Our WWE Board of Directors
The Board of Directors at Woman Within Eastern USA collaboratively and strategically guide and lead the successful journey of our Woman Within Weekend, Circles, and other programs. Together they set and hold the vision, mission, and values of the organization and direct the operational delivery plan and policy. If you have comments or questions, please feel free to email them. Your input is appreciated.
Ali Lodise
President,
Director of Communications,
Mission: To live in fierce love and full being.
Ali (she/they) began her Woman Within journey in March 2018 in Jamison, PA. Ali attended the Woman Within Level 2 training in 2019 and has staffed the WW Weekend several times. Ali has served on the Woman Within Eastern Board of Directors as the Director of Communications since 2021 and stepped in the role of Acting President in 2023. Ali participates in a closed circle, co-hosts a monthly online open circle, and co-hosts the WWE LGBTQIA+ online open circle through which she continues to welcome women into the organization.
Ali is a queer movement artist in Philadelphia, PA, which she acknowledges as traditional Lenape land. Ali values a holistic approach to embodiment. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree while working as physical therapy aide, Pilates instructor, and movement educator.
Ali is an independent thinker who found her way gradually into the WW organization. While her experiences in WW have been, at times, confrontational to her resistant and rebellious energies, Ali believes the work of the Woman Within community is transformative and necessary. Within the Woman Within community, Ali has learned to partner with herself in healing and power.
She leads by challenging the process and provoking change in herself and within her communities. She values inclusivity and engagement in the Woman Within organization. Her hope is to bring transparency, transformation, honesty, love, and compassion to the Director of Communications position. She hopes to utilize her roles to support a diverse array of people in finding and accessing their own personal empowerment.
Melissa Wilson
Secretary
Mission: To live authentically with grace and presence.
Melissa started her journey into Woman Within slowly. For 13 years, her mom (who is active in Woman Within) spoke of the Woman Within Weekend once a year and finally, in fall 2015, Melissa asked her mom to “tell me more” then attended her Weekend in Texas. After living in Texas for more than 30 years, Melissa moved to the East Coast shortly after completing her Weekend and became connected with the Woman Within Eastern community. She is active in the Circle community, both in open virtual circles and with her local committed circle, she attends workshops when time permits, and staffs Weekends.
Melissa’s passion is working with others, and she has worked with children with complex medical needs and their families for over 25 years. She currently works at a children’s hospital and every day brings something new and different and she finds herself inspired and rewarded by the work. Melissa’s favorite day of the week is Monday, because it signifies a new start and opportunities to come!
The Woman Within community created a safe space for her to explore and honor her authentic self and find the strength of her voice. Some of the greatest gifts Melissa received by being involved with this community is feeling confident to speak her truth, comfortable in her own skin to “show up” and be seen, and establish her boundaries with grace and assurance, even if it feels scary or unknown. It is an honor to serve on the Woman Within Eastern board.
Mary Rago
Weekend Administrator
Mission: Nurture others & allow myself to be nurtured in return.
After Mary attended Woman Within, she felt an immense desire for service to the community of women that served before her but also to the new community of women that will come after her. From that desire, she stepped into multiple rolls, sits in circle, and is filled with great excitement at the opportunities ahead of her.
Mary is working towards a degree in Funeral Directing and has many passions including cooking, creating, moving the body and experiencing things that bring her outside of her comfort zone. As a member of a 12 step fellowship program outside of Woman Within, Mary has first hand experience of working with women in the intention of finding, feeling, and releasing the negative charges inside. Mary strives to embrace what is deemed ugly and chaotic with the belief that in that space true freedom and connection is found.
Mary finds great joy in supporting and caring for women but has personally struggled in allowing that support to be reciprocated. Her personal experience on the Woman Within Weekend allowed her to be nurtured and cared for in a way she deemed impossible and unnecessary. This awoke a deeper sense of connection to the women surrounding her, her ancestors, and to the women who haven’t embarked on their journey just yet. This desire to uncover more has been the life force behind Mary’s service and has brought to light a mantra inside of her which guides her through the uncomfortability and liberation of growth.
“What I need may not always be what I want.”
Clem Perry
Treasurer
Mission : Spread the love and grow our beautiful community!
After attending a men’s group welcoming ceremony, Clem was blown away by the vulnerability and the sincerity with which they were sharing, and the special bond that held them together. She realized she yearned for the same authenticity and sisterly community. She went through the Woman Within weekend in March 2019, and soon after found joy in giving back through staffing the weekends, and helping other women unlock their inner strength.
Clem works in interior design and enjoys anything that relates to creating using her hands and imagination, from crafts to fine arts and everything in between. She is a wife and a mother of two little boys.
Although it took a while, she realized she needed to make time and space for her personal growth. She tributes her weekend for laying the first stone in the work that she believes makes her a better mother, friend and human.
