Women of Power and Vision Panel
Wind Enterprises is proud to have senior executives Jennifer Van Buskirk, Senior Vice President of New Distribution for AT&T; Barbara S. Hingst, Vice President, Business Performance Services – Southern Company; Karstin Bodell, Vice President of General Business Marketing for IBM; and Representative Carolyn Hugley, Georgia House District 133, Georgie House of Representatives; Amy Medendorp, Corporate Executive VP, Diversified Commercial Banking, SunTrust Banks Inc. Maria Sutej’, Vice President, East Region, Avon Products Incorporated, will serve as panel moderator for Women of Power and Vision at IMAGINE! The 16th Annual Possible Woman® Leadership Conference April 26 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
The Honorable Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, Carol Hunstein, will open the conference with her welcoming comments.
Biographies for Women of Power and Vision Panelists Jennifer Van Buskirk, Barbara Hingst, Karstin Bodell, Representative Carolyn Hugley and Amy Medendorp can be found below, along with the bio of Maria Sutej’, Moderator.
Please direct all inquiries regarding our keynote speakers to Linda Wind
Maria Sutej'
Maria leads a team of professionals with cross-functional skills and experience focused on defining short and long term measures related to achieving annual sales goals, and provides stewardship in the implementation of global business strategies.
Maria began her career in 1983 joining Avon as a District Sales Manager. She quickly ascended through the sales ranks holding positions as Field Trainer, Division Sales Manager, and Field Business Unit Leader. During her assignment as Division Sales Manager in Tennessee, she made Avon history by ranking in the top 10 percent in sales growth for eight consecutive years. In 1996, Maria was promoted to Region Vice President.
Maria currently serves as a board member for Emory University’s School of Medicine and The Winship Cancer Institute. She has been a past board member for several organizations including Women Work! and The Partnership Against Domestic Violence. In recognition of her leadership and community involvement, Maria was named one of Georgia’s 100 Most Powerful and Influential Women.
Maria defines her career as a direct result of successfully building relationships of mutual respect and high expectations … “It is a privilege to help others by offering opportunities to people who want to expand their options and improve the quality of their lives. Avon makes it possible for me and thousands of other men and women to do just that every day.”
Maria earned a B.A. from Appalachian State University, and was honored with their Distinguished Alumnus Award. She and her family currently reside in Dunwoody, Georgia.
Barbara S. Hingst
Hingst began her career at Southern Company in 1984, spending nine years in various analyst and supervisory positions in financial planning and corporate finance at Southern Company Services. In 1994, Hingst became the assistant to the executive vice president and CFO of Georgia Power. In 1995, Hingst started her focus on marketing as a market planning manager at Georgia Power, and later became director of strategic market
planning for Southern Company. In May 1999, she was promoted to vice president, strategic market planning. In November 2000, she became Vice President of Marketing Services for Southern Company. Over the years, Hingst has enjoyed various project assignments in Thailand and England as well as testifying in numerous regulatory proceedings.
Hingst has a BBA in Management Science, cum laude from the University of Georgia (1984) and an MBA with concentration in finance from Georgia State University (1989). Hingst is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Leukemia Society of America, Georgia Chapter. She enjoys outdoor sports and is an avid Atlanta Braves fan. Hingst has young twins, Brody and Brienne.
With 4.4 million customers and more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast. A leading U.S. producer of electricity, Southern Company is the parent firm of electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications companies. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are below the national average. Southern Company was named the World’s Most Admired Electric and Gas Utility by Fortune magazine in 2011, and is consistently listed among the top U.S. electric service providers in customer satisfaction by the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
Karstin Bodell
Prior to this she was the Vice President of Channels Marketing. She has held positions in Europe as the Director of Solutions & Integrators and the Director of Marketing for Small & Medium Business. Karstin has served in several roles in sales, marketing and management across the software and solutions businesses.
Karstin started her career as a Consultant with Arthur Andersen. She holds a B.A. in Management Science and Public Policy from Duke University. She is a member of the GSU Atlanta Marketing Roundtable, is on the Board of Junior Achievement of Georgia, and is an active mentor with Pathbuilders Inc.
Representative Carolyn Hugley
The motivational and inspirational speaker was born in Forrest City, Arkansas in 1958. After receiving her diploma from Forrest City High School, Hugley attended the University of Arkansas in Pine Bluff, Mississippi. She earned a B.A. in Political Science and an M.P.P.A in Public Policy Administration. She is married to Isaiah Hugley and the couple has 2 children, Isaiah and Kimberly. They also have a granddaughter, Kandyce. The Hugleys are Members of the Franchise Baptist Church.
Representative Hugley has had extensive involvement in many civic and community organizations. She is a member of the Georgia State Workforce Investment Board, the Liberty Theatre Board of Directors, the Greater Georgia Chapter of Alzheimer’s Association Board, Gamma Tau Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and was on the 1996 Columbus Olympic Committee. She currently chairs the Lower Chattahoochee Area Workforce Investment Board. Her extensive activities have caused her to be the recipient of many awards, including Citizen of the Month from the Columbus Times and Boss of the Year from the American Business Women’s Association. The National Association of Business & Professional Women’s Club presented her with the Sojourner Truth Meritorious Service Award. Hugley was named Legislator of the Year by the Georgia School Counselor’s Association.
Jennifer Van Buskirk
Before joining AT&T, Jennifer worked in management consulting focused on strategy, process improvement and IT initiatives with Kurt Salmon Associates, KPMG, and Answerthink. She holds a bachelors degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech and an MBA from Kennesaw State University. Jennifer has been married to her husband, Roy, for 15 years and has two young children.
Amy Medendorp
Prior to being named to this position in April 2010, Ms. Medendorp was Co-Head of Corporate and Investment Banking where she was responsible for Investment Banking, Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity Coverage, Middle Market Client Coverage, SunTrust’s Equipment Leasing, Asset-Based Lending and Corporate Risk Management operations. From 2001 to 2007, she served as head of Client Coverage for the large corporate client segment, to include all of the Specialty and Geographic Coverage teams.
Ms. Medendorp began her career with SunTrust in Florida. For the first ten years, she was involved in partnering with small, middle market and large corporate clients to develop and deliver solutions to address their financial needs. In the subsequent eight years, she served in a variety of roles within Debt Capital Markets where she held increasingly responsible positions in corporate finance including establishing and managing the company’s Public Debt, Securitization, Structured Leasing, Syndications, and Private Placement teams.
Ms. Medendorp graduated with honors from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Finance. She serves on the Board of Directors for SunTrust Robinson Humphrey as well as on the Board of Directors for Piedmont Healthcare System of Atlanta.
