Strong and successful women dedicated to changing our world. As a social venture, we provide opportunities and services for women to engage their individual and collective power to help others.

Great Dames draws on the talent and experience of women and men who are committed to Inspired Leadership and change. Together, they bring experience as coaches, business consultants, non-profit leaders, and change agents as we fulfill our mission. They are directed by our Executive Team which includes:

Sharon Hake, President & CEO

Sharon’s passion is finding the “great dame” in every woman. Sharon launched Great Dames, Inc. as a way of connecting and mobilizing women kindred spirits with purpose.

She has enjoyed a lifetime of inspiration from remarkable women and men, including her very special grandmother, her talented artist mother, and her two amazing daughters. Her father taught her the value of creating a legacy and provided the inspiration for her new company.

Prior to launching the company, Sharon had a successful career as a global marketing leader at DuPont as she led global teams to define the competitive landscape, market needs, and offering gaps around areas of focus for several different businesses. Her growth recommendations integrated market insights into customer needs, channels, brands, technology and strategic relationships. Sharon had a chance to spread her wings in corporate life, holding positions in finance, marketing, communications, corporate social responsibility and public affairs during her career.

She holds an MBA in finance and marketing from the Fox School of Business at Temple University and a BS degree from Penn State.

Married to her best friend, Glenn, she is the mother of two daughters, Heather (a Great Dames principal) and Deirdre, an aspiring “great dame.”

Heather Hake, Director of Operations

For Heather, “greatdameness” is all about implementing ideas that make the world better. For more than half her life, she has been involved in work that focuses on giving back, especially in helping disadvantaged children and mothers enhance their lives.

As a teen, she worked at Variety Club, a Philadelphia organization that has been serving children with disabilities since 1935. After graduating from Penn State in 2004 with a degree in psychology, Heather worked in the autistic support program at Melmark, a well-know organization that provides residential, educational, therapeutic, and recreational services for children and adults with developmental disabilities.

She then continued her global travels throughout Asia, Europe and the United States working with organizations focused on helping families. Bi-lingual, she spent two years living in Spain.

Heather now resides in Philadelphia where she works to inspire other young women to become Great Dames.

Kathy Palokoff, Director of Marketing

Kathy finds her “greatdameness” in helping create and mentor businesses and social ventures that do good. She gained her entrepreneurial expertise in top management positions at several companies, two of which went public.

A skilled marketer who is recognized as an “idea person,” she was a vice president at Saatchi & Saatchi, one of the world’s largest advertising agencies. There she served as strategic planner, account director and public relations director for agency clients including DuPont, Kodak, Merial, Comdisco, and Prudential.

A writer and teacher, she has also worked as an information developer for IBM and Northern Telecom and as an adjunct professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology and Nazareth College.

Kathy is active in the Women’s President Organization and currently serves on the boards of In-VestUSA, a national organization that raises community funds to provide police officers with bullet-proof vests, and Sias International University Foundation, a unique university in central China focused on developing global citizens.

She holds a B.S. in Journalism, West Virginia University; Masters in Public Administration, SUNY at Brockport and has completed all doctoral coursework and comprehensives from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for a Ph.D. in Technical Communication and Rhetoric.

Married with six children, she resides in Rochester, New York.