Board of Directors

Diane Paddison, 4word Founder and President, is a Harvard MBA graduate, former global executive of two Fortune 500 companies and one Fortune 1000 company, and serves as an independent director for two corporations and four not-for-profits. A leading advocate for the professional Christian women community, Diane published Work, Love, Pray in 2011, laying the foundation for 4word.

Diane speaks on life/work balance, mentoring/sponsorship, and impactful leadership at events across the country. She authors weekly posts at 4wordwomen.org and is a featured columnist for Today’s Christian Woman. Diane and her husband, Chris, have four children and live in Dallas, Texas.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianepaddison/

4wordwomen.org

Melissa Harrison, 4word President & Executive Director, is a bilingual journalist with more than 20 years of experience in television and radio news. She has worked as a news anchor and reporter in six different television markets including WNBC in New York City and WFAA-TV in Dallas/Fort Worth. Melissa has also worked as a writer for ABC’s World News Tonight and as a morning news anchor for CBS Radio. 

Melissa is currently an Executive in Residence at SMU where she teaches Digital Media. She earned her master’s in Journalism from Columbia University and speaks frequently at conferences and industry events across the globe including recently in Santiago, Chile; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Manila, Philippines.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissatamplinharrison/

https://www.melissaharrison.net/

Patricia is a senior Transformation and Operating executive with over 25 years of diverse business experience in Fortune 500 and small privately held companies in the service, education, healthcare and photography industries.  Her specialties include business turnarounds, strategic planning, culture and values sustainability, and multiple location/distributed organizational models with emphasis on performance and process improvement. Throughout her career she has held operations, sales, activations, finance, human resources, and business transformation positions, including CEO, COO and President of companies.  Each role required significant strategic redirection and performance improvement.

Some selective career achievements include:

• Financial turnaround during dramatic economic downturn of education and photography markets that negatively impacted legacy businesses.
• Led first Six Sigma launch in a $4 Billion, distributed-model, multiple location, service company with 5,000 locations. Created leading-edge programs to provide operations with actionable priority items and customer and employee impact metrics to drive performance improvement.
• Designed and implemented an interactive strategic planning process.

Patricia currently serves as a Senior Consultant and Executive Coach for personal and business performance development in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.  She resides in Tennessee with her husband Glen.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-asp-63615b/

https://patriciaasp.com/

Hope Dmuchowski is the Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of First Horizon Corporation. She formerly served as Vice President Head of Financial Planning and Analysis and Management Reporting of Truist Financial Corporation. She previously served as Chief Financial Officer of Corporate Banking, Commercial Banking and Corporate Groups.

Prior to that, she held the roles of Chief Financial Officer Group Director, Chief Financial and Operating Officer of Enterprise Operations Services, and other reporting and finance roles at the predecessor entity. She began her career in the sales and trading unit of Deutsche Bank as part of the Leadership Development Program. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and a Master of Science in Business Management from Saint Elizabeth University.

She currently serves on the national Board of Directors of the Salvation Army and is co-lead of its investment committee. She is also involved with 4Word as a Board member and Executive Mentor and volunteers at the Center of Hope Homeless Shelter. She is a godly woman, married, with three boys and will be residing in Memphis, Tennessee.

Marisa Fienup currently serves as Senior Director of Product Management for Tandem Diabetes driving a digital and hardware product pipeline focused on reducing burden and improving quality of life for diabetes patients.

Marisa has a 20+ year career in the Life Sciences space leading global portfolios for large drug and device companies such as Baxter, Edwards Lifesciences, and Medtronic as well as identifying and implementing growth strategies for smaller privately held organizations.  Her passion is aligning unmet needs with strategic choices and motivating cross functional teams to implement.  Prior to her career in Life Sciences, Marisa also worked for Ford Motor company in manufacturing and marketing roles.   

Marisa holds an MBA from the University of Michigan, and a BS Degree from Purdue University.  She lives in Southern California with her husband and two boys.  In her free time, she can be found outside rock climbing, kayaking, skiing, or cheering her sons on at a baseball game.

*Advisory Board Member from August 2023 – November 2023*

linkedin.com/in/marisafienupstrategicmarketing

Vicky Gunning, Co-Chair of the Firm’s Finance, Banking and Real Estate Department, is a commercial real estate and debt finance lawyer. She is a catalyst for her clients in negotiating complex asset based and real estate secured loans, syndicated credits, and debt restructurings. She creates a culture that gets deals done efficiently and collaboratively for owners and developers in creatively navigating debt financing and the acquisition, development, leasing, and disposition of commercial real estate of all types. Vicky also leads and serves as Managing Partner of the Dallas office of Locke Lord. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/vicky-gunning-71a33a11/

https://www.lockelord.com/

Jody is the Chief Financial Officer of Chobani. She has served in various roles as a senior financial executive who brings leadership and innovative problem-solving to Fortune 500 global companies and private equity portfolio companies that thrive on collaboration and thoughtful change. Her financial strategies have served as the engine behind operational transformations, turnarounds and market expansion efforts. She partners with business leaders to deliver profitable growth and leverages data analytics to deploy smart productivity programs. Most recently she was the Chief Financial Officer of Dean Foods, a Fortune 500 consumer products company with over $7.5 Billion in revenue and 15,000 employees.

Previous experience includes senior financial roles with Henkel, PepsiCo, Nestle and SmithKline Beecham. At PepsiCo, she led the first mentorship program for mid-level female managers. She also co-led the Employee Engagement Council. Prior speaking engagements include: Women in Leadership Symposium:  Glass Cliff and National Diversity & Leadership Council: Practical Leadership. 

Jody holds an MBA from the University of Colorado, and a BS in Finance from Colorado State University.  She was a member of the Organic Valley Fresh Board and in 2018 was awarded Dallas Power 50. Jody and her husband Mark reside in Dallas, Texas. They enjoy the outdoors and traveling with their two grown children to deserted beaches and remote mountain destinations.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodymacedonio/

https://www.chobani.com/

Brad McMullan is an Emmy Award Winning Journalist, turned Award Winning CEO. McMullan is the founder and CEO of bfac.com, an international mobile technology company. McMullan is an active volunteer, serving on multiple boards including the Salvation Army’s National Advisory Board. McMullan was recently recognized as the Community Advocate of the Year by New Horizon Church International and was named to the 2016 Tech 21 List by the Business Journal. In 2017, McMullan was recognized again, when he was named to the Top in Tech List by the Business Journal. In 2018, McMullan was named to the Board of Directors of the chamber of commerce for the State of Oklahoma. McMullan is also currently serving a four-year term to serve on the Madison County Business League Board of Directors.

When he is not running his company or working in the community, McMullan can usually be found on the speaking circuit. Before entering the business world and the speaking circuit, McMullan was known by many as an Award-Winning Broadcast Journalist. McMullan won two Emmy Awards and has five Emmy nominations to his credit.  He also has won the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award and received multiple honors from the Associated Press.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradmcmullan/

https://bfac.com/

Mara McNeill is president and chief executive officer of Toyota Financial Savings Bank (TFSB), which provides banking services to Toyota, Lexus, and private label dealers and consumers.  Her leadership focuses on building high performance teams who serve by delivering responsible lending products and positive consumer experiences.  Prior to her current position, McNeill served as TFS vice president, general counsel and secretary, overseeing the company’s legal and enterprise compliance departments.

McNeill joined Toyota from JPMorgan Chase Bank, where she served as general counsel for Chase Auto Finance, which included a portfolio of retail auto loans and leases, as well as dealer commercial financing. She also served as member of the executive management committee advising on strategy, risk, governance, and operations. 

From 2009 to 2011, McNeill was senior counsel for the Automotive Investment Financing Program for the Department of the Treasury, where she was responsible for the department’s $80 billon financing of General Motors, Chrysler, Ally Financial, and Chrysler Financial during the recession. She worked as part of a team of elite advisors to structure transactions to sustain the U.S. Auto industry and to optimize the return of government funds. 

Earlier in her career, McNeill served as an officer in the United States Air Force. During her assignment at the Pentagon, she was an analyst responsible for developing modernization and budget plans. 

McNeill received her Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Operations Research from the United States Air Force Academy.

Mara and her husband have a son and daughter.  Mara also serves on the Board of Directors at Communities in Schools, Nevada, a nonprofit in schools to help kids stay in school.

Specializing in accelerating go-to-market teams and top line revenue growth, Tracey Newell serves on the board of five high growth software companies, to include Sailpoint, Druva, Highspot, DataRobot, and Deepwatch. Tracey also serves as an advisor for Blackrock Long TermPrivate Capital and Spring Coast Capital Partners.

Tracey is the former president of Informatica, where she served as a member of Informatica’s board of directors for two years, prior to being asked to join Informatica’s management team. As president of Informatica, Tracey was responsible for sales, marketing, revenue operations, and customer success.

