Alanna Bartee
Senior Global Brand Manager, Edwards Lifesciences
Industry: Marketing
Alanna is currently the Senior Global Brand Manager at Edwards Lifesciences. Previously she was Product Director for Biosense Webster, a Johnson & Johnson medical device company specializing in catheters and mapping equipment to treat cardiac arrhythmias. Prior to joining Biosense Webster, Alanna led the consumer facing digital marketing efforts for the ACUVUE® Brand Contact Lens portfolio at Johnson & Johnson Vision Care. Alanna joined Johnson & Johnson in 2010, as an Associate Product Director leading brand positioning and message development for the #1 selling daily disposable contact lens in the U.S.
Prior to joining Johnson & Johnson, Alanna spent four years at Global Market Insite, Inc., a digital data collection and online market research company. She held several roles during her time there in global product management and account management, helping companies and brands make stronger business decisions by providing thoughtful and authentic consumer insights. Alanna has an MBA from Cornell University where she focused on Brand Management and Strategic Marketing. She has a B.A. in English Literature and Political Science from University of Washington.
Alanna Bartee
Connect on LinkedIn
Rhonda Cunningham Holmes
Executive Director, Legal Council for the Elderly Industry: Legal
Rhonda Cunningham Holmes holds a JD from Fordham University School of Law, an MBA from the University of Rochester Simon School of Business and a Bachelor's degree from Duke University. Ms Holmes is a business executive and attorney with diverse management experience in legal and business environments who brings great business acumen to both business and legal environments. She has extensive management experience at several corporations, including JPMorgan Chase, Chrysler Corporation and Xerox Corporation, and Capital One.
Rhonda Cunningham Holmes
Connect on LinkedIn
Julie Cline
Practice Area Leader-Organizational Effectiveness, Slalom Consulting Industry: Business
Julie Cline is an accomplished management consultant and strategic communications leader with nearly 20 years of experience across commercial and public sector environments, driving major change and transformation initiatives that must engage and influence key stakeholders to achieve critical business objectives. Julie has an international M.B.A. from Georgetown University, and a Global Business certification from Oxford University, and has worked in more than 25 countries throughout Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, Eastern and Western Europe.
Julie Cline
Connect on LinkedIn
Jennifer Deason
Chief Business Officer - Chief Financial Officer, the dtx company Industry: Business
Jennifer graduated from Stanford Business School with Certificates in Public and Global Management and Yale University with a BA in the History of Art. During her WELP Fellowship she was an Executive Vice President at Bain Capital, one of the world’s leading private, alternative asset management firms with approximately $70B in assets under management. In 2016, she became a Board Member and Chairman for Audit Committee for DHI Group, Inc., Board Member for MASS MoCA, and Board Member for American Folk Art Museum, and in 2019 she became a Board Member for Margaux.
Jennifer Deason
Connect on LinkedIn
Shelley Cohen
Director of Solar Programs, District of Columbia Sustainable Energy Utility Industry: Business
Ms. Cohen has over 20 years of experience in environment and energy related fields. She has been a featured speaker at hundreds of local, national, and international renewable energy and energy efficiency conferences, and has provided expert testimony on the benefits of renewable energy and energy efficiency before the DC City Council and the State of Delaware. Ms. Cohen and her husband utilized their expertise in green building practices in their own home, using all environmentally friendly building materials and energy efficient lighting and appliances and a 12kw solar PV installation and cool roof on their home, leading them to be featured on the Discovery Channel’s Renovation Nation television show.
Shelley Cohen
Connect on LinkedIn
Melissa Felder Zappala
Partner, Boies, Schiller, and Flexner LLP Industry: Legal
As a Partner at Boies, Schiller, and Flexner LLP, Melissa Felder Zappala focuses on complex commercial litigation—particularly antitrust and class action matters. Because Melissa has a profound hearing loss, she also has a strong commitment to disability law pro bono work. She worked with the Washington Lawyers Committee to successfully bring suit against the Washington DC government to ensure that videos posted on the DC Government’s website are captioned, so that they are accessible for deaf and hard of hearing individuals.
