Board of Directors

Jean Stapleton, Chair
Actor.  Star of numerous plays, motion pictures, and television productions.  Commissioner, National Women's Conference, Houston, Texas.  Leading proponent of the ERA.  Participant in the successful effort to have Valkill, Eleanor Roosevelt's home, made a national historic site.

Esther Coopersmith, Treasurer 
Public Member, U.S. delegation to the 34th session of the United Nations General Assembly.  Fund raiser for political and cultural causes.  Head of multi-million dollar drive to renovate the Cairo Museum.  Member of the Finance Committee of the Democratic National Committee.  Former chairman, Capital Children's Museum-National Learning Center and National Symphony.

Diane C. Damskey

Diane Damskey is an Investor with Private Wealth Management at JP Morgan in Washington, DC.  Prior to joining JP Morgan, she was an Executive Director and Senior Investment Consultant at UBS AG Miami working with clients in Latin America.  Ms. Damskey had previously been a Senior Portfolio Manager at Northern Trust Bank Miami for U.S. and international private clients and foundations.

For the prior 18 years, Ms. Damskey spent her career in New York, beginning with Manufacturers Hanover Trust as a correspondent banker and lending officer for North Africa and the Middle East.  She then joined the Investment Banking Division of Shearson Lehman Hutton, where she worked for the International Advisory Team on the Republic of Venezuela debt restructuring.  Ms. Damskey continued her work with emerging markets at First Chicago, focusing on debt repurchase programs for the Russian and Hungarian governments, and then portfolio management for short-term debt instruments.  She subsequently became a Director and Portfolio Manager for institutional clients at BEA Advisors/Credit Suisse Asset Management.

Ms. Damskey is currently a member of the Kennedy School of Government Dean’s Alumni Executive Council.  She served as a board member of the Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade County for six years, including two years as Treasurer and head of the Finance Committee.  She was Treasurer of the Key Biscayne Elementary School PTA in 2007-2008 and also served as a board member of Dolphin Aid.

Ms. Damskey received a B.S.F.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, cum laude, in 1979, and a Masters in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, in 1988.  She is a CFA charterholder.

Elisebeth Driscoll
Wealth advisor and vice president at the Private Bank of Bank Of America advising on wealth management and distribution, business succession, trust services, customized credit and preferred banking. Former advisor with Credit Suisse First Boston and Alex Brown & Sons. B.S. University of Maryland University College; M.B.A. George Washington University.

Barbara J. Easterling
Recently retired Secretary-Treasurer, Communications Workers of America (CWA).  Elected as the first-ever president of the World Women's Committee of the global labor secretariat, which represents more than 15 million workers in the telecommunications, professional, and information sectors. Former executive vice president of CWA and secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO.  Honors include Ohio's Women's Hall of Fame, Women's Equity Action League Award, and the Midwest Labor Press Association's Eugene V. Debs Award.  Other activities include the Pediatrics AIDS Foundation, executive committee member of the Democratic National Committee, vice chair of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, and executive board member of the AFL-CIO's Industrial Union Department.

Elizabeth Ehrenfeld
Member of the New York Bar. For 13 years, president of the 15th Street School Foundation, New York City.  Former Director, the Putney School. B.A., Sarah Lawrence, J.D., Yale Law School, M.L.L., New York University.

Denise Gwyn Ferguson
Vice President, Government Affairs, American Express Company.  Previously legislative counsel to Congressman Robert T. Matsui (D-CA) and counsel to the Committees on Judiciary and Health of the California Assembly.  B.A., University of California, Berkeley; J.D., University of California, Davis.

Beba Cardona Gaines
Public Relations and Volunteer Coordinator, Hispanic Committee of Virginia.  Host of Conversando con Beba, a radio talk show targeted at Washington metropolitan area Hispanic families to inform them on vital topics such as job counseling, immigration issues, and workplace rights and responsibilities.  Formerly an international radio broadcaster with Voice of America.  Also served in many capacities with the Fairfax County Public Schools and the National Gallery of Art.  Other affiliations include Coalition Building Institute, Coalition for Equality and Human Values, Coalition of Hispanic Professionals and Associations, Hispanics Against Child Abuse and Neglect, and Hispanic Task Force.  On the board of Borromeo House and Pathway Homes.

