Founder/Leadership Biographies
Nicholas Torres, M.Ed, Co-Founder/Editor has over 20 years of experience in executive management. He has built and led one of the largest and most nationally recognized human services organizations, founded and governed two charter schools, founded a nonprofit to scale high-impact social enterprises (including school-based health centers and high school/college access and completion pipelines), and founded a social sector innovative thinking management consulting organization. From 2000-2010 Nicholas was President of Congreso de Latinos Unidos (Congreso), where he transformed the organization from a traditional social services agency into a comprehensive children and family-oriented human services nonprofit by integrating behavioral health, education, and primary health care into the service model. Under his leadership, Congreso was one of just six national leadership investments ($5 million) from Edna McConnell Clark Foundation to demonstrate multi-service organization impact on young people aged 16-24. As a result of this investment, he created a first-of-its-kind performance management system to measure organizational effectiveness for over 50 service lines and 17,000 clients/customers that would later be used as a model for Social Solutions’ Efforts To Outcome (ETO) to scale in nonprofits nationally. He served as a member of the National Alliance for Effective Social Investments that led the nation on integrating Social Impact Indicators into nonprofit best practices. Currently, he is a Principal of Social Innovations Partners, which publishes the Social Innovations Journal and manages the Social Innovations Lab ™. Nicholas is also a member of Education and Health Solutions where he invests and supports the scaling and replication of high-impact models and social enterprises. He also serves as adjunct faculty at the University of Pennsylvania Fels Institute of Government and the Wharton School, and serves on many regional boards of directors, including foundations, governmental and quasi-governmental agencies.
Nate A. Bronstein, M.S.Ed., M.S.S.P., M.P.A., Marketing and Communications Director is a former teacher from North Philadelphia; he earned his Masters in Education, Public Administration and the Science of Social Policy respectively from the University of Pennsylvania. Nate has extensive experience as a consultant on statewide policy initiatives as well as political campaign strategy and management. He has spent the last three years working as both the Co-Founder and CEO of one DC-based startup and one Philadelphia-based startup working to solve inefficiencies in how people connect, organize and manage their resources. Nate has extensive experience in the social good startup space having successfully launched a startup and consulted on several others, as well as having actively participated in 19 different accelerators and incubators. Nate has written for the Chronicle of Social Change and is currently serving on the board of Philadelphia's oldest and largest music school. He is a Philadelphia native and has a long history of youth civic engagement having become a Truman Finalist, the campaign manager of a political campaign and the student body president of American University in 2011.
Alescia Marie Dingle, M.P.A. serves as Managing Editor of the Social Innovations Journal. She also works as an independent communications, policy, public relations and project management consultant with for profit businesses and nonprofit organizations.
She recently received her MPA and certificates in nonprofit administration and politics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute.
Most recently Alescia served as the State Director for Enroll America in Pennsylvania and previously served as the Deputy State Director for Enroll America in New Jersey.
Her professional experience includes serving as a Public Information Officer at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Press Secretary for the New Jersey General Assembly Majority Office, and as a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Democratic State Party.
She notably served as the Media Logistics Coordinator for President Barack Obama’s 2008 Neighborhood Ball, the premier event of the 212th Presidential Inaugural Committee.
In addition, Alescia has served as press advance staff for the Obama-Biden Administration domestically and overseas. Her campaign work includes serving as national press advance staff for the 2008 Obama-Biden presidential campaign and the 2004 Kerry-Edwards campaign, as well as serving in various statewide communication roles on U.S. senate and gubernatorial races.
She began her career as a member of the governor’s political advance team for Governor James E. McGreevey.
Alescia holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism from Temple University and an Associate Degree in Communications. She also is a proud graduate of Leadership New Jersey.
She volunteers at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen in Mercer County and previously served as a member of the Lambertville Environmental Committee.
Alescia currently serves as a board member of the Greater Philadelphia Diaper Bank and previously served as a member of the Lambertville Environmental Commission. In her free time, she volunteers at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen in Mercer County.
She resides in the Township of Solebury with her husband, their four-year old daughter, and two cats.
Alejandra Navas Alejandra is born in Colombia, she has a degree in Law from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá and worked as a Lawyer on the financial sector in Bogotá. Searching different ways to help people, she obtained in 2002 a Master in Analyze of Political and Economic International Contemporary Problems from the University Externado de Colombia in cooperation with the Sciences Po Paris, in Bogotá, at the end of which she was awarded with a Scholarship to study in France. Accordingly, she went with her son to France and obtained in 2004 a Master II degree in Political Sciences focused on Latin America at the Institute d’Études Politiques d’Aix en Provence. She lived in Aix en Provence for twelve years where she worked as a Lawyer in CMA CGM, the third biggest company in Container Maritime Transport where she handled legal matters with companies and international financial organizations from all over the world. In 2010 she went to school again and in 2011 had a degree in Master of Project Management from the École d’Ingénieurs CESI in Aix en Provence. Part of the program was to make an Internship and she decided to focus her studies on the Cross-Cultural Management, which led her to participate in the Merge of two Hospitals in Marseille in the Human Resources aspect of it, helping managing the change with employees and taking communication actions to establish a new Corporate Culture.
In parallel of her work she has a passion for writing which led her to take courses in Journalistic and creative writing and work as translator and editor of Communication Campaigns for Exxon Mobil as a home office job.
Back to Colombia in 2014, she worked as a Compliance Officer for an Oil and Gas Company Petróleos Sudamericanos Sucursal Colombia where she created an Ethics Codex and a Risks Prevention Manual until January 2016. Since then, she has been working as an independent consultant, writing on her website www.alejandranavas.co and finishing her first novel LINEAGE which will be published this year.
She fluently speaks Spanish, French and English and is learning Portuguese. When she is not a mother of a seventeen-year-old son or a writer, she teaches French, cooks, goes to the movies, reads about geopolitics and human rights, dances or goes hiking.
Advisors
David Castro a graduate of Haverford College (1983) and the University of Pennsylvania Law School (1986). In 1993, following a successful career both in private practice and as a Philadelphia prosecutor, David was awarded a Kellogg Foundation National Leadership Program Fellowship. As a Kellogg Fellow he studied community leadership and its relation to improving quality of life. Based upon this work, working with his mentor and colleague Lynne Abraham, in 1995 David founded I-LEAD, Inc., a school for community leadership development that has served several thousand emerging leaders across Pennsylvania through its affiliation with Pennsylvania Weed and Seed, and its development of an accredited Associate Degree program in Leadership. David is also one of the founders of I-LEAD Charter School, a high school that combines leadership development with academic remediation serving at-risk high school age youth in the economically challenged city of Reading, Pennsylvania. In 2002, in recognition of David‘s work on behalf of Pennsylvania communities, he was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship, which he used to study leadership and its impact on economic and community development in Turkey. In 2009, in recognition of David‘s work in community leadership and education, he was named an Ashoka Fellow by the Ashoka Global Funds for Social Change. David is a teacher at heart, frequently consulted as a speaker, serving on panel discussions and contributing regularly via blogs and articles posted through the Ashoka network, the Kellogg Leadership Alliance and the Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal. David is the author of Genership: Beyond Leadership Toward Liberating the Creative Soul.
