Staff Bios

The White House Project Staff Bios

Aileen Agricola

Aileen Agricola is the Web/IT Manager for The White House Project. Ms. Agricola has more than twenty years of software and web experience working in software and sales support, product management, and business development. Her career began in IT support for the Sixth U.S. Army at the Presidio of San Francisco and later for Oracle Corporation where she managed their corporate servers and company-wide email system, and then served as Database Engineer to international clients.  As one of the founding staff, she served as Presales/Senior Software Engineer for Patrol Software which was acquired by BMC Software. Her shift to working in the internet industry came with her first non-profit experience at The Odyssey: World Trek for Service and Education.  There she served as Program Director managing one of the first websites in 1999 that integrated bi-weekly, educational content with rich media features such as digital video and live discussion.  Later, she served as the Database and Web Manager for IslandWood - an innovative learning center which inspires lifelong environmental and community stewardship, founded by Paul Brainerd who pioneered desktop publishing. Aileen earned an A.B. in Physical Sciences with an emphasis on Physics from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Tiffany Dufu

Tiffany Dufu is the Vice President of Development and Administration, responsible for financial management, human resources, and organizational strategy at The White House Project.  Before The White House Project, Tiffany served as a Major Gifts Officer for Simmons College in Boston where she was responsible for raising all major individual gifts from Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.  She was also a fundraiser for the successful campaign to elect Deval Patrick governor, serving on the Young Professionals Committee. She is originally from Seattle, where she served as Associate Director of Development for a start-up girls' school funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  Tiffany’s fundraising leadership has resulted in over $15 million directed toward organizations that address her life’s work of advancing women and girls.  She is a frequent speaker on nonprofit fundraising and women’s leadership and has been featured in The Seattle Times, The Boston Globe, The New York Times and NPR. Tiffany serves on the board of Harlem 4 Kids and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta, Sorority, Inc.  She holds a B.A. and M.A. in English and a Certificate in Fundraising Management from the University of Washington. 

Shannon Garrett

Shannon Garrett is The White House Project Great Lakes Regional Director. A native of Holland, MI, Shannon recently returned home after spending more than a decade building her political, legislative and legal skills in Washington, DC and Minneapolis, MN. She is committed to amplifying the political voice of underrepresented constituencies, and has a particular passion for advancing women's leadership and civic engagement. To pursue these goals, Shannon has worked in a variety of government and nonprofit settings, including the Office of Congressman Sander Levin, the Institute for Women's Policy Research, Alliance for Justice and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. In her work with The White House Project, Shannon will invite and equip Michigan women of all political parties to run for office at all levels of government. Shannon graduated from Alma College in 1994, earned a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2004, and is currently a member of the State Bar of Michigan.

Catherine Gray

Catherine Gray was eight years old, giving a rambling account of her day, when her mother lovingly suggested she “sum it all up in three good sentences”. Catherine marks that moment as the beginning of her education as a communications trainer and public speaking coach. Today, working with groups and individuals, Gray blends her experience as an entrepreneur, a filmmaker and a corporate trainer to offer trainings that are crafted to inspire self-confidence and authenticity in speaking. Based in Minnesota as the Associate Director of the Midwest Region, she travels nationwide to train and develop women in the leadership pipeline. Catherine attended Scripps College and earned a Bachelor in Fine Arts from Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Liz Johnson

As The White House Project’s Midwest Regional Director, Liz Johnson manages the Vote, Run, Lead program in the region. She is a seasoned organizer and is dedicated to building advancing women leaders in community and politics. Since graduating from Grinnell College with a degree in Political Science, she has served as a Program Officer for the Women's Foundation of Minnesota, Legislative Consultant to the Minnesota Welfare Rights Coalition, Director of Low Income People Organizing for Power in Duluth and Community Organizer for both the Duluth and St. Paul Tenants Unions. Johnson is the recipient of the Minnesota Housing Partnership Right to Housing Award and The Minnesota Women's Press 2006 Changemaker Award for her work to advance women leaders in Minnesota.

Travis Leiker

Travis Leiker is Regional Development Director for The White House Project’s Mountain Region.  In this role, he is responsible for all development efforts in Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico.  Prior to joining The White House Project, Travis served as Project Manager at the Arapahoe County Early Childhood Council (ACECC), working to promote innovative policies and procedures within the early childhood education system.  Travis was also manager of operations and outreach for the Center for Policy Entrepreneurship (CPE), a Denver-based, public policy research and advocacy organization dedicated to identifying and creating effective solutions to critical public policy challenges.  In addition, Travis has extensive experience working in politics, having worked as public outreach coordinator for entrepreneur, philanthropist and (current) United States Congressman Jared Polis. Travis is a Kansas native and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He enjoys volunteering for political campaigns and other engagement organizations.

Nevada Littlewolf

Nevada Littlewolf is The White House Project's Rural Leadership Field Organizer. Nevada joined WHP after attending a Debate Boot Camp in 2007. She continued her involvement by helping plan and implement the truly historic rural training that adapted the Go Run political leadership training model to the needs of a rural community. Nevada is a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and was the first Native American and only woman currently elected to the Virginia, MN City Council. Nevada's life experience provides insightful knowledge of rural communities along with a unique cultural perspective that bolsters the work of the Minnesota team. She is an artist and mother of two.

Erin Vilardi

Erin Vilardi is the Vice President of Program and Communiciations at The White House Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that aims to advance women’s leadership in all communities and sectors—up to the U.S. presidency. In her role as program director, Vilardi oversees the award-winning Vote, Run, Lead training program which provides women across the US with the skills and confidence to run for office. Vilardi help launch this political leadership training at WHP in 2004, and has since trained over 6,000 women to lead a political life.  

Last year, in partnership with O, The Oprah Magazine, Vilardi led WHPs first cross-sector training program, Women Rule! – which worked to develop the leadership of 80 contest winners from across the country with innovative ideas for change.

In 2007, she was the managing director for WHP on the groundbreaking International Women Leaders Global Security Summit, convening 75 of the highest-ranking women leaders from around the globe on the issues of international security. A frequent speaker on college campuses and at conferences, she has also appeared on CNN, the BBC, and was featured on "Spotlight 25," a Lifetime Television special on young women and the quarter-life crisis.

Vilardi was a part of Global Youth Connect's first delegation to Bosnia to study human rights and post-conflict resolution in 2005. She is a member of the Younger Women's Task Force and has been recognized as an emerging progressive leader.

A resident of New York City, Vilardi graduated from New York University with a BA in Politics and Gender Studies.