- Margaret Pope (Chair)
- Devon Hanahan (Vice-Chair)
- Michelle Thaxton Hardy (Secretary)
- Tiffany Spann-Wilder
- Dr. Toney C. Parks
- Lilly Filler
- Lenna Fox Neill
Practicing in the field of public finance for over 25 years, Margaret Pope (Commission Vice-Chair/ Treasurer) is recognized as one of the leading bond attorneys and problem solvers for financing-related issues at the State level. Working closely with the State Budget and Control Board, the South Carolina General Assembly and numerous State agencies, Ms. Pope is often called upon in her role as bond counsel to develop financing structures and draft legislation which meets applicable state and federal regulations.
Ms. Pope drafted the legislation that authorized the issuance of $750,000,000 in general obligation bonds by the State to directly fund a statewide public school building and renovation project. At the request of the State Budget and Control Board and the State Treasurer, she found a way for the State of South Carolina to currently access the payments it was entitled to receive from the tobacco settlements. The resulting bond issue, which was securitized by the payment stream, culminated in the State receiving over $900,000,000. In 2001, Ms. Pope was asked by the South Carolina Department of Commerce to help develop a program that would allow the State of South Carolina to contribute moneys directly to significant economic development initiatives. As reported in The Bond Buyer, the Firm ranked first among bond counsel in South Carolina for 2001 and 2002, based on the total principal amount of bonds issued.
Ms. Pope has been a member of the South Carolina Bar since 1975. She is admitted before the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and to the US Supreme Court. In addition to her membership in many legal associations, Ms. Pope has served on the boards of Newberry College, the Greenwood Genetic Center, and the Newberry Opera House Foundation. She is a current and founding board member of both the Drummond Center and Midlands Technical College.
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Vice-Chair
Devon Wray Hanahan (Commission Secretary) was born in Washington, DC, the youngest of Robert and Rosanne Wray’s seven children. As an Air Force child, she lived in DC, Alabama, and Delaware before moving to South Carolina in 1972. After graduating from the College of Charleston in 1987 magna cum laude, she taught Spanish in S.C. public schools for 6 years and then received her MA in Spanish from USC in 1995. While studying there, she taught full time in the Spanish Department and in the MIBS program.
Since 1995, Devon has had two children: Will, born in 1996, and Thomas, born in 1997. She stayed home for several years with them, teaching one or two classes a semester at the College of Charleston. During that time, she was the chairman of the board of the Little School at Grace Church and was still active in the Junior League of Charleston and Grace Church of Charleston. She returned to full-time teaching at the College of Charleston in 2002 and remains an active volunteer at church and at her children’s school. She is on the board of Bishop England High School and coaches baseball every spring.
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Secretary
Michelle Thaxton Hardy is the Director of Foundation and Corporate Relations at Newberry College. A member of the South Carolina Bar, Mrs. Hardy practiced law with Tompkins and McMaster in Columbia, directed the SC Landowners Association, and served as Legislative Aide in Washington, DC, to United States Congressman Henry Brown. As for community involvement, she is a member of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral and the Junior League of Columbia. Mrs. Hardy formerly served on the board of the Columbia Museum of Art Young Contemporaries, the City of Newberry Architectural Review Board, and the Newberry Opera House Guild. Her political involvement includes serving as a past Third Vice Chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party and as team leader for the youth programs at the 1996 and 2000 Republican National Conventions. Mrs. Hardy is married to Mason Hardy of Columbia and is mother to two daughters.
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Tiffany R. Spann-Wilder, is the proprietor of the Spann-Wilder Law Firm, LLC and a native of Charleston, South Carolina. She is a 1995 graduate of Winthrop University’s Honors Program with a B.A. in Psychology, cum laude. In 1998 she received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law. While in law school she was actively involved as an elected Representative to the Student Bar Association for three years, a Regional Representative for the Black Law Students Association (BLSA), a member of The Journal of Law and Education, a student member of the John Belton O’NealInnof Court, and President of the Pro Bono Board. Ms. Spann-Wilder also received the G.G.Dowling Student Award presented by the law school’s faculty for being a student in the graduating class who possessed scholarship, integrity, commitment and concern for the general welfare of colleagues.
After completing law school, Ms. Spann-Wilder served as a law clerk to The Honorable Matthew J. Perry, Jr., Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of South Carolina. She then worked as an Honors Staff Attorney in the United States Justice Department, Federal Bureau of Prisons Division. In August 2000, Tiffany returned to the lowcountry and entered private practice with The Steinberg Law Firm, LLP, and in July 2003 she opened the doors of her own practice. She practices in the areas of personal injury and workers’ compensation and is admitted to practice law in the state and federal courts of South Carolina.
In addition to her practice at the law firm, Ms. Spann-Wilder has served as a Captain in the United States Army Reserves in the Judge Advocate General’s Corp. (JAG) and as an Associate Municipal Court Judge for the City of North Charleston from October 2001 until October 2005.
Ms. Spann-Wilder is active in the Young Lawyers Division of the SC Bar, Association of South Carolina Claimant Attorneys for Workers’ Compensation, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and The Junior League of Charleston. She is also a member of the S.C. Black Lawyers, S.C. Trial Lawyers, S.C. Women’s Lawyers and she has served as a member of the Board of Directors for Art Forms & Theatre Concepts.
