Women Making History 2023 Honorees

Cheryl Bates

As a former program director at United Way of Erie County Bates, now retired, was the chief architect who implemented Erie FREE Taxes in 2007 which has a current program value of over $136 million. Earlier in her career, she was a staunch advocate for the powerless and marginalized as program director at Erie County Office of Children and Youth.

Karen A. Morahan, Ph.D

During the height of the pandemic when the nursing shortage was at its peak, Morahan, thenadvanced critical educator for UPMC, proposed the opening of a School of Nursing within the city limits. Within just 16 months, the Jameson School of Nursing at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Hamot opened its doors. Now as the school’s first director, Morahan leads a team of 18 educators, a student admissions team and 124 students.

Sarah Humphrey, MSN, RN Weis Humphrey is the executive director and helped create the Erie Cancer Wellness Center, an independent nonprofit providing non-medical services free of charge to those diagnosed with cancer and their families. She has spent her life’s work assisting cancer patients and their loved ones.

Carla Storrs, LCSW A licensed clinical social worker who spent the last 15 years at the Mercy Center for Women most recently as client services director, Storrs is now sole proprietor of her therapy practice, Hopefull Outlook. Specializing in ADD/ADHD, anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder, Storrs is also an ordained deacon with Greater Calvary Full Gospel Baptist Church.

Elizabeth Anne Hirz The first woman to hold the job of Erie County district attorney, Hirz was hired in 2002 as an assistant district attorney and became district attorney at the end of 2021. She is a board member of the Bradley Foulk Children’s Advocacy Center, Mercy Center for Women and Fairview Parks and Recreation Authority Board and has volunteered with Attorney and Kids Together Program since 2004.

Susan Paradise Baxter

Appointed the first female District Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Paradise Baxter serves on the Judicial Conference of the United States, Committee on Administration of the Magistrate Judges System. As a result of her contributions, she has received accolades for her commitment to women and her work in the justice system including Congressional Certificate of Achievement and The Women’s Roundtable of Erie’s Woman of the Year Award.

Amy C. Eisert Eisert is the director of Mercyhurst University Thomas J. Gamble Civic Institute whose mission is to reduce crime and increase partnerships and trust in neighborhoods across Erie County. She is on various statewide committees including the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee and helped launch the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Adult Prom, now in its ninth year locally, which raises awareness and funds.

Marva Keys-Morris Keys-Morris is the CEO of Premier Manufacturing, LLC and the first Black female to own and lead an energy drink brand in the United States. Her company’s Zenedge Energy Drinks, with less caffeine and healthier ingredients than its competitors, are now sold at more than 100 Walmart stores and online at Amazon.

Darlene Bush One volunteer experience 10 years ago at the Mercy Center for Women led to Bush donating hours weekly at the nonprofit. There she works as a receptionist and oversees donations to the center’s Daily Threads women’s thrift store.

Georgia L. Del Freo Del Freo has spent the last 22 years at Greater Erie Community Action Committee (GECAC) where she is the vice president of operations, responsible for guiding the agency’s $25 million community action agency. She volunteers with Habitat for Humanity and serves as a deacon at Wayside Presbyterian Church.

Susanne Kuligowski, Ph.D As executive director of Erie Dawn since 2021, Kuligowski has played an instrumental role in her agency’s collaborative efforts with area landlords to provide safe, affordable, independent, transitional housing for low-income women and children.

Ruth Thompson For nearly 20 years at the helm, Thompson has been at the director of the A.N.N.A. Shelter whose goal is to provide unwanted, stray, abused or neglected animals with a safe, nurturing loving environment. Thompson also started a dog training program at the Erie County Prison and a foster program during the pandemic for pets whose owners had COVID.

Jacqui Catrabone The director of non-profit and community services at Strategy Solutions, Inc., Catrabone’s background as a mental health direct service professional exposed her to the complex needs of nonprofits, many of whom seek her expertise to help them deliver optimal services to clients.

Margaret Pellerite, SSJ A lifelong educator, Pellerite has been with Kennedy Catholic High School in Hermitage, Pa. for 56 years and is currently in campus ministry.

In 2015 she received the Kennedy Catholic Medal of Honor Award and has been feeding the Shenango Valley for more than 40 years at Thanksgiving time.

Kathy Woodard Woodard is the educational services director at WQLN where she created its STREAM Machine (science, technology, reading, engineering, arts, and mathematics), a mobile classroom that delivers educational outreach directly to neighborhoods. In five months the project had distributed 809 books, 643 STREAM kits and served nearly 600 students.

Kelly Stolar, CFRE Stolar is the first layperson named the executive/ development director of the Neighborhood Art House in Erie, which provides a better life experience for children with limited economic, educational, and social opportunities. She is the immediate past-president of Northwestern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and has taught dance in a variety of venues since her move to Erie in 2000.

Since 1994, the Mercy Center for Women has provided housing & support services to women and their children who have experienced homelessness. In 2023, we doubled our housing capacity, including housing for men, when the Mercy Anchor Community Center opened. The center will offer both tenants and Erie residents community-based programming including primary care services, a food pantry, and computer training, just a few of the more than 20 types of services available in a once-vacant building. The Sisters of Mercy’s mission remains a constant guide as we help those less fortunate.

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