Amelia Tess Thornton is our February speaker. Her focus now is women in leadership, and she’ll start with talk to us about her beginnings at FedEx, where she was promoted to management at the age of 25. (Picture yourself at 25, managing Teamsters!)

She will talk about the Women’s Accelerated Leadership Institute, and why she founded it. Form the web site: “This intense event is designed by executive women, for senior female executives and provides an exciting environment to explore, challenge, and learn; about yourself, your goals, and what you are meant to do in your life.” View a video showing the latest institute event.

Amelia’s Bio:
For more than 20 years, Amelia Tess Thornton has held senior leadership positions in both the old and new economies. She is currently President of The Thornton Group, a consulting company specializing in team performance effectiveness and executive coaching. Amelia is also a Director of The Alliance of Chief Executives (www.allianceofceos.com), a Partner of the Women’s Accelerated Leadership Institute (WALI), an organization dedicated to the transformation and development of female leaders, and an affiliate with The Table Group.

Prior to founding The Thornton Group, Amelia was Chief Administrative Officer at Hyperion Solutions, where she led a two year turn-around of the company. She was a partner at Ernst & Young LLP, and also worked for Oracle, MG Taylor, and Right Management Consulting. Amelia began her career by spending 13 exciting years with Federal Express, where she was Managing Director of Ground Operations and responsible for all facets of pickup and delivery operations in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and western Wisconsin.

Amelia has been quoted in Business Week and USA Today in articles about corporate ethics and employee hiring, and is currently profiled in the book, The Transparency Edge, How Credibility Can Make or Break You in Business, by Barbara & Elizabeth Pagano, which was selected as the March, 2004 ‘Book of the Month’ by Fast Company Magazine. In addition, she has given over 50 speeches and workshops in North America and Europe, including keynote speeches on topics such as Customer Service, Building Trust, Strategy Execution and Leadership Effectiveness.

Amelia is currently on the board of MentorNet (www.mentornet.net) and is a member of the International Coaching Federation and the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs. Previously, she served on the boards of MG Taylor Corporation and the Minneapolis Aquatennial Association. She earned a bachelor of music degree with honors from the University of Wisconsin and is a graduate of the Boston University Executive Management Leadership Institute.