Melissa Widen is Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel and a director of the First Women’s Bank in Chicago, IL. Widen is an attorney, entrepreneur and executive with over 25 years of business and legal experience. She was a founder and Managing Partner of Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP, a trial and litigation boutique law firm based in Chicago. Functioning as the CEO for seven years, Widen led the firm from a six-partner start-up to a top tier, nationally recognized law firm with 25 professionals and a roster of Fortune 500 clients. She served as senior litigation counsel for Arthur Andersen LLP, where she counseled senior firm management on legal, regulatory, and risk issues and advised on practice matters involving assurance, consulting, and tax services. Melissa was also a litigation associate at Jenner & Block.

Ms. Widen is involved in many civic and community activities. She is a long-time board member and former board Chair of Personal PAC and a volunteer attorney with the ACLU’s Judicial Bypass Coordination Project. She is a Trustee of the Jewish Women’s Foundation, Vice Chair for Domestic Affairs at the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Chicago, and a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and the Chicago Club. Ms. Widen is a graduate of Duke University and the University of Maryland School of Law.