Prior to joining Informatica, Tracey was EVP of global field operations at Proofpoint, where she led sales through a five-year period of hypergrowth from 96M to 700M. Recognized as a Top 100 Sales Leader by The Modern Sale, Tracey led Proofpoint’s go-to-market team to became a top five leader in the cybersecurity market. Before Proofpoint, Tracey was EVP of global sales at Polycom. She has also held sales leadership positions at Juniper Networks, Webex, and Cisco Systems. During her tenure at Cisco, Tracey was recognized by the organization Women Worth Watching.

From a philanthropic standpoint, Tracey is engaged with nonprofit Bridge2Rwanda, focused on building the next generation of African leaders; 4word, a Christian nonprofit focused on helping women to accelerate their careers; as well as Awaken, a nonprofit focused on ending trafficking. Tracey graduated with honors from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and completed Stanford’s 26th Annual Directors College in June 2021.

Cynthia Nwaubani is a Senior Vice President and Corporate Banking Manager at HSBC’s corporate banking group in Dallas, Texas. She is responsible for developing and managing relationships with global middle market and large corporate companies with revenues up to $10 billion to help these companies expand and thrive internationally. In her role, Cynthia connects and partners with HSBC’s vast global network in over 60 countries to provide global investment banking and capital market products, as well as global corporate banking products and payment solutions to her clients. Prior to HSBC, Cynthia was a Senior Relationship Manager serving Wells Fargo’s middle-market and mid-corporate clients.

Cynthia earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Nigeria in Nigeria, an M.B.A. in corporate finance and accounting from the Southern Methodist University’s (SMU) Cox School of Business in Dallas, Texas and an Executive Leadership and Banking diploma from the Wharton Executive Education School and the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking in Pennsylvania. She is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in the state of Texas and a graduate of Wells Fargo’s Advanced Credit and MBA Relationship Management program.

Active in her community, Cynthia serves on the Dallas regional board of 4word, an organization centered on developing women leaders who work, love, and pray. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of WiNGS, a non-profit organization centered on providing financial literacy and general wellness services to women and serves as a mentor to women business owners from countries that have been affected by war or genocide through the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW). Cynthia has also served on the International Business Council of the Frisco Chamber of Commerce and has chaired the National Leadership Conference and the Dallas Women’s Conference for the National Diversity Council.

For her community leadership, The Texas Women’s Foundation, the largest regional fund in the world, honored Cynthia with the 2017 Young Leader Award, The Immigrant Journey Award honored her with the 2018 Professional Excellence Award, The SMU Women’s Symposium honored her with the 2019 Profiles in Leadership Award and the Dallas Business Journal honored her with the 2019 Dallas Women in Business Award – an annual award given to the top 30 North Texas’ Women in Business.

Married with three daughters, Cynthia and her family reside in Frisco, Texas.

Stacy Osborne, MBA, CMP, has been the owner of Beneficent for 5 years. However, the company has been in business for 19 years. Stacy does education classes pro bono to explain how to preserve assets while qualifying for Long-Term Care Medicaid and VA Aid & Attendance as well as other avenues to secure funding for Long Term Care. Prior to Beneficent, Stacy held a National Marketing Director position for American Residential Services (ARS) for 9 years from 2007 to 2016.

Prior to Beneficent, Stacy held a National Marketing Director position for
American Residential Services (ARS) for 9 years from 2007 to 2016. Prior to 2007, Stacy owned businesses in various fields. She has been a partner in Drill Gas: an oil and gas drilling company, “Will” Fix It: a Plumbing and HVAC Services Company, WFI: a mold abatement company, and was the sole owner of Business Matters Consulting, LLC, a firm that consulted other business owners on growth and exit strategies.

Stacy holds an MBA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a BS.
Degree from Texas A&M University. She is married to Kevin Osborne, and they have eight children, six of whom are married and have six grandchildren.

After 27 years in the retail industry, Heidi took on a new challenge. From corporate life to entrepreneurship. From fashion retail to the employee benefits industry.

At 15 years old, Heidi started at JCPenney where she went from a sales floor associate to Divisional Vice President at the corporate office. As a manager, she was promoted 14 times, received multiple awards & led the largest brand launch in JCPenney history.

As co-founder and COO of freshbenies, she developed the brand from zero members to freshbenies being named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in America four consecutive years and the Dallas 100 two consecutive years. freshbenies also received two Health Value Awards given to companies that are dedicated to providing innovative, value-based healthcare.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidirrasmussen/

https://www.freshbenies.com/

Kristin is a lifelong foodie and currently serves as SVP of Client Excellence for CCL-Hospitality Group – the grouping of three companies focused on serving the fast growing Senior Living sector within the world’s largest food and support services company, Compass Group.  As a member of the Executive Team, she creates and drives the strategic vision, strategies and activities related to productive and long lasting client relationships.  

She has led numerous growth focused teams within the dining and support services and drug distribution industries.  Starting from the ground up as a pot washer in Junior High at a summer camp, she grew a career in restaurant and catering operations, field marketing, contract sales, brand development, growth strategy, training, sales enablement and commercial sales and business operations.

Her educational background includes a Hotel and Restaurant Management degree from Oregon State University and a MBA from the University of Southern California.    

She currently enjoys living in Philadelphia’s center city area, but will always be a California girl at heart – having spent 40+ years living throughout the West Coast. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinaschneider1/

www.ccl-hg.com

https://www.compass-usa.com/

Kathryn Tack is an executive and leadership development coach with The John Maxwell Team who partners with CEO’s, senior executives and leaders to help them realize significantly higher levels of productivity and fulfillment in their leadership and life roles.

Kathryn began her career as a speaker, focusing on women’s conferences and retreats.  She then launched a major entrepreneurial effort in 1983 when she purchased, franchised and developed a 12 restaurant and management services company in the hospitality industry.  For 15 years Kathryn was President and CEO of Good Times Concepts, a multi-million dollar enterprise.  When she sold her company, many of her colleagues asked her to mentor them and that is when she decided to launch her executive coaching business. She is a graduate of Coach University, Executive Coaching Institute and now speaker/teacher and coach with the John Maxwell Team.  She has served as Chair for Vistage, an international organization dedicated to increasing the effectiveness and enhancing the lives of CEO’s.  She also served as Chair of the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO) committed to helping women gain financial equity and to access support for their unique roles.  In 2009, she launched her most recent entrepreneurial effort of Executive JaneÔ, a personal board of directors for women who convene for the purpose of obtaining wisdom and discernment and then set a course of action for change.  As a strong Christian and leader, Kathryn is always looking to serve her sisters-in-Christ and decided to be a part of the leadership team of 4word Chicago as advisor to help solidify efforts within the Chicagoland area.

Kathryn has and continues to coach and speak to leading and emerging Presidents, CEO’s and senior executives of small to medium businesses.  Her blend of experience as a CEO, executive coach, wife and mother brings a profound depth of wisdom and practical application to the field.  She is married to Jerry, her husband for over 40 years and is the mother of three children and six grandchildren.

Previously served on the 4word Board Of Directors 2017-2023

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathryn-tack-bb436219/

https://www.johnmaxwell.com

Linda Valdez Thompson is the former Executive Vice President of Administration and Diversity at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
She provided strategic leadership for Human Resources, Procurement and Materials Management, Risk Management, Business Diversity and Development, and Corporate Communications & Marketing. She is one of the highest-ranking Latinas in the airport industry. 

Linda is also a strong advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace and is committed to attracting and retaining a diverse workforce by implementing strategies that promote engagement and develop a culture of inclusion.  She has established a Leadership Council, and numerous Employee Resource Groups and mentoring programs. 

Linda has received several distinctions, including being named Woman of the Year by Hispanic Business Magazine, recognized as one of the Top Latinas of Influence by Latino Leaders Magazine.  She was recognized by the National Diversity Council as a 2018 Top Latino in the U.S., by Latina Style as a Top Corporate Latina Executive of the Year. In 2021, she was recognized by the Dallas Business Journal with the Leaders in Diversity, Lifetime Achievement award, as the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s MWBE Champion of the
Year, and the Diversity Leadership Award by the North Texas Commission, and the Latina Living Legend by the Hispanic 100.

Linda is active in the community serving today as the Co-Chair for the H-100 Latina Giving Circle at Texas Women’s Foundation. She has served on various community boards such as the United Way Tarrant County, American Heart Association, North Texas Commission, Visit Fort Worth, Tarrant County College Foundation, and is the Past President of DFW Hispanic 100. She is married and has one adult daughter.

