MASAE Officers and Directors

Leslie Teris, JD, CAE, Executive Director, Foundation Financial Officers Group (Talley Management)

Leslie Teris leads the team of professionals providing services to the Foundation Financial Officers Group at Talley Management Group, Inc. With more than a decade of experience in the field of professional association management, she has participated in all aspects of association management, working with groups of varying size, complexity, and industry focus. Leslie is a Certified Association Executive, and a member of ASAE and MASAE. 

Leslie earned her JD at Rutgers School of Law in Camden, NJ, and has experience defending personal injury claims in New Jersey Superior Court. Her legal training in research, analysis, writing, and advocacy translates directly to her role as an advisor to association leadership.

Felicia K. Taylor is an association executive with more than 20 years of experience working for professional associations. She is the Chief Executive Officer for the New Jersey Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics.

Felicia currently serves on the Mid-Atlantic Society of Association Executives Board of Directors. She is also part of the Diversity Executive Leadership Program (DELP) (2017-2019 class), a national leadership program through the American Society of Association Executives.

She is a recipient of the New York Society of Association Executives 2018 Outstanding Non-Profit Executive Award. She also received the NAPNAP President’s Award in 2011 and the 2009 Standard of Excellence Award for best website development as project lead from the Web Marketing Association.

She holds a B.A. from Rutgers University and a M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix. She earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential, awarded by the American Society of Association Executives in 2018.

Trudie Bruner is the Founder of and a Consultant at True Association Management Consulting, LLC.

Trudie is passionate about the good work of associations and the importance of an effective business model to achieve their missions and sustain their efforts. The rapidly evolving economy is challenging the association community’s stronghold on their traditional activities and services, which in turn challenges AMCs and other organizations that serve the association community. While these hurdles have appropriately increased the emphasis on outward strategies, such as missions, membership, and services, this alone is not enough. To be relevant and resilient, AMCs, associations, and the organizations that serve them must also look inward and assess their models of operation.

With over two decades’ experience in Association Management, Trudie has served in several modes of management, most significantly the AMC model. Through this work, she has developed a keen understanding of both the operational and strategic business challenges facing AMCs, associations, and the industry as a whole. She founded True Association Management Consulting, LLC, as a platform to share her experience and insight to advance the profession and industry she loves.

Trudie holds degrees from Loyola University Maryland and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a Certified Association Executive (CAE). She is an active member of several associations, including the American Society of Association Executives™ and the Mid-Atlantic Society of Association Executives, and believes firmly you should not accept advice regarding your AMC or association from anyone who isn’t engaged with their associations. As a respected member of the AMC community, she frequently serves as a contributor, presenter, and facilitator, including co-organizing and facilitating “#MeToo, Now What? Preparing Our Companies and the Associations We Serve for the New Era of Inclusiveness and Accountability” at the 2018 AMCs Engaged! Conference.

Gabrielle Copperwheat serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Controlled Release Society (Association Headquarters). In this position she provides strategic leadership, governance, finance, brand and operations management to the society. CRS is the premier society worldwide for delivery science and technology. Its 1,200 members: delivery scientists, engineers, clinicians, and technical professionals are creating the future of delivery science and technology through fundamental delivery research, development, regulatory science, and clinical translation.

Gabrielle is also Executive of the REMS Industry Consortium, an organization that supports the development of best practices in reducing ambiguity with REMS requirements, advancing the science of safety and risk mitigation for patients; improving predictability and standardization of FDA interactions by bringing together the perspectives of organizations that sell, or anticipate selling, prescription drugs or biologics subject to Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS).

Her prior executive leadership experience combines association management company and four national and international non-profit organizations (Insurance Society of Philadelphia, Healthcare Manufacturing Management Council, Third Party Marketers Association, North American Association of Commencement Officers, Convention Sales Professionals International).

Gabrielle actively serves on MASAE committees: membership and Mid-Year Conference, prior to becoming Co-Chair of the MASAE Mid-Year Conference in 2020 for two consecutive years and Co-Chair of the 2023 MASAE Annual Conference. 

Gabrielle holds a Bachelor of Arts from DeSales University, continued education: business, finance, tech communications, HR, human languages from University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Lafayette College and the New Jersey State Board of Accountancy. Internationalization & Globalization for business from LISA in Amsterdam, ND, Yokohama, JP, and Washington D.C., USA. She is pursuing a CAE awarded by the American Society of Association Executives and an IOM.

