TD Offices, New York
In 2024, despite making up almost half of the wider IR industry across the US, women occupied just 30% of the leadership roles within it. Shockingly, these numbers were not only worse than in recent years but have barely changed at all since 2017 when IR Magazine began undergoing this research.
In this powerful event, we shined a light on the journey of women in investor relations and provide practical advice on assessing, identifying and overcoming the professional barriers you faced. Don’t miss this chance to be part of the conversation that was driving change across the IR landscape.
You will learn:
Holders of the NIRI IRC® certification can earn up to 4 professional development units (PDUs) per day. IRC-certified speakers may also earn PDUs. For more information about the Investor Relations Charter (IRC)®, please visit www.niri.org/certification.
Click here to see the 2024 agenda as a PDF
All times displayed are in Eastern Time (ET)
16:30 PM
Registration, drinks and canapés: Build your network
We’ll kick off the event with some networking drinks. Be sure to join us nice and early to grow your network and make new connections with like-minded women in IR.
16:50 PM
Welcome to the Women in IR Forum
Lauren McDonald, conference producer, IR Magazine
16:55 PM
Opening remarks
Jana Zinn, head of corporate access, TD Cowen, a division of TD Securities
17:00 PM
Self-advocacy, career advancement, and personal branding: The keys to unlocking your potential as a woman in IR
Whether you are at the beginning of your career or you are an experienced IR professional looking for the next step, knowing how to make the most of your role and how to prepare for advancement can be a challenge. In this session, our expert speakers will guide you through best practice on maximizing your potential and using your current position as a launchpad to senior roles in IR and beyond.
Moderator: Lauren McDonald, conference producer, IR Magazine
Kaitlyn Mauritz, head of IR, Redwood Trust
Smooch Repovich Rosenberg, CEO, Smooch Unplugged
Katie Royce, CFO, ZenBusiness
17:45 PM
Breaking barriers: Stories and tips from successful women in the field
From juggling professional and family life to navigating bias in the workplace, we know that women start the race towards professional success with a myriad of hurdles to clear. Join our panel of industry leaders as they touch on many of these obstacles and share their insights into overcoming barriers and achieving professional goals.
Moderator: Lauren McDonald, conference producer, IR Magazine
Ellen Cavaleri, senior vice president, IR and communications, Lyra Therapeutics
Hope Dmuchowski, CFO, First Horizon
Shivani Kak, head of IR, Moody’s
Jami Taylor, senior vice president and head of IR, Coherus BioSciences
18:30 PM
IR Situation Room: Solving problems collaboratively
Whether you are facing obstacles in your current role or you are looking for insights into reaching higher levels of responsibility and leadership, this forum will allow you to get sound advice from experts and peers.
In this session, we encourage you to submit specific challenges and queries to the room and hear solutions in real-time from our audience. This is an opportunity to crowd-source innovative and thoughtful advice from our community of experienced and successful women.
Moderator: Christine Cloonan, IR manager, PagerDuty
19:00 PM
Closing remarks
Lauren McDonald, conference producer, IR Magazine
19:10 PM
Networking drinks continue
20:00 PM
End of the event
We're delighted to announce our speaker line-up for 2024!
Jana Zinn
Head of corporate access
TD Cowen, a division of TD Securities
Meg Dodge
Vice president, investor relations and corporate communications
Rocket Pharma
Ms. Dodge is Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Rocket Pharma, a rare and devastating disease company seeking gene therapy cures. Previously, Ms. Dodge led Investor Relations and Communications at Krystal Biotech which received and launched the first-ever FDA-approved redosable gene therapy for a rare and life-threatening dermatological disease. Prior to her efforts in rare disease, Ms. Dodge led corporate strategy and development for two private biotechnology companies. Ms. Dodge began her career at Goldman Sachs, serving a number of roles before transitioning into the biotech industry. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Colby College, a J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law and an LLM from New York University Law School.
Ami Bavishi
Former Executive Director, Head of IR and Corp Comms
Rallybio
Keri Mattox
Senior vice president, chief communications and administration officer
Zimmer Biomet
Keri P. Mattox was appointed Senior Vice President, Chief Communications and Administration Officer in May 2022, responsible for strategically integrating, aligning and driving investor relations, communications and philanthropy functions and activities, as well as environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. She joined Zimmer Biomet in January 2020 as Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Chief Communications Officer.
Prior to joining Zimmer Biomet, Ms. Mattox served as Global Lead, Integrated Corporate Communications at W2O Group (now Real Chemistry), an international healthcare-focused marketing and communications firm. There she was responsible for strategically shaping and expanding the firm’s global corporate communications, investor relations, crisis communications, M&A, board engagement and corporate social responsibility/foundation capabilities and offering.