Alva P. Adams-Mason is the Executive Group Manager of Multicultural Business Alliance
and Dealer Relations for Toyota Motor North America. Since starting with Toyota in 1999, she has led collaborative projects that advanced the company’s communication strategy and propelled
specific diversity initiatives across Toyota’s North American Operations.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alva-adams-mason-3709954/

https://www.toyota.com/

Ami Anderson joined CityVet in February of 2023 as their Chief Marketing Officer.  The positive culture and dedication to helping pets and people live their best lives is what drew her to CityVet.  Prior to CityVet, Ami was the head of marketing in several healthcare companies including Tenet Healthcare, Elara Caring, and most recently MINT dentistry was their Chief Marketing Officer.

Ami started her career working in consumer-packaged goods including 20 years at General Mills.  There she marketed several beloved brands including Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Fruit Roll-Ups, and Pop Secret popcorn. She was also a guest lecturer for 16 years at the Wharton School of Business where she also received her MBA in Marketing.

Ami loves to walk her rescue dog, Bella, who was her faithful training partner as she trained to hike to Mt. Everest’s Base Camp in 2022.  She lives in Southlake, TX, with her husband, Scott, and their two college-aged kids.  

Karla Baldelli, JDRF International, Associate Vice President, Donor Experience & Stewardship

As a member of the senior management team Karla leads the organization with strong and strategic leadership in all matters related to constituent experience and stewardship.  Karla leads the collaborative development of thoughtful, year-round donor experience strategies and behaviors across all campaigns, including Peer to Peer, Signature Events, Individual Giving and Workplace Giving; while ensuring continued collaboration with Corporate Development and Leadership Giving.  Designing, testing and implementing a creative, comprehensive and integrated program that results in a more thoughtful donor experience, better retention rates and higher lifetime value for our constituencies.

She has helped shape the donor-centered culture that is now foundational to JDRF’s work, by delivering The Power of the Donor Experience training to staff across the country, as well as developing tools and resources in partnership with Development Operations to help track and drive strategy discussion around donor retention/loyalty.  As a result of this work, the organization experienced an increase in donor loyalty in FY17; the first increase in the past 5 years.

Karla has served in leadership roles for the Coast Guard Foundation where she focused on building a robust major gift program and at the American Heart Association, National Center (AHA), with her last role as National Director, Philanthropic Giving Society. While at AHA, she grew the Heart Ball Open Your Heart unrestricted individual campaign from $2 million to more than $20 million; developed the national stewardship program; directed and grew the flagship stewardship event Honored Guest Day for major/mega donors; strengthened retention of major gift performance; designed campaign architecture for the $100 million Mission Lifeline Campaign; and designed and created AHA’s National Giving Society, Cor Vitae.

Karla’s career in the non-profit world also includes The Salvation Army, DFW Area Command, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Arthritis Foundation to name a few. She is also an accomplished trainer and coordinator of the collective efforts of boards and committees and has held a wide variety of non-profit volunteer leadership roles. Karla is from Dallas, TX where she lives with her husband Dale and their two sons.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karla-baldelli-4a008a15/

https://rkdgroup.com/

Reagan currently serves as Director, Global Executive Development and Manager Capability Products for Amazon. She joined Amazon World Wide Customer Service in June of 2017 where she formerly served as the Director or Virtual Customer Service Strategy. This ground breaking labor model spans across nine market places and eight languages. Previously, Reagan led the customer service functions of Amazon Business (B2B Retail), Social Media, and Customer Connections, a program that connects businesses within Amazon with the voice of their customer.

Before joining Amazon, Reagan spent 16 years at AT&T. After beginning her career in the Leadership Development Program, she spent time in Customer Service, B2B Sales, Entertainment Marketing and Leadership Development. She provided leadership at every level of the business, including running call centers within AT&T’s wireless division that spanned three lines of business and over 5000 customer service reps.

Reagan just published her first book, The Cure for Career Quicksand. She chronicles the lessons she learned in her first 10 years in corporate America in order to help others with their career. Certified by the National Speakers Association (NSA), Reagan enjoys speaking about the A.P.P.L.E. career model she outlines in her book.

Reagan has a B.S. in Marketing and an M.B.A. from Azusa Pacific University. Originally from Newport Beach, California, Reagan spent the first 16 years of her career in Southern California and Dallas. She now lives in Seattle with her husband and two dogs.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/reagancannon/

https://www.aboutamazon.com/

Following a brilliant career with the international commercial real estate firm The Staubach Company, Ka Cotter has turned her focus to advising both corporations and non-profit organizations in board director roles. Ka served seven years as an Independent Director of Experient Inc., an international event planning and management company, and with Veritext Inc., a court reporting firm, until the successful sale of each company.

Her not-for-profit board roles have included the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, YWCA, Nurse-Family Partnership, UT Center for Brain Health and the Dallas Women’s Foundation Advisory Board. Ka Cotter is active in CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women), International Womens Forum, NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors) and WCD (Women Corporate Directors).

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ka-cotter-16859834/

In 2001, Mary Coucher joined IBM in Beaverton, Oregon through IBM’s acquisition of Sequent Computer Systems. With more than 30 years overall industry experience in Information Technology, Mary is widely recognized for her leadership, teamwork and management abilities, working both with IBM internally and with clients, across many geographies and cultures. She has led sales, mergers and acquisitions, business development, product design, supply chain and process engineering teams in a broad range of industries, including: Manufacturing, Chemicals, Telecommunications, and Information Technology. Over the years, Mary has lived in several locations including assignments in China and Japan.

Mary started her professional career with Tektronix where her responsibilities included process engineering and division engineering management for the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) operation. While at Tektronix she managed and participated in the Tektronix-NEC Engineering Exchange Program in Nyuzen, Japan.

Mary earned her Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering from Oregon State University where she was inducted into their Academy of Distinguished Engineers in 2008. She also earned her Masters of Business Administration from University of Portland, recognized into the honorary fraternity, Beta Gamma Sigma, for High Scholastic achievement.

Mary is extremely active with the higher education community in the state of Oregon by serving as a trustee for the Oregon State University (OSU) Foundation Board, was the recent board chair of OSU’s Dean’s Council for the College of Business, board member of College of Engineering Dean’s Advisory Council, and a board member of the President’s Advisory Council for Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT)

Mary has three children, Braden, age 28, Margaret, age 24, and Joe Van, age 18. Mary was born and raised in Klamath Falls, Oregon, and enjoys golfing, boating, and music. She is a choir member of Lake Grove Presbyterian’s Sanctuary Choir.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marycoucher/

https://www.ibm.com/us-en/

Shea Davis has over 20 years of experience as a tax, accounting and finance expert advising companies in complex situations.  Beginning her career in investment banking in New York City, she was a Sunday volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House for 6 years.  Moving next to PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dallas, TX, she joined the Mergers & Acquisitions team.  She was then promoted to Associate Director and moved into the Business Development area of PwC, overseeing Alumni Relations.  She joined the Board for the Notre Dame School of Dallas; a school for mild to moderately challenged children.  From PwC, Shea joined the Internal Revenue Service as a Financial Products Specialist, Revenue Agent.  She was then selected as the first national Technical Advisor for the Alternative Investment Industry, where she developed and led the national initiative regarding hedge funds and private equity funds.

In 2010, Shea joined Ernst & Young as the leader of the Southwest Financial Services Office Tax practice, focusing on Asset Management.    She joined the Boards of, the Texas Hedge Fund Association, Texas Wall Street Women, the Host Committee of GIBI – Great Investor’s Best Ideas,  and The Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas.

Prior to forming Velasco Advisory, Shea was Partner and Chief Financial Officer of an emerging private equity fund focused on growth equities in the media and technology industries, PTA Capital.  She joined the Warrior Mentor Program organized by the Center for Brain Health and the mentor advisor program through the DEC – the Dallas Entrepreneurial Center.

Tonia has been a leader in the retail and tech industries for 20+ years with a focus on  driving vision and growth strategies in large volume business sectors. 

She started her career at JCPenney, where she spent 14 years being promoted within  the organization. During her tenure, she developed a passion for solving problems on  behalf of the customer. This passion lead Tonia to address industry-wide issues head on with innovative solutions.  

In 2011, Tonia was excited to bring new business to Amazon and help them go beyond  books, CDs and basic electronics by launching Apparel for Women, Men, Kids and  Baby. As a Sr. Leader for Amazon, Tonia implemented complex organizational  enhancements, lead the launch of innovative products and created disruptive  strategies for major brands. She joined freshbenies in 2017 as the Chief Strategy Officer because she has a  passion to enhance the American healthcare experience.

Robin Greenlee currently serves as Acting Chief Risk Officer of MapleMark Bank in Dallas, TX. She has 20+ years of experience in Lending, Credit and Risk Management as well as serving in the community through financial education and non-profit Board service.  

