Who We Are

Deshi Singh is the founder & CEO of APRICOT, a technology platform allowing for one-click consumer marketplace creation. She has been a champion of gender equality for nearly four decades, aligning her personal and professional goals to financially activate and empower women and girls globally. Deshi spent over a decade in traditional finance working at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Och-Ziff Capital Management, and Hudson Bay Capital Management. Through philanthropy and impact investing, Deshi supports various initiatives in education, sustainability, and advocacy for women and children. Deshi is currently President of the Singh Foundation, and in addition to Chamber of Mothers, Deshi sits on the board of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Chefs for Impact, and is an Advisor for the Asia Foundation’s Lotus Circle. Deshi holds a degree in Economics from Wellesley College.

Judee Ann Williams is the Co-Head of CAA Social Impact at leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Social Impact is a strategic consulting team that sits at the intersection of CAA’s deeply experienced Brand Consulting and highly connected Foundation groups. Williams previously worked in the CAA Foundation for 15 years, serving as the department’s Co-Executive Director. Founded in 1995, the CAA Foundation uses resources within the entertainment community to create positive social change and works on improving schools and education services to youth at the local, national, and international level. Williams consults with clients, executives, and corporations on their philanthropic and pro-social initiatives. She works with clients who understand that a brand or business’ value is inextricably linked to their core set of values, and more importantly, the manner in which they articulate and execute on those values. She has worked with corporate brands such as KPMG, Hickey Freeman, Hudson’s Bay Company, Delta Airlines, Cartier, and Everfi, among others.

Additionally, Williams is a prominent member of the philanthropic community, holding various appointments on boards and advisory councils, including the Board of the Carrie Underwood C.A.T.S. Foundation, Katy Perry’s Firework Foundation, First Book, and the USO Entertainment Council. A longtime supporter of the Armed Forces, Williams is actively involved with the USO, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, as well as the St. Bernard Project, and is a member of the Got Your 6 Leadership Team. Prior to joining CAA, Williams worked in the Financial Department of the TBWA\Chiat. Williams received her B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Business from Shepherd University.

Amy Parker is Co-Founder & CEO of THE WHAT, a thriving indie media company and community platform of 100,000 women from across the globe. She is an early internet pioneer, co-founding the cult brand, Splendora. Parker is best known for building intentional communities of influential women since 2000 and has aligned her career with her personal mission to create a global sisterhood of leaders who impact each other’s work at the highest levels to change the world through investment, policy, advocacy and community building. Amy holds a position on the Board of Chamber of Mothers and is also a passionate supporter and advocate for the ERA and Reproductive Rights

Allison Stern is the General Partner of Mother Ventures, the first venture capital fund to focus purely on the mother as consumer. Previously, Allison served as an Operating Partner at The Chernin Group, leading deal teams and working as an interim head of M&A at Food52. During the 2020 Presidential Campaign, she delivered cutting-edge digital partnerships for the presidential campaign teams, leveraging her expertise in internet audiences and viral content creation. As co-founder of Tubular Labs, a social video and influencer measurement firm (acquired by Chartbeat/Cuadrilla Capital), Allison led the company from 0 to $25M ARR and raised over $50M in venture funding. A graduate of Yale University and Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, Allison serves on the board of Chamber of Mothers. She lives in NYC with her husband and daughter.

Elliot Haspel is a nationally-recognized child and family policy expert and commentator, with specialties in early childhood and education issues, as well as the linkage between climate change and early childhood. He is a Senior Fellow at the think tank Capita. Elliot is the author of Crawling Behind: America’s Childcare Crisis and How to Fix It and a second forthcoming book on child care policy, in addition to several policy reports. He has appeared on television as an analyst, including on The PBS NewsHour with Judy Woodruff, and his writings have appeared in a wide variety of top publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic. Elliot is regularly sought out by journalists, and has been quoted in such mediums as NPR and TIME Magazine. He lives in Denver with his spouse and two children.

As Chief Merchandising Officer, Stephanie drives growth and long-term strategy of the Shopbop business, managing Shopbop and Shopbop Men’s buying and planning teams across categories. Additionally, Stephanie helms the Fashion Office, responsible for setting Shopbop’s fashion trend point of view as well as site content. Prior to joining Shopbop, Stephanie held positions at Neiman Marcus, Holt Renfrew, and Bergdorf Goodman, bringing over 15 years of experience to the team at Shopbop. A Michigan native, Stephanie graduated from Northwood University with a degree in Fashion Marketing and Management. She’s a wife and mother of two little boys. Today, she loves serving as a mentor both in and outside of Shopbop. This includes board member positions with Chamber of Mothers and RAISEfashion.

