2006 IWF Global Cornerstone Conference
Madrid, Spain

	Esperanza Aguirre is the current President of the Community of Madrid and the President of the Conservative People's Party of Madrid (PP). Aguirre began her political career as a City Council member for Madrid in 1983. She headed the council for Culture and the Environment before being named First Lieutenant Mayor and spokesperson for the Municipal Group of the People's Party. Aguirre launched into Spanish national politics when she was elected as a Senator for Madrid in 1996. After being selected to serve as Minister of Education and Culture in the first Government of the PP, she became the first woman to preside over the national Senate as its President in 1999. In the general elections of 2000, she held the distinction of garnering the most votes of any Senator. Aguirre left the Presidency of the Senate in 2002 to successfully pursue her candidacy for President of the Community of Madrid. In 2003, she was elected as the first woman President of an autonomous Government in Spain and was subsequently named President of the People's Party of Madrid in 2004. Prior to her political career, she served in several roles at the Information and Tourism Board and in the Ministry of Culture. She will address the conference at the Opening Reception & Welcome.
	In'am Al-Mufti is a trailblazer for Jordanian women and a leading voice in her country's Senate. She is a member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee; the Education, Culture and Information Committee; and the Health, Environment and Social Development Committee. Al-Mufti set a precedent for Jordan and Jordanian women in 1979, when she became the first woman in Jordan to hold a cabinet position as Minister of Social Development. As one of the first women to become a member of the National Consultative Council in 1978, which served as Jordan's Parliament, Al-Mufti effected policy changes and legislation supporting Jordanian women. In 1984, Al-Mufti was appointed advisor to Queen Noor in the areas of Social Development and International Relations, and she founded the Noor Al-Hussein Foundation. she established the National Task Force for children as a coordinating agency of Jordan's national efforts for the survival, protection, development and participating rights of its children. She has served on the boards of Trustees of many Jordanian, Arab and International development, educational and women's institutions. Al-Mufti is a member of IWF Jordan and will address the conference on Leadership & Gender – A Global Picture.
	Cristina Alberdi is the Former Minister of Social Affairs for Spain and has been a nationally prominent feminist activist. She was elected the first woman member of the General Council of Judicial Power in 1985, where she served for five years. A prominent member of the Spanish Socialist Worker's Party (PSOE), Alberdi was sworn in as Minister of Social Affairs in 1993. At the Ministry, Alberdi represented the European Union at the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing. Beginning in 1996, she served in the Spanish Parliament, representing Málaga and later, Madrid. Alberdi also served as president of the Socialist Federation of Madrid (FSM) and El Mundo has listed her as one of the 100 most influential Spaniards. In 2003, she resigned her position in the leadership of the FSM and left the PSOE. The next year, Alberdi was selected to lead the Advisory Council against Gender Violence of the Community of Madrid. Alberdi was a leading advisor in drafting Spain's Constitution and the reforms of national civil and penal codes in 1978. She will address the conference on Empowering Civil Society – Bridging the Leadership Gap.
	Shukria Barakzai is a pioneering member of Afghanistan's newly elected Parliament and the founder of Aina-e Zan (Women's Mirror), a weekly publication dedicated to increasing women's awareness and participation in civil society. During the rule of the Taliban, Barakzai was forced to abandon her studies in geophysics at the University of Kabul. In defiance of the rigid restrictions on women, she helped run several underground schools for women. She was nominated by President Hamid Karzai member of Afghanistan's Constitutional Reviewing Commission where she reviewed drafts of the new Afghan Constitution. In early 2002, Barakzai founded "Asia Women Organization," an aid society for women. The group's three learning centers give basic education, trade preparation and health-care resources to hundreds of Afghan women. Barakzai launched Women's Mirror, Afghanistan's first women's magazine with a mission to increase women's awareness of political, social, and cultural concerns in Afghanistan. In 2004, she was named International Editor of the Year by Worldpress.org. With the first Afghan Parliamentary elections in 30 years in September 2005, She was elected as one of the 68 women to serve into the lower house of parliament, the Wolesi Jirga. She will address the conference on Empowering Civil Society – Bridging the Leadership Gap.
