Lauren Weiner is the founder and former chief executive officer of WWC Global, a federally focused management consulting firm serving the U.S. departments of defense, state agency for international development, Homeland Security and other federal agencies. She previously worked in the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, before starting WWC Global. In 2022, she … Read more

Joeanne Toledo received her professional of human resources certification from the Human Resources Certification Institute and, later, obtained the certified professional designation from the Society for Human Resources Management. She is currently the vice president of human resources for Port Tampa Bay. She is an active member of the national and local Tampa chapters of … Read more

Lori Larsen is chief strategy officer for Celestar Corp. Larsen was commissioned into the U.S. Army, as an intelligence officer, in 1998. Her military experiences include time spent as a military intelligence officer and a graduate of both airborne and air assault schools. She went on to serve as a division artillery intelligence officer and … Read more

For more than 30 years, Ana Cruz has worked with presidents, senators, community-based organizations and local health care clinics focused on HIV treatment and prevention. She also worked with Fortune 500 companies on projects such as behavioral health and emerging technology.  She is currently managing partner, in Tampa Bay and Washington D.C., for Ballard Partners. … Read more

Jennifer Garbowicz is senior vice president, private client adviser at Bank of American Private Bank. Garbowicz serves on a variety of nonprofit organization boards including the Homeless Empowerment Program, the Florida Holocaust Museum and the Presidents Council Chair role for the CFA Institute. She also serves on several for-profit boards, including chair of the board … Read more

Shannon Lucas has worked in the insurance industry for more than 20 years with Florida Farm Bureau, Tower Hill Insurance Group, Homewise Insurance, UPC Insurance, Heritage Insurance and now Slide Insurance Co. She is currently chief operating officer and chief risk officer at Slide Insurance. In 2021, she co-founded Slide, a next-generation insurance technology firm, … Read more

Rita Lowman has served the banking industry for 45 years. Most recently, she served as president of Pilot Bank, which was acquired in December 2021. Lowman was named chair of the Florida Bankers Association, being only the third woman in 130 years to hold the chairmanship. She also served on the executive committee of the … Read more

Cristina Hale is tax office managing partner for Tampa and Orlando at BDO USA. Hale jumped into the tax and accounting profession at one of the largest global professional services firms. After acquiring the necessary skills to be successful in an entry-level role, she challenged herself with a new position at another global professional services … Read more

Beth Cahill worked on Wall Street with Chemical Bank/Manufacturers Hanover/New York Life to start her career, entering investment banking with Alliance Capital and then Communications Equity Associates. She left CEA, joining Windsor Capital in 2019. She opened the East coast office for Windsor and then went on to ultimately own the firm. WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE … Read more

Joy Gendusa is an entrepreneur, business owner, author, keynote speaker and philanthropist. PostcardMania has been featured on the Inc. 500 list, printed 2.3 billion postcards and helped 108,645 small business owners with their marketing. Gendusa has been featured in the pages of Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc. Magazine and Adweek. WHAT DOES WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT MEAN TO YOU? … Read more