Michelle Warren is recognized as a top female leader in Delaware!

Women We Admire is pleased to announce The Top 50 Women Leaders of Delaware for 2025. Known as the First State and the Diamond State, Delaware has a long and storied history, including being the first state to ratify the Constitution. Despite being the second smallest state in the union, Delaware plays an outsized role in many industries, including education, financial services, agriculture, science, technology, manufacturing, and healthcare.

Among this year’s awardees is Vilmarie Gilliam, Head of Partnerships of Codoxo, a forensic AI platform. With over 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Gilliam is responsible for identifying and managing partners, defining objectives and timelines, establishing repeatable and data-driven practices, and overseeing a program that drives meaningful revenue, enhances client retention, and strengthens the organization's positioning with prospective clients.

We also honor Amber Wellman, Chief Sustainability Officer of The Chemours Company, a global leader in chemistry. Wellman has 15 years of experience innovating in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, leading teams across technical, operations, commercial, and regulatory disciplines. She plays a central role in establishing strategic collaborations and partnerships with external experts, companies, industries, and organizations to advance Chemours’ sustainability efforts.

Finally, we acknowledge Mary Remmler, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the University of Delaware. With more than 30 years of experience as a senior financial and operational leader in higher education, Remmler oversees the strategic budget and financial operations for the university, managing an annual operating budget of over $1.2 billion, a nearly $2 billion endowment, and an enrollment of more than 24,000 students.

Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of The Top 50 Women Leaders of Delaware for 2025.

2. Barbara McCullough
VP of Compliance & Sustainability - Biopharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca

Barbara McCullough serves as the Vice President of Compliance and Sustainability in Biopharmaceuticals at AstraZeneca. Leading the compliance program across the US and various global functions, she holds key roles within the US Leadership Team, the Global Ethics and Transparency Team, and the Safety, Health, and Environment Executive Committee. McCullough is also the co-leader of the US Compliance and Ethics Leadership Team and a dedicated Sustainability Ambassador.

Since joining AstraZeneca in 2005, McCullough has excelled at leading high-performing teams. Passionate about talent cultivation and sustainability, she transformed the assurance program for Latin America and the US in her recent role as America's assurance lead. McCullough’s impactful career also includes managing a speaker program strategy, overseeing audit activities, and forming the first AstraZeneca Healthcare Compliance Committee Review Board.

As a prominent figure in the industry, McCullough contributes to the Delaware Chamber of Commerce as a board member and actively engages in the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Working Group. She earned an undergraduate degree in business management from Wilmington University.

4. Royce Warrick
SVP, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, & Corporate Secretary, Solenis

Royce Warrick has multiple roles at Solenis, including Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Corporate Secretary. 

The company, based in Wilmington, Delaware, has been fortunate to have Warrick as a leader for the past nine years, beginning in August 2014. One way she shows her dedication to creating a welcoming environment for all employees is by serving as a DE&I Champion. Warrick worked for The Dow Chemical Company from 2009 until 2014, serving as senior managing counsel and global commercial legal director. 

Warrick earned an AB from Duke University, where she was a cheerleader and member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She earned her JD from Villanova University's Charles Widger School of Law.

7. Kimberly Booth
VP of Investor Relations, Corteva Agriscience

Kim Booth is the Vice President of Investor Relations at Corteva. Corteva is a publicly traded pure-play, global ag technology company headquartered in Indianapolis with about $17 billion in net sales in 2024 and 23,000 employees worldwide. 

In this role, Booth is responsible for managing the company’s relationship with the investment community, including current and target institutional shareholders, Wall Street analysts, and other stakeholders to ensure that informed decisions can be made on whether to invest in the company. Her responsibilities include developing and communicating key messages about the company through quarterly earnings calls, investor conferences, executive meetings with large investors, and special events, including capital markets days. Booth holds leadership roles in Corteva’s Women’s Inclusion Network (WIN) business resource group, where she participates in the global leadership team and Allyship sub-chapter. As Wilmington WIN site leader, she launched a mentoring program to help connect the company’s employees with leaders in the broader organization to help with career advancement.

