Women's Venture Fund Gala Hosted by Rebecca Jarvis

NEW YORK - Oct. 25, 2016 - PRLog -- Contact
Jessie McNair
Jessie.mcnair@wvf-ny.org
212 563-0499

Women's Venture Fund Gala Hosted by Rebecca Jarvis

October 25, 2016, New York, NY. The Women's Venture Fund (WVF) will hold its 20^th Annual Defining Moments Gala and Auction on Tuesday, October 25^th  at Capitale, Lower East Side.  The co-hosts for this event are Rebecca Jarvis, Chief Business, Technology and Economic Correspondent ABC News, and Tanya Wright, actress currently appearing in the television series, Orange is the New Black, and entrepreneur.

The Founder and President of WVF is Maria Otero, a former Commissioner of the City Commission on Women's Issues and recipient of many business awards including the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce. WVF annually celebrates women who relate the turning points in their personal and business lives that illuminated their journey to success—their defining moments. Each year proceeds from the auction enables the organization to increase its outreach to local women entrepreneurs through business training, funding and advisory. She just recently judged the 7^th Annual New York StartUP! 2016 Business Plan Competition and will be on the panel of judges for the upcoming International Innovators Initiative.

"As we enjoy our 20th gala, I once again marvel at the passion and business acumen of our nominees and honorees. As I get to know them, I myself am re-energized, connecting with their entrepreneurial spirit—the resiliency, determination and resourcefulness to become trailblazers in their organizations and communities. They are ideal role models for our clients who need the support and mentoring of such women as they strive to grow their business"', says Ms. Otero.

This year's honorees are:

Kathy Murray, Principal and Founder of McMorran Strategists, LLC. Kathy is a business growth executive, angel investor and advisor; and is the founder of McMorran Strategists. She applies her business development and relationship marketing skills to help emerging startups grow as well as enable mid-to-large sized enterprises to infuse innovation into their operations. Prior to founding McMorran, Kathy worked for Faro Technologies Inc. where she was in charge of global market development. Earlier she was Senior VP of Aetna Retirement Services.

Karen Fang is Head of Americas Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities Sales at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Prior to joining the company, Karen was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, where she was responsible for the Pension, Endowment and Foundation Cross Asset Solutions Group in North America. Previously, she held senior positions in derivatives structuring, including at Merrill Lynch in Tokyo and Deutsche Bank in London. Karen is on Fortune's "40 under 40" list for 2015, the magazine's ranking of the most influential young people in business.

Women's Venture Fund is a non-profit organization that supports women entrepreneurs in the NYC metro area, offering training programs, businesses loans and advisory services. WVF has assisted over 18,000 firms and helped launch 3,700 women-owned businesses. As a certified Community Development Financial Institute, WVF has provided loan services to more than 2,000 clients.