As a board member and consultant, Ann Spector Lieff understands how to help public companies and family-owned businesses achieve their strategic goals. Drawing on three decades of senior business experience, Lieff brings finely honed analytic skills and a deep understanding of corporate cultures to every engagement. As a corporate director since 1998, Lieff provides management guidance and oversight, assisting in two company sales and one merger. Through her consulting firm, The Lieff Company, Lieff focuses on key strategic issues including corporate governance, CEO mentoring, leadership development and organizational effectiveness. She is a frequent speaker at universities, trade associations and women's organizations and regularly mentors executives, students and women business owners.

A University of Denver graduate, Lieff enjoyed a long career in the music industry and has extensive experience in multi-unit and specialty retailing including distribution, real estate, merchandising, operations and marketing. She is also an expert in succession planning/transitions, known for her ability to build consensus among key stakeholders.

As the CEO of Miami-based Spec's Music, Inc (NASDAQ SPEK), founded by her father Martin Spector in 1948, Lieff took the company public in 1985, creating Florida's dominant music retailer both in its markets and reputation. She also served as president of the National Association of Record Merchandisers (NARM), leading the industry-wide trade association. In 1998, Lieff's company was named one of America's Top 500 Women-Owned Businesses by Working Woman Magazine. That same year, she orchestrated a merger agreement between Spec's and Camelot Music.

Lieff's current professional involvements include serving on the Board of Directors of Herzfeld Caribbean Basin Fund, Hastings Entertainment, Inc. and Furniture Brands International. She is also a member of the The Committee of 200, an invitation only membership organization of the world's most successful women entrepreneurs and corporate leaders. Throughout her career, Lieff's professional accomplishments have been acknowledged in the communities she serves. She received the University of Denver Professional Achievement Award in 1989, was honored by the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) in 1995 and was named a Top Woman Achiever by South Florida Magazine. In 2000 Harvard Business School chose to publish a case study about Spec's Music.

• University of Denver Magazine, Fall 2009: Page 1
• Florida Trend Magazine, Women on Board, June 2007: Page 1 | Page 2