Robin is also a long-time avid Bible teacher and student, currently teaching adult Bible Study and serving on the worship team at Northwest Bible Church in Dallas. She loves public speaking, writing, singing jazz, and visiting family in her native state of Alabama whenever possible.

Robin holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alabama and also attended the University of Montevallo. Robin is an effective communicator and problem solver, who loves to collaborate with others to achieve great results. This includes making an impact through mentoring, including serving through the 4word Mentor Program where she can make a difference in the lives of others.  

Steve Haas is the former Vice President and Chief Catalyst Officer for World Vision. Steve is also known as a motivator and visionary, with a passion for making things happen. Steve is a dynamic spokesperson for World Vision’s worldwide humanitarian work, a role that includes working with national faith leaders, ideation, strategic planning, and communications on issues that affect the global poor. Steve is a University of Kansas graduate, with a Masters of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary and post graduate study at the University of Edinburgh.

His career has included founding a human rights organization, serving on the staff of several prevailing churches, that include Willow Creek Community Church, where he helped develop their small group and extension ministries. He joined World Vision in 2001. His leadership at WV has helped mobilize Americans to engage those impacted and infected by the AIDS crisis, unite to eradicate malaria, raise up university students from over 300 college campuses in addressing pressing social issues.

Presently, Steve spends considerable time in the Middle East, due to the Syria/Iraq Refugee Crisis. When not traveling Steve enjoys time with family, outdoor activities, endurance sports and reading. Steve lives in Tacoma, WA and has four grown children.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-haas-80380b3/

Sandy has a passion for helping executive women and is known for challenging the status quo to get the best out of your greatest asset, people.  She saw executive coaching as the perfect opportunity for her to give back the expertise and operational insights she learned in corporate America while affording her the opportunity to spend more time blending family and wellness into her life.  As owner and CEO of Altitude Business Coaching, Sandy help’s organizations build a culture of belonging and mutual respect between men and women in the workplace.  Sandy has travelled the country speaking at Women in Energy and Nuclear conferences to educate women on how to lead authentically, with emotional intelligence and resilience. She has also spoken in Bali, Indonesia at the Women’s Leadership and Empowerment Conference (WLEC). 

In the Corporate World

Sandy had a long career, spanning 27 years with a global, private Engineering/Construction firm and worked in several business lines across numerous functions ultimately landing in Program and Project Management.  She was fortunate to travel with her family throughout the U.S. assigned to many signature projects:  including Chief of Staff, Homeland Security Technology Program at Nevada Test Site training first responders, Assistant Project Manager on Extended Power Uprate project at St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant in Florida, and her final project, Program Manager destroying chemical weapons at Army Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado for the Department of Defense.

In the Community

Sandy is a graduate from Johns Hopkins University with an MBA in International Business. She is chair for the Colorado Springs Regional Action Committee for the Women’s Foundation of Colorado, chair of 4word Colorado Springs, a community for Christian women in the workplace and a speaker coach for TedX Colorado Springs and Breckenridge. Sandy resides in Colorado Springs with her husband of 23 years, Michael and their three teenage children.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandy-lamb-541b935/

https://www.worldvision.org/

Elaine Lewis is a Senior Vice President and Financial Planning Specialist with the Wade Street Group at Morgan Stanley. She is warmly regarded as “The face” of the Wade Street Group, the team she co-leads with her husband, Wade. Elaine is often the first person you’ll meet as you initiate a conversation with the Wade Street Group. With over three decades of experience, she takes a friendly, down-to-earth approach to financial planning. She is passionate about working with clients going through difficult transitions, including divorce, employment change, retirement planning, or the loss of a spouse. The complexity of multi-generational family wealth management requires the steady hand and profound insight she has honed over years of experience. Some of her recent awards include: 

Named to Forbes’ Top Women Wealth Advisor Best in State for 2022
Named to Forbes’ Top Women Wealth Advisor for 2021

Elaine and Wade have been business partners since their careers began. Married in 1990, they live on the north of Chicago, where they raised their two sons. A lifelong outdoorswoman, Elaine enjoys skiing the beautiful mountains of Colorado and a serene quiet time on the shores of Lake Michigan near her home. Elaine is passionate about empowering women from all walks of life. In addition to serving on the 4word Advisory Board, she also serves on the advisory board for The Foundation United-global solutions to eradicate sexual exploitation. She also serves on the women’s ministry team at her church.

https://advisor.morganstanley.com/the-wade-street-group
Named to Forbes’ Top Women Wealth Advisor Best-In-State for 2022: ​​Forbes America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors & Forbes Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-In- State Source: Forbes.com (Awarded Feb 2022) Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based on time period from 9/30/20 – 9/30/21.

Awards Disclosures
Named to Forbes’ Top Women Wealth Advisor for 2021: ​Forbes America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors Source: Forbes.com (Awarded Mar 2021) Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based on time period from 9/30/19 – 9/30/20.

Awards Disclosures
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC offers a wide array of brokerage and advisory services to its clients, each of which may create a different type of relationship with different obligations to you. Please visit us at http://www.morganstanleyindividual.com or consult with your Financial Advisor to understand these differences.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. Member SIPC.

Ashley K. Lindsay is a Vice President of Business Development at Cicero®. In this role, she has worked closely with clients driving social impact through strategic organizational planning, measurement and evaluation of community impact and implementing effective management practices.

Before joining Cicero, Ashley was Chief of Staff at Texas Women’s Foundation, where she built and led strategic initiatives including a rebrand, streamlining development operations, integrating a feedback-based culture and development and solicitation of the organization’s top donors year over year. During her six-year tenure, Ashley directly secured over $21M in unrestricted operating funds.

She also worked worked for the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women campaign and Louisiana Community & Technical College System’s Workforce Training and Development programming. In both roles, Ashley was instrumental implementing operational best practices, successfully launching and managing marquee programs and developing long-term donor relationships.

Ashley earned a BS from Louisiana State University where she had the opportunity to participate in AmeriCorps and work as a paid intern for nonprofits in health care and education. She lives in Dallas, TX, where she and her husband support the local restaurant scene and run on the Santa Fe trail.

Career Highlights:

Chief of Staff, Texas Women’s Foundation

Senior Corporate Market Director, American Heart Association

Director of Development, Louisiana Community & Technical College System

Louisiana State University, BS Kinesiology

Debbie currently serves as the Development Director of City Rescue. She has vast experience in developing campaign funding strategies for various organizations, including: Alzheimer’s Association, Byron Nelson Golf Tournament, Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) nationally and locally in Dallas and Houston, Lifehouse of Houston and the Junior League of Richardson. Most recently she served as Co-Chair of the successful First Annual 4word Gala held in Dallas. Along the way during her leadership positions in the workplace and with many volunteer organizations, she embraced the importance of coaching and mentoring programs for women and served as a solid role model for her co-workers and volunteers as they juggled the challenges of being a spiritually based, professional woman in today’s world.

After graduating and heading to Dallas, Debbie ended up moving into commercial real estate in Dallas and then Houston – winning numerous awards as a consistent top producer and for outstanding achievement. She spent her last 12 years as a Senior Vice President with Transwestern in Houston, and a Director/Owner with Cameron Management. Eventually her desire to give back and serve the Lord, led her to non-profit opportunities with Lifehouse of Houston, where she served as the Executive Director for the Christian-based maternity home for homeless young girls in Houston, and Lay Director of Outreach for Christ United Methodist in Sugar Land, Texas.

Debbie graduated from Oklahoma State University with a BS in Computer Science and with minors in Math and Business. She has been married to her husband, John, for almost 37 years and they have two boys, Patrick and Kyle, who are now married and living in Houston and Nashville, respectively.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-k-macdonald/

https://cityrescue.org/

Terry Merritt is the former Senior Vice President and Board member at Walbridge and had been with the company for 38 years. She continues to support numerous programs that improve the lives of women in the state of Michigan.

As an active member in the community, she has been awarded Inforum’s Inner Circle Women of Achievement Honoree, Crain’s Detroit Business 2002 Most Influential Women, CORP Magazine’s 2002 95 Most Powerful Women in Michigan, the Athena Award from the Oakland County Chamber of Commerce and the State of Michigan Dept. of Civil Rights, Michigan Women’s Commission. Merritt received the 2004 Good Scout Award-Detroit Area Council- Boy Scouts of America; a Leadership Detroit XV graduate and has been a Sunday school teacher for several years.

Terry is active on the following Non-Profit Boards:

Michigan Women’s Forward – Board member & Exec. Committee; past Chair HAVEN Board member; past Chair HAVEN Foundation Board; International Women’s Forum member; Inforum Founding Honorary Board; past Inforum Board member/past president Wayne State University –HIGH Program Advisory Board

Terry is married to Jack and they have an amazing daughter, Dawn, who has blessed them with two grandchildren.