Melissa Felder Zappala
Connect on LinkedIn
Aquene Freechild
Campaign Co-Director, Public Citizens Democracy is for People Campaign Industry: Nonprofit
Aquene Freechild co-leads Public Citizen's work building a broad movement to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling and to get big money out of politics. Freechild is responsible for Public Citizen's successful legislative campaigns in Vermont, New Jersey, Illinois and Delaware formally calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United ruling. In addition to building the state coalitions essential for effective state campaigns, she has led or co-led a half dozen national campaigns to bring attention to the increasing corruption of our democracy by a few extremely wealthy corporations and individuals.
Aquene Freechild
Connect on LinkedIn
Ana Ma
Partner, Nexxus Consulting LLC Industry: Nonprofit (currently consulting)
Ms. Ma grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and graduated from the University of Arizona, receiving a degree in Political Science. She has been involved in grassroots organizing for over twenty-five years, and has participated in the electoral process at all levels – from the school board to the last six presidential campaigns. During her WELP Fellowship, Ana was the Human Rights Campaign's Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff, where she was responsible for providing internal leadership and executing operational goals in partnership with HRC's senior leadership team.
Ana Ma
Connect on LinkedIn
Jennifer Iwu
Senior Manager - Client Account Manager, Deloitte Industry: Entertainment (now in Business/Consulting)
Jennifer has her PmP, an MBA from Kogod School of Business at American University, and a BA from the Pennsylvania State University at University Park. During her time at WELP, Jennifer was the Director, Strategic Initiatives at Events DCleverages. In this role, she leveraged the beauty, history, and diversity of Washington, D.C. to attract and promote an extensive variety of events, resulting in amazing experiences for residents and visitors alike, and generating economic and community benefits for the city.
Jennifer Iwu
Connect on LinkedIn
Dr. June McKoy
Director of Geriatric Oncology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Industry: Health (ii: Academia)
Dr. June M. McKoy is a fellowship trained academic internist-geriatrician, and the Director of Geriatric Oncology at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center (Lurie) at Northwestern University (NU) Feinberg School of Medicine. She holds joint appointments as an Associate Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Preventive Medicine, and is the Associate Editor of the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Dr. McKoy is also a recognized leader at the local and national levels and is a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow (class of 2005), a 2014 Northwestern University Public Voices Thought Leadership Fellow, and was one of three recipients of the prestigious 2015 Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award from Northwestern Medicine.
Dr. June McKoy
Connect on LinkedIn
Aimee Nicole Lewis van Roekel
Artistic Director/Actor/Director, Vashon Island Shakespeare Festival Industry: Entertainment
Aimée Nicole Lewis van Roekel is Director of Shakespeare Youth Productions at Vashon Allied Arts and Education Director at ShakesKIDS!, a youth production company dedicated to offering the community vibrant productions of Shakespeare's works in order to discover and change our community and ourselves; and to nurture and inspire the next generation of literary explorers. With the ShakesKIDS, she has produced and directed 12th Night or What You Will, Romeo and Juliet, The Tragedy of Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, and As You Like It.
Aimee Nicole Lewis van Roekel
Connect on LinkedIn
Roxana Muzzammel
Senior Business Process Analyst, CACI International Inc. Industry: Business
Roxanna Muzzammel has over ten years of experience as a consultant in both the public and private sectors. Her professional work experience spans CRGT Inc, Hewlett Packard, America Online, and MAXIMUS. Roxanna also comes from a background in community leadership for nonprofits that include the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), Ladies America, Women in Technology (WIT), Girls Health Ed and the Network for South Asian Professionals (NetSAP) DC, and is currently the Founder of Grassroots-Fund, a nonprofit organization which is the only automated grassroots fundraising solution to raise donations via multiple communications channels.
