Margaret Traub

Margaret "Peggy" Traub, president and CEO of Adesso, died on Jan. 13 2014 after a battle with cancer. Traub began Adesso, a lighting and ready-to-assemble furniture company, with partner Lee Schaak in 1994. Traub was recognized as an industry leader and a big believer in the power and benefits of networking. In 1997, she co-founded WithIt, Women in the Home Industries Today, a national trade organization for professional women in the home furnishings industry. She was also a member of the Women Presidents' Organization, the Women's Leadership Board at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, the Committee of 200 and the advisory board of KIDS (Kids in Distressed Situations). Traub resided in Brooklyn Heights with her partner Phyllis Dicker. Together, they sponsored the Traub-Dicker Rainbow Scholarship for several years, which awards scholarships to worthy college students.