Speakers and Panelists

Joan Johnson, thought leader on women and social change
Johnson is a historian and author of many articles and books on women and philanthropy, race, reform, and education. Her most recent book, Funding Feminism: Monied Women, Philanthropy, and the Women’s Movement 1890–1967, focuses on women funding suffrage and opening access to higher education. She taught women’s history at Northeastern Illinois University for 12 years.

Johnson was also the cofounder and codirector of the Newberry Seminar on Women and Gender at the Newberry Library in Chicago. She is now the director for faculty in the Office of the Provost at Northwestern University.

Wendy Steele, founder and chief executive, Impact 100; founder and president, Generosity Matters
Steele took her lifelong philanthropy advocacy to a new level when she created and launched an innovative pass-through foundation called Impact 100. The model takes transformational grants to the communities it serves across five broad focus areas: culture, education, environment, family, and health and wellness. The Impact 100 model has been replicated in more than 50 communities around the United States and Australia, and the Impact 100 Council is helping it grow. The model democratizes philanthropy and empowers women to see themselves as philanthropists and as a part of the solution in their local community.

Steele also serves as a guide to introduce the power of generosity to organizations and families. She is the recipient of the 2014 Jefferson Award for Public Service for her work in philanthropy, which is described in several books, including Women’s Giving Circles: The Right Sisters — Modern Women Inventors.

Sondra Shaw-Hardy, cofounder, Women’s Philanthropy Institute
Shaw-Hardy is a women’s philanthropy pioneer and the creator of the women’s giving-circle movement. She has helped to initiate scores of giving circles across the United States and is working to take women’s giving circles across borders to help expand the culture of philanthropy worldwide.

Shaw-Hardy cofounded, with Martha Taylor ’71, the Women’s Philanthropy Institute, which is now a program of the Lilly School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. She has also led the creation of many other nonprofit groups. Shaw-Hardy has conducted research in generational giving with an emphasis on Gen X and Gen Y. Since 1995, she has authored, coauthored, or coedited six books, and her work has been quoted in national and international media. She was an elected official and an active community volunteer.

Dorri McWhorter ’95, CEO, YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago
McWhorter is transforming the Chicago YWCA — a 140-year-old social-service agency — into a 21st-century social enterprise. Her innovative programs include STEM awareness for girls ages nine to 14 and 3D: Developing Digital Diversity, which provides web and mobile-application development training to adult women. McWhorter has been recognized by the Chicago Tribune as one of the top 100 innovators in Chicago and by Good City Chicago with its Innovative Leader Award.

McWhorter is an active, socially conscious member of Chicago’s civic, business, and philanthropic communities. She is advancing women businesses in technology as a member of the executive council of Ms. Tech and as a board member of the Chicago Center for Arts and Technology.

Cora Marrett MA’65, PhD’68, former deputy director, National Science Foundation, 2017 honorary degree recipient, UW–Madison
Marrett is one of the nation’s leading academic and education leaders. Before she was the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) acting director and deputy director, she was the NSF’s assistant director for education and human resources, leading its mission to achieve excellence in U.S. science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at all levels, in both formal and informal settings.

Marrett was also the University of Wisconsin System’s senior vice president for academic affairs and concurrently a UW–Madison professor of sociology. Her many honors include the NSF’s Distinguished Service Award and three honorary degrees — the latest from UW–Madison in 2017. She is a member of the Women’s Philanthropy Council.

Diane Ballweg ’85, board chair, Madison Community Foundation; board of advisors, UW–Madison Mead Witter School of Music
Ballweg is the founder and president of the Endres Manufacturing Company Foundation. Also an active pilot, she initiated the Aviation Program at Edgewood High School in 2000 and continues to teach students about the diverse careers available in aviation. She sits on multiple steering committees and non-profit boards in Madison and is a member of Women Moving Millions and the International Women’s Forum. She has received multiple awards for generous philanthropy and non-profit board leadership.

Julie Bauer, executive director, Alliant Energy Foundation
Bauer manages Alliant Energy’s charitable contributions, community support, and sponsorship activities and programs at the Alliant Energy Foundation. She is also responsible for the guidance, development, and execution of the community affairs department and the Alliant Energy Foundation’s philanthropic strategy. In her 33 years with the company, she has held various roles in information technology and customer relations. She’s served on many non-profit boards. She currently serves on the Wisconsin Philanthropy Network board and is a lead volunteer for the United Way of Dane County.

Debbie Cervenka, immediate past board chair, Wisconsin Nature Conservancy; campaign co-chair, UW–Madison School of Veterinary Medicine
Cervenka was part of Phillips Plastics Corporation for 34 years, serving as its executive vice president and as an officer of the Phillips Plastics board of directors until the Cervenkas sold the company in 2010. She has dedicated the past 17 years to nonprofit work, serving on multiple local, national, and international boards. In 2014 she was recognized with the Oak Leaf Award, the Nature Conservancy’s highest volunteer honor. She also cochairs the School of Veterinary Medicine’s campaign and is a member of the Women’s Philanthropy Council.