Christopher Cresswell is owner and manager of New Enterprise Ventures. Christopher has over 22 years of health care experience building health care companies, new business models, strategic partnerships and joint ventures across many of health care’s disciplines. The company is comprised of a global network of over 85 industry experts and professionals. Each client engagement is matched to the most appropriate New Enterprise Venture’s business executive or team of executives with specialized skills, relationships and expertise.
Heather Falck is manager of the Independence Blue Cross Foundation where she develops, leads, coordinates, and engages in activities that support and promote the goals, mission, and strategic direction of the IBC Foundation. She manages $6 million in annual grant funding through IBC Foundation programs and initiatives that advance caring for the region’s most vulnerable, enhance health care delivery, and build healthy communities.
Bill Green was appointed to the School Reform Commission by Governor Tom Corbett in January, 2014, confirmed by the Senate and took the Oath of Office in February, 2014. He served as Chairman from February, 2014 to March, 2015.
Immediately prior to his appointment he served as City Councilman At-Large from 2008-2014. Bill focused his work in City Council on fiscal discipline, government accountability, the application of technology, and improving the quality of life for city residents.
Prior to seeking public office, Bill Green established a successful career in the private sector. Before attending Auburn University, Bill traded options and futures in New York, London, and Amsterdam. He later obtained a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. In the years since, he has founded several businesses, represented top Fortune 500 companies and start-ups as a corporate lawyer, and served as President of VistaScape Security Systems. Bill is a Member of Green Law PLLC, Founder Homestead Smart Health Plans and SRC
Bill resides in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia with his wife, Margie, and their two children. A native Philadelphian, Bill is continuing his family’s strong commitment to public service: his father served as Congressman, Chairman of Philadelphia’s Democratic City Committee, and Mayor of Philadelphia, and his grandfather was a Congressman and Chairman of Philadelphia’s Democratic City Committee.
David Griffith, David Griffith, since July 2013, is the Executive Director of Episcopal Community Services of Philadelphia. With a legacy of tackling the impacts of chronic poverty in the Philadelphia region, ECS asks all individuals to look up, to challenge poverty, and empower individual choice and advocates that to make change in our community we must all be one on this issue. ECS addresses the self-identified needs of individuals and families by integrating data-driven research and implementing non-judgmental innovative best practices to deliver measurable impacts. He is the first non-clergy, non-MSW to head the organization in its 146 year history. He is an advocate for individuals and families in Poverty and believes strongly that the call to service along with the call for inclusion, diversity and the equal access to opportunity is core to the Episcopal faith tradition.
Dave is also Chairman of Modern Group Ltd an employee owned industrial holding company (A 70 year old firm, representing Hyundai forklifts and construction equipment, Generac generators, Bandit chippers, Terex and Konecranes and other leading brands as well as service, parts and rentals to all makes in the space), Chairman of Delaware Valley Floral Group (The largest wholesale florist in the US and #2 worldwide) , Director and Governance Chair of the J. J. Haines Company (The largest flooring wholesaler in the US), Chairperson of Verus Advisory Board ( a leading provider of data analytics in litigation support), and Manager of Mountain Laurel Spirits LLC. (Maker of Dad’s Hat Rye Whiskey) He is also serves as a member of the IBM Midmarket Advisory Council. His nonprofit involvements are Vice Chairman of the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, Trustee and Governance Chair of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel of Philadelphia, Chairman of the McEwen Family Scholarship Trusts and Director of the Griffith Family Foundation. He is also an advisor to Social Innovation Partners, located in Philadelphia. Social Innovations Partners
His blog “Wear Muddy Boots” www.wearmuddyboots.com is widely followed and focuses on the issues of leadership, talent development, management, faith, and the call to service. He is nationally recognized as an authority on governance and leadership in both for profit and nonprofit settings.
He is a frequent lecturer on leadership and the call to service at the University of Pennsylvania’s Nonprofit Leadership Program, the Wharton School, the Fox School of Business, and Rutgers School of Engineering. He is a former trustee, officer, and chair of Development at The Westminster School, Director of The Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center, Senior Warden of Trinity Episcopal Church, YPO of Philadelphia and forum officer, and past president of the Material Handling Equipment Dealers Association (MHEDA) and a past director of the NationalAssociation of Wholesalers Institute for Distribution Excellence (NAWIDE). He has been a member of several search committees’ including the CEO search for World Affairs Council, the Bishop search for the Diocese of Pennsylvania, and the CEO search for the Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel.
Prior to joining ECS, Dave was President and CEO over a 20 year span with Modern Group Ltd and a senior executive with MCI (VP of Marketing) and ROLM (Director of Sales & Distribution) for a number of years. He started his business career at IBM in 1976 where in 1979 he was the recognized as one of the top marketing representatives in the US and later served as Branch Manager, Administrative Assistant to the President, Regional Manager and as Director of Marketing. Dave graduated from Kenyon College with honors in 1976 with a BA in Economics and History, and The Westminster School in 1972. While at Kenyon he worked as an EMT and fireman with the College Township Fire Department and played both D-III soccer and lacrosse. He is married to Jacqui McEwen Griffith and they have two adult children, one dog and one very old cat.
Tine Hansen-Turton, MGA, JD, FCPP, FAAN, Co-Founder was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Woods Services in October 2016. Ms. Hansen-Turton is an Executive with more than 20 years of experience in health and human services senior management, executive leadership and consulting. She has founded and led several nationally recognized organizations and trade associations. A proven results-oriented strategic leader, Ms. Hansen-Turton is known for being an effective organizational change agent and policy and health and human services systems reform advocate. Woods Services is a $230 million leading nonprofit multi-service healthcare and human services organization that provides innovative, comprehensive and integrated health-and-behavior, education, workforce, and care management services to children and adults in the intellectual/developmental disability, child welfare, behavioral and acquired brain injury public health sectors. Woods has over 3500 staff in that serves more than 4000 individuals primarily from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, but also has national reach given its expertise in serving people who are medically and behavioral frail and vulnerable. Ms. Hansen-Turton also oversees Woods’ four subsidiary corporations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey (Brian’s House and Tabor Services in Pennsylvania and Allies and Archway Programs in New Jersey). Previously, Ms. Hansen-Turton served as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Public Health Management Corporation, where she oversaw and led corporate strategy, operations, business development and M&A. Additionally, Ms. Hansen-Turton served as CEO of the National Nurse-led Care Consortium, a non-profit organization supporting the growth and development of over 500 nurse-managed and school health clinics, serving more than 5 million vulnerable people across the country in urban and rural locations. For the past two decades she has also been instrumental in positioning Nurse Practitioners as primary health care providers globally. Ms. Hansen-Turton still serves as the founding Executive Administrator for the Convenient Care Association (CCA), the national trade association of over 2300 private-sector retail clinic industry, serving 30 million people with basic health care services across the country. Ms. Hansen-Turton also teaches public and social innovations, leading nonprofits, health policy and the social innovations lab at University of Pennsylvania Fels Institute of Government and School of Nursing. Ms. Hansen-Turton is founder and publisher of a social impact/innovation journal and has co-published eight books and is known as a serial social entrepreneur who has started several national social and public innovations in the health and human services sector. She has received several advocacy and leadership awards, the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship, the Business Journal 40 under 40 Leadership and Women of Distinction Awards. She was named one of the 101 emerging Philadelphia connectors by Leadership, Inc. and American Express NextGen Independent Sector Fellow. Ms. Hansen-Turton received her BA from Slippery Rock University, her Master of Government/Public Administration from University of Pennsylvania Fels Institute and her Juris Doctor from Temple University Beasley School of Law.
