EGA Board of Directors
 

President - Lorie Welker

Lorie Welker, of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, joined EGA in 1998.  Her career took her from Illinois to the Eastern
Shore in 1998 where she joined the Chesapeake Chapter in Maryland.  Another career move led to Massachusetts in 2000 where she became a member of the Central Massachusetts Chapter and then was part of the group that chartered her current chapter, Celestial Stitchers.  She has held a variety of chapter positions including president.  She was treasurer for the New England Region from 2003-2006 prior to becoming region director. She served on the EGA Finance Committee during her term as RD.  She holds CPIM status from APICS and achieved Change Leader of Organizational Change from Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She holds a B.S. from the University of Tennessee in Food Technology and Science.
 

Vice-President - Barbara Harrison

Barbara Harrison learned to sew and embroider at an early age. When she married her husband, who was in the Air Force and often deployed, she engaged in many hobbies to make the time go faster.  She taught herself to knit and tried many different embroidery techniques. In 1994, she joined EGA after she and a friend opened a needlework shop. For Barbara it was like she had stepped into a whole new and wonderful world.  She taught herself more embroidery techniques, took classes, and even began to teach classes.  The store closed after three short years but Barbara was immediately chosen as president of Sand Dunes Chapter and has held several other jobs in this chapter. She served as assistant region director and director of Sun Region.  At the national level she has served as the fundraising chair and was on the nominating committee for four years - the latter two as the chair.  Recently, she was deeply honored to be picked as the Gold Thread Award winner for both the Sun Region and National.
 

Secretary - Sydney Mace

Currently serving as EGA secretary, Sydney Mace is a member of The Laurel Chapter of the Carolinas Region. On the chapter level, she has been region representative, newsletter editor, and teacher. Her region responsibilities have included serving as secretary, assistant editor, web coordinator, and seminar registrar. Sydney retired in 1999 as the assistant treasurer, risk management, after a thirty-three year career with Houghton Mifflin Company. She holds a B.S. in business from Boston University and an M.B.A. from Simmons College Graduate School of Management.
 

Treasurer - Kathy Singleton

Kathy Singleton joined EGA in 2000 while living in Chicago. She transferred to the Orlando Chapter in 2002. She has served as secretary and treasurer and first vice president-programs for the Central Florida Chapter. While Singleton may have come lately to EGA, she has enjoyed embroidering all of her life, learning—at an age she can no longer remember—from her grandmother.

Although she holds a B.S. in math and education from the University of Missouri, she switched careers to accounting and became a revenue agent for the IRS. Soon thereafter, she moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, with her husband and son. There, she completed an M.B.A. at the University of Nebraska and passed the CPA exam.

After several moves with her spouse, she has now “retired” to Ocoee, Florida, (a suburb of Orlando) where she enjoys several hobbies: preparing returns during the tax season, spending time with her three granddaughters, gardening and, of course, embroidering. She thought her UFO pile would decrease when she retired, but it seems to have doubled in size!
 

Director of Bylaws - Julie Anderson

Julie Anderson was born and raised in New Orleans, moved to North Carolina as a teenager, and graduated from East Carolina University with a degree in archaeology. She then joined the US Navy to work and see the world. After twenty-two fun-filled years, she retired in 1995 as a Commander and started a second career as an embroiderer, gardener, and golfer. She lives in the Norfolk, Virginia, area, where she discovered both EGA and ANG in 1996 and has been active in both ever since.

Anderson has held several officer positions in both organizations, and was region representative for her EGA chapter, Tidewater Virginia, Mid-Atlantic Region. She currently serves as National Fundraising Chairman for EGA. She enjoys a wide range of needlework disciplines, particularly Japanese embroidery, crewel, and surface stitchery, and is a member of Fiber Forum. She and Mike, her husband of twenty-two years, are in the process of moving to South Carolina.
 

Director of Education - Wanda Anderson

Wanda Anderson’s first stitching experiences came as a young girl when she embroidered dresser scarves with the daisy stitch, French knots, and buttonhole stitch. Her mother introduced her to EGA in the early 1970’s, but she was unable to join for fifteen years as she was raising small children and holding a job. She has enjoyed being in EGA for
she feels at home with her sister stitchers. She feels that her stitching has been enhanced by her learning experiences in EGA, and wants that experience, that tradition, to continue for other stitchers.

Anderson has served as chapter education chair and vice president of programs. She has been assistant region director, region director, national outreach chair, and director of bylaws. Anderson appreciates the opportunity to run for office to serve EGA as director of education. Anderson earned a B.S. in nursing at Oklahoma Baptist University and spent more than forty years working as a nurse. She has been a volunteer for many organizations, and has served on the boards of two Girl Scout Councils and
worked with United Way.
 

Director of Marketing - Sue Hacker Nelson, CFRE

Sue has enjoyed needlework ever since she was a child working on stamped pillowcases. When in her 20s, Sue was introduced to EGA by one of her husband’s co-workers. A member ever since, she credits the bulk of her needlework skills to things she learned through EGA. A member of the Indianapolis Chapter she has served as both Treasurer and President. She has also served the association as a member of, and later Chair of, the Development Committee.

Sue has spent her entire career in the not-for-profit sector working to raise funds for small to mid-sized agencies. Currently she is Director of Development for Prevail of Hamilton County, a victim advocacy organization.

A Past President of the Association of Fundraising Professionals - Indiana Chapter and a past co-chair of both the Indiana Philanthropy Awards Banquet and Indiana Fund Raising Day, Sue maintains strong ties to her profession through various volunteer efforts. She achieved her Certified Fund Raising Executive designation in 1999 and holds a BA from DePauw University.