Our Honorees

michelle-lee-for-webRENÉE HAUGERUD is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Galtere Ltd., a registered investment advisor managing commodity‐focused products since 1997.

Ms. Haugerud began trading in the global financial and commodity markets in 1981 for agriculture and food giant Cargill Inc. While at Cargill her trading acumen and ability to identify global macroeconomic trends led to leadership positions in many of Cargill’s global locations including: Foreign Exchange Trading Manager in Geneva; Manager of US Fixed Income trading in Minneapolis, MN; Financial Division Manager of the Melbourne, Australia office and board membership of Cargill Australia; and Vice President and Structural Trading Manager at Cargill’s corporate headquarters in Minneapolis, MN. Following thirteen years at Cargill and Continental Grain, Ms. Haugerud managed proprietary trading desks at institutions including Natwest Markets in Hong Kong and Hunter Douglas N.A. in the U.S.

Ms. Haugerud’s experience trading multiple asset classes through a commodity lens culminated in her founding Galtere Ltd. in 1997. Galtere employs Ms. Haugerud’s commodity-based global macro strategy that draws upon an array of markets and instruments in order to express real asset-driven themes. Utilizing a unique ‘profile and theme’ approach, the strategy employs top-down fundamental macro analysis in theme identification and rigorous bottom-up value determination selecting specific investments. Galtere’s methodology creates a disciplined approach to discretionary investing by combining fundamental macro research with a proprietary price analysis model for trade entry and exit levels.

Ms. Haugerud’s insight into how global markets are affected by the psychology and relationships of macroeconomic trends makes her a sought‐after speaker and panelist at global investment events. Ms. Haugerud has been interviewed on CNBC, CNN and the PBS Nightly Business Report, and has also been profiled in Barron’s, Forbes Magazine, ForbesLife Executive Woman, MAR Futures, Time and Trader Monthly. She is active in the community of women and business leaders, and an active advocate for numerous global education initiatives, including the Galtere Institute at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga.

Ms. Haugerud received her B.S. degree with Honors in Forest Resource Management from the University of Montana in 1980.

 

michelle-lee-for-webMICHELLE Y. LEE is the Northeast Community Banking regional president for Wells Fargo, the fourth largest U.S. bank. In this role she provides executive leadership for all retail, small business and business banking operations in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, which includes 770 retail banking stores, 1,248 ATMs, 17 business banking teams and 8,500 employees. She is also an executive vice president for the company.

Michelle has spent her entire 28 year banking career with Wells Fargo and its predecessor companies. Joining Wells Fargo (then First National State Bank) as a teller in 1984, she quickly assumed leadership positions of increasing responsibility. She served as Wachovia’s Retail Bank Executive for Georgia and as the bank’s Group Retail Banking Executive for East Coast markets from Connecticut to Florida.

A Newark, N.J. native, Michelle serves on the boards of The Newark Alliance, Select Greater Philadelphia, the YMCA of Greater New York, the Alvin Ailey Dance School Foundation, the Alliance for Lupus Research (ALR), and Junior Achievement of New Jersey. She is a partner member of Choose New Jersey and is past president of the Marion P. Thomas Charter School Foundation in Newark.

Michelle was honored in 2012 for her support of the Newark School of the Arts. She was named to NJBIZ’s 2011 Best 50 Women in Business list and received the prestigious New York Women’s Agenda STAR Award, which honors women who hold distinguished positions and who serve as role models. She received Stand & Deliver’s 2011 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award for helping to improve the lives of youth living in Newark, N.J. Michelle has also been honored by 100 Black Men of America, Executive Women of New Jersey and was selected for inclusion in the 2009 edition of Diversity Profile’s Women to Watch.

Michelle holds a degree in Music and Applied Voice from the Boston Conservatory of Music, and in addition to being a financial services executive, is a pianist, composer, choir director, playwright and poet.

 

sandra-lee-for-web SANDRA LEE is a multi-Emmy® award-winner and internationally-acclaimed expert in all things kitchen and home. Sandra Lee has predicted and changed the trajectory of American lifestyle with her signature "smart and simple" philosophy. She empowers people of all walks of life to create memorable meals, hospitable homes, and creative crafts and shows them how to entertain for every occasion―with ease.

Sandra is the editor in chief of Sandra Lee Magazine and the host of four highly-rated culinary programs on Food Network and Cooking Channel: Restaurant Remakes, Sandra's Money Saving Meals, Semi-Homemade Cooking and Taverns, Lounges & Clubs. Additionally, Sandra is the host of HGTV's Sandra Lee Celebrates, a series of prime time entertaining specials.

Widely-respected for anticipating the needs of the modern homemaker and consumers, Sandra has launched several lines of home, garden, seasonal and craft products and produced a successful DIY home improvement series. Her newest kitchens, tabletops, housewares, seasonal decors and domestics collections available exclusively in Kmart/Sears, entitled Sandra by Sandra Lee, offers attainable, affordable products to the overextended homemaker and busy professional.

With a commitment to service and charity, Sandra has received both the President’s Volunteer Service Award and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

Sandra's primary focus is on the issues of hunger, poverty and homelessness; which are at crisis levels in the United States. She is the national spokesperson for Share our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign and the anchor of their largest annual fundraiser, The Great American Bake Sale - two groundbreaking programs focused on ending childhood hunger in America. Sandra works with numerous philanthropic organizations including Citymeals-on Wheels, the Bowery Mission, God's Love We Deliver, Food Banks across New York state and America as well as Central Park Conservancy and is a founding member of UNICEF's Board of Directors- Los Angeles chapter.

In spring 2013, this New York Times bestselling author of 25 cookbooks will release her newest cooking title, Every Dish Delivers. Her first fiction book, The Recipe Box, is due summer of 2013.

 

trish-mcevoy-for-web-v3 Makeup Artist TRISH McEVOY is the Founder and CEO of Trish McEvoy Beauty.

Renowned makeup artist and educator, cosmetics innovator and visionary entrepreneur Trish McEvoy founded Trish McEvoy, Ltd., with a collection of handcrafted makeup brushes that put the power of a professional makeup application in every woman’s hands. She was twenty-five years old. Soon after, she opened one of the nation’s first medi-spas in New York where she turned Trish McEvoy beauty into a multi-million dollar company by the age of thirty. Trish’s most notable innovations include one of the first dermatologist-designed skincare lines, one of the first Fragrance Wardrobe launches, and her one-and-only patented Makeup Planner® portable makeup vanity which redefined the way cosmetics could be selected, carried and applied. Today Trish’s edited beauty line features a meticulous collection of performance-driven, mistake-proof products engineered to meet women’s needs. One of Beauty’s most influential voices, for more than three decades Trish has been dedicated to teaching women the Power of Makeup®. She is in-demand for her famously motivational Master Classes and public appearances that arm women with the products and techniques to make every day a good beauty day. In the world of the major business conglomerate, Trish remains independent and oversees all her company’s operations. A proud supporter of Girl Scouting, Trish believes deeply in utilizing beauty to help instill women with the Girl Scout virtues of “courage, confidence and character” at all stages of their lives.