2026 Notable Alumnae Announced

We are thrilled to announce the 2026 Notable Alumnae of Girls Preparatory School. Each of these incredible graduates has made an impact through leadership, service, and dedication to her community.

These impressive women will be formally recognized on Friday, October 2, during Reunion Weekend.

Teresa Lawrence Phillips ’76

Teresa Lawrence Phillips is a mother, leader, and trailblazer who dedicated more than three decades to Tennessee State University as a championship coach, administrator, and Director of Athletics. She served as head coach of the Tennessee State women’s basketball program from 1989 to 2000, compiling 144 victories and leading the Tigers to back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference regular-season and tournament championships. Her 1993–94 team captured Tennessee State’s first OVC regular-season championship, won the conference tournament, and earned the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance. Teresa was named OVC Coach of the Year three times and USA Today National Coach of the Year in 1990. She also made collegiate basketball history as the first woman to coach an NCAA Division I men’s basketball team. As Director of Athletics, she led Tennessee State through a period of significant growth and earned recognition from Sports Illustrated and numerous halls of fame. Teresa’s legacy is defined by leadership, innovation, championship success, and an unwavering commitment to student-athletes.

 

The Reverend Beth Foster Janney ’81
Beth Janney is a registered nurse and ordained Episcopal deacon with more than two decades of experience in healthcare and caregiving. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. After 24 years in case management, primarily supporting individuals with catastrophic injuries, Beth became Corporate Director of Memory Care for a leading senior living company, developing programming and training across 24 communities in five states. She is a Certified Dementia Practitioner and Trainer and serves on the Tennessee Dementia Action Collaborative. Beth also collaborates with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga School of Nursing to support faith-based institutions across Tennessee. She currently serves as a Dementia Navigator for the Tennessee Department of Health and as a deacon at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chattanooga. Her work is grounded in a personal commitment to improving quality of life for individuals living with dementia and their caregivers.

 

Golnar Jabbari Fozi ’86
Golnar Jabbari Fozi (GPS 1986) was born in Tehran, Iran, and raised in Tehran and Paris before moving with her parents to Chattanooga in 1981. After initially being denied admission to GPS because she did not speak English, Golnar returned two years later, was admitted as a 10th grader, and credits her three years at GPS with helping shape her academic and career success. She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University and a law degree from the University of Illinois College of Law. After law school, Golnar moved to Southern California, where she has practiced law for more than 30 years. She became the first female partner in her firm’s 50-year history before founding Fozi, Dwork & Modafferi, LLP, in 2012. Golnar represents small government entities, churches and ministries, and nonprofit organizations in federal and state courts. She is a proud inductee of the American Board of Trial Advocates and a past recipient of the Attorney of the Year award from the San Diego North County Bar Association.

 

Willson Milne Overend ’91
Willson Milne Overend is an executive People leader and strategic advisor who works at the intersection of business and people, guiding organizations through significant transformation. Her career spans health technology, consumer goods, financial services, and consulting, with deep roots in Atlanta. Most recently, Willson served as Acting Chief People Officer at Verily Health, helping guide the precision health company through its evolution from a Google Moonshot to an independent company. Previously, she spent eight years at The Coca-Cola Company in leadership roles spanning Human Resources, strategy, culture, communications, and innovation. Willson earned her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Piedmont Healthcare Foundation and the Advisory Board of the Ron Clark Academy. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and three children.

 

Dr. Anne Harnsberger Carr ’96
Dr. Anne Carr is a board-certified specialist in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Galen OB/GYN in Chattanooga. She graduated summa cum laude from Wake Forest University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and earned her Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine. She completed her residency at the University of Virginia, where she served as chief resident, before spending four years in private practice in Charlottesville, Virginia. Anne is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and an active member of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society. She has served as a board member and Medical Director for the Choices Pregnancy Resource Center and volunteers through her church and her children’s schools. Anne is passionate about women’s health and providing compassionate, individualized, evidence-based care. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, running, Ranch Horse competitions, and cheering on her three daughters.

