Beyond the Glass Ceiling Panelists

Marissa Gioffre

Marissa Gioffre is a community organizer, educator, and activist. Currently, she works as an independent contractor and consultant for museum education departments and political campaigns in the Washington, D.C. area. Recently, she also began writing her first book, which will feature local educator’s stories to highlight the opportunities and obstacles of teaching.

Previously, Marissa worked as Director of Projects & Programming for America250PA, Regional Organizing Director with NextGen America, PA Statewide Organizer for Everytown for Gun Safety, Organizer for Pete Buttigieg's 2020 presidential campaign, and a middle school social studies teacher.

Marissa earned her M.Ed in secondary citizenship education at St. Joseph's University, as well as a BA in Global Studies and History at Saint Elizabeth's University. Especially inspired by her time at St. Elizabeth’s and in the classroom, Marissa hopes to continue “serving where the need is greatest” and in roles that enable her to lift up youth voices.

Jenna Laham

Jenna Laham is a Process Improvement Engineer who has been working at Mars for six years. After graduating from McGill University with a degree in Chemical Engineering, she worked in various engineering roles at the M&M's factory in Hackettstown, NJ which made her very popular among her friends. Now she supports five factories making pet food for the Royal Canin brand which makes her very popular among her three cats. Her expertise is in waste reduction and continuous improvement. In her free time, she enjoys reading and kickboxing.

Lisa Mastrangelo, Ph.D.

Dr. Lisa Mastrangelo is an Associate Professor and Director of Composition at Centenary University in Hackettstown.  Before working at Centenary, she taught for 15 years at St. Elizabeth's University.  Throughout her career, she has maintained an interest in women's education and women's studies.  This is reflected in many of her publications, which focus on the teaching of writing at nineteenth-century women's colleges, women's rhetorical activities in World War I and women's uses of rhetoric in community cookbooks.  She is an active member of the Council of Writing Program Administrators and a past President of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition.

Laura Yanoso Scholl

Laura Yanoso Scholl graduated from the University of Rochester in 2005 with her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering with a concentration in Biomechanics. She continued her education at the University of Rochester and received her Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering in 2008 after completing her thesis on Evaluation of Polylactic Acid/β-Tricalcium Phosphate Scaffolds as Bone Graft Substitutes which recognized as top M.S. student paper at American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ 2008 Bioengineering conference.  

From there, Laura started her 13-year career with Stryker in where she joined the device evaluation labs in their Joint Replacement division. In this role, she learned about the breadth of Stryker’s products and developed testing models that were used to test products for FDA submissions. In 2016, Laura transitioned to the clinical research team, where she used her knowledge to set the strategic planning of clinical and bench focused research to support robotic product launches.  

Laura’s passion around the engagement, development, and inclusion of women within technical fields, has led to her work supporting Stryker’s employee resource groups. She has served as a steering committee member for Stryker’s Women’s Network, has worked closely with HR to develop a DE&I training roadmap, and has hosted Think Twice trainings within Stryker to promote an understanding of unconscious bias. She was recently recognized with a Women in Science and Engineering Impact award for her work in creating momentum for women to apply for Intellectual Property across Stryker’s organization.  

Laura is a long-time resident of New Jersey where she lives with her husband, Luke, and two active boys, Charles and Jack.

Patricia C. Pongracz, Ph.D.

Patricia C. Pongracz, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of Macculloch Hall Historical Museum in Morristown, New Jersey. In June 2019, she completed the Getty Leadership Institute for museum leaders. Until August 2015, she was an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Under the auspices of The American Wing, she researched Tiffany Studios’ interiors designed for American synagogues from 1890 through 1930.

For fourteen years, Ms. Pongracz was affiliated with the Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA) in New York City, where she was the museum’s Acting Director and Director of Curatorial affairs until June 2013. At MOBIA, Ms. Pongracz led a non-profit institution that explored art of all periods that is informed by the Bible and its cultural legacy through exhibitions, education and scholarship.

Ms. Pongracz co-curated a number of exhibitions at MOBIA and co-authored and co-edited numerous publications, including "Louis C. Tiffany and the Art of Devotion", "Perspectives on Medieval Art: Learning through Looking" and "Biblical Art and the Asian Imagination".

A regular lecturer, Ms. Pongracz has spoken at The New School for Design, New York, NY; The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, Winter Park, FL; the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture; The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; Princeton University, Princeton, NJ among many others.

Ms. Pongracz received her M.A. and Ph.D. in the History of Art and Architecture from Brown University, Providence, RI, and was a recipient of multiple grants and awards, including those from The Corning Museum of Glass and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.