WNLI Members

WNLI is an all-volunteer nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership organization of women leaders dedicated to increasing the number and diversity of women and others serving as trustees of higher education and healthcare institutions. Funding for WNLI comes from 100% participation of its members and the support of foundations, firms and individuals who share our vision for the boards of “eds and meds” to inclusively represent the diversity of stakeholders they serve, hire and are within their communities.

Carolyn T. Adams

Carolyn T. Adams, PhD, has served as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts of Temple University and President of its Faculty Senate, member of the board of directors of the William Penn Foundation, and trustee of Moore College of Art and Design. She is co-author “Increasing Gender Diversity on the Boards of Nonprofit Eds and Meds” and the author of From the Outside In (Cornell University Press) about the role of suburban trustees in governing Philadelphia’s leading nonprofit institutions.

Kate Allison

Kate Allison is a reputation management and communications strategist and frequent panelist and guest lecturer on the role of communications in achieving business strategies. She is founder and former CEO of Karma Agency, sold in 2019 after more than 20 years in business. Kate continues to provide strategic communications counsel to a range of clients. She is a member and past chair of the Board of Managers of The Philadelphia Foundation, has served as member of the Villanova University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council and a member of the Board of Trustees of The Academy of Music.

Dotty Brown

Dotty Brown is a journalist and book author. During her 30-year career at The Philadelphia Inquirer, she covered such areas as business and medicine and edited numerous prize-winning projects, including one that won a Pulitzer Prize. She contributed to and edited the book Inside the Upheaval of Journalism, Reporters Look Back on 50 Years of Covering the News. A member of Vesper Boat Club, she also wrote Boathouse Row: Waves of Change in the Birthplace of American Rowing.

Renee Cardwell Hughes

The Honorable Renee Cardwell Hughes is a retired Judge and experienced senior executive, attorney, independent board member and qualified financial expert. After retiring from the Court of Common Pleas, she served as President and CEO of Opportunities Industrialization Center Inc. (Philadelphia OIC) and CEO of the American Red Cross System’s fourth largest market. She serves on the boards of Haverford Trust and several nonprofits including Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. She is a senior advisor to Econsult Solutions,Inc. and CEO of the Hughes Group, a strategic consulting and executive coaching firm.

Carmen Febo-San Miguel

Carmen Febo-San Miguel, M.D., spent 22 years as Executive Director of Taller Puertorriqueno – Pennsylvania’s largest Puerto Rican and Latinx arts organization, after 14 years as Board Chair. During her medical career, she was Medical Director of a Philadelphia Health Services Center serving primarily poor Puerto Rican and African-American patients and then of a private medical practice. She has served on Arts and Culture commissions/advisory councils for three Mayors and has been a member and Chair of the board of the Philadelphia Foundation.

Judith Gay

Judith Gay, PhD, is Founder and Senior Consultant for JKG Consulting, LLC., providing advice and support for effective college governance. She is Vice President Emerita at Community College of Philadelphia and former Interim President of Erie County Community College. She has served on many boards and committees, including as Chair of the Interim House Board and as a member of the Academic Advisory Committee for Chestnut Hill College.

Gina Golson Nunery

Gina Golson Nunery has spent her career as an institutional pension consultant specializing in the nonprofit markets. She has held positions as Higher Education Practice Leader at Empower and spent many years in various leadership roles at TIAA working with clients on retirement plan design and compliance, investment menu design and fund selection. She serves on the board of Methodist Services for Children and is currently president of The Philadelphia Chapter of The Links, Incorporated.

Valerie I. Harrison

Valerie I. Harrison, J.D., Ph.D., serves as vice president for community impact and civic engagement at Temple University. A published author and educator who has taught in both the College of Liberal Arts and the Beasley School of Law at Temple, She serves on a number of nonprofit boards, including OIC Philadelphia and the Arden Theater Company. She has spent much of her career at Temple in senior leadership roles, including serving as senior advisor to the president and a member of the university’s legal team. She also has served as general counsel and vice president for legal affairs at Arcadia University and as acting president of Lincoln University, following her tenure as Lincoln’s general counsel.

Vicki W. Kramer

Vicki W. Kramer, PhD, is a consultant to nonprofits; co-author “Increasing Gender Diversity on the Boards of Nonprofit Eds and Meds”; and lead author “Critical Mass on Corporate Boards: Why Three or More Women Enhance Governance.” She was founding president, Thirty Percent Coalition, founding board member of Women’s Way, former chair of governance committees of Women’s Law Project and Pennsylvania Prison Society, and a member of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations.