Pat specializes in executive coaching, talent management, and helping groups manage change. She was a marketing executive with Westinghouse and PNC Financial and spent a decade working in the Middle East in talent management and organizational development as Head of Talent Management for National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia. Currently, she does independent coaching and consulting and is a senior consultant for The Hayes Group International.

 She has a BA from Gannon University and earned a (Masters) Diploma in Clinical Organizational Psychology from the French University- INSEAD. She is certified from INSEAD in Consulting and Coaching for Change. She is proud to be a mentor for 4word Women. Pat resides in Colleyville, Texas, with her husband, Lou, and has five grandchildren and two children in LA and Texas.

Previously served on the 4word Board Of Directors 2017-2023

https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-myers-2926475/

https://www.thehayesgroupintl.com/

Melissa Peak leads the Americas for Amazon Web Services, Enterprise Skill Transformation. As a workforce strategy executive, she has led business that solve a landscape of talent challenges in both commercial and public sectors. She is a proud member of 4word and leads the Global Virtual Community Group. She and her husband have five children, and live in Louisville, KY.

Carol Roehrig is the formerly President and Owner of bkm Total Office of Texas. Carol champions kindness, collaboration, and learning as catalysts to career and company success.

An active community volunteer, Carol serves on the Dallas Regional Chamber and the Southern Methodist University Central Library boards.  Previous board work included Parkland Hospital, Steelcase National Dealer Council, and Forward Space.  She led the Dallas County Komen for the Cure board, following two years as the Race Director for the Dallas Race for the Cure.  Carol is an active member of the Executive Women’s Roundtable, Texas Women Venture Fund, Dallas Regional Chamber board and Southern Methodist University Libraries Executive Board.

A native of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Carol graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and completed her master’s in liberal studies at Southern Methodist University.  An exercise enthusiast and former marathoner, Carol relishes being outdoors walking, hiking or cross-country skiing.  When indoors she enjoys creative writing studies and knitting.  Carol lives with her husband, Fred Seipp, mostly in Dallas, Texas and as often as possible in Crested Butte, CO.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolroehrig/

https://www.bkmtexas.com/

Veronica Roman is the Chief Compliance Officer of Toyota Financial Savings Bank. Prior to assuming her current role, Roman served as Chief Compliance Officer at Toyota Financial Motor Credit Corporation where she was instrumental in the implementation of the Compliance Management framework across the institution.

Veronica has served in leadership roles within the nation’s prominent financial institutions including roles within Legal, Risk and Compliance.  Prior to joining Toyota, Veronica worked at Bank of America, Capital One and Rushmore Loan Management Services. 

Throughout her career, she has leveraged her legal knowledge, understanding of the business, and the regulatory environment to provide guidance to business leadership and effective oversight of regulatory risks and mitigation strategies.  

Veronica has earned a reputation as an executive who thinks outside of the box and actively participates in the implementation of comprehensive ethics and compliance program and as an accomplished risk management professional.  

Veronica earned her bachelor’s in business administration in Accounting from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Arkansas.  She has also been admitted to the State Bar of Texas.

Veronica grew up in Arkansas and has lived in Texas for over 25 years with her husband who teaches high school. She is a proud step-parent to a wonderful stepson.  Veronica also serves on the Board of Directors for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada, a non-profit organization that serves young people in order to help them achieve their full potential.

Diana is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Integrated Purpose
Management (IPM) LLC, a family owned and operated company. IPM enables you
to realize your integrated purpose by providing business management
expertise to grow your business, professional coaching to elevate you to
your full potential and understanding in communication intelligences to
cultivate your professional and personal relationships. Diana hosts a
podcast called The Integrated Life where she encourages her listeners to
have a life where they integrate their faith, family, and work so they can
become whole again. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with
minor in Chemistry from the University of North Texas and an Executive MBA
from Texas A&M, Mays Business School.

Prior to founding Integrated Purpose Management, Diana has over thirty years
of experience in the healthcare industry, most recently working for Abbott.
She has served in the areas of project/program management, research and
development, global quality assurance, regulatory affairs/compliance and
executive management. Diana is a certified Communication IQ* consultant for
Life Languages International*. Diana is married and has a grown daughter.

Terra Seidel is a joyful and innovative leader in the nonprofit and philanthropic arena, currently serving on the Campaign Team in the office of Mission Advancement with American Bible Society. She has more than twenty years serving in major gift development and organizational management with Educational Media Foundation and the National Christian Foundation. She has served on numerous boards and committees at the local & national level and has recently been named an Ambassador for Women Doing Well, a ministry of Generous Giving.

Terra is a Certified Fund Raising Executive with a Master of Arts Degree in Philanthropic Studies and a Non-Profit Management Certificate from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biblical Studies from Calvary University in Kansas City.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/terra-stanfield-seidel-cfre/

https://americanbible.org/

Charity Wallace is the founder and president of Wallace Global Impact, combining her expertise and experience to drive innovative, effective solutions working with corporations, individuals, non-profits, and foundations. Ms. Wallace most recently served as the Senior Vice President for the Office of Strategic Initiatives and Managing Director of Global Women’s Issues at U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

Previously, Ms. Wallace served as a Senior Advisor to the George W. Bush Institute, and was the founding Vice President of the Global Women’s Initiatives and Senior Advisor to Mrs. Laura Bush. Wallace served in the Bush Administration from January 2001 to 2009, most notably as the Deputy Chief of Protocol of the U.S. and Director of Advance for the First Lady. During her tenure in the Bush Administration and in her role at the Bush Institute, Charity traveled to over 70 countries.

Ms. Wallace holds a Master’s in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tuft’s University. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the Board of Akola Academy, and the Advisory Boards of the School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University, All in Together, and 4word.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/charity-wallace-99251053/

https://www.wallaceglobalimpact.com/

Debi Wolfe is a dynamic and versatile C-suite executive and entrepreneur with over 25 years in Human Capital solutions.   Early in Debi’s career, she started and owned Science Solutions, a regional scientific staffing company, that was acquired by Kforce, a large publicly traded staffing firm.  Debi became President of the Scientific Division and built the business into a top tier national player.  She later helped Kforce divest the business as their overall strategy shifted.  This success resulted in expanded responsibilities enterprise wide as she became Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Kforce.  More recently, Debi was the Chief People Officer for U.S. operation at Hays, a global recruiting company based in London. Currently, Debi serves as an executive advisor, coach, and fractional Chief Human Resource & Operations Officer.  

Debi is an expert in building, modernizing, transforming, scaling, and optimizing businesses through holistic talent, culture, and technology strategies. She views her career as a mission and is driven by a deep sense of purpose to make a positive impact on others.  Debi holds a Master of Science in Organizational Development from Avila university and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Clemson University.  She SHRM-SCP certified and has certifications in Inclusive and Ethical Leadership, DE&I in the Workplace and Predictive Index.  

Debi has been a guest lecturer for the Executive MBA and Doctoral programs at the University of South Florida speaking on entrepreneurship, leadership, and organizational development. Debi has been a contributing writer for Forbes HR Council. She has appeared on Bloomberg TV and been profiled in Entrepreneur Magazine.  She has received many honors and awards over her career but most recently she was recognized as SIA’s Global Power 150 Women in Staffing and SIA DE&I Influencer.  She was a 2019 Tampa Bay Business Woman of the Year honoree.

In her personal time, Debi is deeply involved with orphan care and education in Malawi, Africa as well as other community service projects. She is on the Advisory Board for Pothawira International and Care Portal. 

Lori Berry has a diverse background in business and ministry, as well as non-profit settings.  She is an experienced writer, speaker, teacher, ministry leader, and consultant. Lori writes small group curriculum and leads teams in her authentic and enthusiastic way. Residing in Texas with her husband and family, Lori is also a Master of Arts/Pastoral Counseling candidate at Liberty University Seminary and is certified in pre-marital and marriage counseling.

With a heart for ministering to women, Lori adds value through strategic leadership and coaching, and lives out her passion for encouraging and supporting women throughout their different life paths, including faith, marriage, parenting, and career.

Brenda Bertrand‘s eclectic 20-year career spans work as a news anchor, a political appointee in Washington D.C., university chaplaincy, and consulting at leading global firms. Brenda is a Los Angeles based entrepreneur and ordained minister who focuses her energies on mentoring career women and aspiring entrepreneurs through coaching programs, retreats and public speaking. 

A native of the U.S. Virgin Islands, she spends time traveling the globe and volunteering with organizations that make a meaningful difference in the world.  With master’s degrees from the University of Texas and Princeton Theological Seminary, Brenda recently spent a year teaching communication and business management in the People’s Republic of China.

