JOURNEY
Team & Board

A California native and UC Berkeley graduate, Nina co-founded JOURNEY after a high-level media career. She served as Fortune magazine’s Washington editor and national columnist following a decade as an award-winning Los Angeles Times writer. As co-chair of the Fortune Global Forum and chair of Fortune Most Powerful Women International, she produced CEO events in Asia, North America, and Europe. A public speaker and TV commentator, Nina has published three books on American politics, served as a teaching Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, and is now a member of the prestigious Trilateral Commission. As co-founder of SellersEaston Media, she is a global storyteller who has profiled and produced films on impactful leaders, including a Nobel Peace Prize winner and top civil rights leaders. In 2024, the Center For Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), launched the “Nina Easton Inspiring Impact Award” for her work uplifting women leaders, including the Smart Women, Smart Power series amplifying the voices of women in national security. Nina is a Vital Voices board member.

Pattie’s journey began in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and took her to the University of Virginia, where she created a magazine called Creator—her first stab at profiling leaders and innovators. Never imagining a career in business journalism, she fell into a job at a startup, The Washington Business Journal, and loved it because business leaders, she realized, can change the world. Two years later, Pattie landed an entry-level reporter job at Fortune, quickly moved up to writer, and built a reputation for procuring hard-to-get interviews and probing the humanity of leaders. Pattie pioneered deep coverage of women business leaders—a tiny club in 1998 when she co-founded Fortune Most Powerful Women. Over the next 22 years, Pattie led MPW, expanding it from a list to a conference to a community with events around the world. She co-founded (with Dina Powell McCormick) the Fortune-U.S. State Department Global Women Mentoring Partnership and other programs to support women leaders. Prodded by many MPW to do her own thing, Pattie took the leap in 2016, co-founding SellersEaston Media with Nina Easton to tell stories of leadership and impact for prominent companies, non-profits, and people. Pattie is Co-CEO of SellersEaston. Her lifelong passion to connect and empower women leaders now continues with JOURNEY.

Julie’s journey started in Southern California, surrounded by supportive parents and family who cared more about others than themselves. This upbringing has been critical to the way she sees the world and the decisions she’s taken along the way. A passion for understanding others and seeing the world led to a focus on foreign policy, a Master’s from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a career in journalism. Julie spent a decade at Fortune, writing and editing. She also developed and ran Fortune’s Notebook Mentoring program for 10 years. Inspired by entrepreneurs she met along the way, Julie co-founded and ran Altruette, a social enterprise, for the next decade. Today, as JOURNEY’s Executive Director, she drives the organization’s strategy and operations, equipping the best women leaders of tomorrow to reach the top and scale their impact.

Nicole Didda’s journey began in New York City and continued in Brussels, where the seeds of her lifelong love of language were planted. She went on to attend the School of Languages and Linguistics at Georgetown before launching a 30-year career in communications. As an EVP and General Manager at Edelman, she headed the firm’s San Francisco office. She also served as a partner at Mercer Delta Consulting and later Chief Communications Officer at Skanska, a Fortune 500 construction and commercial real estate firm. Nicole joined SellersEaston in 2020, where she works with corporate clients and individual executives to hone their messages and vision and communicate their story to all stakeholders with impact and authenticity. A Founding Partner of JOURNEY, Nicole provides executive coaching, communications counseling, presentation training, and board placement support to Fellows.

Maria’s journey began in the social impact space, where she built partnerships that helped mission-driven organizations grow and thrive. Before joining JOURNEY, she led corporate partnerships at nonprofits like Vital Voices, shaping global relationships that advanced women’s leadership around the world. With her strategic mindset, creativity, and passion for purpose, Maria strengthens connections and expands our reach as she leads development and partnerships across JOURNEY’s growing community.

Sam’s journey began in Prince George’s County, Maryland, where her modest upbringing instilled humility, resilience, and a strong work ethic. Sam has spent her career supporting high-level executives in a range of fast-paced, demanding environments. Her diverse experience in law and sports, including her role as sponsorship coordinator for the Washington Bullets, Washington Capitals, and Washington Warthogs, honed her meticulous attention to detail, event planning creativity, and collaborative spirit. Sam’s can-do attitude, proactive approach, and dedication to teamwork make her an invaluable asset to the JOURNEY team.

