Mighty Women

Danielle has worked to serve the Pittsburgh environmental community for over 15 years. She has served as Tree Pittsburgh’s Executive Director for 10 years where she has led the organization through significant growth. Prior to joining Tree Pittsburgh in 2007, she was the founding Board President and Executive Director of Allegheny CleanWays, a group dedicated to empowering people to fight illegal dumping and littering in Allegheny County. Danielle was named a top 40 under 40 environmental leader across the state of Pennsylvania by the PA Environmental Council, and in 2011, she was a Board member for the Alliance for Community Trees — the only national organization solely focused on the needs of those engaged in urban forestry.

Jodi Forlizzi is the Geschke Director of the Human Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. She is an interaction designer and researcher by training. Her research ranges from understanding the limits of human attention to understanding how products and services evoke social behavior. When she's not teaching and mentoring students, she works on design for devices that improve quality of life for older adults and those with disabilities.

Naomi Anderson has been working as a software developer for 19 years. Over the course of her career she has worked for the likes of Motorola, General Dynamics, and the Software Engineering Institute. Her current position is unable to be disclosed. She has worked on projects that have spanned the gamut from government funded large n-tiered systems to commercial single user applications, written in a variety of languages.

Today, nearly 51% of medical students are female. But when Dr. Ann Thompson graduated medical school, the proportion of women graduates was only 10%. Dr. Thompson went on to become a pioneer in the field of pediatric critical care medicine. Her accomplishments range from being president of the Society of Critical Care Medicine — only the second woman to hold that position—to lecturing internationally on her research.

Dr. Kathy Humphrey serves as the University of Pittsburgh’s Senior Vice Chancellor for Engagement and Secretary of the Board of Trustees. She oversees the University’s internal and external relations, focusing on facilitating business engagement, strategic initiatives and partnerships and government interaction at all levels. She holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Saint Louis University, and also maintains a faculty appointment in Pitt’s School of Education. She has received numerous awards and recognitions throughout her career, as well as served in leadership at outside institutions, including the Board of Directors for Leadership Pittsburgh and the Advisory Council for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy

Kate Dougherty is an award-winning Set Designer whose work on the critically-acclaimed series "House of Cards" was the recipient of a 2016 Art Director's Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design, under the guidance of Production Designer Steve Arnold. Dougherty's work on Marvel's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and Annapurna's "Foxcatcher," also earned Art Directors Guild nominations for Outstanding Production Design. Kate has worked for A&E, Dreamworks, Fox, Lionsgate, Netflix, and Paramount, among others, and is the owner of Pittsburgh based property development company Urbanspace LLC which focuses on creative renovations of existing buildings.

Melanie Querry dreamed of owning a business since she was just a kid. After pursuing a degree in advertising at Penn State, she spent 12 years working in broadcast television and cable television sales before starting her own company in 2006. Today, she is the President and Founder of the award-winning advertising agency Beyond Spots & Dots, located in Pittsburgh and Columbus. Melanie is recognized as a strategic expert in working with businesses on how to allocate their marketing budget most effectively. Under Melanie's guidance, Beyond Spots & Dots provide a full range of advertising services to a variety of industries, from corporations to non-profits.