Erin Botsford rose from a life of poverty and misfortune to launch a successful financial planning firm. Her fascinating story has been featured in national publications. Erin has been named one of Barron’s Top 100 Women Financial Advisors in the country six times, and D Magazine designated her one of the “Best Financial Planners in Dallas” three times. Her firm, The Botsford Group, specializes in risk management, lifestyle, and asset protection strategies.

Erin authored The Big Retirement Risk in 2012. She lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband and has a grown son in military service. http://www.botsfordfinancial.com.

Jason Brown, Chief Marketing Officer, Marketplace Chaplains.  His career with Marketplace Chaplains began in February of 2002 as the first region level staff member dedicated solely to new client company development. He came with 25 years of sales and marketing experience which included Procter & Gamble, National Sales Manager for Wrangler Outerwear, and Computer Resale Technologies. Through his leadership, management, strategies and vision, he has helped lead Marketplace Chaplains to become the largest and leading workplace Chaplaincy provider in North America, realizing year-over-year double-digit growth. 

On the personal side, Jason was also a professional athlete and won the 1991 World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider title, while also serving as rodeo’s National Spokesman Coordinator. Jason graduated from Texas Tech University with a degree in Marketing from the Rawls School of Business where he also co-founded the Young Entrepreneur Society. In addition to having owned and operated a successful commercial real estate business, he is very involved in many community activities. Jason and his wife Cyndi are the proud parents of twin boys, Layton and Parker, who are nationally ranked competitive Bass fisherman. Jason and his family attend Lakepointe Church and reside in Heath, Texas, where Cyndi serves the school district as President of the PTA.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonbrown1991/

https://mchapusa.com/

Lori Joe has been with American Express since 2005 and is currently the Global Onboarding Manager within the Colleague Experience Group (formerly HR) for American Express. She is responsible for designing and executing the global onboarding strategy for external new hires as the first step in the talent life cycle of the colleague experience.

Her efforts have globally transformed the new hire experience for the enterprise and is currently executed across North America, India, U.K. Australia, and Malaysia, with additional countries set to launch throughout Europe and Asia in 2021.

In addition to Lori’s daily responsibilities, Lori co-leads the American Express Christian Colleague network SALT. It has been an intricate part of the American Express employee experience globally for the past 25+ years that assist other Fortune 500 companies to start their own Christian groups.

Lori holds a BA in Organizational Behavior & Change Management and an MS in Global Human Resources Management & Development both from New York University. Lori is currently located in Richmond, VA, as a newlywed to Dwayne Brown.

Lucy Buchanan is the Senior Advancement Consultant at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. She had also recently moved from San Francisco, CA to Dallas, TX to work with the Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History at the University of Texas at Dallas.

With over 28 years of professional fundraising experience working in art museums, Lucy formed her private consulting practice 6 years ago.

Focused primarily on advancement strategies, fundraising, marketing, events, communications and external relations for nonprofit organizations and institutions, Lucy’s specialty is working with art institutions and not for profits.  Her goal is to help clients implement institutional change and manage opportunities for future growth.  Lucy has worked for varied organizations including the Portland Art Museum, Oregon, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the National Museum of Women in the Arts and many others.

Lucy is from Nashville, TN and graduated from Vanderbilt University magna cum laude in mathematics.  Lucy is an avid bridge player and often travels around the world to work with clients and experience cultural and art masterpieces. She looks forward to supporting the 4word staff and board with fundraising, events and other strategies to continue to grow and expand 4word’s mission.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucybuchanan/

https://nmwa.org/

Linda Burket, retired CPA, is the former Director of the Office of Ethics & Business Conduct at Raytheon Company, where she worked for 12 years.   With 2016 sales of $24 billion and 63,000 employees worldwide, Raytheon is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, security and civil markets throughout the world.  In the Ethics role, Burket was responsible for leading the Ethics program at the Space and Airborne Systems division, providing strategic guidance and advice to Raytheon management and employees about Raytheon’s strong ethical culture. 

Prior to her role in Ethics, Burket was a business controller for the company. In that capacity, she was responsible for ensuring the accuracy of financial statements and internal control systems. 

Prior to joining Raytheon, Burket worked for 15 years at Airbus Helicopters USA, the U.S. affiliate of Airbus International. During her tenure at Airbus, she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. 

Burket holds a BBA in accounting from the University of Texas, an MBA in finance from the University of Dallas, and is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in the state of Texas.

Burket speaks on college campuses and to other audiences about Ethics and the changing roles of women in corporate leadership.  She is active in retirement with her church and other ministry-related activities. She is a 10 year breast cancer survivor.

Richelle grew up on a farm in Southern Oregon, and earned degrees from Princeton University and Southern Methodist University School of Law. Now settled in Dallas, Texas, Richelle and husband, Josh, have two young daughters and a large dog. Richelle balances a busy life at home with work as an attorney and writer.

Kathleen’s an actress, businesswoman, writer, speaker, and a founding partner (with husband, Phil Cooke) at Cooke Pictures (cookepictures.com) and The Influence Lab (influencelab.com) in Burbank CA. She edits the monthly Influence Women Newsletter, influencelab.com/women, and weekly blog: kathleencooke.com and is a column regular for WHOA Magazine, whoawomen.com. She is the co-founder/director of two nationally recognized conferences, Biola Media Conference and the women’s ASCEND Conference.

On the boards for Hollywood Connect, Hollywood Prayer Network, and the Salvation Army’s National Advisory Board, she travels internationally speaking on faith, media, leadership, and culture.  Her passion is to see women flourish and find significance beginning with a vibrant relationship with God. She and her husband, Phil, have two adult children.

You can follow Kathleen on twitter @KathyCooke or on Instagram: KathleenRCooke

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-cooke-9ba28915/

https://cookemediagroup.com/

Carolyn Custis James (BA, Sociology; MA, Biblical Studies) is an award-winning author and activist who researches and writes about the intersection between Christianity and twenty-first century questions facing women and men globally. She blogs at www.carolyncustisjames.com, as a Leading Voice at MissioAlliance, and at Huffington Post/Religion and is an adjunct faculty member at Biblical Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania.

Carolyn speaks regularly at church conferences, colleges, and other Christian organizations both in the U.S. and abroad and is a visiting lecturer at various theological seminaries. Between seminary and her current ministry, she had her own business in England as a software developer. In 2013, Christianity Today named her one of the 50 evangelical women to watch.

Her books include Malestrom—Manhood Swept into the Currents of a Changing World, Half the Church—Recapturing God’s Global Vision for Women, and The Gospel of Ruth—Loving God Enough to Break the Rules.  (She has written many other books.) Carolyn lives in Philadelphia and is married to her husband, Frank.

As 20+ year veteran and currently a Global Sales Business Director for Nike, Inc., Pam directs Financial and Strategic Planning efforts for Nike’s Sales partnership with Foot Locker, Inc. Foot Locker, Inc. is the largest supplier of athletic footwear and apparel in the world. Over Pam’s 20 year history at Nike she has held various positions in Finance, Sales Operations and Strategic Planning.

Prior to Nike Pam held various Financial Management positions with Mentor Graphics, US Bank, and United Technologies. Away from work Pam is actively involved with the Oregon State University School of Business Advisory Council, a member of PEO (a philanthropic educational organization), is on the Advisory Board for 4Word, and enjoys spending time with her family. 

Pam lives in Newport Beach, CA with her husband and high school aged son and also has a daughter attending Oregon State.

Cindy currently serves as Head of Operations & Finance at ECONorthwest. She is a native of Pendleton, Oregon, Cindy settled in Portland after graduating from George Fox University. As an audit manager with over nine years of public accounting experience, she provides auditing and accounting expertise for distributors, manufacturers, and non-profit organizations.

Cindy enjoys playing golf, tennis, boating, or pretty much any outdoor activity. She is active in the Portland 4word Local Group and volunteers on leadership teams at her church and with other charitable organizations.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindycpa/

https://econw.com/

Linda Lindquist-Bishop has competed in the sport of sailing for almost three decades. Winning multiple world championships and national titles, she was a member of the first All-Women America’s Cup team.  Linda has served in 11 industries from start-ups to multi-national corporations in the capacities of marketing executive, sales management, publisher, sponsorship director, and sports property president. Linda lives with her husband, Major General Brian Bishop (USAF), in Alexandria, VA and Leland, MI along with their beloved golden retriever, Buddy.

Ivy Qunyan Liu is a certified professional coach who is dedicated to serving women professionals and leaders in the corporate world. Her purpose is to connect women to the better version of themselves and be a leader from within.

Ivy holds a Master’s degree in Advanced Management from Yale School of Management and an MBA from the National University of Singapore. When she was at Yale SOM, her leadership coach helped her boldly shift her career path and step into the dreamland with great confidence. It started from knowing her purpose in personal and professional life.  She now brings this purpose to her coaching career. Together with her 15 years of corporate and entrepreneurial experience, she is committed to helping women to unleash the power and build the confidence from within.

