, Arps, Bush served as senior counsel to the Communications Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. From 1981 until she joined the U.S. Senate Committee staff, Bush practiced law in Washington, D.C. She advised clients regarding the acquisition and sale of broadcasting stations, companies and represented clients in proceedings before the Federal Communications Commission. Bush remains active in communications policy issues and speaks often to companies and organizations regarding developments in this area.  

As Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Discover Financial Services LLC, Corley manages the legal advisory and compliance matters involving the firm’s credit, banking and transaction services businesses.  Before becoming General Counsel in 1999, Kelly McNamara Corley served as Managing Director, responsible for the firm’s global government relations and corporate philanthropy programs.  A graduate of both the University of Southern California and George Mason University School of Law, she worked for Morgan Stanley for 24 years and is a member of the Virginia and Illinois Bar Associations. 

Al has over 20 years experience as a corporate development executive and strategist.  He currently serves the executive management team by providing strategic advisory and operational management support for Abbott’s global businesses. He has provided executive leadership for a variety of global growth initiatives including acquisitions/spin-offs, strategic partnerships, divestitures and organic expansion.  Prior to Abbott, Al was at Baxter Healthcare, Dun & Bradstreet, Paramount Communications and the Federal Reserve Bank where he held positions of increasing responsibilities in finance, business development and strategy. Al received a B.A. in Communication from Clark College in Atlanta and received a M.S. in Management from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg. 

Founder and Executive Director of The HistoryMakers, Richardson has a diverse background in theatre, television production and the cable television industries. A graduate of Brandeis University (Theatre Arts and American Studies) and Harvard Law School, she worked as a corporate lawyer prior to serving in the early 1980s as the Cable Administrator for the City of Chicago’s Office of Cable Communications. There she established the Chicago Cable Commission, the City’s regulatory body. She went on to found Shop Chicago, a regionally based home shopping channel. For eight years, her production company, SCTN Teleproductions, managed three local cable channels for TCI, the nation’s largest cable operator. SCTN Teleproductions served as the production arm for C-SPAN, Peoples Energy, ESPN, the Economic Club of Chicago, AT&T Broadband, and Prime Cable.

Chris Simmons is the Managing Partner for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP ("PwC") for the Washington Metro Market, which includes PwC offices in Washington, DC; Northern Virginia (Tysons Corner); Baltimore and Richmond (Virginia). Prior to his appointment as the Managing Partner Washington Metro Market, Simmons was a member of PwC's United States Leadership Team, and one of eight direct reports on the staff of the CEO. Prior to joining PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1992, Simmons was a Vice-President in the Corporate Finance practice at Bankers Trust Company of New York, where he led the analysis and structuring of large leveraged buyout financings, and other finance transactions. Prior to that experience, Simmons spent a total of five years in local sales and national marketing positions with IBM (based in Philadelphia) and Wang Laboratories (Lowell, MA), respectively. Simmons earned his Bachelor of Arts and Masters in Business Administration degrees from Harvard University. Among other activities, Simmons is a member of the Executive Leadership Council and the board of the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting. 

Sharon Morrow is a Managing Director of Smith Whiley & Company, and works out of the Firm’s Evanston, Illinois office. Sharon is responsible for leading Smith Whiley’s marketing and client servicing initiatives for the various Smith Whiley investment partnerships. Sharon is a member of Smith Whiley’s Investment Committee and in this capacity she is responsible for investment selection and analysis, transaction pricing and deal flow development. Prior to joining Smith Whiley, Sharon previously was the Senior Vice President of Marketing/Client Services at The Kenwood Group. Her prior work experience included a Cabinet level position as the Director, Department of Finance and Revenue in Washington, D.C. She previously was the Chairperson of the Multi-state Tax Commission. Sharon serves as a board observer for VSA Partners, Inc. Sharon was appointed by Governor Quinn to the Illinois Board of Examiners, is a board member of Southern Illinois University, Minority Advisory Board for the College of Business, board member of The HistoryMakers and Leaders Council Member of Chicago United.

Genelle Trader is an executive coach with an extensive corporate background. She facilitates and designs strategic planning meetings with senior leadership teams to help leaders turn strategies into successful execution. Some of the organizations she worked with include EMMES Corporation, Areva Solar, Natural Microsystems, Gates Millennium Scholars, and ICIC (Initiative for a Competitive Inner City). In 2008 she founded Strategic Business Coaching Group. She joined First Cap Advisors in 2010 where her role is to provide experienced advice and counsel critical to turning a great idea into a great business. Genelle’s 25 years in the corporate arena included a nine year tenure at Sun Microsystems as Worldwide Director of Marketing for Sun Express, Senior Director of the multibillion dollar Workstation Products Group, and was selected by the Product Group President to lead a major global change initiative. Before joining Sun Microsystems, she held executive positions at other high tech companies including VP of Marketing at Everex Systems and Director of Products at AST Research Inc.