Booth has been with Corteva since its 2019 spin-off from DowDuPont, after having joined the DuPont Tax organization back in 2010. As tax director at Corteva, she was responsible for the company’s global financial accounting and reporting for income taxes. Before joining DuPont, Booth was an International tax senior manager for Deloitte in Philadelphia, where she spent the first 10 years of her career. She earned a BA in Economics and Business Administration from Ursinus College and an MST in Taxation from Villanova University School of Law, and she is a licensed CPA in the state of Pennsylvania. Booth grew up in Philadelphia and lives with her family in Wilmington, DE, where through two teenage sons, they are members of the Salesianum School, Saint Edmond’s Academy, and Sporting Athletic Club communities.

10. Vilmarie Gilliam
Head of Partnerships, Codoxo

Vilmarie Gilliam is the Head of Partnerships of Codoxo. At Codoxo, formerly Fraudscope, they're on a mission to make their healthcare system more affordable and effective. Their forensic AI platform uses a patented algorithm to identify problems and suspicious behavior earlier than traditional techniques, which helps ensure their scarce healthcare dollars go to real patient care.

Gilliam is responsible for identifying and managing partners, defining objectives and timelines, establishing repeatable and data-driven practices, and overseeing a program that drives meaningful revenue, enhances client retention, and strengthens the organization's positioning with prospective clients. With over 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry, she is a seasoned leader and strategist specializing in partnerships, health plans, providers, and business consulting. Her mission is to improve the healthcare ecosystem in the payment integrity space through the implementation of advanced AI and GenAI solutions. 

Gilliam began her early work in 1992 as a manager, providing network services at Independence Blue Cross. From there, she went on to McKesson Health Solutions, before eventually rising to VP of partnerships at RxSense, her most recent position before joining the Codoxo team. Gilliam graduated from Cornell University with an undergraduate degree in industrial labor and relations.

12. Susan McGarry
HR Director & Regional Human Resources Business Partner, CLS Americas, CSC

As a dual-certified HR leader, Susan McGarry has achieved and maintained senior certifications through both the HR Certification Institute (SPHR) and the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM-SCP). Her career is anchored in robust HR leadership, with over 25 years of experience across diverse HR functions. She has consistently delivered impactful results, including leading the growth of Best Egg, Inc.'s workforce from 50 to approximately 700 employees, establishing a culture of continuous learning, and securing "Top Workplaces" recognition for multiple consecutive years.

McGarry’s expertise includes talent acquisition, employee development, employee engagement, performance management, diversity and inclusion, benefits administration, strategic planning, and leadership development. As a seasoned HR professional, she successfully transitioned from managing an "HR department of one" to leading a high-performing HR team of approximately 20 professionals, fostering their growth and aligning their efforts with organizational goals. Her career also includes successful tenures at Terumo Cardiovascular Systems and Citigroup, where she demonstrated versatility and expertise in HR management and recruitment. Her dedication to HR innovation is evidenced by her certifications, speaking engagements, and participation in webinars, which reflect her commitment to staying at the forefront of HR practices and industry trends. Most recently, McGarry joined CSC as an HR director, supporting the company’s largest business unit, Corporate and Legal Services, as a Regional HR Business Partner for North America, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands. In this role, she collaborates with the HRBP team across the globe and CLS business leaders to provide consultative HR support. Her role takes a proactive approach to supporting geographically dispersed teams while serving as the primary HR partner in the US for senior CLS leadership.

McGarry was born and raised in Delaware and currently resides in the Hockessin/Newark area, surrounded by her family. Married for over 20 years to a supportive husband who embraces her quirks, she is the proud mother of three wonderful children, two in college and one in high school, and the owner of three beloved dogs. An avid reader, McGarry enjoys diving into books and escaping from the world around her for a while. She is also a talented cake decorator, creating amazing confections for family and friends to celebrate life’s special events. She and her husband also love traveling to different regions and exploring wine trails.