Prior to her coaching career, she was a senior manager in a top telecom company in China and the CEO of an Ed-tech startup founded in Singapore. She is now the President of UAC Heroes, a registered non-profit organization with the mission of uniting individuals across cultures against Covid-19 and more. 

Now her calling is to serve women in Christ and together they glorify God by partnering with Him.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivy-qunyan-liu-mba-cpcc-816a1759/

Kimberly MacNeill, originally from Pittsburgh, PA, now lives in Nashville with her husband, Dave.  She completed her Master of Divinity from Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, MN and served in ministry for 18 years in California, overseeing Worship Arts and Spiritual Formation ministries. She currently serves as the Minister to Women at Forest Hills Baptist Church.

Kimberly travels teaching the Bible and telling stories that inspire people to go deeper in their faith.  With creativity, humor and honesty, Kimberly invites people to see what God has next on their journey with Him! She is the author of Whispers: Transforming Words for Your Ever-Changing Life.

Currently CEO and founder of DigiWorksCorp, Lisbeth McNabb is a serial entrepreneur and visionary strategist in digital media, technology, b2b and consumer marketing. Conde Nast Dallas Business Journal named Lisbeth one of the Top 25 Women in Business. She is an innovator in technology, banking, travel, technology, and customer.

Lisbeth founded http://w2wlink.com where she served as CEO and is active as Board Chair.  Lisbeth has been a senior excutive with Match.com, Pepsico Frito Lay, Sodexo and American Airlines. She is audit chair of Nexstar Broadcasting and other corporate public and advisory boards and is a passionate mentor and networker. She earned an MBA at the SMU Cox School of Business, and was honored as a Distinguished Alumnae by SMU in 2011. Lisbeth lives in Dallas with her husband and two sons.

Dr. Sarah-Jane Murray, Baylor University Professor, Princeton Ph.D. is an EMMY-nominated screenwriter and producer. She studied screenwriting at UCLA and is associate professor of creative writing and great texts at Baylor University.

Sarah-Jane was born in Ireland and educated in France before venturing across the pond to get her BA in French and Philosophy from Auburn University. Then she received the Ecole Normale Supérieure-Lettres et Sciences Humaines diploma in French and Linguistics, followed by a PhD in Literature from Princeton.

Sarah-Jane is an alumna of the UCLA professional program in screenwriting and studied under chairman Richard Walter. She teaches screenwriting, coaches best-selling authors, and is a screenwriter and film-maker herself. She won an EMMY-nomination for PRIMARY CONCERN (writer/ associate producer), distributed nationally by PBS. She is story consultant & associate producer of IMBA MEANS SING, the story of the African Children’s Choir, and associate producer of the second and third installments of the NEFARIOUS documentary trilogy on sex trafficking. She is the recipient of the Communicator Award of Distinction (2013) and two silver Telly awards (2014).

Sarah-Jane lives in Austin, Texas, but travels frequently to both coasts. She can be found practicing her salsa routines when not teaching in the Honors College at Baylor University or heading up the team of the first English translation of the Ovide Moralisé from Old French for the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

Marissa Peterson is a management consultant and executive coach for clients like Apple and Yahoo!, and the only Filipino-American board director for a Fortune 500 company (Humana). In a 17-year career at Sun Microsystems, Marissa was instrumental in growing the company to $20 billion in revenue, retiring in 2005 as Executive Vice President of Services. Marissa is Chairman of the Board for OCLARO, and is a board director for Ansell and Quatros. She has served on the board of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford, and as a trustee at Kettering University.

At the age of 16, Marissa won a General Motors Institute Fellowship to attend college and emigrated with her family from the Phillippines to California. With a BS in mechanical engineering from Kettering University, she went on to earn a Harvard MBA and was awarded an honorary doctorate of management from Kettering.

Stacy is a Certified Public Accountant who earned her MBA from Exeter University in England. Over a 20-year career, she has held senior executive positions at Sammons Corporation, FedEx Kinko’s, Cinemark International, and Fujitsu-ICL Retail Systems. She is a principal in SLR Holdings, a corporate finance consulting firm in Dallas, Texas.

Stacy is a gifted writer and frequent guest blogger for 4word, sharing how her faith informs her dating life and family relationships as a single woman in her early 40s. Recently engaged, Stacy is planning a 2014 wedding.

Jane B. Richards serves as the Secretary/ Treasurer of Richards & Richards Office Records Management, Inc., in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1987 Jane assisted her husband in following his dream by starting their family business. Over the past 29 years she has  provided vision and leadership for the office and customer service management team. Her areas of expertise integrate the company’s client experience, helping to develop Richards & Richards’ trademark customer service in the marketplace.

Jane was one of six children, raised on a small farm in Greeneville, Tennessee and came to Nashville to attend Belmont University, where she graduated with a  Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Social Work and Secondary Education.   She served as a school social worker for The Institute of Learning Research in Nashville for 6 years before starting their family.  Her most rewarding accomplishment has been to see her 3 children become successful adults and now involved in the daily operations of the company, which also leaves her more free time to spend with her 3 grandchildren!

Jane has served on the 4word: Nashville leadership team since its conception in July 2014 as the Administration Chair.

Dr. Jackie Roese grew up in upstate New York and moved to Texas to attend Dallas Theological Seminary. In 2003, Jackie became the Teaching Pastor to Women at Irving Bible Church. She has developed Bible study materials for use in more than 18 states and 17 countries. In 2010, Jackie graduated with her Doctorate in Preaching from Gordon Conwell Seminary. In 2013, she published her first book, She Can Teach: Training Women to Teach the Scriptures Effectively. In 2012, she founded The Marcella Project, an organization committed to improving the view of women through the Scriptures (www.jackiealwaysunplugged.com).

She has taught and trained women in Rwanda, Romania and Southern Sudan. She and her husband were influential in the start up of AWI, African Women’s Initiative. She has been married to Steve, founder of Water is Basic, for more than 24 years and has three young adult children: Hunter, Hampton, and Madison.

For over three decades at Nike, Patty Ross held a variety of leadership positions in strategy, business and leadership development, talent management, employee engagement, organizational change management, innovation, and business operations. She has served as an Organizational Visionary, Executive Coach, Diversity Champion, Builder and Engineer of Processes and Systems, as well as a Connector of People and Ideas, Additionally, she was the Executive Sponsor and Founder of the Women of Nike Network. Her motivational approach is best described as optimistic and results oriented. Patty’s unique skills empower her to be a decisive and accomplished leader, known for breaking barriers, fostering new talent, and delivering game-changing results. Currently, Patty is an Executive Advisor for the People function at Apple headquarters, supporting its talent management, engagement and retention strategy across all US and global divisions.

Patty holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Portland State University. She has also completed the Advanced Management Graduate Program at Harvard Business School and received her coaching certificate from The Hudson Institute of Coaching.

Patty supports leadership and women’s programs in various parts of the country and volunteers regularly in the Portland metro area. She enjoys spending time with her husband, Dave, their dog, Molly, and her many nieces and nephews. She is also an avid sports fan who can be found golfing, hiking, biking, running and practicing yoga.

Patty’s highest passion is helping individuals and business leaders discover meaning and purpose in their personal, professional and spiritual lives.

Emma Sharma is the President and Founder of the Swallowtail Group. She has formerly served as Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel and Company Secretary of Valiant Integrated Services overseeing many of the vital administrative functions of the organization including the human resources, legal, compliance, business integrity, contracts and communications departments. As a co-founder of Valiant Integrated Services, Emma was able to draw on her 20 years of experience as an international attorney, compliance professional and empathetic business leader. Additionally, Emma has a passion for organizational design, psychology and development and change management.

In recent years, Emma has worked internationally in a number of senior management and legal roles for recognized multinationals including Motorola, Business Objects (now part of SAP) and Capgemini. She is a graduate of the University of Cambridge, England and holds licenses to practice law in a number of jurisdictions.

Outside of work, Emma is a devoted wife and mom to 2 young children as well as an active member of Holy Trinity Church, McLean. In addition to serving as part of the 4word Board, Emma has served on a number of other non-profit boards including serving as the President of the Board of Trustees of a significant non-profit in Northern Virginia for 6 years. Her hobbies include a passion for learning about great food and wine, music, movies and reading.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-sharma-4a79a7110/

Swallowtail Group

Gabriela is the Managing Attorney of the Firm and is based in the Firm’s Dallas office. She is an international lawyer and has experience working with a broad spectrum of clients, including start-up companies, privately-held multinationals and public companies.

Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Gabriela helps her clients in a variety of international contractual and regulatory matters, and routinely acts as outside General Counsel to companies in the outsourcing, technology, and professional services industries, among others, providing general business law counsel.