Karin Annerhed-Harris joined the Alliance of Community Service Providers in 2013 as the Associate Director, responsible for collaborating with policy makers on a city, state and national level. Karin educates policy makers on the importance of providing strong and sufficient Human Service programs for individuals with Intellectual Disabilities, Mental Health and/or substance use disorder, and Children Services. Through collaborating with policy makers she assists in implementing policy changes aimed to improve services, leading to enhanced outcomes. Karin played a key role in increasing funding for Intellectual Disabilities Services in Pennsylvania in 2013. That year the majority of Human Services experienced a 10% cut under a Republican Governor; however Intellectual Disabilities received a $20M increase due in part to Karin’s hard work and persistence working side by side to educate legislators on behalf of the intellectual disabilities community. The following year Intellectual Disabilities services received another 10% increase by building upon the previous years momentum.
Born in Sweden, Karin has travelled and lived in many countries throughout the world, which enables her to provide a nuanced global prospective to policy brining a creative approach to provision of human services.
Throughout Karin’s 10-year career in Human Services, she has developed and executed strategic and integrated communications programs for diverse clients including non-profit organizations, business to business and professional services organizations.
In 2015, Karin sat on Mayor Kenney’s transition team for Human Services and helped shape the Mayor’s current agenda to implement Community Schools and strong Park & Recreations programs. Another key recommendation was to increase collaboration between departments servicing the most vulnerable citizens in Philadelphia by creating an overarching position as a first step. Today the City of Philadelphia has a Deputy Managing Director for Health and Human Services and the position aims to break down silos to create a more cohesive system to ultimately provide better outcomes.
Karin is also one of the founding board members of Families for Houston, an organization supporting the local public school in her North West Philadelphia neighborhood.
Jeff Hornstein, PH.D. is the Director of Financial & Policy Analysis for the Philadelphia City Controller and works on critical issues relating to Philadelphia's fiscal and economic health. In addition to data-driven analyses of issues including property tax reform and delinquency, the efficacy of tax incentive programs, the impact of charter schools on the finances of the Philadelphia School District, and the efficacy of the City's tourism and convention promotion entities, he is running two citywide initiatives on behalf of Controller Butkovitz. The Anchor Procurement Initiative aims to increase local jobs and economic activity by increasing local spending on the part of Philadelphia's major eds-and-meds institutions. The Retirement Security Initiative seeks to improve retirement security by creating a city-sponsored retirement savings plan for private-sector employers. Jeff is also active in civic life, currently serving on the board of Queen Village Neighbors Association and as Vice Chair of the Philadelphia Crosstown Coalition. As chair of the PCC’s Education Committee, he helped convene the Friends Of Neighborhood Education, a citywide network of community groups that support neighborhood public schools. He was a co-founder of the Philadelphia Public School Giving Circle, a donor-advised fund that provides small grants to disadvantaged neighborhood schools.
Peter Hotz is a seasoned entrepreneur, business leader, investor and mentor who thrives on supporting emerging health care businesses to achieve their potential. He has exceptional broad-based knowledge in the health care field, with distinctive experience in digital health, urgent care and retail medicine, integrated delivery systems, workplace health & wellness, ambulatory care practice management, pharmacy services, fitness & wellness, workers’ compensation, specialty managed care and international health care. He has comprehensive P&L and organizational leadership skills and background in business development and implementation, acquisition-driven and organic growth, corporate culture and human capital development and strategic and operational leadership in organizations ranging from startups to over $600 million in revenues. Peter has a progressive history of driving results, mentoring leaders and board-level interaction in organizations ranging from start-ups to large public companies, including extensive involvement with PE/VC firms. Peter’s specialties include Business Development & Sales Management, Financial Advisory Services [M&A representation, Due Diligence, Business Plan Preparation], Interim & Turnaround Management, Strategic & Operational Consulting, and Executive Recruitment.
Gavin Kerr is president and CEO of Inglis. He is a seasoned executive and values-based leader with demonstrated strategic insight and expertise in building high-performance teams. He is deeply committed to enhancing the independence of people with disabilities. Gavin has held executive leadership positions at Mercy Health System, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Keystone Mercy Health Plan, AssetTRADE.com, University of Pennsylvania Health System, PepsiCo and MONY Financial Services. His strong commitment to volunteerism and social equity began with his Peace Corps service in 1979. He is co-founder of Ryan’s Case for Smiles, serves on the education committee for St. John’s Presbyterian Church and leads the Masters Development Program for Whitemarsh Boat Club. Gavin is also on the editorial board of the Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal and is a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. His previous volunteer board associations include Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, the Bone Tumor Foundation, the Center for Adapted Sports and the Finance Committee of the PA Pediatric Palliative and Hospice Care Task Force.
Kevin Leigh is Senior Director at BNY Mellon Wealth Management, which is one of the nation’s top 10 wealth managers. Combining the strengths of a global financial leader with the care and commitment of a small firm, Kevin and his team draw upon leadership in all wealth management disciplines, offering an extensive range of resources that are customized to serve the unique needs of each client. Kevin is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor and international financial-services executive with 24 years of industry experience. Starting with capitalizing emerging growth companies to working with entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals on inorganic and organic growth strategies to realizing the value created in the sale of their business. At BNY Mellon Kevin helps those same successful people ponder what to do next and stay entrepreneurial while preserving the wealth they have created for themselves, their families and generations to come.
Laura Kind McKenna, Patricia Kind Foundation. Laura was trained as a family nurse practitioner with a bachelor of science degree in nursing from American University and a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania, Laura Kind McKenna has long been committed to improving the health of her community. She served for twelve years as a nurse practitioner and director of student health at La Salle University. Then in 1998, with four children at home, she was presented with the unique opportunity to run the operations of The Patricia Kind Family Foundation—her family’s foundation, recently established with a gift from the estates of her grandparents, Hedwig and Arnold Louis van Ameringen, and named for her mother. She stepped down as the Managing Trustee in 2016.
John Moore is Executive Charimain at Impact PHL and is a Managing Partner of Robin Hood Ventures, an angel investing group in Philadelphia. Prior to working at Robin Hood, John worked at Seton Company as the Controller for North, Central, and South America. Seton Company is among the world's largest suppliers of automotive leather. Before becoming Controller, John was the Special Projects Manager where he did business acquisition and development, product pricing, and the implementation of company-wide strategic initiatives. In addition to his work with Seton, John spent eight years developing cardiovascular catheters for B. Braun Medical, Inc. John holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware and an M.B.A. from Drexel University.