14. Carolmarie Brown
VP of Corporate Affairs, Global Marketing, Brand,  & Business Communications, Ashland

Carolmarie Brown is the VP of Corporate Affairs, Global Marketing, Brand, and Business Communications at Ashland. As a business executive, strategist, marketing, brand, and communications expert, Brown understands how to drive business growth, shape the brand and reputation of multinational companies, and put the power of people and products in the hands of customers and communities around the world with a responsibility that spans across the Ashland enterprise. She is an integral member of Ashland’s executive team and the surrounding community, reporting to Ashland’s chair and CEO. She led the development of a successful, comprehensive philanthropic strategy, Responsible Solvers, that allows Ashland leaders and local employees to customize their philanthropic community programs to fit the unique needs of countries and cultures from Thailand to Texas and Newark to New Delhi. When Ashland took on a new environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy that drove those disciplines deeper into the company at every level, it was Brown who spearheaded the communications plan, bringing a technical strategy to life, and shining a spotlight on the people behind the products, employees who are experts in manufacturing, sourcing, commercial sales, and research and development. Ashland’s ESG presence has become a defining feature of the $2.2 billion company, with a digital presence whose audiences increased by more than 1700 percent in one year alone. She is the public information officer for Ashland’s Global Incident Management Team.

In 2023 Brown was recognized as one of the Top Women in Business by Delaware Today and the Delaware Business Times from more than 300 entries spanning a wide range of industries and roles across Delaware. Throughout her career, she has helped companies achieve strategic objectives with marketing know-how and a keen eye on the bottom line. She's a brand builder with business acumen, who led the evolution of the Ashland corporate brand strategy, positioning, and creative identity, post-IPO of Valvoline. The work won a REBRAND 100 Award of Distinction and an Ashland Chairman's Award. Before Ashland, Brown’s s business accomplishments included a 25-year career at DuPont in various roles, including marketing, sales, communications, issues management, public relations, new business and product development, brand management, and licensing. She was responsible for some of DuPont’s most profitable brands, including Teflon, Lycra, Corian, and STAINMASTER. Brown began her professional career as a child model and in broadcasting and advertising and previously worked with the Kraft Dairy Group and Dow Consumer Products. All of this gave her a foundation to build a powerful and influential career. She began her professional career in broadcasting and advertising. 

Brown holds a BS from the Roy H. Park School of Communications and a BA in English Literature from Ithaca College. She volunteers as a second-grade PREP teacher at Saint Anthony of Padua in Wilmington, Delaware, and she has held positions on the board of directors for the Little Sisters of the Poor and the Delaware Humane Association (now Humane Animal Partners, HAP). Throughout her career, Brown has been an advocate for young women aspiring to business leadership. She was born in Upstate New York, the daughter of a loving Sicilian immigrant father and a strong Italian mother. She and her husband live in Delaware with their twin daughters, two dogs, and several cats.

17. Denise Dodson
Vice President of Tax, Enovis

Denise Dodson is the Vice President of Tax of Enovis. Enovis is a global medical technology innovator dedicated to improving lives by developing clinically differentiated solutions that enhance patient outcomes and restore motion for life. They strive to make each day better by partnering with the brightest minds in health to advance care that is smarter, personalized, and more effective while improving operational efficiency for surgeons and clinicians around the world. 

Dodson has extensive experience in tax services, with a focus on compliance, reporting, and strategic tax planning. Dodson has held roles at Enovis, Colfax Corporation, EY, and Legg Mason. At EY, she served as a partner, leading the global compliance and reporting group in the Baltimore office. Dodson demonstrated expertise in tax risk management, tax rate minimization, supply chain optimization, and cash flow optimization. She also has experience in accounting for income taxes under US GAAP and IFRS, as well as internal controls over financial reporting. Before EY, she held a VP role at Legg Mason, where she built and led a high-functioning tax department in a global business environment. Dodson’s accomplishments included streamlining the tax function through technology and establishing global tax provision processes. Her career also includes a senior manager position at Ernst & Young.

Dodson holds a Master's degree in Taxation from the University of Baltimore and a Bachelor's degree in Accounting from the University of Delaware. In addition, she has a CPA certification.


View the complete list of awardees.

19. Michelle Burroughs
SVP & Chief Diversity Officer, WSFS Bank

Michelle Burroughs has been serving at WSFS Bank since October 2021 as Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer. A Certified Professional Coach and a Cornell Certified Diversity Professional, Burroughs has extensive expertise spanning 20 years in areas, such as strategic planning, risk management, operations, diversity, change management, and community engagement. 

Burroughs is well-known for her dedication to creating inclusive organizational cultures. As part of her strategy, she establishes attainable goals with specific deadlines for their completion. Efforts to improve diversity and inclusion in the workplace have her full attention. Among her many achievements, she stands out for being named a YMCA Black Achiever and for being honored with the Presidential and Vice President's Choice Awards at Delaware State University. Burroughs is a former board member and current VP of the National Black MBA Association, as well as the United Way (SCC) and the Maternal Child and Health Consortium. 

