Category: Member Profiles

Patricia A. Legge, Esq., LMSW is the Executive Director of Volunteer UP Legal Clinic, a nonprofit that connects clients facing legal barriers to their success with South Jersey attorneys who volunteer to provide high-quality pro bono legal services not otherwise available to make a difference in the lives of those in Camden and its surrounding communities. Prior to becoming a licensed social worker, Patty was a career law clerk in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, serving the federal government for over 22 years. At the same time, she taught law school for 15 years, for the most part as an adjunct professor at her alma mater, Rutgers Camden Law, but also as an Inaugural Faculty member at Drexel University’s Thomas R. Kline School of…

Jaime Desman grew up in Mt. Laurel and attended Lenape High School.  She went to Boston University to major in hospitality management. Once graduating, Jaime moved to Denver and lived there until 2020. While she was in Denver, Jaime donated blood, volunteered for Outdoor Colorado (the state’s oldest outdoor non-profit organization that motivates and enables people to become active stewards of natural resources), food banks, and Habitat for Humanity.     Jaime moved back to South Jersey during the pandemic. Her mother, Barbara Schwartz, introduced her to Impact100 SJ, knowing Jaime had always loved being active in community service and doing more than just writing a check.  Jaime became an Impact 100 SJ member in 2021. She jumped in with both feet, joining both the financial review and grant review committees last year. This…

As President/CEO of the Cumberland and Salem County Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program for youth, Donna Bennett was introduced to Impact100 South Jersey as a potential grant awardee. She was immediately impressed with the level of professionalism of Impact’s Grant Review committee members as she led her organization through the grantee application process. Much to her delight, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cumberland & Salem Counties did indeed receive a grant in 2019. It was through this experience that Donna knew she wanted to become a part of Impact100 South Jersey where she saw firsthand the tremendous impact that a group of women, joined together, can make to such worthy causes in their community. As a South Jersey native, Donna pursued a career path in advertising. Following her studies…

Karoline Moxham has lived in Medford for 20 years. She is married with two sons, Donald, and Doug. Along with working full-time as a commercial lender for WSFS, Karoline is very involved in philanthropy and volunteering in South Jersey.  Her husband works in wealth management.   Karoline joined Impact100 SJ because she loved the mission — women gathering resources together to help the community. Karoline joined three years ago and is a member of the Grant Review Committee. Hearing about Impact100 SJ from a friend, she checked out the website and attended an information session and joined shortly thereafter. She plans to continue with Impact100 SJ since she feels very connected to it, and WSFS has now joined as a corporate sponsor, thanks to Karoline. Karoline’s two sons are on the autism spectrum. Her oldest,…

When you meet and get to know Hala Shawaf Barson it’s easy to see that she really is “all about people, relationships, and community” and being a member of Impact100 SJ feeds her desire to be connected to the community in a meaningful way.   Hala was introduced to Impact100 SJ in 2017 by her friend and mentor Georgann Wardzinski and was instantly drawn to the collective giving model. Being a part of a like-minded community of women who are caring, collaborative, and love connecting and “cross pollinating ideas” was an exciting notion. But at the time she was a young professional growing her career. In 2022 the time was finally right to become a member.  Being a member has been a wonderful experience and Hala actively participates on the Grant…

As a newcomer to South Jersey in 2021, Beth’s interest in IMPACT100SJ was piqued when reading the profile of a Leadership Council member in a local lifestyle magazine. She checked out the organization’s website and its robust offerings, which sealed the deal on her membership application. She completed the paperwork, joined the Grant Finance and Grant Review committees and there was no looking back. No stranger to nonprofit and board engagement, Beth is impressed with IMPACT100SJ’s mission of leveraging the power of collective giving and making a significant impact on local non-profits via IMPACT100SJ’s grant-making process. Being new to the area, Beth was curious to learn more about the area and its needs. Win-win. Beth is a longtime “joiner” and, more importantly a “doer”. As a retired CPA financial advisor,…

Meet Colleen Connell, proud charter member of Impact100 SJ.  Colleen first learned about Impact100 from Kyle Ruffin, who serves on the board of the Community Foundation of South Jersey (CFSJ) with Colleen’s husband, John. She was immediately attracted to a business model in which every member’s vote counts equally toward selecting grantees, making tremendous impacts toward their missions. Also, the opportunity to meet other local South Jersey women who are passionate about philanthropy and volunteerism was very appealing. Colleen finds inspiration in women who are leaders in their communities. “Just like the Milky Way, we are all single stars working together to create beautiful outcomes collaboratively.”     Colleen is an active member of Impact100. She has co-chaired the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (“DEI”) Task Force with Nina Cohen, where she was able to draw on…

Paula Fairly is not new to charity, non-profits and philanthropy.  Paula gives both time and money because she is able to, and she is committed to the mission. Paula is a semi-retired executive involved in working with others on developing their exciting, new life chapters. She is a former member of the Moorestown Rotary Club.  During a Rotary presentation featuring Cindy Quinton and Kyle Ruffin, Impact 100, South Jersey was presented.  Paula was impressed with what she heard and decided to provide support to the group.  She appreciates the idea of tapping into women and encouraging them to give back to local organizations in need.   In addition to a full professional employment background at organizations such as Travelers and General Electric, Paula has served on several Boards and community committees. …

Abby Cohler joined Impact 100 SJ in 2019. At the time, she was looking to get involved with a local charitable organization and do more than just “write the check."  She discovered that Impact 100 SJ filled that need for her.  She was intrigued by the fact that IMPACT 100 SJ is solely run by women volunteers, allows each member the choice to be as involved with the organization as she wants to be, and gives out impactful grants to local organizations.   At that time, she went on-line, looked up our local chapter and joined immediately. After she joined, she learned that some of her friends/colleagues were also members, After joining, Abby jumped right in and got involved.  For the first two years (even impacted by COVID shut-downs) she became a member…

After an extensive career at one of the region’s largest nonprofits, in 2018 Pam Collins decided to follow her entrepreneurial spirit and partner with longtime collaborator Pamela Downes to start REV Creative Group. REV was founded on the idea that businesses of all sizes and industries need a dedicated team of experts to revolutionize their marketing efforts. REV mixes strategy with creative design to help energize brands and drive results using an Outsourced Marketing Team model. They believe it takes a purposeful brand with a customized marketing plan to develop memorable connections with audiences. Pam shares, “Our process is designed to give clients the expertise they need without the full-time cost of an in-house team.” She adds, “We build trusted partnerships with clients to fully understand their vision, values and…