board of directors

Carol Oswald (President)

Carol Oswald joined TTN in the Central Ohio Chapter in 2009. Before discovering TTN, she worked in various technical, sales and management capacities in IBM for over 24 years. She was a Principal in their consulting business, and managed one of their technical resource centers. She took a buy out package, and enjoyed the chance to pursue her interest in health and wellness. She got her license in massage therapy, opened an office with a business partner, and provided classroom space for others to teach yoga and continuing education.  She became actively involved in TTN and hosted several meetings in her classroom space.

Early in 2011, Carol closed her massage office, wanting to simplify her work life, and hoping to create space for something new. Her timing was good. The founding member and Chapter Chair decided it was time to step down, so Carol took on this new responsibility. Shortly after, she joined the Board, and was elected as the Board President in 2016.

Carol is passionate about self care, massage, and yoga - and TTN! She is an active cyclist, and grateful for the many rail-trails around Ohio. Her favorite cycling destinations outside of Ohio are the Niagara Parkway and around the Washington DC area.

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Dale Davis (Vice-President)

Dale’s professional career spans over 30 years in the field of education. After her initial start as a teacher on the elementary level, she transitioned into guidance and worked as an elementary school guidance counselor for over 20 years. In addition to providing support to students and parents in regular and special education, she developed and implemented Conflict Resolution and Social Skill Programs, which she maintained in ten different elementary schools. Always ready for a challenge and new growth, Dale went back for a second Masters degree to become an administrator and worked on the Regional level in decision-making areas of Pupil Personnel, where she issued support and training for the region’s guidance counselors and administrative staff.

After retiring, Dale served as a consultant and expert on “best practices” for administrators’ and counselors’ school support programs. In 2007, consultancy funding suddenly dried up and Dale was faced with her own crisis of transition and reinvention. After reading every book she could find on the subject, she embarked on a path to personal fulfillment. While searching for a new phase of work, Dale discovered that her husband’s business was in need of organizational support. After training herself on new computer programs and familiarizing herself with business trends in an unfamiliar industry, Dale went into partnership with her husband and now enjoys her own success as an entrepreneur.

Missing community, Dale joined TTN/Long Island and was thrilled to find women who share her challenges and desire for growth. She joined a discussion group that provided the emotional and solution- driven support needed during times of transition and is an active participant to this day. Before long, Dale was encouraged to join the Program Committee and went on to become its Chairperson, while simultaneously working diligently on Long Island’s Steering Committee. Dale holds a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the City College of NY, a Masters of Science in Guidance and School Counseling from Hunter College of NY and a Masters of Science in Administration and Supervision from Touro College of NY.

For creative fulfillment, Dale is a patron of the arts and can be found taking in local and city art shows, museum exhibits and the theatre. She is also a passionate knitter and fondly recalls one of her first TTN endeavors of displaying her work at a NYC TTN Creativity Fair. Dale and her husband Martin have two adult children, Lindsay and Justin, who each reside in New York City.

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Ellen Murphy (Treasurer)

Ellen Murphy joined The Transition Network in 2006 and has been active in the New York Chapter in many roles, including serving as the first chair of the Steering Committee for the New York City Chapter.  She also served on the Member Services, Peer Group and Special Interest Group Committees.  After a number of career moves, Ellen found she had friends in lots of places but needed to find a network where she had decided to settle after retiring – NYC.  Ellen is a member of peer and special interest groups and appreciates the value that TTN has provided to her life.  As a long time TTN member, Ellen has come to know members both in her city and across the country and enjoyed attending the national meetings that TTN held in past years.  

Ellen retired in 2005 after a 32 year career with the Internal Revenue Service where she worked in Washington DC, Dallas and finally New York City.  In Washington, Ellen was the National Director of Public Affairs.  In Dallas and New York, she was responsible for all IRS operations in North Texas and then Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties. After she retired (and sorted all the photos into albums!), Ellen began working with a non-profit which provides services to adults with developmental disabilities where she is the Corporate Compliance Officer. 

Ellen is a native of Birmingham, Alabama but is a New Yorker by choice. She lives in Brooklyn Heights and loves all the theater, opera, concerts, museums, restaurants and general craziness that the Big Apple offers.  She also enjoys traveling as much as she can and cooking is a passion.  

