Thursday, March 20, 2025
5:30 pm ET
VIRTUAL
This Event is Free and Open to All
Join us for an engaging and thought-provoking evening as we celebrate Women’s History Month with WOC and Baruch College’s Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at the launch of WOC’s new Radiant Leadership Series—now fully virtual to make it even more accessible!
This exciting event will feature a panel discussion with some of today’s most trailblazing leaders, including:
Dr. Kelly Hallman, Founder & Executive Director, Indigenous Justice Circle
Alysia Souder, Executive Director, The Institute of Music for Children
Elisa Charters, President & Co-Founder, of Latina Surge – Founder, Juego.Juegos (Software & AI Company)
Moderated by WOC Founder, Yolanda F. Johnson.
Why Virtual?
To ensure accessibility to a broader audience and maximize participation, we’re bringing this powerful discussion directly to you, wherever you are!
Who Can Attend?
Free & Open to All – WOC members, Baruch students and faculty, and the general public.
Register in advance to receive your Zoom link!
Interactive Q&A – Submit your questions in advance at info@yfj-consulting.com or ask live during the discussion:
Don’t miss this opportunity to gain insights, connect, and elevate your leadership journey!
RSVP Now & Join Us Online!
RSVP
By registering for this Women of Color in Fundraising and Development (WOC)® event, I give consent for my photograph to be taken and possibly used on the organization’s intranet, internet, newsletters, board reports, and other organizational materials as needed. I understand that I am not eligible for compensation for use of my photo and I may not be informed in advance of the specific use of those images.
Speakers
Elisa Charters
President,
Latina Surge and Founder, Juego.Juegos (Software & AI Company)
Elisa Charters is a wife, mom of two young adult children, a caretaker of elders and cherishes her three dogs. She is also a seasoned executive strategist with 25+ years of public-sector finance and transactional experience. She specializes in the negotiations of major economic development, infrastructure and innovation initiatives to advance public-private goals.
Elisa’s extensive experience in government led to appointments by three consecutive governors in the State of New Jersey: State of New Jersey Minority Business Advisory Board Member (Gov. Corzine); Vice Chair of the New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority (Gov. Christie); and Board Trustee at New Jersey Institute of Technology (Gov. Murphy). Of note, NJIT just became the first R1 polytechnic Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) in the State of New Jersey; there are only 22 in the entire country.
From 2007 until 2013, Elisa emerged from the government sector following her interests in entrepreneurship and service. She and two partners formed TOUSSA International LLC, a wholesale/retail import company offering boys’ apparel produced in Peru, Argentina and Brazil; they ratified 11 export/import agreements. In 2014, she co-founded Latina Surge National nonprofit and scaled the local grass roots organization to an international platform via the Lean In Latina Surge Network (Lean In has 100K+ global circle members).
Having become an expert at “cutting through red tape,” Elisa created EAC Business International LLC, an umbrella company which originated the brands Ahgua Tech (industrial and commercial equipment distribution), BEADEI (CSR/ESG/DEIB consulting), and most recently, Juego.Juegos (an iOS and Android Mobile App and AI company).
Elisa is passionate about social responsibility; a common core value across her projects is helping humanity with purpose. Whether it be to support single moms/parents/caretakers with scheduling, eradicating loneliness and bullying, addressing parity and economic access for multicultural women, or ensuring collective collaboration to mitigate health and safety risks to medical and emergency response personnel, she believes what is intentional is possible.
Achievements: 2021 Ex-officio President of Latino Alumni Association of Columbia University | 2021 Tri-County Scholarship Fund Women of Achievement | 2016 Child's Hero Award by Essex County CASA | 2012 leading advocate on the second Latino appointment to the Rutgers University Board of Governors in its 240+ year history | 2004-2006 President of the Port Authority Hispanic Society ERG (agency with 8K employees).
Kelly Hallman (she/her Cherokee Nation)
Founder & Executive Director, Indigenous Justice Circle
Dr. Kelly Hallman is an enrolled tribal citizen of the Cherokee Nation, originally from Oklahoma by way of Arizona. Kelly has designed, evaluated and strengthened scores of gender equity and violence prevention initiatives across the world. She is Founder and Executive Director of Indigenous Justice Circle, a nonprofit focused on health, safety and violence prevention programs, convenings and research.
