Chatham University

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Meet Our Counselors

Anne Flynn Schlight, Director

Anne Flynn Schlicht

Business Counseling

Anne received her Masters of Business Studies in Entrepreneurship from the University of Limerick, Ireland and a Best Practice in Teaching Entrepreneurship Certificate from the University of Cambridge, UK. Anne brings a wealth of international experience as a professor of entrepreneurship and as a business consultant. Anne has presented at seminars and conferences internationally on the topic of entrepreneurship education and women entrepreneurs. In January 2005, Anne was chosen as the second "Rooney International Visiting Scholar," which facilitated her move to the US. Anne joined the Center for Women's Entrepreneurship in 2008. In 2016, Anne was appointed Director of Chatham's Women Business Center (CWBC). In 2019, CWBC and CWE merged into one Center and Anne was appointed Director.

Rachel Webber, Business Advisor

Rachel Webber

Business Counseling

Rachel joined the Center in June 2022 as Business Advisor. Rachel has a background in community development, small business advocacy, and neighborhood planning. Rachel previously served as the Nighttime Economy Coordinator for the City of Pittsburgh and as Business District Manager at Lawrenceville Corporation. Rachel holds an undergraduate degree in English and Public Relations from Duquesne University.

Wendy Mascio

Wendy Mascio

Business Counseling

Wendy is a serial entrepreneur that started her entrepreneurial journey by co-founding Medical Equipment Source, LLC a multi-million dollar medical equipment company. After experiencing domestic and international success, Wendy went on to co-found VIVO Worldwide Inc. to serve as a strategic partner to Medical Equipment Source, LLC to manage the growing international distributions channels as well as medical device development. Her next entrepreneurial endeavor CompleteIt Consultants was formed from Wendy's years of entrepreneurial experience where she utilizes her talents in "getting things done" to help organizations succeed by planning, implementing and achieving their goals. Wendy's passion for the entrepreneurial spirit has led her to be active with business development/entrepreneurial programs at several universities and organizations around the Greater Pittsburgh Area. Prior to her entrepreneurial journey, Wendy was an award winning sales professional with over a decade in Pharmaceutical sales and sales training experience. Wendy believes that the entrepreneurial dream is attainable through with good planning, strategic execution and hard work.

Dione Cahillane

Dione Cahillane

Business Counseling

Dione Cahillane has been active in world of entrepreneurship and family businesses for many years through her work at the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence, IEE. During her time at the IEE Dione served as Membership Director, Director of the Entrepreneurial Fellows Program and Peer Forum Facilitator. Dione has a BA from the University of Pittsburgh, an Entrepreneurship Certification from the Kaufmann Foundation and is a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh. In 2018, Dione earned her 200 Hour Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) from the Himalayan Institute where she is an instructor. After a 20+ year career at the University of Pittsburgh, Dione recently started her own business as a Realtor with Howard Hanna.

Lisa Diaz

Lisa Diaz

Business Counseling

Lisa started as a business counselor with Chatham University CWE in 2022. She is a creative, outgoing, sales, and people oriented professional with proven strengths in strategic thinking and the ability to take initiative. She has over 15 years of experience launching, rebranding, growing, and selling small businesses for profit. She also works for Job Training for Beaver County and teaches workshops to low to moderate income residents who want to start their own businesses.

Lillian Rafson

Lillian Rafson

Business Counseling

Lillian, founder and CEO of Pack Up + Go, launched her business at 23 years old. Originally from Pittsburgh, and a graduate of New York University, Lillian has always had a passion for travel and supporting small businesses. Without raising a dollar, Lillian has grown Pack Up + Go to a multi-million-dollar business, learning so much along her entrepreneurial journey. She has been honored as a member of the inaugural Pittsburgh Business Times 30 Under 30 class, a Tory Burch Foundation Fellow, a Travel & Leisure A-List Travel Planner, and a Top Woman in Hospitality. She is thrilled to share her love of entrepreneurship with the Center for Women's Entrepreneurship.

