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Keynote Speaker:
Andrea Lawful-Sanders
Board Director, Secretary
Community College of Philadelphia Foundation
Andrea Lawful-Sanders is a dynamic force in coaching, media, and community advocacy, dedicated to empowering individuals to realize their potential and embrace transformation. A passionate coach and community advocate for over 22 years, she has served organizations, corporations, school districts, and families, helping people find clarity, direction, and purpose. The most fulfilling part of her work is witnessing the joy her clients experience when they realize that the solutions to their challenges begin with self-empowerment and authenticity. She believes nothing is impossible with dedication, hard work, and a genuine commitment to personal growth.
In the educational space, Andrea has worked tirelessly to support students through her involvement with the V.I.B.E. (Voices Involved in Promoting a Brotherhood of Excellence) and I.M.A.G.I.N.E. (I’m a Girl, Intelligent, Noble and Educated) programs at Abington High School (2005–2019), and The C.A.L.M SOCIETY, an organization that empowers teachers and families to ensure all students have access to high-quality education. With a B.A. in Communications from Temple University and an M.S. in Education, she has played a pivotal role in helping students find their voice and develop into leaders who believe in their potential.
Since 2015, Andrea has made significant contributions to print and broadcast media, working with the Philadelphia Sunday Sun and a local Black-owned radio station. Her insightful coverage of major events such as the 51st Annual NAACP Image Awards, the Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival, and numerous local happenings in the Greater Philadelphia Region has solidified her reputation as a trusted voice in her community.
Andrea’s career has been marked by extraordinary milestones. She is most proud of her interview with President Joe Biden during his 2024 Presidential campaign—a testament to her credibility and influence in the media landscape. Her unwavering dedication to service has earned her accolades such as the WDAS Woman of Excellence Award (2018), the Dream Chaser Award from I Choose to Win (2023), and the Philly SEEDS Award from the Philadelphia Housing Authority (2024).
Andrea’s impact extends beyond her professional endeavors. She was recognized in Dr. Ala Stanford’s memoir, Take Care of Them Like My Own (2024), as the first media personality to highlight Dr. Stanford’s movement in vaccinating tens of thousands of Philadelphians at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Andrea has served on the foundation board of the Community College of Philadelphia (2022–present) and chaired the Southeast Pennsylvania CARES Circle under Susan Taylor's National CARES Mentoring Movement (2013–2020).
Hailing from Jamaica, Andrea’s courage and resilience are unmatched. From breaking the sound barrier in a fighter jet to driving across the country five times, she exemplifies the power of pushing past fear and embracing new challenges. These adventures reflect her unyielding belief that life is meant to be lived fully and fearlessly.
Andrea’s greatest joy, however, is found in her roles as a devoted wife, mother of two sons, one daughter-in-love, and grandmother to three beautiful grandchildren. She is a living testament to the idea that anything is possible when we approach life with integrity, authenticity, and the willingness to work toward our dreams.
Through her media work, coaching, and advocacy, Andrea Lawful-Sanders inspires those who seek meaningful change, guiding them to discover that the power to achieve lies within themselves.
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Panel Moderator:
Sue Daugherty RDN, LDN ‘95
CEO MANNA
Sue, a 1995 graduate from Community College of Philadelphia, joined MANNA in 1999 as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN). At MANNA, Sue has held several positions prior to being appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2012. Sue garnered national recognition in June 2013 when she co-authored a key study, “Examining Health Care Costs Among MANNA Clients and a Comparison Group” published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Primary Care & Community Health. This research study examined the health care cost savings associated with MANNA’s model and has ongoing impact on nutrition policy nationwide.
Sue has presented MANNA’s work at conferences and meetings across the country. She has also testified in front of the United States Congress.
Sue is an Advisory Board member of the national Food Is Medicine Coalition and served as co-vice-chair from 2019-2022. In 2019 Sue was invited to join the Food Lab Accelerator at Google as a product owner for Food Is Medicine. Other accolades include, the 2015 Jefferson College of Population Health Education Hero Award, Comcast’s Newsmakers selection, the Cancer Treatment Center’s America Caregiver Women of the Week Award, and Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builders Award. In May 2022 Sue was the Keynote Speaker for the graduating ceremony for Jefferson College of Health Professionals and she received an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from Thomas Jefferson University.
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Panelists
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Reem Ahmed
Vice President, Large Agency Sales
Effectv/Comcast
Reem Ahmed is Vice President of Large Agency Sales for Effectv, the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable. In this role, she leads the company’s large national agency sales initiatives to integrate the team’s strategy with audience-based advertising sales that drive growth in Effectv’s portfolio of unique TV solutions.
