Jane Plitt is an award-winning speaker and author, who currently is a Visiting Scholar at the University of Rochester. Plitt wows audiences with her compelling, passionate speaking style, and her strategic analysis linking current events to history. Plitt's biography, Martha Matilda Harper and the American Dream (www.marthamatildaharper.org), spotlighted the forgotten story of Harper, who was subsequently inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame and the American Business Hall of Fame as the creator of modern retail franchising and pioneer of social entrepreneurship. Plitt has also written Martha's Magical Hair for the young, and Martha the Hairpreneur (with Sally Valentine) for the young adult.Prior to becoming a Visiting Scholar at the University of Rochester in 1996, she led a 12-person business marketing and economic development firm that earned her recognition as Small Business Advocate by the U. S. Small Business Administration, and won the Small Businessperson of the Year in 1986. SAVVY magazine cited her as one of 14 outstanding women in New York State. Plitt has been widely published in business, national and local publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Sun Times, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and History News. Plitt has been a life-long advocate for civil rights, and was NOW's first national Executive Director. She resides in Bradenton, FL, and travels widely, speaking to audiences around the world.