Alumni Bios

Keynote Speakers

Lewis Perkins '93

President - Apparel Impact Institute

A passionate advocate for "doing the right thing," Lewis Perkins has recently been appointed President of the Apparel Impact Institute (AII), an organization launched by leading brands and apparel sector industry associations to select, fund, and scale programs to drive positive impact in the fashion sector. Previous to this Perkins was President of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (C2CPII) where he led the Institute's Fashion Positive initiative, which engages designers, manufacturers, brands and influencers in creating Cradle to Cradle CertifiedTM materials and products with the circular economy in mind. Prior to joining the C2CPII, Perkins consulted with corporations and organizations on the social and environmental program development. He also served as Director of Sustainable Strategies for The Mohawk Group, a leading carpet manufacturer and the commercial division of Mohawk Industries.
Perkins' passion for sustainability and non-profit work has included strategic roles with organizations such as The Clean Air Campaign, 360i and USWeb/CKS. He is an Ashoka and C&A Foundation Strategy Thought Partner for social entrepreneurs, a 2016 and 2017 member of the H&M Global Change Award Expert Panel, and a Design Mentor for both the Council of Fashion Designers of America Lexus Design Initiative - Eco Design Challenge Accelerator, as well as the IDEO & Ellen MacArthur Foundation's New Plastics Economy "Circular Design Competition." Perkins has also been a participant of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Consumption.
Perkins holds a Master of Business Administration in marketing and strategy with a focus on social responsibility from Emory University and a Bachelor of Arts from Washington & Lee University. In 2018, he was recognized by his undergraduate alma mater, with the Distinguished Alumni award.

Victoria Kumpuris Brown '98

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Victoria Kumpuris Brown, senior program officer, joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation staff in 2015, bringing her exceptional experience in connecting business and health care to the battle against childhood obesity. Working to engage business around health, Brown views her role as bridging multiple sectors, including the business community, to address the epidemic of childhood obesity and help children lead longer, healthier lives. "Ultimately building a Culture of Health takes collaboration and partnerships," she says, "and it takes all of us working together with a common purpose." She believes that the Foundation will raise the bar on engaging businesses and activating the private sector in building a Culture of Health.
Brown's demonstrated track record of mobilizing the business community around social imperatives began with her previous position as the vice president for Strategic Alliances at the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, founded by the Clinton Foundation and American Heart Association. She led the Alliance's work with the food, beverage, and health care industries, helping them become part of the obesity solution through the facilitation of commitments to business practice changes that create healthier environments for children and families.
Under Brown's leadership, the Alliance signed a groundbreaking agreement with McDonald's to increase access to fruits and vegetables and help families make informed choices across their top 20 markets worldwide, impacting more than 85 percent of global sales. She also negotiated a landmark agreement with the American Beverage Association, Coke, Pepsico and the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group to reduce beverage calories 20 percent by 2025 for all Americans. In addition to her work with food and beverage companies, Brown also created and launched the Healthier Generation Benefit, a collaborative of over 20 health insurers and employers extending first ever health benefits for the prevention and treatment of obesity.
She joined the Alliance in 2007, after a decade of experience in the public, private, and academic sectors focusing on issues that affect children and families.
Brown holds a Master of Public Affairs degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and a BA in public policy from Washington and Lee University.
She and her husband, and two children, reside in Dallas, Texas. While she enjoys tennis, spinning, travel, and reading just about anything, most of her spare hours are devoted to family activities.

