Board of Directors
 Marsha V. Rood, PresidentPrincipal, Urban Reinventions Marsha Rood is Principal of Urban Reinventions, a company devoted to creating mixed use, pedestrian and transit-based livable communities. Ms. Rood served as the City of Pasadena’s Development Administrator from 1982 – 2000 and was responsible for a nationally recognized program of redevelopment, housing and economic revitalization for Pasadena. She more recently served as the Community Development Director of the City of Culver City. In 2003, the California State Senate, the State Assembly and the Pasadena Museum of History honored her as a Living History Maker in the City of Pasadena. As part of her community work, Ms. Rood serves as Vice President of Women At Work. She also is a member of the Pasadena General Plan Update Advisory Committee, various revitalization committees for the Playhouse District Association and the Rotary Club of Pasadena’s program committee. Ms Rood serves as a Trustee for the Pasadena Presbyterian Church and is a recent Board member of Mother’s Club Family Learning Center. Ms. Rood holds a B. A. degree from Stanford University, a Masters in Planning degree, and has completed PhD course work at the University of Southern California. |
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| Veronica Dolleschel (Community Volunteer) City Manager’s Office, City of Irvine |
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 Debbie Heap Financial Advisor, RetiredBorn and raised in Pasadena, Debbie Heap completed her education in the local school system, going on to college at the University of Redlands. Her affiliation to the U of R has continued throughout her life where she has served for nine years on their Board of Trustees. Debbie’s thirty-three year career path was in financial services, spending the majority of time at Dean Witter, which became Morgan Stanley from which she retired in early 2008. She is a Certified Financial Planner, and an Accredited Investment Fiduciary. One volunteer highlight combined both interests in 1995, through her seventeen year affiliation with the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce when she was chosen as the first woman since 1926 to Chair their most prestigious project, the Los Angeles Nissan Open Golf Tournament, a PGA Tour event at Riviera Country Club. Debbie was honored with an achievement award from Women at Work in October 2007, and joined their Board of Directors in early 2010. |
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 Julie Jaross, Secretary Vice President, Intervalley EscrowJulie is Vice President of Operations at Inter Valley Escrow in La Canada, California. She graduated from Pomona College with a BA in Public Policy and earned her MBA at UC Irvine, and has a Human Resource certification from Cal State Northridge. She and her family live in La Canada, and enjoy traveling and many sporting activities. Julie joined the Women at Work board in September 2010. |
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 Lynn KormannCFO, Dilbeck Real Estate, Real Living Lynn is the Chief Financial Officer at Dilbeck Real Estate Real Living. She grew up in La Canada and graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a degree in Business Economics and Accounting. She comes from a long line of volunteers and sincerely believes in the theory of giving back to the community. She lives with her husband, Scott, and son, Eldon, in Sierra Madre. The family enjoys traveling to Hawaii each year and spending time outdoors together. |
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 Marge Leighton (Co-founder and Community Volunteer)When Marge Leighton joined the Women’s Army Corp in WW II she was sent to Craig Field Air Base in Alabama, where she worked in the Personnel Department assigning men overseas. Yearning to go where the action was she secured an overseas assignment for herself, and landed in the China-Burma-India headquarters in Calcutta. The following year Marge was made acting First Sergeant and flew the hump leading a group of women to the Headquarters in Chung King, China.She attended UCLA, and later at CSULA, marrying and raising children as she pursued a degree in sociology. While studying demography and sociology of work in grad school, she worked as a demographic consultant to the Pasadena Unified School District.After Marge’s husband died she continued consulting. She met Betty Ann Jansson and Barbara Burke in 1974; the three women formed the Pasadena Urban Research Consultants. Through their work, the three consultants came to recognize the need for a center to provide career and job resources for women. The three refocused their professional efforts. In 1979 Women at Work was born. |
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 Ellen LigonsAssociate Dean of Career and Technical Education at PCC (Retired)Ellen Ligons is a graduate of Pasadena City College (PCC), La Verne University, and Cal State University at Los Angeles. She holds an Associate in Arts degree in Business, a Bachelors degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in management, and master degrees in Business Education and Public Administration. She has enjoyed a long and illustrious career (38 years) at PCC where she started as a secretary in the division of Student and Learning Services in 1970. She served as a full-time instructor for 25 years and became a part-time instructor when she was appointed to her current position of Associate Dean of Career and Technical Education.In the community, she has served on the City of Pasadena’s Planning Commission, chaired the City’s Northwest Task Force, updated the Northwest Community Plan and wrote the proposal that gave the City its first ever Northwest Commission, Office of Northwest Affairs and Director of Northwest Programs. From 1998 to 2002, she represented PCC on the City’s Human Services Commission. She has served on the board of directors for Pasadena Mental Health, and Alkebu-Lan Culture Center and is a member of the Pasadena Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., a public-service organization. She has planned, organized, and implemented the first Career Education Conference held at First AME Church in Northwest Pasadena and created an annual Career and Technical Education Day at PCC for high school seniors.Ellen joined the board of Women at Work in May, 2011. |