Prior to W2O, Ms. Mattox was Vice President, Corporate & Investor Relations at AmerisourceBergen, a healthcare company ranked #10 on the Fortune 500. She also held executive leadership team level positions at Endo International and Auxilium Pharmaceuticals and spent more than 10 years at communications agencies in leadership positions. Earlier in her career, Ms. Mattox was a reporter with Hearst Newspapers. She holds a B.A. from Boston University and an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Maryland.
Patricia Yassick
Senior manager, investor relations
Etsy
Patricia serves as Sr. Manager, Investor Relations at Etsy, Inc. where she helps build and execute the company’s IR program. She also serves on the Board of Directors at the National Investor Relations Institute NY Chapter.
She brings over 10 years of experience in the Investor Relations field in both in-house and as a consultant working closing with C-suite in developing and managing equity and fixed income IR and financial programs for mid-cap LatAm companies listed in their local and U.S markets.
During her agency years, she covered various sectors (ranging from airports and airlines, construction, retail, food & beverages, among others) throughout Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Peru. Prior to transitioning to the IR world, she served 5 years conducting market risk; financial analyses for foreign investments at the Central Bank of Honduras and credit analyses at HSBC.
Patricia has a Masters in Investor Relations from Fordham University, as well as an MBA and BS in Finance from Universidad Tecnologica Centroamericana.
Diana Bellizzi
Director of investor relations
Hudson Valley Property Group
Diana works on all investor relations and relationship management efforts. Before joining HVPG, Diana worked at King Street Capital Management, L.P. managing hedge fund and real estate operational due diligence within the Investor Relations Team. Prior to that she was a Vice President at Fortress Investment Group in the Capital Formations Group for the Credit and Real Estate Funds and before that, a Manager at the fund administrator SS&C GlobeOp, in the Client Implementation and On-boarding Group. Diana received a BS from The Pennsylvania State University.
Olga Levinzon
Senior vice president, investor relations and head of M&A
Coty's
As Coty’s SVP Investor Relations and Head of M&A, Olga Levinzon is responsible for elevating Coty’s profile with the investment community, communicating the company’s business results and strategy, as well as building and strengthening the corporate portfolio. Over the past 10 years, Olga has shaped Coty’s narrative on strategic initiatives, including M&A transactions, turnaround plans, and the recent dual listing on the Euronext Paris stock exchange. Prior to joining Coty, Olga spent 8 years in sell-side equity research at Barclays.
Shivani Kak
Head of investor relations
Moody's
With over twenty years of global capital market experience, Shivani is an II ranked Head of IR and member of Moody’s Operating Committee. She’s a passionate advocate of mentoring and improving financial literacy, especially with women. She holds an MBA from Cornell and speaks fluent Russian.
Christine Cloonan
Manager, investor relations
PagerDuty
Christine Cloonan is a Manager, Investor Relations at PagerDuty (NYSE:PD), a global leader in digital operations management. Joining PagerDuty during its second fiscal year as a public company, Christine played a role in establishing best practices for the investor relations team. Christine actively engages with the Company’s social impact initiatives, including its foundation, PD.org. Investor relations has been a welcome home for Christine’s prior careers in corporate finance and education. Skills from these careers enable Christine to effectively engage management teams to teach investors about their business in both quantitative and qualitative terms.
Christine graduated from Bowdoin College in Maine and holds graduate degrees from Middlebury College in Vermont and la Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires Argentina, where she studied as a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar. The Boston Chamber of Commerce recognized her as a future leader and she supports the Women’s Lunch Place, a day shelter community for women experiencing poverty and homelessness in Boston.
Jami Taylor
Senior vice president and head of investor relations
Coherus BioSciences
Jami Taylor, MBA, IRC is Senior Vice President and Head of Investor Relations at Coherus BioSciences, an oncology-focused biotechnology company based in Redwood City, California. An expert in crisis management, Jami has facilitated the stabilization of companies in periods of severe share price declines, facilitating the transformation of business models, product portfolios, and overall risk profiles through strategic shareholder engagement. Jami earned master’s degrees from Northwestern University and Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia. She lectures regularly at the MIT Sloan School of Management and Yale University, where she is a academic fellow.
Ellen Cavaleri
Senior vice president, investor relations and communications
Lyra Therapeutics
Ellen Cavaleri is Senior Vice President of Lyra Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company. Before joining Lyra in September 2022, Ellen served as Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Communications at Kadmon Holdings, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company. At Kadmon, she created and implemented the company’s investor relations strategy and oversaw all external and internal communications. She played an active role in several financing rounds for Kadmon and led communications for the clinical development, U.S. regulatory approval and commercialization of the company’s first therapeutic REZUROCK® (belumosudil) as well as the acquisition of Kadmon by Sanofi in November 2021. Previously, she was a senior associate at The Corkery Group, where she supported Gilead Sciences’ communications strategy. Ms. Cavaleri graduated magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University with a B.A. in English. She received her master’s degree in business administration from New York University.
