Aurora Foundation Welcomes New Chair, Four New Board Members

West Hartford – The Aurora Women and Girls Foundation, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has welcomed a new Chair and four new members to its Board of Directors.

“We are thrilled to strengthen Aurora’s already strong Board with the addition of outstanding community leaders with deep ties in our community,” said Executive Director Jennifer Steadman, PhD. “On the heels of our incredible growth last year, we are committed to increasing Aurora’s impact and building even more opportunities for women and girls.”

The new Board Chair is Amy Miller, a Senior Vice President and Advisor at Wealthspire Advisors, a financial planning firm in West Hartford. A graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, she earned an MBA from the UConn School of Business and worked for Webster Bank for 16 years before transitioning into individual wealth management. She lives in West Hartford.

She succeeds Meghan Burns, a partner at Ruel Ruel Burns Feldman & Britt, who served as Chair for three years and who will remain on the Board.

“I am so proud to be named chair of this amazing Board of Directors,” Miller said. “The Aurora Foundation is a wonderful organization that gives so much to so many – I am excited to partner with Jenny and the fantastic Aurora team to continue to be a pillar of support for women and girls in the Hartford region.”

The four new members are:

· Samia Ameur, a West Hartford resident who immigrated from Algeria in 2017. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from CCSU and is completing a Masters in business analytics at Syracuse University. Ameur works at RTX as a senior analyst specializing in international tax compliance. She was introduced to Aurora when she participated in one of its grant-funded College Success programs, “Launch Your Leadership Journey,” at Connecticut State-Tunxis.

· Heather Lashway of Southampton, MA, is a Managing Director at PwC, a global accounting, tax and consulting firm; she is currently part of the firm’s Northeast Asset Management practice, where she specializes in serving private equity, venture capital, fund of funds, and real estate advisors. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Heather is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants, and the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants.

· Trisha Pitter, also of West Hartford, is the Director of Community Learning and Engagement/Instructional Designer at the UConn Health Disparities Institute, a research and advocacy unit within the UConn Health system dedicated to addressing and eliminating health disparities, particularly among minority and medically underserved populations. She is also a Fellow of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) E-Learning Institute. Trisha holds bachelors and Masters degrees from Quinnipiac University. She volunteers for the West Hartford Community of Concern; serves as Vice President of the Board for the Connecticut Oral Health Initiative; and is a member of the Black Giving Circle at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and Aurora’s Luminary Celebration Committee.

· Teesia Renée Williams of Hartford, known professionally as Chef Renée, is the owner of Simply Chef Renée, a corporate catering and event-planning business based in Windsor. She has also written two books; founded a wellness magazine for women of color; and hosted “Simply Chef Renée,” a community television show. A graduate of Florida A&M and Johnson & Wales University, Chef Renée is certified in whole food, plant-based nutrition through Cornell University. In March 2025, she opened Cafe Chef Renée @280, a restaurant serving gourmet breakfast and lunch on the 5th floor of 280 Trumbull Street in downtown Hartford. She has been a member of Aurora’s Giving Circle since 2020 and serves on the Giving Circle Steering Committee.

The new Board members were installed at Aurora’s Annual Meeting, where outgoing Board members Samantha Castillo-Davis, Evelyn Johnson, and Stephani Roman were recognized for their service to the organization.

Aurora is grateful to the following Community Partners who have committed operating support for 2025: Ares Management; Barnes Group; Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity, and Opportunity (CWCSEO); Green & Blue Foundation; Hartford Yard Goats Foundation; Liberty Bank; Lodestar Energy; NBT Bank; Jennifer W. Pennoyer, MD; Reid & Riege; Robinson + Cole; Ruel Ruel Burns Feldman & Britt; Tokio Marine HCC; UConn Health Disparities Institute; The Village for Families and Children; Wealthspire Advisors; Whittlesey; and the YWCA Hartford Region.

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About Aurora Women and Girls Foundation

The Aurora Women and Girls Foundation was founded in 2000 by a group of community leaders who sought to lift up women and girls through focused philanthropy. Aurora galvanizes resources to increase gender and racial equity through economic security, educational attainment, and leadership for women and girls in the Greater Hartford region. We envision strong, equitable communities in which all women and girls realize their potential and are full, valued, and sought-after participants -- economically, politically, and socially.