Mike Pearson, is the President of Union Packaging, which he founded in 1999 with the goal of bringing jobs and greater economic opportunities to the greater Philadelphia region. A true entrepreneur, Mike left Westvaco as a promising junior executive to strike out on his own. Identifying the need in the QSR Market for a quality Minority Supplier, Mike established Providence Packaging, the company that would lead to Union Packaging. Now the sole owner of U.P., Mike is leading the company forward, writing the next chapter of what has already been an exciting story. Career highlights include being an Army Airborne Ranger; Member of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce; Committee Member of the United Way; and Member of the prestigious Committee of Seventy. He has special certifications from Wharton Business School; Kellogg Business School; Six Sigma; and Lean Manufacturing.
Joseph Pyle, MA, is the President of the Thomas J. Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation. Mr. Pyle has more than 20 years of experience in behavioral health, serving eight years as a CEO at various institutions including MeadowWood Behavioral Health System, Northwestern Institute of Psychiatry, Malvern Institute, and Friends Hospital. Mr. Pyle joined Friends Hospital in 1999, and has served as part of the Hospital's executive team since that time. In 2004, he was named interim Chief Executive Officer; during his tenure, he worked with the Board of Managers to seek, evaluate, and select a joint venture partner that would preserve both the Hospital's patient care operations and continue the Board's nearly 200-year old mission. After the Board selected a partner, Mr. Pyle oversaw the legal transaction and guided the Hospital staff and community through the change process which culminated in June 2005. At the conclusion of the transaction, he was named Interim Executive Director of the Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation, which was created from a portion of the assets of the conversion of Friends Hospital to a joint venture. As of September 2006, he was appointed President of the Foundation. Prior to his administrative positions, Mr. Pyle held various clinical positions including Clinical Director of Adolescent Services at MeadowWood Hospital and psycho-educational specialist at Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic. He also held special education teaching positions in the Pennsauken, New Jersey and Montgomery County Intermediate Unit school systems. Mr. Pyle sits on several nonprofit Boards: the Advisory Board for the Philadelphia Chapter of Outward Bound, the Board of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and as a member of the Flower Show Executive Committee, as well as the Board of the Family Planning Council. He also served on the Boards of the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems and the Delaware Valley Health Care Council. A graduate of LaSalle University, Mr. Pyle holds a Master's Degree from Glassboro State College in School Psychology. He lives in Chester County with his wife and their two sons.
Sandy Festa Ryan RN, MSN, CPNP, FCPP,FAANP, FAAN is Vice President, Walmart Care Clinics, leading efforts to support Walmart’s mission to deliver quality health care at an everyday low price, and responsible for all aspects of the clinic business. A strategic senior health care executive with more than 25 years of health care and leadership experience in various settings. Prior to Joining Walmart, Sandy served as the Chief Clinical Officer for CareCam Health Systems, a digital health company focused on using innovative mobile technology to drive decreased health care costs and improved clinical outcomes, where she was responsible for all clinical aspects in the development and design of a systems platform to meet the needs of patients, providers and health care systems. Sandy was one of six founding officers of pioneering retail health clinic operator Take Care Health Systems, which was acquired by Walgreens in 2007, where she maintained operational and clinical leadership of over 400 convenient care clinics nationally. At Walgreens she played an integral role in the development and implementation of integrated technology, quality assurance programs, and evidenced-based guidelines to create a consistent and unprecedented patient-focused experience for those who sought treatment. Sandy served as the first chief nurse practitioner officer of the convenient care industry. Sandy is a highly decorated Air Force officer recognized for her leadership. Her accolades include: recipient of the Nancy Sharp Cutting Edge Award by the American College of Nurse Practitioners; first NP inducted as Fellow of Philadelphia College of Physicians; Fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners; Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing; 2011 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellow Alumnus; Convenient Care industry recipient of the Loretta Ford Award. Sandy earned a B.S.N. from Niagara University, and an M.S.N. from Arizona State University.
Frank Shaffer, EdD, RN, Faan, began his nursing career as the first male graduate from the Mercer Hospital School of Nursing. Today, he is the chief executive officer (CEO) of The Commission of Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) International, expanding and diversifying their scope of services and influencing healthcare on a global level. Along the way, Frank's career has been filled with unique experiences, all guided and influenced by his passion for learning (learning for himself and helping others learn), collaboration at all levels (one to one, between organizations, and between health-care professions), building relationships, and moving nursing forward in all practice settings.
Steve Tremitiere is Founder and CEO of GrayHare Ventures. Steve has 30 years of experience in strategic business development across a wide range of industries with focus on health and technology and has extensive background working with startups and new business initiatives. Steve worked closely with Disney, FedEx, Delta, Southwest Airlines and others to pioneer early mobile technology innovations. Steve is the co-founder of Roberto's Kids, a non profit providing sporting good to kids in the United States and Latin America, and serves on board for socially conscious organizations, including WISER, a nonprofit school based in Kenya which holistically improves health, education, and economic outcomes for girls, particularly those orphaned by AIDS; SEEDS Together, a microfinance NGO in West Africa; and Everyone On, a national nonprofit committed to providing high-speed internet access to underserved populations.
Donald M. Tretola is the Senior Vice President of Public Affairs & Program Development for Allies. He is responsible for supporting Allies mission throughout New Jersey and serves as liaison for our municipal, governmental, educational, religious, business, law enforcement, community and civic leaders.
He began his Public Affairs career with PSE&G in 1971 and recently retired with nearly 38 years of service. After serving in the military, Don attended Saint Peter’s College graduating in 1976.
He is the recipient of numerous awards including the ESGR Military Seven Seals Award from the Department of Defense, Man of The Year Award-Hamilton Area YMCA and Black History Month Community Service Award, National register’s Who’s Who In the United States, Community Award, presented by the Boys Town of Italy, Middlesex County Regional Chamber of Commerce Community Leaders of Distinction Award, Community Service Award, presented by the Trenton African-American Chamber of Commerce, the Humanitarian Award from the American Heart Association and installed in the National Italian-American Hall of Fame. Don serves on numerous community based organizations including the College of New Jersey Advisory Board, Central Jersey Junior Achievement, Mercer County Community College Advisory Board and Saint Francis Medical Center. Don holds board positions throughout New Jersey including the Department of Defense Military and Veterans Affairs State of New Jersey Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve, Middlesex County 200 Club, Middlesex County Chiefs of Police, Corporate Member New Jersey Police Chiefs Association, New Jersey State Police Memorial Association, New Jersey State PBA Widows and Orphans Committee, Greater Mercer County Chamber of Commerce, The ESGR Executive Board and the Honor Legion of Police Departments of New Jersey. Don Is the past Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus.
