Session Descriptions & Speaker Bios
Leadership Round Table
June 23, 2026 | 7 p.m-9 p.m. ET
Virtual
Soroptimist Leadership Fellows Program
June 28, 2025 | 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. ET
Virtual
December 13, 2025 | 12 p.m. - 4 p.m. ET
Virtual
July 26, 2026 | 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. KST
In-Person: Incheon, South Korea
Agenda coming soon!
Speaker Bios
Leadership Round Table Speakers
Catherine Dorn
2024-2026 Northwestern Region Secretary
Catherine Dorn joined SI/Albany, OR (Northwestern Region), in 2013 after attending the group’s Walk for the Cause with her best friend. Inspired by Soroptimist’s mission and commitment to community, she quickly became involved and put her mass communications degree to work as both the club publicity chair and the Walk publicity chair. Her leadership journey continued as club president, NWR District 2 Director, and now NWR Secretary.
A 1996 graduate of Linfield University, Catherine is a quality manager for a specialty-materials company in Albany. If you’ve flown in an airplane or had an MRI, she likely certified the metal components or watched them being made.
Catherine lives in Oregon with her husband, their 23-year-old daughter, and their two mutts, Winnie and Sadie. Despite mailing tuition money to the Beavs, her heart belongs to the Ducks and the Timbers. She loves the Oregon Coast, reading, baking, and volunteering with the local community theater.
Peggy Gentile-VanMeter
2024-2026 SIA Board of Directors
Currently serving on the SIA Board of Directors, Peggy is a devoted member of SI/Cumberland County, NJ (North Atlantic Region), with nearly two decades of service. She has held significant leadership roles at the region and district levels, including region governor and governor-elect, and district director and secretary.
Peggy was selected for the 2023-2024 Soroptimist Leadership Fellows Program and served as the marketing chair for SIA’s 48th Biennial Convention. A seasoned presenter, she has shared insights at several North Atlantic Region leadership seminars and conferences.
Academically accomplished, Peggy holds degrees from Cumberland County College, Glassboro State University, and a Master of Arts in Holocaust & Genocide Education from Stockton University (2001). With 34 years as a history teacher at Cumberland Regional High School and an adjunct history professor at Cumberland County College, Peggy is also a dedicated advocate for human trafficking and domestic violence awareness, contributing to various community education projects and events.
Karen Marshall
2024-2026 Northwestern Region Public Awareness Chair
Karen Marshall is a charter member of SI/Cascadia Online, the Northwestern Region’s online club, but first joined Soroptimist in 1994 as a member of SI/Anacortes, WA.
She served as Northwestern Region Governor from 2022-2024 and continues her leadership as a member of the SIA Club/Region Governing Documents Task Force, as well as Northwestern Region Brand Recognition Chair and audio-visual advisor. She also served as exhibits committee chair for the canceled 46th Biennial SIA Convention in 2020.
Karen has worked in the nonprofit sector since 1983, including more than two decades as CEO of several museums in the Pacific Northwest from 1993 to 2014. She taught nonprofit administration in the museum studies program at the University of Washington Continuum College from 2014 to 2022. A self-proclaimed “governance geek,” she is passionate about developing high-functioning boards. Over the past four years, she has focused on eldercare and governance consulting.
Judi Sanderlin
2024-2026 Sierra Pacific Region Governor
Judi Sanderlin is a member of SI/San Francisco, CA (Sierra Pacific Region), and an experienced financial professional with a robust background in nonprofit finance.
She currently serves as controller for the San Francisco Symphony, a role she has held since January 2020. Previously, Judi was controller at UCSF Medical Center and director of financial services at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. Her additional experience includes engagement director at CliftonLarsonAllen and chief financial officer at Children's Tumor Foundation.
Earlier in her career, Judi worked with the Florida Sterling Council as lead examiner and served as director of strategic leadership at Parrish Medical Center, where she contributed to strategic planning and performance improvement initiatives. Prior roles also include CFO at Sutter Coast Hospital and senior internal auditor within a 35-hospital health system.
Judi is a certified public accountant in California and holds a master’s degree in health administration from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from California State University, Sacramento.
Fellows Speakers for the July 26, 2026 Session
Charlisa Holloway Edelin
Charlisa Holloway Edelin is the co-director of law studies and the assistant dean of students at Delaware State University. She previously served as an associate professor at Wesley College and as the program director for the master’s in criminal justice. Since 2012, Charlisa has taught both criminal justice and law courses. She played a pivotal role in transforming Wesley College's legal studies program into a progressive law and justice studies department and developed its master’s in criminal justice program. Her success led to her appointment to revitalize Delaware State University’s law studies program, which now serves as a pipeline for law students.
Charlisa is a published author, with articles in Crimes of the Centuries: Notorious Crimes, Criminals, and Criminal Trials in American History (2016), including the perjury trial of Lil’ Kim and the case of Amy Grossberg and Brian Peterson. Her recently published textbook, Constitutional and Criminal Law: The Minority Experience (Kendall/Hunt, 2024), is used in colleges nationwide and offers a unique approach to pre-law education.
She also served as vice president of the Appoquinimink School District Board of Education, focusing on staff diversity and closing the achievement gap for minority students. Charlisa holds a J.D. and a bachelor’s in journalism and public relations from Howard University.