Kerry Quinn
Director of Training
Supply Coordinator
Kerry joined Woman Within in September of 2015, going through the Weekend in Jamison, PA. She has been sitting in circle, staffing Weekends and attending workshops since. Kerry stepped into the role of Supplies Manager in 2022.
Kerry is a Physician Assistant in primary care in Philadelphia while pursuing a Masters of Public Health at Drexel University. Her involvement in Woman Within actively informs her care of patients, through empowerment, active listening and embodiment.
Michelle Lukes
Director of Community Affairs
Mission: Let love, patience and tolerance light the way
Michelle’s journey with Woman Within began after attending a welcoming ceremony, where she was deeply moved by the stories of healing and transformation shared by families. Drawn to the authentic connections and sense of community, she said “yes” when a friend suggested a road trip to North Carolina to experience the WW Weekend as a participant. From there, her commitment grew—Michelle has since staffed and participates regularly in an Open Circle in Ridley Park, PA.
Michelle is also a member of a twelve step program and is very passionate about supporting others in their growth and healing. She previously held a board position for five years with the nonprofit Sisters in Sobriety Weekend, where she helped foster community, spirituality, fun and support for women in recovery
A self-proclaimed plant enthusiast, Michelle finds joy in nurturing growth, whether in her garden or in her community. She loves the metaphor of gardening — planting seeds, tending with care, and witnessing beauty emerge – but it can’t be rushed. She also enjoys the challenge of puzzles, embracing the messy beginnings and the satisfying feeling of everything coming together in the end.
Renee Bellis
Director of Circles
Renee started her journey with Woman Within by attending the weekend in November 2022 in New Hope, PA. The weekend helped her recognize the places that had been feeling stuck in her life and to make changes. She joined a circle of women that formed from the initiated women at her weekend, and that group has been meeting monthly online ever since. Renee regularly staffs on the East Coast because she enjoys being able to give back to this community of women and support women who are coming after her.
The weekend was the beginning of a process of self-discovery for Renee. She highly values supporting others and creating the space that allows people to recognize the innate wisdom and power they have within themselves. To align her career with her values, she has gone back to graduate school to become a Marriage and Family Therapist.
Renee is stepping into the role of Director of Circles to support other women in finding ways to connect. Her own circle has been an incredible support through joys and challenges. Renee is always happy to talk with women about their journey, so please reach out if you feel called to join a circle.
Kimberly Stokes
JEDI Director
Kimberly began her journey with Woman Within by attending her Weekend in November 2022. Since that weekend she has been in a committed circle with women that she met on her Weekend. They have sat in a monthly circle together for nearly three years. The continued growth and support that circle offers has been invaluable. She has also staffed two Weekends and recently completed the Skills training.
Kimberly has long had a passion and dedication to women’s empowerment and speaking out for those who are often marginalized. In college, she majored in sociology where much of her coursework centered on race, ethnicity, social stratification, and discrimination and prejudice. This work culminated in her senior thesis on racial profiling in policing. She also studied alternative dispute resolution and continued those studies in pursuit of her law degree. During law school she worked at the ACLU of CT and enjoyed courses on constitutional law, equal protection, and the first amendment. In her professional career, Kimberly has been a family lawyer for the past 7 years. Her favorite part of her work is helping parties find ways step into their power and to become better communicators.
Each and every experience with Woman Within has helped Kimberly refine and strengthen her own inner voice. She is honored to accept the position of JEDI Director and to work to help the organization continue to grow and flourish to be as inclusive and empowering as possible.
Our Community Leaders
Judie Cummings
Staffing Coordinator
Mission: to support all emotions, to be heard and seen by creating sacred space and connection.
Judie’s Woman Within journey began May of 2008 in Elmer, NJ. Although the weekend itself was powerful and transformative, she found that the community that supported her since then has been the greatest gift of attending. Through her own Circle, staffing and attending other Woman Within Workshops she found her own truth and strength in who she is. She found herself not only stepping into leadership but also able to do that in a way that she never thought was possible. She found she could be both strong and loving at the same time.
Judie has been able to fulfill her mission by staffing and becoming a Team Leader for the Woman Within Weekend. She has also supported the Eastern Region in different positions over the years including supporting creation and training of new circles and helping women find circles and connect with each other – in both the Eastern Region as a whole and the local PA region while she was still living there.
Through the Staffing Coordinator Role, she is hoping to continue to support each of our weekends even if she cannot be there every weekend. The Weekend has been a vital start to Judie’s journey to who she is today and the woman she continues to step into everyday.
