Women in Leadership:
A Conversation with Trailblazers in Business
Barbara Justiz, '80, is the founder and president of Barbara Justiz Advisors Incorporated, a hedge fund consulting and advisory firm formed in 2001, and is a registered representative of Flying Cloud Securities LLC. She focuses on business development and strategic marketing for her clients and capital raising, primarily from pensions, endowments, foundations, family offices and other institutions.
Immediately prior to launching her firm, Justiz was a managing director and member of the senior management team of the premier hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen at S.A.C. Capital Advisors, LLC (currently known as Point 72). She was responsible for business development and investor relations. From 1995 to 1998 she was associated with Husic Capital Management, San Francisco, a technology-focused investment management firm for which she built and managed an East Coast presence. From 1985 to 1995, Justiz was the managing director of Magten Asset Management Corp., a special situations/distressed debt investment firm. Earlier in her career, she held positions at First Investors Asset Management, Inc., and equity investment firm Forstmann-Leff Associates.
Justiz sits on the board of the Alexander M. Grant Foundation and was formerly a member of the board of WomensTrust, a microlending organization based in Ghana.
Justiz received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Queens College in 1980 and holds Series 3, 7 and 63 investment licenses.
Linda Sutkin, '98, is a managing director and wealth advisor with William Blair’s Private Wealth Management Group, where she manages client portfolios investing in equities and fixed income on a discretionary basis. She joined William Blair from Wall Street Access Asset Management. Previously—from 1990 through 2009—Sutkin worked as managing director/senior portfolio manager at Carret Asset Management in New York City.
Since 1999, Sutkin has served on the board of advisors of the David and Lura Lovell Foundation, which funds programs and initiatives in the areas of mental health, integrative health and wellness, youth access to the arts, and gender parity. Sutkin is a cum laude graduate of Queens College, where she earned her degree in art history. She is the mother of two young men and resides on Long Island, New York.
Robin Ware, '77, is COO of Hotels at Home Worldwide, the hospitality industry’s largest provider of retail services. Ware founded the company in 1999. Prior to that, she was vice president of Essential Amenities, then recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing companies in America.
Ware has a long history of community leadership. From 1988 to 2000, she served in several elected leadership capacities—including a two-year term as president—for the North Caldwell Board of Education. From 1988 to 1990, she was president of the National Council of Jewish Women, West Essex Division, where she established a task force resulting in the passage of New Jersey’s Bicycle Helmet Law. She also served as chairperson for the nonprofit Center for Women, a community resource for all residents of Essex County. Currently, she is a member of the advisory board of the Ocean County College Hospitality, Recreation & Tourism Management Department.
Ware graduated summa cum laude from C.W. Post College with a BA in Speech and Hearing. She earned her Master’s in Speech Pathology from Queens College.