Champions of Women + Girls

If you are being watched, leave now!

Our nationally acclaimed Annual Aiming High Awards Luncheon, approaching its 23rd year, showcases the most successful and influential women in the business community - positioning them as role models for all our nation’s women and girls - while also giving them, their friends and colleagues an opportunity to "pay it forward." And we honor our Men of Distinction, recognized for their leadership in championing the rights of women and girls, so that more men are encouraged to do the same. 

Past Aiming High Award Recipients

2022

Loretta Lynch, Former U.S. Attorney General and Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, Debra G. Perelman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Revlon, Inc., Kathryn Ruemmler, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Susan B. Lindenauer, Treasurer, Legal Momentum Board of Directors, and Retired General Counsel, The Legal Aid Society, Legal Momentum Lifetime Achievement Award

2021

HONOREES - Eileen Murray, Chair, Board of Governors, FINRA Thomas Reid, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary, Comcast Corporation

NEXT GENERATION LEADERS - Alexis A. Amezcua, Partner and Co-Chair, Morrison & Foerster, Diversity Strategy Committee Subha Barry, President, Seramount Jessica Carey, Partner, Co-Head of Litigation, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP Elizabeth Cooper, Partner and Co-Head, Private Equity Mergers and Acquisitions Practice, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP Adrienne Gittens, Deputy General Counsel, Comcast Corporation Lara M. Rios, Partner, Holland & knight LLP Carey S. Roberts, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Ethics & Compliance Officer, Ventas Inc. Faiza J. Saeed, Partner, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP Dana M. Seshens, Partner and Co-Head, Civil Litigation, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP Rabia Sheikh, Associate General Counsel and Vice President, Visa Inc. Valerie Smith, Chief Sustainability Officer, Managing Director, Citi 

 

2020

Tonit Calaway, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, BorgWarner Inc. Christine DeBiase, Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, Brighthouse Financial, Inc.

Citi, Corporate Champion Award

2019

Lucy Fato Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Interim Head of Human Resources, American International Group Jennifer Marre Managing Director and Associate General Counsel, Bank of America  Pilar Ramos Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Mastercard Robert M. Kaufman Partner, Proskauer Rose LLP - The Legal Momentum Lifetime Champion Award

2018

Cathy Engelbert Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte Sari Granat Executive Vice President & General Counsel, IHS Markit William E. Ford Chief Executive Officer, General Atlantic - Man of Distinction

2017

Stephanie Drescher Global Head of Business Development and Investor Relationship Management, Apollo Global Management, LLC Lisa Garcia Quiroz SVP, Cultural Investments and Chief Diversity Officer, Time Warner Inc., President, Time Warner Foundation Brad S. Karp Chair, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP – Man of Distinction

2016

Lynn R. Charytan Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Comcast Cable; and Senior Vice President and Senior Deputy General Counsel, Comcast Corporation Barbara Desoer Chief Executive Officer, Citibank, N.A. Natasha Lamb Partner, Arjuna Capital Tracey T. Travis Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc. J. Michael Cook Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte – Man of Distinction

2015

Suzanne Rich Folsom General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer & Senior Vice President United States Steel Corporation Gina Proia Chief Communications Officer, Ally Financial Eileen Simon Chief Franchise Integrity Officer, MasterCard Linda K. Zecher President, Chief Executive Officer and Director, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

2014

Doris Meister President, U.S. Markets, Tri-State, BNY Mellon Wealth Management Amy Olli Executive Vice President and General Counsel, CA Technologies Bea Perez Chief Sustainability Officer, The Coca-Cola Company Ilene Wachs President, Horizon Casualty Services, Inc., Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Linda Zukauckas Executive Vice President and Corporate Controller, American Express Company

2013

Maliz Beams Chief Executive Officer, ING U.S. Retirement Solutions Liz Beshel Robinson Treasurer, Goldman Sachs Suni Harford Regional Head of Markets, North America, Citigroup, Inc. Ivy Thomas McKinney Corporate Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Ethics Officer, Xerox Kelly Tullier  Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, PepsiCo

2012

Pamela Carter President, Cummins Distribution Business Jane Fraser Chief Executive Officer, Citi Private Bank Lynn Utter President and Chief Operating Officer, Knoll Office Kathy Zachem Senior Vice President, Regulatory and State Legislative Affairs, Comcast Corporation

2011

Carol Baldwin Moody SVP and Chief Risk Officer, Wilmington Trust Deborah Majoras Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, The Procter & Gamble Company Kathleen Abernathy Chief Legal Officer, Frontier Communications Sabine Chalmers Chief Legal and Corporate Affairs Officer, Anheuser-Busch InBev Diane H. Gulyas President, DuPont Performance Polymers Jane Sherburne Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel, BNY Mellon