	Brigitta Blaha is the Consul General for the Austrian Consulate in New York, USA. She has led a distinguished career in the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs since 1978, holding various leadership positions in countries across the globe. Previous to serving in New York, Ms. Blaha was the Austrian Consul General in Hong Kong from 2001 to 2005. While based in Vienna from 1997-2000, she served as the Head of Division for Privileges and Immunities in the Protocol Department and later, the Head of Division for South and South East Asia in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Political Department. Prior to 2000, she headed departments in the Austrian Embassies in Tokyo, Japan; Rome, Italy; Bangkok, Thailand; and Washington, DC USA. Ms. Blaha is a member of both IWF Hong Kong and IWF New York as well as a member of the IWF Board of Directors. She will moderate Plenary I: Leadership and Gender—A Global Picture.
	Gay Cook is the Managing Director of the Center for Women's Health Research at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center's new 21st century Fitzsimons academic medical campus in Aurora, Colorado. The Center focuses on vital research in women's health, with an emphasis on cardiovascular disease, and on training the next generation of scientists and physician/scientists in the study of women's health. Before joining the Center, Cook was Vice President of Executive Operations and Planning at Metropolitan State College of Denver, one of the United States' largest public urban baccalaureate institutions, and a member of the President's Cabinet. Her service in higher education was preceded by a distinguished career in the newspaper industry. Cook was Managing Editor of The Denver Post, one of the nation's major metropolitan dailies, and a member of The Post's corporate Executive Committee. Her journalism career included reporting stints in Washington, DC, and in the Illinois State Capitol of Springfield. She is the recipient of many of journalism's most prestigious national, state, regional, and local awards for her work as a reporter and editor. Cook is President of the International Women's Forum and a past director of the International Women's Forum Leadership Foundation. She will address the conference at the Opening Reception and Welcome.
	Concepción Dancausa is the President of the Assembly of Madrid and a leading political figure in the Conservative People's Party (PP) of Spain. She began her public service career in Spain as Director of the Women's Institute in 1996, after serving five years as Assistant Director General of Non Governmental Organizations and Foundations in the Ministry of Social Affairs. In 2000, she was elected to the Spanish Parliament as a Representative for Madrid and in May of that year, was named Secretary General for Social Affairs. Prior to her emergence into national politics in Spain, Dancausa spent seven years in South America, serving as Chief of the Labor Office at the Spanish Embassies in Paraguay and Argentina. She holds a law degree from the Universidad Complutense of Madrid and she practiced law for ten years before entering public service. Dancausa is a distinguished member of the Autonomous Organization of Institutional Administration of Socioprofessional Services and has acted as a consultant to various Non Governmental Organizations and Foundations. Dancausa will address the conference at the Opening Reception & Welcome.
	María Eugenia Estenssoro is a legislator for the city of Buenos Aires, as well as a respected journalist and leading social entrepreneur in Argentina. She is a co-founder and president of Compañía Social Equidad, a non-profit organization that promotes social equity and human development through the use of information and communications technology. Estenssoro is also co-founder and board member of Equidad and Endeavor Argentina , an NGO that promotes entrepreneurship in emerging markets. She has served on numerous boards for international social organizations seeking to reduce corruption and strengthen democracy. As a journalist, she published Mujeres & Compañía, a magazine for working women and was a business editor for Noticias , a leading Argentine magazine. Between 1983 and 1992, she reported for Time Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. Estenssoro is co-founder and president of IWF Argentina and will address the conference on Leadership & Gender – A Global Picture.
