Tammy Oliver, Director of Shelter Services
215-386-4545 ext. 123
toliver@womenagainstabuse.org

Sally E. Rosenthol - President
Myra Woll - Vice President
Amy E. Hirsch, Esquire - Secretary
Stefanie Fleisher Seldin - Treasurer
Wendy Aguirre
Althea Caruth
Kamila Elliott
Brigid Foster
Gloria M. Gay, MSW, LSW - Honorary Member
Wendy Glazer
Meg Jones, Esquire
Mark Lipowicz, Esquire
Stacey Livingston
Erin McKenna
Julie Mostov, Ph.D.
Carmen I. Paris
Judith Porter, Ph.D.
Michelle Ray
Yvette Rouse
Maxine Ward

Sally E. Rosenthol - President
Sally Rosenthal has spent many years serving the not-for-profit community, both professionally and
as a volunteer. Her volunteer activities include serving as Vice President of the Woman Against Abuse (WAA) Board as well as a member of the WAA personnel committee. 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, Sally 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 current serves on the Philadelphia Corporation for the Aging Committee for Long Term Care. She is currently a Supervisor with the Independence Blue cross Family of Companies in the Care management and Coordination Department.

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Myra Woll - Vice President
Myra Woll, a member of the Women Against Abuse Board of Directors since 2000, chairs the Personnel Committee. She is the Vice President for Health Promotion and Service Systems at Philadelphia Health Management Corporation, a non-profit public health agency. In that capacity, she is responsible for 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 prevention and service coordination, early intervention services for infants and toddlers, behavioral health, injury prevention, environmental health, and maternal, infant and child health. Ms. Woll, who
has a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning, has 30 years of public health program planning, implementation and management experience.

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Amy E. Hirsch, Esquire - Secretary
Amy E. Hirsch is a Supervising Attorney in the Public Benefits Unit of Community Legal Services, Inc,
at their North Philadelphia office. She works on welfare issues, including the interaction of the welfare system and domestic violence, child support, and other family law issues, and the interaction of the welfare system and criminal justice. She has taught welfare law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and at the Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, and writes on welfare, family law, and issues affecting women with criminal records.

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Wendy Aguirre
Ms. Aguirre joined the Board of Directors in 2004 and is currently working as the Community Placement Services Supervisor at Wordsworth, a not-for-profit providing education, treatment and care to children and families with special needs. Prior to that, Wendy worked as a Project Associate for the Best Practices Institute/PMHCC. Wendy moved to Philadelphia from Northern California in 2001 to attend Graduate School at the University of Pennsylvania, where she received her MSW in 2003.

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Kamila Elliott,
Kamila Elliott is the Business Development Supervisor for Vanguard who joined the Board of Directors in 2006. In addition to her work at Vanguard, Ms. Elliott is part of the United Way Young Leaders Program. Through the United Way Day of Caring, Ms Elliot first connected with WAA, serving as the site coordinator for a project at the Emergency Shelter. Ms. Elliot attended Penn State University for her undergraduate degree and her Masters in Business Administration.

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Gloria M. Gay, MSW, LSW
Gloria M. Gay has over 30 years of experience in working with corporation 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 received her Master’s in Social Work from the School of Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania. She 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 yeas, as consultant, client and staff 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.

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Mark Lipowicz, Esq.
Mr. 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). Presently he is a senior litigation partner at Duane Morris LLP, and among other things, co-led the team that represented the Attorney General of Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania's successful litigation against the tobacco industry.

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Erin McKenna
Ms. McKenna joined the Women Against Abuse Board of Directors in 2004 after she developed and designed the agency’s website. Her work on the website introduced her to the organization and piqued her interest in becoming involved. Erin is an independent Graphic Designer residing in Philadelphia. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in English Education from West Chester University as well as an Associate Degree in Multimedia from the Art Institute of Philadelphia. 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.

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Julie Mostov, Ph.D.
Julie Mostov is Director of International Area Studies, Acting Director of Women’s Studies and Associate Professor of Politics, at Drexel University. Her research and publications focus broadly on democratic theory, the politics of the national identity, and gender, with an area concentration in Southeastern Europe. In addition to her research, she has administered a number of Citizens Exchange grants for
the U.S. Department of State in Southeastern Europe and NIS, including Women’s Leadership Grants for Serbia and Montenegro. A committed feminist, Julie has long been involved with struggles to promote women’s rights, and soon after moving to Philadelphia to teach at Drexel, she joined the Board of Women Against Abuse (1987). She is a past president of the Board and currently chairs the Program Committee.

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Carmen I. Paris
Carmen I. Paris currently serves as the Interim Health Commissioner for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. She manages a health department comprised of twelve divisions (including a system of eight health centers, a nursing home, and a personal care home), a staff of more than 950 persons and a budget of $191,600,000.

Prior to her appointment as Interim Health Commissioner, Ms. Paris served as Deputy Commissioner, managing, coordinating and overseeing, through unit directors, Air Management Services, Environmental Health Services, Facility Management, the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, the Medical Evaluation Unit, Animal Control, Quality Management, the Medical Examiner’s Office, and Vector Control Services for the Department of Public Health. In addition, she oversaw contract management for all capital projects, Riverview Health Services, and served as the Integrity Officer for the Department.

Ms. Paris has more than 20 years of experience as director and executive director of health care institutions and programs. Ms. Paris earned a Bachelor in Education from the University of Puerto Rico and a Masters in Public Health from Temple University. She is also a graduate of the Urban League Leadership Program.

Ms. Paris has been the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. She currently serves as President of The Board of Health, a member of the Board of Directors of the American Red Cross, Air Pollution Control Board, Mercy Circle of Care Board, Latino Partnership, the Alliance for Philadelphia’s Animals and the Delaware Valley Community Health. In 2005 she was appointed by Governor Rendell to the Pennsylvania Commission for Women.

Ms. Paris lives in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia and has a son, Cesar Antonio.

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Judith Porter, Ph.D.
Dr. Porter is Professor of Sociology at Bryn Mawr College. Her 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 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, a member of the Board of Directors of Philadelphia Committee to End Homelessness, and a member of the Sex Workers’ Health and Safety Task Force. Dr. Porter has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2004.

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Yvette Rouse
Ms. Rouse is the Director of Forensic Clinical Services for the Forensic Intensive Recovery Program at the the Philadelphia Health management Corporation. The program provides referrals to substance abuse and mental health treatment facility 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. Ms. Rouse 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 . She joined the Board of Directors in 2005.

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Stefanie Fleischer Seldin
Ms. Seldin is Managing Attorney at PhiladelphiaVIP, 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. 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. Seldin served as an Assistant City Solicitor in the City of Philadelphia's Law Department for Health and Human Services. Ms. Seldin is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University Law School. She joined the Board of Directors in 2004.

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