Candidate for: Grand Archon

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Education

The George Washington University, B.A. 

London School of Economics, M.S.

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Academic Honors

Academic Honors

Phi Beta Kappa

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Number of Volunteer Years: 18

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Phi Sigma Sigma Awards

• Supreme Council Dangle

• Fraternity Service Award – 5, 10, 15 years

• Pyramid Award

• Order of the Sapphire Award

• Outstanding Advisory Board Member Award

• Sisterhood Award

• Chairman Dangle

• Outstanding Advisory Board Member Award HM

• Sigma Society

• Archon of the Year Award

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Other Awards

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Phi Sigma Sigma Staff and Volunteer Experience
Current:

• Supreme Council – Grand Archon

• Human Resources Committee – Member

• Finance Committee – Member

 

Past:

• Supreme Council – Grand Vice Archon

• Bylaws Committee – SC Liaison

• Strategic Planning Committee – Co-Chairman

• Volunteer Placement Committee – SC Liaison

• International Standards Board – Chairman

• Volunteer Structure Task Force – Co-Chairman

• Chapter Standards Board Advisor

• International Standards Board Representative

• Chapter Housing Advisor

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Outside Volunteer Service
tnAchieves Student Mentor

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Describe the blend of personality, skills and life experiences that you would contribute to Supreme Council and the mission of Phi Sigma Sigma. You may draw from multiple experiences whether it be professional experiences or from volunteer roles.

I bring to Supreme Council an understanding of the responsibilities of board service and that the strategic vision of the organization is set and driven by the board. This is derived from my 9 years serving on Supreme Council and my professional expertise working for a nine-member board. I understand the difference between the role of the board and the staff as I navigate this daily in my professional life. I have experience creating and executing a strategic vision for an entity, and this is critical for Phi Sigma Sigma to navigate the changing fraternal landscape. I am responsible for the current strategic vision of the agency I work for and, in my current role as Grand Archon, the vision of Phi Sigma Sigma.

 

My leadership style is open and welcoming which is important to any role on Supreme Council. Members must see the board as accessible and open to feedback on new initiatives and ideas. I am also humble in my leadership as I do not know all the answers, and I believe it is important to ensure different perspectives are valued. I am not afraid to have difficult conversations and to tackle hard challenges that require tough decisions. I am a driven individual committed to the long-term success of Phi Sigma Sigma. The work of Supreme Council is hard and demanding, and I bring focus and drive to my professional and volunteer work.

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​What is your experience in business/organizational management, such as risk management or policy preparation?

I have significant experience in business and organizational management that can support the work of Supreme Council and Phi Sigma Sigma. Professionally, I serve as the executive director of the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission, overseeing 18 staff members, a multimillion- dollar annual budget, and 17 authorized charter schools. I am responsible for implementing the strategic vision of the agency, regularly navigating challenges that come up for the agency, and directly supporting the board of directors in their decision-making process. I work closely with the agency’s general counsel and director of external affairs to adjust the agency’s work based on changes in statute. I regularly assess the agency’s procedures, policies, and rules, and recommend changes to the board, as necessary. As the executive director, I make 2 all staffing decisions within the organization, including shifting roles and responsibilities to meet capacity demands.

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Within Phi Sigma Sigma, I have served on Supreme Council since 2015, as a director, Grand Vice Archon, and now Grand Archon. I have worked closely with staff, legal counsel, the National Housing Corporation, and the Foundation on a variety of issues throughout my tenure with the sole purpose of sustaining Phi Sigma Sigma in the long term. Together, the board and staff navigated the unknowns of the COVID-19 pandemic and the evolving nature of college campuses today. I have first-hand experience in managing risk within the organization and making strategic business decisions to support the long-term viability of Phi Sigma Sigma.

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What do you feel is the greatest risk to the Fraternal industry over the next biennium? 

The greatest risk to the fraternal industry and specifically for Phi Sigma Sigma over the next biennium is the overall decline in undergraduate enrollment which, in turn, impacts the collegiate membership of chapters. Many organizations have seen significant collegiate membership declines from their peaks in the 2010s, Phi Sigma Sigma included. There are limited opportunities within the Fraternity’s current chapters to increase membership or to establish new collegiate chapters. The Fraternity’s current business model is based on collegiate chapter revenue which does not meet the overall financial long-term needs of the organization, and the Fraternity’s business model must evolve to survive in this challenging environment.

 

All organizations, including Phi Sigma Sigma, must re-evaluate their value proposition to potential new members, current collegiate members, and alumnae members to increase and diversify revenue streams beyond collegiate membership dues. This will require all three entities to think differently, boldly, and quickly to ensure the long-term success of Phi Sigma Sigma. All three entities must think strategically about the current available resources to determine smart investments for our future. Additionally, we will need to implement bold new ideas to increase non-collegiate revenue streams such as fee-for-service opportunities, increasing membership opportunities outside of the traditional models, and significantly increasing regular donations to the Foundation.

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Tell us about a time you had to lead a team or organization through a crisis, making difficult strategic decisions. Please share the processes you use.

 

Both professionally and within Phi Sigma Sigma, there have been many times when I have led a team or an organization through a challenging time. Last year, I faced a crisis I had never faced 3 before as a leader which was the sudden death of a staff member on my team. The staff I lead are very close to each other, regularly socializing and developing friendships outside of work. In May 2023, we lost a staff member suddenly, and as a leader, I had to support my staff’s grieving process as well as ensure that the agency’s functions – working directly with schools – continued as seamlessly as possible.

