NWHM in Conversation: Celebrating the Maya Angelou Quarter and the American Women Quarters™️ Program
Join us Thursday, February 24 from 1-2 pm EST for a conversation about the American Women Quarters™ Program with members of the team that helped bring this coin program to life. Representatives from the United States Mint, the National Women's History Museum (NWHM), and the Smithsonian Institution will discuss the new Maya Angelou Quarter—the first coin released in this historic coin program—and the American Women's Quarters™️ Program. Attendees will get a behind-the-scenes look at various aspects of the program, from the honoree selection process to the development and selection of each coin design. Don't miss this inspiring event!
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Participants
Boneza Valdez Hanchock, Design Manager
Boneza Valdez Hanchock is a design manager with the Office of Design Management at the United States Mint. She is part of the design management team for the American Women Quarters Program.
Hanchock worked in the Defense Information Systems Agency as a logistics analyst and program manager, working in the Global Change and Configuration Management Office prior to joining the U.S. Mint. She is also a veteran who served in the United States Army and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Strayer University.
Jennifer Herrera, Vice President of External Affairs, National Women's History Museum
Jennifer Herrera is the chief communications officer for the National Women’s History Museum, where she oversees all public affairs, marketing, and media relations efforts. In this role, Herrera leads the Museum's work with external partners, the NWHM National Coalition, and other key regional and national stakeholders.
Before joining NWHM, Herrera worked to expand access and opportunity to higher education as the director of communications for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. In this role, she oversaw a broad range of strategic communications functions and directed the association’s media relations, publications, social media, and public communications work. Prior to her work in higher education, Herrera spearheaded film projects for the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, an organization dedicated to increasing the number of openly LGBTQ officials at all levels of government.
Herrera has extensive leadership, advocacy and organizing experience in causes directly affecting women’s rights and women’s health and safety. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of New Mexico and a Master of Arts in Media Arts from the University of Arizona.
Jennifer A. Schneider, Program Manager, American Women’s History Initiative, Smithsonian Institution
Jennifer Schneider is the program manager for the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative. She collaborates with the Smithsonian’s 21 museums and nine research centers to amplify women’s history in Smithsonian exhibitions, collections, public programs, and digital offerings. Schneider oversaw the creation and publication of the book Smithsonian American Women: Remarkable Objects and Stories of Strength, Ingenuity, and Vision from the National Collection (Smithsonian Books, 2019) and was a featured contributor. She launched the inaugural Because of Her Story Cohort Internship Program in 2019, and continues to shepherd strategic partnerships and scholarly symposia.
Schneider received her Master of Arts in Museum Studies from the George Washington University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music Performance (Guitar) and History from Carnegie Mellon University.
Megan Sullivan, Senior Design Specialist
Megan Sullivan is the senior design specialist in the United States Mint’s (Mint) Office of Design Management. She has held this position since August 2019. Sullivan joined the Mint as a Presidential Management Fellow in 2007 and began working as a design specialist in 2010.
Sullivan has managed over 100 coin and medal designs, including the three most recent Presidential medals, the first four years of the American Innovation $1 Coin Program, four years of the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program, and Congressional Gold Medals honoring the Office of Strategic Services, the Civil Air Patrol of WWII, and the Fallen Heroes of 9/11.
Sullivan earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame and a Juris Doctor from Saint Louis University.
Michele Thompson, Program Lead, American Women Quarters™ Program
Michele Thompson is a classically trained marketing professional with over 20 years of federal and private sector experience in strategy, product development and program management. Since joining the U.S. Mint in 2015, she has led numerous strategic marketing initiatives including the annual holiday and military campaigns, and has been instrumental in developing and implementing a new Program Management Office.
Thompson is currently the program lead for the American Women Quarters™ Program, a multi-year coin program honoring diverse accomplishments and contributions of prominent women. In this role, she leads a cross-functional team of experts through the ideation, strategic development, and overall execution of this groundbreaking initiative.
Thompson earned an M.B.A. with a focus on brand management from Cornell University, and a B.A. from George Washington University.
Greg M. Weinman, Attorney Advisor
Greg Weinman is Senior Legal Counsel at the United States Mint and counsel to the American Women Quarters™ (AWQ) program. Greg advises the Mint on a myriad of coin and medal design programs and issues and serves as counsel to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee and the Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program, a program he developed in 2003 to enable outside artists to contribute to the Mint’s design effort.
Since the enactment of the Circulating Commemorative Coin Redesign Act, which authorized the AWQ Program, Weinman has advised on the implementation of the legislation, including the honoree and design selection process. Between 1999 and 2000, Greg led the effort to develop and launch the Sacagawea Golden Dollar.
Weinman has been with the United States Mint since 1997, and previously served six years as a senior attorney with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) specializing in public contracts and licensing.
Weinman is a native of Ohio where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Cincinnati in 1988, and briefly taught high school social studies before earning his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Toledo in 1991. He is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia and the State of Ohio, and currently splits his time between Washington DC and a second home in Norfolk, Virginia.