Board of Directors
Kate Campbell Stevenson, Chair of the Board of Director
Activist, Artist and Producer Women: Back to the Future
Kate Campbell Stevenson combines over 25 years of professional experience in music, theatre and education to create Women: Back to Future. She has starred in over 30 Broadway musicals produced in regional theaters across the United States, including Camelot, Carousel, My Fair Lady, The King and I, Show Boat, Music Man and I Do! I Do! as well as performing in radio and TV commercials.
In her one-woman show Kate brings to life historical women with “can do” attitudes who have inspired audiences from the poorest rural schools in South Carolina to the fanciest prep schools in LA; from small county fairs to the National Theatre and The Office of the President in Washington, D.C.; from state and national convention halls to renowned college and civic auditoriums.
Ann E. W. Stone, EWI Co-Founder and Chair Emeritus
President of The Stone Group
Co-Founder of the National Women’s History Museum
Ann Stone is a Founding Board member, Treasurer and one of three original incorporators of the National Women’s History Museum. She was also an integral part of the campaign by the Museum to pass legislation and raise money to move the “Portrait Monument” (the statue given by the suffragists to the Congress to celebrate the passage of the 19th Amendment) out of the Crypt of the Capitol and into the Rotunda. She actually negotiated the terms for the move.
Ann Stone is also the founder and president of The Stone Group,Inc., an award-winning direct marketing business. Ms. Stone has founded other businesses and helped launch a national bank. She serves on the boards of Empowered Women International and The Washington Center (Women as Leaders).
Ms. Stone speaks professionally in the United States and overseas on such topics as entrepreneurship, politics, women’s history, women’s issues, and much more. She has been listed in the Who’s Who of Marketing and Advertising Executives and the International Edition of Who’s Who as well as Outstanding Women in America. In 1992, she was chosen as one of 75 Women Who Changed Politics in America by C&E Magazine. A graduate of George Washington University, with a double major in history and communications, Ms. Stone did graduate work in corporate finance and management at the Wharton School of Business consortium. Read Ann Stone’s full bio.
Joanne Clark, Vice-President
Program Officer with Meridian International
Owner of late bloomers™
Joanne Clark joined EWI’s board in January, 2010. She is a program officer for Meridian International Center in Washington, DC where, for 24 years, she has worked with international visitors from around the globe who have been invited to the U.S. by the Department of State. Prior to her tenure at Meridian International Center, Joanne had a successful 14 year career in the computer industry, where she honed her sales, marketing and public relations skills.
Joanne received her BA in French from Manhattanville College and spent one year in Paris after graduation. In 1994, Joanne was awarded a Masters in International Transactions from George Mason University’s International Institute. She is a two-time recipient of National Award for Excellence in Programming, in 1993 and again in 2010, given by the National Council for International Visitors (NCIV). The Award is presented annually to exemplary members of the network, selected by their peers, to recognize outstanding achievers within the NCIV network who have given tirelessly of their energies and creativity to the success of the International Visitor Leadership Program and to promote international education and exchange.
Joanne has lived in Boston, Paris, San Francisco, Minneapolis and now lives in Alexandria, VA. An avid traveler, her international travels have taken her to Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean, Tunisia, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, and the West Bank.
Joanne has her own small business, late bloomers™, established in 1998 and featuring original photography and jewelry.
Dianne Lorenz, Director of Partnerships
President, In Focus Foundation
Co-founder Womenade Circle Bethesda
Dianne Lorenz brings a solid business background in organizational and financial management, marketing and communications, business development and entrepreneurial leadership having founded and lead a successful 12 million dollar women-owned high technology company for over 20 years. She was recognized for her passion for quality and her innovative approach to team-centered management and client satisfaction.
Dianne describes herself as a “visionary entrepreneur” as she launches a post-retirement enterprise, In Focus Foundation, whose goal is to establish a microfinance vehicle in the Washington, DC area that helps women, especially women with families, become independent through creating their own small enterprise. The organization’s mission is to enable low-income women to reap the benefits of career success, financial security, education for their children and involvement in their communities.
