Retired Brown-Forman CFO leads panel at Lexington Venture Club meeting March 21

Phoebe Wood, retired CFO of Brown-Forman Corporation and active angel investor, will speak at the Lexington Venture Club meeting on March 21 at the Hyatt Regency Lexington. Wood will talk about her experiences as an angel investor and working with startup companies in the region. Wood will also lead a panel of entrepreneurs from the region in an interactive discussion of the challenges these companies have faced and the lessons learned. Phoebe Wood biosketch

The panel includes:
Paige Short—CEO & President of Four Tigers
Uschi Graham—President of Topasol
Jenny Corbin—CEO of TNG Pharmaceuticals
Heather Howell—CTeaO of Rooibee Red Tea Co.

RSVP to Stacy Lackey at slackey@commercelexington.com.

The Lexington Venture Club is hosted by Commerce Lexington and the Lexington Innovation & Commercialization Center, part of the Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Kentucky.

Phoebe A. Wood

Phoebe A. Wood is the principal of CompaniesWood, a consulting firm that specializes in early-stage angel investments. From 2001 to 2008, she was the chief financial officer of Brown-Forman Corporation, where she was responsible for the financial operations of the company, including corporate development, controller, treasury, investor relations, tax, information technology, and internal audit.  She was also a member of Brown-Forman’s executive, corporate strategy, and compensation and benefits committees.  Until their divestiture, Wood was active in the management of Lenox, Inc. and Hartmann Luggage.

Before joining Brown-Forman, Wood served as vice president and chief financial officer of Motorola’s telecom subsidiary, Propel, Inc.  Prior to joining Motorola, Wood enjoyed a 23-year career  with the Atlantic Richfield Company (now BP) including responsibilities as vice president and executive committee member of large subsidiaries in Alaska and England. 

Wood is a cum laude graduate from Smith College and holds an M.B.A. from UCLA.  She is a director of Leggett & Platt Corporation, Invesco Ltd., and Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc.  Previously,  Wood served on the board of directors at OshKosh B’Gosh, and was chairman of its audit committee.  She is a trustee of the University of Louisville, the Gheens Foundation, and the American Printing House for the Blind.  

She and her husband have two daughters and live in Louisville, Ky.