Susan Cook, director, UW–Madison Mead Witter School of Music
Cook is leading the school as it moves into the new Hamel Performance Center, which has been funded by private gifts. A professor of musicology, she focuses her teaching and research on contemporary and American music of all kinds. She was formerly the academic associate dean for the arts and humanities in the UW’s Graduate School. She also held the Walt Whitman Chair in American Culture Studies as part of the Fulbright Distinguished Teaching Program in the Netherlands. Cook has an abiding interest in feminist methodologies and cultural criticism.

Mary Beth Collins MA’05, JD’05, director of centers, UW–Madison School of Human Ecology
Collins has dedicated much of her career and volunteerism to nonprofits and philanthropy as an attorney serving nonprofit organizations, the executive director of an organization, and a community volunteer and board member for various organizations. As director of the School of Human Ecology’s centers, she is committed to connecting the UW to community organizations and nonprofits and to delivering curriculum development and course instruction to prepare future leaders.

Leola (Lea) Culver, cofounder, Culver’s Franchising Systems; executive director, the Culver’s Foundation
Culver works to foster responsibility, leadership, teamwork, and growth through education as the executive director of the Culver’s Foundation. She has led efforts in her Wisconsin community to support the Sauk Prairie Hospital, the River Arts Center, and Gio’s Garden, which provides care for special-needs children. She established an active women’s giving circle in the Sauk Prairie area. Her most recent leadership includes initiatives in the UW–Madison’s School of Human Ecology.

Laura Dresser, assistant clinical professor, UW–Madison School of Social Work
Dresser joined the School of Social Work as assistant clinical professor of macropractice in 2017. She is also the associate director of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, a UW–Madison think-and-do tank where she has worked for more than two decades. Her research and practice have focused on low-wage work and workforce-development systems.

Mary Jean Huston, director, Wisconsin Nature Conservancy
Huston is responsible for the overall direction and management of the Nature Conservancy’s work in Wisconsin. She helps to set its conservation vision and priorities and ensures that the program has the financial resources and personnel to carry out its work. She is one of Wisconsin’s most respected leaders on environmental issues.

Souphaphone Maddox, board president, Goodman Community Center
Maddox is a private wealth adviser at BMO Private Bank, where she serves as a lead adviser and relationship manager to high-net-worth individuals, families, and organizations, including closely held and family-owned businesses. She leads the board and actively supports the Goodman Center’s Girls, Inc. organization.

Anne Martino ’88, vice president of consumer insight and innovation, Aurora Health Care; chair, Forum on Philanthropy; vice chair, Women’s Philanthropy Council
Martino led integrated brand-building efforts for Heinz, Kraft Foods, and S. C. Johnson — including advertising activities for mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan as an expatriate based in Shanghai. She was also vice president of corporate marketing, leading global efforts for Nokia’s Chicago-based division. She created the Martino Women’s Leadership Award to recognize outstanding UW-Madison seniors upon graduation. She resides in Milwaukee.

Dorothy O’Brien ’70, chair, Women’s Philanthropy Council
O’Brien co-chairs the 4W Initiative at UW–Madison — Women, Well-being, Wisconsin, and the World. She served as chair of the School of Human Ecology (SoHE) Board of Visitors for three years and is now part of the executive committee for SoHE’s campaign. O’Brien held several corporate leadership positions in human resources and public relations, including for the American Furniture Mart and for Coppers and Lybrand. She is a member of Impact 100 Cincinnati, Ohio and has started a women’s giving circle in her other hometown, Longboat Key, Florida.

Bob Sorge ’90, MBA’13, president, Madison Community Foundation
Sorge leads the Madison Community Foundation’s (MCF) efforts to broaden and deepen its impact throughout Dane County. During his tenure, MCF has launched and grown its annual community-impact campaign to raise resources for competitive grantmaking, enhanced charitable-giving opportunities for donors, and grown its assets from $130 million to $218 million. He is leading efforts in Dane County for non-profit excellence.

Martha Taylor ’71, vice president of development, Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association; cofounder, Women’s Philanthropy Council
Taylor pioneered the field of women’s philanthropy. She is an internationally known author, philanthropist, development professional, scholar, and leader. In 1988, she cofounded the then–UW Foundation’s Women’s Philanthropy Council: the first women’s major-gifts organization at a major higher-education institution. In 1991, she also cofounded the Women’s Philanthropy Institute, now a part of the Lilly School of Philanthropy. She has coauthored three seminal books on women’s philanthropy.