Fourth Annual Women's Leadership Conference Speakers
Clare Amrhein
Market Human Resource Manager, Walmart Stores, Inc.
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After graduating with a master's degree from the University of Florida, Clare Amrhein began her career as a special education teacher in Gainesville, Florida. Five years later, she decided to challenge herself and moved to California where she began her work in the human resources field. With more than 25 years of management experience, Amrhein has been responsible for all phases of human resources in international companies including employee relations, recruitment, performance management, organizational development, compensation, benefits, and executive coaching. She has been responsible for multi-site operations both international and domestic during her career, facilitating new start-ups, mergers, and acquisitions. Amrhein made the choice to leave behind the corner office of corporate America and returned to work as a human resources generalist, a area where she felt most at home, joining Wal-Mart in 2010 as part of the New England Division. Relocating to Myrtle Beach in 2013, Amrhein became the market HR manager for the Myrtle Beach and Florence areas where she drives diversity placements, talent development, and associate engagement in support of more than 4,000 associates.
Walmart has partnered with Coastal Carolina University to establish a sponsor program for high potential students who have demonstrated leadership and business acumen in and out of the classroom for opportunities within the Walmart organization. In addition, Walmart is a corporate sponsor for the annual Women's Leadership Conference supporting leadership opportunities for women in the business and non-profit sectors.
Paula Harper Bethea
Executive director of the South Carolina Education Lottery 
Paula Harper Bethea was born in Hampton County, S.C., and graduated from Estill High School. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of South Carolina in 1975.
For 30 years she worked with her husband Bill at the family law firm, Bethea, Jordan and Griffin, P.A., in Hilton Head. From 2006 to 2009 she served as director of external relations with the McNair Law Firm and in 2010 she served as assistant to S.C. Speaker of the House Rex Carter.
She was one of nine South Carolinians chosen to serve on the initial lottery commission in 2001 and helped launch the state’s first successful lottery game the following year. In 2005 she was invited to serve on the board and later served as chairman of the Centers of Economic Excellence, which oversees the annual lottery proceeds. Since its inception, the South Carolina Education Lottery has generated more than $3.3 billion dollars: more than $2.5 billion has been allocated for scholarships and grants for higher education and more than $693 million to K-12 education. Bethea has served as executive director of the South Carolina Education Lottery since 2009.
She served as a director of First Financial and First Federal Bank (First Federal) from 1996 to 2010 and chairman until 2013, when the bank merged with SCBT Financial; she currently serves as vice chairman of the SCBT board of directors.
She is chairman emeritus of the United Way of America’s Board of Governors and was the first woman to serve as chairman. She was a member of the board of directors for United Way International, chairman of United Way of South Carolina and Beaufort County. She also served as the United Way liaison to the NFL.
In addition, she is a former board chairman of the Hilton Head Island Chamber of Commerce and the Wilkins Forum at Furman University. She is a founding board member of the Palmetto Institute, and has served on the board of the South Carolina Competitiveness Council.
She was vice chairman of the board at Presbyterian College, a member emeritus of the board of the Medical University of South Carolina Foundation, and is past chairman of the board of the Heart and Vascular Center at MUSC. She also has served as president of the University of South Carolina Alumni Association. She is a life member of Independent Colleges and Universities of South Carolina and is a member of the board of the MCI Heritage Classic Foundation.
She served on the State Chamber's Task Force for Restructuring State Government in 1991 and was a member and a Subcommittee Chairman of the Governor's Commission on Restructuring. In 1992, Gov. Campbell awarded her the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina's highest award for volunteer service.
In 2011 she received the Global Vision Award by the World Affairs Council, which is presented annually to the individual, organization or business that has demonstrated a vision toward the advancement of international affairs in South Carolina.
With her husband William “Bill,” she was named the 2006 South Carolina Business Leader of the Year. In 2003, she was awarded the Columbia College Medallion, the most distinguished commendation bestowed by the college; she is a former chairman of the board of trustees. In 1995, she received the South Carolina Women of Achievement Award. In 1998, she was awarded the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award by the University of South Carolina. In addition, she has received honorary doctorate degrees from the University of South Carolina and Presbyterian College.
