Vanessa Briggs
The Brandywine Health Foundation board of directors has named Vanessa Briggs as the foundation’s new President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective July 17, 2017.
Ms. Briggs is an experienced leader in the field of public health with roots in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. She has devoted her entire career to advancing health equity and empowering vulnerable families and youth to live healthier lives. Ms. Briggs is highly skilled in working with communities to solve complex problems through multi-sectoral strategic partnerships, community engagement, health promotion and education, and disease management interventions. She comes to the foundation with significant expertise in building the capacity of nonprofit organizations and in building multi-sector partnerships between health providers, policymakers, and community members.
As President and CEO, Ms. Briggs will guide the overall organizational vision, strategic direction, operating, and fiscal policies to ensure successful fulfillment of BHF’s mission with governance from the board and input from the staff. She will continue to strengthen the Brandywine Health Foundation’s well-established reputation through increased visibility and by further building, maintaining, and nurturing its network of donors, grantees, and community partners so critical to the mission of the foundation and its work in the greater Coatesville, Pennsylvania area.
Prior to joining Brandywine Health Foundation, Ms. Briggs served as Vice President, Community Health, at Holy Cross Health in Silver Spring, Maryland. Before joining Holy Cross Health, Ms. Briggs held the position of Executive Director for the Health Promotion Council, an affiliate of the Public Health Management Corporation. In her 15 years at the Health Promotion Council, she grew the organization’s budget three-fold during her tenure while developing and leading several large-scale regional and national childhood obesity, nutrition, and health equity initiatives.
Contact: Jill Whitcomb
Phone: 610.380.9080 x103
Email: jwhitcomb@brandywinefoundation.org
William Buster
Earl Maxwell, Chief Executive Officer of St. David’s Foundation, announced that William Buster is taking on the role of Executive Vice President of Community Investments at the foundation.
Mr. Buster, who previously served as Vice President of Community Investments for the foundation, is stepping into the role formerly held by Bobbie Barker who announced plans earlier this year to leave the foundation.
In his new role, Mr. Buster will direct the foundation’s grant-making process, program area development and the renowned school-based dental van program, operated by the foundation.
Prior to joining St. David’s Foundation, Mr. Buster’s work included positions with two foundations—the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. In addition, he has managed his own consultancy, Common-Unity Philanthropic Advisors.
In addition, Mr. Buster has achieved a number of career highlights, including his role in working with the Obama White House in the development of the “My Brother’s Keeper” Initiative. Mr. Buster advised the Ferguson Commission on strategies to promote and include racial equity and racial healing in the Commission’s Racial Equity and Reconciliation Community Call to Action Plan.
He was also an appointee by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to the Minority Farmer Advisory Committee to advise the USDA on implementation of outreach and assistance efforts to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
Contact: Kristy Ozmun
Phone: 512.474.1501
Email: kristy@ozmun.com
Sharon Butterworth
The Paso del Norte Health Foundation elected Sharon Butterworth as the new 2017-2018 Board Chair. Ms. Butterworth has served on the board since 2013 and is a community advocate on mental health issues.
Hector Retta was appointed as Vice-Chair and Chair-Elect. He has served on the board since 2014 and is Vice Chairman and CEO of Capital Bank.
The Health Foundation also elected three new members to its board of directors – Ernesto Avila with Capital Bank, Ed Escudero with High Desert Capital, and Susan Melendez with Borderplex Alliance. For a complete list of board members, visit the foundation’s website.
Contact: Ida Ortegon
Phone: 915.544.7636
Email: iortegon@pdnhf.org
More information: https://www.pdnhf.org/
Zac Guevara
The California Endowment elected Zac Guevara, a Chartered Financial Analyst®, as the private, statewide foundation’s Board Chair. In addition, Shawn Ginwright, PhD, a leading national expert on African American youth, youth activism, and youth development, was elected as Vice Chair of the board.
Mr. Guevara retired in 2009 after serving as an investment analyst, research director, board member, and executive vice president with Capital International Research, Inc. He joined Capital in 1992 as a participant in “The Associates Program” after graduating from Harvard University. As an investment analyst, his research coverage included the transportation, newspaper, Internet media, education, home building, and defense industries.
Mr. Guevara’s commitment to community is exemplified by his service on a number of nonprofit organizations’ boards, including Para Los Niños (past chair), MALDEF (past chair), Communities in Schools of Los Angeles, KIPP-LA, I Have a Dream Foundation – Los Angeles, Self Help Graphics & Art, and the Los Angeles Education Research Institute.
Vice Chair Shawn Ginwright, PhD, serves as the Senior Research Associate at the Cesar Chavez Institute for Public Policy in San Francisco, California and is also an Associate Professor of Education in the Africana Studies Department at San Francisco State University. During his tenure, he led a team to establish the first Urban Education doctoral program in the California State University system. In addition, as a Senior Researcher at the Cesar Chavez Institute for Public Policy, Dr. Ginwright established the National Research Collaborative on Youth Activism, among other activities and accomplishments.
Dr. Ginwright currently serves on the board of directors at the School-Based Health Alliance. In 1989, Dr. Ginwright founded Leadership Excellence, an innovative youth development agency located in Oakland, California that trains African American youth to address pressing social and community problems. He is also the co-founder of Flourish Agenda, a social impact company that supports schools and community organizations with building well-being and healthy school climates.
Contact: Jeff Okey
Phone: 213.928.8622
Email: jokey@calendow.org
Robert T. Kelly
On June 1, 2017, the Weinberg Foundation announced that Mr. Robert T. Kelly, Jr., who has served as a trustee of the Weinberg Foundation since 2006, has been elected as chair of the board for a three-year term. Mr. Kelly succeeds Mr. Barry I. Schloss, who joined the foundation in 2004 and most recently served as the chair of the board for the foundation for a three-year term that concluded May 31, 2017.
Mr. Kelly is a founding partner of the Scranton, Pennsylvania law firm of Myers, Brier & Kelly, LLP, where his practice focuses on tax-oriented operational and transactional planning for individuals, closely-held businesses, and tax-exempt organizations. He spent the early years of his legal career as an attorney with the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP. Prior to entering law school, Mr. Kelly spent several years as a Certified Public Accountant with Price Waterhouse, in New York and Washington, DC, advising entrepreneurial, financial service, and tax-exempt clients.
The board of directors of the foundation currently includes Donn Weinberg, Alvin Awaya, Robert T. Kelly, Jr., and Ambassador Fay Hartog-Levin. Rachel Garbow Monroe serves as the President and CEO.
Phone: 410.654.8500