Smooch Repovich Rosenberg
Founder and CEO
Smooch Unplugged
Smooch’s work is more than just a career — headhunting is in her DNA. She defines her success by the
achievements of her clients and the candidates whom she has placed. “I have spent my life focused on doing the right things, which is vastly different from those who do things right.”
After more than 25 years as a globally recognized executive search consultant, Smooch Repovich Reynolds has her finger on the pulse of the global Investor Relations and Corporate Communications professions and has had tremendous success leveraging human capital strategies to create high-octane, superior performing functions. She has the unique ability to see around corners and readily identify solutions to human capital challenges that advance company valuation.
A true innovator in her field, Smooch effectively pioneered Investor Relations executive search when she was catapulted into the field by a former CEO for whom she worked at an international IR and Communications consultancy. Now she is considered a key catalyst in evolving the profession to the level of respect it commands today. She is known as a leading authority on the intangible leadership traits that define the top 20% of Investor Relations and Chief Communications Officers globally.
Smooch is the only executive search consultant in the world who exclusively solves investment community challenges through IRO talent placement and addresses corporate brand dilemmas through Chief Communications Officer talent advisement and placement. Her specialization in this field results in a competitive advantage for clients and candidates that cannot be found elsewhere.
Today, she utilizes her sharp business acumen to serve clients ranging in size from pre-IPO startups to
Fortune 100 corporations, and companies around the world, as a C-Suite executive search consultant, talent acquisition strategist, and leadership coach. In addition, Smooch regularly contributes thought leadership pieces to industry publications and myriad media sources, shares her thoughts in interviews and podcasts, and engages with numerous professional organizations as a sought-after speaker. As the only executive recruiter awarded with the prestigious title of NIRI Fellow, she is considered a peer by Investor Relations Officers around the globe.
Kaitlyn Mauritz
Managing director and head of IR
Redwood Trust
Kaitlyn Mauritz is a Managing Director and Head of Investor Relations for Redwood Trust. Kait’s responsibilities include establishing and expanding the company’s relationships with sell-side and buy-side investment analysts, industry analysts, media personnel and investors worldwide. She also provides input on the company’s financial reporting, capital markets, public relations and ESG-related activities. Prior to joining Redwood in January 2022, Kait was Head of Investor Relations for New Residential Investment Corp. and also held other investor relations related roles at Annaly Capital Management Inc. and ICR Inc. Kait began her career at Citigroup in both Sales & Trading and Equity Capital Markets and graduated with a BA in Politics from Princeton University.
Hope Dmuchowski
Senior executive vice president and CFO
First Horizon
Hope Dmuchowski is senior executive vice president and chief financial officer for First Horizon Corporation. She has responsibility for accounting, treasury, financial planning & analysis, line of business finance, corporate development and investor relations. In addition to her financial management responsibilities, she also has responsibility for corporate properties, sourcing and procurement.
Dmuchowski has over 20 years of experience in banking and brings a wealth of finance, accounting and merger expertise, having served in several key roles running integrated business and economic models, budgeting, forecasting, financial analysis, regulatory reporting and operations. Prior to joining First Horizon in 2021, Dmuchowski worked at Truist and the predecessor bank BB&T in numerous roles, including head of financial planning and analysis and management reporting, chief financial officer of corporate banking, commercial banking and corporate groups, chief financial officer group director as well as chief financial and operating officer of enterprise operations services. Dmuchowski began her banking career in the Leadership Development program for the sales and trading division of Deutsche Bank.
Dmuchowski has a passion for serving her community and is an avid volunteer in every city where she has lived. She currently serves on the non-profit boards for the National Salvation Army, where she is the treasurer, 4Word, and the Baptist Hospital Foundation.
Dmuchowski holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and a Master of Science degree in Business Management both from Saint Elizabeth University, as well as a Women in Leadership certification from Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business.
Hope has been married for over 20 years and she and her husband have three sons, Brayden (15), Logan (14), Connor (10) and two Berne Doodle dogs Zoey (4) and Clover (2).
Katie Royce
CFO
ZenBusiness
Royce is currently the CFO at ZenBusiness. Prior to their current role, Katie served as the SVP, Americas CFO at Cognizant. Over her 8 year tenure at Cognizant she also held the position of VP, Head of Investor Relations and was a Director of the Cognizant Foundation. Katie’s experience also includes working in various investor relations and treasury roles including as an Investor Relations Manager at Selective Insurance. Katie began her career on the buyside as a Research Analyst at Clay Finlay, Inc.
Katie Royce has a BSBA from the University of Richmond – Robins School of Business in Marketing and International Business. Katie also is a CFA Charterholder and earned an Investor Relations certification from New York University. She is the immediate past chair of the board of NIRI.