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My first immediate step was to communicate to stakeholders about the incident and set out expectations for the short term. Then, I arranged for a grief counselor to be onsite for the staff to support us collectively and individually. I knew that grieving is a process, so I made time and space for team members to address their own needs. Next, I was faced with filling the gap of the individual we lost from a workflow perspective and backfilling the role with care and compassion. I worked with the team to identify who could fill in on immediate needs, and then I identified what we needed in a new hire and communicated the history to the new hire so that they were prepared to succeed in the role.

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Describe your experience working with budgetary oversight, including profit and loss statements, financial statements and budgets.

Professionally, I am the executive director of a state agency that has a multi-million dollar annual budget. I provide the strategic direction to staff on the allocation of resources within the budget, and then I am responsible for the regular public reporting of the agency’s expenditures both to the board of directors and to the state’s legislature. I review the budget to actuals monthly to identify any areas of concern, and I work closely with the board and budget staff to identify areas of organizational need (including additional staffing) and how those expenditures can be covered within the existing budget.

 

Within Phi Sigma Sigma, I have been on the Finance Committee, the Investment Committee, and the Human Resources Committee since 2017. It is through this experience that I have a deep understanding of the Phi Sigma Sigma budget process, and I regularly review the Fraternity’s profit and loss statements. I work closely with the executive director and the Human Resources Committee to evaluate and recommend a staffing budget annually, in alignment with the needs of the organization. Supreme Council also reviews quarterly financial statements from the staff, including projected and actual membership figures, to track the annual budget and adjust, if necessary.

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What are your current personal and professional priorities? Describe your current bandwidth and how you plan to incorporate your commitment as a member of Supreme Council to your current obligations.

Professionally, I work a full-time job, and the cadence of work ebbs and flows. I have worked in my current type of role for the past ten years, and I have a clear understanding of when work will be at a higher volume than at other times. While work is a priority for me, I believe that work-life balance is critically important for everyone, and I regularly handle sorority business before and after work hours as well as on the weekends, and this is a normal occurrence in my personal life.

 

Personally, my family is very supportive of my volunteering with Phi Sigma Sigma, and they understand that there are times in the evenings and weekends when I must do sorority work. My husband and my children do not know anything different, and we even put “mom’s sorority calls” on the weekly calendar on the fridge. My family knows that Phi Sigma Sigma is extremely important to me, and they are supportive of my time away from them to support Phi Sigma Sigma.

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Explain your vision for leading the Fraternity in the next biennium.

My vision for the Fraternity over the next biennium is to create new revenue streams beyond the collegiate membership dues revenue to sustain the organization over the long term. The Fraternity is at a crossroads where it must make bold decisions and think differently about its business model if the organization wants to survive. The boards of the three entities, the Fraternity, the National Housing Corporation, and the Foundation, must work together to think strategically about the current resources and leverage these resources to make investments in areas to increase non-collegiate membership revenue. The membership model of the Fraternity must expand, evolve, and be supplemented to create more opportunities for individuals to be engaged with the organization. We must leverage resources under all three entities to support the overall sustainability of the Fraternity. We must think differently to increase non-collegiate revenue streams such as fee-for-service opportunities, increasing membership opportunities outside of the traditional models, and significantly increasing regular donations to the Foundation.

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Success in two years is for the Fraternity to have made clear, strategic moves to shore up the organization’s financial stability and it is set up for greater revenue growth in the 2027-2029 biennium and beyond. I am calling on the membership of the Fraternity to engage with the organization through a regular donation to the Foundation, to contribute to the new initiatives 5 to diversify revenue streams, and to support difficult decisions made by the three entities to ensure the organization exists in the short-term and the long-term.

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Describe any media or public/community relations experience that you have had. 
Professionally, I serve as the lead of a state agency which requires me to be the primary agency spokesperson in a variety of contexts. Over the past four years, I have experience responding to media requests, answering reporter questions, and providing information to a variety of stakeholders. I have experience crafting responses in writing as well as on camera. I represent the agency through testimony in legislative committee hearings, speaking at events and conferences, and presenting to the agency’s board of directors. I am very comfortable with and have experience with public speaking to both small and large audiences. Additionally, I regularly engage with stakeholders and members of the public at public hearings which I chair, and this work includes navigating challenging environments and answering difficult questions on the fly.

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Within Phi Sigma Sigma, through my service as Grand Archon and on Supreme Council, I have significant experience speaking with the diverse members of the Fraternity – from collegiate members to alumnae members – as well as colleagues within the greater National Panhellenic Conference community. Building and sustaining relationships within NPC is critically important to the role of Grand Archon, and I have gained invaluable partnerships with other leaders over the past two years.

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Describe your experience managing a team or organization, highlighting any experience you have had with HR or legal counsel. 

Over the past four years, I have been responsible for building a state agency from the ground up which included developing roles and responsibilities for staff, recruiting for those roles, hiring for those roles, and maintaining individuals in those roles. As the work of the agency increased, I identified the needed capacity for additional roles and ensured we had the budget to cover these new roles. I am responsible for the overall performance management of the staff which includes setting annual goals, providing regular feedback, and conducting performance evaluations. In total, I oversee a team of 18 full-time staff members.

 

One of those staff members is the agency’s legal counsel, and I work closely with this individual to manage the risk of the agency. Together, we make decisions to minimize risk where we can, and we work closely together to manage legal issues that arise within the agency’s work. 6 Additionally, we collaborate and respond to any litigation that is filed or potential litigation with the ultimate responsibility of protecting the interests of the agency.

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​Lastly, for the last seven years, I have served as a member of Phi Sigma Sigma Human Resources Committee and worked with the board’s legal counsel. The committee work includes regularly reviewing the staff structure and capacity, recommending new positions or job descriptions, and evaluating the executive director’s performance. I also have experience working with the Fraternity’s executive director, legal counsel, and staff to manage the risk to the organization.