Board of Trustees and Staff
The Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona’s success is driven by the tireless efforts of many people including volunteers, donors, grant recipients and the community at large. These efforts are guided through the work and dedication of our Board of Trustees and our executive director. Board of Trustees members serve three-year terms with the option of serving two consecutive terms.
WFSA Board of Trustees
Stephen Cornell
Stephen is a professor of sociology at The University of Arizona where he directs the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy. He led the development, in 2001, of the University’s Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy. Stephen has spent much of his professional career working with indigenous populations and organizations in the U.S., Canada and Australia on self-determination, governance and development issues.
Valerie Diaz
Valerie is the marketing manager of Sol Casinos. She is a member of Las Adelitas, the Arizona César Chávez Holiday Coalition and a past member of the Governor’s Latino Advisory Council.
Judy Gans
Judy is manager of the Immigration Policy Program at The University of Arizona Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy. Raised in Brazil, she speaks Portuguese fluently and recently relocated from Sudbury, Massachusetts. A graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School with a master’s in public administration, Judy is an economist with expertise in U.S. immigration policy.
Dr. Dorothy A. Green
Dorothy has forty years of experience in non profit, corporate and education administration. She works for education reform through Green Innovative Services, an education consulting organization. Dorothy represents Southern Arizona as a board member of the Women’s Funding Network.
Nicci Hinderaker J.D. – Grants Committee Co-Chair
Nicci is an attorney and a mother of two young children. She is an assistant attorney general who represents Child Protective Services in child abuse and neglect cases.
Sherry Johnson – Grants Committee Co-Chair
Sherry leads Raytheon Missile Systems’ Talent Acquisition Team. She has served in community service roles wherever she is located including the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, The Partnership Boston Fellow, Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund, The Coalition of 100 Black Women, and the Greater Framingham Community Church Mentoring Program.
Mary Keane
Mary has over twenty-five years of sales and account management experience in the chemical industry. Over the years she has been active in encouraging young women to pursue careers in science and business. She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Cincinnati.
Clyde Kunz
Clyde has worked in the non profit sector since 1987 after having been a stock broker in California. He currently serves as chief development officer for Arizona Theatre Company. Mr. Kunz is well known as a fundraising professional and speaks and teaches frequently on the topic. He was named “2005 Outstanding Fund Raising Executive” by his colleagues in the Association of Fundraising Professionals Southern Arizona chapter.
Antje Lear
Antje has an extensive background in grant-making, most recently with the Santa Cruz Community Foundation in Nogales, Arizona. She was instrumental in establishing the Border Philanthropy Partnership, which involved developing close ties with the non-profits and the foundations in Mexico. Prior to the Foundation, Antje worked as Program Director at Mi Casa Resource Center for Women in Denver.
Maria Lopez
Maria was a participant in the Unidas class of 2008-09, and graduated from Tucson Magnet High School in 2009.
Fran Luchsinger
Fran is a member of the marketing department at Carondelet Health Network, and has spent her entire career in marketing, working for agencies as well as independently for both for-profit and non profit organizations. She holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from Bradley University as well as a masters degree in business administration from DePaul University. She also serves on the board for the Tucson American Marketing Association.
Sarah Meadows, J.D. – Chair
Sarah is a graduate of The University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law, and currently works as associate general counsel for the Tucson Airport Authority. Prior to joining TAA, she was an associate with a prominent regional law firm and a law clerk at the Arizona Court of Appeals. She is also a member of the board of directors of Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse.
Noemi Navarro – Treasurer
Noemi is the president of La Causa Construction/Chicanos Por La Causa, which builds affordable housing. She also serves on the board of appeals for Development Services, the City of Tucson’s Impact Fee Stakeholder Group and the Pima County Water Conservation Task Force. Noemi previously served on the WFSA Board from 1999 to 2002.
Eileen Palles J.D.
Eileen is an assistant attorney general and serves on several Pima County Juvenile Court committees, including the Family Drug Court Committee. She currently serves on the Trusteeship Committee. She has also served on the WFSA Grants Policy and the Grants Allocation Committees and co-chaired the Luncheon Committee.
Jennifer Roche – Secretary
Jennifer has a degree in community studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She has worked as a statistician, a retail marketer, taught in preschool and elementary schools, and managed a glass engraving enterprise. She continues to coordinate the speakers’ program for the annual WFSA luncheon, and has served as the committee co-chair.
Dr. Tracy Taft
Tracy is the executive director of the International Sonoran Desert Alliance, a tri-cultural and tri-national non- profit organization dedicated to cultural preservation, environmental conservation and sustainable economic development of the natural and cultural resources of the Sonoran Desert. Tracy previously served as the director of the Neighborhood Reinvestment Training Institute in Washington DC.
Claudia Torres
Claudia is currently attending Pima Community College and studies fashion design. She also does freelance writing and photography work with VOICES, Inc. She has been a participant and mentor in the Unidas program and served on the WFSA Luncheon Committee.
Teresa Truelsen
Teresa Truelsen is a journalist with twenty years of experience in the newspaper industry. She worked for the Tucson Citizen for thirteen years, and spearheaded the annual 40 Under 40 awards program. She studied mass communication at what is now Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., and is the mother of two girls.
Maureen “Mimi” Warwick
Mimi is a nurse currently working as the director of adult inpatient services at Tucson Medical Center. Her focus at TMC has been in assisting the organization in its nearly $30 million financial turnaround.
Nancy Weeks
Nancy holds a masters degree in business administration from The University of Arizona, and spent her career as an investment portfolio manager of trust and pension funds. Since retiring she has been active in the community with the Arthritis Foundation, Catalina Foothills Association, and is a master gardener with the Pima County Cooperative Extension.
Darijn “Dari” Zwart
Dari attends University High School where she is a member of the swim team. She was a participant in the Unidas class of 2008-09.
Laura Penny – WSFA Director
A Tucson resident since 1979, Laura has spent many of those years advocating on behalf of women as a volunteer for a variety of local organizations. Professionally, she has worked in the criminal justice, behavioral health and education arenas, all of which have given her insights into the challenges women and girls face in overcoming economic, social, gender and political barriers. She joined the Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona in July 2004.
Kesha Dawson – WSFA Program Director
Kesha joined the Foundation in 2008 after a successful career with an international software company. Kesha is responsible for the Foundation’s grant-making programs. A Six Sigma Black Belt, she is also a certified Zumba instructor.