Julie Posmantier
Weekend Administration Team
Julie Posmantier began her involvement with Woman Within in October of 2010 when she went through her original Woman Within training at the Clara Barton Center in Massachusetts. She was so excited to be a part of this community that she immediately jumped into helping to build a new Woman Within Circle in Cambridge, MA with several of the women from her weekend. She has continued since then to sit in circle closer to her home in CT. She completed the Skills workshop in 2014 and the WW Level 2 workshop in 2016. Additionally, she staffs WW weekends at least once per year, has staffed both the Skills workshop and WW Level 2.
Julie was asked to join the Woman Within Eastern USA Board in January of 2013 and was thrilled to accept the position. She was honored to hold the role of Treasurer for 7 years. In early 2021 she was offered and happily accepted the position of Weekend Administrator. Although she has since stepped down from her formal board position, she remains in service, helping to administer Weekends in the Eastern region. She looks forward to many more years of serving the Woman Within community with an open heart.
Susan Daniels
Weekend Administrative Team
Mission: To create a community of empowered women by being the fire that speaks my truth and the storm that ignites others to rise out of their old stories and into their goddess energy.
Susan was initiated into WWE in October 2018 in Jamison, PA, then attended Level 2, two circle training courses, skills training, and the shame workshop. She has staffed almost every weekend on the east coast since her initiation. In 2020, Susan was the Director of Communications for the WWE board. She also started two circles on Long Island.
Susan is an elementary school teacher who currently teaches part time and holds an administrative position in her school. She is a paralegal in her husband’s law firm. Susan is married to her warrior
husband, Jeff Daniels. Together they have 5 kids, and 13 grandchildren. Jeff and Susan are involved individually in MKP and WW as well as in couple’s work.
For the last ten years Susan’s personal work has been in healing and reshaping her life, looking at her own responses and reactions and understanding what trauma has taken hold of within her and recreating the woman she was capable of being. She is passionate about hearing her own voice, as well as empowering others to feel worthy and safe. Susan feels the work all starts with a consistent slow burn of falling in love with yourself and accepting your own worth.
Anne Halkyard
Website Administrator
Mission: To continually discover my true self in authenticity and support others.
Anne started her Woman Within journey in a women’s empowerment circle in Tucson, Arizona. She was initiated at the Woman Within Training Weekend in 1999 at House in the Woods in Delavan, Wisconsin. Anne attended circle in England for five years while she was in graduate school in Sussex. She has been involved with Women’s Empowerment Circles and mixed Gender circles with members of The Mankind Project.
Anne has been in 12 Step recovery for her adult life and is committed to self reflection, relationship building and divine connection in daily life.
Anne began staffing in the Midwest Region in 2011 and attended Level 2: Archetypes of the Castle in Racine Wisconsin in 2013. The growth gained in that program has made lasting impressions that have uplifted her life.
Anne is passionate about building community and maintaining connections through the powerful work we do together through coming into circle. Anne lives in North Carolina and staffs weekends in the Eastern region.
Mimi McCully
Connection Call Coordinator
Mission Statement: To help all people become the best version of themselves.
Mimi started her Woman Within Journey in January 2018 by joining a circle in North Carolina. She did her weekend in Reidsville in October 2018 and was inspired by her first weekend to become more involved. Her in person circle disbanded during the pandemic in 2020, but she has continued to be active with an online weekly circle since that time. She has staffed in Reidsville twice, the second time as a Nurturer during the carpet work.
She has always been passionate about helping others. Professionally she has been a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner for over 30 years and has volunteered with her churches and Girl Scouts over the years. She is the proud mother to 3 adult children and grandmother to 6. Her husband has been active with Mankind Project and was the first one to encourage her to consider joining Woman Within. She is so glad to have found a place where she can be her authentic self and receive support from other women.
Maureen Letendre
Welcoming Ceremony Coordinator
Maureen began her Women Within journey in 2017 in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. Although she had been doing a lot of self-development and spiritual growth work for several years, her initiation weekend changed the trajectory, depth and speed of finding her truest self. Maureen joined a local circle and continued to work with her Mindfulness Coach, who had referred her to WWE.
Shortly, after Maureen co-lead an open circle on Zoom for several years and staffed weekends. One day, she was approached by a gentleman from MKP (Man Kind Project) to start an all gender circle and co-developed and lead this group for a couple of years. Most recently, Maureen joined the Jericho Project, which leads spiritual circles within the Massachusetts, Maine and Connecticut prisons, while still supporting and staffing Women Within Weekends. She is excited to take on the role of Welcoming Ceremony Coordinator and looks forward to seeing many of you there.
Susanne Starkman
Fundraising Coordinator
Susanne attended her Woman Within Weekend in 2018 after learning about it from her husband, who participated in the New Warrior Training Adventure with The Mankind Project in 2017. Since then, she has staffed many times in the Eastern US region, as well as in Colorado and Arizona. She has been the Circle Coordinator for the DEVA Region since 2019. She attended Level 2 in October 2024, which she feels was life-changing.
Susanne loves fundraising and is excited to support the EUS and its women in this role!