Burroughs received an EdD in Educational Leadership and Administration from Delaware State University. Along with her Six Sigma Greenbelt certification, she also earned the Diversity Professional credential from Cornell University.

23. Laura Tourge
SVP & Head of Marketing, CubeSmart

Laura Tourge has extensive work experience in marketing and leadership roles. She has served as the Senior Vice President and Head of Marketing at CubeSmart since 2023. CubeSmart is a Pennsylvania-based real estate investment trust that owns and operates 1,251 self-storage properties across the United States.

Before this, Tourge worked at Momentum Financial Services Group from 2020 to 2023, where she served as the chief marketing officer and head of retail experience. At Capital One from 2015 to 2020, she held various leadership positions, including vice president of performance marketing and customer communications and senior director of brand strategy and customer marketing. Before that, she worked at Citi as a senior director for the ThankYou Preferred Credit Card Portfolio from 2012 to 2015. Earlier in her career, Tourge worked at Chase as a marketing director for the Blueprint Brand Marketing and Slate Portfolio Management and Pricing Strategy. She also had experience at HSBC as a commercial banking segment manager and at W.B. Doner & Company as an advertising traffic coordinator. She started her career as an account executive at Ogilvy & Mather.

Tourge earned her MBA in Marketing from Fordham Gabelli School of Business. Before that, she completed her Bachelor's degree in Marketing at James Madison University.

24. Christina Deidesheimer
VP & Chief Communications & Marketing Officer, Beebe Healthcare

Christina Deidesheimer is the Vice President and Chief Marketing Communications Officer at Beebe Healthcare. Beebe is a Delaware-based nonprofit organization that owns and operates a network of hospitals that provide general, emergency, and specialty medical care services. It offers services throughout Southern Delaware for residents and visitors, including a 210-licensed-bed hospital, a cancer treatment center, and outpatient facilities providing walk-in care, lab, imaging, and physical rehabilitation services.

Deidesheimer brings with her more than 10 years of strategic healthcare marketing and communications, as well as experience in business development and strategic planning in highly competitive environments. She oversees a team of professionals in the areas of marketing, communications, media relations, digital strategy, and physician relations. The team is responsible for developing strategies to support the growth of the healthcare system.

Before coming to Beebe Healthcare, Deidesheimer served as an independent healthcare consultant, helping clients find their strategic vision. Previous to that role, she served as business development director for OhioHealth, developing strategic plans for a geographic region within the health system. She also served as the director of business development and marketing for a multi-facility health system in the Duke LifePoint network, where she was responsible for overseeing a rebranding campaign. Deidesheimer earned a Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications from West Virginia University and an undergraduate degree in theater and performance from Ohio University.

28. Liz Richards
Partner, McKenna Media

Liz Richards is a Partner at McKenna Media, one of the only 100% women-owned media firms in Democratic politics. An award-winning ad maker and advocate, Richards serves as a media consultant to dozens of elected leaders and candidates across the country, including multiple members of Congress. Most recently, served as a media consultant to Kyle Evans Gay in her successful bid for Lieutenant Governor. Born and raised in Wilmington, she cut her teeth in Delaware politics as an intern on the campaigns of Jack Markell in 2008 and Chris Coons in 2010 before going on to manage and win campaigns in some of the most competitive races in the nation. 

In addition to her electoral work, Richards has extensive experience leading advocacy efforts to help local communities achieve big wins. In 2021, she founded Delaware Cares, a coalition of 50 health, faith, labor, business, and community organizations, and led the group to victory passing Delaware's landmark paid family and medical leave law. Before that effort, Richards managed the successful campaign to pass Maryland's paid sick days law, earning designation as a “Winner of the 2017 Legislative Session” by Maryland Matters. She continues to advise advocacy campaigns in Delaware and Maryland.

Richards has a BA in Political Science from American University and a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. She lives in Wilmington with her husband and two young daughters.

29. Michelle Warren
President, Catalyst Consulting Group, LLC 

Michelle Warren is the President of Catalyst Consulting Group, LLC. Catalyst Consulting Group, LLC, specializes in implementing technical solutions for various agencies, particularly government agencies, and is passionate about revolutionizing their business processes and how they conduct their business operations.