Gabriela routinely is the counsel of choice of Latin American companies doing business in the U.S. and has recently represented a Latin American client in a multinational M&A transaction, representing her Latin American client in negotiations with some of the largest and most renowned law firms and lawyers in the U.S. and Latin America.

Gabriela also represents some of the fastest-growing Dallas-based minority and woman-owned companies.

Gabriela regularly speaks locally and internationally on topics such as “Doing Business in the United States,” “Doing Business in Latin America,” “The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” and on domestic and international issues affecting multinational companies.

Gabrielle Sulzberger is an accomplished financial services executive and corporate board director with more than 25 years experience.  Gabrielle is a General Partner of Rustic Canyon/Fontis Partners, a private equity fund based in Pasadena, California.  Previously, she was Chief Financial Officer of Gluecode Software, a venture-backed open source software company, which sold to IBM in 2005.

Gabrielle received her BA from Princeton University in 1981, graduating from the Urban Studies program at the Woodrow Wilson School.  In 1987, she received her MBA from Harvard Business School and JD from Harvard Law School. Gabrielle currently chairs the board of Johnson Products and is a board director for Whole Foods as well as for Stage Stores. Gabrielle has served on numerous private company boards. Gabrielle lives in New York City and is passionate about traveling, hiking, reading, and her two daughters.

An admired and respected business executive, Kelly Thurman has a 20 year accomplished record in building new lines of business and significantly improving corporate margins. She has been responsible for leading high impact teams at some of the world’s leading firms such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Western International Media, Sprint and EDS.

Kelly is an astute strategist with remarkable insight and clarity about what it takes to be successful. She has lead strategy development initiatives in several companies and has a demonstrated track record in the successful development and implementation of key business strategies in a variety of industries. She is a highly engaging speaker and facilitator that helps individuals link learning and new ideas with real world application. Her business acumen and ability to synthesize practical experience with a fresh outlook make for a rewarding and challenging exchange.

Dorthy Miller Shore is CEO, board chair and founder of PrimeWomen.com, an online publication that seeks to redefine women over the age of 50. She is founder and board chair of 34-year-old Miller Advertising Agency, the largest woman-owned advertising agency in the U.S. She is a member of Park Cities Baptist Church and the International Women’s Forum.

Sandy Swider has a passion for developing meaningful brands and engaged leaders. Her 25-year career in the hospitality field has taken her from front-line operations in stand-alone hotels to setting and executing global strategies at Starwood Hotels, a recognized leader in lifestyle branding. Now, as a principal of consulting firm Swider & Co, she is dedicated to helping high-performing leaders make a positive difference in the world.

Sandy holds a degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management from Penn State University, is trained as a professional leadership coach by the Coaches Training Institute and is certified as a Halftime Coach focused on taking leaders from Success to Significance.

Hailey graduated from the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University in May 2009 where she received her Bachelors in Accounting and Masters in Finance. She currently works as a CPA for Ernst and Young. She is newly married and lives in Dallas, Texas.

Sandra currently serves as Assistant Professor at Dallas Baptist University. She is a seasoned executive, Wall Street industry expert, author, and public speaker. She was most recently Chief Marketing Officer for a $3 Billion advertising agency for 600,000 clients. Williamson brings 20+ years of general management, marketing, & sales, and operations experience with a passion for taking brands, companies, teams, and individuals to the next level while delivering strong results.

In 2011, Williamson took her robust experience and launched her own consulting practice, Crawford Creative Consulting, where she serves as CEO. This innovative firm has a heart for evolving companies into power house brands of scale with amazing cultures. These firms utilize Williamson’s broad range of expertise in strategic business planning, brand development, sales strategy, global business development, product management, financial analysis & planning, digital and social marketing, executive coaching, and cultural transformation.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandracrw/

https://www.dbu.edu/

For the past 27 years, Bonnie has served The Coca-Cola Company in various leadership roles, including Senior Vice President of Global Customer & Channel Leadership. She is a founding member of The Company’s Advisory Council for Women’s Leadership, and she helped launch The Company’s global initiative “5 BY 20,” which aims to economically empower 5 million women by 2020.

BERNICE. J. WASHINGTON is a sought after television and radio talk show commentator and has been featured in movies, magazine articles and in News stories. She has been featured on CNN and NBC Today, and in Southern Living Magazine, Dollars & Sense, Jet Magazine and many other National publications.

Washington is a highly regarded keynote presenter and is a faculty member at The Governance Institute. The Institute is an organization serving not-for-profit hospital and health system boards of directors, executives, and physician leadership.  In addition she is a featured speaker with Speaker Express an American Hospital Association affiliate.

She is CEO of BJW Consulting Group and is a nationally recognized successful businesswoman with more than three decades of experience in executive sales, marketing and management.

Washington is a veteran trustee having served on Texas Health Resources Boards for more than 20 years and has served on more than 18 other boards of directors. She is currently a member of DFW International Airport Board of Directors; Regional Transportation Council of North Texas; Salvation Army Board; Texas Healthcare Trustees and Women Corporate Directors.

Washington earned a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Missouri; is a registered Medical Technologist, MT (ASCP) Research Hospital and Medical Center-Kansas City, Missouri; and has a Bachelor of Science in Bacteriology/Microbiology from Southern University-Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  She is a Certified Master Coach by the Behavioral Coaching Institute and is a member of The International Coaching Council (ICC).

Mrs. Washington is married to Lt. Col. (Ret) Lymon Washington, Jr. for 44 years and they have two adult children Andrea Renee and Michael Benjamin.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernicejwashington/

As President and founder of The Howells Group, Inc., Karen has worked as an executive coach, leadership, teamwork and organization development consultant for companies large and small around the world for more than 30 years. The mission of the firm is to help leaders, teams and organizations flourish and reach their full potential. Her formal education includes a BA in Organizational Communications and Development and an MA in Leadership Development and Coaching from Western Seminary.

A highly respected and seasoned workshop leader, speaker and meeting facilitator, Karen and her partners have worked locally, throughout the US, as well as globally for clients such as NIKE, Intel Corporation, American Express, Barco Medical Imaging, Pacific Foods/Campbells, Freightliner, Cadence Design Systems, Hewlett Packard and many other Fortune 500 companies, midsize and smaller entrepreneurial companies. The firm

created an innovative approach with one of the world’s largest technology companies to develop and retain female leaders with outstanding results. Seventeen years later, their approach is leveraged globally and has been adopted by multiple organizations. 

After launching her own firm in 1989, Karen also founded “Marketplace Women” in the early 90’s to help women of faith live out their calling in the workplace. She has been married to Rob for 43 years, and they love living near their married daughter, Rachael and her husband Luke. Karen recharges in the great outdoors in their tandem kayak, skiing, gardening.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenhowells/

http://thehowellsgroup.com/

Lisa thinks a lot about the future of health. She specializes in creating new digital products ranging from platforms that help people learn about their genetics to online programs that help chronic pain sufferers. She currently is Director of Product Management at Johnson & Johnson, where she brings her deep healthcare knowledge to bear on their pharmaceutical, medical device, and consumer product divisions.

Prior to J&J, Lisa worked as a product lead at 23andMe. There, she built the first app store for genetics, created new features on the research and ancestry verticals of the website, and shaped, developed, and implemented all the business development deals for research collaborations with external partners. She’s also worked in product at Omada Health, a startup focused on delivering a digital version of the Diabetes Prevention Program to help prevent type 2 diabetes as well as at Microsoft within Bing & MSN focused on search.

Before she found her passion in product management, she worked at a wide variety of organizations: as a venture capital analyst looking at the healthcare and digital media investment verticals, and as a writer at the Onion.

Lisa graduated from Stanford with a BS in biology as well as an MBA from the Graduate School of Business. In her free time, she enjoys salsa dancing, tennis, and finding unique jewelry online.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisavermillion/

https://www.jnj.com/

Professionally Rachel leads CBRE’s Debt & Structured Finance business in the United States, the leading provider of commercial and multifamily financing. Her team works closely with developers and commercial property owners, and leverages long term, established relationships with diverse capital sources, including banks, pension funds, life insurance and credit companies, conduits/CMBS entities, government-sponsored enterprises, and global investors. Previously, she was the Global Chief Operating Officer of CBRE’s global Capital Markets business, comprised of Property Sales, Debt & Structured Finance, and Capital Advisors, the firm’s investment banking division. In this role, she supported the Capital Markets leadership team and platform in the execution of strategic initiatives, while driving best practices and ensuring alignment and efficiencies across CBRE’s Americas, Asia Pacific, and Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) regions. Rachel has more than 20 years of experience in real estate and financial services.

She spends her time outside of work giving to organizations supporting women. She is on the Board of the Texas Women’s Foundation, Advisory Board member of Women’s Business Collaborative, and a member of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

She is married to Brooke.