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BETHANY, W.Va. – Bethany College will hold multiple events April 8 and 9 for its second annual Ann Wilkin Trombadore Women and Leadership Weekend. These invitation-only events feature nationally recognized speakers and prominent Bethany alumnae and give female students the opportunity to network and further their leadership aspirations.

This educational weekend has again been made possible by the leadership and generosity of Bethany College Trustee and alumna Scarlett Foster ’79, retired corporate officer and Vice President of Investor Relations at Monsanto Company. After 27 years with the company, she retired in 2009 and has since focused on mentoring women in business and serving as a strategic advisor to firms in the agricultural industry.

The Women’s Leaders Recognition Dinner, which will kick off the weekend Friday evening, will recognize female students who have become leaders on campus. The dinner is being co-sponsored by the Student Government Association.

Heather Bresch, chief executive officer of Mylan, one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, will serve as keynote speaker for the dinner. Also a member of the company’s board of directors, Bresch is the first and remains the only female CEO of a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company, and has been named by Fortune magazine as one of its “50 Most Powerful Women.”

Throughout her 24-year career with Mylan, Bresch, who started with the company as a data-entry clerk, has held roles of increasing responsibility in more than 15 functional areas. Prior to becoming CEO, Bresch served as Mylan’s president, where she was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company. Before that, she served as Mylan’s chief operating officer and chief integration officer, leading the successful integration of two international acquisitions – Matrix Laboratories and Merck KGaA’s generics business.

Kathy Tucker ’85, Division President for NVR Homes, will moderate the Women and Leadership panel during brunch on Saturday. Tucker joined NVR, one of the nation’s leading home builders, in 1985 as a sales and marketing representative for Ryan Homes and has had various management roles in the company, including General Manager of Operations, in which she was responsible for sales, production and service for the Charlotte North division of Ryan Homes.

Four Bethany alumnae will serve as panel members for a discussion and Q&A session. Panel members include:

Angie Bado ’77 — Founder, townsquarebuzz.com – A long-time resident of McKinney, Texas, Bado combined her passion for the news and her community and founded TownSquareBuzz.com, an online hyper-local news portal, in 2005. TownSquareBuzz.com is the first and only community connection portal for McKinney, Texas and Collin County, providing residents with more comprehensive, relevant and up-to-date information than any other website in the region. Town Square Buzz serves as the voice of the community, empowering citizens to discover, create and engage with each other and the community-at-large for free.

Robin Hoffman ’97 — Chief Marketing Services Officer, AR&D – As the Chief Marketing Services Officer and Senior Marketing Consultant for AR&D, the premier local media strategy company, Hoffman works with media companies to finalize their brand strategies and then create innovative and dynamic marketing campaigns across all platforms. With more than 18 years of experience in the journalism industry working in markets such as Denver, Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., Norfolk, Virginia and Toledo, Ohio, Hoffman is an industry visionary. She has worked as a Creative Services Director, Senior Executive Producer, Producer and Reporter and Assignment Editor.

Christine Lemley ’93 — Adviser, The MITRE Corporation – As an adviser at The MITRE Corporation, a non-profit organization that operates research and development centers sponsored by the federal government, Lemley serves in the organization’s Center for National Security, where she supports the Department of Defense (DoD), the Intelligence Community, and their partners, in advancing a broader vision of national security and addresses the most pressing challenges facing our country. Previously, she was a senior adviser and consultant at Gartner, Inc., the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company, where she advised Senior Executives within the Federal Government and Commercial industry. Earlier, she was a senior program manager at Science Applications International Corporation, a leading technology integrator that provides full lifecycle services and solutions in the technical, engineering and enterprise IT markets.

Liz Verrier ’96 — General Counsel, Lending.com – As General Counsel, Verrier oversees all legal and compliance matters for the company. Prior to joining the company, Verrier was vice president & senior counsel at American Express, where she focused on the emerging payments and technologies business unit and was a recipient of the 2015 American Express Chairman’s Award for Innovation. Prior to American Express, she served as compliance counsel and chairperson of the Compliance Committee at Revolution Money. Verrier was also the assistant general counsel at Union State Bank, formerly the largest commercial banking corporation in New York’s Hudson Valley and she began her career as assistant corporation counsel for the New York City Law Department.

Career skills workshops, organized by Kylin McCardle ’03, will focus on resume building and interviewing and will take place after the panel. McCardle is Vice President for US Government Relations & Public Policy at Barclays, based in Washington, DC. Serving as an interface between Barclays and policymakers, McCardle is responsible for helping to develop and implement the company’s government relations strategy on a variety of public policy issues.

Three Bethany alumni will serve as workshop leaders which include:

Matt McCardle ’04 — Director of Government Operations, Boeing Company – McCardle joined Boeing in February 2012 and supports the company’s public policy efforts before the U.S. federal government, specifically focused on issues pertaining to Boeing Commercial Airplanes. He is primarily responsible for representing Boeing’s interests and policy positions on safety and certification issues before Congress, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Prior to joining Boeing, Mr. McCardle served as a staff member in the United States Congress in both the House and Senate.

Steve Radick ’03 — VP, Director of Public Relations and Content Integration, Brunner – Radick is the VP, Director of Public Relations and Content Integration at Brunner in Pittsburgh, one of the top independent advertising agencies in the U.S. He is also the current President of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). He is an industry-recognized consultant, blogger, speaker, and strategist specializing in the integration of PR and social media tactics into business strategies. At Brunner, he’s responsible for creating and implementing integrated marketing strategies for clients including Huffy, Cub Cadet, PPG, MSA, and Eaton.

Todd Owens ’93 — Co-Founder and Principal, Nonprofit Talent – From an early age Todd spent much of his free time volunteering and working to enhance communities of all shapes, sizes and complexities. Todd has 14 years of experience in non-profit consulting and executive search services. Prior to co-founding Nonprofit Talent with Michelle, Todd managed ParenteBeard’s non-profit consulting services team in Pittsburgh whose main focuses were executive search, succession planning and interim executive leadership. Prior to holding this position, Todd worked with Kate Dewey at Dewey & Kaye and served clients as a project manager, facilitator, and organizational development consultant.

The Ann Wilkin Trombadore Women and Leadership Weekend will conclude with a networking reception for the students with alumnae.

One of Bethany’s distinguished alumni, Ann Wilkin Trombadore was a native of Wheeling, W.Va., and grew up in Wellsburg, W.Va. She graduated magna cum laude from Bethany with a degree in economics in 1951 and received her law degree from the University of Michigan in 1954. Trombadore was an active member of the Bethany College Board of Trustees for more than two decades, was the recipient of the Distinguished Service to Alma Mater award in 1996 and was made an Emeritus Life Trustee member following the 1998-99 school year.

About Bethany College

Bethany College is a small college of national distinction located on a picturesque and historic 1,300-acre campus in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia. Founded in 1840, Bethany is the state’s oldest private college.