Women in Global Leadership Salt Lake City

We were pleased to present six extraordinary global leaders on a panel discussing challenges and opportunities for Women in Global Leadership, with a focus on creating a better future.

Five of the speakers are women global leaders... Lelani Craig, CEO at CommGap, Beth Colosimo, Executive Director at Salt Lake Community College, Felecia Maxfield-Barrett, Utah Diplomacy, Cheri Daily, U of Utahand Kim Daniels, MLIT, WOW!

We also featured an extraordinary global leader who happens to be a man - Dr. David Pershing.

Dr. Pershing is the Past President of the University of Utah.

Watch the conversation HERE.

This was a conversation on challenges and opportunities. Global Chamber® "Women in Global Leadership" events began 5 years ago in the early days of Global Chamber® in San Francisco and Phoenix, and continues in chapters now around the world. The six global leaders presented here are all connected to the Salt Lake City metro region, Wasatch Front, Intermountain West, State of Utah.

• Lelani Craig - CEO at Commgap

• Beth Colosimo - Executive Director, The Mill & Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses at Salt Lake Community College

• Felecia Maxfield-Barrett - Executive Director at Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy

• Cheri Daily - Executive Director, Global Program Development, Marketing & Communications, University of Utah; Project Mgr, USAID Pakistan Higher Education System Strengthening Activity

• Kim Daniels - CEO at MLIT (Mercantile Logistics & International Trade, Inc.)

• Dr. David Pershing - Past President, U of Utah

Moderator

• Doug Bruhnke - Acting Executive Director at Global Chamber® Salt Lake City; founder/CEO Global Chamber®

Speaker Bios

Lelani Craig

Lelani Craig is CEO at CommGap. Lelani started CommGap in 2000. CommGap is a translation and interpretation company that works into more than 200 languages. Along with CommGap, Lelani owns Global 1 Voice, LLC which offers medical interpreter training, language assessment, language classes, and compliance consulting. Lelani and her husband, Dain, own Leading Edge, Inc. and Capra Group, LLC.

Lelani Craig has more than 25 years of experience in the language industry. She is an accomplished conference interpreter as well as a certified court interpreter.

Lelani currently serves as Vice-President of the Board of Directors of the Association of Language Companies. She is also one of the organizers of the Silicon Slopes Localization group, a member of the Utah Women Tech Council, and recently organized the Utah Chapter of Women in Localization. Lelani is on the State of Utah Advisory Committee for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. In addition, she serves on Advisory Boards for The Global Chamber and for Lango. Lelani serves as a mentor and speaker for University entrepreneurial programs and frequently speaks for leadership and mentoring groups. In addition, she is a member of the Weber State University Foreign Languages Dept. Industry Advisory Board.

Lelani received awards from “Count Me In” and American Express in 2004. In 2013, Lelani was selected by Goldman Sachs to participate in their 10,000 Small Businesses Program. In 2014, she was chosen by Utah Business Magazine as one of Utah’s 30 Business Women to Watch. In 2017, she was awarded Hispanic Business Woman of the Year by the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. In 2017, Lelani graduated from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative Program.

Beth Colosimo

Beth Colosimo is Executive Director, The Mill & Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses at Salt Lake Community College. The Mill is an entrepreneurship center at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) that offers numerous programs and assistance for entrepreneurs and small business owners. The Mill includes the Small Business Development Center, the co-working and incubator space, the Everyday Entrepreneur Program, Veteran Business Resource Center, Global Business Center and many other services and programs. The Mill and GS10KSB serve thousands of small business owners with the mission to educate, provide resources and access to capital.

Prior to joining SLCC, Beth owned and operated her own small business, Wasatch Home Furnishings. Her professional career also includes working for EDCUtah and various multinational corporations. Beth is a graduate of the University of Utah and received her MBA from Westminster College. Beth works with numerous non-profit boards and community partners in the spirit of collaboration and promoting Utah’s small businesses.

Beth is passionate about working with entrepreneurs and small business owners and those looking to make a difference in their businesses and communities. She is equally passionate about family, travel, golf and India.

