Executive Committee Members

Rep. Janis Sontany, Chair, is in her fourth term in the Tennessee General Assembly and was previously a member of Metro Council for 8 years. She recently retired from DuPont with 21 years of service in government affairs and customer service. She is a past president of the Nashville Women's Political Caucus and was their 2002 Athena Nominee. She served as a board member of Outlook Nashville and was awarded the CMRA Public Leader of the Year in 1998. Rep. Sontany is a Representative of the Tennessee House on the Council. rep.janis.sontany@capitol.tn.gov

Carol Danehower, PhD., Vice-Chair, is Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the Fogelman College of Business and Economics at The University of Memphis. She received her doctorate in Management from the University of Kentucky. As Associate Dean, Dr. Danehower is responsible for all academic programs (undergraduate, masters, and Ph.D.) in the College, including recruiting, admissions, advising, curriculum, and scheduling. Dr. Danehower represents the Tennessee Board of Regents on the Council. vdanehwr@memphis.edu

Shawn Francisco was appointed in 2001 to serve as the Weakley County Director of Finance. She has twice received the nationally-recognized Government Finance Officers Association Distinguished Budget Presentation Award, making Weakley County one of only five Tennessee counties to receive this award. She also serves on the Everett-Stewart Regional Airport Board, is active in numerous political and professional organizations and is an alumnus of the Tennessee Local Government Leadership Program & Leadership Weakley County. She represents West Tennessee on the Executive Committee. franciscos@k12tn.net

Tommie Morton-Young, Ph.D., of Nashville, currently owns and operates AfrAgenda Literary Management and Publishing and Authentic Tours of Historic Nashville and Middle Tennessee and serves as Chair of the Education Committee for the NAACP. Dr. Morton-Young has previously been a professor and administrator, worked for the Library of Congress and for the YWCA. She has served on the National Institute of Health Advisory Council, as President of Davidson County Democratic Women and on the National Coalition of 100 Black Women. Dr. Morton-Young has broad service experience, is a Past-president of the Southeast branch of the Association of American University Women and has worked with the Commission on the Status of Women.  She was recently appointed to the Tennessee Judicial Council and her tenth book, Ride a Dark Horse in the Dark Night, was released in 2008. She represents Middle Tennessee on the Executive Committee. aagen1@msn.com

Elliott Moore, M.S.S.W., of Bristol, is the Director of Community and Government Relations for Mountain States Health Alliance (MSHA), a hospital healthcare system based in Johnson City. She previously served as President/CEO of the Hospital Alliance of Tennessee and is past President of both the Nashville and the Tennessee Women’s Political Caucus. She represents the East Tennessee Grand Division for two years on the Council’s Executive Committee, and serves as the First Development District representative on the Council. mooreeg@msha.com

Ellen Bronaugh Vergos, Secretary, represents the Memphis Area Development District and serves as Secretary of the Council. She is a partner in the Memphis office of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, LLP, where she practices in the areas of creditors' rights, business bankruptcy and commercial litigation. Ms. Vergos is a certified as a specialist in business bankruptcy law and is listed by the Tennessee Supreme Court as a Rule 31 general civil mediator. She received her B.A. from Vanderbilt University and her J.D. from the University of Memphis School of Law. Her career includes public service in the U.S. Department of Justice as United States Trustee for Region 8 (Tennessee and Kentucky) by the appointment of former Attorney General Janet Reno, from 1995 to 2003; private law practice in Memphis and Nashville, and a judicial clerkship in the U.S. District Court for the Honorable Harry W. Wellford (retired Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals judge.) She is a member of the boards of directors of the Tennessee Justice Center, the Shelby County Health Care Board, and the Memphis Convention Center. evergos@wyattfirm.com

Yvonne Wood, M.Ed., Treasurer, represents the Greater Nashville Development District on the Council and is the Treasurer on the Executive Committee. She also serves as Chair of the Boards & Commissions Initiative. She owns Wood Consultants, a conference and event planning company. She is Chair of the ATHENA Foundation, International, honoring and advancing women in leadership around the world. ycwood@aol.com

Carol Berz, L.C.S.W., J.D., Ph.D., Immediate Past Chair, of Chattanooga, owns Private Dispute Resolution Services, LLC, a mediation services and conflict management system design organization. Dr. Berz is a Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 Listed mediator and a national trainer in both general civil and family mediation. The Council's Southeast Development District representative, she organized the Council's statewide forums on the Economic Impact of Domestic Violence and co-authored subsequent Council publications on that topic. She leads the Council’s strategic planning component and chairs its Economic Impact Committee. cberz@4pdrs.com

Council Members

Sandra Bennett, of Manchester, is President-Elect of the Tennessee Women’s Political Caucus and currently serving her third term as Vice President of Legislation for the Nashville Women's Political Caucus. In 2003 and 2004, as President of Greater Nashville Business & Professional Women, Ms. Bennett spearheaded a grassroots effort for the passage of the Tennessee Equal Pay Remedies & Enforcement Act. In June of 2004, she was presented with Tennessee Joint Resolution No. 955 to acknowledge her efforts on behalf of the women of Tennessee.  Ms. Bennett was appointed to serve on the Council in 2006 representing At-Large Women’s Groups and is Chair of the Legislative Committee. She is Chair of the legislative workshop “Everyday Politics for Everyday Women.”

