For Immediate Release
MEDIA CONTACT:
Samantha Santos, Communications & PR Manager
602.257.2117 | [email protected]
On March 27, women leaders from the electronics, insurance, transportation, legal, education, nonprofit, art, and civic engagement sectors meet in conversation to share insights on building successful careers
PHOENIX (February 26, 2024) – On Thursday, March 27, 2025, Phoenix Art Museum presents the return of Women Powered: Stories that Define Leadership, a two-part event offering guests the opportunity to network amongst peers and hear from dynamic women leaders as they share stories of their leadership journey. At 5 pm, the Museum will host a Sip+Share networking hour, when participants can connect one on one with local entrepreneurs and executives. The hour will include a ‘question and answer’ session for those seeking more individual guidance, all offered in a museum setting that encourages creativity, connection, and community.
At 6:30 pm, the Museum will then present a panel discussion of women serving in leadership roles from a wide variety of industries. Panelists include Jessica Mefford-Miller, Chief Executive Officer of Valley Metro, and Christina Spicer, Co-CEO of Girl Scouts–Arizona Cactus-Pine Council, among many others.
Tickets to Women Powered are $28 for the general public, $20 for PhxArt Members, $23 for college students with an active ID, and $18 for youth 17 and under. Admission includes a complimentary non-alcoholic beverage during the Sip+Share portion of the evening, along with general admission to all Museum galleries.
Tickets for Women Powered: Stories that Define Leaders are available here.
WOMEN POWERED: STORIES THAT DEFINE LEADERSHIP
Sip+Share | 5 pm, Dorrance Sculpture Garden Panel | 6:30 pm, Whiteman Hall General Admission: $28 | Museum Members: $20 | College Student with student ID: $23 | Youth (17 and under): $18
Ticket includes a complimentary non-alcoholic beverage and general admission to all Museum galleries. The event will conclude when the Museum closes, so we encourage guests to arrive early and explore the Museum galleries before the event starts. This event is available to all ages and industries. For tickets and more information, click here.
Sip+Share Participants
Lisbeth Arescurenaga, Director of Community & Public Relations | Novle
Alex Bradberry, Founder | The Sparkle Bar
Hilary Clark, Regional Controls and Community Relations Manager | Austin Commercial
Julie Fink, Vice President, Talent Management | University of Phoenix
Stefanie Gorres, Executive Director, Market Manager | Morgan Stanley
Kate Mellow, Creative Director & Founder | Bloom + Blueprint
Desirae Outcalt, Co-Chair of Community Development Committee | Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central AZ
Elizabeth Shabaker, Co-Chief Executive Officer | Versant Capital Management, Inc.
Nikki Shaffer, Director of Events | Artisan by Santa Barbara Catering & The Farm at South Mountain
Abby Zufelt, Clinical Assistant Professor, Journalism & Mass Comm | ASU + Host of Working Girl Talk Podcast
Panelists
Moderator: Ashley Kelly, Vice President and Senior Business Consultant | JPMorgan Chase & Co.
A seasoned Senior Business Consultant at JPMorgan Chase, Ashley Kelly brings more than 20 years of expertise in business and commercial banking, with a focus on empowering small businesses to thrive. Her current work centers on supporting minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses by addressing critical challenges such as access to capital, procurement opportunities, and information. Through tailored mentoring and strategic guidance, Kelly fosters growth and resilience within these communities while advancing the bank’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).
Recognized as a leader in her field, Kelly has been honored with Phoenix Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Award and named a nominee for Greater Phoenix Chamber’s 2024 Athena Award. She is Co-Chair of the BOLD Arizona Business Resource Group and serves on the boards of the Black Chamber of Arizona and the Young & Empowered Women.
