Susan B. Jollie, President
Susan B. Jollie has served as President and CEO of the National Women’s History Museum since 2001, and as a member of the Board since 2000. In this capacity, Ms. Jollie blends a life-long interest in history with the experiences gained as an attorney dealing with high visibility legislative, regulatory, and corporate affairs in Washington, D.C. Ms. Jollie manages a talented team of professionals, staff, supportive organizations, and volunteers pursuing the goal of a permanent museum site near the Mall in Washington, D.C. Ms. Jollie has also overseen NWHM production of the temporary exhibitions Clandestine Women: The Untold Stories of Women in Espionage and Partners in Winning the War: American Women in World War II. Ms. Jollie is directing efforts to bring greater public attention to the major role women have played in shaping American society.
Ms. Jollie majored in history at Marquette University, graduating cum laude in 1972. Ms. Jollie was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and Phi Alpha Theta, the honorary history society. Ms. Jollie attended the Georgetown University Law Center, earning a Juris Doctor degree in 1976.
Ms. Jollie held various positions with the Civil Aeronautics Board, rising to Associate General Counsel. After leaving public service, Ms. Jollie became a Partner in a law firm, specializing in regulatory law, legislative matters, and international law. She founded her own law firm in 1996. Ms. Jollie is a member of professional organizations such as the Aero Club and International Aviation Club. Ms. Jollie also serves as the Vice President of the Wisconsin State Society.
Ms. Jollie has testified before Congress on a number of occasions and argued cases before Courts of Appeals. As President of NWHM, Ms. Jollie frequently speaks to audiences about women’s history and the need for a national educational institution that will serve to inspire current and future generations.
Linda J. Denny, Vice President, Marketing
Linda Denny is Vice President of Women's
Business Enterprise National Council, where she is developing
marketing programs to attract women business owners and decision-makers.
Ms. Denny has had a special interest in women's retirement issues
and guided Aetna in addressing these needs. In 1997, as Corporate
Vice President for New York Life, Linda created and led the New
York Life Women's Initiative, a nationwide program to encourage
more women to pursue careers as agents and sales managers.
Actively involved in a leadership role, Ms. Denny supports the
development and growth of women owned businesses and in addressing
the financial needs of women. She frequently writes on these topics
and is quoted in the press.
Ms. Denny is a member of the board of the Women's Economic Summit
Leadership Council, the Women's Leadership Board sponsored by
the Kennedy School of Harvard University and is a founding member
of the board for the Association of Women's Business Center.
Johanna Hardy
Johanna Hardy is currently Director, Legislative Affairs for Rolls-Royce North America, Inc., a world-leading provider of power systems for four major industries: Civil Aerospace; Defense Aerospace; Marine; and Energy. Prior to her current position, she served as Counsel and then as Senior Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (formerly the Committee on Governmental Affairs), where she worked on various issues including homeland security issues, District of Columbia oversight, Federal real property management, civil liberties and privacy issues, and presidential nominations. In addition, Ms. Hardy actively served as the Chairman’s alternate on the National Capital Planning Commission, the central Federal planning agency in the National Capital Region. During her experience in the U.S. Senate, Ms. Hardy worked on numerous pieces of legislation, including the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, the District of Columbia Family Court Act of 2001, the D.C. College Access Act of 1999, and the National Women’s History Museum Act.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Hardy worked for Carter Hayes Associates in Philadelphia, PA and The Temple Group Inc. in Washington, DC, both are minority and women-owned construction management companies.
Ms. Hardy has been active in the local community through her activities at church as well as through volunteering with various organizations such as the Whitman Walker Clinic in Washington, DC. She is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. She is a member of the D.C. Bar Association and the Society of Women Engineers.
Ms. Hardy holds a Bachelor of Science in Humanities and Engineering (focusing on Music and Nuclear Engineering) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Judith Kaplan, Secretary
Judith Kaplan is an entrepreneur who founded Action Products International Inc.
(NASDAQ:APII). She collects women's history artifacts, promotes women on U.S.
stamps, produces a series of women's history collectibles, and once owned a
women's professional baseball team. Her goal is to strengthen girls' self esteem
as a role model and through increasing their knowledge of women's history.
She was one of the first women to take a company public through
an IPO in 1984. Action Products International Inc. manufactures
educational and non-violent toys sold to museum gift stores, retail
educational learning stores, and other attractions and outlets
worldwide.
Ms. Kaplan established The Judith and Warren Kaplan Women's
History Collection. In 1991, she donated her extensive collection
of women's political artifacts for display at Central Florida
Community College in Ocala. She serves as an Advisor to the Feminist
Scholarship Foundation in Boca Raton, Florida and is the author
of "Women's Suffrage on First Day Covers" and co-author
of "Space Patches from Mercury to the Space Shuttle."
