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Family Business Leadership Speaker Series

Our flagship public series features C-level family business leaders from diverse industries who share insights on strategy, innovation, and generational leadership. Each event attracts 200–300 attendees from Carnegie Mellon and the regional business community.

2025–26 Speakers

Ida Posner & Henry Posner, III, Railroad Development Corporation

Tuesday, November 18, 2025
12:00 - 1:00 p.m. EST
CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper Quad, 3rd Floor, 4765 Forbes Avenue

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Henry Posner, III 
Mr. Posner began his railway career with Amtrak, The Official Railway Guide, and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad before joining Conrail in 1977, where he served in the Operating, Marketing, and Sales departments. He is Chairman of Railroad Development Corporation, which he founded in 1987 with Bob Pietrandrea, and also chairs Iowa Interstate Railroad, RDC-Deutschland, EuroRail, and The Hawthorne Group. In addition, he serves as President of the EBT Foundation and Co-Chair of the Surface Transportation Board Passenger Rail Advisory Committee. A graduate of Princeton University and the Wharton School, Mr. Posner teaches at Carnegie Mellon University and continues his leadership through the Posner Foundation and as an Emeritus Trustee and Former President of the Winchester Thurston School.

Ida Posner
Ms. Posner serves as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Railroad Development Corporation, where she manages internal operations and supports the company’s businesses across the United States, Europe, and Latin America. She also serves as a Director of Iowa Interstate Railroad, RDC-Deutschland, Eurorail, and RailPulse, and leads the firm’s strategic planning and business development initiatives. In addition, she is Founder and Managing Partner of Hawthorne Food Ventures, Trustee of the Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh, and a board member of ReFED. Ms. Posner previously worked at the Pisces Foundation and SteamaCo in Kenya, and she holds a BSE from Princeton University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Michael Bernstein

Managing Partner, Woodland Management and Partners Edge Fund
Board Chair – Tree of Life, Inc.

Thursday, March 12, 2026
12:00 - 1:00 p.m. EST
CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper Quad, 3rd Floor, 4765 Forbes Avenue

Michael is a Managing Partner of Woodland Management, his family’s investment and family office which Michael has led since 2015.    Michael is also the General Partner of Partners Edge Funds, a private equity and venture-focused investment fund launched in 2022 for which Michael oversees the Fund’s investment committee and sits on several portfolio companies’ Boards.     Prior to Woodland Management, Michael served as CEO of Polyconcept, a leading global supplier of Promotional Merchandise where he led the growth of Polyconcept from a small, family-owned business in 1992 into a global leader with annual sales close to $1 Billion.   Michael is currently Board Chair for the reimagined Tree of Life, a new National institution being rebuilt on the site of the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history.  Michael is also a Trustee of Chatham University.      Michael holds a BA in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin and a JD from the University of Pittsburgh.