Stephanie Sonnabend

Stephanie Sonnabend is the Co-Founder and Chair of 50/50 Women on Boards, an organization that aims to achieve gender-balanced and diverse boards. Stephanie started the organization in 2010 and achieved its goal of 20% women on boards a year ahead of schedule.

Stephanie is also the Chief Executive Officer of Sonhos Strategic Advisors since September 2013, where they provide strategic consulting and executive coaching to Chairmen, CEOs, and COOs in the hospitality, real estate, and family businesses industries. Stephanie'sengagements include consulting on large mixed-use development projects and pandemic planning for the hospitality and food service industries.

Stephanie has served as an Advisor to the start-up women driver women ride-sharing company Safr: Driven by Women since August 2016.

Stephanie was a Board Director at SVN from 2014 to December 2018. SVN is a commercial real estate franchisor.

Stephanie served as a Board Director and Chair of the Asset Liability (Risk) Committee at Century Bank from 1997 to 2015. Century Bank is a publicly traded commercial bank specializing in non-profit lending.

In their earlier years, Stephanie worked at Sonesta Hotels, first as President from February 2012 to July 2013, where they successfully completed a sale of the company, and then as CEO and President from 1979 to January 2012. Stephanie led the publicly held hospitality management and franchise company with hotels and resorts worldwide. Stephanie was responsible for managing a diverse workforce, international operations, and a complex distribution system.

Stephanie Sonnabend attended Harvard University from 1971 to 1975, where they earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Social Studies. Stephanie then pursued further education at the MIT Sloan School of Management between 1977 and 1979, obtaining an MBA with a focus on Marketing and Management.