Meet The Team
Valerie Harris
Valerie Harris has more than 25 years experience in organizational and communications management with non-profit, educational, community service and cultural organizations. Her extensive experience in staff management, development communications, and entrepreneurial ventures has resulted in a successful track record in working with a broad range of diverse external constituents.
Valerie’s area of expertise includes Professional Development Training, Building Inclusive & Exemplary Teams Donor/Stakeholder Communications, Grants Writing and Reporting, Marketing Publications
Currently, she is Senior Director of Stewardship Communications Development & Alumni Relations, Marketing & Communications at the University of Pennsylvania where she manages an award-winning team of writers and project coordinators She plans and oversees implementation of quality control guidelines for the timely production of all stewardship communications for the President and Senior VP, Development at the University.
EDUCATION:
MS, Publications Management Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
BA, English, Cheyney State College, Cheyney, PA
MEMBERSHIPS: Association of Donor Relations Professionals (ADRP), Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)
Linda Miles, PHP
Linda Miles is a highly-skilled, solution-driven Human Resource professional whose career has span over 25 years in the energy industry with NiSource (an Indiana-based Fortune 500 Company headquartered in Merrillville, IN.
Specializing in talent acquisition, she has successfully delivered innovative staffing and recruiting solutions that are both applicant-friendly and legally defensible for salaried and bargaining unit positions.
Linda’s experience also includes training and organizational development. Adept at assessing and implementing organizational effectiveness across organizational lines, she has led departmental re-organizations, NiSource’s first Corporate Mentor Program as well as various employee development initiatives.
Possessing a keen ability to build and maintain strategic relationships with business partners made her a valuable member of the HR team. She has been both an individual contributor and a leader/manager
EDUCATION
BS in Organizational Management – Calumet College, Whiting, IN
CERTIFICATIONS: PHR (Designated by SHRM), Myers-Briggs Type Index, Predictive Index and Behavioral-Based Interviewing.
PREVIOUS PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS: Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE)
Courtney Williams
Courtney Williams, The Brown Bike Girl, is a woman of color bicycle advocacy consultancy based in Brooklyn, NY. She has partnered with city and regional government agencies, and nonprofit organizations across the nation to provide strategic guidance and anti-privilege and anti-bias cultural competency training.
Pre-COVID-19, Williams also coordinated free monthly bike ride events themed on the experiences of people of color (POC) in public spaces.
She has been a session speaker on diversity and inclusion at the League of American Bicyclists, National Bike Summit 2020, Street Trust (Portland, OR), Transportation Alternatives (Brooklyn, NY), Vision Zero Cities Conference New York, American Planning Association Conference and on numerous other panels and session for inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility throughout the country.
She has been named the City of New York’s Bicycle Mayor because of her advocacy and competency in working with diverse groups to bring together community in the cycling space through education and special events.
EDUCATION
BA, Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
MCP, Urban Planning, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
CERTIFICATIONS: League of American Bicyclist, Certified Instructor