Roxana Muzzammel
Connect on LinkedIn
Cathy Nelson
Vice President for Development and Alliances, Human Rights Campaign Industry: Nonprofit
At HRC, Cathy Nelson leads a team of 55 professionals responsible for executing HRC’s organizational fundraising and membership strategies that generate more than $50 million annually to support HRC’s work. During her 20-year tenure at HRC, she has utilized an entrepreneurial approach to creating multiple revenue programs, and a national membership of more than 1.5 million. She also launched HRC retail shops to promote HRC brand merchandise and attract members in key cities and created a board of governors and local volunteer leadership structure of steering committees in 30 cities that participate in advocacy initiatives.
Cathy Nelson
Connect on LinkedIn
Kathleen Pessolano
Private Sector Engagement, World Wildlife Fund Industry: Nonprofit
Kathleen earned a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School and a B.A. Summa Cum Laude from Holy Cross. She is an experienced lawyer focused on issues at the intersection of law and policy, and sustainable development. Along with her work with the World Wildlife Fund, she is also on the Board for Road Island Ave NE Main Street, and Bladensburg Road NE Main Street: nonprofit organizations working toward the positive redevelopment of our city’s traditional business districts. She previously worked as Director of Destinations Program for Global Sustainable Tourism Council and Senior Director, Destinations for Sustainable Travel International.
Kathleen Pessolano
Connect on LinkedIn
Ruth Sullivan
Program and Policy Analyst-Advanced - Division of Public Health, Wisconsin Department of Health Services Industry: Health
Ruth was born and raised in Michigan, and is a proud graduate of the Michigan State University Honors College where she studied international relations, economic development, and French. During her WELP Fellowship she was Assistant Director of Outreach, she is responsible for increasing CFR’s public engagement with communities across the country through three main initiatives targeting educators and students, religious leaders and scholars, and state and local elected officials. She is currently working as a Program and Policy Analyst at Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Division of Public Health.
Ruth Sullivan
Connect on LinkedIn
Jill Wheeler
Special Populations Advisor - Office of Community Affairs, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Industry: Nonprofit
Jill Wheeler received a master's degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service with honors studies in international business diplomacy, and a bachelor's degree, cum laude, in sociology from Harvard University. Her interest in the transnational flows of social and financial capital led her to her previous work with the Inter-American Foundation and the Hispanic Access Foundation where she promoted economic empowerment and civic engagement. In her current role at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau she Develop and implement national strategy for the Office of Community Affairs to better serve consumers and social service providers in rural communities.
Jill Wheeler
Connect on LinkedIn
Diana Peacock
Director - Nonprofit Practice, Coastal Cloud Industry: Nonprofit
Diana brings 15 plus years of consulting experience in the nonprofit, corporate and public sectors with organizations such as Accenture and the Department of Homeland Security. She has deep experience leading non-profit executives and Boards through strategy design and business planning, helping them pivot their organizations’ focus to meet growing needs and solve bigger social problems. Along with being the Director at Coastal Cloud, she is also the President of Peacock Impact Partners, LLC, a social impact consulting firm.
Diana Peacock
Connect on LinkedIn
Michelle Porter
Senior Project Manager, Ralph A. Falbo Inc.
Michelle is a Real Estate and Economic Development Professional with more than fifteen years of experience developing sustainable communities that provide affordable housing and economic opportunities for impoverished neighborhoods. Her drive for urban redevelopment was sparked by a desire to improve the neighborhood she grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After working for several years in the Healthcare Industry in the area of corporate finance, Michelle returned to her childhood home to work on the socioeconomic issues that plagued the area. As the Chief Development Officer (“CDO”) of the Pittsburgh Housing Authority, Michelle promoted private/public sector partnerships, enhancing economic development initiatives that resulted in over $100M in new investment in deteriorating communities. Michelle is currently the Director of Planning and Development for Baltimore Housing where she oversees major affordable housing real estate redevelopment projects for both the City of Baltimore and the Housing Authority of Baltimore City.
