WithIt, the women's leadership development network serving the home and furnishings industries, is pleased to announce two additions to its Board of Governors: Jason Phillips, vice president and creative director of The Phillips Collection and founder and president of Jason Phillips Design, and Y. Jerry Cohen, founding member and partner of New York law firm Cohen, Tauber, Spievack & Wagner PC.
Phillips and Cohen join the WithIt Board of Governors advisory team, which is comprised of industry leaders who represent several business disciplines and levels of leadership.
WithIt is a brain trust, a learning space, and a growth engine for individual and business leadership, says WithIt President Stephanie Lowder. Our Governors are strategic thinkers, generous supporters, and advocates for WithIt. They help this organization and thus our individual members to grow and contribute to full potential. In other words, each of our Governors and their companies embody our cause. We are grateful for their partnership and support.
Phillips is an award-winning designer whose recent honors include the INSPIREDESIGN Design Excellence Award, 2010 ARTS Awards Product Designer of the Year, and the Trade Secrets Award, part of VERANDA magazine s inaugural Art of Design competition. Phillips is a board member for several associations, including the American Society of Furniture Designers, the Interior Design Panel at High Point University, and the Young Home Furnishings Professionals. Also, he is a founding member of the Sustainable Furnishings Council.
I am both honored and humbled by my inclusion in WithIt s Board of Governors, Phillips says. I have been watching this organization branch out over the years, and I am very excited to join the team to add to the great momentum that already exists.
Cohen is a corporate counselor who handles financial, commercial and intellectual property transactions, and provides strategic business advice to public and private corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies. He routinely counsels clients in strategic alliances; joint ventures; licensing; marketing and distribution arrangements; acquisitions; divestitures; restructurings; and financings. Cohen has been a guest speaker at WithIt s professional conference. And on his blog at FurnitureToday.com, Law and the Business of Furniture, he provides insight and solutions about legal matters that affect the furniture industry, including operational issues, trends, and current and proposed legislation.
I'm proud and delighted to have been nominated to WithIt s Board of Governors, Cohen says. WithIt s mission of outreach to professional women, which it accomplishes so well, is vital for the success and future of the home and furnishings industries. I m excited and look forward to helping WithIt continue to fulfill its essential role.
In addition to Phillips and Cohen, the 2010 WithIt Board of Governors are: industry veteran Cary Benson, co-president, Palliser; Deborah Burns, senior vice president and chief innovation officer, Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.; Peggy Burns, principal, Circle Furniture; Jeffery L. Cook, president, Broyhill Industries Inc.; Jerry Epperson, partner, Mann, Armistead & Epperson; Jena Hall, vice president of marketing and director of bedroom, dining and occasional, aspenhomeTM; Phil Haney, president, Lexington Home Brands; Caroline Hipple, principal, HB2 Resources; Edward Massood, president and chief operating officer, Thomasville Home Furnishings of New Jersey; George Perez, chairperson, Furniture Design Department, Savannah College of Art and Design; Rob Sligh, chairman and chief executive officer, Sligh Furniture Co.; Ken Smith, managing partner, Smith Leonard PLLC; and Margaret Traub, president and chief executive officer, Adesso Inc.
To learn more about WithIt s Board of Governors, visit www.withit.org.
WithIt, founded in 1997, is a women s leadership development network in the home and furnishings industries. The organization s annual High Point Market Breakfast featuring Alexa Hampton will be held April 18. WithIt Trends/Competitive Intelligence will take place April 19 from 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at 220 Elm. A High Point Market Student Mentoring Day will be held April 21 from 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. The annual New York Design Tour is set for May 15-18. The professional conference, Leadership2: Take it to the Next Level, is set for Aug. 17-19.
Website: http://www.withit.org