Prominent Community Leaders Elected on the Board of Directors for Local Women’s Advocacy Organization
PHOENIX — Arizona Foundation for Women (AFW), a local organization focused on elevating the status of Arizona women, recently elected five new members to its board of directors. The new board of directors members are well-known in the business community as well as the nonprofit industry and share a common interest of improving the lives of women.
“AFW is very fortunate to have added outstanding community members to its board of directors, who are willing to share their leadership skills and expertise to advance our foundation’s mission,” said Kim Hartmann, AFW’s chairman of the board.
AFW’s five new members of the board of directors are:
Monica Lindstrom, a judge pro tem with the Maricopa County Superior Court. Lindstrom is also an attorney, mediator, adjunct professor, legal commentator/analyst and radio host of Legally Speaking on KTAR. Lindstrom currently teaches several classes at Arizona Summit Law School. As a legal analyst, she regularly appears on national networks such as CNN, HLN, Fox and MSNBC. Previously, she was an on-air host for AZTV Channel 7 and commentator on local channels 10 and 3.
Stephanie Roldan, corporate lean manager at Rosendin Electric. In her current role, Roldan trains and educates teams on the value of lean construction, a combination of operational research and practical development in design and construction with an adaption of lean principles. Roldan also teaches about personal and professional growth and has been influential in aligning her company’s training department, quality department and lean department with a focus delivering results thorough continuous improvement. In the community, she has been actively involved with Junior Achievement since 2014 and has served as a member of the Junior Achievement Open 4 Business golf tournament committee, the organization’s fundraising event. She is also a current member of the Junior Achievement’s Ladies Day to Play committee and served as co-chair in 2016 and 2017.
Michael Strati, chief development officer at Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance. Strati oversees the network office CORE FOUR, which focuses on the four critical growth areas for a managing partner: 1) Talent Acquisition / Selection / Training, 2) Development and Production for Financial Representatives under 5 years in the business 3) Internship Program and Development and 4) Leadership Development. Strati has nonprofit executive directorship experience and has served on many organization and nonprofit boards, such as Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA), University of New Mexico – Anderson Alumni Council Board of Directors, Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce Executive Board Member and Health Care committee member, and JDRF Albuquerque Chapter Board of Directors.
Laurie Taylor, executive director at Ernst & Young. Taylor has been with Ernst & Young for many years, focusing on the health care industry. Prior to her position at Ernst & Young, Taylor was the audit executive on the Banner Health’s auditing division. She has organizational and nonprofit experience and currently is involved with Healthcare Financial, Casa Academy and United Way. She has a passion to help women and wants to enhance the financial stewardship of AFW.
Andrea Whitsett, director at Morrison Institute for Public Policy. As director, Whitsett oversees the organization’s staff members while managing the Institute’s three centers: Kyl Center for Water Policy, Arizona Legislative Academy and the Latino Center for Public Policy. She has led the Institute’s signature State of Our State Conference and helped launch the pilot Arizona Citizens’ Initiative Review. Whitsett frequently presents key research findings to business executives, nonprofit leaders and academic community, and has been seen or heard on Horizon, KJZZ, Univision, Phoenix Business Journal and Arizona Week. As a part of her civic leadership, Whitsett is an active member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and served as a board member of AZ Center for Afterschool Excellence and Florence Crittenton. She also has been a grant review panelist for the Arizona Community Foundation. On a historic note, her grandmother was the first Latina to serve on the Arizona State Board of Education.
“With a high-caliber roster of new and existing members of the board of directors, AFW is positioned to accomplish meaningful, community-centric goals in 2019,” said Mesha Davis, chief executive officer, of AFW. According to Davis, AFW will launch a new endowment campaign in 2019, work on its highly anticipated 2020 Status of Women in Arizona Research Report and increase its grantmaking.
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About Arizona Foundation for Women
Arizona Foundation for Women’s (AFW) mission is to advance the status of Arizona’s women through research, advocacy and philanthropy to ensure their safety, health and economic independence. We believe SHE Counts!®
Arizona Foundation for Women not only conducts research, but also helps women gain control of their health by providing grants to health organizations that serve women and their families. The Foundation also hosts She Talks, a series of free presentations and discussions to increase awareness and educate the community about various important women’s issues.
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