Women on Boards: Building Exceptional Leaders

Mandy Ginsberg

Director at thredUP

For the last two decades, Mandy Ginsberg has been a technology leader in the consumer internet space. She was the chief executive officer of Match Group (NASDAQ: MTCH), where she was responsible for the growth of a portfolio of industry-leading dating brands like Tinder, Match, Hinge, OkCupid, Meetic, and PlentyOfFish. She was with the company in various roles over 14 years. During her tenure as CEO, she quadrupled the stock price and drove unprecedented growth both top line and bottom line as Match Group became one of the fastest-growing public tech companies.

Throughout her time at Match, she has consistently driven growth and breakthrough marketing campaigns, spearheaded the use of matching algorithms, and established online dating as part of everyday culture. Prior to becoming CEO of the company, she served as CEO of Match Group Americas, overseeing Match, OkCupid, PlentyofFish, OurTime, and the Affinity brands, as well as the company’s Latin American operations.

In 2014, Ginsberg was named CEO of The Princeton Review (acquired by IAC/Match Group), where she added online services to the company’s offerings, including tutoring and college counseling for a new generation of students. Prior to that she served as general manager for Match.com North America. She began her career at Match Group as vice president and general manager for Chemistry.com in 2006.

Early in her career, Ginsberg developed her marketing and customer service acumen as vice president of consumer technology for Edelman Public Relations Worldwide and subsequently as vice president of Worldwide Marketing at i2 Technologies. Ginsberg holds an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She resides in Florence, Italy, with her husband and younger daughter. Her older daughter is living in Dallas, Texas; she works in the medical field and will start medical school in the summer of 2022.

Ginsberg is currently serving on the Board of Directors of Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER) and thredUP (NASDAQ: TDUP).

Alka Gupta

Board Director, Former Tech Entrepreneur, President, and Fortune 500 Exec

Alka Gupta is a public company board director, venture investor, former tech entrepreneur, and Fortune 500 exec with deep experience in digital transformation, fintech, marketplaces, regtech, and identity. She has been at the beginning of some of the most significant disruptions and platforms — including blockchain, digital payments, ecommerce, mobile, digital advertising, and search — at both early stage and public companies globally. Gupta has operated and built revenue in B2B and B2C markets across more than 10 countries in Asia, Europe, and Latin America, building an understanding of internationalization and localization success strategies and tactics.

She is a venture partner at 8vdX, a venture fund focused on the Y Combinator incubator, and was previously with Fin Capital, a $1.2B fintech B2B-focused global fund. Gupta is also a limited partner and on the Investment Committee at Penn’s own Chestnut Ventures. Before venture, she was co-founder and president of GlobaliD, a venture-backed, portable, and interoperable identity platform leveraging blockchain. She built the company from inception and led its growth, building the team; releasing the first product; establishing an eastern European product-development center; and signing digital wallet customers working with the likes of Ripple, Uphold, and TransferGo. Prior to this, she was with eBay/PayPal (Nasdaq: EBAY) as head of strategy for eBay Marketplaces. She led the development of strategy — including moves in fulfillment, local delivery, expanded payment systems, large retail omni-channel with GSI Commerce and Magento, small business onboarding, and cross-border transactions — contributing to revenue growth of $9B in 2010 to $16B in 2013 and user growth rates of more than 40 percent. She developed market strategies for select Asian markets and Latin America, including partnership and ecosystem strategies in those countries.

Gupta's initial entrepreneurial journey started at Norwest Ventures-funded, Retrevo (Acq. BN), an e-commerce business focused on the consumer-electronics buying experience. As VP of business development, she brought in the first revenue and strategic partnerships, working with the likes of PCWorld and Yahoo Shopping, during which time users increased by more than 400 percent. Retrevo was recognized by Time magazine as the Best Shopping Website at the time and was acquired by Barnes & Noble. Her formative years were at Lycos (Nasdaq: LCOS, Acq.: Telefonica,) one of the first and fastest search engines to IPO. Gupta was general manager of a global suite of products, during which time the company grew revenue from $50M to $800M over four years and grew users by more than 300 percent. Eventually, as VP of corporate development and strategy, she led strategy and acquisitions, and she guided Lycos through its divestments and $12.5B acquisition by Telefonica.

