Board of Directors
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.
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.
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.
Laura Newman
Laura is currently a program manager for Wells Fargo managing corporate reorganizations and technology implementations. She has over twenty years of experience as a program manager across diverse organizations including finance, consumer goods and biotechnology. In addition to WVR, Laura is currently involved in volunteer work at NCJW and in past years PBS Nine, Missouri Botanical Gardens and the Humane Society.
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.
Lise Bernstein
Lise Bernstein is a consultant to nonprofit organizations in the areas of fund development, marketing and public relations. She has been a board member of several nonprofits and is a former president of the National Council of Jewish Women-St. Louis Section. She was a CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocate) with Voices for Children.
Jenny Birgé
Jenny Birgé is a Brown School adjunct faculty member and the fund administrator at a technology-focused education foundation based at Cortex. Before returning to St Louis in 2018, she was a Research & Development executive at Frito-Lay in Plano, TX. She was on the board of the Plano Education Foundation and active in the North TX Food Bank, United Way and American Heart Association.
Susan (Tonie) FitzGibbon
Tonie FitzGibbon is Professor Emerita at Saint Louis University Law School where she taught for 29 years and served as Director of the Wefel Center for Employment law from 1994 to 2013. Currently Tonie teaches a Citizenship class at the International Institute of St. Louis and is an Oasis volunteer reading tutor at Jackson Park Elementary. She has been an active member of the Campaign for Common Sense Gun Solutions committee since 2018 and is passionate about reducing gun violence, especially in the St. Louis community. She is also passionate about movies, travel, family and friends (not necessarily in that order).
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.
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.