The Board and Officers of NAWA are voted in every year by the membership.

2023 OFFICERS

President and Chapter Liaison | CHRISTIE DEVEREAUX
Vice President | SUSAN G. HAMMOND
Secretary | MARK ALTSCHUL, ESQ.
Treasurer | BRENDA MCRAE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PENNY DELL
SUSAN G. HAMMOND
MYRNA HASKELL
NATALIA KOREN KROPF
JOAN L. LEWIS
BRENDA MCRAE
CORNELIA SECKEL
JEFFREY WECHSLER

OPERATING BOARD

MARY AHERN | Public Relations Committee Chair | chair_publicrelations@thenawa.org
JILL CLIFFER BARATTA | Awards Committee Chair | awards@thenawa.org
SAMAR HUSSAINI | Exhibition Committee Chair | exhibitions@thenawa.org
ELENA ZELENINA | Membership Committee Chair | chair_membership@thenawa.org
CHRISTIE DEVEREAUX | NAWA Chapters Liaison | president@thenawa.org
JENNIFER OKUMURA | MA Chapter President
DENISE CORMIER MAHONEY | FL Chapter President
SUSAN IRISH | SC Chapter Representative
SARAH KATZ | NAWA NOW Magazine Editor | magazine@thenawa.org

MEET OUR BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS

MARK ALTSCHUL is an attorney with offices in New York. He has served as a Corporate Counsel, Board Member and Corporate Secretary for several years. He is NAWA’s legal advisor.

PENNY DELL, served as President, 2005-07 and chaired the Nominating Governance Committee 2008-12. For NAWA and other non-profits, she has led the planning and implementation of themed exhibits, traveling exhibitions, panels and special events.

CHRISTIE DEVEREAUX was employed for 20+ years as an educator, mentor for teachers, and magnet facilitator for Freeport Public Schools. She has also worked with the MoMA as a curriculum writer. Currently, Christie serves as the Corresponding Secretary and a Member of the Art Preview Committee of the Art Advisory Council of the Port Washington Public Library in Port Washington, NY. Her responsibilities include collaborating on all aspects of public relations and installation of exhibits in the library’s Adler Gallery.   She has a Bachelor of Industrial Design, Master of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, and a Professional Diploma in Administration. She has exhibited her paintings in the USA and Europe. Christie has been a member of NAWA since 1991 and an active volunteer during past Annual NAWA Members’ Exhibitions.

SUSAN G. HAMMOND is a contemporary photographer. She has a BFA and MFA in Fine Art from William Paterson University. She worked for 25+ years as a Technical Equipment Illustrator for the Department of Defense (US Army). She is a past President and Executive Director of NAWA, and is presently the NAWA Vice President.

MYRNA HASKELL has over thirty years of experience in the publishing industry as a feature writer, syndicated columnist, author and editor. After working for decades as a regular contributor, section editor and freelance journalist for various publications across the United States and abroad, she founded SANCTUARY magazine in May 2016 – an online publication for women created with heart and soul.

NATALIA KOREN KROPF is a New York – based artist, working in painting, drawing,  printmaking, works on paper, sculpture and photography. Born and raised St. Petersburg, Russia, Natalia is a classically trained artist whose work is shown in numerous US galleries and in private collections in Germany, Austria, Italy, Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, Cyprus Japan and Lesotho. She is a dedicated member of NAWA and currently serves on the Executive Board.

JOAN LEWIS is a retired attorney and is now a practicing and exhibiting collage and mixed media artist. She joined the Board in 2015 and serves as an Advisor and assistant with the membership and Nominating/Governance committee.

BRENDA MCRAE holds over 25 years of Financial Services Experience. She has an extensive banking background that includes District Management for Bank of America , Mortgage Sales, Private Client For Citi Bank N.A. at a very large complex branch in the Union Square area of Manhattan and most recently, Branch Manager at the Flushing Bank – NYC – Union Square. Ms. McRae has spent several years of her career fulfilling CRA Community Activity for various financial institutions. This includes Community Home Financing, Community lending and development.

CORNELIA SECKEL is Publisher of Art Times, the notable periodical est.in 1984 that has been distributed widely in the Northeast and as of August 2016 will be exclusively online with the latest happenings in the art world including essays, videos, blogs, calendars and more. She serves as an advisor to the Public Relations and Advertising Committee.

JEFFREY WECHSLER, crucial in establishing the NAWA Collection at the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, organized “A Parallel Presence”, an exhibition at the UBS Gallery in Manhattan and Rutgers, which celebrated NAWA’s 120th Anniversary. He also curated the historic 125th Anniversary Exhibition at the Morris Museum in New Jersey, and is currently facilitating outside exhibitions in galleries in the tristate area. 

MEET OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

JILL CLIFFER BARATTA has worked as a graphic artist and designer, as an art instructor for children and adults, and has extensive fine art training as a watercolorist and printmaker.  In addition, she has masters’ level training in creative art therapy, and has worked with out-patient infusion recipients, autistic children, and in-patient pediatrics.  She has been a NAWA member since 2011, is a former president of NAWA (2017-2019) and currently Executive Director and Awards Committee chair.