Celebrating Women Leaders (Part 2)
March 25, 2026
Women are abundant forces in our communities and we are proud to share a second group of leaders for Women’s History Month! These women, each nominated by their colleagues and communities, represent a wide range of leadership and impact across mission-driven sectors.
Continue reading to learn more about:
Naima Abdur-Rashid, Director of Human Resources at International Community School
Kim Adams, Global Head of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at Carrier
Boo Gilder, Executive Director at Studio by the Tracks
Toni Simmons Henson, Co-Founder & Executive Producing Director, Atlanta Black Theatre Festival
Eloise Mitchell, Executive Director at Carrie Steele-Pitts Home
Joyal Mulheron, Executive Director at Evermore
Maria Ramos, Policy Analyst at Voices for Georgia's Children
Karima Rose, Vice President of Mission Services at First Step Staffing
Ché Watkins, Executive Director at Braven
Naima Abdur-Rashid leads with heart, vision, and a deep commitment to community. As HR Director at International Community School (ICS), Naima’s role extends far beyond her title.
At ICS, students and families represent dozens of cultures and lived experiences. Naima helps ensure that every member of this beloved community feels seen, valued, and supported. Whether she’s mentoring staff, welcoming families, or offering thoughtful guidance to a colleague, she brings a spirit of compassion and generosity to every interaction.
Naima is also passionate about empowering the next generation of leaders. She launched the school’s first Young Leaders after-school club, inviting community leaders to share their stories and inspire students to see themselves as changemakers.
“What makes Naima truly special is the way she shows up for people—fully and authentically. She leads with empathy, shares her knowledge and access freely, and creates spaces where others can grow. With a warm smile, wise counsel, and an open door, Naima embodies what it means to lead with purpose and invest deeply in the success of others.”
Kim Adams, MBA, Global Head of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, Carrier
“Kim is the kind of leader who elevates everyone around her. She is known for her ability to build trust, create psychological safety, and guide teams through complex cultural and organizational challenges. Her leadership is grounded in empathy and accountability, which makes people feel both supported and inspired to grow. Her work in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging is not performative; it is intentional and rooted in real outcomes. She approaches DEIB as a long‑term systems change effort, not a series of isolated initiatives. She consistently aligns her decisions with the values of fairness, representation, and opportunity, ensuring that marginalized voices are centered in organizational strategy.
Kim’s mission is clear: to build workplaces where people can thrive as their full selves. She champions equity not only through policy and programming but through mentorship, advocacy, and everyday leadership. She invests in emerging leaders, especially those from historically underrepresented communities, and uses her platform to open doors for others. Her work has a ripple effect, strengthening teams, transforming culture, and improving the lived experiences of countless employees.“
— Calvin Pegus, Founder, ChosenWell
Boo Gilder, Executive Director, Studio by the Tracks
“Boo became Executive Director of Studio by the Tracks (SBTT) in 2025 after nearly a decade serving the adult artists with autism that SBTT impacts. She is a passionate leader who empowers her team through trust and encouragement. She is always striving to learn and grow for the benefit of others, and she is the person who will take SBTT into the next stage of its growth and impact in the arts community.
Under Boo's leadership, Studio by the Tracks creates a welcoming space, supplies, and services to artists on the autism spectrum. Not an educational organization, SBTT is truly a studio for the artists who call it home. Artists also receive at least 60% of all commissioned or sold artwork.
Boo Gilder personifies the values of SBTT by fostering creative expression, celebrating and highlighting human potential and the entrepreneurial spirit, and leading with compassion and care towards the artists of SBTT and the broader arts and autism communities.”
— Wil Cushman, Senior Development & Communications Manager, Jones Valley Teaching Farm
Toni Simmons Henson — Artistic Director in Residence, The Historic Douglass Theatre, Macon, Georgia / Co-Founder & Executive Producing Director, Atlanta Black Theatre Festival / Former Executive Director, Southeastern Theatre Conference / CEO, Micah 6-8 Media LLC
“Toni Simmons Henson is one of the most consequential leaders in American theatre, a trailblazing arts executive, published poet, and institution builder whose career has permanently expanded the landscape of artistic expression in this country.
She made history as the first African-American Executive Director of the Southeastern Theatre Conference, the largest regional theatre organization in the United States, breaking a barrier that had stood for its entire 73-year history. What she inherited was a projected six-figure deficit. What she built was a surplus. She streamlined processes, restructured workflows, negotiated vendor contracts, and cultivated major sponsor relationships with Disney Entertainment and Dollywood, managing conventions with over 300 speakers, 275 breakout sessions, five theatre festivals, and two mid-year conferences. She did not simply lead SETC. She rescued it.
As co-founder of the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival, now among the top five Black theatre festivals in the world, she built a grassroots institution one patron at a time, engaging over 3,200 artists and championing 160 playwrights.
Now serving as Artistic Director in Residence at the legendary Douglass Theatre, built in 1921, she is launching the Signature Playwright Series, a home for the next generation of Black theatrical voices.
Toni Simmons Henson leads institutions, moves hearts, and opens doors, simultaneously and without apology.”
— Wanda Simmons, Receptionist, Atlanta Legal Aid, and proud sister
Eloise Mitchell, Executive Director, Carrie Steele-Pitts Home
“Ms. Eloise Mitchell is the sixth Executive Director of Carrie Steele-Pitts Home (CSPH), officially assuming the role in 2025 after serving as Interim Executive Director for two years. She stepped into the interim role following the retirement of Ms. Evelyn Lavizzo and provided steady leadership during an important time of transition for the organization.