Panelists

Emmanuel Abebrese '15 Founder and Executive Director of Citadel Foundation for Kids Inc.; Medical Student at the University of Virginia| A native of Ghana, Emmanuel Abebrese developed a passion to serve the less privileged as a teen and has been doing so ever since. As a W&L student, he founded the Citadel Foundation for Kids Inc. to give American and Ghanaian college students the chance to support others through social entrepreneurship. He also is on the boards of WAGiLabs, a social innovation incubator for kids' ideas, and PROSAMI, which provides affordable, quality health care to women and children in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Abebrese is studying medicine at UVA and is investigating ways of utilizing telemedicine to serve patients in remote locations. He holds a BS in biochemistry and an M.S. in Commerce at UVA.
Malcolm Burke '96 and '01L is the Indo-Pacific Regional Manager at the Advocacy Center of the U.S. Department of Commerce. In this role, he leads a team of Civil Service and Foreign Service professionals to advance U.S. exporter and investor interests in the region. From 2012 to 2017, Mr. Burke was the Advocacy Center liaison to the National Security Council's Working Group on Civil Nuclear Trade. Mr. Burke has also served as a Legislative Assistant in the office of Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID), and served as Special Advisor to the Millennium Challenge Corporation, executing that agency's first Trade Mission to Africa, in 2015. Prior to his government service, Mr. Burke was an Associate in private law practice in Washington, DC, and an Audit Senior with Arthur Andersen, LLP. Since 2015, Mr. Burke has served as an EMT and volunteer firefighter in Bethesda, Maryland. He is also a Board Member and Treasurer of the Glen Echo Fire Department Foundation, Inc. Mr. Burke lives in Bethesda, Maryland with his wife Rachel (‘01L) and two daughters.
Elgin Cleckley is on faculty at UVA's School of Architecture. Elgin Cleckley is a designer, educator, and creative director of _mpathic design, a Design Thinking initiative and practice focusing on strategies for empathic, human valued design. After studying architecture at the University of Virginia and Princeton University, he collaborated with DLR Group (Seattle), MRSA Architects (Chicago), and Baird Sampson Neuert Architects (Toronto) on award-winning civic projects. He was a Muschenheim Fellow at the University of Michigan (1998), also teaching undergraduate studios at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Before joining UVa's Design Thinking program in 2016, he was the 3D Group Leader and Design Coordinator at the Ontario Science Centre (Toronto), Science Content and Design Department, and Agents of Change Initiative, since 2001. This work produced award-winning exhibitions and public art with international artists David Rokeby, Michael Awad, Steve Mann, and Stacy Levy. Elgin's education includes Princeton University, Master of Architecture; Fontainebleau School of Arts, Fontainebleau, France; University of Virginia, Bachelor of Science in Architecture
Erin Coltrera '09, L.S.W., M.S.W., M.S.S.P. -Currently serving as Project PROTECT Manager at the Support Center for Child Advocates, Mrs. Coltrera specializes in the representation of juvenile clients with histories of trafficking and exploitation as well as cases involving applications for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Her practice has included representation, consultation services, and technical assistance in criminal prosecutions and child welfare proceedings related to trafficking of juveniles in Pennsylvania. Mrs. Coltrera served as a key member of a Philadelphia Dependency Court Advisory Group that authored a Memorandum of Understanding (under review) outlining best practices for the Court and members of the Philadelphia Bar in the representation of child trafficking survivors. Mrs. Coltrera participated in the Pennsylvania HR 4980 Workgroup to develop child welfare policies and procedures for identifying and serving trafficking victims. She co-authored the Advocacy and Legal Services section for the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services' human trafficking manual, to be used by all county agencies in compliance with federal legislation. Mrs. Coltrera also created the agency's statewide curriculum for healthcare professionals on the Child Protective Services Law as it relates to human trafficking and mandated reporting. An experienced public speaker and trainer, Mrs. Coltrera has testified in front of the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee in support of Safe Harbor Legislation. She has trained nearly 200 members of the Pennsylvania Bar on topics including human trafficking, trauma informed victim advocacy, and victim assistance. As a Part-Time Lecturer in the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania, Mrs. Coltrera currently teaches SWRK 703 "Impacting Government: Policy Analysis & Coalition Building."
