Special Section
The Next Generation: Emerging Leaders Under 40
Diversity Executive Staff, 05-10-2009
Continued from 5 Article Beginning
Mack-Harvin is active in the community, serving as a member of the New York Library Association, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and chair of the Public Relations Committee for the sixth National Conference of African American Librarians. She has been recognized by Crain’s New York Business for her professional achievements.
She splits her time between her career and her family — her husband and young son.
– Deanna Hartley
Tara Maitra, 37
Vice President and General Manager,
Content Services and Advertising Sales
TiVo
Tara Maitra likes to be on the cutting edge working with new technologies. In 1997, she worked with streaming media when it was just catching on; in 2002, she worked with video on demand; and since November 2005, she has developed a content strategy at TiVo that integrates live television with video on demand.
“I joined the company to help add additional features as it related to content because there was so much new video being created for the Web and other platforms,” Maitra said. “[It] seemed like a unique opportunity to start the content business from scratch, and I felt I could make more of an impact.”
She began her career in broadcast journalism — writing, reporting and producing. But while Maitra was at NBC, her boss asked her to take on a managerial position. Maitra was reluctant at first, but in the end that transition into management set the course of her career.
“At the time, I was too early on in my career to realize the value of opening my understanding to learn about something completely new,” she said. “Since then I’ve continued to take on roles in the media that [are] not yet fully developed, which at times can be frustrating.”
To date, Maitra’s greatest achievement is her work at TiVo. She has built relationships with about 70 content partners ranging from The New York Times to Vogue magazine.
“I’m most proud of the fact that as a company, we now have more than 5 million pieces of content available to our TiVo subscribers,” Maitra said. “In a two-year period, we’ve been able to form relationships with the major content players out there, and through our great user interface and technology, we’ve been able to create this complete television experience and become the first provider of a solution that integrates live television with video on demand through one search, one user interface and one remote.”
– Lindsay Edmonds Wickman
Mark Mason, 39
Chief Financial Officer
Citi Holdings Inc.
Mark Mason, a native of Jamaica, Queens, came from humble beginnings.
A report by Crain’s New York Business revealed that he worked in his grandfather’s landscaping business digging up weeds, but the humble work helped to instill him a strong work ethic. He was later promoted to mowing lawns, which he initially did poorly.
“My grandfather yelled, ‘That’s the family name on the truck. If you mess up, it reflects on all of us.’ That’s where I got my work ethic,” Mason told Crain’s. “Every job I’ve had since, I still think about my name being on the truck.”
After years of working in investment banking and management consulting, Mason joined Citigroup in 2001.
Mason’s role as chief financial officer at Citi Holdings — which consists of Brokerage and Asset Management, Global Consumer Finance and Citi’s Special Assets Portfolios — has made him one of the top-ranked professionals in corporate America.
Before assuming the CFO role, Mason was the CFO and head of strategy and M&A for Citigroup’s Global Wealth Management Division and chief of staff to former Citi Chairman and CEO Charles Prince, according to a company press release.
Mason earned his MBA from Harvard Business School after completing his bachelor’s degree in business and administration in finance at Howard University, according to Black Entrepreneur Profile.
He has been lauded for his professional achievements by numerous publications, including Black Enterprise and Crain’s New York Business, and he received a YMCA Business Leadership Award.
– Deanna Hartley
 Alexis Maybank, 34
Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, 32
Founders
Gilt Groupe
If anybody knows firsthand that two heads really are better than one, it’s Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson. That’s because the longtime friends, who met as undergraduates at Harvard University, put theirs together to form the award-winning sample sale Web site Gilt Groupe, which offers high-end fashion at discounted prices.
A&A, as they’re known within the company, always knew they wanted to start a business together. They just needed an idea. After graduation, Wilson began a career in retail sales, working for the likes of Bulgari and Luis Vuitton, while Maybank headed out west to pursue a career in e-commerce, joining eBay as one of its first employees and most recently working at AOL. Both went back to Harvard to earn their MBAs.
A few years ago, the two realized they could unite their different areas of expertise to build the business they had long dreamed of creating.
“Alexandra and I would frequently meet in NYC and attend the city’s famous sample sales,” Maybank explained. “We would receive numerous calls from family and friends instructing us on which designers they would like us to go and see, not to mention the exact items they would love us to bring back. So we started thinking that for this to work online nationwide would be really lucrative, while also marrying our expertise and enabling us to form a revolutionary business.”
And so, in November 2007, the Gilt Groupe site was born.
“I love knowing that we are building a business that is truly innovative and is changing the way that our members shop,” Wilkis Wilson said. “We have the opportunity to be creative.”
Since its inception, the company has blossomed to more than 60 employees, and the invitation-only site boasts more than 75,000 members, according to a 2008 Forbes.com article.
“During my four-year run [at eBay], I witnessed its growth from 40 employees to about 5,000,” Maybank said. “As you can imagine, experiencing such a dramatic rise was more than inspiring and something I hoped to be part of again.”
She may have gotten her chance. And along with her business partner, Maybank is an inspiration to aspiring female entrepreneurs everywhere.
“I think it is important for young women to feel that they can achieve their dreams if they set their mind to it,” Wilkis Wilson said. “There is no substitute for hard work and determination. I recommend working with talented people that you trust wholeheartedly and working on an idea about which you are genuinely passionate.”
– Agatha Gilmore
Susan Moss, 39
Partner
Chemtob Moss Forman & Talbert
Susan Moss is a celebrity of sorts. She may not be stalked by paparazzi or have her personal life scrutinized and torn apart in the mainstream media, but she is no stranger to People magazine and “The Oprah Winfrey Show” — where she is sought for her professional expertise.