In a 1985 White House ceremony, President Reagan honored Ms.
Kaplan as the State of Florida Small Business Person. She has
been listed in Who's Who in Finance & Industry, American Women
and many other commercial biographies since 1984.
Margaret Alexander Parker
Bringing 25 years of highly successful experience with a wide variety of Republican party, candidate, and association clients, Margaret Alexander Parker is considered one of America’s most accomplished political fundraisers.
Co-founder and Managing Partner of Advantage, Inc. in 1999, a national political, fundraising, and direct marketing consulting firm, Parker left the firm in January of 2005 to re-start her own fundraising company, The Alexander Company. The Alexander Company has assisted Presidential and Senatorial candidates, Fortune 100 companies, and non-profit organizations in fundraising and marketing. Parker specializes in fundraising for Republican candidates, events, and non-profit organizations. She also provides strategic planning in fundraising campaigns for political and non-profit clients.
In January 2001, after a four year leave of absence, she returned to the Republican National Committee to serve a second tour of duty as Finance Director. In that capacity, she organized and led the fundraising team that shattered all national Party records for direct mail, telemarketing, and major donor fundraising -- records that Parker herself had set in her earlier term at the RNC from 1989 to 1993. During the 2000 campaign she also served as an Executive Committee member of Victory 2000 and was appointed an Executive Committee member of the 54th Presidential Inaugural Committee.
Parker has served as National Deputy Finance Chairman of the Bush-Quayle campaign in 1992; National Finance Director of the George Bush for President Committee in 1987-89; Senior Advisor to the Finance Chairman for the American Bicentennial Presidential Inaugural Committee; and consultant to the Office of Personnel at the Office of the President-elect. She has also held major national fundraising positions as Deputy Finance Director of Vice President George Bush’s political action committee, The Fund for America’s Future; Finance Director of GOPAC, then chaired by Delaware Governor Pierre (Pete) du Pont; and Deputy Director of major donor fundraising for the Reagan-Bush ’84 campaign.
She was appointed in 2002 by President George W. Bush to the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts (John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts). She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Council of Young Political Leaders and a member of the Board of Directors of the Washington Center for Politics and Journalism. A native of North Carolina, Parker attended Salem College and received a B.A. in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She currently resides in Washington, D.C. with her husband, Anthony Weyburn Parker.
Alma Morales Riojas
Prior to assuming the role of President and CEO of MANA, Ms. Riojas served as National Executive Director of Federally Employed Women, Inc; Executive Director of the National Alliance of Veteran and Family Service Organizations; Associate Director of the National Network of Runaway and Youth Services; and President of ALMA Consulting Services.
After several years as a grade school teacher and ten years as Regional Manager with USAA Insurance Company in San Antonio, Texas, she moved to the Washington metropolitan area where she took a position as Expert Consultant in personnel and equal opportunity issues with the Washington Headquarters Services, The Pentagon. Her work included development of the first Affirmative Action and Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Plans for the Offices of the Secretary of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff.
On President Reagan’s Transition Team and then in White House Personnel she specialized in Hispanic and women’s recruitment and placement. Later she handled personnel responsibilities for the Offices of the Secretaries of Agriculture and Defense. She then served as Executive Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Manpower, Reserve Affairs and Logistics; Executive Assistant to the Director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization; and as National Director of Equal Opportunity for the Department of Agriculture.
Ms. Riojas has served on the Commission on the Status of Women in Texas and Virginia, and has received numerous professional and civic awards. She is the proud to be a recipient of the Tomás Rivera Leadership Award from the National Hispanic University and member of the Senate Advisory Task Force on Hispanic Affairs. Ms. Riojas was awarded the President’s Outstanding Achievement Award from the National Association of Hispanic Federal Executives. She has been an advisor to Lifetime Network, To the Contrary, a PBS women’s talk show, American Family, a PBS series, Real Women Have Curves an HBO film, and to the Women’s Policy Journal of Harvard University. In 2002 she was appointed to the Secretary of Labor’s Committee on 21st Century Demographics of the President’s Council on 21st Century Workforce. In 2003, the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) presented the Hero’s Award to Ms. Riojas for her work on financial literacy for Latinas.