Funders & Investors
BNY Mellon
Community Caring Alliance
Green Tree Community Health Foundation
Independence Foundation
Independence Blue Cross Foundation
Inglis Foundation
Investor's Circle
NFP Lincoln Benefits Group
Knight Foundation
The Patricia Kind Family Foundation
The Philadelphia Foundation
Public Health Fund
Public Health Management Corporation
The Thomas Scattergood Foundation
Wells Fargo
How to InvestSIJ is a volunteer-driven journal and nonprofit, which relies on support from local and national foundations and investors. If you are interested in investing or becoming a member of the advisory board, please contact Tine Hansen-Turton at tine@socialinnovationspartners.org
Founder/Leadership Biographies
Nicholas Torres, M.Ed, Co-Founder/Editor has over 20 years of experience in executive management. He has built and led one of the largest and most nationally recognized human services organizations, founded and governed two charter schools, founded a nonprofit to scale high-impact social enterprises (including school-based health centers and high school/college access and completion pipelines), and founded a social sector innovative thinking management consulting organization. From 2000-2010 Nicholas was President of Congreso de Latinos Unidos (Congreso), where he transformed the organization from a traditional social services agency into a comprehensive children and family-oriented human services nonprofit by integrating behavioral health, education, and primary health care into the service model. Under his leadership, Congreso was one of just six national leadership investments ($5 million) from Edna McConnell Clark Foundation to demonstrate multi-service organization impact on young people aged 16-24. As a result of this investment, he created a first-of-its-kind performance management system to measure organizational effectiveness for over 50 service lines and 17,000 clients/customers that would later be used as a model for Social Solutions’ Efforts To Outcome (ETO) to scale in nonprofits nationally. He served as a member of the National Alliance for Effective Social Investments that led the nation on integrating Social Impact Indicators into nonprofit best practices. Currently, he is a Principal of Social Innovations Partners, which publishes the Social Innovations Journal and manages the Social Innovations Lab ™. Nicholas is also a member of Education and Health Solutions where he invests and supports the scaling and replication of high-impact models and social enterprises. He also serves as adjunct faculty at the University of Pennsylvania Fels Institute of Government and the Wharton School, and serves on many regional boards of directors, including foundations, governmental and quasi-governmental agencies.
Nate A. Bronstein, M.S.Ed., M.S.S.P., M.P.A., Marketing and Communications Director is a former teacher from North Philadelphia; he earned his Masters in Education, Public Administration and the Science of Social Policy respectively from the University of Pennsylvania. Nate has extensive experience as a consultant on statewide policy initiatives as well as political campaign strategy and management. He has spent the last three years working as both the Co-Founder and CEO of one DC-based startup and one Philadelphia-based startup working to solve inefficiencies in how people connect, organize and manage their resources. Nate has extensive experience in the social good startup space having successfully launched a startup and consulted on several others, as well as having actively participated in 19 different accelerators and incubators. Nate has written for the Chronicle of Social Change and is currently serving on the board of Philadelphia's oldest and largest music school. He is a Philadelphia native and has a long history of youth civic engagement having become a Truman Finalist, the campaign manager of a political campaign and the student body president of American University in 2011.
Alescia Marie Dingle, M.P.A. serves as Managing Editor of the Social Innovations Journal. She also works as an independent communications, policy, public relations and project management consultant with for profit businesses and nonprofit organizations.
She recently received her MPA and certificates in nonprofit administration and politics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute.
Most recently Alescia served as the State Director for Enroll America in Pennsylvania and previously served as the Deputy State Director for Enroll America in New Jersey.
Her professional experience includes serving as a Public Information Officer at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Press Secretary for the New Jersey General Assembly Majority Office, and as a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Democratic State Party.
She notably served as the Media Logistics Coordinator for President Barack Obama’s 2008 Neighborhood Ball, the premier event of the 212th Presidential Inaugural Committee.
In addition, Alescia has served as press advance staff for the Obama-Biden Administration domestically and overseas. Her campaign work includes serving as national press advance staff for the 2008 Obama-Biden presidential campaign and the 2004 Kerry-Edwards campaign, as well as serving in various statewide communication roles on U.S. senate and gubernatorial races.
She began her career as a member of the governor’s political advance team for Governor James E. McGreevey.
Alescia holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism from Temple University and an Associate Degree in Communications. She also is a proud graduate of Leadership New Jersey.
She volunteers at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen in Mercer County and previously served as a member of the Lambertville Environmental Committee.
Alescia currently serves as a board member of the Greater Philadelphia Diaper Bank and previously served as a member of the Lambertville Environmental Commission. In her free time, she volunteers at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen in Mercer County.
She resides in the Township of Solebury with her husband, their four-year old daughter, and two cats.
Alejandra Navas Alejandra is born in Colombia, she has a degree in Law from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá and worked as a Lawyer on the financial sector in Bogotá. Searching different ways to help people, she obtained in 2002 a Master in Analyze of Political and Economic International Contemporary Problems from the University Externado de Colombia in cooperation with the Sciences Po Paris, in Bogotá, at the end of which she was awarded with a Scholarship to study in France. Accordingly, she went with her son to France and obtained in 2004 a Master II degree in Political Sciences focused on Latin America at the Institute d’Études Politiques d’Aix en Provence. She lived in Aix en Provence for twelve years where she worked as a Lawyer in CMA CGM, the third biggest company in Container Maritime Transport where she handled legal matters with companies and international financial organizations from all over the world. In 2010 she went to school again and in 2011 had a degree in Master of Project Management from the École d’Ingénieurs CESI in Aix en Provence. Part of the program was to make an Internship and she decided to focus her studies on the Cross-Cultural Management, which led her to participate in the Merge of two Hospitals in Marseille in the Human Resources aspect of it, helping managing the change with employees and taking communication actions to establish a new Corporate Culture.
In parallel of her work she has a passion for writing which led her to take courses in Journalistic and creative writing and work as translator and editor of Communication Campaigns for Exxon Mobil as a home office job.
Back to Colombia in 2014, she worked as a Compliance Officer for an Oil and Gas Company Petróleos Sudamericanos Sucursal Colombia where she created an Ethics Codex and a Risks Prevention Manual until January 2016. Since then, she has been working as an independent consultant, writing on her website www.alejandranavas.co and finishing her first novel LINEAGE which will be published this year.
She fluently speaks Spanish, French and English and is learning Portuguese. When she is not a mother of a seventeen-year-old son or a writer, she teaches French, cooks, goes to the movies, reads about geopolitics and human rights, dances or goes hiking.
Advisors
David Castro a graduate of Haverford College (1983) and the University of Pennsylvania Law School (1986). In 1993, following a successful career both in private practice and as a Philadelphia prosecutor, David was awarded a Kellogg Foundation National Leadership Program Fellowship. As a Kellogg Fellow he studied community leadership and its relation to improving quality of life. Based upon this work, working with his mentor and colleague Lynne Abraham, in 1995 David founded I-LEAD, Inc., a school for community leadership development that has served several thousand emerging leaders across Pennsylvania through its affiliation with Pennsylvania Weed and Seed, and its development of an accredited Associate Degree program in Leadership. David is also one of the founders of I-LEAD Charter School, a high school that combines leadership development with academic remediation serving at-risk high school age youth in the economically challenged city of Reading, Pennsylvania. In 2002, in recognition of David‘s work on behalf of Pennsylvania communities, he was awarded an Eisenhower Fellowship, which he used to study leadership and its impact on economic and community development in Turkey. In 2009, in recognition of David‘s work in community leadership and education, he was named an Ashoka Fellow by the Ashoka Global Funds for Social Change. David is a teacher at heart, frequently consulted as a speaker, serving on panel discussions and contributing regularly via blogs and articles posted through the Ashoka network, the Kellogg Leadership Alliance and the Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal. David is the author of Genership: Beyond Leadership Toward Liberating the Creative Soul.
