2025 CWW Lunch March 6: Women's History Month Panel

Also, join the CWW in their first 'Give Back' of 2025 by bringing & donating juice boxes or small water bottles to be used by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will & Grundy Counties at their monthly birthday parties.


About the Speakers:
Barbara Martin, MBA, BSN, FACHE, is the president of Ascension Saint Joseph – Joliet, overseeing strategic and day-to-day operations for the 480-bed community medical center. In this role, Barbara brings a wealth of health care knowledge and leadership experience gained in the Chicagoland area.
 
Most recently, as an independent contractor, Barbara served as chief administrative officer/chief executive officer with Community First Medical Center in Chicago, which was formerly part of the Presence Health system as Our Lady of the Resurrection Hospital. Prior to that, she served as the president and CEO for West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park. There, she was successful in leading a financial turnaround, overseeing the implementation of a robotic surgery program and facilitating several affiliations with UI Health.
 
Her prior experience includes 14 years in executive leadership roles with Vista Health System in Waukegan, where she was the CEO for 11 years. She led the system from an $18 million loss to a $36.5 million EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, in 2017. She also led the development of an ambulatory care network of diagnostic imaging, laboratory sites and physician offices throughout Lake County and oversaw the opening of Vista Cancer Centers in 2015. She was the chief operating officer for Saint Therese Medical Center in Waukegan, which had been part of the former Provena Health. And Barb is no stranger to Saint Joseph – Joliet, with one of her first leadership roles being vice president, hospital operations and ambulatory services with the hospital when it also was part of Provena Health.
 
Barbara is a registered nurse in Illinois and a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE). She earned her MBA and bachelor’s degree in nursing from Lewis University in Romeoville.

Dr. Karla Guseman - Born and raised in Joliet, Dr. Guseman began her career in education at Joliet Township High School (JTHS) in 2000 as a science teacher at Joliet Central.  She has served in various leadership roles at JTHS and was promoted to Superintendent of Joliet Township High School District 204 in February 2020. 
 
Joliet Township High School is a high school district with two large campuses, Joliet Central and Joliet West, serving approximately 6,700 students and their families and 1,000 staff members.
 
Community involvement is immensely important to Dr. Guseman, which is demonstrated by her leadership within the Kiwanis Club of Joliet where she was awarded the Distinguished President Award for her leadership, and she also serves on the YMCA Metro Board.  Joliet Township High School, under her leadership, was a 2020 Gold Star Awardee from the National Hookup of Black Women Joliet Chapter in recognition of commitment to Family and Community for its extraordinary work during the COVID-19 Pandemic and was also awarded the College of Education Alumni Award in the fall of 2021 from the University of St. Francis.
 
Dr. Guseman also serves as the Chair of the Joliet Chamber Education Committee, Chair of the Three Rivers Education for Employment System, Chair of the Three Rivers Education Partnership, and Vice President of the JTHS CEO program Board.
 
Dr. Guseman believes that all students must have an equal opportunity for a high-quality education.  All students must have access to a relevant and rigorous curriculum that will allow them to acquire the knowledge and skills to be successful in the post-secondary experience of their choice. 

Justice Mary K. O'Brien has been a judge for over 20 years, first on the Third District Appellate Court and currently as a Justice on the Illinois Supreme Court. As a member of the Illinois Supreme Court, Justice O'Brien is the liaison to the Supreme Court Committees on Civil Jury Instruction, Criminal Jury Instruction, Illinois Supreme Court Rules, Juvenile Courts, Illinois Lawyers Assistance Program and the Lawyers Trust Fund. Justice O’Brien has been elected as a member of the American Law Institute (ALI), the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and otherwise improve the law. She is also active with several bar associations, including the Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Judges’ Association and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. Justice O’Brien was honored by the Illinois Bar Foundation with its Champion Award, as well as receiving the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Award for Judicial Achievement Award from the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois.
 
Prior to becoming a judge, Justice O'Brien was in private practice and also served in the Illinois General Assembly. As a state representative, Justice O’Brien worked tirelessly on behalf of working families and crime victims, working to increase the quality and availability of daycare, fought to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act as well as fighting to increase protections for victims of violent crimes. O’Brien chaired the Judiciary II Committee on Criminal Law, reforming the state’s death penalty statutes, championed reforms in the Grain Insurance Code, opened access to generic drugs for Illinois consumers and served as a taxpayer watchdog on the Illinois Audit Commission.

Mirthea Fournier - Bilingual Supply Chain Executive with global Fortune 500 experience. Versed in leading, attracting, developing and retaining high-performance teams. Skilled in P&L management, high-speed operations (including automation), turnarounds, startups, cost reductions, supply chain optimization and customs compliance. Proficient in lean and continuous improvement. Consistently achieved an outstanding record in Safety results, organizational key performance indicators, and profitable operations.