As National Chairwoman of the American GI Forum she served as a Board member of the Hispanic Education Foundation, National SER, Jobs for Progress, and the National Veterans Outreach Program. Ms. Riojas was on the national boards of the National Hispanic Women’s Council, Women in Community Service and was elected President of the largest women’s political group in Texas. She represented her district at several state and national conventions. She has been keynote speaker at large groups including the American Association of University Women, the Urban League, the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus, National Image, American Federation of Teachers, National Association of School Administrators, the Departments of Defense, Commerce, Navy, and Labor, the Office of the Comptroller General, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the National Safety Transportation Board. She is Chair of the Board of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR), Vice Chair of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, and on National Council of Women’s Organizations’ steering committee. She serves on the Diversity Council for Bennett College, the AARP and Pfizer Hispanic Advisory Council, the National Consumers League Board of Directors, and as Vice-Chair of the SER National Board of Directors.
Ms. Riojas, a National Science Foundation Scholar, attended San Antonio College, Our Lady of the Lake University and the University of Texas in Austin. At Harvard University’s JFK School of Government she completed “Women in Power: Leadership in a New World” Executive Leadership Program and at Harvard University School of Business she completed the “Serving on Corporate Boards of Directors” Program.
Kathleen Waters Sander, Ph.D.
Kathleen Sander is an Adjunct Professor of History at the University
of Maryland University College. For twenty years she worked in
institutional advancement, nonprofit administration, communications,
public relations and grant management. Her skills in strategic,
long-term planning and in successfully building advancement and
management programs were demonstrated while she served as Director
of Development in higher education and nonprofit agencies, such
as the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the University
System of Maryland and the Smithsonian Institution.
Dr. Sander earned a B.S. in English and Journalism from The
Ohio Sate University. Her M.A. and Ph.D. and doctoral studies
at the University of Maryland College Park concentrated on 18th
and 19th century American cultural and social history, including
the history of American philanthropy, reform, and women's economic
issues and entrepreneurship. She is the author of The Business
of Charity: the Woman's Exchange Movement, 1832-1900 (1998) and
numerous journal and newspaper articles on 19th century history.
Dr. Sander often speaks to local and national organizations
on subjects such as 18th and 19th history, philanthropy, and contemporary
fund raising issues. She serves on the Board of Directors for
organizations including the Woman's Industrial Exchange, Baltimore
and the Federation of Women's Exchanges, St. Louis.
Barbara Semedo
Barbara Semedo is a Senior Vice President at GMMB, Inc., a major strategic communications firm in Washington DC. She handles media relations and communications planning for the education program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a client of GMMB. Ms. Semedo has served
as PR counsel to senior executives on overall communication strategy,
as well as crisis communications. She is a senior communications executive with over 30 years of experience and exposure to national issues as a former journalist and public affairs specialist.
As a national daily news TV reporter Ms. Semedo distinguished
herself covering news stories such as a KKK rally, a 2-day riot
in DC, a complex federal court-ordered desegregation case, and
the 1985 farm crisis. Her outstanding national reporting work
resulted in a News Emmy Award Nomination in 1992.
Ms. Semedo served as Communications Manager to the Executive
Leadership Council, overseeing operations for a 100-member networking
group concerned with economic, political, and legislative issues
for corporate America, and she worked directly with senior-level
Fortune 500 executives. She spent a number of years at the U.S.
Department of Energy, US Agency for International Development
and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at the Department
of Commerce, serving as primary media spokesperson. Ms. Semedo
also worked for the White House as Deputy Director for Communications
for the President's Initiative on Race. Her most recent position
was Senior Public Affairs Advisor at Holland and Knight, LLP.
Ms. Semedo earned a BA in Communications from Simmons College
in Boston, MA.
Ann E. W. Stone, Vice President, Resources
Development
Ann Stone is a Founding Board member, Treasurer and one of three original incorporators of the National Women's History Museum. She was also an integral part of the campaign by the Museum to pass legislation and raise money to move the "Portrait Monument" (the statue given by the suffragists to the Congress to celebrate the passage of the 19th Amendment) out of the Crypt of the Capitol and into the Rotunda. She actually negotiated the terms for the move.
Ann Stone is also the founder and president of The Stone Group,Inc., an award-winning direct marketing business. Ms. Stone has founded other businesses and helped launch a national bank. She serves on the boards of Empowered Women International and The Washington Center (Women as Leaders). She is the past Chairman of the Alexandria branch of the American Heart Association and was an officer of The Association of Direct Marketing Agencies (ADMA) and serves on a variety of other Boards and Commissions. She was chosen by the Governor to serve on the last Board of Historic Preservation for the state of Virginia before it was folded into the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA). She co-hosts a local public affairs TV show, Alexandria Forum, in Alexandria Virginia and has published a host of articles and op ed pieces on a variety of topics.
