BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Our spring 2021 series brings you live virtual interviews with Melody Stewart, Ph.D., justice, Supreme Court of Ohio; and Denise Carkhuff, owner, Adrenaline Monkey. All participants will be entered into a gift card giveaway!

Both events require separate registration, so be sure to sign up for both!

• Register here for Justice Melody Stewart, Ph.D. | Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021
• Register here for Denise Carkhuff | Thursday, April 8, 2021

Please note, you'll receive an email from messenger@webex.com before the event. Be sure to add the address to your contact list!

View the live presentation videos from our previous guests here.

Melody Stewart was elected in 2018 as the 161st Justice to serve on the Supreme Court of Ohio. Prior to joining the Supreme Court, Justice Stewart served on the Eighth District Court of Appeals for 12 years and was the court's Administrative Judge in 2013.

After starting her legal career as an assistant law director for the cities of Cleveland and East Cleveland, Justice Stewart subsequently worked as a lecturer, an adjunct instructor, and an assistant dean at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law before joining the full-time faculty at the law school. Additionally, she taught at the University of Toledo College of Law and at Ursuline College. She was also director of student services at Case Western Reserve University's School of Law.

Justice Stewart earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati; her law degree from Cleveland-Marshall; and her Ph.D. as a Mandel Leadership Fellow at Case Western Reserve University's Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences. She was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Cleveland State University.

Justice Stewart has served on many boards and committees, including the Ohio Criminal Justice Recodification Committee, the Ohio Supreme Court's Judicial College board, was chair of the Ohio Capital Case Attorney Fee Council, and served as a commissioner and chair of the Board of Planning and Zoning for the city of Euclid.

Justice Stewart is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts in Ohio, the District of Columbia, and the United States Supreme Court.

Of historical note: Justice Stewart is the first African American woman elected to the Ohio Supreme Court.

Denise Carkhuff has spent the last 24 years (14 of which as partner) at the global law firm Jones Day, acting as the principal outside lawyer on a multitude of merger and acquisition, and private equity transactions. Her experience covers a wide range of matters in a variety of industries and deal structures. Denise has worked on all aspects of the full life cycle of a company, from incorporation to liquidity event or dissolution.

While the main focus of Denise's practice has been the representation of private equity funds, she also has served in a general counsel function for countless private companies. After helping clients with their businesses for the last 24 years, she decided to invest in her own business, Adrenaline Monkey, a family adventure and training center dedicated to empowering guests of all ages, sizes and abilities through fun and physical challenges.

She sits on the board of Breakthrough Charter Schools, urban charter schools with the mission of giving every scholar a chance to go to college; and Achievement Centers for Children, whose mission is to empower children and adults with disabilities and their families to achieve their greatest potential. For over a dozen years, Denise led Women In Transactions, a networking group for women doing transactional work, which currently sits under the ACG umbrella. She co-leads RRAIN, a women's group for the Cleveland Jones Day women lawyers. She is a member of In Counsel With Women. She was selected to be a "Wise Woman" as part of Deloitte's Wise Women leadership program. Denise was a member of the 2018 Leadership Cleveland class.

Watch our archive of past events on our Youtube channel.