Warren is a leading force in the commercial furniture industry with 27 years of experience. Holding executive positions on the manufacturing and dealer side, she is known as a strategist with a passion for distilling difficult topics for easy learning and selling. Her talents resulted in unprecedented sales growth throughout her career and ultimately led her to the public sector; demystifying how to position product sales to the government. Her success and easy-to-understand approach led her to open Catalyst in 2021.

Warren began her early work in 1998 as a global account manager at Haworth. From there, she went on to AIS, before eventually rising to VP of the vertical markets group at Fellowes Contract Interiors at Fellowes Brands, her most recent position before joining Catalyst Consulting Group. Warren graduated from the University of Baltimore with a Master’s degree in Business and from Frostburg State University with an undergraduate degree in business marketing.

30. Amy Stengel
Head of Human Capital, Best Egg

Amy Stengel is the Head of the Human Capital of Best Egg. Best Egg is a consumer financial technology platform that aims to help people feel more confident about their everyday finances through a suite of products and resources. Their digital financial platform offers simple, accessible, and personalized financial solutions, including personal loans, credit cards, and a financial health resource center. 

Stengel is a business leader, educator, and lawyer turned human resources professional, dedicated to bringing a more human-centered approach to the workplace. With a well-rounded business background, she brings a unique perspective to human capital leadership. Her expertise spans organizational development, diversity, equity, and inclusion, talent management, leadership development, training, and coaching.

Before joining Best Egg, Stengel was the program director for the Women's Leadership Initiative at the University of Delaware (UD). Before that, she was a group vice president and managing director at Wilmington Trust. Earlier in her career, she worked with Christina School District as an English teacher for Glasgow High School. Stengel graduated from Temple University’s James E. Beasley School of Law with a JD in Corporate Tax and from the University of Delaware with an undergraduate degree in English education.

33. Julia McDerby
SVP & Chief Human Resources Officer, Artisans' Bank

Julia McDerby is the SVP and Chief Human Resources Officer of Artisans' Bank. Founded in 1861, Artisans’ Bank is a locally managed, mutually owned community bank headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. In her position, McDerby is responsible for the Human Resources Division, which encompasses talent acquisition and development, benefits and payroll administration, HR technology, employee relations, and culture and inclusion.

McDerby joined Artisans’ Bank as a relationship banker in 2005 and was promoted to branch manager in 2007, where she provided best-in-class customer service and team leadership within the Retail Administration Division. In 2015, McDerby transitioned her career to human resources management, becoming vice president and human resources director in 2018. Since joining the HR Division, McDerby has excelled in modernizing HR functions and systems, reviewing employment benefits and practices, and navigating the employment landscape.

McDerby holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Delaware. She is a member of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and maintains her SHRM Certified Professional designation. McDerby was recently elected to serve on the Board of Goodwill of Delaware and Delaware County.


View the complete list of awardees.

37. Priscilla Michelle Mpasi
Assistant Medical Director - Clinically Integrated Network, ChristianaCare Health System

Dr. Priscilla Mpasi is the Assistant Medical Director for the Clinical Alliance and a primary care Pediatrician at ChristianaCare Health System. She completed the National Clinicians Scholars Program health policy fellowship and is completing a Master of Science in Health Policy and Research at the University of Pennsylvania. She earned her BS in Psychology from Duke University, her M.D. from Virginia Commonwealth University and completed a pediatrics residency with a certificate in Advocacy at the University of Maryland Children’s Hospital.

Her primary work focuses on population health implementation and health equity initiatives to promote quality healthcare system navigation and resource utilization. She additionally focuses on Medicaid Network Adequacy, with particular focus on maternal and pediatric patients, and access to social health resources for medically vulnerable populations and historically minority communities. She is a nationally recognized leader in pediatric health and minority health outcomes, where she serves as advisor for health departments, medical organizations and community organizations. She is an advocate for educational preparation and leadership development for physicians and medical students of color to expand workforce diversity in the medical field.

