aboutus
What started at lunch with four friends has grown into a coordinated and impactful organization. The feeling of solidarity with women around the world inspires us. We are excited about helping to provide young girls and women with education, choices in voluntary family planning, and social support through local programs.
The Team
Dr. Maribel Roman top right
Dr. Roman first became interested in international education while pursuing her masters in international relations and diplomacy. Through her engagement with students and diplomats from different parts of the world, she concluded that the best hope for diplomacy was through the education of future world leaders. However, this form of education should not be limited to those pursuing studies in diplomacy and international relations. Global awareness and international education should be available to everyone, especially educators. More importantly, she felt strongly that it is the responsibility of educators to share international awareness and knowledge with young students as early as primary school. This was the vision behind her idea of a Center for Global Education https://blogs.shu.edu/globaleducation/, which she co-founded at Seton Hall University. The Center’s mission is to advance knowledge of global issues and develop the skills and understanding essential for success in the emerging global arena.
Maribel went on to attain a doctorate in higher education leadership with research on internationalizing education. She spent several years writing grant proposals for potential projects that promoted education, development, and sustainability, while teaching courses in International Relations, International Politics, Conflict Resolution, and Political Sciences.
The last eight years, she has been using her knowledge and experience to design, organize and manage programs that provide opportunities for international exchanges, partnerships and mutual collaborations among educators and policymakers throughout the world. However, for Maribel, her most valuable contribution is the time she dedicates to teaching and designing programs for projects that protect and empower young girls and women, especially in developing countries.
Alex DeLange bottom left
Alex DeLange is an architectural and interior designer, and residential builder in the Palm Beach, Florida area. She is also the Marketing Director for highly-respected plastic surgery practice. As a multimedia artist, she has illustrated more than a dozen published children's books. She has a Communications degree and a Bachelor in Fine Arts degree from the University of Miami.
Her keen sense of social responsibility has propelled her to establish, fund, oversee, and be involved with several charitable projects and organizations. This social awareness has taken her to many countries on missionary trips to serve impoverished communities. Her motto, "Carpe Diem,” and her empathy with women were the catalyst for a non-profit project like Wings for Women.
Alex and her husband have been married for 27 years and are very proud of their three grown children. When she is not working or designing, she enjoys practicing yoga, traveling, and spending time with her many friends and family.
Jennifer Damico bottom right
Jennifer started her career working with children in a clinical treatment center for several years upon graduating from Palm Beach Atlantic University with a degree in Psychology. The time she spent with these children reinforced her understanding of how a child's environment can have far-reaching effects on their future.
Jennifer joined her family’s business in the construction and property development industry. She works on a wide range of endeavors such as restaurant and home design, historical renovations, and industrial renovations and acquisitions, as well as financial management and project financing.
Mission work was ignited in Jennifer after her first mission trip to Costa Rica. It was during this vital trip that she learned the importance of funding for education globally. Recognizing this need, Jennifer was excited at the opportunity to join forces with other like-minded women to create Wings for Women, whose sole focus is to change the trajectory of a woman's life by empowering women through education globally. Jennifer's passion for advocating and educating young girls and women is continually renewed by the results she sees as these ladies become empowered and more self-sufficient.
Jennifer is a proud mother of two young men and wife of over twenty-five years.
Cathy Russo top middle
Cathy Russo’s interest and passion for serving the needs of children started after graduating from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She realized the key to future success and well being for children develops from an early age where they form their bonds with not only their parents but their community and within the education system. After retiring from teaching to raise her three children, Cathy became active in the Children’s ministry at her church where her faith keeps her further connected with local youth and community needs.
Cathy is also a volunteer in the Palm Beach County Guardian Ad Litem program where the mission is to speak for the best interests of abused and neglected children through our court system. As a volunteer, she represents children in the child welfare system to help each child obtain a safe, permanent and nurturing home.
Lisa Sorensen top left
Lisa has been active in international missions for 12-years, working in Cuba, Costa Rica, Colombia, and most recently Uganda. Her passion is living out James 1:27, looking after orphans and widows in their distress. Lisa has presided over the non-profit, Word inDeed Ministries, for the past 8-years, working specifically on community projects in remote villages in the Mukono District of Uganda. These projects include providing education to the under-resourced, clean water, and empowering young girls and women through vocational training, self-esteem building and goal-setting to pursue big dreams.
Lisa received her Bachelors Degree in Ministry from Palm Beach Atlantic University. Through partnerships with this university and the Gregory School of Pharmacy, annual trips to Uganda have been coordinated providing free medical clinics where hundreds of disenfranchised orphans and families have received medical attention where they otherwise would not have. Becoming part of Wings for Women has been a joy for Lisa as the focus on empowering young girls and women in third-world countries through education and services is the true catalyst to change.
We believe all women can define their own future and change the world.