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Dr. Toney C. Parks is a native of Birmingham, Alabama. He is a 1980 Criminal Justice graduate of the University of South Carolina. He received a Masters Divinity degree from Erskine College and Theological Seminary, and earned a Doctorate degree in counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary.
Dr. Parks is an Assistant Professor of Biblical Counseling at Erskine Theological Seminary. Dr. Parks is very active in the community. He serves as Chaplain of the Greenville City Police Department, and he is the President and Co-founder of Family Outreach Community Services in Greenville South Carolina. He has served as Co-Host of the 107.3 Vital Link morning radio show dealing with community issues relating to the family. Dr. Parks most recently served as consultant to Senator Ralph Anderson’s “Organized Gang Task Force. This initiative was responsible for coordinating Law Enforcement, community leaders and parents to help prevent crime among youth in Greenville County.
Dr. Parks is a training facilitator throughout the state and nation in the subject of marriage from a Christian perspective. He is a facilitator for the South Carolina Fatherhood Coalition. Most recently Dr Parks spoke before the South Carolina Senate in defense of the Marriage Protection Amendment, which passed overwhelmingly. In additional to his facilitation of workshops and seminars, Dr Parks is a State and National instructor on the subject of Church Leadership, administration and policy for the South Carolina Education and Missionary Convention; and the National Baptists Convention of America, USA.
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Lilly S. Filler, MD is an obstetrician/gynecologist in Columbia and founder of Women Physicians Associates, Ob/Gyn. This all female practice was started in 1992 by Dr. Filler with the mission of having women serving women and their needs. The practice now has 5 physicians and 1 nurse midwife. Prior to becoming a physician, Dr. Filler was a physical therapist and established the Columbia Rehabilitation Clinics with her husband Bruce, also a physical therapist. Dr. Filler has three grown children, Rachael Raynes, an attorney, who lives with her husband, Derek, in Burlington, Vermont; Alex, a landscaper living in Charleston, SC; and Michael, a civil engineer living in NYC.
Dr. Filler has been very active in many community activities including serving on the Boards of the SC Campaign to prevent teen pregnancy, Planned Parenthood, Beth Shalom Synagogue, Memorial Park Commission, Health Advisory Board for Richland School District 2, as well as professional medical boards at Palmetto Richland Hospital and Palmetto Health Alliance Board. Dr. Filler was the first female Chief of Staff at Palmetto Health Richland and served as the second female president of the Columbia Medical Society. She has been awarded the honor of "Woman of Distinction" by the Congaree Area Girl Scouts of America.
Serving on the SC Commission on Women has been an honor and a privilege over the past 4years and she is eagerly looking forward to the next 4 years on the Commission.
Lenna Neill has served as CEO of Piedmont Women’s Center in Greenville, South Carolina, since 1992. A respected community leader, Ms. Neill regularly speaks at educational institutions, churches, and civic organizations on numerous topics including teen pregnancy, abstinence, and healthy lifestyle choices. She has also served as keynote speaker for pregnancy care center banquets in SC, MA & CA. She is a graduate of Leadership Greenville Class XXVIII and Leadership South Carolina 2003.
Under Ms. Neill’s leadership, Piedmont Women’s Center has expanded to five locations in Greenville County serving over 3,000 Upstate women and families each year. A 6th location houses the administrative staff. Under her direction, the centers provide crisis pregnancy counseling, referrals for material supplies for mothers and children, Abortion Recovery Assistance, a 24-hour Hopeline, and a referral system that collaborates with other local and state supported agencies. In 2001, an ultrasound program was added to the ministry of Piedmont Women’s Center to provide free limited OB sonograms to clients who are undecided whether to continue their pregnancy.
She directs all administrative functions of the center including human resources, budgeting and cost control, marketing, and public relations. She has written articles for news publications, has appeared on local television and radio talk shows, and has organized and led South Carolina pregnancy care center conferences. Ms. Neill was a keynote speaker along with Miss Alabama for a “Saved for Marriage” conference with 350 young women and their mothers.
Ms. Neill is a member and officer of the Upstate Republican Women’s Club and has served on PTA and neighborhood association boards. In recognition of her service to the State of South Carolina, in 1998 she was awarded the highest award for a civilian by the governor, the Order of the Palmetto by South Carolina Governor David Beasley as well as a special commendation from the South Carolina House of Representatives by House Speaker David Wilkins.
As National Liaison to Pregnancy Care Centers for Heritage Community Services, Ms. Neill is committed to promoting healthy lifestyles for single adults through character-based abstinence education. Recognizing the need for excellence in this movement, Heritage Community Services offers its services across the nation often working with pregnancy care centers.
Lenna is on The Center’s of Tomorrow Board for Care Net and The President’s Council for Heartbeat International. Both of these organizations are committed to honoring the sanctity of human life through the work of pregnancy care centers. Ms. Neill joined Focus on the Family in 2005 as a site representative for Option Ultrasound Program. She travels nation wide assessing and teaching Pregnancy Care Centers helping to qualify them to receive funding for ultrasound machines and Sonography training offered by Focus on the Family.
Married to Larry Neill for 36 years, Ms. Neill is the mother of three adult children, and the grandmother of four preschoolers. She is an active member of Southside Fellowship in Greenville, South Carolina. In her leisure Lenna enjoys riding a Harley motorcycle with her husband and is co-owner of a small marketing/consulting company called ShapingYourVision.com.
