About Inforum
Inforum accelerates careers for women and is a catalyst that removes barriers and increases opportunity in service of building a culture that embraces women leading and succeeding.
Education. Inforum’s research-based leadership development programs have been widely used by automotive companies for current and future women leaders. Those include “Ascending to the C-Suite,” a collaboration with the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan that helps senior-level women acquire the specialized knowledge whose mastery is critical for C-suite executives. Inforum also publishes the biennial Michigan Women’s Leadership Report, which tracks women’s leadership in the state’s publicly traded companies.
Networking and mentoring. We’ve built specialized industry groups in mobility, healthcare, manufacturing, and technology. Our inSTEM initiative works to build the talent pipeline for professions in science, technology, engineering, and math.
Members also can participate in more than 35 affinity groups in Southeast and West Michigan or find a mentor through our app.
Exposure. We bring in top industry speakers for our events.
Inforum app is on Google Play or Apple Store.
Leadership
Terry Barclay, President and CEO
Terry Barclay is a leader in building gender-balanced businesses with over 35 years of experience working with top management teams of some of the world’s best-known companies to capture the benefits of inclusive work environments. Read More…
Under Terry’s leadership, Inforum has become a trusted ally and sought-after resource in helping companies advance gender diversity to find and develop future talent.
She is the co-editor of two best-selling books, The Road to the Top is Not on the Map: Conversations with Top Women of the Automotive Industry (2019), and The Road Forward: More Conversations with Top Women of the Automotive Industry (2021). The Road to the Top was one of nine books selected to be featured at Gary’s Book Club 2020, a part of the Consumer Electronics Show, the world’s gathering place for the consumer electronic industry.
Terry serves on the boards of the Cranbrook Educational Community and Cranbrook Institute of Science and is vice chair of the Board of Trustees of The Nature Conservancy of Michigan. She is an active angel investor through Michigan Angel Funds I and II.
Lorrena Black, Vice President, Leadership Development
Lorrena’s superpower is motivating and inspiring people as they move toward their goals – a skill she deployed with soldiers during her 25-year Army career, where she retired as a major. In her role at Inforum, she takes her passion for helping people and focuses it on accelerating the careers of women through developing, deploying, and delivering retail and custom leadership development programming. Read more…
In 2023, Lorrena was invited by the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency to share her story with other veterans and also was recognized as one of Corp! Magazine’s Most Valuable Professionals.
Lorrena serves on the C.A.T.C.H Charity for Children’s board and is a member of its Night of Champions planning committee
Cindy Goodaker, Vice President, Signature Programs and Communications
Cindy’s responsibilities touch membership, events, industry groups, inSTEM, grant writing and administration, and Inforum’s volunteer councils, among others. She also leads the execution of the Sustainable Business Network of Detroit collaboration funded by the Erb Family Foundation. Read more…
She also is a longtime member who chaired the Inforum board from 2004-06 and was a member of the team who oversaw the rebranding of the organization from the Women’s Economic Club to its current name.
She joined Inforum in 2016 after serving as executive editor of Crain’s Detroit Business for many years, where she led newsroom coverage that won numerous local and national awards.
Cindy serves on the board of the nonpartisan Center for Michigan, the 501c3 umbrella for Michigan’s largest nonprofit news organization, Bridge Michigan. Cindy also has served on the University of Michigan Board of Student Publications and the board of the Alliance of Area Business Publishers, an organization dedicated to delivering customized regional business news to over 1.2 million business professionals in the U.S., Canada, and Australia.
Becky Puckett-Wood, Vice President, Member and Corporate Engagement
Becky is an enthusiastic leader who motivates others to be creative, resourceful, and flexible in a fast-paced multitasking environment. Read more…
Becky shares responsibility with Cindy Thieme as relationship lead with Inforum’s corporate investors and in identifying and cultivating new corporate relationships. She also is a liaison to Inforum ManufacturingNEXT and HealthcareNEXT, industry groups dedicated to building the pipeline for women in manufacturing and healthcare and its affiliated industries.
Before joining Inforum, she was managing director of Experis, a global leader in IT professional resourcing and managed services that is part of the Manpower Group family of companies, in Grand Rapids.
Cindy Thieme
Cindy Thieme is an experienced sales and marketing professional with extensive management experience who brings enthusiasm and energy to everything that she does. Read more…
She shares responsibility with Becky Puckett-Wood as relationship lead with Inforum’s corporate investors and in identifying and cultivating new corporate relationships. She also is Inforum’s primary liaison to Inforum MobilityNEXT, an industry group dedicated to building the pipeline for women in the mobility industry.
Cindy joined Inforum in October 2022 from Oakland University, where was director of executive programs. Before joining OU, she held a variety of sales and marketing positions, including regional VP, Verifone, publisher of Deadline Detroit; Detroit director, CBS Media and Detroit director, CN Traveler/GQ. She continues to be an adjunct marketing faculty member at Oakland University.