Leadership

Tom McDermott

Board Co-Chair

Tom McDermott is an investment banker, advisor and former global operating executive, and Managing Director at Cambridge Wilkinson. He has a track record for raising equity and debt capital from $25 million to $500 million for companies with proven growth potential. He focuses on various sectors, including Lending Finance, Fund Finance, Financial Services, Real Estate, Technology, and ESG-focused companies. Before joining CW, Tom had a 30 career as a global marketing, sales and general management operator in fintech, specialty finance and consumer products for companies including Capital One, Western Union, Nabisco and Reckitt.

Gerri Alfino

Board Co-Chair

Gerri Alfino has been an EF member since 2014. She has prior Board service as Secretary from 2019 – 2020. In addition, she served on the MIT Experience Committee. Gerri also has a wealth of non-profit board experience, serving as a former Board member of the Financial Women’s Association, former Chair of its Business and Government Affairs Committee, former Trustee of St. Patrick’s Parish, Bedford, NY, and is currently Co-Chair, of the Parish Council. Gerri is a financial services attorney with over 30 years of strong governance experience and active involvement in clients’ Boards of Directors.

Smitha Murthy

Vice President

Nate Challen

Marketing & Communications Co-Chair

Robyn D'Elia

Treasurer

Smitha Murthy-  has three decades in corporate leadership roles as a Product & Technology Executive and CxO (5x Chief Product Officer and 1x CEO) across privately held and Fortune 100 companies has given her a unique lens on scaling organizations, driving innovation, and aligning strategy with impact.

Nate Challen is a proven executive who transforms consumer businesses by blending Fortune 500 strategic expertise with entrepreneurial execution and currently the President of Doctor's Best Vitamins.

With 15+ years driving growth across global consumer markets, Nate operates as a true "full-stack" leader - building iconic brands, launching breakthrough products, and scaling capabilities that deliver measurable results.

At Sanofi Consumer Health, Nate turned around a declining $50M Canadian business unit. He drove double-digit growth through portfolio simplification, pioneered influencer-led campaigns for Gold Bond brand's most successful digital launch, and doubled Amazon performance through hands-on optimization.

As Global Head of Strategic Marketing Services, Nate scaled marketing excellence across 48 markets and a €4.7B business. He transformed agency relationships with WPP, Publicis, and Omnicom, leading the shift from TV-first to integrated communications while reducing production costs by 70%.

Nate's full-stack approach spans the entire funnel: repositioning brands like Aveeno to top-3 market positions, developing innovation pipelines for long-term growth, and building launch capabilities that took Rolaids from $0 to $48M in 2.5 years. His ability to diagnose which business levers drive the biggest impact allows him to prioritize ruthlessly—whether leading global transformation or bootstrapping growth in resource-constrained environments.

This blend of big-company strategic thinking and startup resourcefulness stems from Nate's background spanning consumer health giants, SaaS startups, and his current consulting work advising emerging brands.

Robin Delia is a versatile and collaborative CFO with progressive experience leading all areas of finance within a fortune 500 public company. She thrives and delivers in fast-paced transforming environments, leading by example.  While she was a vital member of the leadership team at iconic retailer Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY), the company grew from a single brand with 108 US-based stores to a complex multi-brand omnichannel retailer operating over 1500 stores in the US, Canada, and Mexico and revenues grew from ~$800M to over $11.5B, with digital revenues representing ~$2B. Robyn has expertise in strategic planning, financial planning & analysis, M&A, process improvement, risk management, corporate governance, and treasury.  In addition, Robyn has experience in the board room on various corporate governance, topics including executive compensation design, say on pay, board member selection & onboarding, business transformation, enterprise risk management, cybersecurity, and M&A.

Alexandra Aleskovsky

Membership

Alexandra Aleskovsky has been a member since 2018 and is currently the Founder and President of DigitalShop, an advisory business. She brings over 30 years of strategic and operational leadership expertise across diverse industries, including Internet/Digital, Consumer, Education, Health/Wellness in private, public, and not-for-profit companies. Her career includes CEO, President, CGO, and CMO roles at Weight Watchers, Scholastic, the American Kennel Club, Colgate-Palmolive, and Citibank.p>

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Carol Yvette Thorney

Technology &
Digital Strategy

Carol Yvette Thorney, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Thorney Advisors, is an innovative, profit-oriented executive. Her track record includes increasing revenues, expanding market share, and improving client satisfaction. With over 20 years of experience, Carol has enabled organizations in various sectors—healthcare, finance, retail, BPO, and IT—to drive seamless customer experiences through reimagined business models. She also champions Agile and Lean enterprise strategies, fostering profitable growth and supporting industry benchmarks. Carol holds an MBA and is an active alumnus of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where the vision of “Why not change the world?” drives her mission.

