Business Opportunities for Women: Is Franchising a Good Fit?

Yaela Shamberg is Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at InvestCloud. Over the last 10 years, Yaela has helped elevate the company into a leading global financial technology platform. Today, InvestCloud supports trillions in assets across hundreds of diverse clients – from the largest banks in the world to wealth managers, asset managers and asset services companies. She plays a critical role in the company’s path of innovation and commitment to building beautifully designed apps. As one of the co-founders, she values and cultivates the dynamic and fresh culture of InvestCloud. Prior to this, Yaela worked for Credit Suisse and holds a master’s degree in taxation from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She proudly sits on the board Food on Foot, a Los Angeles based non profit getting homeless individuals back into independent living.

Laura Stone has been at JPMorgan Chase for 37 years. She is a Regional Director at J.P. Morgan Wealth Management. She previously served as
Midwest Divisional Investment Manager and a Market Director for the wealth business in Chicago. She also worked in J.P. Morgan’s Private Bank for 25 years, managing a variety of high net worth and affluent teams, as well as business segments including corporate executives, professionals and firms, entrepreneurs and trust clients. Prior to joining JPMorgan Chase, she worked for the United States Olympic Committee.

Laura has a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Laura lives in Wilmette, Illinois with David, her husband of 37 years. They are proud parents of two adult children.

Kimberly Ambrogio is a Market Director at J.P. Morgan Wealth Management, overseeing financial advisors in the Lake County East market in Illinois. Kimberly joined the firm in 2007 as a Financial Advisor and has held additional roles as Investment Manager and Supervisory Manager before taking on her current role in 2018. Kimberly has over 28 years of experience in the financial services industry and has held several positions across multiple lines of business.

Kimberly is actively involved with mission work primarily focusing on human trafficking. She has worked with ZOE and In His Steps International, traveling to both Thailand and Cambodia. Kimberly is also involved with Sak Saum, an organization that promotes rescue and rehabilitation of human trafficking victims.

Kimberly lives in Rockford, Illinois with Tony, her husband of 28 years. She is the proud mother of two sons. When not at work, you can find Kimberly on the sidelines of her husband’s football games taking all of the team photos.

Suzanne Siracuse specializes in advising financial services firms on innovative business strategies, distinctive marketing programs, and impactful advocacy initiatives around diversity, financial literacy, and next-gen talent.

Suzanne is also the Creator and Host of The Big Reveal Podcast Series, where she interviews industry thought leaders and influencers on all things wealth management, but with a twist!

Suzanne is the former CEO and Publisher of InvestmentNews, where she oversaw the vision and strategic direction for all their platforms, including print, digital, events, and research. Under her leadership, InvestmentNews launched initiatives to support the evolution of the financial advice profession, specifically in the areas of Practice Management, Women’s Leadership, Diversity & Inclusion, Innovation, NextGen and Financial Literacy.

An industry thought leader, Suzanne is a sought-after speaker, moderator, and columnist on topics ranging from marketing and leadership to financial literacy and fintech.

Jailan is responsible for the company’s philanthropic, community outreach, corporate sustainability and employee volunteerism programs. Jailan serves as President of the Nasdaq Foundation and leads its mission to reimagine investor engagement to equip economically disadvantaged communities with financial knowledge and to increase capital markets participation for minority and female entrepreneurs. She is also a member of the board of the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center in San Francisco.

Prior to joining Nasdaq in 2016, Jailan worked at Dow Jones, serving as head of marketing for The Wall Street Journal, and head of marketing for Dow Jones Enterprise products including Factiva, Newswires, VentureSource, and Risk and Compliance. She previously worked at Thomson Financial. Jailan holds a Master of Arts (Hons) in History from The University of Edinburgh.

Veronica Dagher is an award-winning Wall Street Journal personal finance reporter and the author of the WSJ ebook, “Resilience, How 20 Ambitious Women Used Obstacles to Fuel Their Success.” Ms. Dagher hosts videos for WSJ’s Twitter account and is a regular guest on the Fox Business Network, Yahoo! Finance, Cheddar and other national media where she speaks about personal finance, markets and the economy. She created, hosted and produced the WSJ podcast, “Secrets of Wealthy Women,” where she interviewed some of the most successful women in business, media and entertainment. Ms. Dagher is a frequent panel moderator and keynote speaker. She received her M.B.A. from Fordham University.

Jeffrey Grinspoon works with business owners and executives formulating business succession plans, managing liquidity events and executing wealth transfer strategies.

He has been recognized in the Top 100 Independent Advisors by Barrons from 2015-2021 as well as Forbes Top Wealth Advisors in 2016-2021 and Forbes Top 250 Wealth Advisors Nationwide 2016-2021. In addition, Mr. Grinspoon was listed in 2005-2007 as one of The Winner’s Circle Top 50 Advisors in the Virginia Business Magazine and from 2014-2018 on the Barron’s Top 1200 Advisors 2019-2021 (nationwide), most recently he was ranked #2 in the state of Virginia. Mr. Grinspoon has earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) designation.

Gary Rosen is the partner-in-charge in the Firm’s Valuation, Forensic & Litigation Services group for the NY Region. He provides accounting, audit, and consulting services, including solvency, valuation opinions, and asset recovery for numerous closely-held and public corporations, real estate entities, financial services institutions, business development companies, private equity funds, government agencies, and international corporations. Gary holds the CPA, CFE, CFF, CVA, and CGMA accreditations.

Mr. Rosen has approximately 40 years of financial advisory, consulting, and public accounting experience with an extensive background in fraud engagements, forensic accounting, complex litigation matters, shareholder/partnership disputes, and other areas of investigative accounting.

He has testified as an expert witness in numerous litigation cases in a variety of federal and state courts regarding agreed-upon procedures reports, fraud, lost profits, valuations, white-collar crime, solvency, commercial and residential real estate, product liability, estate matters, shareholder and partner disputes, and matrimonial matters. Where he is able to communicate complex financial information in a manner judges and juries can understand.

Kristi Martin Rodriguez currently serves as Senior Vice President of the Nationwide Retirement Institute® for Nationwide Financial, leading the teams responsible for advocating for and educating members, partners and industry leaders on issues impacting their ability to have a secure financial future.

In her current role, Kristi oversees an extensive network of knowledgeable professionals who provide hands-on consultation to develop client strategies and address the major concerns America’s workers face when planning for retirement. Through timely insights, education and client-ready tools, both financial professionals and individuals are able to work directly with Nationwide to increase their awareness and knowledge of complex financial topics such as retirement income planning, health care, long-term care and Social Security.

Kristi is an active member of the community, working with several non-profit and social organizations that aid unserved communities throughout the country. Kristi was one of the founding members of the Ohio chapter of The National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP), an organization helping people of color and women achieve inclusion in our industry. Kristi serves as a board member for Kindway, a non-profit organization dedicated to the successful re-entry of incarcerated men and women into the community. Additionally, Kristi is a member of the Board of Trustees for The American College of Financial Services.