Staff

Elly is a licensed CPA and a Society of Human Resource Management, Senior Certified Professional.  She holds an MBA from Columbia University, where she focused on strategy and operations, and a BA in Psychology from Vassar College.  Elly brings a valuable blend of knowledge and nearly three decades of experience with non-profit organizations.  She has demonstrated success growing organizations, managing turnaround, and advising startups. Elly provides strategic insight to the CARITAS leadership team by focusing on the financial picture.

Marilyn has more than 25 years of experience in education and training, program development and management, non-profit leadership and community development. She is passionate about and dedicated to adult education, social justice and equality, and uniting resources to strengthen the community.  Marilyn is very active throughout the Richmond community and is a 2019 graduate of Leadership Metro Richmond. She served as a past president of the Historic Jackson Ward Association.  She enjoys the arts, the outdoors--most notably the James River Park System--food, and spending quality time with family and friends.

Karen has been a leader at CARITAS for more than 10 years. She has helped drive the growth and vision of the agency, including founding the CARITAS Furniture Bank and turning the CARITAS Center project (opening 2020) into a reality. She leads and oversees the operations for all of CARITAS's programs and facilities. She is passionate about effective leadership, powerful partnerships, and sustainable change.
Karen graduated with a BS in Business Management and a minor in math from Hartwick College.  While her business background started at a Fortune 500 company, Karen’s entrepreneurial spirit and expertise sharpened as a co-owner of a GE distribution center in Richmond, VA. Karen is a 2014 graduate of Leadership Metro Richmond, a 2016 Stettinius Leadership Award winner and recipient of Boomer Magazines “IT” list award for 2013.  As the founder of  WINGS, a 17-year-old woman's faith group in Chesterfield County, she is thrilled to be breathing life and hope into The Healing Place for women.

Quelina “Que” Jones studied Business Management and has a wide range of volunteer experience, most of which she gained during her fifteen years at Altria. While there, Que led enterprise-wide volunteer programs and partnered with non-profit organizations in order to meet the needs of the underserved. Additionally, she was a member of the YWCA Young Women’s Leadership Alliance, where the mission was to empower women and eliminate racism. In 2014, Que received the President’s Volunteer Service Award through Points of Light. Her professional background includes human resources and regulatory affairs. When not working or volunteering, Que enjoys spending quality time with her family  She is a Richmond native and mother of two girls and has ten sisters and one brother. Family, faith, service, and community is the fabric that makes her who she is and Que is thrilled that CARITAS is now an extension of that.