Felecia Maxfield-Barrett

Felecia Maxfield-Barrett - Executive Director at Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy. Felecia joins Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy as the Executive Director with twenty years of experience in government and nonprofit administration. Her prior work history includes the Refugee Services Office with the Department of Workforce Services, Utah Refugee Coalition, and Wasatch Community Gardens. She has a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology and a Master's degree in Public Administration both from the University of Utah. Felecia has extensive experience in oral history and storytelling, and she believes through capturing stories, we can create a sense of self, explore the world, organize and pass knowledge on to others, and create a shared humanity. If you want Felecia to nerd out, ask her about nonprofit management, music, gardening, and outdoor adventuring in Utah.

Cheri Daily

Cheri Daily - Executive Director, Global Program Development, Marketing & Communications, University of Utah. Ms. Daily is Director for Global Program Development and Marketing & Communications for the Office for Global Engagement at the University of Utah, a position she has held since the inception of the office in 2013. In her current position, she developed multi-year, multi-disciplinary programs for international scholars, professionals and students, including a four-year program which brought 100 Chinese university coaches to the U each year for three months. The success of these programs led to expanded provincial relationships in China, and the enhancement of the University of Utah’s reputation as a leader in international education.

In addition to her work in the Office for Engagement, Ms. Daily is currently key leadership personnel for a five-year USAID program for strengthening higher education systems in Pakistan, a grant she helped secure for the University of Utah.

Prior to working for the University of Utah, Cheri had a successful two-decade career in Silicon Valley managing software development for companies such as Apple/IBM startup Kaleida Labs and AOL. As Vice President for AOL Time Warner, she was responsible for the integration of Time Warner’s media properties into the AOL service.

Ms. Daily is co-inventor on a software patent and holds a B.A. from the University of California, San Diego, and an M.S. in International Affairs and Global Enterprise from the University of Utah. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy at the U of U.

Kim Daniels

Kim Daniels - CEO at MLIT (Mercantile Logistics & International Trade, Inc.). Kimberly Daniels is the founder, CEO and Licensed Customs Broker for Mercantile Logistics and International Trade, Inc. She has more than fifteen years of professional experience in international logistics. She assists small business owners with the importation and exportation of their goods to various distribution locations, including fulfillment warehouses and foreign trade zones. As a small business owner, she is keenly aware of the needs of small businesses to operate efficiently and effectively, creating her own program, CargoClear®, which smooths costs for clients in providing required customs services.

Kim holds a Master's of Business Administration, a Master's of Science in Law, a Customs Broker License, and a Certificate in Logistics, Transportation and Distribution (CLTD) from APICS. She is a graduate of Leadership Henderson (Chamber of Commerce), Goldman Sach’s 10,000 Small Businesses, and the Defense Language Institute. She holds board positions at Southern Nevada ASCM Forum, National Regulatory Fairness Board, and the Nevada District Export Council. Kim is not just passionate about helping small businesses succeed in the world of international cargo trade, but also about her five dogs. If you want to see her light up, just ask her about her puppies.

Dr. David Pershing

Dr. David Pershing is the past President at the University of Utah. Dr. Pershing started at the University of Utah in 1977 as an Adjunct Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Utah, and worked his way to the very top... President of the U from 2012 through 2018. He began Phased Retirement at 0.56 fte, which means that he is currently going to the University about half time. He is also teaching this fall, working with a young partner, Professor Kody Powell on research and helping the new Department Chair of Chemical Engineering with departmental development activities. He is also spending time with his daughters and granddaughters and his wife Sandi.

Moderator

Doug Bruhnke - Founder/CEO of Global Chamber®. Doug is a global entrepreneur dedicated to helping members of Global Chamber® successfully reach new markets across 525 metros - everywhere! He is a two-time expat with Dupont in Tokyo and Singapore with over 30 years of global business experience in nearly all countries and segments. Doug is also regional advisor for U.S. Global Leadership Coalition and a member of Arizona District Export Council, British American Business Council of Northern California and more. He has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Utah and an EMBA from Michigan State University, and is co-inventor on 5 patents. Doug was born in Mt. Kisco, New York and now is based in Scottsdale, Arizona and Palo Alto, California. Hear the Global Chamber® story here.