Christopher Cresswell is owner and manager of New Enterprise Ventures. Christopher has over 22 years of health care experience building health care companies, new business models, strategic partnerships and joint ventures across many of health care’s disciplines. The company is comprised of a global network of over 85 industry experts and professionals. Each client engagement is matched to the most appropriate New Enterprise Venture’s business executive or team of executives with specialized skills, relationships and expertise.
Heather Falck is manager of the Independence Blue Cross Foundation where she develops, leads, coordinates, and engages in activities that support and promote the goals, mission, and strategic direction of the IBC Foundation. She manages $6 million in annual grant funding through IBC Foundation programs and initiatives that advance caring for the region’s most vulnerable, enhance health care delivery, and build healthy communities.
Bill Green was appointed to the School Reform Commission by Governor Tom Corbett in January, 2014, confirmed by the Senate and took the Oath of Office in February, 2014. He served as Chairman from February, 2014 to March, 2015.
Immediately prior to his appointment he served as City Councilman At-Large from 2008-2014. Bill focused his work in City Council on fiscal discipline, government accountability, the application of technology, and improving the quality of life for city residents.
Prior to seeking public office, Bill Green established a successful career in the private sector. Before attending Auburn University, Bill traded options and futures in New York, London, and Amsterdam. He later obtained a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. In the years since, he has founded several businesses, represented top Fortune 500 companies and start-ups as a corporate lawyer, and served as President of VistaScape Security Systems. Bill is a Member of Green Law PLLC, Founder Homestead Smart Health Plans and SRC
Bill resides in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia with his wife, Margie, and their two children. A native Philadelphian, Bill is continuing his family’s strong commitment to public service: his father served as Congressman, Chairman of Philadelphia’s Democratic City Committee, and Mayor of Philadelphia, and his grandfather was a Congressman and Chairman of Philadelphia’s Democratic City Committee.
David Griffith, David Griffith, since July 2013, is the Executive Director of Episcopal Community Services of Philadelphia. With a legacy of tackling the impacts of chronic poverty in the Philadelphia region, ECS asks all individuals to look up, to challenge poverty, and empower individual choice and advocates that to make change in our community we must all be one on this issue. ECS addresses the self-identified needs of individuals and families by integrating data-driven research and implementing non-judgmental innovative best practices to deliver measurable impacts. He is the first non-clergy, non-MSW to head the organization in its 146 year history. He is an advocate for individuals and families in Poverty and believes strongly that the call to service along with the call for inclusion, diversity and the equal access to opportunity is core to the Episcopal faith tradition.
Dave is also Chairman of Modern Group Ltd an employee owned industrial holding company (A 70 year old firm, representing Hyundai forklifts and construction equipment, Generac generators, Bandit chippers, Terex and Konecranes and other leading brands as well as service, parts and rentals to all makes in the space), Chairman of Delaware Valley Floral Group (The largest wholesale florist in the US and #2 worldwide) , Director and Governance Chair of the J. J. Haines Company (The largest flooring wholesaler in the US), Chairperson of Verus Advisory Board ( a leading provider of data analytics in litigation support), and Manager of Mountain Laurel Spirits LLC. (Maker of Dad’s Hat Rye Whiskey) He is also serves as a member of the IBM Midmarket Advisory Council. His nonprofit involvements are Vice Chairman of the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, Trustee and Governance Chair of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel of Philadelphia, Chairman of the McEwen Family Scholarship Trusts and Director of the Griffith Family Foundation. He is also an advisor to Social Innovation Partners, located in Philadelphia. Social Innovations Partners
His blog “Wear Muddy Boots” www.wearmuddyboots.com is widely followed and focuses on the issues of leadership, talent development, management, faith, and the call to service. He is nationally recognized as an authority on governance and leadership in both for profit and nonprofit settings.
He is a frequent lecturer on leadership and the call to service at the University of Pennsylvania’s Nonprofit Leadership Program, the Wharton School, the Fox School of Business, and Rutgers School of Engineering. He is a former trustee, officer, and chair of Development at The Westminster School, Director of The Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center, Senior Warden of Trinity Episcopal Church, YPO of Philadelphia and forum officer, and past president of the Material Handling Equipment Dealers Association (MHEDA) and a past director of the NationalAssociation of Wholesalers Institute for Distribution Excellence (NAWIDE). He has been a member of several search committees’ including the CEO search for World Affairs Council, the Bishop search for the Diocese of Pennsylvania, and the CEO search for the Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel.
Prior to joining ECS, Dave was President and CEO over a 20 year span with Modern Group Ltd and a senior executive with MCI (VP of Marketing) and ROLM (Director of Sales & Distribution) for a number of years. He started his business career at IBM in 1976 where in 1979 he was the recognized as one of the top marketing representatives in the US and later served as Branch Manager, Administrative Assistant to the President, Regional Manager and as Director of Marketing. Dave graduated from Kenyon College with honors in 1976 with a BA in Economics and History, and The Westminster School in 1972. While at Kenyon he worked as an EMT and fireman with the College Township Fire Department and played both D-III soccer and lacrosse. He is married to Jacqui McEwen Griffith and they have two adult children, one dog and one very old cat.
Tine Hansen-Turton, MGA, JD, FCPP, FAAN, Co-Founder was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Woods Services in October 2016. Ms. Hansen-Turton is an Executive with more than 20 years of experience in health and human services senior management, executive leadership and consulting. She has founded and led several nationally recognized organizations and trade associations. A proven results-oriented strategic leader, Ms. Hansen-Turton is known for being an effective organizational change agent and policy and health and human services systems reform advocate. Woods Services is a $230 million leading nonprofit multi-service healthcare and human services organization that provides innovative, comprehensive and integrated health-and-behavior, education, workforce, and care management services to children and adults in the intellectual/developmental disability, child welfare, behavioral and acquired brain injury public health sectors. Woods has over 3500 staff in that serves more than 4000 individuals primarily from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, but also has national reach given its expertise in serving people who are medically and behavioral frail and vulnerable. Ms. Hansen-Turton also oversees Woods’ four subsidiary corporations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey (Brian’s House and Tabor Services in Pennsylvania and Allies and Archway Programs in New Jersey). Previously, Ms. Hansen-Turton served as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Public Health Management Corporation, where she oversaw and led corporate strategy, operations, business development and M&A. Additionally, Ms. Hansen-Turton served as CEO of the National Nurse-led Care Consortium, a non-profit organization supporting the growth and development of over 500 nurse-managed and school health clinics, serving more than 5 million vulnerable people across the country in urban and rural locations. For the past two decades she has also been instrumental in positioning Nurse Practitioners as primary health care providers globally. Ms. Hansen-Turton still serves as the founding Executive Administrator for the Convenient Care Association (CCA), the national trade association of over 2300 private-sector retail clinic industry, serving 30 million people with basic health care services across the country. Ms. Hansen-Turton also teaches public and social innovations, leading nonprofits, health policy and the social innovations lab at University of Pennsylvania Fels Institute of Government and School of Nursing. Ms. Hansen-Turton is founder and publisher of a social impact/innovation journal and has co-published eight books and is known as a serial social entrepreneur who has started several national social and public innovations in the health and human services sector. She has received several advocacy and leadership awards, the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship, the Business Journal 40 under 40 Leadership and Women of Distinction Awards. She was named one of the 101 emerging Philadelphia connectors by Leadership, Inc. and American Express NextGen Independent Sector Fellow. Ms. Hansen-Turton received her BA from Slippery Rock University, her Master of Government/Public Administration from University of Pennsylvania Fels Institute and her Juris Doctor from Temple University Beasley School of Law.