Association Headquarters
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Sarah Hagy began serving associations in 2006 when she first made her way into the association management industry. Beginning her career at Fernley & Fernley, Inc., the nation’s first association management company, Sarah spent over a decade honing her leadership and management skills representing trade associations in the waterworks supply, horticultural supply, ice cream vending and kitchen exhaust cleaning industries. Finding her niche in leading trade associations, Sarah assumed the role of Executive Director for The Electrical Association of Philadelphia in the fall of 2017.

A proud Philadelphian, Sarah enjoys volunteering within her community. Her most treasured volunteer role is being Big Sister to a sixth grader named Synniyah through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.

Kristin Dunn is a Certified Association Executive (CAE) who entered the association world as the single support staff of an international surgical association in South Florida. There, she gained practical experience in member acquisition and retention, financials, strategic planning, sponsor relations, program development, and event planning. Kristin organized scientific meetings and events, both domestic and global, keenly sensitive to the values and practices of different cultures. Dedicated to mission-based organizations and global member engagement, Kristin further expanded a diverse body of knowledge in association management through work with the American College of Physicians and the Project Management Institute.

Kristin is currently based in Philadelphia, serving as Executive Director for the Northeastern Society of Orthodontists, including management of state orthodontic associations in NY, CT and ME.

Marc Labadie is the Executive Vice President at RTD Financial. Unlike most financial advisors, Marc specializes in working with the non-profit community, working primarily with regional, national, and international member, trade, and industry organizations and/or their foundations. In this capacity, he brings his formal training and experience in serving as a fiduciary to advise and educate volunteer leaders placed in this important, and often unfamiliar role.

With more than 20 years in association management, including roles in operations, membership, events, educational programs, and general administration, Donna-Jean brings a broad range of experience to her new role reshaping organizations to work more efficiently, reduce expenses, and finding processing efficiencies.

Currently serving as the Executive Director for New York Women in Communications (NYWICI), a premier female-based organization serving women in all fields of communications. Donna-Jean brings her strategic thinking to the associations she works with along with her financial experience, strong people management acumen and comprehensive experience in board relations and governance, organizational management, and strategic planning.

Donna-Jean previously served as the Executive Director of the Specialty Advertising Association of Greater New York (SAAGNY) – the largest regional trade association in the promotional products industry. Donna-Jean’s emphasis on educational programming, trade shows, and networking events, has led to increased engagement and participation throughout the association as well as providing increased value and retention to membership. Prior to SAAGNY, Donna-Jean served as the Manager of Events and Continuing Legal Education Programs, for the Federal Bar Council (FBC), a bar association serving the Federal Courts of the Second Circuit. Her role included planning and administering all events and programs of the Council including logistics, budgeting, marketing, program evaluation, and staff supervision.

Donna-Jean received her Bachelor of Science in Finance from Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT. Donna-Jean earned her CAE in 2020.

Pete Pomilio, MBA, is a highly experienced professional with a two-decade history of leading volunteer associations. His steadfast dedication and enthusiasm have propelled him into leadership positions with the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing (AAACN) and the Society of Urologic Nurses and Associates (SUNA), both of which are clients of the association management company, Anthony J. Jannetti (AJJ). At AJJ, Pete serves as a driving force in advancing the missions of these organizations.

Before joining AJJ, Pete served as the Executive Director for several medical associations, including the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR) and the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses (AAHFN). Under his leadership, both associations experienced remarkable growth, financial diversification, and the expansion of member-oriented programs.

Pete earned his MBA from Keller Graduate School and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Rutgers University. He is an active member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and currently holds a position on the Board of Directors for the Mid-Atlantic Society of Association Executives.

Kim Russell joined the Society of Hospital Medicine’s Membership Department in January 2012 and found a career in a field that she never knew existed. As SHM’s Data Operations Manager, she collaborates with different departments about the best uses of the data and marvels at how many ways people can abbreviate the word hospital. She graduated from Rowan University with a B.A. in Communications.

Kim has presented twice at MASAE’s Annual Meetings and serves on MASAE’s Membership Committee. She has co-hosted many of MASAE’s networking happy hour events.

She lives in New Jersey with her husband and dogs and enjoys reading, crossword puzzles, and dreaming of the beach.

Andrea Taylor has 20 years of association management experience. Andrea joined Talley Management Group in 2006 and has held the position of Executive Director for several client partners. She currently serves as the Executive Director for the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV), Association of Healthcare Internal Auditors (AHIA), and the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Socies (FACSS) . Prior to Talley, Andrea worked as the Continuing Education Coordinator with the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP). She is a longtime member of MASAE and ASAE.

Andrea holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the Pennsylvania State University.