Gupta is driven by a commitment to democratization of access and empowering populations via technology. She earned an MBA from the Wharton School and a BS (cum laude) from Case Western Reserve University. She is board-directorship certified by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD.) Gupta serves on the board of directors for National Bank Holdings Corporation (Nyse: NBHC, Risk & Audit, Comp, and Tech Committees), Dwolla Payments (Foundry and Union Square Ventures), and Digital Frontiers (chairperson), and previously served on the board of MoneyGram (Nasdaq: MGI, Compliance and Ethics Committee, Acq: MDP). She speaks frequently on digital transformation, fintech, blockchain, globalization, and her journey scaling technologies. Gupta serves as an advisor at University of California, Berkeley's SkyDeck; advisory board member at Case Western Reserve University’s xLab; and expert in resident at the Wharton School's Venture Lab at the University of Pennsylvania.

Shaz Kahng

Board Director, CEO, and Author

Shaz Kahng is a visionary leader and inventive thinker who is passionate about consumer-focused businesses. A serial board director and CEO, Kahng is adept at turning around and scaling businesses in retail, apparel, footwear, consumer goods, and consumer tech and at generating business and brand value.

Kahng brings a wealth of experience running busineses and companies such as Gymboree, Lucy Activewear, and Nike and working with brands like Staples, Carter’s, Sephora, Tiffany, Levi Strauss, Macy's, Quaker Oats, Kraft, and P&G. As the first female to hold a global business P&L at Nike, Kahng led a turnaround of the Nike Cycling business, making it profitable for the first time and in record time. As CEO of Lucy Activewear, Kahng and her team reinvented the company and achieved profitability in 13 months, nearly two years ahead of corporate expectations. She has served on the boards of children’s apparel retailer Gymboree and OMSignal, a biometric apparel company.

She currently serves on the public corporate board for GoPro. Kahng is also an advisor to PE- and VC-backed businesses and is on the Investor Advisory Council of AVG Funds, a venture capital firm. Kahng is also the author of two novels, The Closer and Smashers Synched, about the first female CEO of a sports company and the secret society of professional women (Wharton graduates) called the Ceiling Smashers who help her succeed. An experienced public speaker, she recently gave a Talks At Google speech entitled "The Superpowers of Ceiling Smashers."

Driven by a lifelong desire to learn, Kahng has been a scientist, a consulting partner, an e-commerce expert, and a brand and marketing strategist. She is fueled by her desire to make a positive impact, lead with honor, work collaboratively, and have some fun. One of the most rewarding aspects of her career has been coaching and mentoring others.

Kahng is married and the mother of twin girls. She is also a SCUBA diver and a golfer who dreams of having a single digit handicap, and she practices Tae Kwon Do.

Pauline Brown

Former Chairman of North America for LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton

For nearly 30 years, Pauline Brown has acquired, built, and led the world’s most influential global luxury brands. Most recently, she served as the chairman of North America for the world’s leading luxury goods company, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, where she provided regional leadership for about 70 brands in five sectors including fashion and leather goods, watches and jewelry, perfume and cosmetics, wine and spirits, and selective retailing. While at LVMH, Brown also served on the board of L Capital, a private equity fund backed by LVMH, as well as on the boards of several LVMH subsidiaries including Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, and Fresh Cosmetics. In 2016, Brown joined the faculty of the Harvard Business School, where she introduced a new interdisciplinary course for graduate students named “The Business of Aesthetics.” In 2018, she decided to write a book based on the learnings and insights from her HBS course. The book, entitled Aesthetic Intelligence: How to Boost It and Use It in Business and Beyond, will be released by HarperCollins this November.

Pauline Brown boasts unparalleled expertise when it comes to understanding why long-term financial value in today’s world rests on an ability to deliver aesthetic value. Touching on the strategies that have built consumer demand and loyalty for booming brands in the age of Amazon, she explains how such companies are rewarded not only for eliciting a high degree of pleasure in those who buy their goods and services, but also for spurring desirability among others who aspire to them. Brown focuses on helping business leaders discern, appraise, and enhance their companies by tapping into the power of their own senses — a critical and oftentimes under-developed skill set for corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and investors alike — as well as helping them analyze the issues and challenges of running an aesthetic business from a strategic, financial, organizational, and cultural vantage.

In addition to her operational experience in the luxury goods sector, Pauline Brown also boasts a successful track record as an investor in luxury brands. Before joining LVMH, she was a managing director at private equity firm The Carlyle Group, where she helped build the firm’s global consumer and retail practice, co-led deals, and served on the boards of portfolio companies including the European sportswear brand Moncler and the American beauty brand Philosophy. Earlier in her career, Brown held senior executive positions in the global beauty industry including head of corporate strategy and new business development at The Estée Lauder Companies. There, she led all mergers, acquisitions, and licensing activities and helped to expand Estée Lauder’s portfolio from eight to 25 distinct beauty brands. She reported to the company’s CEO and was a member of its executive committee. Brown began her career as a management consultant at Bain & Company.

