CHICAGO - The Chicago-based Women in Public Finance organization on Tuesday recognized three public finance professionals - Kathleen Brown, Suzanne F. Shank, and Denise Y. Barkdull - at its second annual Founders' Awards.
Brown, a former California treasurer who is head of public sector and infrastructure finance for the Western region for Goldman, Sachs & Co., received the group's lifetime achievement award, which recognizes the accomplishments of a woman who has worked in municipals for at least a decade, demonstrating skill, drive, integrity, and vision.
In addition to serving on various public and business boards, Brown's resume includes a term as state treasurer from 1990 to 1994 and her run in 1994 as the Democratic nominee for governor. She hails from a political clan that includes two former governors, her late father Pat Brown and her brother Jerry Brown.
Brown's extensive public finance experience includes a tenure as an attorney in the capital markets group at O'Melveny & Myers, and in investment management at Bank of America. In 2001 she joined Goldman Sachs - the investment bank, not the tony retailer with a similar name as her mother thought upon hearing the news, she quipped in accepting her award. Brown managed a portfolio of $2.5 billion in the private management group until 2003.
Shank, president and chief executive officer of Siebert, Brandford Shank & Co., received the "She's Our Hero" award that recognizes a woman who successfully juggles career, self-development, family, and civic activities. She is a founding member of the firm that opened up for business in 1996. Prior to entering public finance two decades ago, Shank was a design engineer at General Dynamics Corp.
Shank, who is based in Detroit, currently serves on the board of the Securities Industries and Financial Markets Association and is a past board member of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. She serves on a number of local charitable and education boards and spearheaded the creation of the Detroit Summer Finance Institute, a summer internship program that links high school students with finance firms.
Barkdull, a municipal finance attorney at Ice Miller LLP in Indiana, received the "Rising Star" award that seeks to recognize a professional who has worked less than a decade in public finance and demonstrates skill and intelligence and who is likely to have a long-term impact on the field.
Barkdull's practice includes airports, single- and multifamily housing, utilities, solid waste plants, and manufacturing facilities. She has served as bond counsel to a handful of local airport authorities and as special issuer counsel to the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.
The idea for the awards came from WPF founders Sarah Eubanks, Nancy Remar, Lois Scott, and Courtney Shea. The four founded the group 11 years ago and it has since grown from just a handful of local finance professionals to the more than 400 that came from 22 states and Canada to attend its 2008 conference last fall.
The organization also now provides scholarships, mentoring services, and makes charitable donations. A Northeast chapter has also been established.
The group recently named its new officers for the year, including president Elizabeth May of JPMorgan Chase Bank. She replaces outgoing president Melanie Shaker, a Fitch Ratings analyst.
