Inspiration & Profiles

Borrowing a term from the sports world, Lilian Lo is a “natural.” She embodies all the essential skills and attributes of a successful entrepreneur and instinctively knows when and how to make the just-right next play. She is a confident leader who embraces new systems and technologies, builds important relationships, and creates interesting opportunities for growth – all while investing in knowing her market, customers and employees extraordinarily well.

Rachael Sampson has been named Director of Key4Women. Sampson is a 20-year veteran of banking with a focus and passion for helping entrepreneurs, businesses and communities thrive.

Sarah Thomas, the NFL’s first female official, was the Keynote Speaker at Key4Women’s Annual Forum in 2020. In this conversation with Susan Zongrone from KeyBank, Sarah Thomas talked about overcoming adversity, maintaining work-life balance and looking through the windshield toward opportunity.

According to recent research by the National Women’s Law Center nearly 2.2 million women have left the workforce since February 2020. Another Study by McKinsey & Company highlights that the pandemic has affected women’s confidence, as well as their thoughts about their financial future. Learn more as KeyCorp experts weigh in on the topic with tips on how to support women – and parents – throughout the pandemic and beyond.

Nancy Kern Eaton, President at the United Way of Central New York and recipient of Key4Women’s Central New York 2020 Community Impact Award, talks about why community is central to addressing the root causes of poverty and changing the systems that make it persist.

Meet Angela Benton, a pioneer of diversity in the technology industry. Benton has created companies that have enabled Black, Hispanic and female entrepreneurs to successfully grow their businesses with venture capital financing, own and monetize their data, and network with other minority executives.

Benton places a high value on integrity, transparency, simplicity, and intuition in all her business pursuits – values informed by her life’s experiences as a mother and cancer survivor.

Laura Serway, winner of Key4Women’s Central New York 2020 Achieve Award, talks with KeyBank’s Rachel Galusha about the importance of building relationships, giving back to community and how she handles challenges she faces as an entrepreneur.

Meet Debra McClendon-Boddie, who has been chosen as this year’s recipient of the Central New York Key4Women^® Small Business Achievement Award for her work as founder of PGR Foundation, Inc. Hear how her mentorship makes a difference in the lives of young girls, and how this work has changed her life, too.

Lauren McGoodwin, entrepreneur and author, discusses her path to fulfilling work that was "anything but straight line." Her own journey, and the struggles of many women, inspired her to further study millennial women in the workforce. McGoodwin then took a leap into entrepreneurship and launched Career Contessa, a comprehensive career resource for women.

It would not be an exaggeration to call 30-year-old Morgan DeBaun a visionary. She is tough as nails and wise beyond her years. Read how she feels about 2020, her advocacy for women and her own thoughts of success.

Kathryn Rose needed to become an expert in Search Engine Optimization in two weeks. Without time to take a class or read a book, Rose turned to her extensive network to find the one-on-one help she needed. Research showed Rose that many entrepreneurs have the need to learn the "show me" way. With this knowledge, Rose and partners launched the wiseHer platform to connect business leaders with experts who help accelerate their learning and business growth.

Some entrepreneurs are described as "ahead of their time." Not Renee Singleton. We think her vision, planning and business trajectory are "perfectly timed" to successfully navigate, and even flourish, during 2020.