Board of Directors
Liz Sondhaus
Liz joined Metro Theater Company as Audience Development & Community Engagement Manager in 2019 as part of her commitment to support a strongly mission-driven St. Louis arts organization with a commitment to social justice. Liz earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis. She returned to St. Louis in 2017 after 20 years in San Diego where she trained in Organizational Psychology at the CA School of Professional Psychology. Liz held positions in both corporate and non-profit settings including as Director of Corporate Learning & Performance at San Diego State University, Training Director at CA Training Cooperative, VP of Talent Acquisition & Development at VeriCare and adjunct faculty member at University of California – San Diego. Liz is an active member of Issues and Action, A Call to Conscience – Interactive Theater for Social Change and serves on the Racial Justice and Advocacy Committees of Women’s Voices. She is also co-chair of WVR’s Affordable Housing Task Force.
Ruth Ehresman
Ruth Ehresman is a Distinguished Alumni of the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University. She is a former teacher and social worker, and spent the past 17 years working as a policy analyst and organizer for several statewide public interest groups. Ruth has served on many boards and advisory groups, both locally and statewide. She loves dogs, tennis and playing the piano, but her greatest passion is social justice.
Anne Litwin
Anne Litwin, PhD, has a Bachelors degree from the University of Wisconsin, a Masters in Community Psychology from Marist College, and a Masters and PhD in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University. She is a member of The NTL Institute of Applied Behavioral Science, the International Coaching Federation and of the Organization Development Network. She is co-editor of the book, Managing in the Age of Change, along with numerous articles on international consulting and women’s leadership. Anne has written a book on women’s relationships in the workplace, entitled, New Rules for Women: Revolutionizing the Way Women Work Together (2014) based on her research. Dr. Litwin is an ICF-certified coach who provides executive coaching to help leaders, managers, and other professionals enhance leadership capacity by strengthening their interpersonal and strategic skills. She specializes in helping organizations develop leaders and leverage diversity to optimize organizational effectiveness.
Andrea Bauman
Andrea Bauman is a retired registered nurse after having worked about 40 years. She graduated from the Jewish Hospital School of Nursing in 1967 and received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Webster University in 1986. Andrea spent the majority of her nursing career at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in management and as a staff nurse, primarily in preoperative and postoperative care. She is passionate about reducing gun violence and has enjoyed being involved with WVR and the LIFL project for several years. She is a past co-chair of the CCSGS committee.
Andrea loves all animals, reading, traveling, and most of all her wonderful family including her grandchildren.
Karen Cloyd
Karen Cloyd is a retired middle school educator. Since retiring from the classroom she has been involved in primarily politically-related activities including volunteering for candidates and causes. Those causes include protecting voting rights, campaign finance reform, and common sense gun legislation and gun
safety practices. She is also a member of the Metro STL League of Women Voters and currently serves as Co-Chair of West County Democrats. In 2021 she served on the St. Louis County Council Bipartisan Reapportionment Commission. Karen’s spare time is often devoted to entertaining her dog.
Karen Francis
Karen Francis is a retired high school administrator. She currently is the Chair of the American Association of University Women's (AAUW) Public Policy Committee , on the Board of Safe Connections, a facilitator for the YWCA's Witnessing Witness program and past president of the Ballwin Chesterfield Branch of AAUW. She is passionate about women’s issues and social justice. To quote former first lady Michelle Obama, “Find people who make you better” and that truly is Women’s Voices of St. Louis.
Susan Glassman
Susan Glassman was formerly the Executive Vice President of Urban Strategies, a non-profit that works to build human capital in revitalizing communities around the country. Prior to that she was Executive Director of the American Lung Association of Eastern Missouri and the Deputy City Manager of University City, Missouri.
Barbara Harris
Barbara spent her professional life in fundraising beginning at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, where she worked for 27 years, the last 15 years as development director. After retirement from The Rep, Barbara spent time at Parents as Teachers National Center; then for Cultural Leadership, which offers a year-long program where high school students learn how to stand up and speak out against prejudice; and then for HomeWorks, which encourages and helps parents become more involved in their children’s education. Barbara has served in various capacities with several organizations including Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice, the League of Women Voters and Eliot Unitarian Chapel, and is always impressed by the integral role volunteers play in helping these organizations fulfill their missions in the community. She has great respect for the contribution of time, talent and dedication that all volunteers make.
Michele Steinberg
Michele Steinberg is a St. Louis-based creative and storyteller, specializing in video editing, design, and photography. She is passionate about her St. Louis community and gravitates toward projects that further the conversation in areas such as social justice and tikkun olam (repairing the world). Michele has served on the Women’s Voices Raised advocacy committee since 2017 and is beginning her second year as membership chair. Michele also serves as liaison to the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition.
Ellen Wentz
Ellen is a mostly retired dental hygienist. She has served on the board of the St. Louis Dental Hygienists’ Association and the MO Dental Hygienists’ Association and is a past president of the St. Louis Dental Hygienists’ Association. She has hiked and floated many miles in Missouri and around the USA. Most of her travel these days is to visit her grandchildren in Portland, OR. Ellen is a member of the MO voter Protection Coalition’s Disinformation Committee and a volunteer with Jobs With Justice. Ellen currently serves on the advocacy, racial justice and program planning committees of Women’s Voices.