Roberta Liebenberg

Roberta “Bobbi” Liebenberg is a senior partner at Fine Kaplan and Black and a principal in The Red Bee Group. She is former Chair of the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession and co-founder and former Chair of DirectWomen, working to increase the number of women lawyers on corporate boards. She chairs the Board of the ABA Retirement Funds and serves on the boards of the American Jewish Committee – Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, and the American Antitrust Institute. She has published and spoken on issues of importance to women lawyers and chaired organizations devoted to gender equality.

Afaf I. Meleis

Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, is Dean Emeritus University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and Professor Emeritus University of California San Francisco. She serves on the Board of Trustees Buck Institutes for Research in Aging, as Trustee Board Member of Aga Khan University, and Vice President of Marin executive women’s organization. She is former Board of Trustees member of CARE, Council of Global Health, Consortium for Universities for Global Health, among other national and global educational and health care institutions.

Karen Minyard

Karen Minyard, Certified Financial Planner, is former SVP and Managing Director at PNC Wealth Management (now Private Bank) and founder PNC’s Women’s Financial Services Network. She has served on Women’s Advisory Board PNC, Advisory Board Charles E. Ellis Trust for Girls (providing tuition and enrichment for public, parochial and independent high school girls from low-income single-parent homes in Philadelphia), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Development Committee, Franklin Institute Friends Committee, and Forum of Executive Women’s Women in Leadership Committee.

Sue Negrey

Sue Negrey, MBA, is principal of Coach 2 Achieve, an executive coaching and leadership consulting firm. A former CPA with a Big Four firm, where she championed women’s advancement, she was on the advisory board for the Society for Professional Women, served as Thirty Percent Coalition committee co-chair, and developed Women’s Leadership Conferences for The Conference Board. She has also served on the boards of NYC branch of the International Coaching Federation, the Columbia Coaching Learning Association and Rebuilding Philadelphia Together.

Marcine Pickron-Davis

Marcine Pickron-Davis, PhD, is Chief Diversity and Community Relations Officer of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine after serving as inaugural Chief Community Engagement and Diversity Officer at Widener University. She has served on Middle States Accreditation Evaluation teams and as a peer reviewer for the “Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement,” and has held faculty appointments in Social Work and Education at Widener, Penn and Cabrini. She serves on the boards of Together for West Philadelphia (Vice-Chair), Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development, Consortium of DEI Health Educators, and the Forum of Executive Women. She is Chair of Blacks Educating Blacks About Sexual Health Issues (BEBASHI).

Jane Scaccetti

Jane Scaccetti, CPA, MST, is a trustee at Temple University, former chair of the Temple Health System, Temple Hospital, and trustee emeritus of Salus University. She is a current board member and audit chair at PENN Entertainment (NASDQ:PENN), former chair of the board of Mathematica Inc/Mathematica Policy Research, and a current board member of The Philadelphia Foundation. She was CEO of Drucker & Scaccetti before it merged with Armanino and is now Of Counsel with Armanino.

Marianne Schimelfenig

Marianne Schimelfenig, Esq., is advisor and consultant regarding compliance with laws, policies and procedures relevant to higher education institutions (e.g., Title IX, VII, training, investigations) and their governing boards (e.g., bylaws and training). She has served as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for two colleges/universities. She is Director – Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, former President and Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Association of College and University Attorneys, and a member of Forum of Executive Women.

Gelvina Stevenson

Gelvina Stevenson is the general counsel and corporate secretary of the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia. Gelvina is also an adjunct professor at Drexel University College of Medicine, where she teaches courses on drug development and clinical research. She previously served as an associate general counsel at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and as an associate university counsel at Weill Cornell Medical College in NYC. Gelvina is the co-chair of the Health and Life Sciences Section of the Hispanic National Bar Association and a board member of the American Health Law Association.

Debbie Tang

Debbie Tang, JD, co-founded Ignite Agents, a public and private sector executive search firm that recruits senior executives and board members. Her clients range from Fortune 500 companies to universities, and government agencies. In the preceding 13 years, she worked at a boutique executive search firm and as Managing Director at a legal search firm. Earlier, she served as in-house counsel for Marriott International, General Counsel of an international restaurant chain, and attorney at Troutman Sanders and Reed Smith. Debbie is Vice-Chair of The Norwood School's Board of Trustees and governance committee co-chair at the Washington Project for the Arts. At Washington & Lee School of Law she served on the Editorial Board of The Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice.

The percentage of WNLI members who self-identify as women of color or multiracial is 43%.

Advisory Council

WNLI is privileged to have the expertise and guidance of an Advisory Council of exemplary leaders who are serving to support and advance our mission.

