Melinda Ellsworth, vice president, investor relations & corporate communications, Kaiser Aluminum Corporation
Melinda C. Ellsworth has more than three decades of extensive finance and strategic communications experience and is responsible for all aspects of the communications program at Kaiser Aluminum, a leading producer of semi-fabricated specialty aluminum products. Ms. Ellsworth joined Kaiser in 2008 as Vice President, Treasurer, managing both the treasury and investor relations functions. In 2015, she began overseeing the corporate communications function, fully integrating media and public relations activities with the company’s IR program. Prior to joining Kaiser, Ms. Ellsworth was Vice President, Treasurer and Investor Relations at HNI Corporation, a leading provider of office furniture and hearth products. Previously, she served in several roles with Sunbeam Corporation, ending her tenure as Vice President, International Finance and Treasury. Melinda has been an active member of NIRI since 2002, and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from St. Bonaventure University and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive).
Karen Greene, vice president of customer experience, Q4
Karen is an Investor Relations Partner at Q4, working closely with clients as an advisor. Bringing close to 30 years of experience as a senior executive overseeing investor relations and marketing communications for large to small cap and newly public companies, Karen has managed organizations through a wide range of hurdles, milestones and challenges. Karen’s career in Investor Relations includes time at CIGNA Insurance, Safeguard Scientifics, Internet Capital Group (rebranded to Actua), and Hamilton Lane.
Karen has demonstrated success in targeting and transforming the investor base of publicly traded companies, helping them gain a broader, more aligned following. She has also led IR teams through the IPO process, helping them establish IR plans, budgets and workflow required as a public company. Additionally, Karen brings first-hand knowledge and best practices for how to successfully navigate through a wide range of investor relations issues such as missed earnings guidance, M&A, activist activity, restructurings, strategic shifts, rebrands and corporate governance.
Karen has an MBA from Temple University Fox School of Business/Boston University School of Business and a BA in Economics and Political Science from the University of Rochester.
Simon Rose, CEO, Rose & Co
A 25-year Wall Street veteran, Mr. Rose co-founded and served as the Chief Executive Officer of Dahlman Rose & Company, an investment bank focused on transportation, commodities and infrastructure. Under his leadership, Dahlman Rose grew from 6 to 200 employees across five offices in the United States and Canada and expanded its research coverage from a single sector to over 20 discrete sectors focused around the theme of our natural resource economy and supply chain. Mr. Rose advocated a collaborative and horizontally-integrated approach to research coverage which has since been widely adopted. The firm executed over 75 securities offerings for public and private companies, raising in excess of $10 billion for its clients. Dahlman Rose & Company also acted as the sole advisor or co-advisor on numerous high-profile M&A transactions, including the largest public company acquisition in the history of the marine transportation sector. The firm was sold to Cowen Group, a publicly-listed financial services firm, in April 2013.