Laura Franco French, Director of Government Affairs | TSMC
Laura Franco French serves as Director, State Government Relations, for TSMC AZ Corp. She is the liaison between the leading semiconductor foundry and state and local government, as TSMC continues toward the opening of their new Arizona fab. French brings more than two decades of experience in community relations, government affairs, international relations, and communications in both public and nonprofit sectors. Most recently, she served as Senior Policy Advisor to Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, providing strategic counsel and building community partnerships on issues such as economic development; international affairs; Latino community affairs; water, refugee, and asylee issues, in addition to arts and culture. French also previously served as legislative liaison at the Arizona Office of Tourism. She has held a variety of positions spanning Greater Phoenix Leadership, Unidos US, and the International Republican Institute. Early in her career, French worked at CNN at both their Atlanta and New York bureaus. She serves on the boards of the Arizona-Mexico Commission and the Phoenix Symphony, is an Honorary Commander of Luke Air Force Base, and is a member of Charter 100, as well as a graduate of Valley Leadership Class 29. French was also an honoree for the 2012 Phoenix Business Journal’s 40 under 40 and the 2008 Hispanic 40 under 40.
Angela Lowery, AVP, Sr. Sales Manager in the Western States | PURE Insurance
Angela Lowery is the AVP, Sr. Sales Manager in the Western States for PURE Insurance. She has been in the insurance industry for 29 years in different capacities, with a focus on business strategy and market development. She is certified as a High-Net-Worth Insurance Specialty Advisor, a P&C and CFP CE Instructor, and a Trauma-Informed Insurance Specialist. Her passion and insurance knowledge has continued to elevate her reputation across Arizona and other business markets. Lowery loves spending time with her son, who recently graduated from Brophy College Preparatory.
She also loves to golf, has a passion for giving back to the community, and is actively involved in several nonprofits across the Valley.
Jessica Mefford-Miller, Chief Executive Officer | Valley Metro
As Chief Executive Officer of Valley Metro, Jessica Mefford-Miller is committed to connecting communities and enhancing lives through mobility. She leads a growing and evolving team that delivers bus, paratransit, light rail, streetcar and microtransit service across 19 communities in across Maricopa County. As a CEO who leads from the front, her tenacious leadership style is resulting in a system-wide evolution to realize greater efficiencies in service delivery, address the evolving needs of customers and community, and embrace emerging technologies. Mefford-Miller is on a mission to create excellent customer experiences through safe, reliable, and accessible public transportation that serves current and future generations in the Valley of the Sun.
Reyna Montoya, Founder & CEO | Aliento
Reyna Montoya is the Founder and CEO of Aliento. A social entrepreneur, educator, and dancer, Montoya is a DACA recipient and alumna of Arizona State University, Grand Canyon University, and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Born in Tijuana, Mexico, 15 minutes from the U.S. and Mexico border, she migrated to Arizona in 2003 fleeing violence. Despite the fear, anxiety, and stress of growing up undocumented in Arizona, along with witnessing her dad go through deportation proceedings, Montoya did not lose hope. That is why she took a leap of faith in 2016, creating Aliento after years of organizing and educating at both local and national levels. Through youth-led arts + healing workshops, leadership development, and community organizing, Aliento transforms trauma into hope and action for those most impacted by the harms associated with lacking an immigration status. In less than four years, Aliento has touched the lives of more than 50,000 people, of which 25,000 are youth, and educated close to 100,000 voters in Arizona 2020 and 2022 elections. Under Montoya’s leadership, 3,000 undocumented, DACA, and mixed-status youth have stepped into leadership roles.
Christian Ramírez, Cohn Assistant Curator of Contemporary and Community Art Initiatives | Phoenix Art Museum
Christian Ramírez is the Cohn Assistant Curator of Contemporary and Community Art Initiatives at Phoenix Art Museum. Her portfolio of responsibility includes managing the institution’s Arizona Artist Awards programs and curating exhibitions of work by annual recipients, curating exhibitions of contemporary art drawn from the Museum’s contemporary art collection, and fostering relationships with regional and Arizona-based artists to curate exhibitions that elevate their work among statewide and national audiences. Ramírez also serves as the liaison for artists presented through the Museum’s semiannual Lenhardt Lectures. Her recent projects include The Collection: 1960 – Now, Guarding the Art: A Frontline Perspective, and The Collection: Keith Haring, along with serving as coordinating curator for the PhxArt presentation of Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory. Ramírez has more than a decade of experience in the arts, working previously at MOCA Tucson (2011-2016) and Artpace San Antonio (2021-2022). In 2016, she co-founded Everybody, a curatorial project currently based in Tucson, Arizona, that organized the exhibition Henry Codax (2017), participated in NADA New York showing Elliott Jamal Robbins and Casey Jargo (2018), and received the 2021 Night Bloom Grant. Ramírez has sat on jury panels for the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona, Arizona Commission on the Arts, Grand Canyon Conservancy, and CALA Alliance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked with Museum Workers Speak to raise more than $100,000 in eight months as part of a mutual-aid effort to provide cash relief to 200 museum workers who were adversely affected by COVID-19.
