Virginia Littlejohn

CEO and Co-Founder of Quantum Leaps and Chairman of TradeBuilders, Inc., which provides virtual trade missions, online conferencing, and global best practices services. She was the OECD's Senior Advisor for its 1997 and 2000 conferences in Paris on women-owned small and medium enterprises, and organized and co-chaired the OECD's Accelerating Women's Entrepreneurship Forum in Istanbul in June 2004. From 1984-85, she was President of the National Association of Women Business Owners, and turned it into a powerful force in the U.S. Later, she served as Vice President of the World Association of Women Entrepreneurs (Les Femmes Chefs d'Entreprises Mondiales, or FCEM). She helped IBM develop relationships with women entrepreneurial associations throughout the world, and served as the consultant to banks in Europe, Australia and North America for the creation of the Global Banking Alliance for Women.

The Honorable Linda Tarr-Whelan

Chair and Co-Founder of Quantum Leaps and Managing Director of Tarr-Whelan & Associates, Inc., an international management consulting firm that provides strategic advice to foundation CEOs. She was the United States Representative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in the Clinton Administration with the rank of Ambassador, and served on President George W. Bush's Advisory Commission on Trade Policy & Negotiations. She was Deputy Assistant to President Carter on women's issues. She created and led two women's economic summits, one for the White House in 1997 and the other for Number 10 Downing Street, London, in 1999.

Mary Del Brady

President, CEO and Co-Founder of RedPath Integrated Pathology, Inc., a growth stage biotechnology company that provides specialized cancer diagnostic testing. A serial entrepreneur and advocate for most of her professional life, she was a past national president of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), Co-chair of the Pennsylvania Delegation to the 1986 White House Conference on Small Business, and through her statewide efforts on the Governor’s Economic Development Partnership Board, spearheaded the creation of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Women’s Business Development in 1989. She has a particular interest in innovation, growth and high-growth companies.

Dr. Faye Coleman

President and CEO of Westover Consultants Inc., a management and information technology firm in Silver Spring, MD. She founded her company in 1984 and has since then guided its steady emergence as a widely respected multi-million dollar enterprise. Faye is an internationally recognized trainer and planner with more than 20 years of experience managing large-scale training, research, and evaluation projects.

Dr. Elise Collins Shields

Founder and Executive Director of Tucson-based, CommonWell Institute International, Inc. for research and advocacy for global citizens) and Founder, President and CEO of CommonWell Associates Ltd. which is a consultancy on leadership, international issues and cross cultural communication, including Middle East expertise.

Linda K. DiSantis

City Attorney for Atlanta serving as the chief legal officer for the city, DiSantis is responsible for handling all civil legal matters for the city. The Law Department provides legal advice to the Mayor, the City Council, and all agencies within the City and represents the City in all civil litigation. Prior to becoming City Attorney, DiSantis was a Vice President and managing attorney in the United Parcel Service (UPS) Corporate Legal Department for over 10 years.

Paula Gordon

Founding Board Member and host of "The Paula Gordon Show: Conversations with People at the Leading Edge"(sm) and President of Clarion Group, Inc. She has been in television and radio since the early '70s, with honors including an Emmy nomination for "Small World" at WMAQ-TV/NBC in Chicago. As a consultant, she has focused on communications challenges among diverse constituencies. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Interdenominational Theological Center, and a board member of Public Intelligence, Inc., Investigations Group, Inc., and Helping Teens Succeed, Inc., and is on the Board of Visitors of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Patti M. Richards

Managing Attorney of The Richards Law Firm, L.L.C., based in Atlanta. She is a domestic and international tax controversy attorney and a CPA with large and small law firm experience in both Atlanta and Washington, DC. She was recently appointed to a three-year term on the IRS Advisory Council focusing on large and midsize businesses. She previously served as Counsel to Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy LLP, and worked in the Office of the Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service of the U.S. Department of the Treasury in DC. She concentrates on consolidated return, capitalization, employment classification, export tax benefits, methods of accounting, and tax-exempt organization issues. She received her JD cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center.

Elizabeth A. Vazquez

Executive Director of Quantum Leaps, Inc., and the President and Co-Founder of TradeBuilders, Inc., a company that helps clients use information and communication technologies to facilitate international trade and professional networking. She has organized business programs and events in numerous countries; served as a speaker at major international conferences; and published articles on women entrepreneurs, trade, and technology. She received her Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, where she studied development economics and international negotiation as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. She also completed graduate seminars at Harvard Law School and the Kennedy School of Government.