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Current Newsletter

Community Outreach Update: Mentoring Women to Success.

The Evolution of the Mortgage Industry: Past, Present, and Future

The Yen's Impact on the Recovery of Japan and the World Economy

A Message to Rising Stars: "Expect to Win"

The DNA of Risk and Regulatory Reform: Decoding the New Regulatory Environment

Help Your Associates to Embrace Change

2012 Annual Merit Award Dinner

Community Outreach Update: Mentoring Women to Success.

2011 – 2012 Year in Review
The Mentorship Program Sub-Committee is a critical part of the Community Outreach Committee of the Women's Bond Club. Spearheaded by Michele Tomic and Rosa Alaimo, 2011-2012 was another stellar year for these young women and for the Club.

The Mentoring Committee had a very exciting year, holding its normally scheduled events. These events included the Annual Mentor/Mentee Breakfast and Pizza Dinner, Resume Writing Workshop, Interviewing Skills, and a Career Panel Discussion.

Noteworthy this year was the inclusion of outside speakers at our events. During our Mentee Breakfast, Kevin Quinn, a Certified Financial Planner from Ameriprise Financial, discussed fiscal responsibility and the basics of financial planning. In addition, we sponsored a business etiquette session for the Women's Bond Club scholarship winners led by author and corporate coach, Frances Cole Jones. Ms. Jones is the author of "How to Wow" and "The Wow Factor: The 33 Things You Must (and Must Not) Do to Guarantee Your Edge in Today's Business World." The event provided a wonderful opportunity for the young ladies to speak with an accomplished author and entrepreneur. Ms. Jones discussed how body language and other non-verbal communication are important factors contributing to how an individual's message is received. Specific topics included how to prepare for the interview, how to "tell your story" during the interview, and the importance of proper follow-up. The young women were very engaged in the conversation and asked excellent questions. After the discussion, Ms. Jones met individually with many of the scholarship winners to provide guidance on their particular situations. The event was such a success that Ms. Jones graciously agreed to return in May 2012 for a follow-up session.

Mentoring has a full calendar for 2012, including a discussion on the current macro-economic environment, a Bloomberg training session and a discussion on how to get the most out of the college experience during our Pizza Dinner, in addition to our regularly scheduled events geared to prepare the scholarship winners for internships and full time employment.

2011-2012
Committee Members
Mentorship Program
Rosa Alaimo
Tracey Coates
Carina Dacer
Stella Lagudis
Christine Lattanzio
Christina Macrae
Eleonora Menaker
Iris Mejia
Michele Tomic
Donna Wilson

The Evolution of the Mortgage Industry: Past, Present, and Future

By Jen Begley

Thursday, February 23, 2012. Hosted by BNY Mellon and Capco

Vicky Hayes, Senior Vice President, TIAA-CREF welcomed the Women's Bond Club to Thursday evening's event. As a Board Member of the Women's Bond Club, Vicky shared the Club’s charter and vision - LEAD, LEARN, RETURN. She also reminded the audience that as part of our philanthropic activities, members could donate items to "Dress for Success" before leaving for the evening.

Following Vicky's warm welcome, Karen Peetz, Vice Chairman and CEO, BNY Mellon Financial Markets and Treasury Services delivered the opening address. Karen noted the Women’s Bond Club was the spark behind establishing BNY's global Women's Initiatives Network (WIN); WIN is now 50 chapters worldwide across the BNY Mellon enterprise. Karen took the opportunity to frame the evening's panel focus on the mortgage industry and its critical role in the global economy.

Michelle Conlin, Senior Enterprise Correspondent, Reuters, assumed the role of moderator and kicked off the panel portion with her confession that she was relatively new to the "mortgage world"; though having previously been at the Associated Press as the National Business Writer and prior to that at Business Week, she has seen the many different sides to the overall financial landscape - both professionally and personally.

Michelle spoke to the evolution of the past five years from a land of speculation to the current upside-down mortgage morass; including the new "Spanish Inquisition" – that is, the current process of getting a mortgage.
Joining the discussion, a panel of industry experts:

Mary K. Kinney, Executive Vice President, Ginnie Mae
Maria M. Livanos, Partner, SNR Denton's Capital Markets
Mark Reeves, Partner, Capco
Steven C. Trombetta, Managing Director, BNY Mellon Corporate Trust

As a starting point, consider the daily headlines:
THEN – Leveraging Home Equity, 0% Down, Flipping, "Investment" Real Estate, and
NOW – Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Robo-signing, Negative Equity, Short Sale, Foreclosure.

