Thursday, March 20, 2025
5:30 pm ET
Baruch College, Information & Technology Building
151 East 25th Street
7th floor, Room 750
Free for WOC Greater New York Chapter members*
Free for CUNY students and faculty
Celebrate Women’s History Month with WOC and the Baruch College Center for Nonprofit Strategy and Management at the launch of WOC’s new Radiant Leadership Series. The evening will feature a networking reception followed by a panel discussion with some of today’s trailblazing leaders, including Dr. Kelly Hallman, Founder and Executive Director of the Indigenous Justice Circle, Alysia Souder, Executive Director of The Institute of Music for Children, and Elisa Charters, President of Latina Surge.
The discussion will explore the keys to effective and successful nonprofit leadership and will be moderated by WOC founder Yolanda F. Johnson.
You won’t want to miss this inspiring event!
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No onsite registration will be allowed. Advance registration required. No exceptions.
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Speakers
Elisa Charters
President,
Latina Surge
Elisa Charters is a wife, mom of two young adult children, a caretaker of elders and cherishes her three dogs. She is also a seasoned executive strategist with 25+ years of public-sector finance and transactional experience. She specializes in the negotiations of major economic development, infrastructure and innovation initiatives to advance public-private goals.
Elisa's extensive experience in government led to appointments by three consecutive governors in the State of New Jersey: State of New Jersey Minority Business Advisory Board Member (Gov. Corzine); Vice Chair of the New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority (Gov. Christie); and Board Trustee at New Jersey Institute of Technology (Gov. Murphy). Of note, NJIT just became the first R1 polytechnic Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) in the State of New Jersey; there are only 22 in the entire country.
From 2007 until 2013, Elisa emerged from the government sector following her interests in entrepreneurship and service. She and two partners formed TOUSSA International LLC, a wholesale/retail import company offering boys’ apparel produced in Peru, Argentina and Brazil; they ratified 11 export/import agreements. In 2014, she co-founded Latina Surge National nonprofit and scaled the local grass roots organization to an international platform via the Lean In Latina Surge Network (Lean In has 100K+ global circle members).
Having become an expert at "cutting through red tape," Elisa created EAC Business International LLC, an umbrella company which originated the brands Ahgua Tech (industrial and commercial equipment distribution), BEADEI (CSR/ESG/DEIB consulting), and most recently, Juego.Juegos (an iOS and Android Mobile App and AI company).
Elisa is passionate about social responsibility; a common core value across her projects is helping humanity with purpose. Whether it be to support single moms/parents/caretakers with scheduling, eradicating loneliness and bullying, addressing parity and economic access for multicultural women, or ensuring collective collaboration to mitigate health and safety risks to medical and emergency response personnel, she believes what is intentional is possible.
Achievements: 2021 Ex-officio President of Latino Alumni Association of Columbia University | 2021 Tri-County Scholarship Fund Women of Achievement | 2016 Child's Hero Award by Essex County CASA | 2012 leading advocate on the second Latino appointment to the Rutgers University Board of Governors in its 240+ year history | 2004-2006 President of the Port Authority Hispanic Society ERG (agency with 8K employees).
Kelly Hallman (she/her Cherokee Nation)
Founder & Executive Director, Indigenous Justice Circle
Dr. Kelly Hallman is an enrolled tribal citizen of the Cherokee Nation, originally from Oklahoma by way of Arizona. Kelly has designed, evaluated and strengthened scores of gender equity and violence prevention initiatives across the world. She is Founder and Executive Director of Indigenous Justice Circle, a nonprofit focused on health, safety and violence prevention programs, convenings and research.
Kelly’s ancestors were forced from their lands in Georgia and marched on foot 800 miles to Indian Territory on the Cherokee Trail of Tears in 1838-39. Her grandparents and parents survived Native American boarding school and rose from land-dispossessed sharecroppers to become successful ranchers and construction contractors. Dr. Hallman is the social change agent in the Gracie Award winning documentary film, The Lakota Daughters and the author of numerous articles, including Strengthening Inclusion, Safety, and Democracy with American Indian Girls and Women to Benefit Indigenous Communities, and Our Bodies, Our Data, Our Destinies: Native American Women Harnessing Technology for the Benefit of our People.
Kelly received her PhD and MA in health economics from Michigan State University, and her BA in economics and political science from Northern Arizona University.
Alysia Souder
Executive Director, The Institute of Music for Children
Alysia Souder is the Executive Director of The Institute of Music for Children in Elizabeth, NJ. Guided by its vision of H.A.R.M.O.N.Y. – Helping Achieve Responsible, Motivated, Optimistic, Neighborhood Youth – the Institute is building an equitable community of high-achieving citizens who are arts lovers and arts makers through professional instruction, mentorship, and family engagement.
Ms. Souder has over 25 years of experience as an arts educator and arts administrator. As a teaching artist, she has worked across the tri-state area and for organizations including Arts Horizons, Playwrights Theatre, Papermill Playhouse and the NJ Performing Arts Center teaching acting, playwriting, and conflict-resolution in schools, community organizations, and youth facilities. She is passionate about the role the arts should play in young people's growth and development and bringing the arts to youth impacted by trauma has been central to her work.
Actively involved in the development of arts education and equity on a statewide level, Ms. Souder serves as the Co-chair of the Union County Non Profit Consortium and served as the Chair of Arts Ed Newark from 2010 - 2025. She served on the Leadership Team for Elevating Equity and is a steering committee member of NJ’s Creating Change Conferences. Ms. Souder is also an emcee, a facilitator and an international presenter, having been featured at education conferences in the United States, Guatemala, Germany and South Africa.
Ms. Souder is also a playwright and director. She has written six full-length children’s theatre pieces that have been mounted by The Institute of Music. She collaborated with Nimbus Dance Company having co-written the libretto for their annual holiday production, The Jersey City Nutcracker and most recently she co-wrote and co-directed a dance theatre piece with Nimbus titled “Raucous Caucus Tango” which premiered at NJPAC in 2021.