	Karin Forseke is a leading international investment banker with extensive experience dealing in capital markets and strategic and operative planning throughout Europe and the United States. She is immediate past Chief Executive Officer of D. Carnegie & Co AB in Sweden, an independent Nordic investment bank operating in Securities, Investment Banking and Asset Management and Private Banking. Prior to being appointed Chief Executive, she was the Head of International Sales and Sales Trading at Carnegie. Between 1993 and 1998, Forseke was Chief Operating Officer of the London International Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE). She was responsible for sales and distribution in Westpac Banking Corporation's Financial Markets Group, London from 1992 until 1993, prior to which she was Director of Business Development in establishing The OMLX exchange in London. In December 2004, she joined the Board of the British market regulator Financial Services Authority as a non-executive Director of the Board. She has extensive experience in diverse roles in financial markets in the US, UK and her native Sweden. Forseke will address the conference on Bridging the Gap in Business – Successful Markets, Vibrant Organizations & the Lessons of Europe.
	Inés Gomis is Managing Director of Temple Asesores, an international business consulting firm in Spain. She is a senior international consultant who focuses on leading change management solutions and start-up projects. Gomis has also been a long-serving member and Speaker of the Certification Committee of the Spanish Tourism Quality Institute, sponsored by the Spanish General Secretary Tourism Department. Gomis is also Senior Assessor and Consultant to the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model. From 1997 to 2002, Gomis led the Department of Benchmarking and Recognition in the Management Quality Club, now the Club of Excellence in Management, a partner association of the EFQM in Brussels. She was the Spanish representative at the Global Benchmarking Network, headquartered in Germany and served as Quality Manager at La Estrella Seguros from 1991 to 1996. Currently, she is also a Professor at the Institute of Advanced Business Studies at University of San Pablo CEU and the European University in Madrid. Gomis is President of IWF Spain and will address the conference at the Opening Reception & Welcome.
	Gemma Hussey is currently the Director of the European Women's Foundation, Ireland, where she designs and delivers the Foundation's programs in leadership and democracy training in Eastern Europe. A former Senator and Cabinet Minister of the Government of the Republic of Ireland, and member of the President's Council of State, Hussey was also a business entrepreneur and leader in the Irish women's movement. Hussey was first elected to Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Irish Parliament) in 1982, representing Wicklow for the Fine Gael Party. She had previously served in the Seanad Éireann (the Irish Senate) from 1977 until 1982, where she sat as an independent senator for three years before serving as Fine Gael spokeswoman on Women's Affairs and then as Government Leader of the Seanad. Hussey served in the Irish Cabinet, as well as being Fine Gael Spokesperson for Arts, Culture and Broadcasting in 1982, and for Education in 1987. After retiring from politics in 1989, she became a consultant to the United Nations Development Program in Romania and authored two books: At the Cutting Edge and Ireland Today - Anatomy of a Changing State. Hussey is a member and founding president of IWF Ireland. She will address the conference on Empowering Families – The Cost & Benefits of Closing the Gender Gap.
	Susan King is Vice President of Public Affairs at the Carnegie Corporation and is responsible for communications including its publications, web site, and media and dissemination grant program. She spent 20 years as a journalist covering national and international issues and before joining the foundation, and served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Public Affairs. King also served three cabinet secretaries as a communications strategist. At the Department of Labor, where she oversaw the work of 16 agencies, King crafted the successful “No Sweat” initiative that led to the Presidential Apparel Industry Partnership and a movement to improve sweatshop conditions domestically and abroad. The initiative won an Innovation in Government award from the John F. Kennedy School of Government. King also oversaw the UPS strike coverage, Welfare to Work Initiatives and the “YO! Youth Opportunity” movement. King shaped communication strategies for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Andre Cuomo's first six months in office. She has won numerous journalism awards including Emmys for her reporting from Lebanon and for Coverstory, three National Women's Political Caucus awards, and recognition from American Women in Communications and Sigma Delta Chi. King serves on the Board of Directors of the International Women's Forum, and is a member of the Washington, DC Women's Forum. She will moderate Plenary III: Empowering Families - The Cost & Benefits of Closing the Gender Gap.
