Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia welcomed new officers and directors for 2018-19, who were elected by the membership on April 10, 2018 at organization's 30th Annual Members’ Meeting.
Newly-elected officers of the organization are:
- President Jennfer Pedroni, Vice President of Administration, HealthSpark Foundation
- Vice President, Aldustus (A.J.) Jordan, Senior Vice President, Wells Fargo
- Secretary Ashley Del Bianco, Executive Director and Board Secretary, Mayor’s Fund for Philadelphia
Continuing as Treasurer is Amy Snyder, Chief Financial Officer, Connelly Foundation.
An exceptionally talented group of six regional philanthropic leaders were elected to serve a first, three-year term on Philanthropy Network’s board of directors. Commencing service effective April 1 are:
- Casey Cook, Executive Director, Bread & Roses Community Fund
- Diana Doherty, Manager, Seybert Foundation
- Donna Frisby-Greenwood, President & CEO, The Fund For The School District of Philadelphia
- Umi Howard, Director, The Lipman Family Prize
- Shawn McCaney, Executive Director, William Penn Foundation
- Kristina Wahl, President, The Barra Foundation
Read more about our new directors below.
Casey Cook
Executive Director, Bread and Roses Community Fund
Since 2006, Casey Cook has served as executive director of Bread & Roses Community Fund. Prior to joining the staff at Bread & Roses, Casey served as executive director at Prevention Point Philadelphia for six years. There she provided harm reduction services while advocating for access to health care for injection drug users, sex workers and transgender hormone users. During her tenure at Prevention Point Philadelphia, she co-founded the Trans-Health Information Project for transgender, transsexual and gender-variant individuals.
Casey received her Bachelors in Women’s Studies and Education from Temple University, and her Master of Social Service and Master of Law and Social Policy from the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research at Bryn Mawr College.
Casey currently serves at the chair of the board of directors for the Funding Exchange, and has previously served on the boards of the Center for Responsible Funding, and Penn PIRG and as the former co-chair of Liberty City Democratic Club.
Diana Doherty
Manager, The Seybert Foundation
Since 2011, Diana Loukedis Doherty has served as Manager of the Seybert Foundation. Diana serves as the primary point of contact with applicants and grantees, and manages the operations and administration of the Foundation, reporting to the Board of Directors. Diana brings more than a decade of grantmaking experience to the position and has worked with a variety of private foundations and nonprofit organizations in the greater Philadelphia region. In 2016, Diana joined the Board of the VNA Foundation of Greater North Penn, and she has served as President of the Michael Manzella Foundation since 1995. Diana holds a Bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Yale University and a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania with certificates in Urban Studies and African-American Studies.
Donna Frisby-Greenwood
President/CEO, The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia
Donna Frisby-Greenwood serves as the first President and CEO of the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia. She previously served as director of college and career awareness for the School District of Philadelphia, before her most recent position as Philadelphia program director for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, where her work focused on retaining talented people and expanding economic opportunity in the city.
Donna began her career in 1988 as an urban 4-H extension agent with The Penn State Cooperative Extension in Philadelphia. In 1990 she co-founded and served as Executive Director of Children First, Inc., a leadership development and civic education program for low income urban adolescents. In 1994 she became a Special Assistant to HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Policy and Research as a National Urban Fellow. While at HUD she worked on the University/Community Partnerships, making the case for HeadStart in public housing, and she co-authored the Youth Development section of the White House Urban Policy Report. Subsequent positions have included Executive Director of Rock the Vote and Executive Director of the After-School All-Stars Philadelphia. During her tenure, Rock the Vote significantly increased voter turnout for 18-24 year olds and conducted the country’s first on-line voter registration process. Donna is a graduate of the University of Virginia and holds a Masters of Public of Administration from Baruch College/CUNY.
Umi Howard
Director, The Lipman Family Prize
Umi spent fifteen years working in the social sector before joining the Wharton School to establish the Lipman Family Prize. His experience includes direct service, program management, curriculum design, board service, grant making, and organizational consulting & leadership. Over an eight-year span, he served in several positions at the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Early in his career, Umi worked for an international NGO in South Africa. He and his wife, Sylvie, also ran Solidarity Travels, a sustainable travel business based in Ecuador. Leveraging the experiences from these various roles and contexts Umi brings an intense passion for the community empowerment, cultural exchange and educational opportunity embodied in the Lipman Family Prize and hopes this work will help bring recognition to the University of Pennsylvania as a hub of learning in the social sector.
Shawn McCaney
Executive Director, William Penn Foundation
Shawn McCaney became executive director of William Penn Foundation March 1, 2017, after serving as interim executive director since November 2016. As executive director, Shawn oversees the Foundation’s operations, investments, and $112 million annual grantmaking and evaluation budget, which is focused on increasing high-quality educational opportunities for economically disadvantaged children; protecting the Delaware River watershed; and supporting arts, culture and the development of accessible and vibrant public spaces.
Prior to his appointment as executive director, he was the founding program director for the Creative Communities program and also managed National Initiatives for the Foundation, seeking to expand philanthropy in the region and share William Penn’s learnings with others focused on similar issues nationwide. As part of the Foundation’s 2012 strategic planning process, Shawn led the creation of the Great Public Spaces grantmaking strategy and led the formation of a partnership with the Knight Foundation to pilot a new national initiative - Reimagining the Civic Commons - in Philadelphia, which has now been replicated in Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, and Akron. He also developed the Foundation’s two largest grants in its history, a $25 million grant in support of the Free Library’s 21 Century Libraries Initiative and a $100 million commitment to support the City of Philadelphia’s Rebuilding Community Infrastructure initiative, which will transform the city’s libraries, parks and recreation centers.
Shawn received his graduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his undergraduate degree from Temple University. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and the American Society of Landscape Architects, and is a licensed Professional Planner in the State of New Jersey. Shawn serves on the board of the Central Philadelphia Development Corporation and is a member of the Haddonfield Borough Planning Board.
Kristina L. Wahl
President, The Barra Foundation
Kristina Wahl joined The Barra Foundation as a Program Officer in 2010 and became President in 2013. Prior to joining Barra, she worked at The Pew Charitable Trusts as a Senior Associate and then as a Program Officer. She also served as Managing Director of Marketing and Development at the Transitional Work Corporation, which at one time was the largest urban transitional jobs program in the country. After graduating from La Salle University, Kristina joined the Vincentian Service Corps and served as a volunteer at Covenant House in New York City.
Kristina holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She has served on the Board of Trustees at La Salle University, Gwynedd Mercy Academy High School and La Salle Academy, an elementary school for at-risk youth located in North Philadelphia. She has been a member of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Campaign Cabinet and Villanova University’s Department of Public Administration Advisory Board.