Women's History Month: Q&A with Fiona Conroy

In celebration of Women's History Month, Grand Archon Tess Stovall sits down with a series of Phi Sigma Sigma sisters to share their stories, advice and how our sisterhood made a lasting impact in their lives. Read more stories, here.

Fiona is an alumna the Kappa Chapter at The George Washington University. Professionally, she is a political consultant with over a decade of campaign and table management, direct mail and strategic communications experience and is a Partner at Deliver Strategies. Her clients include a diverse group of candidates and progressive organizations across the country.

Fiona was archon of the chapter the term before me and was one of my first mentors on my leadership journey. I learned a lot from watching her lead the chapter and was proud to follow in her footsteps. She continued to be a role model for me as I watched her navigate life after graduation, balancing the demands of the workforce while continuing to support our sisterhood. I've loved watching all of Fiona's professional successes over the year and her commitment to advancing womanhood within her industry makes me incredibly proud to call her a sister.

Tess Stovall: To start us off, can you share a little bit about your Phi Sigma Sigma journey and how it has positively impacted your life?

Fiona Conroy: As a freshman at GW, I didn’t go through formal recruitment. I ended up meeting a couple of Phi Sigma Sigma sisters and was tremendously moved by the energy and diversity by all definitions. One of my goals of going to GW was to meet different groups of passionate people. Phi Sigma Sigma was a group of incredible women that I knew I wanted to be a part of.

Many of the women in the chapter were very driven and excited about leadership opportunities which encouraged me to pursue leadership positions early on. As a sophomore, I became archon. During that time, the campus was transitioning to a housed campus, and our chapter was re-aligning its vision for the future. During my term, I was able to help the chapter gain some strong footing, and we essentially tripled our membership. I was honored that my sisters put their trust in me to lead during that time and was excited to pass along that feeling by mentoring the chapter’s next leader, you.

TS: And you were such a great mentor! It was huge to have someone help guide and encourage me at the very beginning of my leadership journey. Watching you navigate changes during your time as a leader both within the chapter and after graduation truly inspired me and helped me navigate my own leadership journey.

FC: It has been such an honor to have been there at the beginning of your leadership journey and to see where you are now! Phi Sig really sparked a love and interest in leadership that for me has continued to this day.

TS: You were heavily involved as a chapter leader, serving both as archon and then Panhellenic Delegate. You were also named Phi Sigma Sigma’s collegian of the year. What did your Phi Sig involvement and connection look like after graduation?

FC: After graduating, I continued my Phi Sigma Sigma journey as a traveling consultant (what an educational leadership consultant is today), visiting and supporting chapters across the country.  It was an incredible experience and helped me build foundational skills that were pivotal in my career.

During the early years of my career, I served as a volunteer supporting collegiate chapters and giving back what had been given to me. Phi Sigma Sigma transformed me and my leadership trajectory and so I really wanted to pass that on.

There came a time where I could no longer commit to volunteering because of the nature of my career. I was moving every couple of months and working a million hours a week managing campaigns. Through all of it, I’ve kept in touch with sisters, both from my own chapter as well as the women I’ve met over the years from volunteering who continue to be mentors and friends. So I’ve never really felt like I wasn’t connected to our sisterhood. We have an incredible network of people who I’ve learned so much from and who I’ve hopefully helped teach as well.

TS: Thank you for all you’ve invested in our sisterhood as a volunteer. As you know, we couldn’t have the amazing impact we have or accomplish as much as we do without that support. But life happens right? Jobs change, things get busy, and time isn’t always something you can give. I know in my own volunteer journey there have been times I’ve had to take a step back and other times that I’ve been able to lean in more. Despite the traveling and crazy work hours, you’ve always done a great job of staying connected and continuing to foster those sister connections. And at the end of the day that’s what sisterhood is all about.

So, your career began ramping up and taking you all across the country. Tell us more about that journey and how it got you to where you are today.

FC: I’m now a partner at Deliver Strategies, a political consulting and direct mail firm but I came into this work by managing campaigns and moving all over the country. I managed the campaign for North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin's successful re-election campaign in West Virginia and the Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee. So all different states, different experiences, different jobs.

I'm from Pennsylvania originally and I’ve been able to I work on dozens of campaigns in my home state and for the last 10 years I’ve run a donor collaborative in Pennsylvania raising tens of millions of dollars to support democratic and progressive campaigns, organizations and progressive infrastructure. It is very gratifying to know that I have had an impact on transforming the landscape for nearly 13 million Pennsylvanians, their quality of life and the fairness of their government and elected leaders. And while I'm still a senior advisor to that organization, this past year I passed the torch to another super powerful woman leader who I’m excited to watch continue this important work.

As for my consulting firm, I first joined the firm in a relatively junior role nearly 20 years ago when I was in grad school. Some of the company leaders at the time encouraged me to go out and get more experience which led me to my years on the road working on various campaigns. Then in 2013, I rejoined the firm in a senior role, helped resign the firm and bring on a new partner. So outside of the years in which I was managing campaigns, I’ve been at some version of my firm from 2006 as a junior employee to an owner of the firm in 2025 which is insane! I think there’s something to be said for having a significant tenure with a company, but again it comes back to values. The core values that drive this company are part of the reason I initially came back and the reason I become an owner when the opportunity came up. It’s been an incredible journey to find a group of people and a company so aligned with my own values.

