Forum for Women Entrepreneurs Announces New CEO.

Business Editors

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 2002

The Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE), the premier entrepreneurial service and networking organization for women building and leading high growth companies, announces Ms. Susan Hailey as its new Chief Executive

As CEO, Ms. Hailey will lead daily operations and set the strategy for this innovative resource for women. She will report to the Board of Directors. Ms. Cynthia Ringo, Board Co-Chair, said, "We are delighted that Susan has signed on, she has a demonstrated track record of success in leading organizations, and her skills are well matched to our needs for continued success."

"FWE is an exceptionally well positioned organization with solid opportunities for growth," said Ms. Hailey. "The focus for the next two years will be on improving our network: as an organization and as individual female business executives. Increasing members' capabilities to build powerful networks will be included in all of our educational programs and events. Additionally I plan to expand the membership to include successful entrepreneurs and executives who have strong and influential business networks, and who truly believe in the benefit of mentoring and sharing contacts."

Ms. Hailey has spent 20 years in technology, including successively more responsible marketing and business development positions with IBM, Tandem and Verifone. At Resumix (now part of Yahoo!) as their VP of Business Development, she executed over 20 technology partnerships with leading enterprise software companies. Susan also assisted in Resumix's IPO planning prior to their successful sale to Ceridian. Ms. Hailey joined Unwired Planet (now OpenWave) as the 40th employee, then spent 3 years with Egon Zehnder, an international recruiting firm, where she placed CEO, Board, and Senior Executives. This past year, Susan served as the General Manager of the Silicon Valley Film Fund, raising equity for feature film productions. She was the Executive Producer for a recently completed family motion picture, which has won 8 film awards across the globe.

Ms. Hailey is an honors graduate of UC Berkeley in Economics and has an MBA from the Harvard Business School. She serves on the Board of Zeum in San Francisco and on the Advisory Boards of the Women's Technology Cluster, the Global Fund for Women, and the Women's High Tech Coalition, and is a Vice President of the Harvard Business School Alumni Association.

About FWE: FWE's mission is to accelerate women's opportunities to start, build and invest in market-leading companies. The Forum for Women Entrepreneurs Institute an educational non-profit, 501(c)3, founded in 2000 as an outgrowth of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, offers educational programs about entrepreneurship, leadership and investing to women around the world. FWE is headquartered in San Mateo, CA and has chapters in Seattle, Southern California, as well as Paris, France.

From January 1999 through December 2001, FWE members raised over $1.1 billion for their businesses nationwide.