Staff
Nicky Goren, President
Nicky Goren is president and CEO of Washington Area Women’s Foundation, the only public foundation in the Washington metropolitan area solely focused on improving the lives of women and girls. Nicky comes to The Women’s Foundation after 12 years at the Corporation for National and Community Service. The Corporation is the nation’s largest grantmaker supporting service and volunteering. Nicky began her career at the Corporation in 1998 as associate general counsel. She also served as chief of staff before becoming acting chief executive officer. As acting CEO, Nicky led the agency through the transition between administrations and laid the foundation for the Obama Administration’s service plans.
Prior to joining the Corporation, Nicky spent five years in the legislative branch, first as assistant general counsel in the Congressional Budget Office and then as counsel in the Office of Compliance.
Raised in the United States and Britain, Nicky is a graduate of Cornell Law School and Brandeis University. She is fluent in French and has a working knowledge of Spanish. Nicky lives in the District with her husband and two sons.
Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat, Vice President, Programs
Jennifer oversees the grantmaking and programmatic work of The Foundation, with specific responsibilities for the Stepping Stones Financial Education and Wealth Creation Fund and the Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative, as well as the Women’s Economic Security Campaign.
She has spent the past 14 years working to improve the lives of low-income and under-served women and girls. Prior to joining The Women’s Foundation, Jennifer served as the Director of Public Policy at the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, where she advocated on behalf of publicly funded family planning clinics and worked to improve access to family planning services for the low-income and uninsured. Prior to that, she spent nearly 10 years at Women’s Policy, Inc., where she directed the organization’s policy research and analysis and worked extensively with the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues. She holds a master’s degree in international policy studies with a concentration in women in development from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of New Hampshire. She serves on the board of the Falls Church-McLean Children’s Center and co-chaired The Women’s Foundation’s 2007 Leadership Awards.
Stacey Miller, Vice President, Development and Communications
Stacey Miller brings 20+ years of corporate and nonprofit experience to The Women’s Foundation. In her current role as Vice President of Development and Communications she is responsible for external communications and contributed revenue. Stacey and her team work closely with The Foundation’s membership groups (Washington 100 and 1K Club), donors, corporate and foundation funders and have responsibility for special events including the annual Leadership Luncheon.
Prior to joining Washington Area Women’s Foundation, Stacey was Director of External Affairs with The Washington Ballet where she was responsible for both earned and contributed revenue by overseeing development, special events, marketing, communications and ticket services. Prior to that, as a Vice President at AOL, Stacey contributed eight years to the success and growth of its international ventures. During her tenure, she managed key launches of AOL around the world, including Europe, Latin America, Australia, and Asia, and supported their global product marketing and technology development needs. In 2003, she became co-founder and president of Esprit Events Incorporated, a full service special events and production company. The company’s business model included giving 10 percent back to the nonprofit community through the donation of event planning services. This work led to the development of her skills in fundraising, and she eventually took on the role of Director of Development for the See Forever Foundation. She also had a successful sales and account management career working for Legent, AGFA and Frame Technology, spearheading the growth of their direct and indirect sales divisions. Stacey holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Penn State University, serves on the See Forever Foundation’s Board of Directors and actively volunteers in her community.
Donna Wiedeman, Executive Assistant to the President
In addition to providing administrative support to the President and Board of Directors, Donna is responsible for the day-to-day financial management of The Foundation. Donna’s first “real job” as a Girl Scout camp counselor set the tone for a career in the nonprofit arena, working in such varied positions as a child-care worker at a residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed children, a bus driver for slightly less troubled children, general manager for a puppet company, and administrator for a pet-therapy organization. She spent 15 years working for In Trust, Inc., an organization that works with trustees and key administrators to improve the governance of graduate theological schools in the U.S. and Canada. While there, she provided the administrative support that saw the organization grow from a project of the Lilly Endowment into a 501(c)3 membership organization with multi-faceted educational programs and a broad funding base. She came to The Women’s Foundation from Volunteer Alexandria where she was director of operations. Donna serves on the Finance Committee of BalletNova, formerly Arlington Center for Dance.
Mariah Craven, Director of Communications & Marketing
Mariah manages The Women’s Foundation’s internal and external communications using new media, social media and traditional media to keep supporters informed and engaged, and to raise the public profile of the organization. She maintains The Women’s Foundation website, blog and social media services, which include Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. She also writes The Foundation’s e-newsletters and develops online giving campaigns.
Prior to joining Washington Area Women’s Foundation, Mariah served as press secretary for a New York City Council member who ran for mayor. Before that, she worked as a freelance journalist in New York City, in television news as a reporter/producer in Minnesota and produced morning shows in Kentucky. In addition to covering general news, she focused on topics including healthcare, poverty, immigration, and women’s issues. She also volunteered as a media consultant for non-profits seeking increased media coverage for their events. After volunteering in post-Katrina New Orleans, she shot and edited a documentary about women in southern Louisiana who are doing outstanding work to help their communities recover from the 2005 hurricane season. Mariah has a master’s degree in journalism from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in English from Boston University.
Gwen Rubinstein, Program Officer
Gwen leads The Women’s Foundation’s grantmaking in the Stepping Stones Jobs Fund and Strategic Opportunity and Partnership Fund, manages the work of the Stepping Stones evaluation and research partners (including the annual Stepping Stones Research Briefing) and serves on the grantmaking committee of the Open Door Capacity Fund. She also actively spreads word about The Women’s Foundation’s work through social media, including the blog, Facebook and Twitter.