Dr. Rachel A. Blake is an obstetrician-gynecologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, and a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School. She also spends time each year working at Princess Marina Hospital in Gabarone, Botswana. She attended the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and serves on the Brown Medical Alumni Association board of directors.

Dr. Pooja Lakshmin MD is a bestselling author, board-certified psychiatrist, keynote speaker, and a contributor to The New York Times. Her debut book, REAL SELF-CARE: Crystals, Cleanses, and Bubble-Baths Not Included was named an NPR Best Book of 2023. Dr. Lakshmin’s New York Times essays, “How Society Has Turned its Backs on Mothers” and “Saying No Is Self-Care for Parents’” went viral, and she was recently in conversation with Tressie McMillan Cottom on The Ezra Klein Show, discussing her philosophy for pursuing real self-care in a society where commodified wellness fails us personally and collectively. Local to Austin, Dr. Lakshmin maintains a private telepsychiatry practice through which she takes care of patients dealing with burnout and perfectionism, as well as clinical conditions like depression and anxiety. She holds a summa cum laude BA in women’s studies and the biological basis of behavior from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MD from Jefferson Medical College. Dr. Lakshmin completed her internship and first year of psychiatry residency training at Stanford and went on to finish her adult psychiatry residency at George Washington University, where she focused on global mental health and perinatal psychiatry. She has been on the faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at George Washington University School of Medicine since 2016. Dr. Lakshmin is regularly invited to give her signature keynote: “Real Self-Care is An Inside Job.” In it, she covers her Four Principles of Real Self-Care using evidence-based tools, compelling story-telling, and a dose of humor. She also sometimes works as a consultant for companies to design mental health programming. When she’s not speaking, writing or taking care of patients, Pooja likes to enjoy her partner Justin’s sour cream enchiladas, watch Daniel Tiger with her toddler, and take commands from her two cats.

Mary Beth Storjohann is Co-CEO of Abacus Wealth Partners. She is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, author, and speaker with 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. She joined Abacus in 2019 as Chief Marketing Officer after successfully launching and growing her own RIA firm and in 2022 was appointed as Co-CEO.

A believer that “actions speak louder than words,” Storjohann is known for sparking conversations and modeling change in the financial services industry by leaning into uncomfortable dialogue and decisions in order to leave the world and the industry in a better place. She is a fierce advocate for women, diversity, equity & inclusion, and making financial advice accessible to underserved populations and has been invited to speak at various industry and consumer-focused conferences about the work Abacus is doing in these areas.

Mary Beth has been featured in major media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, NBC, Glamour, NPR, The New York Times, Women’s Health, Cosmopolitan, CNBC, Forbes, and more.

Her accolades include the “Top 40 Under 40” by Investment News, being listed as a 2023 MO 100 Top Impact CEO by Big Path Capital, and she was named a Top Ten Most Influential Advisor by Investopedia – a list celebrating financial advisors making significant contributions to critical conversations about financial literacy and wealth management.

Mary Beth lives in San Diego with her husband, a 7 & 9-year-old who are constantly demanding snacks, and two rescue dogs.

Jacqueline Blatt is an accomplished finance and strategy executive with over 12 years of experience across investment banking, growth equity investing, operational finance and corporate development. She founded JB Strategic Advisory, an independent consultancy that supports high-growth consumer brands, with a focus on business development, partnerships, strategic planning, fundraising, and investor relations. Her client roster includes notable names like Nanit and ResortPass. Jacqueline is also an Operating Fellow at Strada Partners, a European growth-oriented investment firm, where she helps evaluate new opportunities and provides guidance to Strada’s portfolio companies.

Previously, Jacqueline was the Vice President of Investor Relations and a Public Company Officer at Rent the Runway, the leading fashion rental platform that disrupted the retail industry. In this role, she was responsible for developing and executing the company’s investor relations strategy, leading the IPO process, and managing relationships with the investment and equity research community. She also spent nearly five years as Chief of Staff to Rent the Runway’s CEO, where she worked closely with RTR’s Executive Team to drive key strategic initiatives, facilitate business development, forge partnerships, and manage multi-faceted communications, internally and externally, including those at the Board level. Prior to her nearly eight-year tenure at RTR, Jacqueline was on the investment team at General Atlantic and worked in M&A at Blackstone.

A summa cum laude graduate from the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business at the Wharton School and the University of Pennsylvania, Jacqueline now resides in New York City with her husband and two sons. 

Caitlyn Fox

Lindsay Dahl

Alisa Bayer