Her areas of expertise include Start-Up Commercialization, Strategy & Growth, Digital Transformation, Change Management and Coaching & Training. Carol’s impact extends across industries such as technology, banking, financial services, insurance, healthcare (payer and provider), digital health, life sciences, manufacturing, and the public sector. Carol embodies the spirit of transformation, driving organizations toward success in an ever-evolving landscape.

Gretchen Garrigues

Marketing&Communications Co-Chair

Gretchen Garrigues is a Fortune 500 Chief Marketing & Communications Officer (CMO) with experience at publicly traded, highly regulated financial services firms, including Manulife, GE Capital, and First Data (Fiserv), as well as high-growth SaaS companies like SimCorp (Deutsche Börse). Proven record of driving substantial revenue growth and business impact.

Transformational CMO focused on scaling digital marketing, shaping global brands, and launching innovative products. Skilled at building high-performing, diverse teams that deliver impactful results in competitive markets.

Gretchen has worked in Paris, Toronto, and New York, speaks fluent French and has dual nationality (American/French). She holds an MBA in Marketing (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and a BA in Foreign Affairs (University of Virginia).

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Michael Epstein

Independent
Career Track

Michael Epstein is an entrepreneurially-spirited Business Services sector Executive who transforms company cultures and leads fiscally responsible growth by articulating a strategic vision and set of values to be embraced at all levels of the organization. Most recently I was appointed Senior Vice-President of the New Jersey office for Cresa Global Inc. -- the world’s largest occupier-only commercial real estate firm – representing occupiers exclusively — no landlords, no developers – to provide unbiased, conflict-free advice. At Cresa I bring over 20 years of Business Services experience to the company providing integrated real estate transaction services. Previously I served as CEO and President of CoWorx Staffing Services, a privately-held business providing a suite of HR solutions from temporary staffing, on-site services, direct hire and payrolling with revenue up to $350MM ~400 employees and ~50,000 temporary employees and over 90 offices.

Phil Sandler

Members-in-Transition Co-Chair

Phil Sandler is a senior marketing executive with a track record of driving sales and profit growth for leading B2B and B2C companies and agencies. He is currently Chief Marketing Officer of Northwinds Services Group, a PE-backed portfolio of home services businesses across the U.S.

As CMO of PostScript Marketing LLC, a boutique consultancy, Phil helped small and mid-sized businesses sharpen their competitive positioning and turn it into efficient performance and growth marketing.

At Gartner Digital Markets, he served as Managing Vice President of Performance Marketing, leading a 30+ person team across performance, branding, search, affiliate, CRM, and CRO to double-digit growth, with 2020 revenue trending 20% above 2019 until COVID-19 hit.

Phil led global performance marketing at Shutterstock, Inc., where he also spearheaded the company's first brand campaign in six years, "It's Not Stock, It's Shutterstock," showing how brand and performance marketing together drive incremental gains in traffic, conversion, and sales.

At HomeServe USA, a $2.4B global home warranty provider, Phil founded the Digital Marketing practice as SVP of Digital Marketing, building the U.S. digital strategy and team from the ground up. He launched the company's first initiatives in eCommerce, online advertising, search, SEO, DRTV, and conversion optimization, and over nearly six years grew digital revenue from 1.6% to 20% of the business while driving significant savings by moving offline customers to digital relationships.

As VP of Marketing at Vertrue, Inc., he oversaw a broad marketing mix and led a team generating more than 5.5 million subscriptions annually on a $300MM budget.

Phil began his career on the agency side. At Wunderman/Y&R Brands, as SVP, Managing Director of Interactive Marketing, he built and led the agency's digital marketing practice, achieving 20% average annual revenue growth for five consecutive years through CRM and experience-design solutions. At OgilvyOne Worldwide, as Partner/Account Supervisor, he received the Pillar of Excellence award for his work on the global IBM account.

Phil holds a B.S. in Applied Economics, Business Management, and Marketing from Cornell University and completed NYU's Direct Marketing Diploma Program.

Phil Harvey

Members-in-Transition
Co-Chair

Phil Harvey has been an EF member since 2018, has served on several EF committees, and presently serves on boards and operates a consulting practice. He has held C-suite roles in companies ranging from Fortune 100 to large and small privately held companies, as well as start-ups. He has led organizations in the travel, hospitality, technology, fintech, and early childhood education industries. Phil is deeply experienced in franchising, having built, grown, acquired, sold, and operated franchise systems, both as a franchisor and franchisee. His client base ranges from individuals, family offices, to franchisors, private equity firms, and wealth management companies. Phil and his family reside in Mt. Arlington, NJ, enjoy countless outdoor activities, serves on the Lake Hopatcong Commission, is deeply committed to Covenant House efforts to eliminate youth homelessness, and promotes entrepreneurship through his alma mater.