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Sheri Stickley (Secretary)

When she found TTN’s website in 2012, Sheri felt immediate kinship with the organization and joined as a national member.  Her Breaking Free Group has forged the strong friendships she was looking for, and still meets monthly after two years. TTN’s resources, plus support of strong, smart women impacting their communities is why she’s a member, and she’s excited to serve on the board.

Karen Buros

Karen Buros joined the New York City Chapter of TTN in 2017 following her retirement as Director of Advanced Analytics at an independent survey research firm, Radius Global Marketing Research.  In that role she worked with clients across the US and Europe to explore new products, services, and marketing strategies for their businesses. Prior to joining Radius GMR she had her own analytics consulting business for more than eight years.  During her more than 35-year career she raised three children who are now pursuing their own careers and families in the US and Germany.

She graduated from Northwestern University with a BS in journalism and mathematics and an MS in advertising from the Medill School of Journalism. 

In the New York City Chapter of TTN she is an active member of the Marketing and Communications committee and has worked on several special projects to enhance the TTN experience for all members.

Despite her extensive travel for business, she now enjoys travel for more pleasurable and educational reasons throughout the US and overseas.  Since her retirement she has taken 20+ trips to US National Parks, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Central/ South America.  She also enjoys baking, wines, quilting and knitting when home in her Murray Hill neighborhood.

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Fatima joined the Philadelphia Chapter of The Transition Network in 2013 and has actively served as secretary and vice chair for the chapter.  She is currently the chair, where she was responsible for applying technology to chapter operations including the member lifecycle dashboard. She organized the chapter around delivering member experience resulting in a 45% increase in membership over the last 4 years.
 
Fatima was born in Egypt, and left at an early age to pursue a computer technology education.  She earned a degree in Computer Science and Statistics before engaging in a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry.  She started as a programmer/analyst at Johnson & Johnson, before rising to more responsible positions.  This included her role as Program Director at Glaxo Smith Kline, where she was responsible for setting strategic direction of the technology support organizations, including setting and managing large budgets.  To ensure success of a global organization, she utilized her change management skills to design, implemented and staff the same.  She also served as the GSK IT Executive Committee facilitator, where she was responsible for the oversight of all global projects, managing relationships between sector leads, including all communications across leadership teams.
 
Family is extremely important to Fatima.  She was active in supporting educational and sports activities of her four children, including serving as the fund-raising chairperson for several schools and sports organizations.  She is active in the community, being an avid supporter of the Lord’s Pantry.  In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her four grandchildren. She enjoys sailing and snorkeling and a passion for cooking and baking.

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Sujatha Kailas

Sujatha Kailas joined the Chicago chapter of TTN in 2018. She felt an instant connection and has actively participated in many events through TTN since then. She is a practicing Gastroenterologist and works parttime in Chicago for the last 2 years. Prior to that , she had a thriving private practice in Wisconsin.  In addition to her  practice, she had many leadership roles including Chief of Staff at the Hospital and  at other regional, state and federal  medical organizations. Her leadership roles started from medical school and have continued since then. Over the last 25 years , she  has served on Boards spanning medical, social, cultural and charitable organizations. Notably, she served on Wisconsin Medical Regulatory Board for 8 years, 2 of which as Chair, a regulatory and disciplinary Board for physicians and physician assistants in the state of  Wisconsin. Most recent medical leadership role was a 6-year term on USMLE Management Committee – A Board that is accountable  for approving the content, setting passing scores and for the  administration of Step exams for all  US Medical Schools.
 
Outside of  medical life, her present  activities in addition to TTN include mentoring high school students as they navigate through college admission process , via volunteer work with iMentor , Chicago Scholars and RefugeeOne. She works with her  students for 4 – 6 years to help them achieve their individual goals from high school thru college years. TTN activities include leading “Explore Chicago” SIG and connecting with new members as an Ambassador for Chicago chapter.
 
She loves to read, travel, spend time with family and friends  and bike on the Lakeshore Trail in Chicago. At present she is also planning a wedding for her daughter during this Covid time. Wish her Luck!!!
 
Sujatha is excited  to be part of the TTN Board and to serve and to contribute to the work of the Board during this pivotal time as TTN celebrates 20-year anniversary. She resonates with its Mission  and Values and is ready with her running shoes on. She looks forward to meeting members from other chapters as well as national members.

