Nicky Goren, President Nicky Goren is president and CEO of Washington Area Women’s Foundation, which mobilizes the community to ensure that economically vulnerable women and girls in the Washington region have the resources they need to thrive.  Nicky’s impact on the community and the Foundation was recognized in 2011 when she was named to Washingtonian magazine’s 100 Most Powerful Women list and given Washington Business Journal‘s Women Who Mean Business award. In 2012, Nicky was named an Aspen Ideas Festival Scholar, joined the Raise DC Leadership Council, was named to Leadership Greater Washington’s class of 2013, joined the board of the Women’s Funding Network, and became a member of the International Women’s Forum. Nicky came 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 Jennifer provides strategic and programmatic guidance and leadership across the Foundation and oversees the major gifts and development function of the organization. She has spent the past 17 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.

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.

Virginie Carey, Controller Virginie manages the accounting and finance of the Foundation, supporting the efforts of the programmatic and development teams.  Before her employment with the Foundation, Virginie spent over 14 years building extensive experience in accounting and finance in the non-profit arena.  In particular, she was the Budget & Finance Manager with ACDI/VOCA and a Senior Accountant with Counterpart International, two international development NGOs funded by USAID that addressed complex problems related to economic development, food security and nutrition, and effective governance and institutions capacity building. Virginie graduated from the George Washington University with an MBA in International Finance and from the Institut de Management International de Paris with a bachelor of science degree. Raised both in France and the United States, Virginie has traveled extensively in Europe, Asia, Central Asia, and North Africa.  She is an active member of her community through her involvement with her children’s school, including having served two terms as PTA vice president and as a chair of the PTA Finance and Audit Committee.  Virginie lives in Virginia with her husband and two daughters.

Nicole Cozier, Chief of Strategic Operations Nicole leads internal operations for The Women’s Foundation and ensures cross-organizational implementation of the 2011 strategic plan.  She also oversees the Foundation’s two giving circles: the Rainmakers Giving Circle and the African American Women’s Giving Circle. Additionally, she represents The Women’s Foundation on the grant collaborative team of the Partnership for Prince George’s County. Nicole joined the Foundation staff in 2008 as a philanthropic education officer. Nicole has 15 years of non-profit experience working on behalf of women and girls, half of which have been in the philanthropic sector.   She began her philanthropic journey with Women & Philanthropy, a 30-year-old affinity group that worked to increase women’s leadership in the philanthropic sector and increase philanthropic dollars to women and girls.  Prior to that, Nicole spent many years working the health care community in both advocacy and direct service.  Nicole has served on the board of directors for Funders for LGBTQ Issues and the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Mautner Project.  Nicole holds an MBA and MS from Temple University, as well as an honors bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto.  A resident of the metro Washington area for 13 years, Nicole has also lived in Philadelphia, New Jersey, USVI, Canada and Barbados.

Mariah Craven, Director of Communications & Marketing Mariah manages The Women’s Foundation’s 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 mayoral campaign.  Before that, she worked as a broadcast journalist in New York, Kentucky and Minnesota.  In addition to covering general news, she focused on topics including healthcare, poverty, immigration, and women’s issues.  Mariah used her skills and interests to produce a documentary about women in southern Louisiana who were 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.

Lauren Stillwell, Program Officer Lauren manages The Women’s Foundation’s workforce development and financial education and asset-building programs, and the Early Care and Education Funders Collaborative. Prior to joining The Women’s Foundation, Lauren managed grantmaking and donor engagement at The Community Foundation for Montgomery County, an affiliate of The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region.  Her experience includes extensive work with safety net programs, and nonprofit capacity building.  Lauren has also served on the Steering Committee of Nonprofit Montgomery, an affiliate of the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington, working to increase the collective strength, visibility and influence of the nonprofit sector.  She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Project Create, a nonprofit providing arts education opportunities for DC children and youth experiencing homelessness and poverty.  Lauren holds a bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology from the College of the Holy Cross.

Farrell Barnes, Development Manager Farrell manages the Foundation’s philanthropic and donor programs as well as fundraising events and appeals. She comes to The Women’s Foundation with over five years of development and special events experience.  She most recently worked as the director of alumni relations and advancement assistant at Norwood School in Bethesda and has also supported the development office at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School.  She is an active member of the Junior League of Washington and the Jete Society of The Washington Ballet.  Farrell graduated with a degree in strategic communications from Miami University in Ohio and is pursuing a certificate in event management from the George Washington School of Business.

Julliet Boye, Development Associate Julliet supports the development team in the implementation of the development plan and the attainment of the overall donor cultivation and fundraising goals of The Women’s Foundation.  Julliet has spent the last seven years working in the non-profit sector in program implementation and development, financial oversight and administrative support both at the national and international level. Prior to coming to The Women’s Foundation she worked as a program and finance associate with the American Bar Association Africa Law Initiative in Washington, D.C., working closely with the program team to implement a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded project on trafficking in human beings in East Africa. This project afforded her the opportunity to cut her teeth in the area of research and advocacy on women’s issues. She further explored her interests in women’s and girls’ issues when she studied conflict analysis and resolution at the George Mason University. Here, she had the opportunity to travel to post-conflict Liberia in West Africa on an experiential learning program where she worked with women in a variety of peace building projects. A native of Ghana, Julliet holds a bachelors of arts degree in international affairs from the James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia and recently completed a master’s of science degree in conflict analysis and resolution from the George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia.

Sylvia Thornton, Office Assistant Sylvia serves as the first point of contact for The Women’s Foundation, greeting guests, managing office logistics and providing administrative support to the staff. She comes to the Foundation with more than 15 years of clerical experience. Sylvia also enjoys fitness and healthy living and is a personal trainer, advising those who are interested in making healthy choices and fitness a part of their lifestyles. She has helped three clients lose over 100 pounds and specializes in weight loss, sports performance and women’s training. Sylvia was born and raised in Lima, Peru and attended Toulouse Lautrec, where she majored in graphic design. She had the opportunity to visit the United States in 1998, fell in love with American culture, and decided to make the US her permanent home. She has lived in North Carolina and Northern Virginia. She enjoys the outdoors, live music, reading, cooking, and riding the emotional rollercoaster that is life!