Ready to Run® Board
Michele Whetzel, President
Michele is a facilitator, connecting people with other people and opportunities. She is President of Revise, LLC, a resume writing service, serves as Vice Chair of Administration for the State of Delaware's Public Integrity Commission, and is an SL24: Unlocke the Light Foundation board member. She has expertise in nonprofit management and consulting, organization rebranding, nonprofit governance, finance, and strategic planning.
Michele has been involved in women's issues in the state for many years. She is the Immediate Past President of Fresh Start Scholarship Foundation, a former Chair of Fund for Women (and served on the FFW board for 10 years), is currently a member of the Forum of Executive Women Board, and was a steering committee member for Wilmington 2020 Women on Boards and ERANow.
Michele lives in Newark with her husband and has two adult children who both live in the Nashville area.
Jane Brady
Jane Brady is the Delaware Republican Party Chair. She served as Delaware's 1st female Attorney General from 1995-2005, and as a Superior Court Judge from 2005-2017.
Bethany Hall-Long
Bethany Hall-Long is the current Lt. Governor of the state of Delaware. Previously she served as a State Senator (2009-2017) and a State Representative (2003-2009).
As a nurse, Lt. Governor, and Professor Bethany has worked to improve health outcomes for our most vulnerable Delawareans. Combating addiction, fighting cancer and health inequities, and creating a stronger behavioral health system has been the focus of her public service. In 2018 she launched the Lt. Governor’s Challenge 2.0 to shine a light on the impact leaders in our State have made to promote wellness, both physical and emotional health and to inspire others to live healthier lives.
Debbie Harrington
Debbie is a retired U.S. Army Colonel and senior logistician with emphases in strategic deployment and distribution, organizational structure, and change management. She has experience and education in public policy planning and execution as well as expertise in non-profit business operations, innovation, and leadership strategies.
Debbie has a doctorate in education from Wilmington University where she studied Organizational Leadership. She is the 2nd Vice Chair of the Democratic State Party and serves on several boards and councils including Delaware State University Board of Trustees, Delaware Board of Examiners of Psychologists and Middletown Police Advisory Board. She is a charter member of Alpha Alpha Tau Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Debbie believes in “people first” and is a staunch advocate for equity.
Krishanti O'Mara Vignarajah
Krish is an immigration advocate serving as President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. Previously, she served as Policy Director to former First Lady Michelle Obama and ran for Governor of Maryland in 2018.
Louisa Phillips
Louisa Phillips began her career in healthcare as a tray girl in the dietary department of Kent General Hospital. Her diverse experience includes Clinical, Human Resources and Operations in both non-profit and for-profit environments. She retired in January 2017 as the Senior Director of Operations for the Cardiovascular Service Line at Bayhealth Medical Center.
Louisa is the current chair of the Fund for Women, and is a board member and Grant’s chair of the Delaware Community Foundation. She is the secretary of Bayhealth Foundation, a member of the Planned Parenthood of Delaware Board of Directors, and a member of Mary Ann’s List Board. She remains actively engaged with state and local political and nonprofit advocacy activities and is passionate about helping others become successful.
Ms. Phillips lives in Dover and is the mother of Meghan Schepens, Nurse Practitioner, Bayhealth Neurosurgery and Molly Phillips, history teacher at Dover High school, and grandmother of Cooper Schepens.
Priscilla Rakestraw
Priscilla is the Deputy Director of Development for the Ministry of Caring. She served as a Republican National Committeewoman for Delaware from 1976-2012 and Register in Chancery in New Castle County.
Hanifa Shabazz
Dr. Hanifa Shabazz was elected the first female President of Wilmington’s (DE) City Council. While leading City Council Dr. Shabazz has: addressed gun violence among the youth in Wilmington, assisting in the formation of community coalitions that secured six Community Benefits Agreements, identified a 4-E approach to community development, focusing on and embracing Education, Empowerment, Economics, and The Environment.
Dr. Shabazz received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Virginia University, in recognition of her decades of community engagement and service, economic development, innovative program accomplishments and demonstrations of leadership. Dr. Shabazz is a member of the National League of Cities (NLC) and its affiliate member organization, the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials (NBC LEO) where she has served in various leadership positions. Recently elected as President of NBC-LEO, Dr. Shabazz served as a presenter on a panel at the 2012 World Conference of Mayors in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
Liane Sorenson
Liane served as a Delaware State Senator from 1995-2013 and prior to that as a State Representative from 1993-1995.
Betty Sweeny
Betty is President and CEO of Business Development Associates, Inc. (BDA), an independent consultancy focused on the payment space. Prior to founding BDA in 1998, Betty held senior executive positions with some of the top financial institutions including Citibank, Bank of New York Mellon, HSBC, and Bank of America. She was also a founder, major shareholder and advisor to PaySimple, an electronic payment processing company that provides on-demand Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that enables small businesses to bill, collect, and manage their customer payments under one system. She has been a member of the MasterCard US Marketing Committee, the Visa Co-branding Advisors Group, and the Visa Electronic Banking Advisors Group. She was also formerly a member of the Advisory Board for Apptera, a company that developed and marketed mobile automated speech applications and advertising solutions.
In Delaware, Betty is the President of Fresh Start Scholarship Foundation, has also chaired the board of the Bayard House, was a board member for the MS Society where she was a member of both the Governance and Government Relations Committees, and is currently a member and former board member of the Forum of Executive Women. In addition, she was a member of the ERANow Steering Committee which was instrumental in passing the Equal Rights Amendment to the Delaware constitution.
Lindsay Walters
Lindsay is currently Senior Vice President of U.S. Public Affairs at Edelman. She is a former White House Special Assistant to President Trump and White House Deputy Press Secretary. Lindsay began her career working for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in 2012, was instrumental in getting Bruce Rauner elected as Illinois Governor in 2014 (and went on to serve in his administration as Deputy Press Secretary). She later became the National Spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee (RNC) which led her to the White House.