	Barbara Mair is the former General Manager of Compaq Mexico and is a top Technology consultant. She first joined Compaq in 1993 as its director of sales after ten years in systems, marketing and sales management at Unisys. By 1995 she had risen to General Manager of Compaq's Mexican subsidiary where she improved sales from 60 million dollars to 630 million in seven years, positioned Compaq as the market leader for PCs and Servers in Mexico in 1997 and negotiated mergers with Tandem Computers in 1997 and Digital Equipment in 1998. When Compaq merged with HP in 2002, Mair headed the combined PC business unit. After leaving HP, she built a successful consulting practice and began work on a book about her experiences as an executive woman in Mexico. Presently, she is partnering with the Mexican Government as a consultant on Enciclomedia, a 2 billion dollar project to drastically improve educational access to technology. She is a Member of the Board of several nonprofit organizations devoted to technology, industry and education and currently serves as immediate past president of IWF Mexico. Mair will moderate Plenary II: Bridging the Gap in Business - Successful Markets, Vibrant Organizations & the Lessons of Europe.
	Susana Malcorra is the Deputy Executive Director (Administration) of the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) where she has served since July 2004. WFP is the frontline UN agency fighting to eradicate world hunger, using food aid to save lives in emergencies and to help the poorest of the poor become self-reliant. Malcorra brings to WFP 25 years of business management, financial and IT experience in the private sector. With a degree in Engineering, she began her career in IBM and became the Director of the Public Sector managing the largest branch in Argentina. Her last post before joining WFP was as Chief Executive Officer of Telecom Argentina where she helped guide the telecommunications evolution of Argentina during the 1990's and is regarded as one of South America's leading executives. She is a member of IWF Argentina and will moderate Plenary IV: Empowering Civil Society – Bridging the Leadership Gap.
	Beatriz Merino is one of Latin America's preeminent female politicians, and currently serves as the first female National Ombudsman for the Government of Perú. Prior to this, Merino was sworn in as the first woman Prime Minister of Perú in 2003, after deftly leading Perú's tax agency through tax reform and increasing tax revenue. During her tenure as Prime Minister, she initiated the guidelines for Peruvian State Reform. Merino served as a specialist in the Public Sector at the World Bank in Washington, DC until 2005 where she specialized in the areas of tax administration and policy, state reform, customs, the modernization of government agencies and the strengthening of Latin American congresses. A former congresswoman and recognized leader in women's issues, she was a council member of the Women Leadership Program (PROLEAD), sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank and a steering committee member for the Business Women's Initiative against HIV/AIDS. She has authored two books: Peruvian Women in 20th Century Legislation and Marriage and Rape: Debate of Article 178 of the Peruvian Criminal Code. Merino will address the conference on Empowering Civil Society – Bridging the Leadership Gap.
	Ann Mettler is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of The Lisbon Council, an advocacy group and policy network that is among Europe's most authoritative voices on economic reform and social renewal. She worked at the World Economic Forum from 2000 to 2003, where she served as Director for Europe. Prior to this appointment, Mettler was responsible for the World Economic Forum's activities in the United States and Canada. From 1997 to 2000, Mettler held positions in the Governmental Affairs Committee of the US Senate and the Foreign Policy Division of the European Commission in Brussels. Mettler is a member of the Global Leadership Council of the Michael Nobel Harriet Fulbright Institute of Business Technology Management. She is also an active member of the Evian Group's Open World Initiative and the Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations. Mettler has contributed articles in the international media and has appeared as a commentator for CNBC Europe and the BBC. She holds Master's Degrees in both Political Science and European Law and Economics and graduated with distinction from the University of New Mexico and the Center for European Integration Studies in Bonn, Germany. Mettler will address the conference on Bridging the Gap in Business – Successful Markets, Vibrant Organizations & the Lessons of Europe.