With nearly 20 years of experience, Reem’s career spans across many facets of media sales, including e-commerce, print, digital, and TV, and in various functional areas from client services and strategic partnerships to local and national sales. She is a driven leader that encourages new ideas and is a champion of diversity and change management.
In 2019, Reem joined Effectv as Director of National Sales and shortly rose to Executive Director of National Sales before being appointed to her current role. Prior to Effectv, she spent more than 15 years at Valassis, an omni-channel marketing solutions company, where she held several leadership roles and launched an agency sales business development team.
Reem holds a Master of Business Administration from Western New England University and a Bachelor of Science in business management from Rutgers University. She resides in New York City.
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Chef Jennifer Carroll
Founder/Chef - Carroll Couture Cuisine
Co-Founder & Chair - Sisterly Love Collective
Chef Jen Carroll is a highly accomplished leader in the culinary industry, with a diverse range of experiences & achievements. She has gained widespread recognition for her multiple appearances on Bravo's Top Chef. Her exceptional cooking skills & creativity landed her in the finals in her first season, Las Vegas & then was invited back to compete multiple times as an all star, judge & mentor. Making memorable culinary moments in kitchens & on screens is her power.
In addition to her television work, Chef Carroll helms a culinary experience company, Carroll Couture Cuisine, which offers many services including intimate dinners, cooking classes, demos, team building, food journeys, online culinary subscriptions & brand partnerships. Along with CCC, she is a co-founder of the Sisterly Love Collective, a Philadelphia based non-profit organization that aims to support, mentor & empower women in the food, beverage & hospitality industries.
Chef Carroll's passion for cooking & dedication to her craft have earned her numerous
accolades, including Philadelphia Magazine's Best New Chef, Eater's Best New Restaurant,
Eater’s Chef of the Year, RAMMY nominations for Best New Restaurant & Best New Chef &
recognition as the protege of renowned chef Eric Ripert by the James Beard Foundation.
To stay up-to-date with Chef Carroll's latest projects & culinary creations, you can visit her
website, eatccc.com; follow her on social media @ChefJenCarroll & @CarrollCoutureCuisine; and subscribe to her Patreon channel for exclusive access to her cooking community, spice club, recipes, culinary tips, & more.
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Rue Landau
Councilmember-at-large
City of Philadelphia
Rue Landau is a civil rights and housing attorney, a public school parent and the first openly LGBTQ+ member of Philadelphia City Council. She has spent her entire career fighting for social justice and equity for Philadelphia’s most vulnerable communities. She has a vision for Philadelphia that lifts up every neighborhood and ensures that every person has the opportunity to thrive.
She started her career as an activist and housing organizer. She was on the frontlines in the fight for economic justice, demanding access to affordable housing and health care during the early years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic as an active member of ACT UP, Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) and Women’s Health Action and Mobilization (WHAM!).
Then, for more than a decade, Councilmember Landau worked as an attorney at Community Legal Services helping low-income renters in Philadelphia avoid illegal eviction from their affordable housing. She fought and won lawsuits that kept thousands of the city’s most vulnerable and high-risk families together by successfully challenging government bureaucracies.
Later, Councilmember Landau served as the director of both the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations (PCHR) and the Fair Housing Commission (FHC), the city’s civil rights and housing enforcement agencies. During her 12-year tenure, Councilmember Landau transformed the agencies into national models for government and community engagement, social justice, and equitable opportunity.
Working with City Council, she led initiatives to strengthen and expand the city’s Fair Practices Ordinance and Fair Housing Ordinance, adding civil rights protections including wage equity, fair chance hiring for people with criminal records, reasonable accommodations for pregnant and breastfeeding women, and good cause eviction safeguards, among others. She also oversaw community relations initiatives to combat hate and bias and to bring communities together to prevent conflict and promote understanding.
After leaving the commissions in 2020, Councilmember Landau taught housing law at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law as a Beck Fellow and served as the director of law and policy at the Philadelphia Bar Association.
Now, after winning the November 2023 general election, she plans to use her years of knowledge, skills, and relationships to serve all Philadelphians as an at-large member of Philadelphia City Council.
