About Our Board of Directors
Myra Woll - President
Board Member Since: 2000
Committee (s): Finance, Audit, Personnel
Employer: Public Health Management Corporation
Position: Vice President, Health Promotion and Service Systems
Degree: Master’s Degree, Urban & Regional Planning
Myra Woll is responsible for the planning, implementation and oversight of a broad spectrum of community-based, public health programs that address complex urban health problems and require coordination among and across traditional service delivery systems. The primary programmatic areas addressed include HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis prevention and service coordination, substance abuse recovery-oriented systems of care, early intervention services for infants and toddlers, behavioral health care, injury prevention, and environmental health services.
Kamila Williams, Vice President
Board Member Since: 2006
Committee (s): WAA Legal Center Board, Audit, Finance, Investment
Employer: Vanguard
Position: Relationship Manger
Degree: Master’s Business Administration
Kamila Williams manages client relationships with existing non-profit organizations. Her role consists of broadening relationships with key client decision-makers, acting as a consultant for clients in discussing appropriate asset classes and portfolio allocations.
Ms. Williams is also active with the Campaign for Working Families through the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition. Through the United Way Day of Caring, Ms. Williams first connected with WAA by serving as the site coordinator for a project at the Emergency Shelter. Ms. Williams holds a B.A. and an MBA from Pennsylvania State University
Amy E. Hirsch, Esq., Secretary
Board Member Since: 1998
Committee (s): Program, WAA Legal Center Board, By laws
Employer: Community Legal Services
Position: Supervising Attorney
Degree: J.D.
Stefanie Fleischer Seldin, Esq., Treasurer
Board Member Since: 2004
Committee (s): Finance (Chair), Investment (Chair), WAA Legal Center Board
Employer: Philadelphia VIP
Position: Managing Attorney
Degree: J.D.
Stefanie Fleischer Seldin is the managing attorney at Philadelphia VIP, a nonprofit agency that provides free legal services to the poor by obtaining volunteer counsel for clients. From 2000 to 2003, she developed and managed the legislative agenda for the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance in Boston. Prior to that, Ms. Fleischer Seldin was a staff attorney with the Support Center for Child Advocates, the country's largest and oldest program dedicated exclusively to lawyers' pro bono service for abused and neglected children. Previously Ms. Fleischer Seldin served as an Assistant City Solicitor in the City of Philadelphia's Law Department for Health and Human Services. Ms. Fleischer Seldin is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University Law School.
Wendy Aguirre
Board Member Since: 2004
Committee (s): Program
Employer: CASA
Position: Supervisor, Community Placement Services
Degree: MSW
Wendy Aguirre has served as the Executive Director of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Philadelphia County since 2006. Prior to joining CASA, Ms. Aguirre was employed at Wordsworth Human Services as Director of Community Placement Services where she managed their General and Treatment Foster Care and CRR/Host Home program. She has also worked as a consultant at the Best Practices Institute on Treatment Foster Care Reform and other Philadelphia child welfare reform initiatives. Ms. Aguirre initially became involved with CASA as a volunteer in Santa Clara County, California, where she worked for over ten years in Product Marketing in the semiconductor industry. She received her MSW degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003.
Board Member Since: 2009
Committee (s): Program
Employer: State Representative Rosita Youngblood Campaign
Position: Treasurer
Board Member Since: 2000
Committee (s): Development
Employer: PRWT Services, Inc.
Position: Vice President of Corporate Services
Gloria M. Gay, MSW, LSW
Board Member Since: 1984
Committee (s): Nominations & Recruitment, Program
Employer: Penn Women Center
Position: Associate Director
Degree: Master’s Social Work
Gloria Gay has over 30 years of experience in working with corporate and human service agencies on issues such as organizational development, human relations and equity. Ms. Gay is the Associate Director of the Penn Women’s Center and an adjunct instructor in human sexuality education in the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Gay has also developed and taught courses in adolescent sexuality, counseling, human sexuality, racism and domestic violence. She was one of the recipients of the 1996 City of Philadelphia Human Relations Commission Award.
Ms. Gay is certified as a sex education counselor by AASECT, a Certified Rape Crisis Counselor through Women Organized Against Rape, and a Certified Domestic Violence Counselor through the National Association of Forensic Counselors.
Ms. Gay is the only Honorary Lifetime Board Member and has been active in the organization for many years, as consultant, trainer, and board member. Ms. Gay has also participated in statewide training for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Her expertise is known throughout the country and has been recognized by the Pennsylvania Attorney General through her appointment to his state-wide Family Violence Task Force.
Board Member Since: 2006
Committee (s): Audit (Chair), Development (Chair)
Board Member Since: 2009
Committee (s): Development
Employer: City of Philadelphia
Position: Inspector General
Degree: J.D.
Amy Kurland is the Inspector General for the City of Philadelphia, having been appointed to that position by Mayor Michael Nutter. The Inspector General is responsible for rooting out corruption, fraud and misconduct by city employees and those doing business with the city.
Prior to becoming the Inspector General, Ms. Kurland was an Assistant United States Attorney and Senior Litigation Counsel in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Criminal Division for 24 years. She specialized in public corruption and white collar fraud. She also served as the Professional Responsibility Officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and provided advice regarding compliance with the Pennsylvania rules of professional conduct. Ms. Kurland also developed a training program for newly appointed judges and prosecutors in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Justice, and traveled to Sarajevo to implement the program.