Phil Grabfield

Strategic
Partnerships

Phil Grabfield has held multiple marketing leadership positions throughout his career, including his last position as the SVP Marketing at E&I Cooperative Services, a group purchasing organization focused on education. Prior to E&I, Phil led marketing organizations at Teladoc, Staffing Industry Analysts, and Mercer. He began his marketing career at Kraft Foods where he worked on the Philadelphia Cream Cheese, 100% Natural Cheese, and Polly-O brands. He was transferred to Japan as Marketing Director across brands. Phil also worked as a strategic brand and marketing consultant at Marketing Corporation of America and FutureBrand.

Phil currently consults companies on strategic marketing and branding issues, serves on various non-profit boards including Young Life and Executive Forum (Strategic Partnerships), and fills in as a substitute Spanish teacher in the Weston School District. He graduated from Trinity College with a B.A. in Economics and Spanish and from The University of Pennsylvania with an M.B.A. in Marketing from The Wharton School and an M.A. in International Studies from the Lauder Institute. He lives in Connecticut with his wife (and dog Joe Cocker) and has two children that are out of the nest. He is a jack of most sports and a master of none.

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Deborah Lee

Leadership Conference
& Events Co-Chair

Deborah Lee brings more than 30 years of leadership experience spanning finance, risk management, program leadership, marketing, and sales, including 18 years in banking. Her banking career included senior roles in information risk management, acquisition integration program leadership, treasury management, and corporate lending. Earlier in her career, Deborah held management and marketing roles at Walmart, an international software firm, and a digital marketing agency, giving her a uniquely broad and cross-functional leadership perspective. Deborah is a recipient of the Marshall Alan Robinson Leadership Award and currently serves on the board of St. Clair Hospital. She is a former Commissioner for the Pennsylvania Governor’s Commission for Asian American Affairs, a Co-Founder of the Pittsburgh Asian American Chamber of Commerce, and Chair of PA Women Work’s Corporate Advisory Board. Today, Deborah advises small businesses on improving organizational performance through strategic planning and the optimization of people and processes. As Co-Chair of Leadership Conference & Events, Deborah will work closely with her fellow Co-Chair, Julie Staudenmier, and the Board to shape EF’s most important in-person experiences including the Annual Leadership Conference, Spring regional events, and enrichment dinners. She will be focused on ensuring that they continue to foster connection, learning, and community across our membership.

Julie Staudenmier

Leadership Conference
& Events Co-Chair

Julie Staudenmier is a successful HR/Talent Management executive who is passionate about developing talent and teams to achieve dramatic transformations. She has extensive experience in creating and implementing integrated talent management, performance management, leadership development, diversity and inclusion and employee engagement practices. She has held global roles at American Express, Pfizer, and Sony, and currently serves as Global Search Lead for HXWize, a consulting firm focused on creating friction free work experiences to enhance performance and build competitive advantage.

Helayna Minsk

Board Journey

Helayna Minsk is a Senior Executive and experienced Independent Board Director who brings the unique perspective of 30+ years of marketing and general management experience to branded and private label businesses, in the Consumer Products, Consumer Healthcare, and Retail industries, in North America and Asia. She has transformed brand portfolios, businesses and organizations at Unilever, J&J and Walgreens, to achieve their potential and accelerate profitable growth. In addition to pursuing corporate board roles, she provides consulting and advisory services focused on branding, marketing, innovation, go-to-market, operational and growth strategies to enable value-creation to consumer-facing businesses. She and her husband live in Evanston, IL.

Ken Ruh

SIG Chair

Ken Ruh joined the Executive Forum in July 2023 and quickly became a driving force behind our Special Interest Groups. He is an accomplished industrial CEO currently developing a roll-up portfolio for his fund, Pursuit Holdings, and is the founder and ongoing Chair of EF’s Industrial SIG. In the fall, Ken also led the “State of the SIGs” Committee and looks forward to working closely with all SIG leaders to evaluate and implement the group’s recommendations. Previously, Ken served as President and CEO of The Carby Corporation, a deep-draw metals processor, where he oversaw significant performance improvements, including 50% top-line growth and 60% earnings growth in just two years. Prior to that, he was Vice President and General Manager at Legrand North America, running a $200M building products business where he doubled sales and expanded margins from 5% to more than 20%. Earlier in his career, Ken held leadership roles at General Electric and Moen across operations, logistics, sales, marketing, and business development, experience that has proven critical in his general management roles. He also worked as a GE expatriate based in Sydney, Australia, supporting customers and government agencies across the Australasia region. Ken began his career in GE’s Manufacturing Management Program and holds an MBA from the University at Buffalo and a BS in Electrical Engineering from SUNY Maritime College. He lives near Hartford, CT with his wife and three grown children. In his Board role, Ken will provide strategic leadership and coordination across all EF Special Interest Groups, helping ensure consistent, high-quality programming that drives engagement, learning, and member value.