OFFICERS
President
Juanita A. Hall
Juanita A. Hall is our current President and the monitor of the Chapter's Best Practice. She joined the Chapter in 2013 and has served on the ABWA National Nominating Committee. Juanita is Manager for Staff Development and Education at Carroll Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. A licensed and ordained minister, she Chairs the Women’s Ministry, is a member of the Nurses Ministry and teaches Sunday School at Corinthian Baptist Church in Lanham, MD. Other strong ties include her roles as Immediate Past Regional Director of Northeast Region – Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc., President, Gamma Beta Chapter – Sigma Nursing Honor Society and a member of Prince George’s County Chapter of Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc. Juanita is also a member of the National Council of Negro Women as well as the NAACP.
Recording Secretary
Mary Lou Shippe
Mary Lou has been a member of ABWA for 40 years. She has held many positions in the organization, including President of the DC Charter Chapter as well as Charter President of the Kittamaqundi Chapter.
She is an active member on several committees and has served as a long-time volunteer at the national leadership conferences.
Before her retirement, she was a Program Manager for both Computer Sciences Corporation and the Defense Department working on government defense contracts. She is an officer in her church and serves on the congregational care and alter committees and is a board member on the Bryant Woods
Elementary School liaison committee.
Another of Mary Lou’s passions is being a long-time member of Zonta International, a global organization whose aim is to improve the lives of women and girls around the world through programs done in conjunction with United Nations agencies and through education. She is a past Governor (one of
31 in the world) and currently serves on the New York United Nations committee, attending meetings at the U.N. in New York.
Treasurer
E. Denise Roberts
E. Denise Roberts has been a member of ABWA for 10 years. She has served in various capacities in our chapter: Audit Committee Chair; Vice President, Member of the Ways and Means Committee and was
the 2014 Woman of the Year. Currently, she is a self-employed Tax Preparer. Previously, served in various accounting and Information Technology related jobs during her federal career of 36 years.
Advisor
Teresa A. Jones
Teresa A. Jones joined ABWA in October 2020. She quickly embraced the ABWA mission by serving on the Chapter's Holiday Celebration planning committee, Nomination Committee and was recently nominated and elected as Secretary. Teresa is a consummate professional who retired from the federalgovernment in 2017 after 25 years of public service. She retired to care for her ailing mother and after her mother passed away, she reimagined her life and launched a business providing notary services.Initially launching in Virginia in 2020, she re-launched her business, Notary Excellence, LLC. after re-locating to Maryland in 2021. Teresa is a proud HBCU graduate of Morgan State University. She began her career as a public servant after graduating in 1989. Her academic credentials include a bachelor’sdegree in psychology, and two masters, one in counseling and another in executive leadership. Teresa is a trained leader, her mission as a leader is to make a difference by authentically influencing possibility sothat value is created, and excellence is realized. She genuinely cares about meeting the needs of those in her community and serves her community with a Spirit of Excellence! Teresa is a member of the AlphaNu Omega Sorority, Inc. And at her church, Teresa is a member of the women’s ministry leadership team and sings in the choir.
Vice President
Renee Dixon
Renee Dixon is our current Vice-President as well as our Professional Development Chairperson. She joined the Chapter in 2021. Renee is a Health and Life Coach, certified through the Health Coach Institute. She has been married to her husband, Richard, for nearly 27 years, and they have three talented teenagers. She is a licensed minister since 2000 and co-founder and facilitator of Life Group Home Church since November 2017. June 2006 Renee became a licensed Realtor, however after 14 years in the business Renee made a pivot in her career and hung up her Realtor's hat in June 2020. September 2020, she followed her calling and launched her own Personal Growth Coaching business, Young & Wiser, LLC also known as Young & Wiser Woman. May 2021 Renee also became a Personal Growth Coach with Integer Network. Integer Network serves individuals and teams by fostering safe environments where people can learn how to be authentic and whole. Renee gracefully leads her clients through reframing their mindset from scarcity to abundance and, with arms wide-open, welcomes transformation, clarity, well-being, wholeness, and the freedom only truth can unleash in one's life.
Financial Secretary
Karen R. McDowell
Karen R. McDowell, immediate past Treasurer since she joined the Chapter in 2016. In 2019, she was elected Woman of the Year. Karen is employed in the regulatory financial management industry. Karen is a HBCU graduate of Morgan State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. Karen is a member of the Corinthian Baptist Church in Lanham, Maryland. She currently is the Director of their Youth Ministry; she is a member of the
Deaconess Ministry and the Senior Ushers Ministry where she holds various positions. She diligently works with the Titus II Women’s Ministry where she participates annually with the Angel Tree Project sponsored by the Prison Outreach Ministry during the Christmas Holiday season. She is enthusiastic about attending regional and national ABWA conferences and takes full advantage of courses sponsored
by the Association at Park University as well as KU MBA Essentials course. Karen is energetic, motivated, and excited about the association and participates on many of our committees and fundraisers.
Ambassador
Karen Y. Williams
Karen Y. Williams leads passionately and has served multiple times as Chapter President. She is past ABWA District IV Vice President and currently co-leads the District IV Steering Committee. A 2014 Top Ten American Business Woman, she is an information technology specialist and owner of JC Williams Consulting, LLC. In 2018, she was elected District of Columbia Mother of the Year by Mothers, Inc.