Women’s Venture Fund Honors Gail Mandel, President and CEO, Wyndham Destination Network with Highest Leaf Award

The Women’s Venture Fund recognized Gail Mandel with the Highest Leaf Award. This honor is given to women whose business or professional contributions significantly impact their company and industries.

The award was presented at a special breakfast this morning at the MetLife Conference Center in New York City. Katherine Creag of NBC 4 New York hosted the award ceremony. Gail Mandel and her two fellow Highest Leaf Award honorees Deborah Sittig, managing partner at Green Room Communications, and Laurel Rossi, president Havas Worldwide Strategy Farm, spoke at the event. They each shared advice on becoming successful in business with the audience, which consisted largely of female entrepreneurs.

“We are very pleased to honor Gail who exemplifies the characteristics of an extraordinary leader in her bold, strategic thinking, creativity and agility in attaining her success at Wyndham. Not only has she made significant contributions in her professional life but she also has positively impacted other women as they strive to achieve their goals,” says Maria Otero, Women’s Venture Fund Founder and President.

In 2014, Mandel took on the role of president and CEO of Wyndham Destination Network, a part of Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN). She made company history as the first female CEO of a Wyndham Worldwide business unit. Mandel set out on a mission to reimagine the corporate strategy and placed increased emphasis on leveraging the strength of its global portfolio and fostering greater knowledge and resource sharing to create efficiency for the overall business. The new vision produced immediate results. Last year, Wyndham Destination Network reported its best business performance in six years.

“I am humbled to be included among the impressive list of past and current winners who have achieved incredible accomplishments in their industries,” said Mandel. “This event is so inspiring, with a room full of smart, motivated businesspeople coming together to celebrate success and sharing information, and I am so grateful to be a part of it.”

Wyndham Destination Network is the world’s largest provider of professionally managed, unique vacation accommodations – from houseboats and cottages to rental homes and timeshare resorts. Mandel oversees the company’s network of more than 112,000 properties in over 100 countries.

About Women’s Venture Fund

Founded in 1994, The Women’s Venture Fund is a nonprofit organization that helps women to establish thriving businesses in urban communities. The organization has served more than 18,000 firms, helping to launch more than 3,200 new small businesses through a range of services including business training, funding and advisory services. As a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), WVF has administered loans to nearly 2,000 women entrepreneurs in NYC. To learn more about WVF, visit: http://www.womensventurefund.org.