Board

Marie Martinez Israelite, former director of victim services at the Human Trafficking Institute, led efforts to implement trauma-informed, survivor-centered approaches to their work with trafficking victims. Over the past 20 years, Marie also worked at the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, led the development of the Department of Justice’s first grant program for victim services to immigrant victims of human trafficking in the United States, and served as section chief of the Victim Assistance Program at Homeland Security. Marie has a Master of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania and is an undergrad alumna of Bucknell University. She and her husband, along with their two daughters enjoy traveling and playing tennis during their down time. She has served on the LSSNCA Board since October 2021.

Patrice Gancie, born in New York but almost a life-long DC area resident, spent her career as a communications and organizational specialist for nonprofit groups. Now retired, she last served for 15 years as director of Cradle of Hope Adoption Center’s Bridge of Hope hosting program, bringing older children from foreign orphanages to the US to meet potential adoptive families. She also worked in education organizations for many years. As the granddaughter of immigrants, she feels a strong connection to every family building a new life in the U.S. She has served on LSSNCA’s Board since May 2022.

Syed Hyat is a principal at a Fortune 500 financial services company located in Washington, D.C. His professional skillset includes risk management, valuation, negotiation of large transactions, and corporate policy/governance. Syed holds a master’s in real estate finance and investments from the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University and a bachelor’s in economics and mathematics from Boston University. In his free time, Syed enjoys trail running, gravel cycling, and cross-country skiing. Syed has served on the LSSNCA Board since May 2024.

Melanie Armstrong, CPA, is a retired PwC partner and senior executive with 18 years of experience at the partner and C-Suite level, seven of those as a Chief Operating Officer (COO). She established and led PwC’s (now Guidehouse’s) U.S. International Development practice focused on social impact work addressing critical challenges faced by underprivileged people around the world. She began her career as an auditor and spent two years working in the Czech Republic as it converted from communism to capitalism. A graduate of University of California, Los Angeles, with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, she also currently sits on the boards of Mercy Corps and Leadership Mission International as well as the advisory board of the Vellamo Leadership Institute. Melanie has served on the LSSNCA board since 2023.

Larry Bartlett most recently served as a career member of the Senior Executive Service at the U.S. Department of State. He directed the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) for more than 15 years. Under his leadership the program led the international community by resettling more than 1 million refugees for resettlement to the United States, working closely with receiving communities throughout the country. While at the State Department he directed all humanitarian assistance programs inside Syria and Turkey in 2018 and the resettlement to U.S. communities of 80,000 Afghans evacuated to U.S. military bases in 2021. He is the recipient of the Secretary of State’s Career Achievement Award and two Presidential Rank Awards for senior leadership in refugee protection and resettlement. Prior to joining State Department, Mr. Bartlett served as U.S. Peace Corps country director in Jordan and Bulgaria, deputy director in Thailand and Hungary, and worked with non-governmental organizations in international education and earthquake relief. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Yemen helping implement the first national immunization campaign.

Karla serves as chief for the Monitoring and Administration Branch in the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education in the U.S. Department of Education. Karla manages the branch's high quality technical assistance to the 57 Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) grantees and monitoring activities for the AEFLA program. Additionally, she serves as a member of the federal inter-agency Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) State Plan Steering Committee and serves on the inter-agency WIOA Monitoring Workgroup. As a faculty member at George Mason University, Karla regularly teaches a course on grantsmanship in The Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. Karla received a Bachelor of Science in foreign service from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and a Master of Public Administration from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. She has served on LSSNCA’s Board since May 2022.

Julia Ellegood Pfaff, director, center operations at INTO George Mason University (GMU), has 20 years of management experience in government, nonprofit, and higher education. In her current role on the senior leadership team, she ensures students attending GMU have outstanding educational experiences. Julia is an adjunct faculty member and a member of the Shadow Influence Project, a multi-disciplinary project of the Schar School. She also served for two years on the faculty of the Australian College of Kuwait where she taught a variety of management and marketing subjects. Prior to working in higher education, Julia a U.S. Army veteran, also served as an executive director at a national nonprofit. She earned her Master of Public Policy from George Mason’s School of Policy, Government and International Affairs, and her bachelor’s in international relations and languages from the University of Delaware. She speaks English, French, and Spanish. Julia has served on the LSSNCA Board since January 2023.