	Maria Isabel Mijares is a world-renowned wine connoisseur who founded and now chairs the Laboratory of Sensory Analysis (LAS) and is President and Director of the EQUIPO TEAM SL winery. She is also founder of the quarterly magazine "Equipo Team News," which covers international events of wine and gastronomy and is editor of the magazine “La Etiqueta”. She has been Secretary General of the International Union of Oenologists for 12 years and has lent her expertise to the United Nations and collaborated with the International Development Bank in South America. A member of the Spanish Academy of Gastronomy, and a frequent contributor in national and international magazines, Mijares has also taught as a Professor of Gastronomy and Oenology in Spain and South America and has judged numerous international wine and gastronomy competitions. She is a founding member and former Vice President of the Spanish Association Wine Tasters. She also has been honoured with the Medal of Agricultural Merit by the government of France, and Medals of Wine Merit from Chile and Spain. Mijares is a member of IWF Spain and will present to participants at the Cata de Vinos.
	Soledad Murillo champions women's rights and equal opportunity as Secretary General for Equality Policy for the Spanish Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. In this role, she serves as spokesperson for the government on issues relating to women, domestic violence and gender violence. She also oversees the Women's Institute and the Government Delegation for Gender Violence. Immediately prior to her appointment as Secretary General for Equality Policy, Murillo was a professor of Sociology and Communication at the University of Salamanca where she founded a seminar on Women's Studies and became Coordinator of the Program on Gender Relations. A veteran of the Spanish feminist movement, she has participated in numerous studies and publications related to women's equal rights and participation. She has also authored several books including: The Myth of Private Life - de la Entrega al Tiempo Propio; Women's Associations - an Active Citizenry and Power Relations between Men and Women . Murillo will address the conference on Empowering Families – The Cost and Benefits of Closing the Gender Gap .
	Pilar Muro is President of the Quirón Hospitals Group and the Quirón Foundation in Spain. She has led the Quirón Hospitals Group since 1998, and she founded the Quirón Foundation, an organization dedicated humanitarian aid and medical research, in 2000. In her capacity as president of the Hospitals Group, she has overseen the construction of new hospitals in Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao, Sevilla and Zaragoza. From 1995 to 1998, she was the Associate President of the Quirón Hospitals Group, as well as Spain's fifth-largest health insurer, Previsión Sanitaria, SA. She has held the presidency of various National and International Medical Conferences and she headed the Organization of Conferences on Health Education and Prevention. Muro is also a member of the Aragonese Association of Business Women, the Association of Family Businesses of Aragon, and the Association of Victims of Terrorism. She will address conference participants on Bridging the Gap in Business – Successful Markets, Vibrant Organizations & the Lessons of Europe.
	Maria Salvadora Ortiz is Director of International Relations for the Iberian-American Secretary General in Madrid Spain. Previously, she served as the Costa Rican Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union from 2002 until 2006. Ortiz has represented the government of Costa Rica in international conferences convened by the United Nations and the European Union and has distinguished herself in bi-regional relations with Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe. In addition to guiding Costa Rica's diplomacy, Ortiz has served as a member of the High Council for Education and as Director and Founder of the Center for Research on Latin American Identity and Culture at the University of Costa Rica where she spent over 25 years as a Professor. Ortiz has authored twelve books and will address the Conference on Empowering Families – the Cost & Benefits of Closing the Gender Gap.
	Ana Pastor is the Spokesperson and Executive Secretary for Social Policy for Spain's opposition Conservative People's Party (PP) and one of Spain's preeminent political leaders. The voice of Spain's leading opposition party, she helps drive public debate and shape public opinion. In 2000 Pastor was elected to represent Pontevedra in the Spanish Parliament. With her appointment as Undersecretary of State for Health for Spain in the Ministry of the Interior, she became the first practicing physician to hold this post in Spain's new democracy. Between 1996 and 1999, Pastor was Director General of the Association of State Civil Servants and she was named Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Culture. She has also served as Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of the Interior, and as Minister in the Ministry of Health and Consumption. She first entered public service in her native city of Pontevedra where she was Chief of the Health Planning Service for the Health and Social Services Council Delegation. A professor of Public Policy at the Carlos III University of Madrid, Pastor is a licensed physician and surgeon with a Master's degree in Public Health and Health Administration. She will address the conference on Leadership & Gender – A Global Picture.