Bethea was a speaker during the 2014 Women’s Leadership Conference and honored at the Celebration of Inspiring Women.
Nathalie Dupree
Celebrity chef and author 
Nathalie Dupree started the “New Southern Cooking” movement, a blend of regional ingredients with French and Southern cooking techniques found in many restaurants throughout the United States. According to Dupree, “Southern cooking is the Mother Cuisine of America.”
She has sold more than half a million copies of her 13 hardback and two softback cookbooks focusing on the American South, entertaining and basic cooking. She has received three James Beard Awards, known as the “Oscars” of the food world, most recently in 2013 for “Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking,” which she co-authored with Cynthia Graubart. Her previous books have been nominated five times and she has won twice, for “Southern Memories” (1994) and “Comfortable Entertaining” (1999).
Dupree has hosted more than 300 national and international cooking shows, which have aired since 1986 on PBS, the Food Network and the Learning Channel, and she has appeared many times on the Today Show, Good Morning America, The Morning Show, and CNN Good Morning, among others. She has been featured in the New York Times, Washington post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune as well as Bon Appétit, Food and Wine, Southern Living, Coastal Living, Better Homes and Garden, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, and Good Housekeeping.
Dupree holds an advanced certificate from Le Cordon Bleu London cooking school and has been chef of three restaurants located in Majorca, Spain, Georgia and Virginia.
In the early 1970s she opened her first restaurant – Nathalie’s – in Social Circle, Georgia. In 1975, she founded a cooking school at Rich’s Department Store in Atlanta, and became its director and gourmet chef in-residence. In nearly 10 years of operation, the school attracted more than 10,000 students in classes and apprenticeship programs.
In 2011, she was awarded the prestigious Grande Dame of Les Dames d’ Escoffier International, which she considers her highest honor as it is from women who have excelled internationally in the culinary field. She was named the 2013 Woman of the Year from the French Master Chefs of America, and received the Jack Daniel's Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southern Foodways Alliance in 2004.
She is the founding chairman of the Charleston Food and Wine Festival.
Born in New Jersey, where her father, a career officer in the U.S. Army, was stationed, Dupree spent her childhood in Virginia, Texas, among other places throughout the South with her mother and two siblings.
She maintains homes in Charleston and Atlanta with her husband, Jack Bass, who is the author of nine books on the American South.
Dupree was a speaker during the 2014 Women’s Leadership Conference and honored at the Celebration of Inspiring Women.
Sharon Epperson
CNBC reporter, author
In addition to reporting for CNBC and CNBC.com, Sharon Epperson is a regular contributor on NBC's "Today" and Today.com and appears frequently on NBC Nightly News, MSNBC and NBC affiliates nationwide. She also frequently reports for Public Television's "Nightly Business Report," which is now produced by CNBC.
She is the winner of the Alliance for Women in Media's 2014 Gracie Award for Outstanding Online Host for her "Financial Advisor Playbook" video series on CNBC.com. She has received the Vanguard Award for her distinguished career in business and personal finance reporting from the National Urban League Guild, the All-Star Award from the Association of Women in Communications, and the Gracie Allen Award from the American Women in Radio and Television for a series of reports on female CEOs. She also has won awards from the New York Festivals, the New York Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists.
Her book, The Big Payoff: 8 Steps Couples Can Take to Make the Most of Their Money–and Live Richly Ever After, was a finalist for the Books for a Better Life Awards, honoring works that have "changed the lives of millions." She also was a contributing writer for The Experts' Guide to Doing Things Faster.
Epperson's personal finance expertise has been featured in numerous publications, including USA Weekend, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Self, Essence, Ebony and Time, where she had covered business, culture, social issues and health as a correspondent prior to joining CNBC.
She is committed to improving financial literacy, particularly in underserved communities. She has been invited to the White House to speak about financial literacy and to moderate a public meeting of the President's Advisory Council on Financial Capability at the U.S. Treasury Department. She also speaks frequently at conferences and events for local and national organizations, colleges and universities about many facets of personal finance.