Talpha Harris

Talpha Harris

Business Counseling

Talpha Harris is the CEO and Co-Founder of Sustainible, a business model assessment tool that helps entrepreneurs determine how they can improve or implement their business model. She also owns Ancient Path Adventures, a biblical innovation hub, producing creative card games, board games and more. Talpha previously worked as an Entrepreneurship Hub Manager at a local CDFI, helping entrepreneurs build businesses by developing entrepreneurial programming such as accelerators and incubators. Talpha graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with a degree in Sustainable Development and Entrepreneurship and currently lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and toddler.

Cidalia Cornelio

Cidalia Cornelio

Business Counseling

Cidalia Cornelio is the CEO and Founder of IDEA GARDEN LLC and President and Founder of the Dungula Foundation for Community and Economic Development. She advises nonprofits, small businesses, veteran-owned, women-owned, and diverse-owned businesses, by providing practical solutions, resources, and tools to help her clients through each stage of their business development goals. Areas of assistance include business planning and start-up assistance; customer relations; workforce development, non-profit strategy, and planning; Agricultural and Horticultural Business Counseling; community economic development, executive leadership training, and DEI education.

Rachel Graper

Rachel Graper

Marketing Counseling for the Food Industry

Rachel Graper is brand marketer who specializes in building compelling narratives and marketing strategies. Over the past 15 years, she has worked in a variety of marketing roles from corporate (Heinz, GNC) to entrepreneurial endeavors, including Ideal Grain Free Granola. She partners with businesses and entrepreneurs to craft their unique brand positioning statements and select communication tactics which support their story. She earned an MBA at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business and a B.S. in Hospitality Management at NYU.

Marian Neilson

Marian Neilson

Diversity Certification Technical Assistance

Marian Neilson provides primary support for Abator's GetDiversityCertified.com service designed to assist SDMWVLGBTBE business owners on the path to diversity certification. Having documented eligibility requirements for federal, state, city/county and third party certifying organizations in the US, Ms. Neilson has unparalleled knowledge of certification processes with a deep commitment to help others successfully navigate them. She is responsible researching and tracking any new certifications offered or eligibility requirement changes to existing certification programs. She is a 2003 graduate of Chatham University with a BA in English, minoring in History and the SBA's Emerging Leaders Program.

Jessica Eberley

Jessica Eberley

Human Resources Technical Assistance

Jessica's experience in human resources and recruiting have made her an expert in the industry. Jessica founded HRT Solutions in 2016 with a focus on providing services in HR, University Recruiting, and RPO Services. While she works with clients of all sizes, Jessica enjoys partnering with small businesses and is able to leverage her own experience as a business owner.

Judith Herron

Judith Herron

Accounting Technical Assistance

Judith Herron, CPA works with businesses to deliver financial information to investors, banks, taxing authorities and managers. Judith helps her clients sharpen their focus on financial data essential for managing performance. Prior to working in public accounting at Crawford Ellenbogen, Judith served in executive positions for Fortune 500 companies including CIGNA and GE Capital. Judith provides technical consulting for the Center for Women's Entrepreneurship at Chatham University. Judith's continuing education work includes Six Sigma certification, GE Situational Leadership training and Synectics Facilitation Workshops. She has an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business and a BA from NYU.

Marlene Van Nelson

Marlene Van Nelson

Legal Technical Assistance

Marlene van Nelson is the founder and principal attorney at Trellis Legal, LLC. Her transactional law practice focuses on small businesses and non-profits. Marlene specializes in helping businesses start and grow through legal services including entity formation, contract drafting and review, commercial lease review and negotiation, website terms and conditions, and more. As an entrepreneur herself, she understands the challenges and rewards of running your own business and helps facilitate business transactions that involve, support, and build invaluable relationships. Marlene is also an active member of the Pennsylvania Farmers Union and the Pittsburgh Food Policy Council, and a board member of Lawrenceville United, her local community organization.