TS: That's fantastic to hear how deeply the company's values resonate with you. You've spoken passionately about the importance of shared values, both in your company and within Phi Sigma Sigma. How do you see the importance of values translating into the practical ways our sisters can build stronger, more supportive relationships with one another, especially when navigating differing viewpoints and experiences?

FC: I think that recognizing and establishing shared values is key to any successful working relationships.

One of the main reasons I was attracted to Phi Sigma Sigma was the fact that it was the first non-sectarian sorority. Diversity really means that you’re welcoming conflict. You're not trying to have a homogeneous group of people who all grew up the same way, have the same viewpoints or the same experiences. I think that the best way for women to support each other is to identify the shared values that we have and then come up with how we want to be with each other based on those. 


I mentioned earlier, I became archon when I was sophomore and while I was only 18 years old. This was one thing I really tried to establish with our sisters. Obviously, there are the core values that come from the sorority itself, but also what were we trying to achieve collectively? And how do we get there together? By empowering others, listening and acknowledging that we aren’t going to love everyone at every moment.

At GW, everyone was tremendously driven and leadership focused. There were a lot of people in the chapter who could see themselves as being a leader. I realized I could be intimidated by this incredible powerful group of women, or I could embrace the talent and leadership that everyone brought, and that’s how I chose to approach it. It taught me not to be intimidated by others’ talent or to try to down-play and keep them quiet, but rather to identify the resources available to as a collective. By lifting up other people's talent and giving them a chance to lead and you're have a much more successful operation. This was an important lesson I learned before I was even 20 and something that I’ve used throughout my career, leading coalitions and bringing together folks to align them around one goal.

TS: What a powerful leadership lesson to learn so early on in your journey! I can see how that takeaway would be instrumental in bringing together different stakeholders. Were there any other lessors or skills you gained during your time in the chapter that have played a part in your professional journey?

FC: Yes, absolutely! I could go on and on about how Phi Sigma Sigma transformed me. It taught me so many hard skills like coalition management and budgeting – skills and benefits that you don’t necessarily think of when you first join. But it also helped me hone so many soft skills like which have really set me up for success.

In campaign management, there are a ton of stakeholders and you’re working with a lot of people who in many cases have a lot more experience than you do. You must be able to come in, learn, listen and build trust but also not look like an idiot. It’s a delicate balance between asking questions but not disempowering yourself. The foundational skills I learned during recruitment and serving as archon of our chapter provided me with the confidence to go in and forge these relationships, gather the facts and then step up as the leader to get things done.

I also think its important to share that I was a recipient of a Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation scholarship which was a tremendous honor and helped me fund my education at an expensive school. Over the years, I’ve tried to give back what has been given to me and more, because I firmly believe that scholarship are meant to help people in their time of need but paying it forward is also our obligation.

So yes, Phi Sigma Sigma absolutely transformed my life in terms of providing me with incredible leadership opportunities, scholarships and other tangible benefits, but I also don’t think I’d be the leader or person I am today without having had the experience.

TS: It's clear Phi Sigma Sigma played a pivotal role in shaping you, both professionally and personally. Shifting gears a bit, and reflecting on that journey, what would you say is your proudest accomplishment?

FC: I'm tremendously proud of the career I built and breaking a number of boundaries throughout it.  I’ve always had the mindset that it’s great to break those boundaries and make those accomplishments yourself, but you better be pulling everyone else up along the way – in particular, the women who come behind you.  And I’m very, very proud of having done that. At my business, I look for ways to empower women and most of the people I have employed, promoted and lifted up, have been strong women leaders. Running the donor collaborative, I am incredibly proud of my successor who is an incredible leader of the generation. She’s a woman of color and is a trailblazer in a way that’s even bigger than what I was able to do. I know she will lead in a way that lifts other women.

So, I think my greatest accomplishment is being successful but never stepping on anyone else to do so. Instead, being intentional about how I grow and helping others climb at the same time.

TS: You’re truly living out our Founders’ mission in advancing womanhood! Now to round out our conversation, tell me about a Phi Sigma Sigma sister who has had a significant influence in your life.

FC: When I was a traveling consultant, we had a sort of “big sister” program where consultants were paired with a previous consultant to help serve as a mentor when you were out on the road. My mentor was Wendy Lau. For those who know Wendy, she is an incredible resource in all regards – tremendous energy and very animated, she’s a wonderful sounding board but she’s also a lot of fun! We just fit together, and she became a shining light and a joy in my life.

You’re dealing with a lot of challenges. You’re walking into a chapter who has a specific reason for your visit, whether that’s chapter management, retention or new chapter establishment and you have to very quickly gain their trust and not have them see you as “internationals,” even though, you are. Then in a very short time, usually only a couple of days, you have to get to know them, figure out the issue, come up with a strategy and earn their buy-in. Wendy was so helpful at teaching me this art and I don’t think I could have done that job without her mentorship and advice.

And then, even as my life and work changed, she continued to be a mentor and a support. She totally understood that life changes and I was no longer actively involved as a volunteer, but she still made a real effort to keep in touch with me even if I wasn’t going to be at an upcoming Convention or event.

I’ve loved watching her grow within the sorority, serving on Supreme Council, as well what she’s done in her personal and professional life – she’s a tremendous lawyer has served on her university’s board and held a local city office.

She's been an incredible inspiration and a role model to me and someone who I count as a dear and close friend. Wendy is always generous to others in terms of her time, attention, treasure and advice. She’s someone I just admire immensely and completely embodies what it means to be a Phi Sigma Sigma sister.