Karin Annerhed-Harris joined the Alliance of Community Service Providers in 2013 as the Associate Director, responsible for collaborating with policy makers on a city, state and national level. Karin educates policy makers on the importance of providing strong and sufficient Human Service programs for individuals with Intellectual Disabilities, Mental Health and/or substance use disorder, and Children Services. Through collaborating with policy makers she assists in implementing policy changes aimed to improve services, leading to enhanced outcomes. Karin played a key role in increasing funding for Intellectual Disabilities Services in Pennsylvania in 2013. That year the majority of Human Services experienced a 10% cut under a Republican Governor; however Intellectual Disabilities received a $20M increase due in part to Karin’s hard work and persistence working side by side to educate legislators on behalf of the intellectual disabilities community. The following year Intellectual Disabilities services received another 10% increase by building upon the previous years momentum.
Born in Sweden, Karin has travelled and lived in many countries throughout the world, which enables her to provide a nuanced global prospective to policy brining a creative approach to provision of human services.
Throughout Karin’s 10-year career in Human Services, she has developed and executed strategic and integrated communications programs for diverse clients including non-profit organizations, business to business and professional services organizations.
In 2015, Karin sat on Mayor Kenney’s transition team for Human Services and helped shape the Mayor’s current agenda to implement Community Schools and strong Park & Recreations programs. Another key recommendation was to increase collaboration between departments servicing the most vulnerable citizens in Philadelphia by creating an overarching position as a first step. Today the City of Philadelphia has a Deputy Managing Director for Health and Human Services and the position aims to break down silos to create a more cohesive system to ultimately provide better outcomes.
Karin is also one of the founding board members of Families for Houston, an organization supporting the local public school in her North West Philadelphia neighborhood.
Jeff Hornstein, PH.D. is the Director of Financial & Policy Analysis for the Philadelphia City Controller and works on critical issues relating to Philadelphia's fiscal and economic health. In addition to data-driven analyses of issues including property tax reform and delinquency, the efficacy of tax incentive programs, the impact of charter schools on the finances of the Philadelphia School District, and the efficacy of the City's tourism and convention promotion entities, he is running two citywide initiatives on behalf of Controller Butkovitz. The Anchor Procurement Initiative aims to increase local jobs and economic activity by increasing local spending on the part of Philadelphia's major eds-and-meds institutions. The Retirement Security Initiative seeks to improve retirement security by creating a city-sponsored retirement savings plan for private-sector employers. Jeff is also active in civic life, currently serving on the board of Queen Village Neighbors Association and as Vice Chair of the Philadelphia Crosstown Coalition. As chair of the PCC’s Education Committee, he helped convene the Friends Of Neighborhood Education, a citywide network of community groups that support neighborhood public schools. He was a co-founder of the Philadelphia Public School Giving Circle, a donor-advised fund that provides small grants to disadvantaged neighborhood schools.
Peter Hotz is a seasoned entrepreneur, business leader, investor and mentor who thrives on supporting emerging health care businesses to achieve their potential. He has exceptional broad-based knowledge in the health care field, with distinctive experience in digital health, urgent care and retail medicine, integrated delivery systems, workplace health & wellness, ambulatory care practice management, pharmacy services, fitness & wellness, workers’ compensation, specialty managed care and international health care. He has comprehensive P&L and organizational leadership skills and background in business development and implementation, acquisition-driven and organic growth, corporate culture and human capital development and strategic and operational leadership in organizations ranging from startups to over $600 million in revenues. Peter has a progressive history of driving results, mentoring leaders and board-level interaction in organizations ranging from start-ups to large public companies, including extensive involvement with PE/VC firms. Peter’s specialties include Business Development & Sales Management, Financial Advisory Services [M&A representation, Due Diligence, Business Plan Preparation], Interim & Turnaround Management, Strategic & Operational Consulting, and Executive Recruitment.
Gavin Kerr is president and CEO of Inglis. He is a seasoned executive and values-based leader with demonstrated strategic insight and expertise in building high-performance teams. He is deeply committed to enhancing the independence of people with disabilities. Gavin has held executive leadership positions at Mercy Health System, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Keystone Mercy Health Plan, AssetTRADE.com, University of Pennsylvania Health System, PepsiCo and MONY Financial Services. His strong commitment to volunteerism and social equity began with his Peace Corps service in 1979. He is co-founder of Ryan’s Case for Smiles, serves on the education committee for St. John’s Presbyterian Church and leads the Masters Development Program for Whitemarsh Boat Club. Gavin is also on the editorial board of the Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal and is a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. His previous volunteer board associations include Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, the Bone Tumor Foundation, the Center for Adapted Sports and the Finance Committee of the PA Pediatric Palliative and Hospice Care Task Force.
Kevin Leigh is Senior Director at BNY Mellon Wealth Management, which is one of the nation’s top 10 wealth managers. Combining the strengths of a global financial leader with the care and commitment of a small firm, Kevin and his team draw upon leadership in all wealth management disciplines, offering an extensive range of resources that are customized to serve the unique needs of each client. Kevin is a Certified Exit Planning Advisor and international financial-services executive with 24 years of industry experience. Starting with capitalizing emerging growth companies to working with entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals on inorganic and organic growth strategies to realizing the value created in the sale of their business. At BNY Mellon Kevin helps those same successful people ponder what to do next and stay entrepreneurial while preserving the wealth they have created for themselves, their families and generations to come.
Laura Kind McKenna, Patricia Kind Foundation. Laura was trained as a family nurse practitioner with a bachelor of science degree in nursing from American University and a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania, Laura Kind McKenna has long been committed to improving the health of her community. She served for twelve years as a nurse practitioner and director of student health at La Salle University. Then in 1998, with four children at home, she was presented with the unique opportunity to run the operations of The Patricia Kind Family Foundation—her family’s foundation, recently established with a gift from the estates of her grandparents, Hedwig and Arnold Louis van Ameringen, and named for her mother. She stepped down as the Managing Trustee in 2016.
John Moore is Executive Charimain at Impact PHL and is a Managing Partner of Robin Hood Ventures, an angel investing group in Philadelphia. Prior to working at Robin Hood, John worked at Seton Company as the Controller for North, Central, and South America. Seton Company is among the world's largest suppliers of automotive leather. Before becoming Controller, John was the Special Projects Manager where he did business acquisition and development, product pricing, and the implementation of company-wide strategic initiatives. In addition to his work with Seton, John spent eight years developing cardiovascular catheters for B. Braun Medical, Inc. John holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware and an M.B.A. from Drexel University.