Mary offered some of her thoughts on what went wrong and where we are in 2012. Before the so-called "Market Meltdown", the housing market was a "Casino Environment" with a number of misaligned components – under and un-qualified borrowers, soaring property valuations and a lack of documentation transparency. In effect, roll the dice and buy a house! Private Investment cashed in on the opportunities and continued to fuel the market.

Post that period, it has become a landscape adverse to Private Label investment and those investors remain sidelined expecting the government to stabilize the situation, improve transparency and resolve a myriad of regulatory issues including implementing provisions of the Dodd Frank Act (Title XIV). Therefore, the Private Market is awaiting a new horizon of standardization before they re-invest dollars into the housing space. The consensus is that there must be some traction before any great effect is felt.

Maria provided an insight into the Regulatory effect, asking "Is there a new normal yet?" The industry is seeing changes in the origination, disclosure, servicing as well as securitization. Underwriting standards have changed. The overall investment chain has been impacted. Homeowners require a mortgage, which is financed – by investors, which are themselves, traditionally vehicles such as pension plans which have far too much at stake to invest in what are considered "risky" investments. Therefore the root of the issue may rest on the homeowner to ensure that they are informed and clearly understand their own mortgage so as to create a less risky investment at the start of the chain.

Steven suggested that ultimately standards need to be impressed; including data and process to ensure that there is transparency and uniformity. A centralized information solution may present the best alternative.

While the discussion narrowed on the US dilemma, Mark provided a more global viewpoint.

From Mark’s perspective, foreign markets exhibit a different behavior and are subject to very different regulatory requirements. However, some of the key points that seem to drive these relationships abroad are: ownership, simplicity, innovation, integrity and the underlying relationships themselves. In effect, a different behavior and value chain. This may be the reason that the US effects have not propagated beyond the US borders.

Overall, this suggests that there may be a number of dimensions to the "mortgage" problem: Regulation, Information, Motivation and Innovation.

Regulation
A host of new standards for residential mortgage loans and more stringent consumer protection provisions have been implemented. Understanding these and their impact is where panelists suggested that there may be opportunities ranging from restarting the market (improving confidence) to advisory roles such as interpreting the regulations for clients (identifying leverage points).

During the "crisis", it was left up to the government to step in, assess the situation and devise an interim, if not alternative, solution. The conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has been viewed by many as a facilitator in the prevention of further deterioration of the mortgage market. Edward DeMarco, Acting Director Federal Housing Finance Agency, proposed a number of activities to address the problems – ranging from foreclosure prevention to the fundamental task of improving mortgage processing and operations.

The recent $25 billion in relief as a result of the historic bi-partisan settlement with the country’s five largest loan services may be more than a few dollars in the consumer’s pocket. The agreement holds banks accountable and imparts servicing standards and penalties for non-compliance so that the cost of business changes.

In concert, government assistance and increased regulation will impact the stabilization of credit, market, regulatory and consumer risk.

Information
So is standardized and centralized information the solution? Could technology play a key role in resolving some of the problems? While the panelists agreed that a centralized, managed repository of information would reduce some of the problems – could that be the answer; is technology a panacea?

Consider MERS ("Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems") – originally meant to eliminate the paperwork in the loan registration and tracking process. Historically, not all loans were registered and even then there were gaps in tracking and updating – in some cases mortgages that were paid off were "re-incarnated". The ability to track a loan through its lifecycle was limited which lead to a myriad of problems, now the opportunity is in capturing that information and using it constructively.

MERS now sees its role as a beneficial one and offers a suite of products and services. Products such as electronic "e-Mortgage" solutions may act as a catalyst and force the industry to automate and change. Managing mortgages and mortgage information properly and more effectively will play a role.

Motivation
The ultimate goal is to re-establish the market and engage investors. However, it will take time to unwind and reduce the shadow inventory and create a positive market with good, qualified mortgage-related vehicles available for interested investors. Banks are holding onto "good" mortgages and so no natural market is created for the private investors with capital. In addition, Private Capital is hesitant to "take the first steps". Mary suggested that it may take a while for these investors to return to the marketplace as they wait for regulatory and disclosure related points to be resolved. Once they return and have "skin in the game", others should weigh in and follow.