Kevin Green '07 is a lead of Rare's Center for Behavior & the Environment, Kevin works closely with Rare's leadership, staff and partners to integrate state-of-the-art science about human motivation and decision-making into the execution of conservation programs worldwide. Rare is the leading behavior change organization in conservation, specializing in proven locally-led solutions which we bring to regional and national scale around the world. Green has trained practitioners across the U.S., Latin America and Asia in qualitative and quantitative social research methods and behavior-centered design of conservation campaigns whose success hinges on communities adopting new, sustainable norms and behaviors. Kevin is a faculty member of the Kinship Conservation Fellows program and a Senior Fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program. Prior to joining Rare, he held fellowships with the Nature Conservancy and Worldwatch Institute, and taught at a small university in rural Cambodia. He holds an M.A. in Economics and International Development from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. in Anthropology and Sociology from Washington and Lee University.
Lacy McAlister '14 is currently on the Strategic Partnerships team at International Justice Mission (IJM), where she works to engage others in IJM's mission of protecting the poor from violence around the world. Prior to joining IJM, Lacy did investor relations for the Annie E. Casey Foundation's early literacy project, the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. Originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, she attended Washington and Lee University where she studied Sociology. As a student, Lacy was actively involved in Reformed University Fellowship and the Shepherd Poverty Program. She also pursued an interdisciplinary study of poverty through the Poverty and Human Capability Studies minor, and has previously spent time volunteering in Mexico, El Salvador, Belize, Haiti, Tanzania and Kenya. These experiences have furthered her desire to become an advocate and strong voice for vulnerable children and families around the world. She loves to cook, be outside, and explore D.C. and Virginia.
Melissa Medeiros '09, Program Examiner, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President | Melissa Medeiros works on Medicare policy as a program examiner at the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB). As a program examiner, she is responsible for analyzing and formulating policy options for policymakers aimed at improving the quality and efficiency of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries. Her interest in health policy started in college during her Shepherd Poverty Internship, where as an intern for the Charleston Gazette she reported on the impact of recent changes to West Virginia's Medicaid program. Following graduation, Medeiros worked for W&L's Shepherd Program, overseeing the university's community-based research program and Bonner Scholars program. While in this position, she had the opportunity to participate in a community-wide strategic planning effort aimed at improving the overall health of the Rockbridge community. Prior to her current position, Medeiros was a Research Analyst at Mathematica Policy Research, where she worked on several research and implementation projects related to Medicaid and Medicare policies. Medeiros graduated summa cum laude from W&L (Business Journalism major with a concentration in poverty studies) and received her Master of Public Policy (with a concentration in social policy) from Duke University
Madeline Morcelle '15L, JD, MPH, is a staff attorney at the Mississippi Center for Justice. She works to build healthier and more equitable communities for all through public benefits and anti-hunger advocacy. Before joining the Center, Madeline was a staff attorney at the Network for Public Health Law, where she provided public health legal technical assistance, resources, and training to stakeholders across the Western United States. Concurrently, she was a research scholar at Arizona State University's Center for Public Health Law and Policy, where she focused her research and teaching on legal opportunities for population health improvement. Prior, she engaged in legal analysis and policy development on prevention and population health initiatives at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; HIV advocacy at the Southern AIDS Coalition; and research and advocacy related to health reform implementation at the Harvard Law School Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation. Madeline received her MPH in Health Policy from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, JD from the Washington and Lee University School of Law, and BA in English from the University at Buffalo.
Maisie Osteen '14L is from Charlottesville, Virginia, where she was raised on art camps, AAU basketball, roaming the downtown mall and by folks who care about community and instilled those values early on. Maisie ventured up to New York for college, where she graduated from Hofstra University with a bachelor's degree in legal studies in business and a minor in political science and history. Not totally sure what she wanted to do with life, Maisie worked at the Legal Aid and Justice Center and a small boutique law firm to help figure it out. Deciding on the law, Maisie obtained her JD from Washington & Lee University School of Law in May 2014. After graduation and her admission to the South Carolina Bar, she started with the Richland County Public Defender's Office. Maisie is incredibly proud to be a Public Defender in Richland County. She believes in the work and really loves the people she gets to work for and with. In order to aid her practice, Maisie is an active participant in Gideon's Promise and a graduate of their Core 101 program. When not in the courtroom, or visiting clients, or out investigating, Maisie can be found playing roller derby or at the Columbia Art Center throwing pots.