Carly Fiorina to Headline Conference on Women Entrepreneurs in Emerging Markets

Carly Fiorina, named among the most powerful women in business by Fortune and Forbes Magazine, will headline a University of Maryland -Robert H. Smith School of Business conference exploring the transformative role of women in emerging markets.

A Smith MBA holder (1980) and former chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co., Fiorina is a keynote speaker for:

• What: "Women as Entrepreneurs, Consumers and Agents of Change"
• When: 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday, April 13
• Where: Pavilion Room of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington.

Currently chairman and CEO of Carly Fiorina Enterprises, Fiorina also is founder of the Fiorina Foundation, which supports the One Woman Initiative an international women’s empowerment fund.

"Carly Fiorina's accomplishments and worldwide leadership on this issue bolster this forum and its roster of internationally respected speakers," said Professor Kislaya Prasad, one of the conference organizers and director of the Smith School's Center for International Business Education and Research. "Although women in emerging markets have traditionally been underrepresented in business, they are becoming a powerful economic force as business leaders, entrepreneurs and newly empowered consumers, and they're causing businesses to really stand up and take notice."

Other distinguished speakers, who will join Fiorina in sharing the latest knowledge, resources and best practices related to the topic include:

• Rupert Scofield, president and CEO of the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA International -- a non-profit, microfinance organization) - Author of The Social Entrepreneur’s Handbook, he was among the first microfinancers, making his first loans in 1972.
• Rohini Pande, Harvard University's Mohammed Kamal Professor of Public Policy - Working extensively in developing countries, her experience covers electoral accountability mechanisms, political affirmative action for women and minorities and on the design and impact of financial access initiatives in low-income settings.
• Shari Berenbach, director of microenterprise development for USAID - Regarded as a pioneer in the impact investing field, she has worked with thousands of investors and hundreds of local financial intermediaries around the globe.