An adjunct professor at Columbia University's School of International Public Affairs for more than a decade, Epperson enjoys teaching the importance of budgeting and building long-term savings as part of her course on professional development for graduate students interested in media careers.
Epperson received her bachelor's in sociology and government from Harvard University, and a master's of international affairs degree from Columbia University. A Pittsburgh native, Epperson lives with her husband and two children in Westchester County, N.Y.
Lori Free
Motivational speaker
Lori Free is a motivational speaker and life coach from Little River, S.C. 
Although she specializes in sharing information about effective business communication skills with her audience, she did not initially begin her career in public speaking. Following graduation from Rhode Island College with degrees in communication/marketing and communication/public relations, Free became a sales manager with Warren Communications, Inc., for two years before moving into a role as a senior account executive with Access TCA. Free spent 15 years with TCA before becoming a trade show consultant for Elle “J” & Company, and three years with Elevation Exhibits, where she was later named vice president of sales.
Free honed her skills as a motivational speaker during her time as a national seminar trainer at SkillPath Seminars, where she specialized in communications and personal development.
She is a member of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and Coastal Power Women.
Terry Haas
Author, TV personality from HGTV's "Designed to Sell"
Most people know Terry Haas for her recurring role on HGTV's hit show "Designed to Sell." With seven seasons as one of the show's featured real estate agents, she shows millions of viewers how staging a home and making low-cost improvements can help to sell a property at top dollar. With more than 15 years in the industry, her knowledge of the real estate market on a nationwide level puts her customers at ease, carefully guiding them through what can often be an overwhelming process.
She began her real estate career in Atlanta, where she had a recurring role on “Atlanta’s Best New Homes” and was a featured guest on American Public Media’s radio talk show “Marketplace.”
Later, she served as regional project manager, overseeing the sale of 3,000 homes in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and managing more than 120 employees. She was awarded Sales Director of the Year by the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association in 2003.
Currently, she is a partner in the River Landing Realty Group serving the Daniel Island and Charleston, South Carolina, area. She also runs her own home-staging consulting businesses. She is a co-author of an e-book that offers tips and tools to help sellers prepare a house for sale. She also shares her real estate, home staging and networking expertise as a featured speaker for realtor associations, professional and community groups, and other philanthropic organizations.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she earned a bachelor’s degree from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 1991. Following graduation she counseled disadvantaged children in Pennsylvania.
She lives in Charleston with her husband Tim, who is also a partner in River Landing Realty Group.
Matt Hogue
Interim Drirector of Athletics, Coastal Carolina University
Matt Hogue was named interim director of athletics at Coastal Carolina University in March 2014. Hogue previously served as the University's associate vice president of marketing.
Hogue joined the University in 1997 as the assistant sports information director and has served in several different roles in the Department of Athletics and in the Office of University Communication, where he has led the University's marketing and trademark-licensing efforts. In 2004 Hogue was promoted associate athletics director after being the assistant athletics director for marketing for four years.
Hogue is best known for his role as the "Voice of the Chanticleers" on the Chanticleer Sports Network, providing live game broadcasts, features and weekly programs about Chanticleer athletics. He has also been the play-by-play talent for the Big South Conference's football and basketball television packages, and has done work for Fox Sports Net, Comcast Sports South and other regional networks, calling football, basketball and baseball. He also has done football play-by-play for four different high schools across the state.
Hogue began his career in radio with WVOC and WLXC in Columbia. During that time, he hosted the USC Tailgate Show and called play-by-play for the 1993 NCAA Soccer Championship game. He then went on to write for the High School Sports Report prior to coming to Coastal Carolina University.
Hogue is a 1993 graduate of the University of South Carolina and earned an MBA from Winthrop University.
Mamie "Peanut" Johnson
Only woman to pitch in Negro League
Mamie “Peanut” Johnson is the only woman to ever pitch in professional baseball’s Negro Leagues and one of only three women to ever play in Major League Baseball.
She was born in 1935 in Ridgeway, South Carolina, and attended Thorntree School, a two-room schoolhouse. She grew up with a passion for baseball and as a child often played with her uncle using tree limbs for a bats and rocks wrapped in tape for balls.
