ACG CT Women's Luncheon: October 2026

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Karin Borchert, Chief Executive Officer, Board Member & Consultant
Karin Borchert is a three-time CEO and board leader with two successful exits and extensive experience growing global, private equity–backed businesses in B2B software, information services, and professional services. As CEO of Modern Hire, 1WorldSync, and Vanteo, she led strategic transformations, integrated acquisitions, strengthened profitability, and united teams around a shared vision. Her career also spans COO, CPO, and various go-to-market client facing roles giving her a broad perspective on how the C-suite works together to create enterprise value. Today, Karin balances her time with fractional AI-enabled business opportunities and advises CEOs, boards, and private equity investors on growth, M&A, and AI-enabled business opportunities. She brings a practical, candid perspective on navigating the path to CEO, leading through uncertainty, and building high-performing teams. Karin holds an MBA from Lehigh University.

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Jennie Ripps, Co-Founder & CEO, Owl's Brew
Jennie Ripps is the co-founder and CEO of Owl's Brew.   She is an entrepreneur, an award-winning beverage developer, and a tea sommelier. Jennie’s beverages have won over 40 awards including the Good Food Awards, Sofi Awards, and the SIP Awards, among others. Owl's Brew is a line of great-tasting beverages (sometimes boozy) , made with amazing ingredients.  Owl's Brew may be found at Disney World, Epcot, TD Garden, Sofi Stadium, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, & Total Wine, among others. Jennie’s first company, Brew Lab Tea was founded in 2011 and acquired in May 2018. Jennie is the co-author of Wise Cocktails (Rodale).   She has been featured in The NY Times, Forbes, WSJ and Entrepreneur, among others.   Jennie is an alumni of Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses program, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, and a Columbia University MBA candidate. Jennie is a mentor for the University of Pennsylvania's PWA (Professional Women's Alliance) and for Summit Series.

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Melissa Sullivan, EVP & CFO, The Ashforth Company
Melissa Sullivan is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of The Ashforth Company. She is responsible for the overall finance and accounting operations of the Company and its property management and construction divisions. She oversees financial reporting, procedures, controls, audits, and information technology. In addition to having responsibility for the financial strategy of the Company, Melissa is also involved in new company initiatives, strategic planning, real estate acquisitions, and other investments. She is a member of the Investment, Compensation, and Audit Committees.Melissa has over 20 years of professional experience and is a Certified Public Accountant. Prior to joining Ashforth, she was CFO at Rosen Equities, LLC where she led both operating businesses and family office functions. Prior to this, she held increasing financial management leadership roles for over 10 years at Belfer Management, LLC, a diversified family investment firm. Melissa began her career in public accounting at PricewaterhouseCoopers before her role as Controller at the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, where she oversaw accounting and reporting for three distressed debt funds. Melissa serves as a Board Director for the Lymphoma Research Foundation and participates as a member of the Grant Review and Financial Review Committees with the nonprofit Impact Fairfield County. She is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. Melissa holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a B.A. from Binghamton University.

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Marijke Woodruff, CHRO, M. Consulting
Marijke O'Connor Woodruff is an award-winning executive leader, strategic business partner, and trusted advisor with more than 20 years of experience helping organizations accelerate growth, lead transformation, and build high-performing cultures. In that time she has helped scale companies from $100M to more than $600M in revenue — guiding growth, transformation, and change as a senior operator, not an observer.

As the founder of M. Consulting, Marijke believes that people are the greatest catalyst for business success. A business leader first, she partners with CEOs, founders, executive teams, and boards to align people strategy with business strategy — creating organizations that are agile, innovative, and positioned for sustainable growth.

Her expertise spans strategic HR leadership, organizational effectiveness, workforce strategy, leadership development, change management, mergers and acquisitions, culture transformation, and HR digital enablement. She is recognized for translating complex business challenges into practical, measurable solutions that improve organizational performance, strengthen leadership capability, and deliver long-term value.

Marijke has successfully led organizations through rapid growth, executive transitions, organizational redesign, cultural transformation, and M&A due diligence and post-acquisition integration. She combines operational discipline with strategic vision, helping organizations harmonize people, processes, technology, and culture while ensuring employees remain engaged and aligned throughout periods of change.

A strong advocate for leveraging technology and artificial intelligence to enhance — not replace — the human experience, Marijke helps organizations modernize HR, improve decision-making, and create scalable systems that drive productivity and business results.