	Ceridwen Roberts is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. She was formerly Director of the Family Policy Studies Centre (FPSC) for eight years until 2001. Prior to joining the FPSC, Roberts held research and management posts in government and academia as an industrial sociologist. She was chair of the Social Research Association and the Advisory Committee of the UK Centre for Longitudinal Studies. From 1998 to 2004, she was the UK expert on the European Commission's Observatory on the Social Situation, Demography and Family. Roberts is an Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences and sits on a number of renowned social policy research and advisory groups. She has lectured, published and appeared on television and in radio in a range of family policy issues. She currently manages research projects on family policy issues and grandparenting, as well as a project in the ESRC Gender Equality Network on Tackling Inequalities in Work and Care : Policy Initiatives and Actors at the EU and UK levels. Roberts will address the conference on Empowering Families – The Cost and Benefits of Closing the Gender Gap.
	Ludmila Shvetsova is First Deputy Mayor of the City of Moscow, Head of the Social Sphere. She is one of Russia's preeminent women politicians serving in political leadership roles since 1989. She was Head of the Awards Department of the Secretariat of the USSR Supreme Soviet; Head of the Family & Woman Affairs Committee of the USSR Council of Ministers, and the Head of the Gender Expertise Group of the High Economic Council of the Russian Federation Supreme Soviet. In 1994, Shvetsova became a Chairman of the Committee for Public and Interregional Relations in the Moscow Government. She also serves as President of the Women's Initiative Fund and President of the Association of Children's Movement Researchers. She is Vice President of the Information Publishing Fellowship, Atlantis– 21st Century. Shvetsova has been honored with numerous awards and is author of several publications about children, youth and women's issues, as well as international relations, social policy and development of a civil society. She is President of IWF Russia and will address the conference on Leadership & Gender – A Global Picture.
	Gerlinde Sturm is Senior Vice President Business Administration Sales at Siemens AG where she is responsible for the Fixed Network and Services functions of the Account Deutsche Telekom. Previously, she managed global Business Administration within the department of Group Strategy and Business Development North America in the Communications Group of Siemens AG. From 1995 to 2001, she managed Siemens subsidiaries in the Czech Republic, including as CFO of Siemens Komunikacny Systemy s.r.o where she directed the Private Networks/Enterprise Systems in the Czech Republic and as CFO of the Communications Network Group for Czech Republic, Siemens s.r.o. Prior to serving Siemens in the Czech Republic, Strum explored the introduction of projects in Latin America and Eastern Europe as Commercial Project Manager within the Private Network Group of Siemens in. In that role, she also oversaw the R.E.N.F.E Highspeed Train Madrid - Sevilla Project and the World Fair in Sevilla. Sturm will address conference participants on Bridging the Gap in Business – Successful Markets, Vibrant Organizations & the Lessons of Europe.
	Saadia Zahidi heads the World Economic Forum's Women Leaders Programme, seeking to support the advancement of women's leadership and the issues affecting women's lives. She is co-author of the Forum's report "Women's Empowerment: Measuring the Global Gender Gap", released in 2005, which ranks countries according to the size of their gender gap. Zahidi was previously an Economist with the Global Competitiveness Programme from 2003-2005, where her responsibilities included economic analysis for the Global Competitiveness Report. Her professional and research expertise in gender issues, corruption and financial crises have garnered international media attention. Zahidi holds a Master's degree in International Economics from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland and a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Smith College, USA. She will present the Forum's Gender Gap report in the keynote address on Leadership & Gender—A Global Picture.