Before joining The Women’s Foundation, Gwen advocated for policy change at the federal and state levels to provide women with the services and supports they need to achieve economic security for themselves and their families (at The Workforce Alliance and Legal Action Center). Gwen was a 1992 Presidential Management Fellow, serving in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources. Gwen was a founding board member of Our Place, DC, a community-based organization (and Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation) that supports D.C. women who are or have been incarcerated. She holds a master’s degree in public health from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in languages from Georgetown University.
Nicole Cozier, Philanthropic Education Officer
Nicole joined The Women’s Foundation in March 2008 as the Philanthropic Education Officer. In this position, Nicole oversees: 1) The Foundation’s Collective Giving Programs – the organization’s two giving circles (Rainmakers and African American Women’s Giving Circle) and the Leadership Awards; 2) the Open Door Capacity Fund and the Technical Assistance Programs (“beyond the check” support) for Grantee Partners; and 3) The Women’s Foundation’s donor and philanthropic education work. She also represents The Women’s Foundation on the grant collaborative team of the Partnership for Prince George’s County.
Nicole has 15 years of non-profit experience working on behalf of women and girls – seven years of which have been in the philanthropic sector. She joined The Women’s Foundation after five years working for Women & Philanthropy – one of the oldest philanthropic affinity groups, where she was responsible for the development and implementation of all of Women & Philanthropy’s programs, and represented the organization on the Joint Affinity Groups (JAG). She was also the staff lead in the transitioning of Women & Philanthropy from a stand-alone organization to a project of the Council on Foundations. Prior to entering the philanthropic sector, Nicole spent a number of years working in the health advocacy community including working at the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance in D.C. in several different positions focusing on research, education and organizational development – the last of which was Senior Director, Programs & Organizational Development. Nicole has lived in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Toronto, Canada and the US Virgin Islands, and worked for The Cooper Health System in Camden, NJ and Planned Parenthood in Philadelphia and Toronto. Nicole has served on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Mautner Project’s Spirit Study and currently sits on the board of directors for Funders for LGBTQ Issues, where she also serves as the Board Secretary and Chair of the Nomination & Governance Committee. Nicole holds an MBA in health administration and a master’s degree in healthcare financial management from Temple University, as well as an honors bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto with a double major in human biology, sociology (w/ a focus on gender studies) and a minor in women’s studies.
Helen French, Development Officer
Helen French has worked in the non-profit sector for fourteen years. She started her career with the Ms. Foundation for Women, running the Executive Office and cutting her teeth on development projects. As a founding staff member of The White House Project, a women’s leadership organization, she was instrumental in identifying and engaging the national board of directors and worked closely with the president to secure over $2 million dollars in pledges and gifts for the organization.
During her tenure as the Director of the Douglass Annual Fund at the Associate Alumnae of Douglass College, Helen worked with a base constituency of 36,000 alumnae and also helped with the campaign to Save Douglass College.
She is excited to work with the wonderful friends and supporters of Washington Area Women’s Foundation and looks forward to meeting or talking to each and every one of you at some point! For any questions, comments and suggestions please don’t hesitate to contact Helen.
Latricia R. Allen, Grants Manager
Latricia is responsible for organizing the grant making process, including paper and electronic files and database records associated with Grantees, and tracking and managing all grants using the GIFTS computer program. She also schedules site visits and plans Program-related events. Latricia has 13 years of administrative and sales support experience in businesses such as UPS in Atlanta and Future View in Washington, D.C. She has also worked as a meeting and conference coordinator for Danya International and has managed, from conceptualization to completion, numerous conferences and trainings attended by over 2,500 participants. Latricia is a native Washingtonian and has worked on Capitol Hill for the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues and for Congressman Julian C. Dixon (D-CA) in administrative roles. She brings a wide range of office and event planning skills to our work. Latricia also owns a small business, Girl Friday on The Go!, which merges many of her creative talents and work experience. Latricia is currently completing coursework at the University of Maryland towards her bachelor’s in English with a concentration in African American studies.
Lena Peterson, Operations Associate
Lena Peterson brings 4 years of administrative experience to The Women’s Foundation. As the Operations Associate, she provides administrative support to both the Operations and Development staff, assisting with logistical planning and implementation of projects. She is a graduate of the University of Richmond and is currently pursuing her master’s degree at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. Besides her studies, she also enjoys tutoring and has been a volunteer with the George B. Thomas Senior Learning Academy in Montgomery County.
Sequoia Payne, Office Assistant
A native Washingtonian, Sequoia Payne came to The Women’s Foundation in the fall of 2009 with more than seven years of administrative experience. Her diverse work experiences have included an internship at Summit Health Institute of Research and Education and jobs at Jackson Hewitt and a home health care facility. Sequoia has also spent time volunteering at homeless shelters. She came to Washington Area Women’s Foundation though Training Futures, a Grantee Partner in northern Virginia that helps people move from dead-end jobs or sporadic employment to stable, professional careers. At Training Futures, Sequoia got refresher courses on computer software along with public speaking training. She started at The Women’s Foundation as an intern, but was quickly promoted to Office Assistant. Sequoia says her time at The Women’s Foundation has piqued her interest in nonprofits, and she plans to continue to work with organizations that help the people of D.C. who are in need.