Councilmember Landau’s roots in Philadelphia expand beyond her proven work history. She is an active member of her synagogue Kol Tzedek in West Philadelphia. A proud graduate of Temple Law School, Councilmember Landau has served on numerous boards of non-profit and community organizations and currently is a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association and the Philadelphia LGBTQ Bar Association, as well as a committeeperson in the 2nd Ward. Councilmember Landau is married to her wife, Kerry, and together they received the first same-sex marriage license in Pennsylvania, when it became legal on May 20, 2014. They live with their son, a public school student, in Bella Vista – right around the corner from Councilmember Landau’s identical twin sister. She grew up just outside the city, in Cheltenham, and she’s been proud to call Philadelphia her home for more than 30 years.
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Colleen L. Stanford '10
Director of Public Safety and Security
Community College of Philadephia
Colleen started her career in law enforcement as a correctional officer with the Philadelphia Prison System in 2001. In 2004, Colleen transitioned to the Philadelphia Police Department as a police officer, where she patrolled in the 25th Police District. Four years later, she was elevated to work for the Deputy Commissioner of Patrol Operations, with the task of managing computer statistics for tracking criminal incidents.
In 2014, Colleen was promoted to police Corporal and assigned as a supervisor in the Recruitment Unit. In 2015, Colleen became a police Sergeant assigned to the Center City District, where she strategically led the Bicycle Detail/Unit. She was later transferred to the Northwest Detective Division to supervise and oversee criminal investigations. In 2018, Colleen was promoted to police Lieutenant at the 17th Police District. In 2019, she was transferred to the Training and Education Services Bureau to oversee the Emergency Vehicle Operation training unit. In 2020, she was selected to be Administrative Supervisor for The Chief Strategy Office, where she was responsible for managing numerous department initiatives and strategic plans. In December 2021, Colleen was promoted to police Captain for the 9th Police District and subsequently became the police Captain for the Early Intervention Unit in 2022.
Director Stanford is an alumna of Community College of Philadelphia, where she earned an associate degree in Criminal Justice in 2010. Her education also includes a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from Chestnut Hill College and a master's degree in Public Safety Management from Saint Joseph's University.
In 2020, Colleen successfully completed the School of Police Staff and Command through Northwestern University.
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Pat Ciarrocchi
Emmy Winning Broadcaster
Pat Ciarrocchi is a 10-time Emmy Award winning and Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame TV News journalist. She made her broadcast home at CBS 3 in Philadelphia as a news anchor and reporter for more than 33 years. Some of her most memorable work involved six overseas assignments at the Vatican. Pat capped off her career coverage of the Catholic Church with more than 16 hours, broadcasting live during Pope Francis’ historic visit to Philadelphia in September 2015.
Pat's storytelling has been celebrated for finding and sharing the human spirit in each assignment. From the steps of the Art Museum on Mother's Day, telling the stories of women facing breast cancers, to the bedside of pediatric cancer patients and their families finding hope in the medical research funded by Alex's Lemonade Foundation. Pat's reassuring voice has brought awareness to challenges that have needed the spirit of working together to find resolution.
Since leaving CBS 3 Philadelphia, Pat's regional public speaking engagements have focused on women’s empowerment in the workplace and the role of women in the Catholic Church, even offering to regional diocesan priests a greater insight into the contemporary Catholic woman.
Pat has devoted her "Beyond the News" time to work that she finds important in the community. In 2016, Pat was asked to join the Board of Directors of Gaudenzia,Inc. It's a leading regional agency that provides recovery treatment services for individuals with substance use disorders, struggling with addictions and the health challenges that often accompany them.
She first became aware of Gaudenzia when she began researching a TV story on substance use disorders — including heroin addiction among women. Soon, Ms. Ciarrocchi was asked to tell more of the Gaudenzia story as a master of ceremonies at its fundraising events. Seeing that the right treatment can take struggle and transform it to healthfulness moved Pat to stay connected to Gaudenzia.
In 2022, Pat was elected to serve in a leadership position as Board Secretary. Her professional background makes her uniquely qualified to Chair the Communications Committee to the Board. Pat's other community outreach includes serving as a founding board member of Mission Kids — the Montgomery County child advocacy agency, providing advocacy in response to allegations of child sexual abuse. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of St. Hubert’s Catholic High School for Girls.
Ms. Ciarrocchi earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies from Rosemont in 1974. In light of her professional and community accomplishments and contributions, she's been awarded four honorary doctorate degrees from La Salle University in Philadelphia, Neumann University in Aston, Cabrini College in Radnor and her alma mater, Rosemont College.
Still being recognized professionally, in November 2024, Pat was named Person of the Year, the pinnacle award presented by the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia at its Hall of Fame Gala. Pat said the greatest compliment she ever received was from a Philadelphia newspaper columnist who described her as a news anchor who was a humanitarian. It wasn't by design. It's just who she is.
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