Who is Alicia Curtis?

Alicia Curtishas been a member of BPW since 2005.  In this time, she has served as State Development Coordinator where she wrote and launched the Keys to Achievement Program (now being implemented in BPW Federations around the world).  She also co-established the first National Young BPW Board in Australia, accepting the BPW International Empower to Youth Award as BPW Australia Ambassador at the BPW Asia Pacific Regional Conference in Korea.   She held the position of National Young BPW Director from 2007 – 2010 where she created a number of Youtube video about BPW by interviewing members.  These videos have been seen by thousands of people from around the world.  

Professionally, Alicia is a successful leadership speaker and trainer, starting her business at 18 years old.  She was elected the youngest State President of her industry association, the National Speakers Association in Australia in 2010.  Alicia has recently launched a new blog called Revolutionary Lives (www.revolutionarylives.com) where she writes about what it takes to be a revolutionary in today’s society. 

Mildred Espinoza, General Manager/Correspondant at South-South News, New-York City

Who is Mildred Espinoza ?

Mildred Espinoza is a two time Emmy-Award Winning Television Executive and the General Manager/Correspondent at South-South News. She is the recipient of a Silver Medal from the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation presented to her by the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations Correspondent’s Association Ceremony. This award recognized her coverage on Climate Change – “Sustainable Tourism” in Roatán, Honduras.

Who is Mai Dang-Goy?

Mai is Managing Director at Dussmann Beteiligungs- und Managementgesellschaft mbH. She studied construction engineering at FH Kaiserslautern. At Dussmann she is responsible for the project management. As project manager she leads multi-projects all over Germany. In this position she is also responsible for 1,800 employees.
In 2010 the Deutsche Ingenieurinnen Bund (German organization of female engineers) elected Mai as one of the 25 most influential female engineers in Germany.

From 2008 - 2010 Mai has been President of BPW Germany Club Munich e. V. During her presidency she invented project management trainings and managed  project teams across several organizations for the Equal Pay Day. Actual she is member of the German Task Force Life Long Learning with focus on project management.

Who is Sabine Kone Dossongui ?

Sabine Kone Dossongui, the current Vice-President, BPW Abidjan-RCI, Côte d’Ivoire, has been married for over 30 years to a very supportive husband, Bernard Kone Dossongui and despite her busy schedule, has managed to balance her professional, social, as well as family life effectively. She grew up in a modest but large happy family from which she imbibed a rich spiritual quality and a readiness to be of service to others. This latter quality came to the fore when at the International Congress in Helsinki, she donated the proceeds of the sale of the gold wrist-watch she won from the Young BPW raffle draw at the Gala night to the children of Japan.

Who is Haifa Najjar ?

Haifa Najjar, member of the Upper House of the Jordan Parliament and the Superintendent of the Ahliyyah School for Girls and the Bishop’s School for Boys, is an eminent figure in the field of education in Jordan and internationally. She holds a Masters degree in Transformation Management. She curently presides the BPW Amman.

Who is Lucia Votano ?

Born in Calabria, Italy, since September 2009 Lucia Votano is currently Director of INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS), the largest underground facility for astroparticle physics in the world. She is member of the BPW Roma.

• She graduated with summa cum laude in Physics at University 'La Sapienza' (Roma) in 1971.
• She became staff research scientist at ENEA Frascati Laboratory in 1975, and at INFN Frascati National Laboratory (LNF) in 1976.
• She was appointed as Senior Researcher in 1988 and as Research Director of Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) in 2000.
• In 1977 she was designated LNF coordinator in INFN GR II Scientific Committee. In 1997 she was appointed head of LNF Scientific Information Service. From 1999 through 2004 she was Director of LNF Research Division. She has been Professor designated of General Physics at Univ. of Urbino.
• She has been Member of ApPec Peer Review Committee and of ASPERA Roadmap Committee. She is currently member of ASPERA Scientific Advisory Committee.

Who is Geva Murano ?

I became a Member of BPW Melbourne, Australia and was elected as Finance Director of the BPW International at the Helsinki Congress in June 2011.  

After completing 2 years of an Accounting Certificate I transferred to the Associate Diploma of Business in Legal Practice at the RMIT which qualified me as a Legal Executive specialising in Property Conveyancing. I later completed a Bachelor of Laws at The University of Melbourne.
I have worked at Gadens Lawyers in Melbourne and Russell Kennedy Lawyers in Melbourne  in their Banking and Finance Teams.My practice focused mainly on Retail and Commercial Loans. I was a member of The Law Institute of Victoria and The Victorian Women Lawyers.

I have been involved in running family restaurants businesses over ten years including keeping the accounts, staff management, dealing with suppliers , insurance, compliance with regulations, etc.

I have also worked at Legal Community Centres namely Coburg/Brunswick Community Legal Centre JobWatch

I have had a variety of positions on Committees of Management in community. Not-for-profit organisations, namely

• Banyule Support & Information Centre (Vice-President)
• Community Information Victoria
• Lions House Foundation  Fundraising Sub-Committee
• I continue to be a Member of the Committee of Management of the Eaglemont Neighbourhood Conservation Association

I have contributed to various Community Submissions and Consultation Processes namely

• Community Consultation Banyule Community Plan 2010 - 2012
• The Ivanhoe Project
• City of Banyule Parking Project
• Submission to the Planning Minister re Planning Control changes
• VEC Review of Ward Boundaries
• Submission to City of Banyule regarding relocation of BANSIC

I am a member of

• The Art Deco & Modernism Society
• The Button Collectors Club
• The Reading for Pleasure Book Group

My interests include – cinema, reading, exhibitions, travel, opera and yoga.

Geva Murano
BPW International, Finance Director 2011-2014

Who is Yinka Ajibola ?

Yinka Ajibola graduated from University of Ile Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Nigeria, in 1976.
Her experience over the years in senior management positions in Lever Brothers Nigeria Limited (now Unilever), Rank Xerox Nig Ltd, Continental Pharmaceutical Limited, International Paints West Africa Ltd and Afriko West Africa Limited (a photographic and graphic trading outfit),  greatly equipped her for many future assignments she subsequently carried out.

Who is Nesreen Barakat ?

Mrs. Nesreen Barakat has been involved profoundly in public service of Jordan during 2010-2011. Mrs. Barakat served as the Minister of Public Sector Development and prior to that, she was the Managing Director of the National Aid Fund, and a Council Member at the Greater Amman Municipality. During 1990-2002 she was the Director of the Competitiveness Unit at the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.

Who is Karin Raguin ?

In 1996, I wrote a thesis on “Gender Equality at Work” as I was graduating from a Business School in Paris, France : It was right after the UN Beijing Platform, a time of great energy and hopes for women rights … 15 years after, we didn’t reach equal pay, and the gap is still the same !
At that time I joined BPW France for the first time. Then I served the French federation as Executive Secretary in 2008 and as President since 2010. French federation is still small but very dynamic : in 2009 we decided to focus on Equal Pay and became visible through media. We made a lot of recommendations to the French government since the law was being reinforced for gender equality at work. The Women Empowerment Principles has also been a very good opportunity for us : this year we organized a great meeting at AREVA - the first French company which signed the WEPs - for the Equal Pay Day, in April : more than 200 participants (HR Directors, politics,…) attended it. Thanks to the WEPs, to the Equal Pay day and to a wonderful team, the number of BPW France affiliates doubled from 117 in 2010 to 220 in 2011, and we created 4 new clubs !
I’d like to stress that Nicole Pelletier Perez (Past French President) and Amélie Leclercq (Past European Coordinator) provided me great support in implementing our strategy in France and managing our Executive team.