In 1945 she moved to New Jersey and played girls softball while a student at Long Branch High School. Frustrated and used to playing hardball with the boys, she quit the team and tried out for an all-boys team organized by the Long Branch Police Athletic League. As the only girl and the only black player – she helped the team to two divisional championships.
After high school, Johnson attempted to try out for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, but was denied access to the field due to her race. She falsely assumed that because Jackie Robinson had broken barriers in the major leagues, the girls’ league would also welcome black players.
She moved to Washington, D.C. in 1947 and soon was playing semi-professional ball for two local black-male teams in a recreational ‘sandlot’ baseball league.
By 1953, she was married, had a son, played baseball on weekends, and began college (in the off-season). During a ‘sandlot’ game in New Jersey she was discovered by a scout for the Indianapolis Clowns and was invited to try out for the team, the only one at the time with women players. She played for the Indianapolis Clowns from 1953 to 1955 and after three seasons held a winning record of 33-8 and a batting average range of .262 to .284, ranking her among the best players in Negro League history. Her nickname came from an opponent who said she looked like a “peanut” on the mound; she struck him out.
Following her graduation from New York University in 1955 she began what would become a successful nursing career of nearly 30 years at Sibley Hospital in Washington D.C. She also coached youth league baseball teams. When she retired from nursing, she began to help her son run his Negro League Baseball memorabilia shop in Capitol Heights, Maryland.
Among her many accolades, Johnson was recognized by President and Mrs. Clinton at the White House as a female baseball legend in 2001; A Strong Right Arm, a youth book about her life, was published in 2002; and a one-women theatrical show – “Change Up”– made its premiere at Brown University in 2005. In addition, she is a recipient of the prestigious Mary McLeod Bethune Continuing Legacy Award, the highest honor given by the National Council of Negro Women.
In 2008, Johnson and other living players from the Negro Leagues were drafted by major league franchises prior to the MLB First Year Draft; she was selected by the Washington Nationals. She was among the players from the Negro Leagues who were recognized by President Obama at the White House in August 2013.
Johnson was a speaker during the 2014 Women’s Leadership Conference and honored at the Celebration of Inspiring Women.
Chris Linnares
Brazilian psychotherapist and creator of Diva Dance
International author, renowned Brazilian psychotherapist, and successful emotional and weight loss master coach, Chris Linnares has quickly become one of the most passionate voices for women and teen wellness and empowerment. She uses humor, science, spirituality, dance and inspiration to touch people deeply, connecting with women in a moving, fun and powerful way.
With her background as a professional dancer and clinical psychologist (with a post-graduate degree from a Brazilian university and advanced studies at UCLA and Harvard University) she developed the acclaimed wellness program Diva Dance and Girls Gone W.E.L.L.
Diva Dance uses fun dance moves with self-empowerment tools to energize the body, empower the mind, and express the soul! Diva Dance has earned rave reviews from the media and leading organizations such as Go Red – American Heart Association, Microsoft, Avon, and in Women’s Health Magazine.
With her husband, she created the award-winning social project Beautiful Women Of to encourage children to use art and literature to expand the definition of beauty and bring human values to light.
Author of several books including Cinderella on the Couch and the award-winning book and the social project Beautiful Women of North Dakota (with Billy Black, Deb Dawson and Mary Jo Hotzlerher), she tells her amazing life story and pioneer work. Her publications have been featured in Marie Claire, Shape and Women’s Health Magazine, among others.
A dedicated philanthropist, Linnares is the founder and president of Women’s Impact, a non-profit organization formed in 2010 to create opportunities for women and teenage girls to connect, support and empower each other. A portion of the proceeds from any of her products and speaking engagements goes to Women’s Impact.
After finding natural ways to overcome her own depression, grief and weight issues, Linnares said, "We have an innate ability to completely change our lives. Life may not be a fairy tale, but we all deserve a happy ending."
She lives in Fargo, North Dakota, with her daughter and husband.