Beth A. Slagle

Beth A. Slagle

Legal Technical Assistance

Beth A. Slagle is a business attorney at the law firm of Meyer, Unkovic & Scott LLP where she maintains an active practice focused principally on business disputes, insurance coverage, entrepreneurs, and employment law. Her involvement in insurance coverage claims has translated directly into the recovery of millions of dollars for many companies, including more than $100,000,000 for a single corporate client. She represents a number of entrepreneurs and new ventures, assisting them with business and operational issues, and has dedicated a significant amount of her practice to assisting female-owned companies in business formation and executing strategic solutions for a myriad of business issues. Ms. Slagle is the Chair of the Insurance Coverage Litigation Group, Co-Chair of MUSolutions (focused on entrepreneurs), and Chair of the Diversity Committee. She is included in Best Lawyers in America for Insurance Coverage and Commercial Litigation, has been selected to Pennsylvania Super Lawyers list and maintains an AV Preeminent Rating from Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating Program. Additionally, from 2005 to 2013, she founded and operated BizChicks, a professional women's organization focused on networking, education and empowerment, and now owns/operates a residential rehab business.

Meesha Gerhart

Meesha Gerhart

Digital Marketing Technical Assistance

The owner of RedTree Web Design, Meesha Gerhart and her team help companies build their businesses by building better websites. She provides expert niche services for any type of business through smart website development and design, inspiring user experiences and lead-producing SEO. An award-winning developer and designer, Meesha gets to the heart of her client's goals to help supersede them by generating exciting, solid results.

Jane Ann Regan

Jane Ann Regan

Marketing & Branding Technical Assistance

Jane Ann has more than 30 years of experience in Marketing across multiple industries with experience at H.J. Heinz Co., AT&T Wireless, and regional grocer, Giant Eagle. She founded Regan Management Consulting, LLC (RMC) in 2012 to help small businesses focus their limited resources on the efforts with the largest impact. A passion for learning, drives Jane Ann! She quickly grasps a business challenge and transforms that challenge into a set of realistic targeted plans to drive successful results. RMC helps clients to establish a focus supported by solid business analysis on their journey to creating a successful strategic plan and marketing strategy. A native of the Pittsburgh region, Jane Ann attended Seton Hill University and has an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.

Melanie Ansell

Melanie Ansell

Funding Clinic Technical Assistance

As President/Owner of My Business Builders LLC, Melanie is well versed in assisting small businesses. She is a past Bank President, current business owner, and a teaching professor at several universities on the topics of Finance and Small Business Planning and Management. Throughout her career, she has worked with thousands of business owners and those contemplating starting a business to help them achieve their life dreams of being successful entrepreneurs!

Kabeyia Jones

Kabeyia Jones

Accounting Technical Assistance

Kabeyia specializes in forensic accounting and auditing. As a results-oriented Accounting Professional, Kabeyia has been meeting the accounting needs of corporations and individuals in the Pittsburgh area for over twenty-five years. As a Tax and Business Advisor, she also has a proven track record in accounts payable management, accounts receivable management, payroll, benefits administration, pension administration, month-end/general ledger reporting, non-profit accounting, personal/business tax preparation. Kabeyia prides herself in effectively delivering tax and accounting services to help ensure accuracy and transparency. With her careful analytical mind as well as careful computational skills, she is able to perform precise auditing tasks, ensuring that financial transactions are accurately represented. Kabeyia's clients are in a wide range of industries to include technology, food service, insurance, manufacturing, healthcare, childcare, retail, transportation, trucking and much more. Her experience working with self-employed, small business, non-profit and government clients has allowed her to easily navigate the financial world, giving her clients sound advice for careful planning to fulfill their long-term and short-term financial goals. These diversified business capabilities make her 'your preferred source for professional business and government services' for tax and business solutions.

Auldyn Matthews-McGee

Auldyn Matthews-McGee

User Experience and Web Design Technical Assistance

Auldyn Matthews-McGee is an Assistant Teaching Professor at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, teaching UX and interaction design. Previously, she worked for 10 years as a user experience designer and leader at healthcare and higher education companies, including Elsevier and Ellucian. Auldyn's experience includes designing electronic health record software for nurses and patients, transforming patient experiences through mobile applications, and facilitating design thinking workshops across the globe. Most recently, Auldyn started the first UX team at Phreesia, a healthcare tech company. Auldyn holds a master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University and bachelors' degrees in math, Spanish, and psychology from Ohio University.