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Vrinda Menon

Vrinda Menon is the Chief Technology Officer for Operations and Client Services for the J.P. Morgan Private Bank. In this role, she is responsible for delivering state of the art, transformational solutions to help provide first-class service to the firm’s clients. Vrinda is also the co-head of Diversity for Asset & Wealth Management Technology.

Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, Vrinda was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs responsible for multiple Global Technology functions for Operations. In addition, she served as co-head of the firm’s Asian Professional Network for multiple years.

Vrinda holds a master’s degree in Management Sciences and a Master of Science in Software Systems.

She currently lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children.  

In addition to her interest in all aspects of Technology, she loves yoga, traveling, cooking and interior decoration.
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Roberta Miceli

Roberta Miceli joined the TTN DC chapter after reading an article in the Washington Post magazine about the Women in Transition Workshop©. The article appeared just as she was beginning to wrestle with the nagging question – what’s next. Participating in the workshop was the nudge to begin figuring out her next chapter.
 
After 35 years in education policy at the national, state and local levels, Roberta is now an executive leadership coaching with Miceli Leadership Coaching. In this role, she supports her clients to grow as leaders. She works with her clients to help them develop as leaders by gently pushing them to set goals and then, nudging them to follow-through on the actions they identify. Leadership coaching is a guaranteed path to developing as a leader for her clients.
 
Roberta is currently waiting out the pandemic on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts where she enjoys the space to run, bike and explore the trails along Nantucket and Vineyard Sound. The peace and serenity of the island help her conquer ZOOM fatigue and pandemic brain.

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Karen Roggeman

Karen Roggeman joined the TTN Philadelphia Chapter in 2018.   Prior to choosing to relocate to Philadelphia after an early retirement, Karen spent more than 25 years in commercial leadership roles in the biopharmaceutical industry with Boehringer Ingelheim and Merck.  Her success at these global companies yielded opportunities to live and work across the US, and in Germany and France.  Recognized for her strategic mindset, success orientated approach, and thoughtful ability to influence across diverse organizations, Karen was selected to lead complex, matrix businesses in Human Health and Animal Health.  When you peel back the layers of her leadership, you find a common thread – strategy built on customer insight and behavior, a quality she views as essential to the positive evolution of people-centric organizations. 
 
Having lived and worked across the US and in Europe, Karen is no stranger to transitions.  But in 2018, for the first time in years, she moved to a city where she wouldn’t have her workplace to help build her network.  Karen was introduced to TTN through a friend, at a member’s home.  From that point, TTN, through her Peer Group, the Giving Circle, etc., became a portal through which she learned about and integrated into her new community.
 
Karen holds an MBA from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA and a BS in Business Administration from the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.  She enjoys volunteering in her community, mentoring, travel, and the arts.  Living her passion for both the American and European cultures, Karen splits her time between Philadelphia, PA and Paris, France, and is conversant in French.

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Marsha Yankelev
Marsha joined the Philadelphia Chapter of TTN in late 2013 after retiring from a 37 year career at IBM to pursue her Second Act.  While at IBM, Marsha worked in six locations spanning Information Technology, Sales, Consulting and Services, Industry/Executive Marketing and multiple management and leadership positions.  Across this diverse career, Marsha often found herself on the leading edge of developing new businesses and organizations, and leading successful cross functional teams. 
 
Working 80 hours/week and being a single mother of three young adults did not offer much time to think about retirement or have local friends. TTN came into her life at just the right time and has been a continuous source of inspiration, new friendships, rewarding volunteer experiences, transition skills and support.  Marsha is currently part of the Philadelphia Chapter Steering Committee as the Programs Chair, and also serves as a Welcome Ambassador and Peer Group liaison.  Previously she was Vice Chair on the Marketing and Communications Committee, responsible for monthly newsletters and website updates. She joined the National Board in 2020.

In addition to her work with TTN, Marsha volunteers at the Chester County Hospital, Chester County Volunteer English Program and other local non-profit organizations.   

In her free time, Marsha enjoys book club, Mah Jongg, cultural events, cooking, yoga, biking, traveling and tackling new athletic challenges.  She is devoted to her partner, Michael, their children, grandchildren and a large extended family.  Her motto:  Be Bold, Stay Sharp, Be Kind, Get Off the Sidelines.

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