Joe Moglia
Chairman of the board, TD Ameritrade
Head football coach, Coastal Carolina University
Joe Moglia is the head football coach of Coastal Carolina University and chairman and former CEO of the Fortune 500 company, TD Ameritrade.
In his first two seasons at Coastal, playing the toughest schedules in school’s history, Moglia led his team to two conference championships, two National Playoffs, was Conference Coach of the Year and twice named a finalist for National Coach of the Year. In his last eight seasons coaching, Moglia has been part of six championship teams.
The 2014 season will be Moglia’s 23rd as a football coach, but it’s not a traditional 23 years. He began his career as a coach for 16 years, moved to the business world for over 20, and back to coaching in 2009.
In his first stint as a coach, as the Defensive Coordinator at Dartmouth, his teams won two Ivy League Championships; he went on to lead units that set defense and kicking records at Lafayette, and turned two high school programs around.
Prior to coming to Coastal, Moglia was executive advisor for football at Nebraska, where he received the Sharp Trophy for Leadership, as voted on by the players; while there Nebraska earned two Big 12 North Championships and played in two post-season bowl games. In 2011 he became president and head coach and of the Omaha Nighthawks in the United Football League.
In the business world, Moglia was at Merrill Lynch for 17 years and worked his way to CEO of TD Ameritrade in 2001. By 2008, in the midst of a global financial crisis, the firm had its sixth record year in a row, grew its market cap from $700 million to $10 billion, and shareholders enjoyed a 500 percent financial return. In 2008, he stepped down as CEO, became chairman of the board for TD Ameritrade, and returned to football.
Moglia has received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and has been honored by the National Italian American Foundation, the Columbus Citizens Foundation and the American Institute for Stuttering. He has been inducted into three halls of fame, is the recipient of two honorary doctorates and has written books on both investing and football. In addition, he is the subject of the 2012 book, 4th & Goal: One Man's Quest to Recapture His Dream, by Monty Burke, a writer for Forbes magazine.
Moglia earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Fordham University and a master’s degree in education from the University of Delaware.
Wendi Nix
ESPN reporter and host
Wendi Nix joined ESPN in August 2006 as a reporter and host covering college and pro football. She has also covered golf tournaments, including the U.S. Open, the Masters and the British Open. She was the first woman to cover the Masters for ESPN.
Nix hosts both NFL Live and College Football Live and contributes regularly to SportsCenter, College GameDay and Sunday NFL Countdown. Since the 2010 season, Nix has been host of ESPN2’s pre-, halftime and post-game segments on college football Saturdays. She also has reported for Baseball Tonight and Sunday Night Baseball.
In the 2009 NFL season, Nix served as host of the Monday Night Football “Chalk Talk” luncheon program that showcases the teams and host cities participating in the weekly MNF primetime games and honors local civic and community leaders.
In January 2009, Nix became the first woman to serve as the master of ceremonies at the Walter Camp Football Foundation All-America awards dinner, which honors the Division 1A college football player of the year. She was a co-host for the 2010 Lombardi Award presentation and co-host of the 2012 Collegiate Women Sports Awards.
Prior to joining ESPN, Nix spent three years as a sports anchor and reporter with an NBC affiliate WHDH in Boston, and two years as a national sports reporter for FOXSports and an anchor-reporter for FOXSports New England. In 2001 she reported and anchored for the New England Sports Network (NESN). Her on-air television career began in 1999 at ABC affiliate WPDE in Myrtle Beach-Florence, South Carolina, where she covered news, NASCAR and high school sports.
Nix is from Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, and is a graduate of Socastee High School. In 1996 she earned bachelor’s degrees in economics and French from Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where she and was a two-year captain of the golf team and student-body president. In addition, she earned a master’s degree in sports management from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 1997.
Nix was a speaker during the 2014 Women’s Leadership Conference and honored at the Celebration of Inspiring Women.
Joujou Safa
Head buyer, creative director and co-founder of Bijuju
Joujou Safa is the head buyer, creative director and co-founder of Bijuju, an accessory boutique that she started with her husband and brother-in-law in 2004. Within two years of opening the first store, three more stores opened; after five years, nine were in operation, employing hundreds of people. The company is headquartered in Myrtle Beach with a store in Market Common with other stores in Raleigh, Charlotte and Wilmington, North Carolina.