John Goheen, partner at Goodwin Procter, has a prolific background in antitrust and competition law and has represented clients in antitrust investigations by the Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Department of Justice and state attorneys general. John received his Juris Doctorate magna cum laude, from American University, Washington College of Law, and earned his Bachelor of Arts from Emory University. John has provided pro bono immigration work to unaccompanied minor children and various asylum matters as part of his ongoing commitment to refugee and immigrant justice, through his work with KIND (Kids In Need of Defense) and with many other organizations in both Washington, D.C and New York City. John has served on the LSSNCA Board since January 2023. 

Charlotte Haberaecker is the immediate past president and CEO of Lutheran Services in America (LSA), one of the largest health and human services networks in the United States. Under her decade-long leadership, LSA was consistently one of the nation’s top nonprofit organizations. She has been at the forefront of developing and implementing groundbreaking initiatives and collaborative learning models to drive systemic change. Prior to joining LSA, Haberaecker was the $2 Executive at Global Impact, which provides humanitarian funding around the world and leads the Combined Federal Campaign for overseas troops and in the D.C. metro area. She also held senior leadership positions in management consulting at Price Waterhouse where she strengthened nonprofit, for-profit, and government organizations and served as a senior leader at Fannie Mae. Charlotte is the co-inventor on five patents, and the recipient of the 2018 Rebrand 100 Global Award for one of the top 100 brand transformations in the world, the 2017 Humanitarian award from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, and the 2015 NonProfit Times magazine’s “Power & Influence Top 50.” She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration in management science from the University of Illinois. Charlotte has served on LSSNCA’s Board since February 2023.

Rachel Holtzman is a Project Management Professional (PMP)-certified senior program management advisor with 14 years of experience managing international development and humanitarian programs. She currently works for Save the Children supporting global health programs and leading organizational change projects. Her more than a decade of experience showcases her ability to analyze and improve programmatic processes, execute, monitor, and control programs throughout the project life cycle. Rachel previously worked for the U.S. Department of State supporting rule of law programs in Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and their two sons. Rachel has served on the LSSNCA Board since 2019.

Marissa Padilla is an executive vice president at Global Strategy Group where she puts nearly two decades of strategic communications, media relations, and campaign expertise to work navigating a broad cross-section of issues for her clients. She has served in top roles in the U.S. House and Senate, on political campaigns, and in the Obama Administration. Marissa is a proud native of Santa Fe, New Mexico. When she’s not at work, she can usually be found hanging out with her family and practicing to be a sommelier.

Katharyn Wheeler has served as the administrative assistant to the Bishop for the Metro D.C. Synod since 2015. She holds a Master of Arts in leadership and innovation for ministry from Luther Seminary and is a candidate for Word and Service in the ELCA. She received a Bachelors of Music Education in choral music from Indiana University and spent three years teaching choir in Cincinnati before going into church administration. She is the mother of two children and wife of a U.S. Navy musician. In her free time, she is an avid reader and loves the outdoors. Katharyn has served on the LSSNCA board of directors since 2020.

Deaconess Sally Hiller graduated from Valparaiso University and has a Master of Science in School Administration from Trinity College. She has served three congregations in Prince Georges County Maryland: First, in Bowie; Trinity, also in Bowie; and Ascension, in Landover Hills. It was at Ascension, where Sally was involved in growing an Early Childhood program and becoming a member of a parish-school ministry team. It was in 1995 when she was called to serve full-time as mission and ministry executive for the Southeastern District, and where she served until she retired as the executive director of congregational outreach and chief operations officer in December. She continues to serve as a volunteer in disaster recovery. Sally also likes to spend her time working with children, gardening, bible journaling, and teaching. She and her husband have been blessed with two daughters, five grandsons, and one granddaughter.