Dr. Mpasi currently serves as the Region II Trustee on the Board of Trustees for the National Medical Association (NMA) and the NMA Representative for the national Women’s Wellness through Equity and Leadership Alliance. She is the first woman and first black person Governor-Appointed Chair for the Delaware Healthy Mother and Infant Consortium to provide statewide leadership and coordination to improve maternal and child health outcomes. She has also held national offices for the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Medical Association. She has received numerous awards that includes the National Minority Quality Forum 40 Under 40 Leader in Health, the Virginia Commonwealth University10 Under 10 Alumni, and the AMA Foundation Physicians of Tomorrow Award.

38. Kendra Johnston
Director, Client Service & Business Development, MetLife Worldwide Benefits

Kendra Johnston rejoined the MetLife Worldwide Benefits team as the Director of Client Service in April 2022 and added her current responsibilities in Business Development in July 2024. She is based in their global headquarters in Wilmington, DE. Johnston’s entire professional career has been in the expatriate health insurance industry, a niche and nuanced part of employer-sponsored group benefits. 

Johnston is responsible for a team of account managers and client service consultants who maintain client relationships and are responsible for overall client satisfaction, including resolving escalated service items. She and her team partner with the sales account executives to implement strategic account planning and to ensure proactive and comprehensive customer development.

Before this role, Johnston served as a senior client manager at both Cigna Global Health Benefits and MetLife Worldwide Benefits. She has a proven track record of building and maintaining strong relationships with both clients and broker partners. She resides with her husband and two young children in Wilmington, Delaware. She enjoys travel, live music, and spending time with her family. Johnston is a graduate of the University of Delaware with a BA in English and Communications and minors in Journalism and Spanish.

39. Deb Yenser
Director of Environmental, Health and Safety, Comcast

Deborah Yenser, a seasoned safety and risk management leader, currently serves as Director of Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) for Comcast's Freedom Region. In this pivotal role, she oversees EHS operations across Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Northern Delaware, supporting over 2,000 employees, over 150 properties, and a 1,500-vehicle fleet.

Yenser is a strategic leader who proactively identifies and mitigates risks, driving continuous improvement in occupational safety, process safety, and employee well-being. She collaborates closely with business leaders to develop and implement effective risk management strategies, fostering a culture of safety and compliance across the organization. Before joining Comcast, Yenser held the position of safety manager at Amazon, where she successfully led safety initiatives at a large-scale robotics facility. Her earlier career as a collegiate athletic trainer for over a decade provided her with a strong foundation in injury prevention, rehabilitation, and the importance of a proactive and holistic approach to health and well-being.

Yenser holds an MS in Exercise Science and Clinical Exercise Physiology from George Washington University and a BS in Rehabilitation Sciences and Athletic Training from the University of Pittsburgh.

41. Margaret LaFashia
Director, Workforce Partnership Development, Nemours

Margaret LaFashia has over 20 years of experience as a domestic and international healthcare professional and clinical educator. Her focus for the last decade has been around pediatric care and the delivery of education to regional partner hospitals seeking new approaches to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of childhood diseases. 

LaFashia is the Director of Workforce Partnerships for Nemours Children’s Health. In this role, she is responsible for creating and executing the strategic plan for workforce development. This plan includes the development, evaluation, and evolution of relevant and inclusive programs that connect early careerists with jobs and opportunities at Nemours Children's Health in the Delaware Valley and in Central and North Florida. Through collaborations with internal and external partners, she creates and executes programs for career engagement and mobility in the surrounding communities of Nemours Children’s Health in Delaware and Florida. In 2021, LaFashia launched the Workforce Pipeline Development Program in partnership with a local technical community college and a Vocational Technical High School’s medical assistant (MA) program and nursing assistant (NA) programs to provide pediatric clinical training for MA and NA students. These schools serve racially and socio-economically diverse local students and the pipeline offers students exposure to pediatric healthcare experiences they would not otherwise have. Since launching, the program has expanded to now include seven partnerships and has helped to place over 60 students in the clinical environment. 

LaFashia earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Indianapolis and her MBA from Temple University. She is a graduate of the University of Delaware’s nursing program. She has been nominated three times as one of Delaware’s Top Nurses and helped train the Delaware National Guard during COVID-19 to become a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) for the community.

