Naomi Kent – President of BABC

Managing Director, The C-Suite Advisory

Naomi Kent is a trusted partner to C-suite executives, a strategic advisor to entrepreneurs, and a motivating force behind high-performing boards. Throughout her broad career — which spans over 20 years, multiple countries, industries, and business models — she has always been a builder. Her record of success includes building multiple successful brands and highly profitable businesses.

Both an American and British citizen, Naomi has lived in 6 countries, and speaks French and Spanish. She regularly speaks on panels and podcasts about professional development, serving on boards, and portfolio careers.

Alan Gogbashian

Consul General British Consulate-General, Chicago

Alan Gogbashian was appointed Her Majesty’s Consul General for Chicago in January 2020. As Consul General, he leads the UK’s engagement across the 14 states of Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Alan has been a member of the British diplomatic service since 2008. His most recent roles have included Deputy Ambassador to Morocco and Mauritania, Deputy Director Americas, and Head of International Human Resources. Before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Alan worked in corporate law in London and Paris, international development, and the life sciences sector. He studied law at King’s College London and is an MBA graduate. He is married with two daughters.

Jon Butcher – Board Member

Board Director, Mintel

Jon relocated from the UK twenty years ago to help establish the North American presence of Mintel, a global consumer research agency. His background is in sales and marketing. Jon enjoys the diverse mix of interests that the friendly city of Chicago has to offer, including music and sports. A keen biker and runner, he also loves the music classes at the great Chicago institution, Old Town School.

Cynthia Shearn – Board Member

Managing Partner, Fragomen

Cindy is the Managing Partner of Fragomen’s Chicago office. Cindy joined the firm in 1997, and since that time, she has practiced exclusively in the area of corporate U.S. immigration law. Prior to joining the firm, she focused on international and human rights law as evidenced by her positions at the Interparliamentary Union and the United Nations’ International Labor Organization, both located in Geneva, Switzerland. Cindy currently represents multinational corporate clients in such industries as management and technology consulting, logistics and supply chain, transportation, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. She advises clients on developing and maintaining successful immigration programs in an evolving environment. Her practice in U.S. corporate immigration law includes nonimmigrant visas, permanent residence, and I-9 and Labor Condition Application (LCA) compliance.

Maureen M. Bromwell – Board Member

Chief Marketing Officer, Northern Trust Assets Management

Maureen serves on the executive management committee with oversight for the global marketing strategy — driving awareness for the firm’s brand and investment expertise to initiate and strengthen client engagement. Her team is responsible for developing and executing integrated marketing, communications, and business strategies across global client channels, investment platforms and media. Maureen has more than two decades of investment management marketing and business development experience. She joined Northern Trust in 2015 from Munder Capital Management, where she was a managing director and head of marketing. Previously at Munder, Maureen led national accounts, RIA sales and retail strategy. Earlier in her career, she worked in marketing at SunAmerica Asset Management and as a financial consultant at Merrill Lynch.

Julianne Cox

Director for Business Development, Invest Northern Ireland

Julianne is the Director for Business Development at Invest Northern Ireland. Her role involves working closely with companies in the Chicago area and across the Midwest that are considering setting up an office in the UK or Europe, to complement their existing US operations.

Julianne is Irish and grew up in County Kerry but she also has strong ties to County Roscommon. She spent time living in Manchester where she worked for the US engineering company, Jacobs. Julianne is mom to Layla (4) and Adelina (2) and spends all her time outside of work at play parks, ice skate lessons, swimming and gymnastics.

Julianne studied Philosophy and Political Science at Trinity College Dublin and holds a Master of Laws from Queen’s University, Belfast.

Brenda Head – Board Member

VP Midstream Products Solutions Americas at bp and Refinery JV board chair at Toledo Refinery Holding Company

• Dynamic leadership executive with experiences in both large corporation and small joint venture start-up environments
• Wide-ranging commercial skillset with strong strategy, business development, supply and optimization, risk management, and commodity trading experience as well as a technical background
• Track record of developing new capabilities, understanding new markets, and building business teams to deliver value quickly
• Energetic and empathetic leader with a passion for developing and motivating people
• Commercial optimisation specialist with demonstrated ability to combine market knowledge with operational constraints and flexibility, capturing value through optimising across the supply chain
• Proven ability to develop effective partnerships and land major commercial agreements – both externally and between internal business units

Stephen Potter – Board Member

Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow, Harvard University

Prior to ALI, Steve Potter was vice chairman and a member of the operating group at Northern Trust, a provider of wealth management, asset servicing, and banking to corporations, institutions, affluent families and individuals. At Northern Trust, Mr. Potter served as president of Northern Trust Asset Management, CEO of Northern Trust Investments, and CEO of Northern Trust Global Services.