Innovation
Foreclosures create an inventory of properties. Too large an inventory creates a liability as abandoned properties sit vacant. Both at the federal and local levels programs are being considered such as Obama’s construction plan and others where cities are stepping up and turning the properties into parks. While programs such as these require funding, they may be the most innovative way to reduce the inventory and present the best alternatives. As inventory is reduced, the market will have the chance to improve.

In sum total, changes and improvements on each of these dimensions are key factors in the evolution of the mortgage industry. That timeframe may take a few years before everyone embraces and adjusts to the new reality.

In general, the panel expressed both worry and optimism:
Maria – the Private Label will return.
Steven – the upcoming Administration change may provide stabilization, but there are questions.
Mary – is there capacity, perhaps? Will government elicit courage to go forward?
Mark – re-emergence of the "rental concept"; will that be the near-term effect?

The fundamentals of homeownership have changed. Homeownership is not everyone's "right" – it’s better described as a responsibility. Finally, in agreement, the panelists offered this ... 2012: "Year of the Renter"

In closing, Mayra Sacco, Managing Director, BNY Mellon Corporate Trust and Secretary/Board Member of the Women’s Bond Club, reiterated both the innovation and opportunity as one views the past, present and future of the mortgage industry.

The Yen’s Impact on the Recovery of Japan and the World Economy

By Linda Wittich

The Japan Society welcomed us with a warm invitation to visit their cultural exhibition of Deco Japan. Although I bypassed the invite for that evening, March 20, 2012, I was happy to learn that the exhibit is open until June 10th and I will definitely make my way back to the gallery to see the art and culture of deco Japan. After their welcoming remarks, Vicky Hayes, Senior Vice President of TIAA-CREF's Asset Management Marketing group and Co-Chair of the Women’s Bond Club Event Committee provided a brief overview of the Women's Bond Club. She then introduced our moderator, Sara Eisen, Reporter and co-host of "Bloomberg the Economy" on Bloomberg Radio and the panelists:

Jens Nordvig, Head of Fixed Income Research, Americas & Global Head of G10 FX Strategy, Nomura
Ellen Zentner, Senior Economist for the US, Nomura
Phoebe Donham, Managing Director & Head of FXEM Macro Sales, Morgan Stanley

Sara opened the floor by asking for panelists’ opinions on the state of the Japanese corporate sectors, labor markets and overall impact of the markets. Ellen was first to respond by commenting that the initial economic concerns were overblown. Although she acknowledged the Japanese government was slow to respond, she feverously defended the private sector. Unlike the U.S. after 9/11, Japanese households were quick to start spending again. This consumer spending was critical to the state of Japan’s economy. Also, quick to respond were the Japanese corporations who showed incredible creativity, especially with dealing with electrical outages. It’s important to realize in spite of the slow response from the government, companies were able to create jobs.

From there, the conversation moved into a discussion on the supply-chain effects which were felt worldwide. Once again the resiliency and resourcefulness of Japan’s corporations were evidently displayed. Although we saw a major drop off in sales because of the unavailability of car supplies for Mitsubishi, Toyota and others, these companies were back at full capacity by September. They have also broadened their global footprints to reduce geographic risk with Toyota increasing its U.S. plant operations and Nissan expanding into North Mexico. This is good for not just Japan but for the global economy; let’s remember that every job really creates 3.5 jobs because of local buying power.

Jens brought us into a discussion about the yen and whether Japan is risking a debt crisis. He encouraged us to broaden our perspective beyond Japan and the yen, and instead to look at global capital flows, especially as they effect Europe. As Japan is starting to strengthen, we are also seeing investors starting to calm. In fact, the Japanese Yen climbed 10% in the prior two months and he believes it will remain in the low 80s for most of the year and head over 85 next year. Jens stated he did a tipping point analysis and it seems that sometime in 2014-15 is when Japan will need to start attracting non-Japanese investors in order to avoid a crisis. So there’s still a decent runway.

Phoebe’s viewpoint brought us back in time. It’s hard for us layman to remember the concerns before the tsunami. She reminded us that Japanese corporations have been dealing with soft global demand for at least four years. So although they are managing through the effects of the tsunami, the slow government response and supply-chain disruptions, the biggest issue is that they just can’t catch a break. As Japanese companies look outside of Japan for the answers, Japan will also need to respond. She expects they will start to assess the level of production they want to do onshore vs. offshore and then they will also need to establish a normal exchange rate.