 

Wendy Chow ’01
Wendy Chow is General Counsel at Cityblock Health, a value-based care company. A healthcare lawyer by training, Wendy previously practiced in New York and Nashville, focusing on managed care, health law, and corporate transactions. She is also deeply interested in legal operations, technology, and the ways better systems can help organizations work smarter. As a startup advisor, Wendy helps founders and leadership teams navigate legal, operational, and strategic challenges. She is also a negotiation coach who helps women build greater financial security, authority, and confidence by advocating for themselves and navigating workplace dynamics. At the heart of Wendy’s work is a belief that ambition and kindness can and should coexist. She brings warmth, humor, and a deep care for people to everything she does, and believes the best work happens when people feel supported, empowered, and free to take smart risks.

 

Emily Boydston Procópio ’06
Emily Boydston Procópio is the nation’s only dedicated Uterus Transplant Coordinator, serving within the Comprehensive Transplant Institute at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital. A registered nurse with more than 13 years of experience, Emily began her career on a thoracic surgery floor at UAB before earning a master’s degree in nursing and certification as a Clinical Nurse Leader. She then spent five years as a lung transplant coordinator, earning her Certified Clinical Transplant Coordinator credential, before joining UAB’s groundbreaking uterus transplant program in 2020. Working alongside the program’s surgeon and a small clinical team, Emily helped build the program from the ground up and has played a central role in guiding patients through the complex, multi-year transplant process. Her work has helped women with absolute uterine factor infertility have the opportunity to carry their own biological children. Emily’s work has been featured in publications in Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica and Science Translational Medicine.
 

Eller Mallchok Kelliher ’11
Eller Mallchok Kelliher is Chief Investment Officer at Launch Tennessee, the state’s entrepreneurship and innovation organization, where she leads its capital and equity programs, including the $70 million InvestTN Fund backed by the U.S. Treasury. In this role, Eller helps direct public investment toward Tennessee startups and supports entrepreneurs as they build and grow their businesses. Previously, she spent seven years at Jumpstart Health Investors, where she served as Managing Director of the Jumpstart Foundry fund and invested in more than 100 early-stage healthcare companies. Throughout her career, Eller has mentored and supported hundreds of entrepreneurs and developed deep expertise in early-stage investing. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Dickinson College and is an alumna of Harvard’s Young American Leaders Program. A Chattanooga native and longtime community member, Eller also brings a sense of fun to her work and life: in 2014, she won the Fourth of July blueberry-eating contest at the Chattanooga Market, an accomplishment she still considers one of her proudest achievements.

 

Ivey Fidelibus ’16
A native of Trenton, Georgia, Ivey Fidelibus graduated cum laude from GPS and later earned bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Public Policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she graduated with highest honors. During college, Ivey completed internships with organizations including the Regional Obstetrical Consultants, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She also served with AmeriCorps’ JumpStart program, implementing literacy programming in an Atlanta preschool. Ivey earned her J.D., summa cum laude, from Wake Forest University School of Law in 2024, where she was valedictorian, an Order of the Coif member, and Managing Editor of the Wake Forest Law Review. After working as an antitrust associate in New York City, she moved into a federal judicial clerkship in the Southern District of New York. She currently lives in New York City.

 

Nicola van der Merwe Morrow ’21
Nicola van der Merwe Morrow is a graduate student at Belmont University pursuing an MBA while preparing for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) examination. A former NCAA Division I pole vaulter for Belmont’s Track and Field team, Nicola developed a strong foundation in discipline, resilience, time management, and perseverance through her collegiate athletic career. She was named Belmont’s 2025 Female Graduating Scholar Athlete of the Year, recognizing the female student-athlete with the university’s highest cumulative GPA, and received the Massey College of Business Outstanding Achievement in Accounting Award as the university’s top accounting student. She also earned the Ohio Valley Conference Academic Medal of Honor for maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA. Born in South Africa and raised in several locations, Nicola is fluent in English and Afrikaans and has a deep appreciation for diverse cultures and backgrounds. She has also served as a student tutor and been actively involved with Fellowship of Christian Athletes.