at the Reuters Building

Sponsored by Scholastic, Reuters and Woman’s Day

Photos by Cathy Pinsky, Cathy Pinsky Studio

As children were back to school, Executive Moms was also back after a summer hiatus to bring women together and take on an important related topic: How can executive moms feel like they are just as much a “class mom” as any other parent? Joining Executive Moms President, Marisa Thalberg (center) to lead a vibrant discussion were, from left, Scholastic’s Akimi Gibson, Chief Academic Officer of Scholastic Francie Alexander, MSNBC host Deborah Norville and Stacy deBroff, President of Mom Central.

Attendees streamed in to the 44th floor ballroom at the Reuters building and participated in an Executive Moms event tradition of donning name tags with both their information and that of their children’s. Then they proceeded to help themselves to a lovely buffet lunch that included Chilean sea bass, pasta, salad and sandwiches.

Old faces and new connected, as a past Executive Moms speaker, New York City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz, came to join the audience, here flanked by Woman’s Day Publisher Laura Klein (L) and panelist Stacy DeBroff (R).

The program began with opening remarks from Marisa Thalberg (below, left). Then a full house turned their attention to the afternoon’s emcee, television’s Deborah Norville (below, right), host of “Inside Edition” and MSNBC’s “Deborah Norville Tonight,” who captured everyone with her personal anecdotes related to her own experiences trying to be a “class mom from the office” (or in her case, the studio). Each panel member had a unique perspective and expertise which they readily shared, from practical tips like “be select about what you volunteer for, and pick things that will be visible to your kids”… to wise reflections, as offered left by Akimi Gibson as other panel members looked on…and a rapt audience took it all in. Yet befitting that unavoidable executive mom “alpha” nature, women in the audience were as eager to share their own thoughts. As a result, a truly interactive dialogue ensued filled with reflection, ideas… and perhaps most of all, the kind of laughter that is only born of shared experience.