“Working as a general counsel for DuPont Merck Pharmaceuticals was one of the most challenging jobs you can have as a lawyer,” says Maida Milone.
So, after 15 years as an attorney, the Ardmore resident took a short sabbatical. Or so she thought.
During her time off, Milone got involved with a few nonprofit organizations, chairing development committees, co-chairing a capital campaign and more. She also enrolled in what’s now Leadership Philadelphia, which enriches a person’s civic knowledge and awareness as it hones leadership skills. “At the end of the program, you’re required to be on the board of a local committee,” says Milone.
She chose Philadelphia’s Center for Emerging Visual Artists, becoming its executive director. In 2010, she was recruited for the same post at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter.
Milone is also a trustee at the Wistar Institute, a board member of the St. Christopher’s Foundation for Children, and part of the advisory board of the Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research at the University of Pennsylvania. “Giving back is one of the most important things,” she says.