She is a co-founder of Womenade Circle, a giving circle that combines individual small donations to make a significant impact in the lives of women and families locally and internationally. She serves as co-chair of the DC Chapter of SERVAS International, which fosters understanding, tolerance and world peace through cross-cultural travel. Recent fundraising initiatives have benefited Dalit photojournalist in Nepal through The Clean Hands Project, Nepali orphans through Soccer Balls for Kids and women from small villages in Kenya seeking education opportunities through the Nikolas Sironka Dance Troupe.
Some of her favorite volunteer activities are participating on the Leadership Team at Organizing for America, photographing homeless and low-income families through Help-Portrait and organizing annual winter clothing drives for S.O.M.E. For intellectual stimulation and pure enjoyment, she ushers at Studio Theater, Theater J and Wooly Mammoth.
Samantha Fraelich, Treasurer
Certified Financial Planner® Practitioner with Bernard R. Wolfe & Associates
Samantha has over a decade of experience in Wealth Management with previous positions at UBS Financial and National Wealth Advisors in Naples, Florida before joining Bernard R. Wolfe & Associates. She earned her bachelors degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. Samantha is a native of Munroe Falls, a suburb of Cleveland, OH.
She is a Registered Representative of National Financial Partners and resides in Bethesda, MD. Samantha is very involved in female networking organizations throughout Montgomery County and is a Co-Director of Women Ambassadors for Business-Montgomery County, a board member of Empowered Women International and member of Women Business Owners of Montgomery County and the American Association of University Women.
Drew Bewick, Director of Entrepreneurship
Managing Director, Tree House Ventures
Drew Bewick brings 20 years of experience involving the most challenging issues where technology and innovation intersect. As Managing Director of Tree House Ventures, LLC, Drew serves as an advisor to multiple companies and non-profit organizations assisting visionary entrepreneurs launch ventures to make a social impact. He’s also a Senior Fellow at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies in Washington, DC and an Entrepreneur Coach at the Northern Virginia Technology Center.
Drew served as chairman of a number of technology boards and councils in government, and in 2007 was recognized by the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government as a leader who demonstrated collaborations which cross the boundaries of organizations and sectors in developing linkages to the private sector and evaluating their worth for public purposes. He’s participated in 30 equity investments into technology companies across three stages of enterprise development–seed, early stage and growth in emerging computing, wireless, renewable energy, and communications.
Drew is a graduate of the American University, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and the University of Maryland, where he co-founded the Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs.
Marga C. Fripp, EWI Founder and Executive Director
Social Entrepreneur, International Consultant
Marga Fripp, the Founder and President of Empowered Women International, is an award-winning social entrepreneur, and an international consultant in art marketing and entrepreneurship with a focus on women.
Marga is a Romanian-born former broadcast journalist and founder of two non-profit organizations. She was banned from broadcasting in 1996 due to her political views, then went on to create a non-profit to counteract domestic violence and sexual assault, and promote legislation to protect women from domestic abuse. She was only 23 years old when she founded this non-profit. Six years later, Marga’s non-profit legislative advocacy efforts lead to a Domestic Violence Bill signed into law by the Romanian Parliament, in May 2003.
After coming to the United States in late 2001 and experiencing firsthand the plight of immigrant women, Marga created Empowered Women International to give voice and create entrepreneurial opportunities for immigrant and refugee women.
Marga is passionate about training, coaching and inspiring women artists, artisans and creative entrepreneurs to pursue their passions. She worked with thousands of women in the US and internationally, and helped them to start up or grow businesses that fuel innovation, opportunity and social change.
Over the past ten years, Marga’s effective and passionate leadership turned Empowered Women International from a volunteer-run program to an award-winning organization with more than 3,500 supporters, over 2,500 women beneficiaries, and more than 1 million dollars generated in donated services.
Marga speaks regularly to women’s and business organizations on leadership, entrepreneurship and women’s empowerment, and travels with her marketing and art business seminars to train artists nationally and internationally. To contact Marga or invite her to lead a marketing workshop or speak to your event, email her at margacfripp@gmail.com