Her commitment for helping others is also reflected in her community work, as she is a Reading Partners tutor at Francis Scott Key Elementary School in Baltimore and has been a volunteer for the Children of Incarcerated Parents Mentoring Program and Dress for Success. Michelle holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and a MBA from Northwestern University.
Michelle Porter
Connect on LinkedIn
Jennifer Van der Heide
Chief of Staff for Rep. Deb Haaland, Congress Industry: Government
Jennifer has dedicated her professional career to social justice and helping women and minorities, and was a Commissioner on the Status of Women in California. Along with her work in Congress, Jennifer has also worked on several campaigns in California, developing extensive experience in grassroots mobilization, communications and strategic alliances. She has a particular passion for mentoring, building diversity, and promoting professional development on Capitol Hill.
Jennifer Van der Heide
Connect on LinkedIn
Aretae Wyler
Chief Operating Officer, The Atlantic Industry: Entertainment
Aretae Wyler has an extensive career working in law and entertainment industries, She became the Chief Operating Officer at the Atlantic after seven years at Atlantic Media where she managed all of the publications’ legal matters and coordinated and executed corporate strategic projects across Atlantic Media’s properties. Before joining Atlantic Media in January 2013, Aretae practiced law at Williams & Connolly LLP, where she represented clients in litigation in a range of areas including securities law, contract law, FCPA, pharmaceutical products liability, employment law, and general torts.
Aretae Wyler
Connect on LinkedIn
Ann Marie Pedersen
Director of Correspondence Services, Department of Education Industry: Government
In her position at the Department of Education, Ann Marie Pederson has improved the compliance efforts through streamlined processes, proactive releases of documents and innovative system improvements. She also serves as a mentor for an internal leadership development program and served as campaign manager for the Department of Education’s 2012 Combined Federal Campaign. In her personal time Ann Marie serves on the Board of Directors of the Federal Executive Institute Alumni Association, volunteers with Higher Achievement, a youth mentoring organization and, Miriam’s Kitchen, an organization serving the homeless.
Ann Marie Pedersen
Nicole Shue
Commander/Director, Navy (SABER) Industry: Military
Commander Nicole L. M. Shue currently serves as the Director of the Surface Analysis Branch for Evaluation and Reporting (SABER) which provides detailed analysis of naval warfare threats posed by foreign weapons systems and countries of interest to operational commanders, mission planners, naval warfare development centers, and the National Intelligence Community. She has 19 years of naval service, has deployed to the Middle East aboard four combatant warships, and spent time as a legislative advisor for both the Secretary of the Navy and the Commander of U.S. Central Command.
Nicole Shue
Connect on LinkedIn
Keosha Varela
Managing Director - Communications and Marketing, The Aspen Institute Industry: Communications
Keosha Varela began her career as part of the highly competitive NBC Universal News Associates Program in New York City, where she helped to produce segments for the "TODAY Show," "Dateline," and worked on the launch team of the African American NBC News website theGrio.com. Keosha’s experience includes her work as a social media strategist for a small clean energy nonprofit and her time as a new media editor and producer at NPR affiliate stations in Washington, D.C., and in Boston, where she and her colleagues received the 2011 National Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence Radio Station Website.
Keosha Varela
Connect on LinkedIn
Janet Xiao
Partner and Head of China Life Sciences, Morrison & Foerster Industry: Legal
At Morrison & Foerster, Dr. Janet Xiao primarily represents clients in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in their world-wide patent procurement, patent portfolio management, and strategic planning. Dr. Xiao is among the very few IP attorneys who are both equipped with solid skills in global strategic IP management and knowledgeable about IP issues unique to China and Chinese clients. She is frequently called upon to advise clients on IP issues and conduct IP due diligence in US/China cross-border transactions and operations in China and is frequently invited to speak on IP issues both in the U.S. and in China.
Janet Xiao
Connect on LinkedIn