Ms. Stone speaks professionally in the United States and overseas on such topics as entrepreneurship, politics, women's history, women's issues, and much more. She has been listed in the Who's Who of Marketing and Advertising Executives and the International Edition of Who's Who as well as Outstanding Women in America. In 1992, she was chosen as one of 75 Women Who Changed Politics in America by C&E Magazine. She has been featured in many newspapers worldwide and appears on national television on a variety of issues.
A graduate of George Washington University, with a double major in history and communications, Ms. Stone did graduate work in corporate finance and management at the Wharton School of Business consortium.
Wilma L. Vaught, Brigadier General USAF Ret.
General Wilma Vaught is one of the most decorated military women
in U.S. history. During her military career, General Vaught held
various positions in the comptroller field all over the world,
from Spain to Vietnam to Dayton, Ohio. She was Deputy Chief of
Staff in Maryland. Her last military assignment was as Commander
of the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command, North Chicago,
Illinois.
She served as Chairperson of the NATO women in the Allied Forces
Committee from 1983 to 1985 and was the senior woman military
representative to the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the
Services from 1982 to 1985.
Due to General Vaught's efforts, the nation's first major national
memorial to honor women who served in our nation's armed forces
during all eras and in all services was opened at Arlington Cemetery.
General Vaught is the President of the Board of Directors of the
Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation.
General Vaught earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana from which she received
the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award in 1983. She also holds
a MBA degree from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, and an
Honorary Doctorate of Public Affairs from Columbia College, SC.
She received the Woman Who Made A Difference Award in 1985, the
Margaret Cochran Corbin Award in 2000, and was inducted into the
National Women's Hall of Fame in 2000.
Joan Bradley Wages, Senior Vice President,
External Affairs
Joan Wages is a president of Cash, Smith & Wages, a consulting
firm with offices in Alexandria, Virginia, and Tiburon, California.
The firm specializes in government affairs and organizational
development. Ms. Wages is a registered lobbyist with a wide range
of political experience including state and federal legislation,
national grassroots lobbying campaigns, lobbying federal agencies
to influence the regulatory process, and political campaigns.
She writes frequently for national publications.
Ms. Wages has focused on women's issues on Capitol Hill and
has worked with legislators, women's organizations and related
political activities. Her legislative accomplishments include
passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act, the smoking ban on
aircraft, and Delaware legislation preventing the take-over of
corporations by corporate raiders. As a political action committees
(PAC) director, she has frequent contact with members of Congress.
Ms. Wages participated in the Democratic National Committee Women's
Leadership Forum, the Majority Council of EMILY's List, and Women
in Transportation. She also served on the Board of the Virginia
Alliance for Health Care Freedom.
Ms. Wages is a founding board member of NWHM and worked to raise
the money and pass legislation to move the Suffrage Statue depicting
founders of the U.S. suffrage movement from the U.S. Capitol Crypt
upstairs into the Rotunda where it now stands.
Ms. Wages has worked in public relations giving radio and television
interviews. She frequently speaks to groups ranging from 30 to
500 people and is a published author. She has a B.A. in Mathematics
from Auburn University and a MBA degree in Philosophy from Columbia
Pacific.
Doris Weatherford
Doris Weatherford is a leading women's historian. She published her first book, Foreign and Female: Immigrant Women in America: 1840-1930, in 1986.
Her second book, American Women and World War II, came out in 1990; it has been translated into Japanese. Then followed American Women’s History: An A-Z (1994), and Milestones: A Chronology of American Women’s History (1997).
Geraldine Ferraro wrote the Introduction for next book, A History of the American Suffragist Movement (1998), issued in connection with the 150th anniversary of the first women’s rights convention. Congressman Jim Davis honored Weatherford by including this in the Congressional Record.
She served as executive editor for Women’s Almanac (2000 and 2002) and most recently completed the four-volume A History of Women in the United States: A State-by-State Reference (2003).
In addition to entries in works such as Scribner’s classic Dictionary of American Biography, Ms. Weatherford has received grants from the YWCA and the Florida Humanities Council. “Remember the Women,” a photo exhibition of largely forgotten Florida women, has been displayed in public libraries throughout the state and is available at the Council’s website.
During the administration of Governor Lawton Chiles, Ms. Weatherford chaired the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame, which is on permanent exhibit in the rotunda of the state capitol. Governor Chiles also appointed Weatherford as a trustee of Hillsborough Community College.
Ms. Weatherford is listed in various editions of the World Who’s Who of Women, Who’s Who in America, and Contemporary Authors. A member of the Authors Guild, her most important honors are from the International Association of School Librarians and the National Order of Women Legislators.