Phoebe then expressed that she felt the international investors and corporate community were pretty off with their overall grim outlook. Yields are low and continuing lower and investors are borrowing JPY to invest outside of Japan – into places like China and Brazil. There is a bright side – it’s the further globalization and macro-economic effects of Japanese companies such as Kirin, Asahi and Mitsubishi who have made major acquisitions abroad. In 2011, Japanese firms spent $70 billion on acquisitions – twice the rate of 2010.

Sara couldn’t end the panel discussion without addressing the U.S. banking economy and whether our experts thought the U.S. was paralleling Japan back in the 90s. Although they spoke of the fear of repeating history and having a ‘lost decade’, the speakers were clear that the circumstances are very different and the U.S. was quick to respond. Hence, we should not draw parallels. Jens further mentioned the results of the recent U.S. Stress Tests which confirms such fears are unjustified.

Responses were provided to the audience’s questions on the Japanese government, Bank of Japan expected policy changes, consumption patterns, and the possible effects on the energy sector. We then adjourned into a networking reception in beautiful lobby of the Japan Society.

A Message to Rising Stars: "Expect to Win"

By Caitlin Connolly

On Wednesday, April 11, 2012 Morgan Stanley's Women's Business Alliance hosted an event featuring this year’s Merit Award winner, Carla Harris, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and author of "Expect to Win" for past and present Rising Stars. Keisha Smith, Head of Professional Recruiting at Morgan Stanley and Andrea Ianniello, Director of Relationship Management at Department of the Treasury, Office of Financial Research as well as Vice President of the Women’s Bond Club and Executive Committee Co-Chair of the Merit Award Dinner Committee shared their perspective as panelists.

Women’s Bond Club Co- President, Mary Caracappa, kicked off the event welcoming the Women’s Bond Club Rising Stars from the classes of 2010, 2011, and congratulating the newest nominees from 2012 as well as the Rising Stars from Morgan Stanley’s Women’s Business Alliance. She then introduced Carla Harris; highlighting her numerous achievements including being named to Fortune Magazine’s list of "The Most Powerful Black Executives in Corporate America", Fortune’s "The Most Influential List" 2005, Black Enterprise Magazine’s "Top 50 African Americans on Wall Street", Essence Magazine’s list of "The 50 Women Who are Shaping the World", Ebony’s list of "15 Corporate Women at the Top", The Network Journal’s 2005 list of "25 Most Outstanding Women in Business" and "Woman of the Year 2004" by the Harvard University Black Men's Forum.

Carla began with advice on how to continue to expand the runway of their careers through the power of networking and with three of the pearls of maximizing success from her book, Expect to Win. The first pearl was about being comfortable taking risks. She said "you cannot get to second base with one foot still on first." The next pearl that she addressed was from chapter five of her book, the importance of relationships. She outlined three important relationships that each individual should have and what they should entail- an advisor, a mentor, and a sponsor. The last pearl she discussed was perception saying that everyone must understand that "perception is the co-pilot to reality." She ended with thoughts on what makes a powerful leader, using leader as an acronym standing for "leverage your team, efficiency, authenticity, decisive, engaged, responsive and responsible."

The panel discussion followed Carla’s speech with Keisha Smith and Andrea Ianniello answering questions regarding their career path, how they ended up where they are today, the best advice they were given when they became a Rising Star and the advice they would give to themselves if they were 25 again. Several members of the audience asked questions and for advice on their own careers and the event ended with a networking session.

The DNA of Risk and Regulatory Reform: Decoding the New Regulatory Environment

By Armine Bagdassarian

This year Deloitte hosted one of the most important topics impacting the financial industries, the anticipated regulatory reform changes and the risk level of the resulting environment.

John Kocjan, from Deloitte Consulting LLP, introduced the panel and key regulatory reform jargon and then moderated the session. The Deloitte Panel included Deborah Bailey, Director of Governance, Regulatory and Risk Strategies, Mitchell Glassman, Director of Federal Service Operations, Edward Hida, Global Leader of Risk & Capital Management as well as Dr. Cliff Rossi from R.H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. They each supplied their outlook on how the financial industry will need to change with the new regulatory reform and how risky the new environment will be in their opinion.

As I listened to all the regulation names, jargon and acronyms flying in the room, I realized not everyone’s job pertains to regulation – so I decided to get a better understanding of each term.