Margaret M. Heckler
Most recently, U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland.  Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.  Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, 10th District, Massachusetts.  A founder and first Republican co-chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues.

Matina S. Horner
Retired as Director of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF).  Former president of Radcliffe College and associate professor of psychology and social relations at Harvard University.  Author of numerous articles in scholarly publications and papers presented at meetings and professional societies.  Recipient of many honorary degrees and awards for outstanding service.  Member of the boards of TIME Warner, Inc., New England Board of Higher Education, Higher Education Research Institute, Groton School, the Population Institute, the National Science Foundation, and Catalyst.  A.B., cum laude, Bryn Mawr College; M.S., Ph.D., University of Michigan.

Robert M. Kaufman
Partner, Proskauer Rose LLP of New York. Expert in legal issues surrounding non-profit organizations. Previously legislative assistant to Senator Jacob Javits; attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division; and economist, New York State Division of Housing. Served on the Board of Visitors at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and for many years on the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS). Vice Chair of New York Community Trust. Director, September 11th Fund. Trustee, Brooklyn Law School.

Mayada Ani Logue

Mayada Ani Logue is president of Catalyst For Change, LLC, a consulting company specializing in the development and implementation of programs designed to help women develop leadership skills.

Mayada is a former executive at the global consumer product company Altria, where she headed the Women’s Outreach programs.  There, she conducted research on women’s issues and developed funding programs to promote women’s leadership development and entrepreneurship.  Through partnerships with various NGOs, Mayada hosted annual networking forums for women-owned small businesses and Fortune 500 companies to help small business owners gain access to corporate purchasing agents.  In April 2004 she hosted the WF360 Arab-Western Businesswomen’s Summit, in which Arab and Western business leaders came together to discuss leadership and their organizations’ roles in the global environment.

In addition, Mayada managed the Altria Corporate Domestic Violence Workplace Program, designed to train employees and security staff on domestic violence issues.  She worked with NGOs worldwide to help develop domestic violence awareness programs appropriate for their countries.  She served as the first chairperson of the SafeAtWork domestic violence corporate NGO coalition which developed a website to help businesses implement workplace domestic violence awareness programs.

After leaving Altria, Mayada joined Vital Voices to head the Middle East and North Africa Women’s Businesswomen’s Network.  The network’s goal was to increase the number of women owned businesses in the region and to provide resources to enable them to grow those businesses.

She holds a bachelor’s of science degree in chemistry from the George Washington University and advanced leadership training certificates from Harvard, Johns Hopkins and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Mayada is currently working with the American University Women & Politics Institute and the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations to develop a leadership training program for young Arab women who attend universities in the United States.

Mayada was born in Damascus, Syria and lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

Judith Paulus
Private Consultant. Formerly, Director, Civic and International Affairs, Sara Lee Corporation.  Also served as corporate director of communications at FMC Corporation and vice president strategic planning/chief of staff of Citibank's retail banking operations outside New York City.  Earlier, a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and senior international staff member of the Treasury Department. Current member of the board of the Children's Memorial and the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations.  Former director of the Illinois State Libraries, the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs, and Gateway. B.A., Stanford, M.A., Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University.

Alma E. Rangel  
Producer of C-Span cable broadcast "Ask Congress."  Former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Foundation.  Member of numerous boards including the National Coalition of 100 Black Women and the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens.  Active in New York civic and community organizations.

Lisa Rickard
President, Institute for Legal Reform, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a branch of the business group that advocates civil justice reform. Formerly vice president, Federal and State Government Affairs, The Dow Chemical Company. Former partner and associate with Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P. Previously worked on the hill in the offices of U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and U.S. Senator Richard Stone (D-FL). Member of the District of Columbia Bar Association and a founding member of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee-Women's Council..

Bonnie Weinstein

Bonnie Weinstein is an international attorney engaged in a practice devoted to government relations, foreign policy, corporate and non-governmental organizations and issues.  Among other things, Ms. Weinstein has worked as a special outside assistant to the White House, served as chair of the International Investment Development and Privatization Committee of the American Bar Association, on the executive committee of American Friends of Wilton Park, the post-Bretton Woods UK organization, as a member of the board of directors of the MIT Enterprise Forum, and other boards, including those devoted to civil society and women's issues. A University of Chicago School of Law and a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude City University graduate, she has advised numerous governments, corporate and non-governmental entities on a broad range of topics.