42. Arthi Jayaraman
Director, Computing and Data Science Training for Materials Innovation, Discovery, and Analytics, University of Delaware

Arthi Jayaraman is the director of an NSF-funded NRT graduate traineeship program, Computing and Data Science Training for Materials Innovation, Discovery, and Analytics at the University of Delaware. She is also a professor in the Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Delaware (UD), Newark. She currently serves as associate editor for Macromolecules and in the recent past served as the inaugural deputy editor for ACS Polymers Au Journal. 

Jayaraman received her PhD in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University and conducted her postdoctoral research in materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign. After holding the position of assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado (CU) at Boulder, she joined the faculty at UD in 2014. Over the years, she has been recognized with many honors, including the University of Delaware College of Engineering Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching (2023), the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) COMSEF Impact Award (2021), the American Physical Society (APS) Fellowship (2020), American Chemical Society (ACS) PMSE Young Investigator (2014), AIChE COMSEF Division Young Investigator Award (2013), University of Colorado Provost Faculty Achievement Award (2013), Department of Energy (DOE) Early Career Research Award (2010), and University of Colorado's Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering’s outstanding undergraduate teaching award (2011) and graduate teaching award (2014).

Jayaraman's interests lie in inclusive interdisciplinary education integrating high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, and data science techniques with chemistry, physics, and materials science and engineering. Through her research and educational activities, she collaborates with US national labs and chemical companies to identify new and improved solutions for their complex problems in materials and chemical design, characterization, and function. In addition to her research and education interests, she has been involved in the field of scientific publishing as an editor for multiple journals within the American Chemical Society publications. Through her role as editor, she has initiated many efforts to improve diversity and inclusion within science publishing across the globe.

43. Alonna Berry
Senior Director, Social Contract

Alonna Berry is a dynamic leader with over 15 years of experience spanning education, policy, and consulting. As Senior Director at Social Contract, she leads the consulting team and crafts innovative strategies to help organizations meet their social impact goals, focusing on trauma-informed care and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access (DEIA). Before this role, Berry served as Director of Community and Family Services and Senior Policy Advisor for Health, Equity, and Education under Governor John Carney’s administration in Delaware. She also made history as the state's first Statewide Trauma-Informed Care Coordinator.

A respected leader across both public and nonprofit sectors, Berry has a proven track record of guiding organizations through strategic planning and development. She has led several statewide initiatives, including the launch of Delaware’s first trauma-informed care program. She is widely recognized for her ability to drive systemic change within communities and institutions. Her work reflects a deep commitment to social justice, education, policy reform, and transformative leadership.

Berry is a Doctoral Candidate in Organizational Learning and Innovation at Wilmington University, where she focuses her research on best practices for implementing trauma-informed care at the statewide level. She holds a post-graduate certificate in Virtual Online Teaching and Learning from the University of Pennsylvania, a graduate degree in Management and Organizational Leadership from Wilmington University, and an undergraduate degree in Writing and Rhetoric from Syracuse University. Berry currently serves as President-Elect on the Board of Directors of the Syracuse University Alumni Association.

An active leader in Delaware's community, Berry founded the Bryan Allen Stevenson School of Excellence and has served on various boards, including the Delaware Center for Justice and the Milton Historical Society. She is also a dedicated member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, where she has held key leadership positions.

44. Lauren Godwin
Director of Enrollment Services, Wilmington University

As an accomplished higher education leader, Lauren Godwin brings 24 years of expertise in driving enrollment growth and fostering student success. As Director of Enrollment Services at Wilmington University, she spearheads a wide range of initiatives, leveraging her experience as director of admissions and director of recruiting.

Godwin has a proven history of driving enrollment growth and promoting student success, with over a decade of experience as an instructor of sociology and anthropology. Her career includes leadership roles as director of enrollment services, director of admissions, and director of recruiting. In these roles, she has demonstrated expertise in enrollment management, student-centered education, curriculum development, critical thinking, and fostering social responsibility. Godwin was honored with the 2018 DAWN Rising Star Award for her accomplishments. She is dedicated to empowering individuals to achieve their higher education goals, fostering a student-centered approach that promotes academic excellence and social responsibility.

Godwin earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, Anthropology, and Archaeology from Elizabethtown College in 1998 and a Master of Science in the Administration of Human Services with a focus on Behavioral Science from Wilmington University in 2013. She also completed the Wilmington University Leadership Institute in 2013. She is a member of the Tau Upsilon Alpha Service and Honor Society and is actively involved in DAWN through the American Council on Education's Women's Network Delaware.


