Meet the Staff

Lisa Woll, CEO

As our CEO, Lisa leads US SIF's overall direction and sits, ex-officio, on all board committees. If you would like to suggest a possible partnership or alliance for US SIF, to request a staff member to speak at your event, or to become more involved in the organization's activities contact Lisa.

 

Lisa has been the CEO of US SIF and the US SIF Foundation since 2006. While at US SIF, she has been responsible for strategic planning, expansion and diversification of funding and developing a robust policy presence.  

Prior to US SIF, Lisa was executive director of the International Women's Media Foundation, an organization focused on press freedom and expansion of women’s role in the media.  During her tenure, the IWMF played a significant role in re-orienting the way journalism training was carried out on the issues of HIV-AIDS, malaria and TB in several African media organizations. Lisa also spent a decade working on children’s human rights.  She was the director of the first international study to look at the impact of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and directed the Washington, DC office of Save the Children.    She is a member of the Advisory Council of the Children’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. She is also Board President of Women’s Voices for the Earth, a national environmental health organization based in Montana. She has written and spoken widely on human rights, human rights and development, as well as leadership.

Lisa's early career focused on domestic social policy and began in the New York City Human Resources Administration as an Urban Fellow and the US Congress as a legislative assistant.  Lisa is the founder of Suited for Change, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization that provides professional clothing and ongoing career education to low-income women who have completed job training programs and are seeking employment. She was a founding board member and former president of the board of The Women's Alliance, a national membership organization of community organizations that increase the employability of low-income women.

In 2001, Lisa was named a Washingtonian of the Year by Washingtonian Magazine in recognition of her pioneering role with Suited for Change. She has received numerous other awards and has volunteered on numerous other nonprofit boards and commissions. Lisa holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in public policy and women's studies from George Washington University. She spent 1990 – 1991 in Melbourne, Australia, as a Fulbright Fellow and currently participates in the Executive Cohort of the Selah Leadership Program. 

Lisa is energized daily by the opportunity to be part of the leadership team advancing the vital work of socially responsible and sustainable investors.

 

Meg Voorhes, Deputy Director & Research Director

Meg heads up our research department and leads the production of our biennial, flagship report, Socially Responsible Investing Trends in the United States.  Contact Meg with questions about this and other research US SIF is conducting.  Meg also manages US SIF’s finances, so if you have questions about US SIF’s annual report or financial statements, please contact her.   

Prior to joining the US SIF staff, Meg directed environmental, social and governance research for RiskMetrics Group’s Financial Research and Analysis division.  There, her duties included editing Corporate Social Issues Reporter, a monthly journal, and heading the firm’s Sustainability Task Force.  For much of her career at the Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC), which the Institutional Shareholder Service unit of RiskMetrics Group acquired in 2005, Meg specialized in issues related to multinational investment in South Africa.  From 1990 through 1996, she directed IRRC’s Southern Africa Service. 

In 1997, Meg was tapped to direct IRRC’s Social Issues Service, where she coordinated the organization’s research on the environmental, human rights and other social issues raised by shareholders at U.S. companies.  She co-edited the 1998 book, The Sweatshop Quandary:  Corporate Responsibility on the Global Frontier.  From 2001 through 2003, Meg served as a judge for Social Accountability International’s Corporate Conscience Award.  She is a graduate of Wesleyan University and earned a Master of International Public Policy degree from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Alya Kayal, Director of Policy & Programs

Alya’s responsibilities on public policy include interacting with congressional offices, regulatory agencies and other organizations working on policy priorities; working on the implementation of financial reform, budget and appropriations issues at key federal agencies; monitoring environment, social and governance issues; and keeping US SIF members informed on policy and programs, among other things. Alya is also involved in all program staff activities related to the various US SIF working groups. If you have any specific questions about US SIF’s work on public policy or programs, please contact her.

Before joining SIF in June 2011, Alya managed corporate sustainability research and analysis at Calvert Investments, Inc. She focused on human rights, international labor issues in the global supply chains, as well as corporate impact on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Alya has also served on the Steering Committee of the International Working Group (IWG) of SIF. Prior to her career at Calvert, she worked at the US Department of Labor on an international child labor report that identified countries and industries that used child labor in the export of manufactured products from industry or mining to the United States. Alya has also worked on a special project for the U.S. Information Agency and the Soros Foundation on the status of independent media in Eastern Europe and the states of the former Soviet Union. In 1992, she worked as an aide to the U.S. expert member of the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. While there, she drafted several human rights resolutions and assisted in the negotiations on complex political and human rights issues with representatives from various countries.

Alya has written and published numerous articles on human rights issues, including on the 44th session of the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. She earned a JD from the University of Minnesota Law School and a BA in Sociology and International Communications from Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey.

 

Sylvia Panek, Assistant Director of Operations & Development

Sylvia manages the day-to-day needs of US SIF’s working groups and US SIF’s technical operations.  If you are experiencing problems with US SIF’s website or listservs, or have specific questions regarding activities or participation in any of US SIF’s working groups, please contact Sylvia.   

Sylvia, a graduate of Illinois State University, obtained with honors a dual BS in International Business and Marketing, plus a minor in Spanish. She worked at the Nonprofit Financial Center in Chicago, an organization focused on educating and assisting nonprofit organizations to operate with security on limited budgets. In 2005, Sylvia joined the socially responsible investment division at Green America and transitioned two years later to serve as Program Coordinator for US SIF. She is currently the Assistant Director of Operations and Development, which includes management of the Forum's working groups.

 

Megan Smith, Public Affairs & Events Assistant

Megan provides support for US SIF’s communications, events, and public policy work.  If you have specific questions about any of US SIF’s social media channels, the US SIF website or press releases, as well as any of US SIF’s sign-on or model letters to public officials, please contact her.   

Before joining US SIF, Megan interned with the US Department of State and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. She also served as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar in Cordoba, Spain from 2007-2008. Megan holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary, where she double majored in Government and Economics, and a master’s degree in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. 

 

Supap Jitta, Membership & Marketing Coordinator

Supap’s responsibilities include membership management, membership services, marketing, and general Board support. Membership questions regarding the annual membership renewals, invoices, enrollment procedures and benefit programs can be directed to her.

Supap holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Earlham College in Indiana. Prior to joining USSIF, She worked as an intern at an investment bank in Philadelphia, an English teacher in Japan, and most recently a Club and District Support coordinator at Rotary International in Illinois.