Yahoo!'s Kathy Savitt to speak at NYC summit, Oct. 11

Kathy Savitt
Savitt

Kathy Savitt ’85, chief marketing officer at Yahoo, will be the keynote speaker at the second Cornell Entrepreneurship Summit NYC Oct. 11, organized and hosted by Entrepreneurship@Cornell (E@C).

The summit, with the theme “The Beginning: From Nothing to Something,” will feature 11 entrepreneurial business leaders speaking in TED-style talks of 15 minutes each about their entrepreneurial journeys. They will share insights about their successes and challenges, and motivate and inspire participants to pursue entrepreneurial risk.

The event runs from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the TimesCenter at 242 W. 41st Street, with a cocktail reception to follow.

“The summit is our marquee event in New York City and represents our commitment to grow Cornell’s entrepreneurship presence in New York City and elsewhere,” said Zach Shulman, acting director of E@C and senior lecturer of management in the Samuel C. Johnson Graduate School of Management.

Savitt founded her first company before she turned 30 and was CEO of Lockerz before joining Yahoo. Prior to Lockerz, she was executive vice president and chief marketing officer at American Eagle Outfitters Inc., where she led the global marketing efforts of the company’s portfolio of brands and the digital and e-commerce channels. She was also vice president of strategic communications, content and entertainment initiatives for Amazon.com.

“I'm exited to be speaking at the Cornell summit in New York City, as Cornell is where my entrepreneurial spirit was first ignited,” Savitt said, who majored in government in the College of Arts and Sciences. “This philosophy is one that I share with the entire Yahoo team as we seek to make the world’s daily habits inspiring and entertaining. At Yahoo, we share Cornell’s commitment to New York as a city for investment, future innovation and focus on creating a vibrant entrepreneurial community.”

Other speakers include:

  • Neal Goldman, chairman and CEO at Relationship Science and founder, chairman and CEO of Capital IQ Inc. until its sale to McGraw-Hill/Standard and Poor’s;
  • Laurie Glimcher, dean of Weill Cornell Medical College, where she is also professor of medicine;
  • CEO Niraj S. Shah ’95 and Chairman Steve Conine ’95, co-founders of Wayfair;
  • Randy Garutti ’97, CEO of Shake Shack;
  • Brian Distelburger ’01, president and co-founder, Yext;
  • Josh Wolfe ’99, co-founder and managing partner, Lux Capital;
  • Cheryl Swirnow ’02, COO and co-founder, Sherppa;
  • Jessica Crolick Rolph ’97, MBA ’04, COO and founding partner, HappyBaby;
  • Karim Abouelnaga ’13, CEO, Practice Makes Perfect Inc.; and
  • Scott Belsky ’02, founder of Behance and vice president for products/community, Adobe, who will act as moderator.

Registration of $395 includes access to all speaker presentations, breakfast and lunch, end of summit reception and networking periods. To learn more or register, visit summit.eship.cornell.edu.

Media Contact

Syl Kacapyr