2023 Women’s History Month Breakfast
Date/Time
Date(s) - March 15, 2023
7:30 am - 9:30 am
Location
Edward Jones – Atrium of Manchester Building East
12555 Manchester Road
Des Peres, MO 63131
Registration is now closed for this event. If you need to make changes to an existing reservation, please contact Kayla Dix at kaylad@focus-stl.org or (314) 657-4020.
In honor of Women’s History Month, join us for our annual breakfast and an engaging panel discussion with prominent and influential St. Louis leaders. We’ll explore how they got to where they are in their careers, their tips for navigating power structures and achieving change, and how they lead in community and civic spaces. Learn strategies to improve your leadership effectiveness in any situation and how you can help pave the way for future women leaders. This thought-provoking conversation is sure to leave you feeling inspired and ready to tackle the next challenge in your leadership journey!
This event will also include time for networking.
Panelists
This year’s panel will feature:
- Bernie Frazier, SPHR, President, CAREERCompass LLC, and author of Your Success is in YOU!: Empowering and Equipping You to Create Your Best Career Ever!
- Cabanne Howard, CEO, Kaleidoscope Management Group
- Melissa “Missy” Kelley, Director of Client Experience, Shapiro Metals, and co-author of FULL: Overcoming Our Eating Disorders to Fully Live
- Gabriela Ramirez-Arellano, Executive Director, Center for Emerging Technologies; Director of Entrepreneurship, Cortex Innovation Community; and creator of Auténtico and We Live Here Auténtico podcasts
Cost
$15 for FOCUS members (join/renew now)
$30 for non-members
Advance registration is required. To receive complimentary member registration, you will need to log-in to your account. Registrations are nonrefundable, but attendee substitutions are allowed.
Schedule
7:30-8:00 a.m. – Check-in/Networking
8:00-9:30 a.m. – Program
Thank you to our host for this event!
About Our Panelists
Author of the book Your Success is in YOU!: Empowering and Equipping You to Create Your Best Career Ever!, Bernie Frazier, SPHR is also a speaker, career coach/strategist, talent acquisition expert, and the President of CAREERCompass LLC, a speaking and career coaching/strategy firm. Her mission is to help people overcome barriers to greater career success.
Bernie has shared her expertise as keynote speaker for numerous businesses and organizations, including Wells Fargo, Cisco, Emerson, Peabody Energy, Centene, Ameren, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Mercy Health, the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals, and Drake University, to name a few. She has coached clients globally from C-Suite executives to individual contributors regarding career development and the fine art of job search effectiveness. Bernie also served as the “Career Coach” on KSDK’s Today in St. Louis – the St. Louis NBC affiliate, shared timeless job search tips on SiriusXM and KTRS 550 AM radio in St. Louis, been featured in the New York Times, profiled in the St. Louis Business Journal, and is a contributing writer for Thrive Global.
Cabanne Howard is the CEO of Kaleidoscope Management Group (KMG), a strategic digital marketing and communications firm based in St. Louis. With more than 20 years of communications experience, Cabanne and her team help their clients – who represent companies across a wide range of industries including: real estate, healthcare, wellness and education – achieve their business goals. Cabanne founded KMG after working for start ups and Fortune 500s, where she saw an opportunity to create the firm she wished she could have hired as her marketing firm … and the place she wished she could have worked. An employer that values relationships and results in equal measure.
Cabanne also owns Chakra, a commercial real estate holding company. More recently, she founded a wellness center, Chakra Wellness, with a goal of helping connect holistic wellness providers with clients seeking optimal health and enlightenment.
Cabanne graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, with an undergraduate degree in Art History and French. She is living proof that a liberal arts degree is not mutually exclusive with pursuing a career in business! When Cabanne is not working, she is spending time with her husband and two kids, ideally exploring somewhere new in the world.
Melissa “Missy” Kelley is a strategy-driven executive with extensive experience in both corporate and non-profit organizations. Her corporate experience includes working for household brands at The Coca-Cola Company and Energizer Battery Company. She served as the CEO of Downtown STL, Inc. from 2015 to 2020, prior to re-entering the private sector. She currently leads the account management division at Shapiro Metals, an environmental sustainability company.
Melissa holds an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, and is currently pursuing certification from the Harvard Extension School in Corporate Sustainability and Innovation. In 2022, Melissa published a book she co-authored on eating disorder recovery, entitled FULL: Overcoming Our Eating Disorders to Fully Live.
Originally from Guanajuato, Mexico, and inspired by her own experience growing up an immigrant in the United States, Gabriela Ramirez-Arellano has a passion and commitment to help others. Gabriela helps small business owners achieve their dreams through her work at Cortex Innovation Community, as well as through her podcasts, Auténtico and We Live Here Auténtico in collaboration with St. Louis Public Radio. Her work at the BALSA Foundation promotes social equity and prosperity supporting first time entrepreneurs.
Also an author and marathon runner, Gabriela is a Mizzou and Lindenwood grad. She is most proud of raising amazing children who inspire her to help make the world a better place.