A native of Long Island, New York, she holds a B.A. from George Washington University and a J.D. from the National Law Center at George Washington University. For over 25 years she was a member of the Washington, D.C. law firm of Brown, Nietert and Kaufman, which specialized in telecommunications law, with a focus on innovative wireless technologies. She is also a founder and principal of American Capital Partners Company, which specializes in mergers and acquisitions of high speed broadband facilities. During her career, Ms Nietert has represented pioneering telecommunications industries before the U.S. Congress and federal agencies, and has participated in crafting federal legislation and agency rules. She is a member of Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church and has served on the Board of Directors of the Carderock Springs Club. She has organized several non-profit education foundations and served on their boards of directors, including the Walt Whitman High School Education Foundation. In 2007, she founded WMI and serves as its president.

Beatrix is a native of the Netherlands and a graduate of the European Secretary Academy (Dutch, French, German, English and Spanish). She has over 30 years of experience in project management, office administration and teaching of office administration and Dutch language and held positions at the board of the Netherlands Association and as Chair of Walt Whitman HS's Intercultural Committee. Ms. Van der Vossen recently retired from the Netherlands Constituency at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C.

Ainsley Morris Cohen is a Founding Partner at Newid Capital, an impact investing firm focused on expanding financial services in developing markets. Previously, she was an Investment Analyst at QED Investors, a VC firm focusing on financial services and online advertising technology. As a WMI Fellow and Assistant Project Director from 2010-2011, she worked side by side with Montan in Buyobo, Uganda to build loan program capacity. Ainsley graduated in 2010 from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland with a Master of Arts degree with Honors in Economics. She is now a mom with four young children and lives in Alexandria, VA.

Ashley Van Waes is a Program Manager on the Policy & Regulatory Affairs team at Remitly, where she works on digital innovations for financial services. She began her career in the international development sector as a WMI Fellow from 2015-16, where she supported development of loan program operations. This experience grounded her commitment to advancing economic opportunity and women's financial empowerment - principles that have guided her work ever since. Prior to joining Remitly, Ashley worked at USAID, where she focused on climate change issues. Ashley holds a master's degree in International Development Economics from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and a B.A. in International Business from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She lives in Washington, D.C.

Teresa, originally from rural central Pennsylvania, was raised in Virginia and holds a B.A. from Rutgers University (Douglass College) and a J.D. from Notre Dame Law School. Formerly a corporate attorney for 30 years with international companies, most recently with Saint-Gobain's US offices near Philadelphia, PA. She was a founding member of Saint-Gobain's Women's Network, served on the Board of the Delaware Valley Corporate Counsel Association and is a former President of Buck + Doe Trust, a land conservation trust with over 10,000 acres of open land under conservation easement in Pennsylvania.

Elizabeth was born and raised in Bethesda, Maryland and holds a B.A. from Tulane University and an MBA in finance from George Washington University. She has been involved in the real estate finance/development business (predominantly multifamily, seniors, low and moderate income housing) since 1985 and currently works for Fannie Mae in Washington, D.C. She is the President of the Herb Gordon Foundation for Gastrointestinal Cancers, serves on the Board of the Washington Hospital Center Foundation and is a former treasurer of the Pyle Education Foundation.