Lauren McDonald
Conference producer
IR Magazine
Lauren McDonald is a conference producer at IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary. She brings a wealth of experience from her past roles in campaign organising for The Labour Party in Leeds and Tower Hamlets.
Lauren holds a Masters degree in the History of Race & Resistance and a Bachelors degree in American History & Politics, both from prestigious universities. She uses her expertise and knowledge to inform her current work and ensure high quality outcomes.
In her free time, Lauren is actively involved in a number of charitable causes. She has volunteered with the Girl Guides, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, and regularly donates her time to political campaigns in and around London.
In her role as conference producer at IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary, Lauren is passionate about providing the best experience to all stakeholders and ensuring all events she produces are of the highest quality.
Our attendees are leading IR practitioners with an established track record and strategic IR role within their company.
Below is a sample of some of our past attendees:
Job title | Company | Job title | Company |
Associate director, advisory services | Nasdaq | Head, Governance Services | Nasdaq |
Associate partner | Buchanan | Head, investor relations | Minerals Technologies |
CCO & head, investor relations | Avon | Head, investor relations | Moody’s Corporation |
Co-head of client relations | Orient Capital | Head, investor relations | Mylan |
Director | Powerscourt Group | Managing director | FTI Consulting |
Director, head of investor relations | Peel Hunt | Managing partner | Instinctif Partners |
Director, investor relations | Conduent | Partner | Instinctif Partners |
Director, investor relations – ESG | Lloyds Banking Group | Partner | Taylor Bennett |
Director, investor relations & corporate communications | Anterix | Senior vice president | Formerly Fifth Third Bancorp |
Executive creative director | five corporate reporting & consulting | Vice president | J.P. Morgan |
Executive director, Europe & Asia | Rivel Research Group | VP, business development | Tronox |
Executive director, investor relations | Celgene | VP, investor relations | Etsy |
Executive vice president & CFO | Fortis | VP, investor relations | Fortis |
Head of IR | Barratt Developments | VP, investor relations | Nielsen |
Head of IR | ADLER Real Estate | VP, investor relations | Tradeweb |
Why partner with us?
The IR Magazine Forum – Women in IR brings together some of the most influential people in the IR community.
The event offers an effective approach to targeting clients when they are exploring how they can improve their IR practice. Through our unrivaled knowledge of the subject matter and commitment to in-depth agenda research, our events are guaranteed to attract a qualified audience.
The unique buzz we create at our in-person events – a far cry from a traditional conference – makes them multi-faceted and highly interactive with great engagement in particular from heads of IR. This allows our partners to have meaningful conversations with corporates who are deciding which parts of their IR program to invest in, which service providers to engage and consultants to retain. By partnering with us on an event, you can generate leads, showcase your thought leadership and position yourselves as the partner of choice to the IR community.
We’d love to have a chat with you about how you can get in front of a truly engaged and motivated audience at the IR Magazine Forum – Women in IR. Get in touch with Ian Richman or call on +1 212 430 6865.
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For more information please visit www.tdcowen.com.
Forum Partners
SmoochUnplugged, LLC is a high octane, global talent consulting firm that offers Investor Relations Officer executive search and strategic human capital advisory specifically directed toward financial market success and corporate brand stewardship. The firm’s CEO is recognized as a market maker with respected investment community leaders, Boards of Directors, and management teams, with a charter to solve human capital challenges through its innovative, provocative and impactful collaborations with clients and talent around the world. www.smoochunplugged.com.
With 30 years of laser sharp focus in the Investor Relations Officer niche, SmoochUnplugged’s portfolio of success spans clients in all industries and across all sectors of the public company journey from pre-IPO to mega cap entities. SmoochUnplugged has had tremendous success partnering with recognized PE firms to recruit exceptional IRO talent who serve as their portfolio companies’ stewards of brand leadership as these entities transition to the public markets. Viewed as the global Investor Relations executive search leader, the Firm’s credible and respected brand and performance extends from North America to Europe to Asia.
Us: High Octane – Influencers – Impact-Driven Human Capital Solutions Architects.
Our Clients: Serious-Minded Leaders – Innovators of Change – Focused.
Our Talent: Thought Leaders – Performance Driven – Corporate Athletes.
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IR Magazine are supporters of Bottomless Closet. Bottomless Closet is a New York based nonprofit seeking to empower disadvantaged women to enter the workplace and succeed. The Bottomless Closet experience is all about making women feel confident, prepared, and empowered to ace their job interviews, start that new job, and begin their journey to self-sufficiency.
Please click here for more information on their impact.
We would be grateful if you are able to bring along any of the items outlined in the list below, to be donated to disadvantaged women.
For further information about their work, please visit bottomlesscloset.org.
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