theSkimm Co-founders: Progress Comes When Hearing “No” Starts to Lose its Meaning

Leslie Stiles is currently board president of the Pennsylvania Conference for Women, an event she initiated to broaden the outreach to women across the Commonwealth. From January 2003 until February 2011, Stiles served as executive director for the Pennsylvania Commission for Women. Appointed by the governor, she acted as state government’s advocate for all issues as they impacted women and girls. She is a vigorous and outspoken advocate for women in government and women’s health care, economic stability and education. Prior to her appointment as executive director, Stiles served as director of marketing for the National Constitution Center, vice president of marketing at First Union Bank and Corestates Bank, and president of Stiles and Co.

Throughout her career, Stiles has been active in the realm of public outreach. Her nonprofit board affiliations include: Girl Scouts of Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Marion Anderson award, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure-Philadelphia Affiliate (2005 to 2011), the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition, Kimmel Cancer Center Advisory Board, and the Mayor’s Commission on Literacy, which she chaired through 2016. Stiles is also a member of the Forum of Executive Women. A breast cancer survivor, she has received significant recognition – as an honoree for her work with the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Buddy program, the 2006 PA Breast Cancer Coalition’s Pink Tie award, and Komen’s 2010 Woman of Power award. She is also the recipient of the Professional Women’s Roundtable Power award, the KYW 2011 Women’s Achievement award, as well as the Women’s Law Project Myra Bradwell award, the 2012 Pathways PA award and the Women’s eNews award.

Susan L. Anderson has been a board member and the treasurer of the Pennsylvania Conference for Women since its inception. After completing 20 years of government service, Anderson retired from the Commonwealth, her last position was as special assistant to Gov. Edward G. Rendell for health care reform. Prior to serving in Gov. Rendell’s administration, Anderson practiced law in Philadelphia. For more than 60 years, Anderson has been active in Girl Scouts, having served for nine years as Chair of her local council, six years as a Board member of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., and now as a Board member of the World Foundation for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.  Anderson served for nine years as a member of the Board of the Philadelphia Zoo and served as Chair of the Audit and Compliance Committee. She recently formed and now heads the Board Alumni Association for the Zoo.  She is currently a member of the board of the Women’s Humane Society of PA, serving as its Vice President, a member of the board of the Philadelphia Dog Training Club, serving as its Treasurer, a Member of the Executive Committee of the Women’s Golf Association of Philadelphia, and as a member of the Philadelphia Cricket Club, she serves on its Board and is head of Women’s Golf.

Karen Farmer White is an education consultant and is the current Chair of the Pennsylvania State Board of Education. Previously, she was the managing director at the Pittsburgh office of Mesirow Financial.  Prior to Mesirow, White was the Vice President of Education at WQED Multimedia where she won three Mid-Atlantic Emmys for her work on educational programming.  White is the current Chair-elect at Seton Hill University and serves on the regional advisory board for Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield.  She serves on numerous boards including the FISA Foundation and Point Park University.  White has received numerous awards for community service and serves as a mentor and role model for women in her community.

White worked on a doctorate in education at the University of Pittsburgh where she previously earned a Master of Public Administration from GSPIA and is a graduate of the Executive Management program at the Katz Graduate School of Business. She is a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh class XII.

Ehrika C. Gladden is Vice President and General Manager of the Cisco Refresh business, a multimillion-dollar line of business for Cisco Capital Corporation. As head of Cisco Refresh, Ehrika leads a global organization for a $250 million-dollar business unit, managing the delivery of the P&L for Sales, Marketing, Channels, Operations, and Supply Chain. She has a proven track record of outstanding leadership and commercial expertise as a turnaround specialist and market disruptor with global expertise.

Previously, Ehrika served as Vice President in Market Strategy for the Enterprise Networking Business Unit. As head of Market Strategy, she identified core growth markets and built the business plan resulting in +20% Y/Y growth. She accelerated the business’ entry into new markets globally to leapfrog competitors and defined a new GTM process for the corporation.

Ehrika has been nationally recognized for her inclusive leadership development initiatives/practices and has received multiple awards focused on inclusive leadership and diversity. She serves as a Director for the Pennsylvania Women’s Conference Board and is a Cisco Foundation Trustee. Ehrika is also a member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC), the preeminent member organization for the development of global black leaders.

Before arriving at Cisco, Ehrika was a sales and general management P&L leader in the voice technology industry leading organizations for startups and F500 corporations. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. She and her husband reside in the Silicon Valley area. Ehrika enjoys basketball, tennis, cooking, and traveling globally. 

REV. DR. LORINA MARSHALL-BLAKE is president of the Independence Blue Cross Foundation (Foundation), leading strategic, programmatic, and operational efforts to fulfill the Foundation’s mission to lead sustainable solutions that improve the health and wellness of the community. While overseeing grant-making work for the $73 million Foundation, Marshall-Blake steered the Foundation to be a collaborator, innovator, convener of diverse organizations, and thought leader in addressing emerging health needs in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Marshall-Blake is devoted to her church and community. She serves as an associate minister at the Vine Memorial Baptist Church in Philadelphia. In addition, she is affiliated with more than 30 professional and civic organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and the United Negro College Fund, and is the 28th President of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Omega Omega Chapter.  She has been recognized for her leadership and community service by diverse organizations such as the NAACP, the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Tribune, and the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. She has also been recognized with numerous awards—including the 2018 Philadelphia Region’s Leaders Award from The Philadelphia Tribune, the Health Care Innovator Award from the Philadelphia Business Journal and a Community College of Philadelphia’s Pathways magazine cover story feature. Marshall-Blake serves on 25 non-profit boards and committees of local, state, and national organizations including Blue Cross Blue Shield Association — Corporate Responsibility Committee, Pennsylvania Conference for Women, the Urban Affairs Coalition, and the Urban League of Philadelphia.