Ms. Mitchell brings more than twenty years of experience supporting vulnerable youth and families. She joined Carrie Steele-Pitts Home in July 2013 after serving for ten years as an Independent Living Coordinator with the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS). Through that experience, she developed deep knowledge of county, state, and federal foster care systems, as well as the policies and practices that help young people achieve permanency and long-term stability.
During her time at Carrie Steele-Pitts Home, Ms. Mitchell has implemented programs and policies designed to strengthen outcomes for youth, ensuring services are flexible, responsive, and grounded in a caring and nurturing philosophy. Under her leadership, the organization has continued to grow and evolve, helping guide Carrie Steele-Pitts Home into a statewide organization serving youth across Georgia. Her leadership reflects a deep commitment to ensuring young people have the support, stability, and opportunities they need to thrive.”
— Michael Conger, Carrie Steele-Pitts Home
Joyal Mulheron, Executive Director, Evermore
Joyal Mulheron is reimagining grief and bereavement care in America.
Joyal is a Washington, DC, public policy expert with more than twenty-five years of service to the nation’s governors, the White House, and nonprofit organizations. She has worked with both Republican and Democratic lawmakers as well as with corporate executives and policy advocates to bring national attention and substantial policy responses to the devastating effects of bereavement.
She contributed to the passage of paid bereavement leave for the U.S. Armed Forces following the deaths of their children and spouses. She has successfully championed multiple bereavement provisions in the U.S. appropriations process to reshape how the federal government attends to grieving individuals and the people who serve them.
Joyal is responsible for the first Report to Congress on grief and bereavement, the first federal systematic review of psychosocial interventions for bereaved people, and wrote the U.S. government community bereavement response guide in the wake of child fatalities.
Like millions of Americans, she has experienced tragic loss: her terminally ill infant daughter, Eleanora, died in 2010. A decade later, Joyal’s father, a veteran, died by suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a series of high-profile death events, Joyal began aligning personal stories of loss with evidence-based literature which led her to founding Evermore.
“Joyal embodies wisdom, compassion, expertise, and a depth of knowledge related to the systems of care for bereaved people. She uses her scientific and strategic perspectives to lead a national team of collaborators who inform national conversations to provide quality resources for building the field of bereavement care and support for all bereaved people.”
Maria Ramos, Policy Analyst, Voices for Georgia's Children
“Maria truly walks her walk, leading by example and with heart, lifting up the voices of young people as a member of an advocacy organization, and partnering with those young people meaningfully, with humility and commitment to mutual respect. In her role at Voices for Georgia's Children, among other duties Maria coordinates the Free Your Feels mental health awareness campaign. For several years, she has coordinated partnerships to ensure the policy work and campaign materials and programs amplify and benefit from a breadth and diversity of wisdom, including the lived expertise contributed by young people themselves. I have had the pleasure of co-creating program models, published materials, and conference presentations that also include partnering with youth, and Maria consistently demonstrates her appreciation for learning alongside and from colleagues of all ages, providing her own expertise and making it easier for others to do the same. She's also a real joy to work with, staying true to purpose, including constituents, and celebrating the mission together.
But don't take it just from me. Here's input from one of the young folks Maria and I have worked with together: “
From Mikayla, youth engagement specialist on our team:
I have known Maria Ramos since I was a teen and she has consistently shown up as an advocate for youth voice. Her commitment to leading a movement to destigmatize mental health with youth at the forefront has shown her strength to adapt and grow. Whether it's meeting with us after school, taking the time to unlearn her voices, and genuinely showing up for the young people she is serving, she has been thoughtful in considering my voice and using her position to center my voice authentically. I also love how she took the time to get to know me as a person and not just a "young person" to receive input from.
— Rachel Alterman Wallack, Youth Voice Matters
Karima Rose, Vice President of Mission Services, First Step Staffing
“Since joining the First Step team in 2020, Karima has led several initiatives to ensure we can meet the needs of the thousands of men and women we place into employment each year. She cares deeply about the individuals we support, is a strong advocate for the community, and goes the extra mile to help those in need. She is a true team player, supporting the wider national team at First Step regularly. She is detail-orientated and a compassionate and passionate women working tirelessly to make her community a better place.“
— Amelia Nickerson, CEO First Step Staffing
Ché Watkins, Executive Director, Braven
“What makes Ché Watkins special, purposeful, and mission-driven is her rare ability to balance high-level strategic vision with deeply rooted relational integrity. She does not just lead an organization; she cultivates a community where every individual feels seen, heard, and empowered to contribute to a greater cause.
Ché Watkins is a quintessential leader and visionary whose approach is defined by strategic depth, transparency, and unwavering honesty. She is a master of the 'active listen,' creating space for uninterrupted feedback while possessing the keen insight to ask the critical questions that distill complex challenges into the best course of action. Beyond her strategic acumen, Ché is a deeply relational leader who treats every encounter—whether with a long-time colleague or a new acquaintance in the Atlanta community—as a moment to be cherished. By fostering a culture of creativity and true ownership without micromanagement, she has built a high-performing team rooted in mutual respect and thoughtful consideration.
Ché is profoundly mission-driven, with a commitment to economic mobility that is deeply woven into her DNA. She recognizes that transforming the trajectories of our college students requires far more than rhetoric; it demands the precise intersection of strategic vision and decisive action to create lasting change. Having worked with Ché for the past nine months, I can say she has been a true breath of fresh air. Her leadership encourages me to dig deeper and think more critically every day. I have total confidence that we are headed for great things with her at the helm.”
— Felicia Tucker, Director of External Affairs, Braven
Click below to read about even more women who are leading and making an impact!