Mike Pearson, is the President of Union Packaging, which he founded in 1999 with the goal of bringing jobs and greater economic opportunities to the greater Philadelphia region. A true entrepreneur, Mike left Westvaco as a promising junior executive to strike out on his own. Identifying the need in the QSR Market for a quality Minority Supplier, Mike established Providence Packaging, the company that would lead to Union Packaging. Now the sole owner of U.P., Mike is leading the company forward, writing the next chapter of what has already been an exciting story. Career highlights include being an Army Airborne Ranger; Member of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce; Committee Member of the United Way; and Member of the prestigious Committee of Seventy. He has special certifications from Wharton Business School; Kellogg Business School; Six Sigma; and Lean Manufacturing.
Joseph Pyle, MA, is the President of the Thomas J. Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation. Mr. Pyle has more than 20 years of experience in behavioral health, serving eight years as a CEO at various institutions including MeadowWood Behavioral Health System, Northwestern Institute of Psychiatry, Malvern Institute, and Friends Hospital. Mr. Pyle joined Friends Hospital in 1999, and has served as part of the Hospital's executive team since that time. In 2004, he was named interim Chief Executive Officer; during his tenure, he worked with the Board of Managers to seek, evaluate, and select a joint venture partner that would preserve both the Hospital's patient care operations and continue the Board's nearly 200-year old mission. After the Board selected a partner, Mr. Pyle oversaw the legal transaction and guided the Hospital staff and community through the change process which culminated in June 2005. At the conclusion of the transaction, he was named Interim Executive Director of the Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation, which was created from a portion of the assets of the conversion of Friends Hospital to a joint venture. As of September 2006, he was appointed President of the Foundation. Prior to his administrative positions, Mr. Pyle held various clinical positions including Clinical Director of Adolescent Services at MeadowWood Hospital and psycho-educational specialist at Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic. He also held special education teaching positions in the Pennsauken, New Jersey and Montgomery County Intermediate Unit school systems. Mr. Pyle sits on several nonprofit Boards: the Advisory Board for the Philadelphia Chapter of Outward Bound, the Board of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and as a member of the Flower Show Executive Committee, as well as the Board of the Family Planning Council. He also served on the Boards of the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems and the Delaware Valley Health Care Council. A graduate of LaSalle University, Mr. Pyle holds a Master's Degree from Glassboro State College in School Psychology. He lives in Chester County with his wife and their two sons.
Sandy Festa Ryan RN, MSN, CPNP, FCPP,FAANP, FAAN is Vice President, Walmart Care Clinics, leading efforts to support Walmart’s mission to deliver quality health care at an everyday low price, and responsible for all aspects of the clinic business. A strategic senior health care executive with more than 25 years of health care and leadership experience in various settings. Prior to Joining Walmart, Sandy served as the Chief Clinical Officer for CareCam Health Systems, a digital health company focused on using innovative mobile technology to drive decreased health care costs and improved clinical outcomes, where she was responsible for all clinical aspects in the development and design of a systems platform to meet the needs of patients, providers and health care systems. Sandy was one of six founding officers of pioneering retail health clinic operator Take Care Health Systems, which was acquired by Walgreens in 2007, where she maintained operational and clinical leadership of over 400 convenient care clinics nationally. At Walgreens she played an integral role in the development and implementation of integrated technology, quality assurance programs, and evidenced-based guidelines to create a consistent and unprecedented patient-focused experience for those who sought treatment. Sandy served as the first chief nurse practitioner officer of the convenient care industry. Sandy is a highly decorated Air Force officer recognized for her leadership. Her accolades include: recipient of the Nancy Sharp Cutting Edge Award by the American College of Nurse Practitioners; first NP inducted as Fellow of Philadelphia College of Physicians; Fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners; Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing; 2011 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellow Alumnus; Convenient Care industry recipient of the Loretta Ford Award. Sandy earned a B.S.N. from Niagara University, and an M.S.N. from Arizona State University.
Frank Shaffer, EdD, RN, Faan, began his nursing career as the first male graduate from the Mercer Hospital School of Nursing. Today, he is the chief executive officer (CEO) of The Commission of Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) International, expanding and diversifying their scope of services and influencing healthcare on a global level. Along the way, Frank's career has been filled with unique experiences, all guided and influenced by his passion for learning (learning for himself and helping others learn), collaboration at all levels (one to one, between organizations, and between health-care professions), building relationships, and moving nursing forward in all practice settings.
Steve Tremitiere is Founder and CEO of GrayHare Ventures. Steve has 30 years of experience in strategic business development across a wide range of industries with focus on health and technology and has extensive background working with startups and new business initiatives. Steve worked closely with Disney, FedEx, Delta, Southwest Airlines and others to pioneer early mobile technology innovations. Steve is the co-founder of Roberto's Kids, a non profit providing sporting good to kids in the United States and Latin America, and serves on board for socially conscious organizations, including WISER, a nonprofit school based in Kenya which holistically improves health, education, and economic outcomes for girls, particularly those orphaned by AIDS; SEEDS Together, a microfinance NGO in West Africa; and Everyone On, a national nonprofit committed to providing high-speed internet access to underserved populations.
Donald M. Tretola is the Senior Vice President of Public Affairs & Program Development for Allies. He is responsible for supporting Allies mission throughout New Jersey and serves as liaison for our municipal, governmental, educational, religious, business, law enforcement, community and civic leaders.
He began his Public Affairs career with PSE&G in 1971 and recently retired with nearly 38 years of service. After serving in the military, Don attended Saint Peter’s College graduating in 1976.
He is the recipient of numerous awards including the ESGR Military Seven Seals Award from the Department of Defense, Man of The Year Award-Hamilton Area YMCA and Black History Month Community Service Award, National register’s Who’s Who In the United States, Community Award, presented by the Boys Town of Italy, Middlesex County Regional Chamber of Commerce Community Leaders of Distinction Award, Community Service Award, presented by the Trenton African-American Chamber of Commerce, the Humanitarian Award from the American Heart Association and installed in the National Italian-American Hall of Fame. Don serves on numerous community based organizations including the College of New Jersey Advisory Board, Central Jersey Junior Achievement, Mercer County Community College Advisory Board and Saint Francis Medical Center. Don holds board positions throughout New Jersey including the Department of Defense Military and Veterans Affairs State of New Jersey Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve, Middlesex County 200 Club, Middlesex County Chiefs of Police, Corporate Member New Jersey Police Chiefs Association, New Jersey State Police Memorial Association, New Jersey State PBA Widows and Orphans Committee, Greater Mercer County Chamber of Commerce, The ESGR Executive Board and the Honor Legion of Police Departments of New Jersey. Don Is the past Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus.
Funders & Investors
BNY Mellon
Community Caring Alliance
Green Tree Community Health Foundation
Independence Foundation
Independence Blue Cross Foundation
Inglis Foundation
Investor's Circle
NFP Lincoln Benefits Group
Knight Foundation
The Patricia Kind Family Foundation
The Philadelphia Foundation
Public Health Fund
Public Health Management Corporation
The Thomas Scattergood Foundation
Wells Fargo
How to Invest
SIJ is a volunteer-driven journal and nonprofit, which relies on support from local and national foundations and investors. If you are interested in investing or becoming a member of the advisory board, please contact Tine Hansen-Turton at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.