TRU-Biz Forum Highlights Non-Profit Industry Professionals
The next installment of the Chuck and Sherri Woods TRU-Biz Forum will take place at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 28 in Violette Hall 1000.
The upcoming forum focuses on non-profit organizations with renowned experts in the area, including; Jessica Hill (’99), chief public affairs officer for the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence; Patricia Miller, chief executive officer of the Missouri State Alliance of YMCAs; Melissa Rung-Blue (’92), retired manager of grants and system administration for the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center; Elisabeth Slaughter (’21), associate social media editor for Pew Research Center; and Dawn Van Houten (’90), chief executive officer of Duo Dogs Inc.
Hill is the chief public affairs officer for the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, a statewide nonprofit that provides services to advocates, allied professionals and survivors of domestic and sexual violence. She began her career in the Oral Roberts University Office of Public Relations, followed by a position as a resource specialist for the Community Service Council in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a volunteer program administrator for the City of Tulsa. Prior to being named to her current position, she served as executive director of the Safe House for Women. She spent more than 11 years with the organization, having also worked as the development director of the Safe House and originally served as a member of their Board of Directors.
The upcoming forum focuses on non-profit organizations with renowned experts in the area, including; Jessica Hill (’99), chief public affairs officer for the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence; Patricia Miller, chief executive officer of the Missouri State Alliance of YMCAs; Melissa Rung-Blue (’92), retired manager of grants and system administration for the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center; Elisabeth Slaughter (’21), associate social media editor for Pew Research Center; and Dawn Van Houten (’90), chief executive officer of Duo Dogs Inc.
Hill is the chief public affairs officer for the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, a statewide nonprofit that provides services to advocates, allied professionals and survivors of domestic and sexual violence. She began her career in the Oral Roberts University Office of Public Relations, followed by a position as a resource specialist for the Community Service Council in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a volunteer program administrator for the City of Tulsa. Prior to being named to her current position, she served as executive director of the Safe House for Women. She spent more than 11 years with the organization, having also worked as the development director of the Safe House and originally served as a member of their Board of Directors.
Miller is the chief executive officer of the Missouri State Alliance of YMCAs, providing leadership to 24 YMCA associations serving more than 600,000 Missourians through more than 70 branches and 800 service delivery sites. She has more than 25 years of experience in organizational leadership, strategic planning, advocacy, community development and nonprofit management. Her career includes leadership in healthcare, local government, community health and the YMCA movement, with a strong record of building partnerships, securing grant funding, strengthening organizations and developing programs that address community needs. Miller holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a bachelor’s degree in marketing management/business administration from William Woods University. Her husband and daughter both graduated from Truman.
Rung-Blue recently retired from the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri, where she served as the manager of grants and system administration. In this role, she led a team of seven grants specialists who worked closely with scientific Principal Investigators to provide day-to-day financial management of federal and private grants supporting the Center’s research. Rung-Blue began her career with The Boeing Company in St. Louis, where she spent 18 years in a variety of engineering, manufacturing and development, information technology (IT) and program management roles. She concluded her Boeing career as a manager in the Shared Services division, leading a team of IT analysts supporting the company’s travel expense system. Following Boeing, she served as Membership Manager at The Endangered Wolf Center and later as Finance Manager at The Women’s Safe House, a position she held for six years.
Slaughter is an associate social media editor at Pew Research Center, where she supports organic and paid audience outreach across digital platforms. In her role, she collaborates with researchers, designers and writers to communicate nuanced research in accessible, engaging and innovative ways. Before joining Pew Research Center, Slaughter managed social media at the Wilson Center, a global studies and foreign policy think tank in Washington D.C. She holds a master's degree in public relations from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communication and a bachelor's degree in communication from Truman.
Van Houten is the chief executive officer of Duo Dogs Inc., a nonprofit organization in St. Louis that breeds, raises, trains and places assistance and therapy dogs. Starting in corporate training and development, she facilitated communication and leadership training for two national organizations and served as major account manager for a national consulting firm. Pulling back from national travel, Van Houten also held executive leadership roles in marketing and public relations for two major St. Louis banking institutions and in 2015, became the executive director for Gateway to Hope, a St. Louis-based nonprofit supporting women battling breast cancer. She joined Duo Dogs Inc. in 2021 as president and CEO before accepting her role as chief executive officer in August of the same year.