John Fry

John Fry is Temple University’s 15th president. From 2010 to 2024, he served as president of Drexel University and, before that, he served as president of Franklin & Marshall College from 2002 to 2010 and executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2002. Fry is active in local and national matters of education and urban economic development. He served from 2014 to 2017 as a member of the board of directors of the American Council on Education. He was founding chairman of the University City District and served a two-year term as chairman of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Fry graduated from Lafayette College and earned a master’s degree in business administration from the New York University Stern School of Business.

Rosemarie Greco

Rosemarie Greco served in Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell’s cabinet as Director of the Office of Health Care Reform. Prior to that, she was CEO of GRECOventures, a consulting company for top executives, and before that was President and CEO of Fidelity and CoreStates Banks. She has served on boards of numerous public corporations and nonprofit organizations. She chaired the Philadelphia Award’s board of trustees, served on the Franklin Institute’s board of directors, and was a trustee for her alma mater, St. Joseph’s University. She also chaired the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. She is a director emeritus of the Philadelphia Orchestra board, has served on the board of overseers of the School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, and co-chaired VISION 2020, a campaign to make equality a national priority through shared leadership among women and men.

Philip Hackney

Philip Hackney is a professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh, where he focuses his scholarship on tax-exempt entities. He has taught tax law at the University of Pittsburgh since 2018. Hackney previously served as a member of the faculty of the LSU Law Center. Before the academy, he spent five years at the Office of the Chief Counsel of the IRS in Washington and time working for a law firm. He serves on the board of Dialogue on Race Louisiana. He received his J.D. from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU and his LL.M. in tax law from New York University School of Law. Before law school Hackney owned and operated a used and rare bookstore and coffee shop in Baton Rouge, LA, called Caliban’s Books.

Maribel Hernandez

Maribel Hernandez is co-founder and serves as the Medical Director of the Lankenau Heart Institute’s Women’s Heart Initiative and has served as a cardiologist on the medical staff of Main Line Health for over 20 years. She is also Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, and has been involved with the American Heart Association for over 15 years. In Philadelphia she is a member of the Society of Latino Ibero Medical Professionals and a board member of Congreso de Latinos Unidos. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Stanford University Alumni Association. Hernandez is a graduate of Yale University and received her Medical Degree at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Susanna Lachs

Susanna Lachs is a member of the Board of Trustees of Temple University and of the Board of Visitors of Temple’s Beasley School of Law. She is a past Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania. After practicing law in Philadelphia, she has served in a variety of community and educational non-profit leadership roles as Chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and Chair of the Board of Trustees of The Shipley School. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and Jewish Federations of North America, the National Public Radio Foundation Board, the Policy Board of WXPN Radio-FM, and the Foundation Board of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University’s Beasley School of Law.

Leslie Anne Miller

Leslie Anne Miller spent 25 years as a litigator and was the first woman partner in her law firm. She served as the president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and was general counsel of the Commonwealth under Governor Ed Rendell. She was board member and then interim president of the Kimmel Center, a trustee and then board chair of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and board chair of her alma mater, Mount Holyoke College. Miller has also served on the boards of the Temple University Beasley School of Law, the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, the Committee of Seventy, the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition, the University of Pennsylvania Health System, and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. She has chaired the Pennsylvania Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession and is a current member of the Pennsylvania Commission on Women. She has a Juris Doctor from the Dickinson School of Law.

Wendell Pritchett

Wendell Pritchett is Professor of Law and Education at the University of Pennsylvania, which he joined in 2002. At Penn Law he has served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Interim Dean. He has also served as University of Pennsylvania Provost and Interim President and as Chancellor of Rutgers-Camden. Under Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter he was Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Policy, and the Mayor appointed him to the School Reform Commission. Pritchett is a member of the Board of Managers of the Philadelphia Foundation and, has been board chair of Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, president of the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation, chair of the Redevelopment Authority of Philadelphia, member of the Pennsylvania State Planning Board, and member of the Cooper University Health Care Board of Trustees; and he was elected president of the national Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities. He holds a Ph.D. in history from Penn and his law degree from Yale.

Sulaiman W. Rahman

Sulaiman W. Rahman is the Founder and CEO of DiverseForce, a strategic human capital solutions firm that elevates the social impact sector through board development, executive search, and innovative talent solutions. With a mission to foster inclusive leadership, drive innovation, and create measurable social impact, DiverseForce partners with the public, private, and philanthropic sectors to cultivate diverse talent pipelines, strengthen governance, and enhance organizational excellence. Rahman currently serves as Chairman of the Board for Mastery Schools, a network of 23 public charter schools serving over 14,000 families, and as Vice Chairman of the Board at the Lenfest Institute, which is dedicated to sustaining and transforming local news. He also serves on several other boards supporting education and economic development.

