MARY MCLAUGHLIN
Senior Vice President, Community Impact and Engagement
Comcast
Mary is Comcast’s Mission in Action honoree in recognition of not only her outstanding professional achievements but for her dedication to inspiring and helping other women succeed and follow in her footsteps. In her new role, as Senior Vice President, Community Impact and Engagement, Mary is the leader of the national team responsible for Internet Essentials, Comcast’s signature community investment initiative for low-income families, which just marked ten years. We’re excited to see how she utilizes this new platform to improve the lives of our customers and our colleagues.
SARAH WEDDLE
Vice President
Graham Media Partners
Sarah Weddle is an incredible teammate and mentor to everyone at Graham Media Partners. She offers honest opinions and clear direction. Sarah is dedicated to her own success and the success of everyone around her. We’re so lucky to have Sarah!
RENEE BAKER, DBA, RCC™
Head of PCG Advisor Inclusion Networks
Raymond James
Renée Baker is head of PCG Advisor Inclusion Networks at Raymond James, providing corporate support and leadership for the Women Financial Advisors Network, Black Financial Advisors Network and Pride Financial Advisors Network. In her role, she focuses on increasing representation of diverse advisors within the firm and the industry as a whole, working closely with Raymond James PCG Education & Practice Management and the firm’s head of diversity and inclusion. In addition to her role, Renée is part of the Raymond James Diversity Council, serves as the firm’s national co-leader for the Mosaic Multicultural Inclusion Network and is a mentor for the Emerging Professionals Inclusion Network.
KRISTINA PARKER
Audit Partner
KPMG
Kristina Parker is an Audit partner in the Financial Services Practice of KPMG’s Philadelphia office serving clients in the Asset Management industry. In addition to her client work, Kristina is a tireless advocate for the development and advancement of women in business. She is the national leader of KPMG’s Executive Leadership Institute for Women program and co-chair of the Philadelphia Chapter of WomenCorporateDirectors (WCD). Kristina is an active member of KPMG’s Network of Women (KNOW) Philadelphia Chapter and previously served as the group’s leader for seven years. Most recently, she was honored by the Villanova School of Business as the recipient of the 2021 Above and Beyond Recognition for her service and dedication to the business school and its community.
CHRISTINE FUNKHOUSER, CPA, MST
Managing Director
Global Tax Management (GTM)
Christine Funkhouser is a pioneering female business leader, a mother of two, a corporate change-agent, a mentor, a philanthropist, and an accomplished tax accountant who can simplify technical tax issues for her multinational clients. She is a champion of process improvement at the firm, with notable accomplishments including advancing team collaboration using IT tools; creating GTM’s Managed Tax Services outsourcing process; implementing GTM’s Maternity Leave Policy and Flex/PT scheduling for new mothers; and founding the GTM Women’s Networking Group (WNG). GTM’s WNG began in 2014 as an internal initiative focused on upward mobility of female employees of the firm and has since expanded externally to include female tax leaders and professionals, incorporating an element of charitable giving in all organized events.
ALICIA MARKMANN
Chief Human Resources Officer
Livent
The WRC is delighted to honor Ms. Alicia Markmann, Livent Corporation’s Chief Human Resources Officer, with our Mission in Action award. Alicia is an inspiring and empathetic leader who helped reinvigorate Livent’s global Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) initiatives in the wake of the 2020 protests in the United States and around the world against systemic racism and social injustice. She also played an instrumental role in facilitating and supporting the creation of Livent’s first ever Employee Affinity Groups for black employees and women. In addition, she helped lead the company’s efforts to respond to the global pandemic and helped establish new channels to support the professional development and career growth of Livent’s employees.
LAURA AZZALINA
Senior Vice President, Director of Community Banking
Firstrust Bank
As a leader, Laura takes great pride and is committed to supporting women in the community through the work she has done with The POWER of Professional Women and the Greater Lehigh Valley’s Women’s Business Council Mentoring Program. She also is committed to the development of her emerging leaders and makes it her mission to play a significant role in the growth and development of her team. Laura encourages her team to give freely of their resources toward causes that support women’s empowerment.
JULIA KASPER
Founder
Girls Spark
Julia Kasper, founder of Girls Spark, at the age of 16.
A non-profit whose mission is to provide teenage girls with a supportive, empowering environment where they can learn, collaborate and overcome adversity in facing today’s social issues.
KAI QUALLS
Clinical Director
Women’s Resource Center
Leading WRC’s Resource Coordination & Counseling Services since 2017, Kai has a tremendous impact on WRC’s clients, bringing out the best in everyone, including those of us who are fortunate enough to work with her. Despite severe anxiety and overwhelming obstacles among our clients throughout the pandemic, Kai consistently brings a calm clarity and never-ending hopefulness to her work every day. In addition to her work in bringing clients to a place of well-being, Kai provides clinical supervision and guidance for the rest of WRC’s RCC Services Team.
Meet Bill & Jenny Webb
Longtime WRC Supporters, Advocates, and Friends
“Jenny always had a strong commitment to helping other women. Her time at the WRC and other organizations gave her the opportunity to do what she loved.”
