MIDDLEBURY — WomenSafe recently announced the election of three new members to its board of directors. New board members are Chelsea Colby, Elaine Orozco Hammond and Ellen Whelan-Wuest. In welcoming the three new board members WomenSafe Executive Director Kerri Duquette-Hoffman said “They each have unique skills, and diverse experiences that will enrich our board and the entire organization.”
Chelsea Colby is a Middlebury resident and teacher of first- and second-grade at Cornwall Elementary School. A February 2018 graduate of Middlebury College, Colby was an advocate for MiddSafe for several years and was honored with both the Bonnie McCardell Student Leadership Award and the Vermont Campus Compact/Vermont Higher Education Council Engaged Student Award. Chelsea has been active in the field of domestic and sexual violence prevention and advocacy since her first year of high school.
Elaine Orozco Hammond is a Middlebury resident and director of Middlebury College’s BOLD Women’s Leadership Program. She is the former Executive Director of The Abramson Scholarship Foundation and has a law degree from University of Baltimore School of Law. Hammond has extensive experience in program management, meeting facilitation, event planning, budget oversight, and administration. She is passionate about social justice, including equity in education, civil rights, and women’s issues.
Ellen Whelan-Wuest is a Cornwall resident and works remotely as deputy program director for the Council of State Governments Justice Center in New York City. She is a 2005 graduate of Middlebury College and has a Master of Public Policy degree from Duke University. Whelan Wuest’s experience with domestic and sexual assault victim advocacy coalitions and associations led her to pursue volunteer work with WomenSafe, where she will exercise her skills in problem solving, policy and systems reform, and strategic thinking.