NewHavenBIZ

newhavenmuseum.org | 114 Whitney Ave., New Haven Celebrating Women throughout New Haven Htory W o m e n I n B u s i n e s s Allison Jacobs Partner Jacobs & Jacobs Education: Quinnipiac University School of Law Highest degree: Juris Doctorate A llison Jacobs is a partner at Jacobs & Jacobs, a century-old law firm specializing in personal injury and medical malpractice litigation. She is a fierce advocate for her clients, all of whom are victims of injuries or wrongful death caused by negligence. Jacobs has been recognized as one of the "Rising Stars" and "New Leaders in the Law" in statewide rankings by Super Lawyers and the Connecticut Law Tribune. What's been your biggest professional accomplishment so far? Together with my team, I represented a client who had been given the wrong medication while he was in the hospital, which caused him to suffer permanent brain damage. We took the case to mediation before a judge. I created a video documenting my client's injuries and how they affected his daily life. rough our efforts, we were able to achieve a $9.5-million settlement from the hospital, which ensured that my client would have the best possible care for the rest of his life. I also formed a lifelong personal bond with his family. What are your keys to maintaining business success? I treat every client as though they were my family and every case as equally important. I treat colleagues and opposing counsel with civility. is is why the majority of my cases come from referrals from clients and fellow lawyers and you won't see me advertising on billboards or buses. Fun Fact I have a bachelor of fine arts degree in painting and love to create and enjoy art. n Melissa Kessell Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer Central Connecticut Coast YMCA Education: Moravian College Highest degree: MBA M elissa Kessell manages a $28-million budget across 11 locations, overseeing business, financial and human resources mat- ters including analysis and reporting, planning, legal compliance, information technology, capital management and treasury functions. Kessell began her accounting career in property management, but found her way to a Virginia YMCA in 2012, as a controller. Kessell's values align with the mission and values of the Y. rough- out her career, Kessell has led multiple implementation projects, and has a track record of reducing costs of operations. What's been your biggest professional accomplishment so far? My biggest professional accomplish- ment is my ability to improve processes and procedures that lead to positive financial results. I was able to balance the operating budget within my first year at a company, for the company's first time in 20 years. is success was due to analyzing operations and implementing changes, as well as streamlining admin- istrative processes and procedures. One of the larger projects was leading the implementation of a third-party human resources/payroll cloud-based system for over 1,500 employees. Overcoming challenges associated with implementing a vast change in a com- pany that was still on paper records and paychecks was rewarding. What are your keys to maintaining business success? I believe in staying up to date in the industry and current legislation. For me, this includes not only accounting poli- cies, but staying current on COVID-19 legislation as this greatly impacts the Y's operations, from our staff to those we serve. I also believe maintaining rela- tionships are key to business success. Fun Fact I grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania. n Scarlett Lewis Founder & Chief Movement Officer Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement Education: Boston University Highest degree: Bachelor of Science, Communication and Media Studies S carlett Lewis began a career in the financial industry at Greenwich Capital Markets in Connecticut, then worked in investment banking for Alice Walton, the daughter of Sam Walton and founder of WalMart, in Arkansas. Returning to Connecticut, Scarlett worked in real estate and financial consulting prior to her son's murder in Sandy Hook. Aerward, she became an advocate for social- emotional learning and founded the Movement with programming that's in all 50 states and over 100 countries. What's been your biggest professional accomplishment so far? What have been your major accomplishments in the last year? My biggest accomplishment — and I can't take all the credit because there are many people who have helped me — is creating the Choose Love Movement. Our programming is now being taught in over 10,000 U.S. schools, in every state, and over 100 countries. We receive texts, emails and letters every day about how our programs are transforming and even saving lives throughout the world. e Movement's major accomplishments are creating a free social-emotional wellness program 'Choosing Love in our Brave New World' in direct response to COVID-19 and digitizing all our free online resources to make it easy for educators to access our curriculums. What are your keys to maintaining business success? e success of the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement is a result of the extreme need for the resources we provide, the authenticity of our mission (all our programming is offered at no cost) and the dedication and care of our team. We believe we were 'recruited' by Jesse and each one of us loves and supports one another in modeling our message in our own lives each day. Fun Fact I have taken art classes for oil painting for 30 years. n n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m | N o v e m b e r 2 0 2 1 | n e w h a v e n B I Z | W o m e n I n B u s i n e s s 7

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