Ms. Kurland is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Rutgers University, where she teaches trial advocacy. She has taught trial advocacy at Temple University, the U.S. Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute, the National Advocacy Center and the F.B.I. Training Facility in Quantico.
Mark Lipowicz, Esq.
Board Member Since: 1995
Committee (s): WAA Legal center Board
Employer: Duane Morris, LLP
Position: Senior Litigation Attorney (Partner)
Degree: J.D.
Mark Lipowicz is a former Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia. While working for the District Attorney, Mr. Lipowicz specialized in the prosecution of rape cases. He successfully prosecuted the rape case (trial) that became the subject of the book ''Surviving the Silence" by Charlotte Pierce - Baker. Ph.D., W.W. Norton & Company (1997) and among other things, Mr. Lipowicz co-led the team that represented the Attorney General of Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania's successful litigation against the tobacco industry.
Board Member Since: 1999
Committee (s): Nominations & Recruitment
Employer: University of Pennsylvania Police Department
Erin McKenna
Board Member Since: 2004
Committee (s): Development
Employer: Self Employed
Position: Graphic Designer
Degree: Bachelors Degree
Erin McKenna developed and designed Women Against Abuse's previous website. Her work on the website introduced her to the organization and piqued her interest in becoming involved. In her free time, Ms. McKenna participates in martial arts with a concentration in self-defense, is a deacon at her church, and enjoys surfing and snowboarding.
Julie Mostov, Ph.D.
Board Member Since: 1987
Committee (s): Program (Chair)
Employer: Drexel University
Degree: Ph.D.
Julie Mostov is the Associate Vice Provost for International Programs & Professor of Political Science at Drexel University. Her research and publications focus broadly on democratic theory and the politics of the national identity, sovereignty, and citizenship with an area concentration in Southeastern Europe and an emphasis on gender. In addition to her research, Ms. Mostov has administered a number of Citizens Exchange grants for the U.S. Department of State in Southeastern Europe, including Women’s Leadership Grants for Serbia and Montenegro.
Judith Porter, Ph.D.
Board Member Since: 2004
Committee (s): Nominations & Recruitment (Co-Chair), Program
Employer: Bryn Mawr College
Position: Professor Emeritus
Degree: Ph.D.
Judith Porter’s research focuses on AIDS and addiction, and she has studied the ecology of HIV transmission among female sex workers, barriers to drug treatment among Puerto Rican heroin users, and the role of needle exchange programs in injection drug users’ service acquisition. She continues to teach Sociology of AIDS at Bryn Mawr College and volunteers as an AIDS educator with Congreso de Latinos Unidos in Philadelphia, and is Vice-Chairman of the Mayor’s Commission on Drugs and Alcohol of the City of Philadelphia. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Committee to End Homelessness, and volunteers to pre-screen people for food stamps for the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger.
Board Member Since: 1991
Committee (s): Nominations & Recruitment (Co-Chair), Program, By-laws
Employer: University of Pennsylvania
Position: Director of Graduate Programs
Sally E. Rosenthol
Board Member Since: 1999
Committee (s): Personnel Committee (Chair), Program, Development
Sally Rosenthal has spent many years serving the not-for-profit community, both professionally and as a volunteer. She has also served as Vice-Chair of the Board of Gratz College and chair of the board of the Jewish Community High School. In addition to these specific organizations, Ms. Rosenthal has worked with various community, service, religious and educational organizations. As a professional, Ms. Rosenthol has worked with several major hospitals in the Philadelphia region in various administrative positions as well as serving as Nurse Director for Wissahickon Hospice. She currently serves on the Philadelphia Corporation for the Aging Committee for Long Term Care.
Yvette Rouse
Board Member Since: 2005
Committee (s): Nominations & Recruitment
Employer: Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC)
Position: Director of Forensic Clinical Services
Yvette Rouse is the Director of Forensic Clinical Services at PHMC. Her program provides referrals to substance abuse and mental health treatment facilities to the forensic population in the Philadelphia prisons, case management and housing options. Ms. Rouse currently serves as the President for the Philadelphia Chapter of Alliance of Black Social Workers, Inc. She is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, University Park and Widener University, and she is a licensed social worker in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Board Member Since: 2009
Committee (s): Development (Co-Chair), Audit (Chair)
Degree: MBA Marketing
Catherine Ward has spent the last 23 years in the financial services industry working with high net worth individuals and their families, assisting them with the process of structuring investment management, trust and fiduciary programs consistent with their current and long term goals. Until January 2009, Ms. Ward was with Bank of New York Mellon as Vice President and Sales Director. She continues to work in the areas of financial and retirement planning for individuals and corporations as well as foundations and non-profit organizations.
In addition to the Board of Women Against Abuse, Ms. Ward serves on the Presidents Council of Immaculata University, and is an Emeritus member of the Board of the Pennsylvania Ballet. In addition, she is a member of the Union League of Philadelphia where she has held numerous board positions. Ms. Ward is Vice President of the Pennsylvania State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts and serves on the Race Committee for Radnor Hunt Races.
Committee (s): By laws
Employer: PRWT Services, Inc.