Dynamic leadership teams have empowered and supported our work.
Shelley Goldseker and Pam Corckran’s visionary leadership inspired the creation of the Circle. Ann Allston Boyce and Lenel Srochi-Meyerhoff nurtured and developed the Circle, Anne Donahue and Lynn Sassin further expanded and enhanced the Circle and, most recently, under the leadership of Pat Joseph and Beth Lebow, the Circle established this presence on the Web and awarded the largest amounts of total grants in the organization’s history. Together, through the various Circle committees, we accomplish the work of the Circle.
Our current officers, elected for a two-year term in May 2010, are:
- Circle Co-Chairs: Ellen Bernard and Christie Coe »
- Treasurer: Mary-Ann Pinkard »
- Assistant Treasurer: Ilene Salcman »
- Secretary: Kimberly Warren »
- Archivist: Kathleen Polk »
Circle Co-Chairs
Circle co-chairs Ellen Bernard and Christie Coe began their two-year term in June 2010
Ellen Bernard is a founding member of the Circle. She is a past chair of the Education Committee and the Nominating Committee and has served as a grants reader and team leader. Ellen attended Brown University and worked for Sports Specialists Limited, a buying cooperative in the ski industry, before moving to Baltimore. Non-profit work has been a part of her life for many years, in social services and the arts. Currently, she is involved with the Walden School, a New Hampshire summer music camp and festival for young musicians interested in creativ e training, where she chaired the board from 2004-2008. Closer to home, she serves on the boards of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society and the Walters Art Museum. Some of her favorite activities include singing with the Larks in Baltimore nursing homes and volunteering with GEDCO (Govans Ecumenical Development Corporation), an interfaith/community group that provides services and housing for the elderly (Stadium Place and others), as well as transitional housing for men and women in recovery.
Christie Coe joined the circle in 2004. She was co-chair of the Visioning Task Force (now the Visioning Committee) and has served on the Grants Committee, both as a reader and team leader, and on the Nominating Committee. Christie received a BS in economics from the University of Maryland and an MBA from the University of Baltimore. The majority of her professional life has been spent fundraising for local non-profits, most notably as the capital campaign director for Catholic Charities. Her work in human services often triggered involvement in volunteer efforts. To raise funds for My Sister's Place Women's Center, for instance, she created Bridesmaids' Bingo, a volunteer run event. In the last few years, she has been a fundraising advisor to Foster Youth Inc. and to the Southwest Baltimore Charter School, and on the board of JHR Baltimore (Jobs Housing Recovery), which runs the city's homeless shelter and provides a residential employment program for formerly homeless men. Currently, she is taking a break from these activities.
Treasurer
Mary-Ann Pinkard is a founding member of the Circle and has been involved with grant-making and evaluation since its inception. She was the original co-chair of the Post Grant Evaluation Committee, and continues to maintain the database of statistics and outcomes of all of the Circle’s grants. On the grant-making side, Mary-Ann provides support to the Grants Committee by tracking all of the proposals from receipt through the final vote. In 2006, she co-chaired the Planning Task Force that reviewed BWGC policy, programs and structure, providing a forum for members to interact on those issues. Currently, Mary-Ann serves as president of the Maryland SPCA, and is a member of the Board of Overseers for the Baltimore School for the Arts and the Young Victorian Theater Company.
Assistant Treasurer
Ilene Salcman joined the Circle in 2009, bringing a lifetime of executive experience in both the business and non-profit worlds. For the past 10 years, she has been an executive with an independent financial services firm, The L. Warner Companies, serving private clients in the wealth transfer and wealth management area, and, as a member of the Executive Committee, helping the firm to expand into new business lines. She made a career change from her senior executive position with the Helix Health System, where she had been involved in health care administration for more than 20 years. Ilene served as chair of the Fund for Educational Excellence for 2 1/2 years, has been on its board for more than 9 years, and continues to serve on its Executive Committee and as chair for board development. She is on the board of United Cerebral Palsy, as well as on its Finance and Audit Committee, and also is on the board of FOMACA at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Ilene went to Boston University for her undergraduate degree and Columbia University for her graduate work, where she obtained an MBA/MPH with a marketing and health care management concentration.
Secretary
Kimberly Warren joined the Circle in 2004 and will complete a two-year term as BWGC Archivist in 2010. She served on the Grants and Post Grant Evaluation Committees and is a team leader for the Grants Committee for the 2010 grant cycle. A former attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Kimberly also is a trained mediator. She is a past president of the Ruxton Riderwood Improvement Association and serves on the board of the Ruxton Area Foundation. Kimberly is involved with a workforce development project at Cylburn Arboretum, and is a past president of the Baltimore Master Gardeners Association. She received a BA from the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont, and her JD from Boston College Law School.
Archivist
Kathleen Polk joined the Baltimore Women's Giving Circle in 2005. She has served on the Communications Committee and developed the membership survey used to evaluate the BWGC in 2007. A vice president at T. Rowe Price Associates for more than 20 years, Kathleen's work focused on investment and company communications. Prior to retirement in 2008, she developed external volunteer projects for employees at the firm, as well as an archive project. Kathleen has served on the board of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps, which links older volunteers with service agencies. Other outreach has included English language training and serving as a docent for school children at the Baltimore Museum of Art. She is a graduate of Newton College in Newton, Mass.