Board of Directors

Drawing on more than 30 years of experience as a labor and employment law attorney, she recently retired as Chair and CEO of the New Jersey Civil Service Commission. Prior to her retirement, she worked at various departments within the State of New Jersey government, including the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Department of Community Affairs, and the Department of Personnel, which is now the Civil Service Commission.

Deirdre has been honored with numerous awards, including a Woman of Excellence Award from Exhale Women’s Fellowship, Inc., the Community Service Award from the Ebony Suburbanites, the Hon. Renee Jones Weeks Past Presidents Award from the Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey, Inc., and the Professional Lawyer from the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law and the Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey. Deirdre is a Distinguished Legislative Service Awardee of the New Jersey State Bar Association for her work on racial profiling. She also received the Gold Star Award from the National Network of Black Women, Camden Chapter for her contributions to the legal profession and community at large.

Deirdre spends much of her free time volunteering for programsand organizations that uplift women and girls. In addition to Women of the Dream, she currently is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Alice Paul Institute, Secretary of Exhale Women’s Fellowship Board of Directors, and a member of Legacy Treatment Services Board of Directors.

Deirdre earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Economics at Chatham College in Pittsburgh, PA, and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. In addition, she is admitted to the bars of the Supreme Court of New Jersey and District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and holds an Equal Employment Opportunity Certification from Rutgers University. Deirdre is a Certified Public Manager for the State of New Jersey.

Tracy-Ann is really excited to be a part of Women of the Dream. She received her Bachelors in Accounting from the University of Mississippi and a MBA from West Chester University. She currently serves as the Accounting Manager for a Legal Services Firm.

Tracy-Ann is a native of Jamaica who has settled into New Jersey with her husband, 2 children and their cat. She enjoys traveling and experiencing different cultures, especially through food.

Michael is an experienced professional with a successful career in application development, data migration, system testing, Quality Assurance and Project Management. He has led development, test and implementation of several systems migration and integration projects in the Telecommunications, Health Insurance, Energy & Utilities, Social Services Program Management (IBM Curam Platform), Mortgage and Financial Services sectors. In addition to certification in project management, he is an IBM Certified Curam SPM v7 Business Analyst. Michael serves on the board of the Omega Community Development, Inc. and Omegas for Education and Community Service, Inc. both of which are dedicated to serving underserved youth including the provision of scholarships to motivated but financially challenged youth. Michael holds a Certificate in Project Management from Rowan College at Burlington College, and a B.S. in Health Planning and Administration from Penn State University.

Mary Lynne Reynolds served as the Executive Director of Mental Health Association of Prince Georges Co. (MD) and the Mental Health Association in Southwestern NJ. Under her vision and leadership each of these agencies developed and implemented a multitude of programs and services that provided assistance and support to enable youth and adults with mental illnesses to live and participate in their communities. Throughout her career, Mary Lynne has served on state and county inter-agency councils representing the leadership from the behavioral health, health, business and public sectors. She has been an outspoken advocate for public policy and strategies that address the need for a continuum of quality mental health services, as well as social justice for people who live with mental illnesses.

Mary Lynne is a member and officer of the Rotary Club of Camden. She represents the Camden Rotary in its ongoing partnership with the Camden City School District to host the annual Back on Track Awards Luncheon, honoring 30 remarkably resilient high school students. Mary Lynne is a Charter Member of Impact 100 South Jersey, a women’s collective philanthropy. Mary Lynne Reynolds holds a BA in Psychology from Simmons University and a MA in Public Administration from the American University.

Shahera Washington is a highly accomplished Registered Nurse with a Master’s in Nursing Leadership and a Post-Master’s Certificate in Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP). With over a decade of experience in healthcare and education, Shahera has served as an Adjunct Faculty Nursing Instructor at Temple University and an LPN program instructor, mentoring aspiring nurses and fostering their professional growth.

Her expertise spans critical care, infection control, case management, and culturally competent care delivery. Shahera is deeply passionate about mentoring underrepresented students, promoting diversity in STEM and healthcare, and addressing health disparities in diverse populations. She is excited to inspire the next generation of leaders by sharing her journey as a nurse and educator.

Randy Belin is a seasoned Program and Project Management Professional with more than 28 years of experience advancing mission-driven initiatives across the public sector, higher education, and community development. His expertise includes strategic planning, financial oversight, workflow optimization, and stakeholder engagement.

Randy currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at Mercer County Community College, teaching business management and communications while integrating modern instructional tools and real-world applications. His public-sector leadership spans roles with the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs and the New Jersey Civil Service Commission, where he supported disaster recovery operations, legislative analysis, ethics compliance, and executive-level communications.

Earlier in his career, Randy directed a $65 million investment portfolio at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, supporting affordable housing, commercial development, and community revitalization efforts across Pennsylvania.

He holds an MBA from Eastern University and a BA in Economics from Rutgers University. Randy brings to the board a strong commitment to community impact, operational excellence, and collaborative leadership.

She especially focused on programs that motivated students to succeed, such as Women of the Dream. She was also honored with the Wells Fargo Superwoman Award. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Project Redirect in Newark, was inducted into the Trenton Public Schools Wall of Fame, and received citations from the City of Trenton, the NJ Senate, and the NJ Assembly for her service to public education.

In 2021, she retired from NJEA and returned to her first passion—the classroom—teaching English language learners in the School District of Philadelphia. She holds a B.A. in Journalism: Public Relations from Temple University and a Master of Arts in Teaching from The College of New Jersey. She completed doctoral coursework in Educational Psychology at Temple University.

She lives in South Philadelphia with her husband and son and enjoys spending time with her two beautiful grandchildren.

Justice Dashiell has over forty-five years of experience in the practice of law in both the public and private sectors. Prior to her appointment to the Bench, Justice Dashiell served as the Director of Planning and Policy Development for the Administrative Office of the Trial Court of Massachusetts. She was responsible for the development of new plans and initiatives to improve the management and operations of the seven Trial Court Departments and for gathering and analyzing data to support existing initiatives. Justice Dashiell also served as the General Counsel to the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She managed the staff of the Office of the First Assistant within the Executive Bureau, which was responsible for advising and representing the Attorney General and all other office staff on a variety of legal and policy matters.

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Justice Dashiell is a graduate of Simmons University and Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts and Illinois. Justice Dashiell is a Fellow of the American Bar Association, a member of the National Association of Women Judges, the Massachusetts Black Women Attorneys Association, the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, and the Massachusetts Bar Association. She served as a Board Member of the Massachusetts Judges Conference and is a member of the Justice Harry J. Elam Judicial Conference. Justice Dashiell served on numerous committees within these organizations and continues to serve on boards and commissions of local and national business entities. She is currently an Access to Justice Fellow working in the Civil Appeals Clinic of the Volunteer Lawyers Project.