President, American Express OPEN^SM

Susan Sobbott is President of American Express OPEN, the division dedicated exclusively to the success of entrepreneurs and their companies and the fastest-growing proprietary business unit within American Express. Sobbott's success is not unlike that of many of the small business owners OPEN serves. She has overcome odds, taken risks, and aimed high. After dropping out of college in her first year, she worked as a bank teller before returning to Georgetown University and graduating in the top 10 of her class. After a time on Wall Street, she then earned an MBA and became a Shermet Scholar at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.

Susan joined American Express in 1990. Since that time, she has played a leadership role in many of the milestones that contributed directly to the Company's growth: she has developed and managed strategic partnerships with airlines, hotels and retailers; created and launched innovative new products that attracted new customers; and signed up new merchants that broadened the range of places Members could use their cards. Sobbott has managed brand, marketing, operations and technology infrastructures, and defined strategies for growth. Daughter of the owner of a small trucking business, Susan returned to her small business roots when she joined OPEN in 2003, and was appointed President in 2004.

Since her becoming President, OPEN has achieved and retained record numbers of new card accounts, leading to a doubling of charge volume and pre-tax income. Under her leadership, OPEN has been recognized by B2B Magazine as one of Business to Business Best Brands of 2006 and 2007, and was recognized by the National Association of Women Business Owners as Corporate Partner of the Year.

Susan Sobbott is committed to leadership development. She currently sits on the board of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, is Co-Chair of the White House Project Corporate Council and co-chairs American Express' Women's Interest Network. Susan is the recipient of the YMCA- NYC Women Achievers Award, Office Depot Corporate Visionary Award, the Count Me In Leadership Award for advancing the success of women small business owners and the Women's Leadership Exchange Compass Award for shifting the paradigm of how women are perceived as leaders.

The mother of two children under 5, Susan lives in New Jersey, where she enjoys spending time with her family and restoring her "antique" home.

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Director, Advocacy Marketing

Michelle Thompson-Dolberry helps OPEN® better serve our customers by delivering a variety of educational and outreach initiatives supporting the success of small business owners. Michelle oversees community-based marketing efforts and strategic alliances with leading women's business associations, including Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence, the National Association of Women Business Owners and the Center for Women's Business Research. She also manages OPEN®'s partnership with Make Mine a Million $ Business®, a national movement inspiring one million women to reach one million dollars in revenue by 2010.

Michelle was previously a director in Human Resources at American Express, where she specialized in employee advocacy, change management and leader effectiveness. Prior to joining American Express, Michelle gained additional HR experience in other financial services organizations, and spent time living and working in London and Paris.

Michelle earned a Bachelor of Arts in French from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Penn State's Smeal School of Business. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, James, and 2 dogs. She volunteers during the summer and fall season as a junior high school cheerleading coach and has worked with not-for-profit organizations helping students of color, including Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) and Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT).

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Manager, Advocacy Marketing

Sarika Sangwan advocates on behalf of women entrepreneurs nationwide. She manages the Women's Business Initiative from OPEN®, nurtures relationships with women's business associations, develops OPEN®-sponsored events and helps create educational resources.

Prior to American Express, Sarika worked at Ceres, a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting corporations in integrating environmental stewardship into their core business strategy. Prior to Ceres, she worked as a business consultant at Peterson Consulting.

Sarika received her BBA from the University of Michigan, an MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business and MEM from Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment.

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Vice President and Senior Counsel
American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.

Anne Robinson is a senior attorney in the General Counsel's Office of American Express. As Senior Counsel to American Express OPEN^SM, Anne works with an exciting team of American Express professionals dedicated exclusively to the success of small business owners and their companies.

In this role, Anne is responsible for providing legal support for all OPEN^SM credit card and charge card products, business loan and line of credit products, loyalty and acquisition partnerships, new product development initiatives, advertising and public relations and general marketing. Anne's responsibilities also include providing strategic direction and guidance in all legal and regulatory matters and ensuring compliance with corporate policies. In addition, Anne was recently asked to lead the General Counsel's Office Global Strategic Alliances and Co-Brands Center of Excellence for Consumer and Small Business partnerships.

Prior to joining American Express, Anne was counsel to DC Outsourcing and DC Ventures at Deloitte Consulting and before that, Anne was in private practice, primarily with the law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy.

Anne earned a BS degree with Honors in political science from Hampton University and a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia University.

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Vice President of Brand Strategy & Marketing
American Express OPEN^SM

Marcella (Marcy) Shinder is Vice President of Brand Strategy & Marketing at American Express OPEN^SM, the team dedicated exclusively to the success of business owners and their companies. In this role, she oversees a comprehensive brand marketing program spanning advertising, brand strategy, product marketing, acquisition, events and advocacy designed to ensure OPEN delivers on its brand promise to be the Card that connect its customers to the best in business.

Marcy has spearheaded a number of initiatives since joining the OPEN team, including multiple efforts to reach, educate and empower small business owners. Programs include OPENforum.com, an online resource to a growing community of entrepreneurs across industries where a stream of fresh, relevant content is available 24 hours a day; and OPEN Book, a concise guide offering actionable information to lead entrepreneurs through key business decisions and help them recognize and avoid pitfalls along the way. Coupled with Marcy's expertise, these efforts have strengthened OPEN's relationship with cardmembers and helped to solidify the company's lead position as a partner to the small business community.

Prior to this role, Marcy served as Vice President, Global Marketing for American Express Business Travel, where she oversaw marketing functions for North America from 2003 and globally from 2004. Previously, she also served as Vice President, Strategic Planning, for Global Financial Services, and Vice President, Business Development, for International Corporate Services based in Paris, France where among other responsibilities, she oversaw the successful execution of Y2K conversion and partnership strategies for business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce.

Marcy joined American Express in 1993. She has been recognized with several internal awards, including the Chairman's Award for Innovation and the President's Club award for leadership contributions. She has also been covered broadly by the media with feature articles recently running in B2B Magazine, Pink Magazine, New York Times, and Direct Marketers News. She has also been a guest on Fox Business Network's national program Money for Breakfast.

Marcy earned her undergraduate degree from Gonzaga University, a Master's Degree in Political Science from Villanova University and an MBA in Marketing and Information Services from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University. She currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Women's President's Organization.

She lives in New York with her daughter.

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Project Specialist, Advocacy Marketing

Lucrezia Robinson is responsible for identifying, evaluating and coordinating OPEN®'s partnerships with leading women's business associations. In this role, Lucrezia manages logistics for 30+ small business events annually and supports OPEN®'s community-based marketing efforts.

Lucrezia has been with American Express for 17 years. Prior to joining OPEN®, she served as Senior Executive Assistant to Group President of Global Network & Establishment Services and Travelers Cheques & Prepaid Services, a member of the American Express Global Leadership Team.

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