Christina Spicer, Co-CEO | Girl Scouts–Arizona Cactus-Pine Council
Christina Spicer has been Co-CEO of Girl Scouts-Arizona Cactus-Pine Council since 2022. She has held numerous positions at the organization and was integral in growing its annual fund from $600,000 to $4 million across seven years. Additionally, she has served on several successful campaigns, including Day of the Girl, which raised $1 million
for the organization in one day. Spicer is a leader who has devoted nearly two decades of her career to directing critical youth initiatives throughout the Phoenix community. After graduating from Arizona State University with a degree in communications, she joined local nonprofit organization notMYkid as Director of the Clear Choices program, where she helped engage teens in discussions about issues including drug and alcohol use, body image disorders, and depression. Shortly after earning her master’s degree from Arizona State University, Spicer joined Teach for America Phoenix, where she managed the advisory board, was an active member of the leadership team, and led the development team responsible for annual fundraising that totaled more than $7 million each year. Spicer is also founder of CAMEO, a women’s mentorship organization. She serves on local boards and has received several local awards, including Phoenix Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Award, Phoenix Mercury’s Believe in Women Award, and NCAA Men’s Basketball Community Legends and Legacy Award in 2024. She was also named a Diverse Business Leader to Watch and was an ATHENA Finalist in 2024.
Hillary Walsh, Founder & Lawyer | New Frontier Immigration Law
Hillary Walsh is a nationally recognized immigration attorney, entrepreneur, and advocate dedicated to empowering immigrant families. As the Founder and CEO of New Frontier Immigration Law, she has revolutionized legal services with a client-centered, trauma-informed approach, ensuring that immigrants receive compassionate, high-quality representation. Under her leadership, New Frontier has been named “Arizona’s fastest-growing law firm” for four consecutive years (Inc. 5000, 2020-2023). A former law professor and TEDx speaker, Walsh’s legal career spans over a decade, including representation before the U.S. Supreme Court, multiple Circuit Courts of Appeals, and the Board of Immigration Appeals. Her firm specializes in securing legal status for undocumented immigrants facing deportation, providing them with the opportunity to live freely in the United States. Beyond her legal work, Walsh founded New Frontier Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit supporting survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence. She actively mentors law firm owners and advocates for systemic change in immigration law.
Women Powered: Stories that Define Leaders is made possible through the generosity of Austin Commercial, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, and Versant Capital Management.
For more information about this event, contact the Communications Office of Phoenix Art Museum at [email protected].
About Phoenix Art Museum
Since 1959, Phoenix Art Museum (PhxArt) has engaged millions of visitors with the art of our region and world. Located in Phoenix’s Central Corridor, PhxArt creates spaces of exchange and belonging for all audiences through dynamic exhibitions, collections, and experiences with art. Each year, 300,000 guests on average engage with critically acclaimed national and international exhibitions and the Museum’s collection of more than 21,000 works of American and Western American, Asian, European, Latin American, modern, and contemporary art and fashion design, along with vibrant photography exhibitions made possible through the Museum’s landmark partnership with the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson. PhxArt also presents live performances, outstanding examples of global cinema, arts-education programs and workshops, an art+music festival, and more for the community. To learn more about Phoenix Art Museum, visit phxart.org, or call 602.257.1880.
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