Linda Ross Aldy, Chair

An author, former newspaper reporter and editor and television host as well as a former award-winning manager of a Fortune 500 company, Aldy has been named as one of Mississippi’s “50 Leading Businesswomen”. She is a former state agency director, having served as Executive Director of one of the largest state agencies at that time, and has worked for three Mississippi Governors. Aldy’s consulting work includes leadership development, strategic planning, succession planning, staff recruitment, team building, advocacy training and more for clients in the public, private, and non-profit worlds.

Nora Miller, University President

Nora Roberts Miller is the 15th President of Mississippi University for Women (The W).  Miller is a Certified Public Accountant and holds bachelor’s degrees in business administration and accounting from The W and an MBA from Mississippi State University. She is in her 5th year as President and was the Chief Financial Officer for The W from 2001 – 2018.

See the rest of President Miller’s bio here

Karen Clay, University Counsel

Karen Clay has been employed at MUW since 2014 as the university’s General Counsel and additionally serves as the university’s legislative liaison to the Mississippi State Legislature.  She earned her B.A. degree in Psychology from The W, M.S. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Tennessee, and a J.D. from Mississippi College School of Law, where she was on the Law Review and Moot Court Board.  A graduate of the Golden Triangle Leadership class, Karen is a past board president of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and St. Paul’s Episcopal School.  She currently serves on the steering committee for 100+ Women Who Care and the Community Advisory Council for Cadence Bank.   

Emily Myers Garner

Emily Garner is a communications professional with over 25 years of career experience. She is the Director of Branding and Marketing at Jackson Preparatory School, a premier independent school in Mississippi serving grades PreK-3 through 12. Emily’s career has included stints as the Communications Director for the First Lady of Mississippi, the Director of Marketing and Communications for River Oaks Health System, Director of Public Affairs for the American Red Cross of Central Mississippi, and as the co-owner of McLaughlin Garner Group, a boutique corporate event planning firm. 

Ricki Garrett

Ricki Garrett is CEO of Ricki R. Garrett, LLC, an association management firm and currently serves as Executive Director of the Mississippi Speech-Language-Hearing Association. She has served as Alderwoman-at-Large and Mayor Pro Tempore of Clinton, Mississippi since 2017. She is the State Representative of Mississippi for Sister Cities International and represents the State Representatives on the SCI Board of Directors and serves as the SCI National State Representative Liaison. Ricki also founded the first nurse practitioner association in Mississippi, serving as its first executive director. Prior to her tenure at MNA, Ricki spent twelve years on the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, governing Mississippi’s eight publicly supported universities

Sally Burchfield Doty

Sally Doty is currently Director of BEAM – Broadband Expansion & Accessibility of Mississippi – a new state agency tasked with administering grant funding to build out high-speed internet to every residential location in Mississippi by 2018. Former Director of the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff appointed by Governor Tate Reeves. Doty was elected 3 times to the Mississippi Senate representing Southwest Mississippi, where she served as Chair of Judiciary A and on numerous other committees. Sally also has a private law practice concentrating on general civil litigation.

Laura Tubb Prestwich

Laura is a brand strategist and creative consultant with over a decade of experience in crafting authentic, dynamic brands & marketing campaigns. Prior to becoming a consultant, she was the Chief Operating Officer of Fuze Branding, a boutique branding agency serving clients all over the globe, for almost 6 years. At Fuze, Laura developed creative business/product naming and content strategy services, working with businesses in industries ranging from health & wellness, finance, law, food & bev, e-commerce, and more. Laura’s background also includes work as a journalist, internal communications specialist, and multi-disciplinary graphic designer.

Kym Golden Gore

Kym graduated with a B.A. in English cum laude with Special Honors. She graduated in the top 5% of her class from Mississippi College School of Law in 2001. In her 22 years of practice, Kym has worked primarily in the public sector and has practiced in Mississippi, Florida, and Oklahoma. She spent ten years clerking for multiple federal magistrate judges and a state appellate judge. She has also served as General Counsel for MDCPS, directed Tampa’s appellate child welfare practice within Florida’s Office of the Attorney General, and worked in private practice at large regional firms. In October 2022, Kym began practicing in the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Jackson. There, she handles appeals and pre-trial motion practice in a variety of cases in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Southern District of Mississippi.

B.R. Hawkins

Betty Ruth “BR” Hawkins works for the Southern Mississippi Planning Development as a re-entry project administrator. She served as director of the Mississippi Statewide Incarcerated Veterans Program from May 2016 until August 2023. She was MUW legislative liaison in mid-80s and has remained active in supporting the W in both legislative and political efforts.  

Kristi Hipp Mosley

Kristi has an extensive history in professional sales-starting her career in advertising sales and has been awarded Marketer of the Year and Salesperson of the Year for multiple years. She transitioned to pharmaceutical/medical sales for the past 17 years and has been a 4-time president’s club winner, field sales trainer, regional sales leader, regional director and was named Sales Person of the Year in 2017 at Shire Pharmaceuticals. She is currently employed by Viatris Eye Care as a Senior Territory Manager. Kristi and her husband, Brett, are also owners of KM Holdings, LLC where they buy, sell and develop land and real estate throughout the southeast. Kristi is a realtor with Frontgate Realty and is a proud member of Central Mississippi Realtors, Mississippi Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors.