Fashion forward Gina Penzarella

The old cliche, "Always a bridesmaid, never a bride," was amusingly illustrated in the film 27 Dresses. We watch Katherine Heigl's character, aptly named 'Jane,' don some of the most unusual and in some cases hideous bridesmaid dresses to celebrate the day of matrimonial knot tying, as a dutiful friend.

Gina Penzarella doesn't think that stunning couture should be reserved for the bride. A native of New York City, Gina's business savvy and passion for making all women feel and look fabulous at their special occassion, motivated her to open Footlights Boutique in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania. With an eye on emerging fashion trends, Gina Penzarella provides her customers with a collection of dresses for any event, with a commitment to personal service at her Easton boutique store. Attentive to client needs, Gina and her Footlights Boutique staff even keep track of the dresses sold by school, to ensure that no two girls show up in the same dress on prom night.

Serving as the boutique's owner and manager, Gina Penzarella is active in the Lehigh Valley business community, attending Chamber of Commerce events and making her services available to organizations supported by Catholic Charities. She is also an animal lover, who uses her couture and organizational expertise to coordinate fashion events that benefit the local SPCA. With far more than 27 dresses furnished to her loyal base of customers, Gina is a reliable resource for fashion lovers.

Ron Bongo, Open Source Strategist

Serving as CEO of Corra Technology, Ron Bongo oversees the company's management team and cultivates strategic client relationships. His technology, management consulting and finance background has prompted his affinity for advocating open source solutions as an impetus for corporate growth. A proponent of its benefits, he steered the company and clients toward the use of open-source software in 2003. Rob Bongo views open source solutions as not only financially beneficial, in the ballpark of hundreds of thousands of dollars, but as a more customizable direction for clients and a strategic advantage.

A graduate of Gettysburg College, Ron Bongo spent the early part of his career in a Vice Presidential role in management consulting, implementing cost-cutting strategies for a variety of high-profile clients. He later founded his own company, financialpro.com, providing solutions to the financial sector. Before his arrival at Corra Technology, Mr. Bongo was with SymphonyRPM, leading business development in the North American region with real-time performance management solutions.

Ron Bongo is a supporter of the Open Solutions Alliance (OSA), working alongside members from companies around the globe who seek to promote the exchange of open solutions to help applications work together successfully. Among its consortium of innovative thinkers, Mr. Bongo endorses the OSA as a tool for problem solving in the demand for application interoperability.

Steve Stevanovich is namesake for venue of financial market education

Steve Stevanovich supports the integration of financial market theory with practical application by experienced professionals through his funding of the Stevanovich Center at The University of Chicago. The Stevanovich Center offers workshops and conferences for students to learn from both active leaders in the financial industry and theory-advancing researchers, with the added benefit of online presentations and access to published papers. Offering a program that allows students to gain an understanding of evolving financial markets, The Center bearing the name Steve Stevanovich, brings together the disciplines of mathematics, statistics and economics. The unique approach of the program provides University of Chicago students with a forum to develop cutting edge tools for analysis, data interpretation, and financial models by which to measure cost and risk. In addition to hosting conferences in its home city of Chicago, The Stevanovich Center has gone abroad, fostering connections among the global financial community with programs in France and Denmark.

Steve Stevanovich's support of financial mathematics education and development through The Center accommodates members of the academic arena along with researchers and marketplace experts with a place to share and debate their theories and discoveries. The collaboration of perspectives can be instrumental in furthering comprehension of the role of mathematics in relation to financial markets.