Keynote Speakers
Christine Day
Chief Executive Officer, lululemon athletica
Christine Day has been Chief Executive Officer of lululemon athletica since June 2008. As CEO, Christine is responsible for creating and executing lululemon athletica’s long -term business strategies, directing the Company’s continued development, and reinforcing the lululemon’s position as a global leader of yoga inspired women’s athletic apparel.
Christine joined the lululemon athletica in January 2008 as Executive Vice President, Retail Operations, where she oversaw Retail Operations in North America and internationally, as well as the Community Relations, Real Estate Development, the Guest Education Center and Wholesale businesses.
Prior to lululemon, Christine spent 20 years at Starbucks where she learned the intricacies of high growth business development in a strong cultural company. She held several key senior management positions, most recently as President of the Asia Pacific Group of Starbucks Coffee International. Earlier, she served in various capacities including Senior Vice President, North American Finance and Administration and Vice President of Sales and Operations for Business Alliances.
Christine has a BA degree from Central Washington University and is a graduate of Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program. She is currently a director of Select Comfort Corporation, a provider of adjustable-firmness beds and other sleep-related accessory products.
Christine resides in Vancouver, Canada with her husband and the youngest of her three children. She does yoga on a regular basis and enjoys hiking the local mountains and biking on the seawall paths with her family.
Susan Smith Ellis
Chief Executive Officer, (RED)
Susan Smith Ellis is the Chief Executive Officer of (RED), a global marketing company whose partnerships help combat the AIDS pandemic in Africa. Since joining (RED), Ms. Smith Ellis has expanded the company's reach and widened its web of partnerships. In addition, she has launched a number of new initiatives, including (RED)Wire and (RED)Nights - both of which focus on collaborations with renowned musical artists.
In addition to that, Ms. Smith Ellis helped produce the largest grossing contemporary art auction in recent history, which raised more than $42 million for (RED). As a result of all these efforts, (RED), in roughly three years, has contributed more than $135 million to the Global Fund. This amount exceeds the contributions made to the Global Fund by all but a few national governments.
Aside from her management duties, Ms. Smith Ellis has been (and continues to be) a tireless spokesperson for (RED). Her efforts have gained her national recognition from media outlets and academic institutions. Ms. Smith Ellis was most recently featured in Fortune magazine's 2009 Boards issue. She was a featured speaker at the Kellogg Innovation Network Global Summit at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Prior to joining (RED), Ms. Smith Ellis served as an Officer and executive vice president of the Omnicom Group of Companies (www.omnicomgroup.com), the world’s largest advertising and marketing services corporation. While at Omnicom, Ms. Smith Ellis was president and CEO of Team Omnicom LLC, a purpose-built agency created to manage the Bank of America business across the Omnicom network. Ms. Smith Ellis led the team that won this account and oversaw the management of all Bank of America marketing and advertising business thereafter.
In her previous role at Omnicom, Ms. Smith Ellis led multi-agency client integration programs, business development and oversaw key educational and teaching programs. She was a founding leader of Omnicom's MBA Residency Program. In addition, she served as the Omnicom liaison for the PepsiCo account, one of the largest and most important relationships in the Omnicom network.
Ms. Smith Ellis previously served as a key executive at the Diversified Agency Services division of Omnicom and, before that, as one of the top executives at Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos (HHCC). While at HHCC, she ran their European operations, their Asian operations and their New York office. An avid reader, photographer, gardener and cook, Ms. Smith Ellis lives in New York with her husband and two children.
Ann Simonds
President of the Baking Products Division, General Mills
Ann Simonds became president of the Baking Products Division in June of 2006.
A 1990 graduate of Harvard’s MBA program, she spent five years as a marketer for Johnson & Johnson in the U.S. and Europe. Ann joined General Mills in 1995, and has had been both marketing manager and marketing director of Big G and Yoplait. In 2001, she was promoted to vice president of marketing for Big G, and in 2005 was named vice president and general manager of Bakeries and Foodservice.
During her career at General Mills, she has stewarded leading brands such as Yoplait, Betty Crocker, Cheerios and Wheaties. Her teams have received two Chairman’s Awards and several Effie’s for outstanding advertising.
Ann’s most rewarding work has been in the area of strategic philanthropy, driving profitable growth through programs such as the Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories Literacy Program and the Circle of Healthy Hearts Women’s Heart Health initiative. She is actively involved in the National Association of Female Executives Top 30 Round Table. She is also a member of the Women’s Forum helping General Mills achieve the Catalyst Award and Top Ten Companies for Working Mothers three times. Ann served as the Chairman of the 2006 United Way Campaign at General Mills and also served on the Minnesota Children’s Museum Board of Directors. She is currently on the advisory board for the American Indian Network.
Yet, first and foremost, she is the mother of twin fourth-grade daughters, Amelia and Alayna, who remain her best baking partners.