For Our Members

  • President Update

    IWF-DC rings in the new year with a new leadership team led by Betsy Fischer Martin. For a complete list of the 2022-2023 board of directors, go to the About page and scroll down to Meet the Board. The Programs Committee is planning a calendar of virtual and in-person monthly events so stay tuned for more announcements soon.

  • Phyllis Harris

    New Member

    As EVP, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance, Ethics and Government Relations Officer for the American Red Cross (ARC), Phyllis Harris propels the mission and strategic direction of the nation’s 15th largest nonprofit by providing proactive strategic and cost-effective legal counsel and government relations advice to the President and CEO.

    Before joining the ARC, Harris established the environmental compliance infrastructure at the Fortune One company. For Walmart Stores, Inc., she served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer, building Walmart’s environmental compliance program from the ground up. Astutely, she drove top-down culture change starting with a “Tone at the Top” messaging campaign and implemented a comprehensive compliance-awareness program across 6.5K stores and involving 2M+ Walmart associates.

    Launching her two-decade career at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Harris immediately demonstrated her executive capabilities, and after only three years of tenure at the agency, she was promoted. Advancing as a leader, she was appointed as Atlanta’s Regional Counsel at the age of 36, becoming the youngest and first African American Regional Counsel in the agency’s history.

    Subsequently, she served as a member of the Senior Executive Service, where she investigated and prosecuted hundreds of regulated entities for violations of federal and state environmental laws and developed national enforcement and compliance strategies to address significant environmental justice concerns. For her exemplary service advocating for justice—related to environmental matters facing communities of color—she was awarded a Merit Rank Award from President George W. Bush for superior sustained performance.

    Among Harris’s extensive board service roles, she presently serves as Board Director for the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) and the Black General Counsel 2025 Initiative. Recently, she held Board roles for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), and the Wake Forrest Graduate School of Sustainability. Harris earned her law degree from the University of Florida Levin College of Law and a B.A. from Converse College in Spartanburg, SC.

Who Makes Up IWFDC?

For All Member Information:

About Membership

Membership is by invitation only, and prospective members are nominated by existing members. Invitation for membership is extended to those women who have achieved success in their chosen field and whose interests are aligned with the objectives of the Forum. A prospective member is recognized as a leader in her field both inside and outside her own organization. The Forum strives for diversity of membership in many areas including field of expertise, ethnicity, age, and public, private and non-profit companies and organizations.