Meet the GWA Steering Committee

Posted in About Us

Erika Cohen-Derr

Senior Chair/President, Georgetown Women’s Alliance
Interim Associate Vice President, Student Affairs & Director, Center for Student Engagement

In more than fifteen years at Georgetown University, Dr. Cohen Derr (pronouns: she/her) has been on the front lines for a wide variety of student programming, involvement and activism. Her research interests grew from the experience of accompanying students on their leadership journeys, through self-exploration, navigating relationships, and developing a sense of purpose. She has advised students on a wide variety of programs and experiences, from campus-wide entertainment, to provocative speakers, to artistic collaboration, to outdoor adventure and immersion experiences. She is passionate about student engagement, leadership, and identity.

Lisa Krim

Chair Emeritus
Senior Advisor to the President for Faculty Relations | Office of the President

Lisa Krim serves as senior advisor to the President for faculty relations at Georgetown University. In this role, she leads efforts to develop University-wide faculty policy and supports and collaborates with campus and school faculty and administrators on a full range of faculty affairs issues, to advance the University’s mission, goals and strategic priorities. She also develops programs and resources to support faculty to be effective leaders in administrative and governance roles. Her portfolio also includes university-wide gender initiatives, including serving as chair of the Advisory Board for the Georgetown Gender Justice+ Initiative and a member of the Gender Equity Task Force.

Rosemary Kilkenny

Liaison, President’s Office
Vice President for Institutional Diversity & Equity | Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity & Affirmative Action

Maria Snyder

GWA Vice-Chair, Grants
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs | GSAS

Maria has been with Georgetown since January 1998. She began her career in the SFS (publications, public affairs) and later the College (department administration), before joining the Graduate School in 2004 where she oversaw research development for faculty and graduate students. After directing the Office of Graduate Fellowships & Awards for five years, she was promoted to associate dean of academic affairs in 2019. Her academic and professional training is in the humanities (English, Spanish), health sciences (nursing), and editing. She is currently working on a thesis on Ernest Becker and Viktor Frankl in a graduate program at Johns Hopkins.

Lynn Screen

GWA Chair, Leadership Development & Mentoring
University Director, Organizational Development | UHR

Lynn (pronouns: she/her) has been a Georgetown University community member for close to 15 years and has held positions in the Center for Language Education & Development, the Office of Global Services, the Institute for Transformational Leadership at SCS, and currently leads University Learning and Organizational Development in the Department of Human Resources. She is committed to tapping into the wisdom among us to empower women at Georgetown to be confident and authentic leaders. She is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and holds an MA from George Washington University and an Executive Master’s in Leadership from MSB at Georgetown.

Roberta Paul

GWA Chair, Leadership Development and Mentoring
Senior Director of Employee and Labor Relations | University HR

Roberta has been a Georgetown University community member for over 15 years and currently works to oversee labor and employee relations issues for University staff. Roberta holds an MBA and has more than 20 of years experience designing, planning, and implementing human resources programs and policies. Roberta enjoys exploring the outdoors on her bike and with her dog.

Anjelika Deogirikar Grossman

Co-Chair, Events and Programming
Associate Director, Massive Data Institute | McCourt School of Public Policy

Anjelika (she/her/hers) (pronounced an-ja-lee-kah) (MSPP ’14) is the associate director of the Massive Data Institute at the McCourt School of Public Policy. To Georgetown, Anjelika brings nearly two decades of experience from the private and public sectors, including Genentech, Twitter and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; most recently, she was the director of experiential learning and global education at Castilleja School in Palo Alto, CA. In addition, she is a Security Fellow at the Truman National Security Project. Anjelika is an activist artist and arts educator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington and Case for Making.

Megan May

Co-Chair, Events and Programming
Executive Coordinator for the Office of the Chief Operating Officer | COO

Before she came to Main Campus in 2022, Megan (pronouns: she/her) spent two years at the Law Center within the Dean of Students Office. She is a current SCS student in the Design Management & Communications program where she focuses on human-centered design and accessibility. 

Marissa Allegra

Co-Chair, Communications and Marketing
Learning and Development Specialist | University HR

Marissa (pronouns: she/her) joined Georgetown University in 2019 and is passionate about effective communication, inclusive teaching, and innovative instructional design. In her primary role, she designs and delivers engaging learning experiences geared towards developing and empowering administrative staff. As the GWA Comms Co-Chair, she aims to visualize and promote GWA’s mission and values through the newsletter, social media, and other communication channels. She holds an M.A. in Organizational Learning and Human Development. She is a certified MBTI® Practitioner, rescue dog owner, and loves to connect with others through food.

Gwendolyn Pearson

GWA Chair, Operations
EA to the Office of the Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer | UHR

A native of Virginia Beach, VA, Gwen (pronouns: she/her) has been a Human Resources Professional for over 25 years. In her current role at Georgetown, she has executive responsibilities within the Human Resources department in the areas of scheduling, finance, and document review. Before Georgetown, Gwen spent the majority of her career as an Executive Team Leader for Target Corporation. She served as a chief spokesperson for diversity and inclusion and represented the company on both the new employee corporate orientation video and career website. Building bridges between the company and community to enhance awareness of company diversity initiatives was the chief focus for Gwen for many years. Gwen lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her wife and children. When not working, she enjoys gardening, traveling, and working with the Capitol Pride Organization.

Emily Dixon

GWA Chair, Finance
Associate Director of Digital Marketing and Analytics | MSB

Emily has been at Georgetown University since 2019 and currently works as the Associate Director of Digital Marketing and Analytics within the McDonough School of Business. She is also a part-time student in the Flex MBA program and will be graduating in May 2023. As the Finance Chair, her goal is to ensure the missions of GWA are sufficiently funded and resources can be made available to the communities GWA aims to serve. Outside of school and work, she enjoys painting, plant care, hiking, biking, and playing soccer. 

Committee Members

GWA Book Club Leads (Programming Committee)

Position open!

Operations Committee

Kenyetta Louis | HCM Specialist, Georgetown University HR

Additional Partners and Honorary Members

Annie Selak, Associate Director, Women’s Center

Sivagami ‘Shiva’ Subbaraman, former Director of the LGBTQ Resource Center

Dr. Andria Wisler, Executive Director of Center for Social Justice (CSJ)

Dr. Cathy Tinsley
Academic Director of Georgetown McDonough’s Executive Master’s in Leadership Program (MSB)
Faculty Director, Georgetown University Women’s Leadership Institute
Professor of Management

Melanne Verveer
Executive Director, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS)

Need to contact us?

gwacomms@georgetown.edu