WHO WE ARE

Ann lost her wife Joan to pancreatic cancer in 2018. As a new member of the Board, she is committed to helping other widows through their journeys, especially in the LBGT community. Ann had a 28 year career in education and guidance. In addition she worked as a Certified Financial Planner and owned a small graphic design company. Now retired, she is an avid golfer and founder of the Westchester Chapter of the LPGA Amateurs, another non-profit that empowers women.

Ann is working on a 2023 joint event with the LPGA Westchester Chapter and the W Connection.

Sally Ford joined our Board in 2020 just in time for our COVID lockdown and was instrumental in helping us move from a local chapter model to our national, full-service virtual community.  A graduate of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, she met her husband Michael in national politics working in presidential, gubernatorial, and congressional races. They married, started a family, and opened up their own political and communications consulting firm which they ran as partners for over 20 years, until his death in 2013.  Sally brings her campaign mentality and experience in start-ups to the W Connection, offering us strategy, communications, and program management expertise.  She splits her time between Washington, DC and Fenwick Island, Delaware.

Jeanne, MPH, MS, CNM, has spent over 20 years practicing in women’s health and as a director of two hospital-based midwifery practices. She later joined her husband David’s Ob/Gyn practice with 6 other physicians and a nurse practitioner. After her husband’s untimely death, Jeanne made some purposeful changes in her professional life — she now serves as an Adjunct Instructor in the Graduate Advanced Practice Nursing Program, and the Midwifery/Women’s Health program at Georgetown University.  She is also the clinical course coordinator for New York University’s Midwifery Program. Jeanne is also a Fellow of the American College of Nurse Midwives, and recipient of the 2022 Excellence in Teaching Award from the American College of Nurse Midwives. Jeanne brings a wealth of expertise in women’s health and educational programming to the W Connection. Since joining the W Connection, she is conducting cutting edge research on the health effects of bereavement, particularly among widows.

Samantha Melting is a Senior Vice President and Head of Consumer Banking at Synchrony.  She has over 27 years in financial services across banking, credit and investments for Consumers, Small Businesses and Wealth Management. As our newest W Connection Board Member, she provides her expert focus and passion for helping widows achieve financial wellness to the W Connection.  After her husband Derek’s untimely death in 2020, Samantha and her family relied on the invaluable support of family, friends, and Samantha’s employer as she learned to manage her career, financial goals and solo parenting.  She clearly recognizes that not all widows get that level of support she received and is now wholeheartedly committed to educating the corporate community about the supporting services that they need to offer widows as the head of their households–both financially and emotionally.  Samantha lives in North Carolina with her two children and three cats, and she is active in her community serving in organizations that support economic advancement for women and underserved communities.

Pat Osman was widowed 13 days after her husband, Jim’s diagnosis of metastatic lung cancer in November, 2014. It was not until her dad’s death eleven months later that Pat began her grieving and rebuilding.

Rebuilding included retiring from a 40 year career as a Reading Specialist and English Language Arts teacher, then training to be a life coach for widows. During this training Pat was introduced to the W Connection by a former member. Since then, Pat has repurposed her educator’s skill set to help other widows by volunteering and leading many of the committees within the W Connection.

In 1990, as an educator Pat saw a need to start grant writing to fund the school’s computer labs and successfully wrote her first grant. In her career, her grant writing expertise funded a computer based diagnostic-prescriptive program for struggling readers. Pat brings her grant writing experience which began 30 years ago to the W Connection Board.

Valerie Pagliaro currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Hitachi Capital America. Although not a widow, the message of rebuilding after loss is Valerie’s connection to our mission.