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 Ellie S. MacMullinHuman Resources Consultant Ellie MacMullin, PHR, is a Human Resources Professional residing in Pasadena. Ellie currently works for the City of Glendale as a Business Analyst. Because of Ellie’s expertise in building and transforming departments, she considers herself to be an HR Architect. Ellie has been fortunate to work with numerous Fortune 500 companies that included The Walt Disney Company, Edison Enterprises, as well as the international law firm of O’Melveny & Myers LLP. Ellie and her husband Bill are active community members and enjoy being members of the Tournament of Roses Association. |
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 Barbara MartinoffCommunity Volunteer After 36 years employed with the city and three years employed with County of Los Angeles, Barbara is now retired. She directed the administration of various federal grants for the City of Los Angeles and County of Los Angeles over twenty years. She also directed Long Range Planning for City of Los Angeles airports and implementation of various programs, planning activities with approximately 200 employees for City of Los Angeles Board of City of Public Works and the acquisition and relocation of residential noise program for LAX. Barbara has been involved with various boards, managing non-profit organizations and foundations to support viable programming to help low-income families and children since the 1980′s. |
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 Angie O’BrienCommunity Volunteer Angie O’Brien is a retired teacher who is enjoying volunteering in her community. She is active in a lot of non-profits, including the PTA Council, PCC PTSA Board, PCC Bond Oversight Committee, Pasadena Education Foundation, and is the Vice president of the Pasadena Senior Center, and the president of the City of Pasadena Senior Commission and is the immediate past president of the Rose Bowl Bruins. |
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| Uma Shrivastava, Treasurer Private Client Manager at US Trust |
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 Vera Teller, Ph.DLecturer / Associate Professor CSU Dominguez Hills College of Business Administration and Public Policy Vera Teller is currently on the staff at California State University Dominguez Hills as a Lecturer in the College of Business Administration and Public Policy. Her professional career spans over 25 years experience in business and management as Director of Systems and Programming for Safeway (Vons) and Trader Joe’s, consultant for EDS, and Program Manager for WellPoint.Vera holds a Ph.D. and MA from the Fielding Graduate University in Human and Organization Development, an MBA from California State University, Los Angeles, specializing in business information systems and has certification from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in data communications, microcomputer and LAN support. She is PMI certified since 2000. Vera’s interest in career advancement opportunities in the information technology (IT) field is based on personal and professional experience. She extensively researched networks and their impact on women’s careers. She has been a speaker at the Project Management Institute chapter conferences, Business Analysts conference, Los Angeles Quality Assurance conference, and Chinese American IT conference on societal factors that created barriers to women advancing in the work- place. She will continue to motivate others for success in their careers by speaking at conferences, teaching, and writing on various organizational topics. |
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Louise Wannier
Owner of Truu Designs, Pasadena
Strategic visionary, serial entrepreneur and technological innovator with a passion for transforming the consumer experience as well as fashion and design. Currently leading TRUUdesigns.com an innovative fashion design studio focused on providing distinctive style with personalized fit for women of all ages and figures in addition to an innovative approach to the mass-customization of fashion. Louise has founded and built five companies including MyShape.com which invented and launched personal shopping for fashion online in 2006 and prior consumer leadership success as co-founder and COO of Gemstar U.S. and CEO of Gemstar Europe. VCR Plus+ was the most successful consumer electronics product since the Sony Walkman and was taken public with a market capitalization of over $500 million. Louise has an MBA in Finance and Management Science with honors from the Anderson School at UCLA (1980) and a BS in Astronomy with honors from the California Institute of Technology (1978). As part of a Life break, she attended FIDM where she earned a Professional Certification in Textile Design in 2004. She began her career by joining the Los Angeles office and consulting practice of Ernst in 1979 (now E&Y, at the time was Ernst & Ernst), and worked on engagements across a wide diversity of industries from 1980-1986. |
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