	Let’s start with the most commonly thrown around regulation, "The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act" (Pub.L. 111-203, H.R. 4173) is a federal statute in the United States that was signed into law by President Barack Obama on July 21, 2010. The Act was passed as a response to the late-2000s recession; the Act brought the most significant changes to financial regulation in the United States since the regulatory reform that followed the Great Depression. There’s so much information on this act, it actually has its own website: http://dodd-frank.com
	The "Volcker rule" or "Volcker plan," a measure named for Paul A. Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman who proposed it, restricts the ability of banks whose deposits are federally insured from trading for their own benefit. In January 2010, President Obama proposed that the Volcker rule be a part of the general financial regulatory reform push. A main element to the plan would bar banks from making proprietary trades - using their own money to place directional market bets that are unrelated to serving customers. Another change would prevent institutions from investing their own money in hedge funds or private equity operations.
	"Living wills" a/k/a "Recovery and Resolution Plans" (RRPs) requires regulators and the largest global financial institutions to define plans as to how firms would regain viability if they were under severe financial pressure and the steps the local regulators are insufficient and the institutions fail. Living wills/RRPs require significant commitment. They can be extensive and complex, addressing all of the business implications and operational changes that may need to be made to deliver effective, realistic and pragmatic plans.
	"Basel III" outlines the increased overall capital requirements. Between 2013 and 2019, the common equity component of capital (core Tier 1) will increase from 2% of a bank's risk-weighted assets before certain regulatory deductions to 4.5% after such deductions. A new 2.5% capital conservation buffer will be introduced, as well as a zero to 2.5% countercyclical capital buffer. The overall capital requirement (Tier 1 and Tier 2) will increase from 8% to 10.5% over the same period.
	"FATCA" means "Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act"; it impacts Foreign Financial Institutions (FFIs). FATCA passed in March 2010, but its provisions have not yet fully come into effect. It is the regulation resulting from U.S. individuals who avoided taxes by opening accounts with foreign financial institutions outside the United States. FATCA requires FFIs – banks, broker-dealers, offshore hedge funds, trust companies and collective investment vehicles – to enter into agreements with U.S. Authorities to obtain account-holder information. The FFIs also need to certify that their processes were done and they are in compliance with the due diligence procedures.

So now that the knowledge base is a little clearer, let's move on to the panel discussion. With all the new regulations, will the industry be more risky or will it move to a shadow banking system? The panel's opinion on riskiness was pretty consistent: we are heading into a much less risky environment which will result in a return to consumer confidence. This less risky environment will have higher capital requirements (with quality capital), more significant liquidity, quantitative limits on capital (across the consolidated firm), and counterparty limits (also at a consolidated level). The new environment will not be risk-free; de-risking is not feasible. However, it will have more specific controls in place and better transparency at all levels.

The group then discussed whether banks can efficiently handle these changes or will they need to restructure. Key points the panelists made were that banks will start creating niches – not all banks will be everywhere on the globe, nor do will be in every product. Also, firms will be expected to start outsourcing more in order to become efficient and we will start to see a lot more data analytics associated with transparency efforts.
Discussions also centered on "Living Wills" and how a recovery and resolution framework could be built. Transparency associated with the efforts of the OFR and FSPC will clearly help manage the systematic risk, macro views of the economy and enable more stress testing for capital adequacy.
So in summary, we did decode much of the new regulatory environment and now understand the probable implications to our firms. We all agree these changes will not eliminate all risk but they will help us manage through this period and rebuild investor confidence.

Help Your Associates to Embrace Change

Good leaders don't accept the status quo. When you need to persuade your workforce to shift gears, remember these tips for moving forward:
1. Give an early warning. Sudden changes can be disconcerting and stressful. Try not to surprise anyone with the need to do things differently. People will respond better if they have time to digest the news and prepare themselves for the new order.
2. Communicate every step. Uncertainty creates an atmosphere of tension in a workforce, which increases resistance to any change effort. Explain the big picture, but don't neglect the details. Tell people what to expect on a day-by-day basis.
3. Don't criticize the past. Change may be necessary, but that doesn't mean that everything old is negative. People may feel embarrassed or angry by the implication that their past actions and efforts were wrong-headed. Let them save face by keeping everyone's attention focused on what worked well and what they can expect will work even better in the future.
4. Reward the extra effort. Learning new skills and adjusting to a new routine is work. Recognize people for the time and emotional energy they put into change. Praise, time off, and other rewards will help them feel well compensated for the additional effort.
5. Don't ignore the sadness. People will feel a sense of loss when they give up an established, comfortable way of doing things. Allow them to grieve for the old, and give them time to accept and embrace the new before you consider your change efforts a success.
—Adapted from the InterBusiness Issues website

