Kriste Lindenmeyer, Giving Circle Co-Chair

Kriste Lindenmeyer came to Philadelphia in 2011 when she accepted a position at Rutgers University—Camden. She grew up in Cincinnati, but as an adult also lived and worked in Dayton, Ohio; Charleston, West Virginia; Cookeville, Tennessee; Halle, Germany; and Baltimore, Maryland. After graduating high school, Kris worked as a waitress, bartender, and bar manager, as well as a department store buyer. She had also started a family and dropped out of college. In her late twenties, Kris returned to the University of Cincinnati and completed a B.A. and a Ph.D. in American History. Graduating in 1991, she focused her academic career on the history of American public policy and expanding college access to a wider range of young people. After retiring in 2020, Kris enthusiastically joined the Giving Circle because, “It is a perfect fit with my personal commitment to continue to find ways to help improve the lives of women and children.”

Carol Williams, Chair of the Grants Committee and Treasurer of the Giving Circle

Carol grew up in central Pennsylvania and moved to Philadelphia in the mid 1980’s after stints in New York and Minneapolis. In 1999, she left the corporate banking world after a twenty-six year career and joined the nonprofit community development financial institution sector providing loans and financial advice to nonprofits across the country. Most recently she has worked as a part-time contract consultant in the nonprofit financial world. She has been a long-time volunteer and board member of Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania and has served on the boards of several other local nonprofits. She joined TTN early in 2020 so became both familiar and involved with the organization virtually. She joined the GC in 2021 and currently serves on the Grants Committee. Carol spends a good deal of the summer in the Massachusetts Southern Berkshires and is very happy to be able to begin traveling again, one of her passions.    

Mary Klein, Co-Founder, Giving Circle and Co-Chair of Donor Engagement

Mary has always been an educator. She held positions in public and independent elementary and middle schools, and at the college level. She began her career as a school counselor and then teacher, later as an administrator on college campuses working with adult students returning to college. She remains very interested in early literacy.

Home is Philadelphia but Mary and her husband can often be found on Cape Cod. They enjoy biking and travel, and have participated in organized bike trips in places ranging from the Pacific Northwest to Eastern Europe. Four grandchildren bring  great joy.

Mary and Ethel Weinberg started the TTN Giving Circle in 2012. She continues to be a enthusiastic advocate for the Giving Circle and a member of the Executive Council

Barbara Lissy, Co-Chair of Trust-Based Philanthropy Committee

Barbara is a life-long Philadelphian and has lived in West Mt. Airy for over 40 years. She is a graduate of Philadelphia public schools and the University of Pennsylvania. For almost 50 years she was a development professional in the not for profit sector in the Philadelphia area. Over the years she served on the boards of the Germantown Jewish Centre, the Jewish Community High School and Wissahickon Hospice and volunteered with many other organizations.

Barbara joined TTN and the Giving Circle in 2018 when she retired and has found a second home with the Giving Circle which so closely aligns with her values. 

Barbara’s daughters, son-in-law and granddaughter live close by and all delight in the time they can spend together. 

Sandi Slap, Co-Chair of Educational Programs

Since moving to Philadelphia from Scranton thirty years ago to practice law, Sandi has been actively involved with several non-profit organizations as well as The Shipley School and AIM Academy. She is a former Trustee of The National Museum of American Jewish History and currently serves on the Advisory Board of Our Closet. In addition to her involvement with Impact100 Philadelphia and AIPAC, Sandi is a member of the Executive Council of TTN’s Giving Circle and serves on the Giving Circle’s Grants Committee and Development Committee.

Sandi enjoys being a reading coach with Achieve Now, traveling and spending time with her two daughters.

Susan Bleiberg, Chair of Events

Susan was born and raised in Baltimore and graduated from Franklin and Marshall College. She initially worked as a Special Education teacher and obtained an MS in Communicative Disorders from Johns Hopkins. Susan then left Education and pivoted to work for an HMO. That lead to a career in Employee Benefits with an emphasis on consulting and training. Susan lives in Wynnewood, having relocated to the Philadelphia area 30 years ago. 

After retiring at the end of 2021, she became active in TTN and with the Giving Circle Grants Committee. Susan now serves as the Events co-chair on the Executive Council of the Giving Circle. She’s also a member of the TTN Philadelphia chapter task force Advocates for Equity and has co-facilitated the Unpacking Whiteness workshop several times. In addition, Susan is committed to volunteer work with several organizations that focus on early childhood literacy and health care. She’s excited to continue learning about the needs of women and children in Philadelphia and be able to have an impact through the Giving Circle.

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Nell Anderson, Co-Chair of Donor Engagement and Liaision to Community Volunteering

Nell Anderson grew up in New Jersey and in Santiago, Chile. After graduating from Georgetown University, she came to Philadelphia for graduate studies in Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania and has been here ever since.  She has had a varied social work career, starting off in clinical work and ending with a 23-year stint at Bryn Mawr College, where she was the Director of Praxis and Community Partnerships in the Career and Civic Engagement Center.

While at Bryn Mawr College, she developed relationships with many nonprofit organizations and schools and as retirement approached, decided to join the Giving Circle as a way to stay connected to the Philadelphia nonprofits and to issues that are important to her: immigrant rights, educational equity, college access and public health. Nell is particularly interested in Philadelphia’s immigrant communities and speaks Spanish fluently. She currently volunteers with Ladies Let’s Talk, an online conversational English program for immigrant women living across the United States.

Nell loves the outdoors and bikes, swims, hikes and does yoga outside whenever possible. She is also a Tree Tender in her East Falls neighborhood and participates in the efforts to grow, protect and care for the city’s tree canopy.