Kelly’s ancestors were forced from their lands in Georgia and marched on foot 800 miles to Indian Territory on the Cherokee Trail of Tears in 1838-39. Her grandparents and parents survived Native American boarding school and rose from land-dispossessed sharecroppers to become successful ranchers and construction contractors. Dr. Hallman is the social change agent in the Gracie Award winning documentary film, The Lakota Daughters and the author of numerous articles, including Strengthening Inclusion, Safety, and Democracy with American Indian Girls and Women to Benefit Indigenous Communities, and Our Bodies, Our Data, Our Destinies: Native American Women Harnessing Technology for the Benefit of our People.
Kelly received her PhD and MA in health economics from Michigan State University, and her BA in economics and political science from Northern Arizona University.
George E. Mitchell
Professor, Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College, City University of New York (CUNY)
Director, Marxe School’s Center for Nonprofit Strategy and Management
George E. Mitchell is a professor at the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College, City University of New York (CUNY) and is director of the Marxe School’s Center for Nonprofit Strategy and Management. Before joining the Marxe School, he was an assistant professor at the Colin Powell School at the City College of New York, CUNY and co-founder of the Transnational NGO Initiative at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. His research examines topics in NGO and nonprofit management, leadership, and strategy, and appears in journals of NGO and nonprofit studies, public administration, and international relations.¿ He serves on the editorial boards of Nonprofit Management and Leadership and the American Review of Public Administration. His coauthored book Between Power and Irrelevance: The Future of Transnational NGOs is available from Oxford University Press.
Dr. Sherry Ryan
Professor, Marxe School of Public and International Affairs
Dr. Ryan brings a quarter century of teaching, administrative, and public higher education leadership experience to Baruch College. Prior to her appointment, Dr. Ryan was Director of the School of Public Affairs at San Diego State University (SDSU), where she was also a professor of city planning with a focus on transportation and land use. Dr. Ryan’s research focuses on transportation policy and urban planning and has received over 2,000 citations in peer reviewed journals. She also frequently translates this scholarship into real-world practice and serves as an expert advisor to government agencies, nonprofits, and advocates for public transportation and alternatives such as bike and pedestrian infrastructure. At Baruch, she leverages this academic and professional experience to expand on the cross-curriculum and community-based collaborations that are the hallmark of a Marxe School education.
Alysia Souder
Executive Director, The Institute of Music for Children
Alysia Souder is the Executive Director of The Institute of Music for Children in Elizabeth, NJ. Guided by its vision of H.A.R.M.O.N.Y. – Helping Achieve Responsible, Motivated, Optimistic, Neighborhood Youth – the Institute is building an equitable community of high-achieving citizens who are arts lovers and arts makers through professional instruction, mentorship, and family engagement.
Ms. Souder has over 25 years of experience as an arts educator and arts administrator. As a teaching artist, she has worked across the tri-state area and for organizations including Arts Horizons, Playwrights Theatre, Papermill Playhouse and the NJ Performing Arts Center teaching acting, playwriting, and conflict-resolution in schools, community organizations, and youth facilities. She is passionate about the role the arts should play in young people's growth and development and bringing the arts to youth impacted by trauma has been central to her work.
Actively involved in the development of arts education and equity on a statewide level, Ms. Souder serves as the Co-chair of the Union County Non Profit Consortium and served as the Chair of Arts Ed Newark from 2010 - 2025. She served on the Leadership Team for Elevating Equity and is a steering committee member of NJ’s Creating Change Conferences. Ms. Souder is also an emcee, a facilitator and an international presenter, having been featured at education conferences in the United States, Guatemala, Germany and South Africa.
Ms. Souder is also a playwright and director. She has written six full-length children’s theatre pieces that have been mounted by The Institute of Music. She collaborated with Nimbus Dance Company having co-written the libretto for their annual holiday production, The Jersey City Nutcracker and most recently she co-wrote and co-directed a dance theatre piece with Nimbus titled “Raucous Caucus Tango” which premiered at NJPAC in 2021.