2010

Bridget M. Healy Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, ING US Deborah Doyle McWhinney  President, Citi Personal Banking and Wealth Management, Citigroup Vicki A. O’Meara Executive Vice President and Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, Pitney Bowes Inc. Ellen Oran Kaden SVP, Law and Government Affairs, Campbell Soup Company

2009

Carol Lavin Bernick Executive Chairman, Alberto-Culver Bernice E. Lavin Co-Founder, Alberto-Culver, in memoriam Debra A. Cafaro Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ventas Paula B. Pretlow SVP, Capital Guardian Trust Company Amy W. Schulman Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Pfizer Margaret Maxwell Zagel National Managing Principal, Risk, Regulatory and Legal Affairs and General Counsel, Grant Thornton

2008

Bonnie Howard Chief Auditor, Citi Rosemary Nelson Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Operations, Colgate-Palmolive Louise Parent Executive Vice President and General Counsel, American Express Lynn Pike President, Capital One Banking

2007

Denise Morrison President, Campbell USA, Campbell Soup Eileen K. Murray Global Head of Operations and Technology, Morgan Stanley Kathryn A. Oberly Vice Chair and General Counsel, Ernst & Young Diane Schumaker-Krieg Managing Director, Global Head of Research, Wachovia Neli Vazquez-Rowland Chief Executive Officer, Be! Products and A Safe Haven

2006

Linda Gooden President, Lockheed Martin Information Technology Joan Guggenheimer Co-General Counsel, JP Morgan Chase Catherine Liggins Hughes Founder and Chairperson, Radio One Suzanne Nora Johnson Vice Chairman, Goldman Sachs Diane Schueneman Senior Vice President and Head of Global Operations and Infrastructure Services, Merrill Lynch

2005

Vivian Banta Office of the Chairman, Prudential Financial Rosemary T. Berkery Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Merrill Lynch Beth Comstock Chief Marketing Officer, GE Mary Minnick President and Chief Operating Officer, Coca-Cola Asia Group, Coca-Cola Beverly Wallace President, Financial Services Group, HCA

2004

Colleen C. Barrett President, Chief Operating Officer and Corporate Secretary, Southwest Airlines Sallie L. Krawcheck Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Smith Barney Ellen J. Kullman Group Vice President, DuPont Safety and Protection, DuPont Esta Eiger Stecher Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Goldman Sachs Maggie Wilderotter Senior Vice President, World Wide Public Sector, Microsoft Barbara A. Yastine Chief Financial Officer, Credit Suisse First Boston

2003

Maria Elena Lagomasino Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, JP Morgan Private Bank Dawn Gould Lepore Vice Chairman of Technology, Operations, and Administration, Charles Schwab Judy Lewent  Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Merck Pearl Meyer Chairman, Pearl Meyer and Partners Stephanie Mudick Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Citigroup

2002

Patricia Dunn Global Chief Executive, Barclays Global Investors Jamie Gorelick Vice Chair, Fannie Mae Anastasia Kelly Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Sears Barbara Marcus Executive Vice President, Scholastic Pamela Thomas-Graham President and Chief Executive Officer, CNBC

2001

Michele Anthony Executive Vice President, Sony Music Carole Black President and Chief Executive Officer, Lifetime Janice Brandt Vice Chair and Chief Marketing Officer, AOL Frieda Caplan Founder and Chairman, Frieda’s Wanda Denson Low Vice President and Chief Counsel, Boeing Terri Dial President and Chief Executive Officer, Wells Fargo Bank Patricia Diaz-Dennis Senior Vice President, SBC Nina DiSesa Chief Creative Officer, McCann-Erickson Nancy Evans Co-Founder, Co-Chairperson and Editor-in-Chief, iVillage Orit Gadiesh Chairman, Bain & Company Lois Juliber Chief Operating Officer, Colgate-Palmolive Jenette Kahn President and Editor-in-Chief, DC Comics Karen Katen Executive Vice President, Pfizer Barbara Krumsiek President, Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman, Calvert Group Geraldine Laybourne Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Oxygen Media Cindi Leive Editor-in-Chief, Self Magazine Lauren B. Leichtman Founder and General Partner, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Shelly Lazarus Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ogilvy & Mather Heidi Miller Vice Chairman, Marsh Sara Moss Vice President and General Counsel, Pitney Bowes Carolyn Setlow Group Senior Vice President, Roper Starch Westina Matthews Shatteen, Senior Vice President, Merrill Lynch Jeanette Sarkisian Wagner Vice Chairman, Estee Lauder Deborah Willingham Vice President of Human Resources, Microsoft Patricia Woertz President, Chevron