Her position as head buyer enables her to travel the world to purchase merchandise for her stores. She continuously researches fashion trends, yet she subscribes to the philosophy that every customer should own her own style—not something that’s in style. Her mantra is for all women to: “Be Bold. Be Beautiful.” The company’s core value is “To make women feel special.”
The women of her family are her strong inspirations. For example, at 13 years old, her grandmother fled Lebanon during its 1970s civil war to arrive in America and eventually ran her own design business in Brooklyn, sewing pieces for Jones New York and working for Kleinfeld Bridal (of Say Yes to the Dress fame) for many years. Safa believes that anything is possible if you believe in it and work hard at it, which has been her life story.
She is also co-founder of Feed a Family, established in 2004 in Myrtle Beach to deliver meals to those in need during Christmas. The group began packaging 250 meals out of the kitchen at Thoroughbreds, a local restaurant, and has now grown to delivering nearly 1,000 meals. In addition, the company supports nearly 20 other groups and organizations.
A native New Yorker, Safa moved to Myrtle Beach in 1998 with her husband. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Coastal Carolina University.
Reggie Sanders
Former MLB player
Reggie Sanders retired from Major League Baseball in 2007 following a 20-year professional career. In the Majors, Sanders played on eight different teams, played in an All Star Game, and helped his team to a World Series win in 2001. He also played in six National League Division championship series, five National League Championship series and three World Series.
Sanders was drafted in the 7th round of the amateur draft by the Cincinnati Reds in 1987. He began his professional career in the minor leagues with the rookie-level Billings Mustangs in the Pioneer League in 1988. He was called up to the Reds Major League team in August 1991 and he never looked back. In his 17-year Major League career, Sanders played 1,777 games; had over 6,200 plate appearances with over 3,000 total bases, 983 runs batted in, 304 stolen bases, 305 home runs; and a lifetime .267 batting average. He was one of only six players in the history of Major League Baseball to both hit 300 or more home runs in his career and steal 300 or more bases. With Sanders, the list includes Willie Mays, Andre Dawson, Bobby Bonds, Barry Bonds and Steve Finley.
Sanders began his career as a shortstop but was moved to the outfield, a position he played the remainder of his career. He had a breakout year in 1995 with the Cincinnati Reds when he led the team in almost every offensive category: 567 plate appearances, 91 runs scored, 28 home runs, 36 doubles, 36 stolen bases, 99 runs batted in – all while maintaining a .306 batting average and being selected to represent the Reds in the 1995 All Star Game in Arlington, Texas.
Early in his career, Sanders formed the Reggie Sanders Charitable Fund to provide underprivileged, inner city children with school supplies, and tickets and transportation to his games in both Cincinnati and Kansas City.
Sanders is a native of Florence, South Carolina, and is a proud graduate of Wilson High School and Spartanburg Methodist College in South Carolina. He lives in Myrtle Beach with his wife Wyndee and their four daughters. Sanders remains active with the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association.
Kathrine Switzer
First woman to run the Boston Marathon
Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to officially enter and run the Boston Marathon as a numbered-entry. She gained worldwide-notoriety when a race official tried to forcibly remove her from the 1967 marathon. A photo of this attempt by race officials became one of Time-Life’s “100 Photos that Changed the World.”
Switzer went on to run 39 marathons, and won the New York City Marathon in 1974. She ran her personal best in 1975, finishing second in Boston (2:51:33).
She is the founder and former director of the Avon International Running Circuit of women's-only races, which has held more than 400 events in 27 countries for more than one million women runners since the program’s launch in 1977. The Avon International Running Circuit was instrumental in convincing the International Olympic Committee to include a women's marathon in the 1984 Olympic Games.
In addition to her stellar athletic career, Switzer is an Emmy award-winning TV commentator and has covered the Olympic Games, and every televised edition of the Boston, New York City, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh marathons. She has appeared on Oprah, Nightline, CBS Evening News, Tonight, Today, Good Morning America, the BBC, CBC, PBS, and many other electronic and print outlets.
