Nicole Farmer Houle
WJJA BOARD PRESIDENT: Nicole has been a passionate and vocal contributor to driving support for women in jiu-jitsu for over 10 years. She has been developing this concept of unifying efforts through alliances to support women of all ages in jiu-jitsu, and beyond the sport. Her goal is to educate and empower women to be the best versions of themselves for their own safety, equality, and livelihood. Nicole is cofounder of Elevate Jiu Jitsu Mag, an online magazine dedicated to supporting women on and off the mats. She is the owner of Elevate Event Services which runs personal and corporate event and trade show services and is founder of Embody meal services for healthy living. She has a purple belt in jiu-jitsu.
Stacey Councilman
WJJA BOARD VICE PRESIDENT: Stacey has been passionate about self defense education. She founded the Warrior Forged Project (WFP) to inspire and empower women, teens, families and children, to courageously fight through life’s battles, teaching them mental and physical life skills and how to obtain a healthy lifestyle through the use of self defense and martial arts. She actively studies various combat sports, is proficient with weapons, a motivational speaker and is a purple belt in jiu-jitsu. She uses her combined combat skillsets to provide free self defense seminars across the country. Her program at WFP goes well beyond teaching physical tactical techniques and includes critical education on preparedness, awareness and avoidance.
Dr. Karen Peters
WJJA BOARD MEMBER: Karen is well known for her fight for equality in jiu-jitsu for women through her formation of her Masters Womens group TAP which stands for Together All Powerful. Karen, with the support of Carlos Melo, rallied the female jiu-jitsu community to support the need for equal divisions in the IBJJF. After a widespread petition gained the attention of the IBJJF in 2018, they approved masters divisions for women be equivalent to that of men and a new era was born. Karen continues to drive change and support for masters women by guiding this emerging and quickly growing group of individuals in the sport of jiu-jitsu. Karen studied at the California School of Professional Psychology, Berkeley/Alameda and has a brown belt in jiu-jitsu.
Diane Maier
WJJA BOARD SECRETARY: Diane has spent a lifetime training and competing in a range of sports most notably gymnastics and jiu-jitsu. Her passion for health and wellness extends into what is best for the body and mind and how combat sports fitness translates into business. Managing fight or flight responses and how to draw on them to make decisions. As a marketer and business coach, she also donates her time to support various nonprofit and small business passion projects such as Secretary for the Women’s Jiu-Jitsu Alliance and Consultant for Elevate Jiu Jitsu Mag. She has a purple belt in jiu-jitsu.