Pedro A. Ramos

Pedro A. Ramos has been president and CEO of the Philadelphia Foundation since 2015. For nearly two decades prior to this, he was a partner in Philadelphia-based national law firms. He has served at the highest level of appointed Philadelphia government leadership, including as City Solicitor, Managing Director, President of the Board of Education and Chairman of the School Reform Commission. He also served as Vice President & Chief of Staff to the University of Pennsylvania President. He currently serves on the boards of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, Temple University, FS Specialty Lending Fund, Independence Health Group, and the Eisenhower Fellowships. Ramos holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Drexel University.

Margaret Sadler

Margaret Sadler spent her career as a Human Resource (HR) executive for multinational corporations working all over the globe helping managers resolve organization problems. Throughout her career she has been involved with many nonprofit and government agencies, from chairing a Civil Service Commission to a seat on an Historic House Board. She currently serves as Board Chair of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS). She is a former trustee of the Women’s Law Project, where she served as Chair of the Governance and HR committees. She is the recent past President of Friends of Falls Library and former trustee and Treasurer of the Woodmere Art Museum. Since 2012 Sadler has been doing pro bono consulting with nonprofits that otherwise could not afford a consultant.

Jo Surpin

Jo Surpin is President of Applied Medical Software, Inc. She founded ALPHA Health Consultants, Inc., which was acquired by MEDIQ Incorporated in 1984 and its activities combined with MEDIQ Consulting Group, where she served as President until 2000, when she formed Strategic Health Alliance, LLC. From 1977 to 1982, she was Assistant Project Manager for a New Jersey Department of Health project. She has co-authored a book on Diagnosis Related Group Rate-Setting for New Jersey Hospitals, founded a national newsletter on prospective payment issues, co-authored a book Outsourcing in Healthcare-The Administrator’s Guide, and written numerous articles. She is past board chair of Salus University and Pennsylvania College of Optometry foundation, and board chair of Home Care Associates and Paraprofessional Training Institute. She has Bachelors and Masters degrees in Economics from Temple University.

Roberta Torian

Roberta Torian is Principal, Seneca Global Strategies, and a retired partner from the law firm of Reed Smith, where she served on the Executive Committee. Prior to that, she was SVP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary Advanta Bank and Senior Counsel PNC Bank. Torian is a Fellow of the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers. She is a commissioner of Middle States Commission on Higher Education, first ever Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, and a former board member of the African American Museum in Philadelphia, where she served on the Executive Committee. She also has been a board member of Chester County Fund for Women and Girls and a Trustee of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation. She has her JD from Boston University School of Law and her BS from Howard University, cum laude.

Emily Turner

Emily Turner is a Vice President in the Asset & Wealth Management Division of Goldman Sachs, where she has spent the last decade advising non-profit organizations and wealthy families. Turner leads the Analyst Development Program for the Mid-Atlantic office and has served on the Compensation Committee. She serves on the Board of Directors and Chairs the Investment Committee for the Barra Foundation and is a founding member and former Co-Chair of 100 Women in Finance in Philadelphia. She was on the Board of Directors of Salus University and the steering committee leading the university’s merger with Drexel University. She also served on the Board of Directors and Finance Committee for Women’s Law Project and the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania. She holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a CFA charter holder.

Judy Weinstein

Judy Weinstein is a Professional Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation and founder of SpringForth Strategies, an executive coaching firm. She has over 30 years of experience as a licensed social worker and therapist after getting her Master’s in Social Work from Bryn Mawr College. In 2008 she started as the Special Projects Director for Mt. Airy Learning Tree, a nonprofit organization that provides recreational education for over 5,000 adults and children each year. She became the Executive Director of the organization in 2013 until 2018 when she began her new career in coaching. She has served for many years as board member and board chair of Abortion Liberation Fund, Neighborhood Interfaith Movement, and board member of New Directions for Women. She is currently a trustee of Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation and the chair of the Elizabeth B. and Arthur E. Roswell Foundation.

Julie E. Wollman

Julie E. Wollman is Professor of Practice in Higher Education and Associate Dean for Executive Programs at Penn GSE. She spent a decade as President of Widener University. Before that she was Edinboro University president, following experiences as a provost and vice president for academic affairs, dean, doctoral program director, and professor, in public and private institutions. She has served on boards and executive committees of local, regional, and national organizations and chaired the Philadelphia Chamber’s 75-member Regional College and University Presidents’ Alliance. She currently serves on the Board of the American Association of University Administrators and the Senior Editorial Board of the Journal of Higher Education Management. She graduated from Harvard University, and has her M.S. from the University of Pennsylvania’s GSE, and her Ph.D. from New York University.