View the complete list of awardees.

45. Erin Casey McNichol
Director of Innovation, Ursuline Academy of Wilmington, Delaware

Erin Casey McNichol is the Director of Innovation for the Ursuline Academy of Wilmington, Delaware. She is a Delaware-based artist, writer, and educator with an early career in corporate advertising and public relations. 

McNichol spent close to 20 years preparing young women at Ursuline Academy for futures in entrepreneurship and visual arts. She also lived in Luxembourg for six years, where she launched her art career. Her mixed media art style mirrors her hybrid skill set for compelling storytelling across multiple audiences. McNichol earned her MFA in visual Narrative from the School of Visual Arts in NYC in 2023. She published her first Children’s picture book, Smooch, Smack, Mwah, in 2024. 

46. Kate Coulter
Technology Director, Delaware Democratic Party

Kate Coulter is an experienced professional with a robust background in data analysis, technology management, and project coordination. She is currently serving as Technology Director for the Delaware Democratic Party.

Coulter is a socially-driven data scientist who is passionate about people and leveraging data to advance society. Before joining the Delaware Democratic Party, she was a data visualization and assessment analyst at the University of Delaware. Before that, she was a project manager at Duke University. Earlier in her career, she worked with Disney Sports/ESPN Wide World of Sports as an event manager.

With a Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Data Science from Duke University and a dual Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Political Science from Stetson University, she has successfully led various projects at institutions like Duke University School of Law and Feeding Children Everywhere, showcasing a commitment to data-driven decision-making and impactful organizational management. Beyond her professional accomplishments, Kate is entering her tenth year as an alumnae advisor with Pi Beta Phi, mentoring college students and fostering leadership development among young women.

47. Patricia West-Smith
Senior Director of Customer Engagement, Turnitin

Patricia West-Smith leads the Customer Engagement team at Turnitin as the Senior Director of Customer Engagement. Before coming to Turnitin, West-Smith spent 19 years working in every capacity in school districts in the United States as a teacher, principal, and curriculum supervisor, while also working on local, state, and national curriculum and assessment development projects. West-Smith also served as an adjunct professor at Salisbury University, where she taught in their teacher preparation program and acted as an independent professional learning consultant for various school districts and other educational institutions. With her degrees and certifications in education, literacy, and leadership, she had just earned her certification as a superintendent in 2016, but the potential to impact exponentially more teachers and students with Turnitin unexpectedly changed her career path.

While working in the central office of a K-12 public school district, West-Smith built teacher capacity to deliver high-quality writing instruction and feedback through root cause analysis of data and other professional learning programs and worked with leadership teams to implement and support 1-to-1 computing initiatives in several schools. Since coming to Turnitin more than seven years ago, she has continued to work to create content, instructional and curricular resources, and professional learning opportunities to support educators around the world in the understanding of pedagogy and implementation of Turnitin’s products and services.

Most recently, West-Smith has appeared on several panels and at conferences around the world, speaking to topics like effective remote learning, the importance of academic integrity in an evolving world, feedback practices that impact growth, and the impact of AI generative tools on writing instruction and assessment. In 2021, West-Smith and a team of veteran educators at Turnitin also worked with world-renowned educational researcher, John Hattie, to publish research on the impact of “Where to Next?” feedback. She is in the process of writing her dissertation, the final step in the process of earning her Doctorate in Educational Leadership. She expects to finish her degree in 2025.

48. Beth Bowersock
Director of Technical Design, Urban Outfitters

Beth Bowersock is the Director of Technical Design of Urban Outfitters, a lifestyle retailer dedicated to inspiring customers through a unique combination of product, creativity, and cultural understanding. Founded in 1970 in a small space across the street from the University of Pennsylvania, Urban Outfitters now operates over 200 stores in the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Bowersock is a highly successful technical design and product development director with a broad background across multiple product categories. She has demonstrated success in building and managing teams that effectively execute design visions while meeting or exceeding cost and margin targets, quality standards, and calendar requirements.

Before joining Urban Outfitters, Bowersock was a footwear costing manager at AND1 Basketball. Before that, she was a production manager at Little Creatures. Earlier in her career, she worked with Stone House Apparel as a design and production director. Bowersock graduated from Drexel University with an undergraduate degree in fashion and apparel design.