July 26, 2022
Nonprofit also welcomes two new leaders to executive team.
Dallas – WiNGS has named five members to its Board of Directors – Andrea Albright, Managing Director at Bank of America; Leona Allen Ford, Chief Talent and Diversity Officer/Deputy Publisher at The Dallas Morning News; Jeff Harvey, Partner at Holland & Knight LLP; Malia Hodges, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Oncor Electric Delivery; and Jessica Shepherd, MD, MBA, FACOG, Chief Medical Officer at Verywell Health. The new additions round out the 22-member board and expand the range of experience and expertise. In addition, WiNGS welcomed Laura Reeder as its Chief Development Officer and Leilani Miller as its Chief Financial Officer.
“The WiNGS board is a reflection of our community and embodies the cognitive diversity necessary to guide the expansion of the WiNGS mission,” said James Vaughan, President of the WiNGS Board of Directors. “I am confident that our new and existing board members will contribute invaluable perspective to our WiNGS leadership team as we grow our programming to meet the needs of women in the Dallas Community.”
Andrea Garcia Albright is a Managing Director and Senior Treasury Solutions Manager in Global Transaction Services at Bank of America. Based in Dallas, she is responsible for managing a team of Treasury Advisors, delivering working capital and cash management solutions to businesses within the Middle Market Banking line of business. In her 22-year tenure with Bank of America, she has been an active champion of diversity and leadership at the firm and in the community. Currently, she is a member of Bank of America’s Hispanic-Latino Leadership Council, Bank of America’s North Texas Hispanic Business Council, and Bank of America’s Social and Economic Action Council, in which the council with a mission to make a difference in underserved communities. Andrea is a graduate of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin with a major in Finance.
Leona Allen Ford, a Pulitzer-Prize winner, became Deputy Publisher of The Dallas Morning News in August 2020. She is responsible for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the company. In April 2022, her role expanded to include Chief Talent and Diversity Officer for The Dallas Morning News and Medium Giant, the company’s marketing services agency. More recently, she was a member of the editorial board specializing in politics, education and racial justice issues. She served six years as chair and a decade on the board of The Dallas Morning News Charities that has contributed $32 million over the years to organizations that serve the hungry and homeless in North Texas. She serves as vice president of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas board of directors. She’s a two-term president of the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors, and proud graduate of North Texas State University and Skyline High School in Dallas.
Jeff Harvey is a business attorney and legal counselor with broad expertise in developing and supporting customized legal and risk mitigation strategies that balance business, technical, operational and legal concerns. Currently, Jeff is a Partner with international law firm Holland & Knight LLP. Jeff is an active member of the Dallas business and civic community and is active with his family at the Episcopal School of Dallas and Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church. Jeff serves on the Board of Directors of the DEC Network, Wake Forest General Counsel Dean’s Advisory Committee and Board of the Texas General Counsel Forum. In his legal practice, Jeff advises several nonprofit organizations through their entire lifecycle from formation, qualification and initial funding to operations, compliance and reporting to fundraising and special gifts to deployment and distribution of proceeds.
Malia Hodges, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Oncor Electric Delivery, is responsible for Oncor’s information technology function including strategy and operations, technology investment management and cybersecurity operations. Prior to her current role, she led and was responsible for the execution of Oncor’s technology investment portfolio and organizational change management activities. Before joining Oncor in 2014, Malia was with Sendero Business Services, L.P., where she advised clients, including Oncor, on the implementation of various strategic technology and customer engagement initiatives. Malia also has experience in management consulting, organizational design and change management, global delivery and operations management, business process design and digital grid operations.
Dr. Jessica Shepherd earned her MD from Ross University School of Medicine and her MBA from University of Louisville. As the Chief Medical Officer of Verywell Health, she has taken the stage for many events to share her knowledge of wellness, diversity and leadership skills. Dr. Shepherd launched an editorial series on health disparities which led her to speak at events such as the 2020 Women’s March in New York City. She has been published in many thought-leadership articles featured in Forbes, Adweek, Vogue and Self. She is also featured as a regular guest on The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, CBSN and MSNBC. In addition to her extensive speaking and health experience, Dr. Shepherd is an active board member of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Texas Women Foundation.
“I am thrilled to welcome and include both Leilani and Laura on our leadership team,” said Kate Rose Marquez, CEO of WiNGS. “Both of them bring content expertise from stellar professional backgrounds and will greatly enhance our efforts to further WiNGS’ mission of empowering women, fighting poverty and impacting generations.”
Leilani Miller serves as the Chief Financial Officer for WiNGS. In her role, she is responsible for all financial, HR and operations. Leilani has over 20 years of experience in Accounting and Finance spanning from manufacturing, retail, service and now non-profit. She saw the transition to WiNGS as an opportunity to align her personal values with her professional values. Leilani is a 17-year Certified Public Accountant with a master’s degree in Accounting and Finance Management. She has called Texas home for 12 years and is excited to be a part of something that promotes the efforts to support and encourage others.
Dallas native, Laura Reeder, is thrilled to take on her new role as Chief Development Officer for WiNGS. Laura started her career in the film industry in Los Angeles but moved back to Dallas to run a local production company. After volunteering with different non-profits in Dallas, she decided to change careers and use her fundraising and production skills to work in non-profit. In her role as CDO, Laura is responsible for providing strategy and implementing WiNGS fundraising efforts. Additionally, Laura oversees WiNGS communication efforts. With over 10 years of relevant experience, Laura is thrilled to be supporting the WiNGS mission and empowering women in her hometown.
The full 2022-2023 Board of Directors includes:
- James Vaughan, President
- Michelle Hudson, President-Elect
- Mary Henderson, Finance Chair and Treasurer
- Ashley Storms, Secretary
- Emily Casso, Nominating and Governance Chair
- Jeff Harvey, Development Chair
- Laura Ryan, Immediate Past President
- Andrea Albright
- Melissa Cooksey
- Ellen Farrell
- Leona Allen Ford
- Anamika Gupta
- Malia Hodges
- Jervonne Newsome
- Cynthia Nwaubani
- Leanne Oliver
- Karen Perry Ashmore
- Jolene Risch
- Jessica Shepherd, MD, MBA, FACOG
- Holly Tucker
- Linda Wilkins
To learn more about WiNGS and how they are impacting the Dallas community, visit ascenddallas.org.
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About WiNGS
Founded in 1908, WiNGS offers robust and immediate solutions to women in the Dallas community, constantly evolving to meet women’s changing needs. Formerly the Dallas YWCA, WiNGS has a long history of empowering women to lift themselves out of poverty and adversity, while pursuing a new chapter for themselves and their children. They provide a tailored suite of services and resources – including financial literacy, one-on-one financial coaching and the Nurse-Family Partnership – to help women gain confidence and skills needed to start a new chapter, a new business or a new family. ascenddallas.org
Contact: Emily Wingate, ewingate@sunwestpr.com, 469-767-1689