Board of Directors

James Benedict

James is a Principal with Kidd & Company. He has been actively involved in helping launch businesses in Asia and the US and is an advisor to Wolf Means Business, Cerego, & She Writes. He is on the Executive Committee of Young Audiences and a member of the Prescient Medical Board of Directors. James has a Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University and a degree from the Japanese Ministry of Finance.

Anuradha K. Bhagwati

Anu is a former Marine Corps Captain and the second woman to complete the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program instructor trainer school, earning a black belt in close combat techniques. A co-founder of SWAN, her leadership has inspired a national movement to end military rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence, and to eliminate all barriers to equal opportunity for servicewomen. Anu has testified before Congress, advised the White House and the United Nations, and has spoken to countless audiences on challenges faced by military women, including the Combat Exclusion policy, the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, Military Sexual Trauma, and the VA health care and benefits system. A regular contributor to the media, Anu has been featured on Piers Morgan Tonight, the CNN Situation Room, MSNBC, NBC Nightly News, NPR, the BBC, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time and Newsweek. Anu founded and still teaches free weekly yoga and meditation classes to veterans in New York City. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English from Yale University and a Masters of Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government, where she focused on international human rights policy. Anu is a 2010 Petra Fellow.

Kalima DeSuze

Kalima served over six years in the US Army as a Battalion Paralegal in positions spanning from criminal justice to personal property claims. She holds a Bachelors in Social Work in general practice social work from Hood College, including experience providing direct services. Kalima earned a Masters in Social Work (MSW) from Hunter College School of Social Work with a concentration in community organizing and social planning, and a Masters in Public Administration from Baruch College School of Public Affairs. While earning her MSW, she was the primary organizer for the Undoing Racism Project; she continues to sit on the Undoing Racism Steering Committee. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of National Association of Social Workers-NYC. Currently Kalima is an instructor at the Columbia University School of Social Work, focusing on Community Organizing.

Tanya Domi

Tanya is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, who teaches human rights in Eurasia, East Central Europe and the Former Soviet Union. She is an Affiliate faculty member of the Harriman Institute for the Study of the Former Soviet Union. Domi served 15 years in the U.S. Army enlisting in 1974 as a Private and rose to the rank of Captain, before her honorable discharge in 1990. Prior to joining Columbia, Domi worked more than a decade in a dozen countries on democratic and economic transitional development, political and media development, human rights and gender issues. Domi became a nationally known LGBT rights activist in the early 1990s as director of military freedom initiative at the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce, where she worked to repeal the ban on lesbians and gays serving in the military. During the 1990s, Domi also served on the advisory council to the Women’s Research and Education Institute’s Women in the Military program. Domi is a widely published author on human rights, women’s issues and democratic development.

Maia Goodell

Maia Goodell is a partner at Vladeck, Waldman, Elias & Engelhard, P.C, a civil rights employment law firm. Prior to starting with the Vladeck firm, she was an associate at Foley Hoag LLP and a fellow at Equality Now, an international women’s human rights organization. She clerked for the Honorable Judge M. Margaret McKeown on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Maia holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Yale Law School, a J.D. from the University of Michigan (2001) and a Bachelor of Science from Stanford University (1993). Before attending law school, Maia was a Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy, serving in USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN and USS PORT ROYAL. Her legal writing includes articles on law and policy governing women in the military.

Jennifer Hogg

Jennifer is a co-founder of SWAN and a National Guard veteran. She served five years in the New York Army National Guard (NYARNG) as a 63Y track mechanic and left in 2005 at the rank of Sergeant. Jennifer also participated in the 9/11 activation as part of the NYARNG. She has a B.A. in Philosophy from Hunter College of The City University of New York and is currently pursuing a J.D. at the City University of New York School of Law.

Julianne H. Sohn

Jules is a Marine Corps veteran who served in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq as the 5th Civil Affairs Group Public Affairs Officer. She was discharged from the Marines as a Captain in 2008 under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Anthropology from the University of California – Los Angeles and a Masters of Science in Journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Julianne served as a Public Information Officer with the Los Angeles Police Department and currently works for the Department of Justice. She has extensive public affairs and journalism experience, and numerous professional media contacts in both the Pentagon and the major civilian news networks. A polished advocate and speaker, she has spoken to numerous audiences around the nation about the negative consequences of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Policy on both troop welfare and national security.

Marlisa Grogan

Originally from Wayne, NJ, Marlisa Grogan served in the Marine Corps from 2002-2006. As an Adjutant, she deployed with her unit in 2005 to Al Asad, Iraq, where she served as a Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Officer. She was honorably discharged from the Marines as a First Lieutenant and was promoted to Captain in 2006. After working as a union organizer with the Service Employees International Union, Marlisa transitioned to graduate studies at the Columbia University School of Social Work, where she specialized in the Advanced Clinical Practice method in the field of Health, Mental Health and Disabilities. In 2010, Marlisa earned her Master of Science in Social Work and was selected as a Presidential Management Fellow. Currently in her second year of the program, she is working in the field of housing and community development.