Ann Suker Potter joins Steve Potter as an Advanced Leadership Initiative Partner.

David Kay, OBE – Board Member

Partner, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

David N. Kay counsels and represents clients on international corporate transactions. He advises foreign companies and financial institutions on their operations in the U.S., from start-ups to global corporations with subsidiaries in the U.S. David also advises U.S. companies on their overseas operations, with specific emphasis in England, the European Union, the Middle East, Australia, India and China. He has traveled extensively and has lived and practiced law in England, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates where he worked in Dubai and became the resident partner of the Abu Dhabi office of a London-based law firm.

David served as chairman of the corporate department and on the operating committee of Gardner Carton & Douglas (prior to the merger with Drinker Biddle in 2007) and from 2012-2016 as a member of Drinker Biddle’s management committee. He is currently serving a second term on the compensation committee and is co-lead of the International Team.

Paul Melville – Board Member

Principal, Corporate Advisory & Restructuring Service, Grant Thornton

Paul Melville provides cross-border corporate restructuring services and advises stakeholders — including bank groups, customers, suppliers and shareholders — on company viability, reconstruction and debt restructuring, strategic options, and formal insolvency.

He started his career with Grant Thornton UK LLP, where he was a partner in the Corporate Recovery and Restructuring group. Melville assisted in the development of the lelinternational capability of the United States-based Corporate Advisory & Restructuring Services (CARS) group and serves as the liaison between the Restructuring & Recovery practice of Grant Thornton International Ltd and the U.S. CARS organization. He works primarily with companies that operate in Canada, China, India and the UK. He has addressed complex issues and matters, including those associated with regulatory requirements and the application of bankruptcy laws in a variety of countries.

Graham Atkinson – Board Member

Graham Atkinson is a retired Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer for Walgreens, based in Deerfield, Illinois. He is responsible for developing and leading the company’s loyalty strategies with a specific emphasis on the customer experience. Prior to joining Walgreens, Atkinson was president of Mileage Plus for United Airlines, one of the world’s leading customer loyalty programs with more than 50 million members. In that role, he was responsible for improving the effectiveness of the customer loyalty program and extending the reach and impact of the marketing efforts for the program. While at United, he previously served as executive vice president and chief customer officer and senior vice president-marketing.

Atkinson earned an honors degree in business studies from West London University, Ealing School of Business in London, England, in 1973. He serves as a board member for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. He has also been a board member at Sentry Insurance and MAther Lifeways since 2015.

Saul Caisman – Board Member and Treasurer

Treasurer

Mr. Caisman is a retired International Tax Partner of KPMG LLP. During his career, he advised a diverse group of U.S. and foreign-based multinational companies on international tax issues and planning opportunities. He also served, twice, as the Midwest Partner in Charge of International Corporate Services and was the Midwest Area Risk Management Partner-Tax and the Risk Management Partner for the International Tax and International Executives practices or several years.

Mr. Caisman was born and raised in Chicago and is a lifetime resident of Illinois. He graduated from DePaul University, in Chicago with a BS degree in Commerce and a JD degree in Law.

Ema Lazic, Events & Marketing

babcchicagoexecutivedirector@gmail.com

Currently works as an Consultant at Mintel, partnering with a team of analysts and consultants to analyze market trends and consumer behavior in order to create compelling strategies that help clients achieve their business objectives and solve their challenges. Ema also serves as the Head of Events and Marketing at the British American Business Council, Chicago, where she plans, executes, and promotes a range of events that foster transatlantic trade and investment opportunities and enhance the visibility and reputation of the organization.

Former International Tennis Player and D1 Varsity Athlete at Duke and Northwestern University.