Reprinted from the Motivational Manager, 800-878-5331, www.managementresources.com

2012 Annual Merit Award Dinner

By Linda M. Wittich
Monday, April 30, 2012. Hosted by NYSE Euronext

Cipriani’s Wall Street was filled to the brim as we celebrated the 19th Annual Merit Award Dinner hosted by NYSE Euronext. This year, the Women’s Bond Club honored Carla Harris of Morgan Stanley, Kay Koplovitz founder of USA Networks and Springboard Enterprises and 34 Rising Stars from across the financial services industry.

While mingling with guests at the cocktail party, we occasionally looked over at the video screens to learn more about the WBC. It felt good to know about the strong commitment to returning value to its member firms, the individual participants and the community at large. In fact, Fran Tutone Kapner, WBC Co-President, stated it well when she shared the Club’s core principles – that is, ‘to lead, learn and return’ – during her opening remarks. After a heart-felt congratulations to the award winners, she informed us that the evening’s event raised over $150,000 to be used for community outreach activities including college scholarships, mentoring, involvement with the Urban Assembly School of Business for Young Women and charitable giving to associations that share our mission.

Next, Duncan Niederauer, CEO NYSE Euronext, took the stage and inspired us with a litany of the financial market’s female pioneers dating all the way back to 1870, but it was his reference to the female statue on the pediment of the NYSE entrance that caught attention. The woman symbolizes Integrity followed by Duncan’s words, “There is no capitalism without character.” He spoke of our obligation to appreciate great leaders before us and to also be a role model for future generations. The NYSE Euronext walks the talk – with numerous female executives running major divisions, their active involvement with the Big StartUp and their dedication to the Moving the Needle campaign is proof of their commitment to future generations.

Moments later, Andrea Ianniello and Diane Sinti, WBC Directors, filled the stage with 34 remarkable women who received this year’s Rising Star Award. These individuals recognized by their companies for outstanding displays of leadership will be part of a year-long elite coaching program to further prepare them for executive roles within the financial industry.

After a wonderful dinner, Kay Koplovitz, the 2012 Isabel Benham Award Winner and co-founder of Springboard Enterprises shared her story. In just a few short minutes we quickly understood why Kay was given the Isabel Benham Award and how she contributes to the lives of other women. Springboard is a Venture Catalyst organization that educates, sources, coaches, showcases and supports high growth companies led by women. Besides showcasing the numbers – raising over $5.5 Billion in capital for these companies and rattling off names such as iRobot and Zipcar, Kay also shared a heartwarming story of Joan Fallon, Curemark. Joan had the idea but she didn’t have the background to warrant venture capital. Springboard gave her access to the human capital, which in turn got her the funding. Today Curemark is progressing with Phase III clinical trials for a CM-AT autism treatment, which has been granted fast track status by the FDA. Kay Koplovitz is inspired by a mission to enable women to have access to capital, build businesses and live the dream. In turn, we are inspired by Kay.

Just before the night was coming to a close, Mary Caracappa, WBC Co-President, introduced us to the Merit Award Winner, Carla Harris, Morgan Stanley for her outstanding contributions to women in finance. We were immediately roused by her boisterous voice and it didn’t take more than a minute for the entire audience to be captivated by her confidence and authenticity. Like the speakers before her, we were reminded of our obligation to help others. Her initial words, “We are blessed, so we can become a blessing to someone else,” touched me but it was her bona fide advice that made me realize she was the real thing. Although she may have been targeting her speech to the 34 Rising Stars, I believe she touched each of us with three of her Pearls of Wisdom:

Take Risks. Go out of the box. Do something extraordinary. Never let fear of failure stop you.
Use Your Network Aggressively and Share It. Ask for help and remember you must always bring someone along with you.
Own Your Power. "You are that good." Know your strengths, improve yourself and find your voice.

Mary Caracappa closed the evening’s events by thanking all the volunteers for their endless contributions, the audience for their generosity and attention and most of all with warm congratulations to Carla, Kay and our Rising Stars.