Since 2008, Brown has been a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute, a program that seeks to develop the next generation of community-spirited leaders. In 2013, she joined the board of the Henry Crown Fellowship Program. She also currently sits on the boards of the Parsons School of Design and is a former board member of the National Retail Federation, Fashion Group International, and Cosmetic Executive Women.

Brown received an MBA from the Wharton School and a BA from Dartmouth College. She is a member of Wharton’s Executive Alumni Board and a former member of Dartmouth’s Alumni Council.

Maria Garcia Nielsen

Corporate Director and Former Global Fortune 200 Division CEO

Maria Garcia Nielsen is an independent director for private European multinationals, with corporate boardroom experience in both family-owned and ESOP companies. She is a Director for the Lontana Group, Fegemu SA, and Grupo Sanz and serves on the Advisory Board of 3Dental. Past advisory board positions include the International College of Spain and Hewlett Packard’s EMEA Resellers, where she advised the company on commercial policies for their distribution channels in EMEA. She teaches “Strategy for Boards” to new corporate directors at Spain’s Institute for Directors and Administrators.

Maria leverages technology to propel profitability and has a history of leading digital transformations that drive revenue. As CEO of Office Depot in Spain and Portugal, she led a 3-year turnaround for the iconic brand and helped the company break even after yearly losses.

Maria also has more than 13 years of experience executing Mergers and Acquisitions of information technology companies in Southern Europe and Latin American. She was a founding member of BtoB Factory Ventures, a €150M Banco Santander-funded firm investing in ecommerce companies, and served as the Director of the fund’s Investment Committee, as well as in C-suite and Director positions for several of its portfolio companies.

Before joining BtoB Factory Ventures, Maria led two Spanish companies to successful exits. She was founder and CEO of Libroweb, a first-of-kind online bookstore that was acquired after three years by Amazon.com. She also served as General Manager of Lid Logistica, a disruptive, 24-hour book delivery startup she led from ideation through a successful sale.

Maria is based in Spain and first worked in Europe as a strategy consultant for McKinsey. She was selected for the II edition of PwC’s “Women to Watch” Spain and has sat on the Alumni Board since 2018. Maria earned her MBA from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and founded Wharton Alumni for Boards. She earned her BS in Engineering from Cornell University, where she currently sits on the President’s Council of Cornell Women.

Originally from Peru, Maria immigrated to the U.S. at 10 and became a citizen at 18. She received full scholarships for her education and now works to create opportunities in education and business for other women of color. She is a member of The Latino Corporate Director Association and Co-President of Spain’s Ellevate Network. She serves on the Board of Trustees for Novia Salcedo, a foundation dedicated to increasing employment opportunities for young adults.

Kathleen Crandall

Expert in personal branding, executive coach and public speaker

Kathleen Crandall is a nationally known expert and thought leader in personal branding, a keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, and coach to executives and leaders. The founder of Know My Impact, she created the IMPACT Personal Branding Experience™, a powerful process and coaching curriculum that has helped thousands achieve personal and professional success through the power of their personal impact and brand.

Kathleen spent more than 20 years as an executive in public relations, advertising, and corporate brand development. She is an adjunct facilitator with Twin Cities-based non-profits HIRED and Goodwill Easter Seals and a proud graduate of the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Zev Eigen

Founder; Chief Science Officer | Syndio Solutions

Zev Eigen is Syndio’s founder and Chief Data Scientist. Dr. Eigen has been at the forefront of cutting edge HR technology for more than a decade. He combines his uniquely overlapping areas of expertise in labor economics and employment law with deep experience in data science, predictive modeling and economic sociological research. He is responsible for all aspects of research & development to ensure that Syndio’s products provide unbiased and accurate results to inform the very best organizational decisions.

Zev writes and speaks about subjects related to pay equity methodology, HR tech, data science and legal compliance in the workplace. He has authored more than a dozen scholarly articles and books and is an internationally recognized expert in these fields appearing in the media frequently (Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Forbes, NPR, Bloomberg News, Reuters, Chicago Tribune, NBC, CBS, FOX, etc.).

He holds a PhD from MIT, a JD from Cornell Law School, and a BS from Cornell University’s School of Industrial & Labor Relations (with honors). We can try to summarize his experience by name dropping just a few of the organizations for whom he has worked: Northwestern, Yale, NYU Law, 20th Century Fox.