Our Leadership
GirlsUP is guided by a passionate group of leaders, educators, and advocates committed to empowering the next generation of girls.
Kelly Murray, Ph.D. · Founder
Kelly was a clinical psychologist, published author, professor, and mother of six daughters. She taught in the Department of Pastoral Studies at Loyola College while maintaining a private psychology practice in Bethesda, Maryland. Before joining Loyola, Kelly served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy, where she worked as an instructor and psychologist.
Raised in Hawaii, Kenya, and Northern California, Kelly brought a broad perspective to her work with women and girls. In 2008, she founded GirlsUP, creating a lasting legacy inspired by her commitment to empowering girls and supporting their development.
Executive Director
Debra Soltis · Executive Director & Founder
Debra is a founding partner of the law firm of Kiyonaga & Soltis, PC, where she specializes in representing women facing gender discrimination and their families in school-related lawsuits arising from sexual assault and bullying/suicide. For over twenty years, Debra was on the adjunct faculty of Georgetown Law School, teaching a course of her own design on critical film theory.
Debra began her legal career as an attorney at Williams & Connolly, LLP after graduating from Georgetown Law. Debra is a sought out commentator on issues related to civil rights, criminal justice, and the societal challenges faces by adolescent girls, appearing on CBS Evening News and ESPN. She also serves as an Advisor to the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Officers
John (Sean) Murray · President
John (Sean) Murray serves as President of GirlsUP, carrying forward the vision he shared with his wife and GirlsUP founder, Kelly Murray, to empower girls with strength, character, and spirit. As a father to their five daughters, Sean remains deeply committed to the mission and values at the heart of GirlsUP.
Sean is an attorney at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, DC, where his practice focuses on complex litigation and the representation of multinational corporations. Previously, he practiced at King & Spalding LLP, counseling health care companies and hospitals and representing them in judicial and administrative proceedings. Before entering private practice, Sean served for 10 years as a Naval Officer, including as Administrator of the White House Medical Unit and Protocol Officer at Bethesda Naval Hospital.
Stacy Murchison · Finance Director
Stacy Murchison is the Chief Marketing Officer and Managing Director at Chevy Chase Trust, an independent and locally-based wealth management firm for individuals and families. Prior to joining Chevy Chase Trust, she had her own firm for 16 years specializing in investments, insurance and retirement planning for attorneys.
She is a strong advocate of women in business, co-founding two groups for women executives to mentor, and share stories and business development. Stacy is a mother of four children including twin daughters who have attended GirlsUP twice.
Board of Directors
Mary Kate Cary · Board Member
Mary Kate is a professional speechwriter specializing in political and corporate communications. Based in Washington, DC, she writes for national political and business leaders, with assignments including State of the Union responses, Republican National Convention addresses, and domestic and international speeches. She is also a contributing editor at U.S. News & World Report, where she writes on politics, and is a regular guest on National Public Radio. Her television appearances include “Fox News Sunday” and “Good Morning America.” She has also taught speechwriting at Georgetown University and Texas A&M University.
Mary Kate is immediate past president of the Child Health Board at Children’s National Medical Center and has served on the Children’s Hospital Board. She is a member of the Washington Area Women’s Foundation and the executive committee of the Parents’ Association at National Cathedral School, and is an incoming board member of the Capitol Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of Virginia and lives with her husband, Rob, and daughters, Annie and Gracie, in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Rev. C. Kevin Gillespie, S.J., Ph.D. · Board Member
Rev. C. Kevin Gillespie, S.J., Ph.D., is a priest, professor, pastoral counselor, and spiritual sojourner. As a member of the Society of Jesus, he has undertaken apostolic visits to some 20 nations, experiences that have shaped his work in pastoral care and international studies. He has served as Associate Chair of International Studies and Director of Loyola’s M.A. in Spiritual and Pastoral Care. His research and writing focus on the intersection of psychology and spirituality, often through a historical lens. His book, Psychology and American Catholicism: From Confession to Therapy?, reflects this approach, as do his pastoral workshops on the life of Fr. Henri Nouwen.
His more recent psycho-spiritual research has addressed sexual abuse, trauma, and the spiritual life, including a co-authored article on Mother Teresa’s “dark night of the soul” published in Spiritus in 2010. A professor of pastoral counseling at Loyola University Maryland since 1996, he will assume the position of Associate Provost at Loyola University Chicago on July 1, 2010.
Catherine Ronan Karrels (Emeritus) · Board Member
Catherine Ronan Karrels (Emeritus) is Head of School at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, one of the DC area’s premier all-girls schools. A Potomac, Maryland, native and Stone Ridge alumna, she earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Boston College. After graduation, she joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, teaching underserved students in San Diego before moving to San Francisco, where she taught sixth grade and earned a master’s degree in education from San Francisco State University. She later spent six years at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory as an English and religious studies teacher, director of student activities, and assistant principal for student life.
From 2001 to 2008, Catherine served as founding CEO and president/principal of De Marillac Academy, a Nativity/Miguel model school serving students in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. The school provides a year-round fourth- through eighth-grade program and supports graduates through high school and college. A longtime advocate for girls’ empowerment, Catherine attended Stone Ridge for 12 years and, as a girl, co-founded the “Girl Power Dynamite Club” with neighborhood friends. She and her husband, Jim, have one son, Matthew.
Caroline Silby, Ph.D. · Board Member
Caroline Silby, Ph.D., holds master’s and doctoral degrees in sports psychology from the University of Virginia and is a nationally recognized expert in the development of elite athletes. She is the author of Games Girls Play: Understanding and Guiding Young Female Athletes and a contributing author to Sports Secrets and Spirit Stuff and The Female Athlete. She also authored the forthcoming Smart Girls Guide. Dr. Silby spent 12 years as adjunct faculty at American University and continues to consult with its sports teams.
Dr. Silby has worked individually with Olympic and Paralympic gold medalists, Olympians, world and national champions, professional dancers, National Team members, Division I student-athletes, teams, and coaches. An elite athlete herself, she was a member of the National Figure Skating Team and currently serves as a consultant to Team USA for the U.S. Figure Skating Association. She formerly served as President of the Board of the Southwest Women’s Law Center.
Tamara Weber · Board Member
Tamara Weber has been a physical therapist for 16 years and currently manages the clinic where she practices in Central Oregon. She earned her undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Washington and her master’s degree in physical therapy from California State University, Fresno. She is also active in her community, organizing and participating in charity events and fundraisers.
Tamara has two daughters, in whom she hopes to instill the values she and her sister, Kelly Murray, were raised with. She is deeply proud of Kelly’s vision in creating the GirlsUP program and of her six nieces, whose lives continue to inspire Kelly’s legacy.
Founding Community
