Diversity Reboot Summit

A Roundtable Discussion - Meet Two Exceptional Black Women CEOs and Founders

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Virtual
A Roundtable Discussion - Meet Two Exceptional Black Women CEOs and Founders

Join Gerty Simon, Associate Vice President/Regional Diversity Officer as she moderates a roundtable discussion with some truly innovative Black women CEOs and Founders as they discuss their own inspiring career journey, challenges they face as entrepreneurs, and holding pledge makers accountable in their industry. The panel will include Raudline Etienne, Founder of Daraja Capital; and Karla Trotman, President and CEO of Electro Soft, Incorporated. Audience questions are welcome! Join Gerty Simon, Associate Vice President/Regional Diversity Officer as she moderates a roundtable discussion with some truly innovative Black women CEOs and Founders as they discuss their own inspiring career journey, challenges they face as entrepreneurs, and holding pledge makers accountable in their industry. The panel will include Raudline Etienne, Founder of Daraja Capital; and Karla Trotman, President and CEO of Electro Soft, Incorporated. Audience questions are welcome!

Meet The Speakers

Raudline Etienne
Raudline Etienne
Founder, Daraja Capital

Raudline Etienne is a strategic advisor who focuses on developing business strategies and expanding opportunities in the investment sector. The Founder and Managing Partner of her own advisory firm, Raudline is now applying her 25+ years institutional investment experience to assist her clients with the design, development and positioning of their investment products.

Ms. Etienne has had a storied career as an investor and as an investment consultant. During her tenure at NYS Common Retirement Fund, she managed a global portfolio of equity, fixed income, hedge funds, real estate, private equity and opportunistic investments. She also directed CRF investment operations. Ms. Etienne's team was responsible for the College Savings Program.

Prior to her role at CRF Raudline Etienne led consulting relationships for public and corporate retirement systems on issues of investment policy and governance, asset-liability management and asset allocation, asset class design, and investment manager selection and monitoring at Rogerscasey.

Ms. Etienne was an integral figure in the creation of the Connecticut Hedge Fund Association where she was also a board member. She graduated from MIT with a Bachelor of Science and then earned her MBA in Finance from the University of California at Berkeley, Haas Business School.

Karla Trotman, MBA
Karla Trotman, MBA
President & CEO at Electro Soft, Incorporated - Electronics Contract Manufacturing (ECM)
I am a multi-passionate businesswoman with a background in Logistics. My passions have lead me to successfully run my own business with a global and celebrity clientele, report segments on the news, consult businesses, and ultimately leave Corporate America to run my family's company, Electro Soft, Incorporated. Grounded in over fifteen years of experience in the field of Supply Chain Logistics covering both the retail and electronics industries, I have been able to have an incredible career with positions in distribution management, purchasing, global scheduling, Kanban and supply chain management. Electro Soft, Incorporated is a premier electronics contract manufacturing firm. Specializing in OEM and military requirements, ESI is a leader in PCB, cable, enclosure, and wire harness assembly. It is a minority and veteran-owned small business concern, located in the suburbs of Philadelphia with clients that span the globe. Our customers include leaders in the OEM Industrial marketplace, as well as all branches of the U.S. military. As the EVP I have developed and executed an acquisition strategy which led to a 20% increase in gross revenue within one quarter. I continued as COO increasing revenue by 20% year over year for two years straight. I am now CEO. Specialties: Purchasing Certificate - Penn State University, Kanban, Manugistics, ISO9001-2015, government contracts, Social Media for Small Business, Strategy, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Acquisitions.
Gerty Simon
Gerty Simon
Associate Vice President/ Assistant Complex Manager at Morgan Stanley

Gerty is the Regional Diversity Officer of the Mid-Atlantic Region, at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, covering eight regions from Delaware to North Carolina. She joined the Diversity & Inclusion team in September of 2019, responsible for the development and integration of Morgan Stanley’s field strategy for recruiting and retaining diverse talent, fostering an inclusive work environment and ensuring management accountability. She has built a philosophy around the 3D’s – Define, Distill, and Deliver the firm to the field, so it is digestible and understood as additive to the Managers and Advisor’s she works closely with. Gerty Simon joined the firm in 2014 with more than 15 years of financial services experience, holding a number of positions at various investment banking firms including, 12 years as an Investment Associate at UBS Financial Service Inc., with a leading private wealth management team, that managed over $3 billion in assets and listed on Barron’s Top 100 Team ranking 2002, thru her departure in 2014. It was here, she developed the skills to meet the demanding needs of a sophisticated private client base.