The Candidates

Lisa Armstrong, M.S.S. ’16 serves as the assistant director of volunteer programs in the Career & Civic Engagement Center at Bryn Mawr College. In addition, Lisa has had extensive training working with those experiencing homelessness, mental health challenges, aging, and intimate partner violence.

Outside of Bryn Mawr, Lisa practices therapy at Courdea, working with individuals who harm others. Lisa holds dual degrees in MSS/MPH from BMC’s GSSWSR and Thomas Jefferson University. She also has a BS in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.

When not working, Lisa enjoys spending time with her bonus children, painting and photographing nature, remodeling her home, and being a hospice volunteer.

Caroline Heffernan ’10 (she/her) is an assistant professor at Temple University’s School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management.

She received her doctorate from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, where her dissertation focused on how allyship can be used in sports organizations to increase the representation of women in leadership.

Since graduating, she has continued to be engaged with Bryn Mawr Athletics, serving in multiple capacities, and she has also worked as an admissions interviewer.

Chizoma O. Ihekere-Anokwute ’95
is an administrative judge with the United States Merit Systems Protection Board, which issues decisions on appeals filed by Federal employees and annuitants against various Federal agencies.

Before joining the Board, she served as an attorney with the U.S. Postal Service, Southwest Area Law Department, Dallas, and the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, Dallas, as an assistant district attorney in the misdemeanor and felony sections.

Chizoma is active in several professional and community organizations, including her city’s Ethics Review Commission and the Nigerian-American Lawyers Association of Dallas/Ft. Worth.  She has served as a volunteer for Bryn Mawr College in various capacities over the years.

Dara Picard ’89 is an advancement research consultant to Poly Prep Country Day School, an independent, N-12 school in Brooklyn, NY.

She began her career in philanthropy at a national healthcare foundation and subsequently moved into nonprofit development and advancement, raising money for settlement houses, community health centers, hospitals, and other mission-focused organizations. During a pause in her career to focus on parenting, she was an active volunteer for a wide variety organizations and causes.

In 2017, Picard returned to the paid work force in annual giving and alumni relations at an independent school in Englewood, N.J. For the College, she has served as an alumnae area admissions representative and as a member of her 15th Reunion Giving Committee; she was also Class of 1989 annual giving chair for four years.

Lori A. Perine ’80 is the founder and managing principal of Interpretech, providing executive services to organizations that seek to network people, data, and technology. Lori has broad experience forging strategic partnerships and developing technology initiatives across government, industry, academia, and international organizations. She served on the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team, and has held key executive positions at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and in international technology alliances.

Lori holds an A.B. magna cum laude from Bryn Mawr in mathematics and an M.S. from the University of Pennsylvania in energy management and policy.  A dedicated advocate for women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields, she currently is engaged as a senior advisor to AnitaB.org and as a guest researcher in responsible AI at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, while she pursues a Ph.D. at the University of Maryland’s iSchool.

At Bryn Mawr, Lori volunteers as a co-chair of Tapestry, a member of the Black Alumnae Fund committee, and  in support of various STEM-related programs. Trained as a classical musician, Lori channels her music making as an evangelist for ukulele magic. She also is ordained in the lineage of engaged Buddhism taught by Zen master Thich Nhat Hahn.