Marathon Woman, Switzer’s award-winning memoir, was first published in 2007. Her other books include 26.2 Marathon Stories (2006), co-authored with her husband Roger Robinson, and best-selling Running and Walking for Women Over 40 (1998). As a journalist, her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Parade Magazine as well as all major running publications.
Switzer was part of the inaugural class of runners inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame, a winner of Abebe Bikila Award for Global Contribution to Sport of Running from New York Road Runners, has been named one of the Visionaries of the Century in 2000, a Runner of the Decade (1966-76), and a Hero of Running in 2012 by Runners World magazine, among many other awards. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2011 for creating positive global social change.
She received a bachelor’s degree in journalism and English, and a master’s degree in public relations, all from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She and her husband live in the Hudson Valley of New York
Barbara Hickman Whye
Director of global strategic initiatives at the Intel Foundation
Barbara Hickman Whye is the director of global strategic initiatives at the Intel Foundation. The foundation disburses approximately $40 million per year across more than 35 countries.
She also leads the foundation’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) for girls and women to advance innovation, math and science education. In this role, she is responsible for developing and driving specific grant initiatives that that are aligned with the foundation’s corporate strategic objectives. Whye’s passion for advancing STEM practices has resulted in catalytic global programs that have fueled innovation in classrooms, empowered women and under-served youth, and strengthened communities. She led the foundation’s recent participation in Intel’s national engineering retention rate campaign resulting from an alliance established by the White House Jobs Council.
Prior to transitioning to the philanthropic side of Intel, she spent 15 years in project engineering and held strategic leadership roles with responsibility for acquisitions and start-ups of new facilities for Intel Worldwide. She served as facilities operations manager for Intel’s new facility in Costa Rica, where she spent two years assisting in the transformation of the location from undeveloped land to a high-volume manufacturing facility, as well as in other capacities. She also led acquisitions in Russia, Mexico, and other locations.
She received a bachelor of science in electrical engineering and an MBA, both from the University of South Carolina. Prior to joining Intel in 1997, Whye held engineering positions with NCR and BellSouth.
She is also a certified coach and professional facilitator with more than 19 years of professional experience in program/change management, communications, mergers and acquisition, and startups.
Whye has a deep love for community and has spent many years leading philanthropic efforts in underserved communities. Recently, she was the keynote speaker at an East Africa regional science fair in Uganda for underserved girls where she shared her belief that the world is richer when young people are actively engaged in math and science and tackling community problems. She was awarded a Business for Diplomatic Action fellowship that included a three-week global leadership exchange in the Middle East; she now serves a member of the non-profit organization’s senior advisory council. Whye is a recipient of Intel’s Lifetime Diversity Achievement Award.
In addition, she is a member of the Grantmakers for Education board of Directors and is a graduate of the Council on Foundations Career Pathways and Emerging Philanthropic Leaders programs.
She is an avid blogger for CSR@Intel, as well as on her own blog and as a guest writer for other blogs.
Marguerite Willis
Attorney, first woman partner with Howrey, LLP, in Washington, D.C.
Marguerite S. Willis is a member in the Columbia, South Carolina, office of Nexsen Pruet, LLC.
A native of Greenville, South Carolina, Willis graduated from the University of Michigan, with high distinction, and the Stetson University College of Law, with honors. Following two federal clerkships, she joined the firm of Howrey, LLP, in Washington, D.C., where she became the first woman partner in 1981. Willis joined Nexsen Pruet in 2000, following her marriage to Frank Willis, who was then the mayor of Florence, South Carolina.
Willis practices in both federal and state courts in the antitrust area. She also has substantial experience in litigating unfair trade practices cases under state law.
She is a member of the bars of the states of South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina, and the District of Columbia. She has served as out-of-state governor of the Florida Bar and president of the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia. She presently serves as treasurer of the South Carolina Women Lawyers’ Association and is a founding director of the Academy of Antitrust Law of the Litigation Counsel of America.
Willis lives in Florence with her husband and their two Labradors, "Bojangles" and “Cotton.”