Mary’s journey began in Clear Brook, Virginia (pop. 3,259), where she discovered a love of creative leadership. Inspired by her late father’s dedication to serving their community, Mary worked on Capitol Hill while working towards her degree, which she obtained from James Madison University in a BS in writing, rhetoric and technical communications.
With her artistic talents, graphic design skills, and attention to detail, Mary constantly improves processes as she helps us build JOURNEY.

Hillary’s journey began in Columbus, Ohio, where she grew up with a deep appreciation for community, service, and storytelling. As a student ambassador, she traveled internationally at a young age—including to Australia and New Zealand — experiences that shaped her global perspective well before she turned fourteen. With more than a decade of experience across Congress, federal agencies, and mission-driven organizations, Hillary brings a thoughtful, audience-centered approach to communications. Known for her strategic mindset, attention to detail, and collaborative style, she supports JOURNEY by strengthening narratives, improving processes, and helping the organization grow with intention.

Lisa honed her skills in media (Walt Disney and CBS) and government (as First Lady Hillary Clinton’s press secretary) before she moved to financial services, first at Citigroup (where she headed global marketing and public affairs) and then at Travelers, where she has been an EVP since 2011. Lisa is on the boards of Best Buy and the Travelers Foundation.”

After serving as chief of staff to Maryland’s governor, Chip co-founded Flywheel Digital, a digital advertising and technology firm that is now part of London-based Ascential. In 2012, Chip helped lead Maryland’s successful marriage equality campaign, and later led sweeping governance and operations reforms as chair of the University of Maryland Medical System. Chip is on the board of WaveDancer, a Nasdaq-listed blockchain-based supply chain platform.

With a career spanning government, global law firms, and public companies, Toni has honed her legal skills at the intersection of technology and law. As deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, she helped launch the Patents for Humanity initiative to spur innovation that tackles global humanitarian challenges. She later spent nine years at Cummins, serving as Deputy General Counsel and Chief IP Counsel and playing a key role in the spinoff of Atmus Filtration Technologies. Toni is now a Technology General Counsel in Residence at Mayer Brown. She is a graduate of the 2022-23 JOURNEY Fellowship program.

Kathy rose to prominence – and earned the nickname “Coach” – as head of Georgetown University’s women’s tennis team. Over 30 years, she has coached celebrities, pro athletes, monarchs and ambassadors, Supreme Court justices, top presidential appointees, and members of Congress.
Coach founded IFE in 1992 to engage the global community to harness the power of soft diplomacy, innovation, data and technology. IFE partners with the University of Southern California on CS camps teaching machine learning and AI science to underserved youth around the world. Coach Kemper is a General Partner at her family office, Family Futures, LP. Other than “mom”, Kemper embraces being called “Coach!”

After training in sales and operations at Hilton, Stephanie moved to Marriott and rose, over 25 years, to President of the world’s largest hospitality company. In 2023, she jumped to Under Armour as President and CEO, replaced most of the top team, and began to execute cultural and business transformations. Stephanie is on the board of Home Depot.

The first African-American woman to earn a doctorate in electrical engineering from NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, Ruthie is among the world’s top Black female patent holders with more than 200 issued patents and pending applications. She honed her skills in hardware and software design and IP/technical project management at IBM and then served as Strategic Innovation Director at USAA before moving to Nvidia in 2020. Ruthie was a 2023-24 JOURNEY Fellow and joined the JOURNEY board upon finishing the year-long program.

Yolanda began her career at the law firm Morrison & Foerster and moved to Gap as a contract attorney in 2003. She was General Counsel of Athleta—a Gap brand focused on “igniting the limitless potential of all women and girls”—and Gap Inc.’s Deputy General Counsel before being named SVP and General Counsel in early 2023. Yolanda also co-leads Gap’s Legal Diversity Committee. On a mission to make paths smoother for those behind her, she has developed initiatives to provide jobs for attorneys who tend to be overlooked in traditional recruiting. Yolanda was a 2022-23 JOURNEY Fellow and joined the JOURNEY board upon finishing the year-long program.

Elisa began her career as a Teach For America corps member, teaching bilingual first and second grade in South Phoenix. She returned to her hometown in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas to lead TFA’s work there, quickly advancing to Chief Operating Officer and then CEO in 2013. As CEO, she led a national network of over 70,000 corps members and alumni across 300+ communities, guiding TFA’s strategy and mission. After 24 years of service, she retired in 2025. She continues to champion educational opportunity through board service with GoGuardian, the Holdsworth Center, and Leaders for Educational Equity.