Gwendolyn Sims Davis, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of General Services, represents the Governor’s Cabinet on the Council and has served as the Middle Tennessee Representative on the Executive Committee. Prior to her role as Commissioner, she was President and Chief Consultant of Sims Associates, a Nashville-based consulting firm specializing in human resources management, government compliance and corporate diversity programs. Gwendolyn.S.Davis@tn.gov

Rep. Sherry Jones, of Nashville, has been a House member of the 99th through 105th General Assemblies. She is the Vice-Chair of the House Children and Family Affairs Committee. Rep. Jones is a member of the Nashville Women’s Political Caucus and Davidson County Democratic Women. She also volunteers for Court Appointed Special Advocates. Prior to her work in the General Assembly, Rep. Jones was a member of the Metro Nashville Council for the 30th District from 1987 to 1995. She has received leadership awards from the Mid-Cumberland Council on Children and Youth, Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, Tennessee AFL-CIO, Tennessee Citizen Action, Tennessee March of Dimes, and Vanderbilt Law School, among others. She was appointed by the Speaker of the House to serve on the Economic Council. rep.sherry.jones@capitol.tn.gov

Linda Manning, Ph.D., became the Director of the Margaret Cuninggim Women's Center in November of 1997. She teaches Gender and Violence for the Women and Gender Studies Program and Trauma: Impact and Intervention for the Human Development Counseling Program. Prior to coming to Vanderbilt, she was the Director of Psychological Services at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas. Linda completed her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, with a concentration in the Psychology of Women, at the University of Texas at Austin in 1988. She has conducted programming and training activities related to gender equity and diversity issues for over twenty years. She is a licensed psychologist and specializes in working with survivors of trauma. She also teaches practices that focus on contemplation and spiritual growth and trains therapists to work with the mind, body, spirit connection www.yogafortheemotionalbody.com. She loves reading poetry and listening to live music. linda.g.manning@vanderbilt.edu.

Margaret Jane Powers, J.D., of Crossville,serves as Upper Cumberland Development District Representative to the Economic Council on Women and chairs its Legislation and Policy Committee. Founder of the successful Powers Law Firm focusing on litigation of gender employment fairness issues, bankruptcy, criminal defense and workers compensation, Ms. Powers also serves as the President of the Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women and as Speaker of the Tennessee Bar Association’s House of Delegates. She is also a Member of the Tennessee Bar Foundation. mjp@margaretjanepowers.com

Rep. Mary Pruitt, of Nashville, is a retired educator and has served in the 94th through the 105th Tennessee General Assemblies.  She serves as the Vice-Chair of the House Health and Human Resources Committee.  Rep. Pruitt is a member of 100 Black Women of Nashville and an honorary member of Sigma Gamma Rho.  She is Past President of the Nashville Club-Nashville Association of Negro Business and Professional Woman's Clubs, Inc. and the Tennessee Middle District Civil Liberties League.  Rep. Pruitt is a board member of Meharry Medical College, the Rochelle Center, and the Bethlehem Centers of Nashville.  On the Economic Council, she represents the Women’s Caucus of the state legislature.  rep.mary.pruitt@legislature.state.tn.us

Sandra Silverstein is currently working Director of the WIA’s Career Readiness Certificate program in Haywood County. The program helps the unemployed find jobs and the underemployed find better jobs. Previously she has worked with the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and served as Executive Director of the Brownsville-Haywood County Chamber of Commerce for nine years. Before that she served as an educator in high-need school systems for twenty years. She served two terms on the Madison County Commission and has owned and managed an insurance company for six years. She represents the Southwest Development District on the Council. lilly1@newwavecomm.net

Dr. Dena Wise is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist with the University of Tennessee focusing on Family Economics. She works with county extension agents and partners across the state to reach more than 3 million Tennesseans each year with information about money management, consumer education and fraud prevention. Dr. Wise is state coordinator of Tennessee Saves and gives statewide leadership to Extension’s bankruptcy educator program and support to homebuyer education. She is principle author and project coordinator of On My Own, a financial education simulation conducted with 20,000 junior high and high school youth across Tennessee each year and coordinates a multi-state project funded by the FINRA Foundation to reach young adults with financial and investor education. dkwise@utk.edu

Senator Jamie Woodson has represented the 6th Senatorial District since her election to the 104th Tennessee General Assembly.  In the 101st through the 103rd General Assemblies she was a member of the State House.  Jamie serves as Secretary of the Senate Republican Caucus, Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, Co-Chair of the Education Oversight Committee, and as a member of the Senate Judiciary and Senate Transportation Committees.  She earned her B.A. and J.D. from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and still resides in East Tennessee with her husband and three children.  Jamie serves on numerous boards, such as the East Tennessee Development District, the Hillcrest-Beverly Foundation, the YMCA, the Epilepsy Foundation East Tennessee, and the John Sevier Foundation.  She is a member of the Knoxville Bar Association, Tennessee Bar Association, Tennessee Horizon Network, South Knoxville Rotary, and the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce. sen.jamie.woodson@capitol.tn.gov

Staff

Jennifer Rawls is the Executive Director of the Economic Council on Women. She is a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law and practiced law for fifteen years. For ten years, she represented the State of Tennessee and its citizens in the consumer protection and bankruptcy areas as a member of the Tennessee Attorney General's Office. She has also worked in products liability arena, juvenile courts, and the insurance defense field. Jennifer is also a writer and enjoys public speaking. She is a member of ToastMasters International and has written speeches for various events. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Middle Tennessee State University. She has also been involved in mentoring projects for law students and youth. Jennifer.L.Rawls@tn.gov

Julia Reynolds, Research Analyst. Julia.Reynolds@tn.gov

Tracey Roberts, Executive Assistant tracey.roberts@tn.gov