Marshall-Blake holds a bachelor’s degree in human services from Antioch College,   a master’s in government administration from the University of Pennsylvania and an honorary doctorate of Humanities from Albright College. She is an Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and was appointed to the National Advisory Council on Nursing Education and Practice in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Elizabeth A. Murphy is senior vice president, regulatory and external affairs for PECO. Through leadership of regulatory strategy and policy, government affairs, economic development, energy purchasing, corporate philanthropy and employee volunteerism, Murphy drives PECO’s commitment to provide its customers with safe, reliable, clean and affordable energy and energy services.  Her team also manages PECO’s suite of award-winning energy efficiency programs and oversees the company’s largest customer accounts. She also is the chair of PECO’s Political Action Committee (PAC).

Prior to coming to PECO, Murphy was chief operating officer of the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) where she managed operations of the bridges, cruise terminal, passenger ferry, rail yard and public safety.  Before joining the DRPA, Murphy served as the director of Government and Regulatory Affairs with Roadway Services, one of the nation’s largest trucking companies.  She began her career as the transportation director for the Speaker of the New York Assembly.

Murphy serves on the boards of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Pennsylvania Conference for Women, Kimmel Center, Beltline Railroad, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania & Southern New Jersey and the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia.

For her commitment to the community, she has been recognized by the Girl Scouts of Southeastern Pennsylvania (Take the Lead Award), PathWays Pennsylvania (Trailblazer Award) and the March of Dimes (Service to Humanity Award). In 2018, Murphy received the Philadelphia Business Journal’s Women of Distinction Award. She has also been honored by The Pennsylvania Diversity Council as one of the area’s Most Powerful & Influential Women as well as one of Main Line’s Most Influential Women by Main Line Today.

Suzanne Quigley has over 20 years’ experience in corporate responsibility and project management. Quigley joined QVC in July of 2010 to lead the Community Affairs team which continues to be part of her current role as Director of Corporate Responsibility for Qurate Retail Group (QRG). QRG is comprised of the leading retail brands QVC, HSN, zulily, Ballard Designs, Frontgate, Garnet Hill, Grandin Road and Improvements. Quigley is responsible for advancing corporate responsibility strategy and initiatives appropriate to QRG’s business, mission and heritage, and manages the expectations of key stakeholders concerning responsible corporate citizenship by a global company.

Her previous role was as Vice President of Community Initiatives at Capmark Finance Inc. based in Horsham, Pa. In this role, Quigley managed all domestic and international corporate giving and employee volunteer programs. Prior to this position, Quigley was the Manager of Housing and Community Initiatives for the Fannie Mae Foundation’s Northern Regional Office in Philadelphia, Pa. In this role, Quigley oversaw affordable housing grant and loan investments covering 10 states in the northern region. In February of 2004, Quigley returned to the Philadelphia area after spending many years in a variety of human service and philanthropy-related positions in Arizona.

Quigley graduated from Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research with a Master’s in Social Service and a Master’s in Law and Social Policy in 1996, and from Villanova University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science in 1993. She also received a certificate in nonprofit management from the Nonprofit Executive Leadership Institute at Bryn Mawr College in 2006. 

Quigley currently is a member of the Greater Philadelphia Philanthropy Network, Retail Industry Leaders Association’s (RILA) Sustainability Committee, Boston College’s Center for Corporate Citizenship Executive Forum, and the Sustainability Leadership Forum.

JOANNE RYDER is the VP, People and Culture of goPuff, Philadelphia’s fastest growing start-up.  In this role, Ryder is responsible for talent acquisition, operations, and management; employee engagement, diversity and inclusion and people operations including payroll, benefits, and employee relations; training, development, and solidifying a strong culture to fuel organizational growth.  During her tenure at goPuff, Ryder has been integral in the build-out of the team, the governance structure and HR systems.

Prior to goPuff, Ryder was the Chief Administration Officer with Beneficial Bank. In this role, she played an instrumental role in the execution of Beneficial’s strategic vision. Ryder oversaw the functional areas including deposit and lending operations, information technology, brand, marketing and communications, education and development, human resources, community relations, and the customer contact center. In her eleven years with Beneficial, Ryder was the key architect of the bank’s growth and brand evolution. She played a key role in the bank successful transition to a fully public company in 2015. She was responsible for the successful mergers and integration of Conestoga Bank and St. Edmond’s Bank. She also led digital initiatives, launching the bank’s mobile banking app, tablet banking and remote deposit capture platforms. Ryder has over twenty three years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Beneficial, she held marketing roles of increasing responsibility at Commerce Bank and Firstrust Bank. Passionate about community involvement, Ryder is a Board Member of the Pennsylvania Conference for Women’s and The Forum of Executive Women.  Ryder earned a BA in communications from the Pennsylvania State University, and an MBA at Villanova University. She resides in Cherry Hill, NJ with her husband and son.