Ambassadors' Circle

Elise is a Founding Board Member of Women’s Global Education Project. She is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer from Senegal (‘96-’99). Upon her return from West Africa and a training contract for the Peace Corps in Guinea, Elise worked at Chemonics International and managed multi-million dollar USAID contract projects in Mali, Senegal and Uganda.  On behalf of WGEP, she traveled to Senegal in December 2004 and met with WGEP local partners and scholarship recipients. Elise received her master’s degree in Environmental and Natural Resource Policy from The George Washington University in 1995, and her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Mary Washington College in 1990. She is fluent in English and French and learned Wolof in Senegal.

Lucy Ascoli has been an enthusiastic supporter of Women’s Global Education Project since she first learned about it at our 2009 Ndajee benefit at North Pond in Lincoln Park. Lucy has worked in city planning and taught social work, and has worked as a fundraiser for low income housing organizations and refugee organizations in Chicago. She currently is on the Board of Directors of Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI) in Chicago, of GPAC,  as well as serving on the Ambassadors’ Circle for WGEP.

Catherine received a BA in English Literature & Classics and a Master’s of Non-Profit Administration from the University of San Francisco and a JD from Loyola University, Chicago. Catherine has worked in the non-profit world in grant writing and program development for the Goodwill Industries in San Francisco. She has also worked as a freelance writer, and practiced employment law at the Legal Assistance Foundation in Chicago. She also co-owned and managed Yoga Trek and now tutors Latin and works as a substitute teacher at Oak Park River Forest High School. She is originally from London and is married with three children.

Sue is a Director of a private family foundation that cares deeply about enhancing local and global communities through healthcare, education, and empowerment. Through her work, Sue has engaged with both small and large non-profit organizations in countries throughout the world and within her own local community.  Sue is the Founder and Director of the One Earth Film Festival’s Young Filmmakers Contest, and a board member for Planned Parenthood of Illinois. She was born in Australia, attended Gymea College and spent 15 years in the travel industry before redirecting her career to philanthropy.

Farah Eck is a global citizen who was born of a Pakistani father, American mother, and has lived in 9+ countries, so she is from everywhere and nowhere!  Farah’s background is in fundraising, organizational capacity building, communications, and stakeholder engagement.  She has a B.A. in Advertising, a M.A. in Communications, a graduate certificate in Nonprofit Management, and a M.A. in International Relations and Conflict Resolution.  Farah currently serves as the Senior Director of Policies and Programs at the United Nations’ Foundation in Washington, DC.

Mariam is the Founder and Managing Director of Axxum Consulting, a Chicago-based Management Consulting firm providing advisory services to clients in Organizational Change Management, Communications, Training, Program Management and Process Improvement. With 17 years of experience in professional services working in business development, client relationship management and transformation projects, her personal & professional experiences have taken her to France, Ireland, Canada and the U.S. She holds an M.B.A. from Université Laval (Canada) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from IPAG Paris (France) and she speaks fluently in English and French. 

Jennifer is a marketing leader with 20 years of brand-building and communications expertise in the commercial and nonprofit sectors. She is a management consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton. Jennifer received her B.A. in international relations from Johns Hopkins University and her M.A. in international studies with concentrations in Latin American studies and international economics from Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. Foundation.

Soudary has spent her 22-year career in the nonprofits and philanthropy, helping organizations power their missions through community-centric strategies with equity at the core. Proud 1st generation Lao American, Soudary channels her passion for refugee and immigrant rights, children youth + families, and social justice into engaging supporters to address systemic issues that touch upon equity, education and public health. Soudary is Vice President, Development at Alliance for a Healthier Generation which is dedicated to building healthier communities, and driven by an impact goal of every mind, every body, every young person–healthy and ready to succeed. She most recently served as senior managing director of development at Teaching Trust and led strategic philanthropic initiatives at Heart House, an afterschool program in Vickery Meadow, Dallas. Soudary holds a Masters in Public Service from DePaul University, and a Bachelors in Asian American Studies and Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Soudary values connecting small, community-based organizations typically left out of funding and access–with funding partners who can amplify their work, and is also a member of the Orchid Giving Circle of the Texas Women’s Foundation.

Edith Njuguna is the Director of Programs and Policy Implementation at the Education Systems Center at Northern Illinois University in Chicago. 

Edith has extensive experience with nonprofits in Chicago and internationally in education, leadership development and community engagement. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Service Management from DePaul University, a Certificate in Hispanic Studies from Universidad Complutense in Madrid and a BA in Literature and Linguistics from the University of Nairobi.  She is a native of Kenya and speaks four languages.

Born and raised in France, having lived in Colombia and, for the past 20 years, in the USA, multilingual, Florence served formerly served as WGEP Board Treasurer. Florence brought over 30 years’ experience in Finance and project management. Florence graduated from HEC Paris, one of the leading European business schools. Some of Florence’s passions include advocating for women, minorities, free education and healthcare, justice and the environment. 

Howard’s involvement in international development began in the mid-60’s. when he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer teacher trainer in the Philippines. After completing his tour of duty, Howard devoted the next phase of his career to training, initially preparing Volunteers for service in Micronesia and later, as director of training for Volunteers in Brazil.

In the mid-70’s, Howard incorporated CHP International, a training and consulting business, and became its president. For the next several decades was a major contractor for the Peace Corps, managing pre-service and in-service Volunteer training programs in numerous countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa. Notably, CHP held the contracts for several years in both countries WGEP serves, Senegal and Kenya. Howard is proud to have served a term on the WGEP Board of Directors.

Jennifer enjoyed two years as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching environmental education in Senegal, where she became aware of the lack of opportunities for girls to attend school and improve their situation through education in Africa. Jennifer has been a fundraising professional for more than a decade, raising funds at many of San Francisco’s most prominent non-profits. She is currently the Director of Development for the LightHouse for the Blind. Her passions include running and painting.

Julie has a strong background in international development, beginning with Peace Corps service in Senegal and then as an executive and senior manager for NGOs and private sector companies in the US, Senegal and other West African countries for over a decade and also in Washington, DC.  As President of Citizen Bridges International she designed hands-on programs for international participants to foster the exchange of best practices through the sharing of professional skills and knowledge. She has a BA in Sociology from D’Youville College and is fluent in French. 

Bill taught political science and history at Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, Illinois, for 32 years before retiring in 2004.  He began volunteering in 1999 with Seeds of Peace, an organization that brings Israeli and Palestinian teens to a camp in Maine every summer for a 3-week experience in peaceful coexistence, where he served as facilitator of the camp’s daily dialogue sessions. In 2002 he assisted in the founding of Hands of Peace, an organization modeled after Seeds of Peace, but adapted to the urban setting of Chicago’s northwest suburbs.  In 2008 he moved to Seattle to become a “manny” to his granddaughter Eloise, and later her brother Loic as well. Since 2009 he has been teaching courses to senior adults at the Lifetime Learning Center.  He recently completed a four-course sequence with the overall title of “The Consequences of Being Black in White America.”  He became involved with WGEP after hearing founder Amy Maglio interviewed on the Chicago Public Radio global affairs program Worldview.