The Barra Foundation

2/25/2016 |

Alain Oliver is the Executive Director of Maternal and Health Consortium (MCHC) of Chester County. MCHC delivers intense home-visiting services to support pregnant and parenting women to ensure that their children start healthy, stay healthy and succeed in school. Alain is bilingual in English and Spanish, was born in Cuba and shortly thereafter immigrated to the United States. Alain resides in Chester County with his wife and four young children.

2/25/2016 |

Thoai Nguyen is Chief Executive Officer of Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Association Coalition (SEAMAAC), an organization based in South Philadelphia that serves and advocates for hundreds of immigrant and refugee families each year. SEAMAAC’s partnerships include over 40 local and regional entities, encompassing government, healthcare providers and non-profit agencies.

2/25/2016 |

Selina Morales is the Director of the Philadelphia Folklore Project (PFP). PFP works to preserve and strengthen the folk cultural life of our communities because they believe that the quality of urban life is directly related to the persistence, diversity and vitality of our vernacular folk cultures. Selina has been an invited speaker in university and community settings on social justice and folklore, Latino folklore, folklore and education and other topics.

2/25/2016 |

Doug Miller is the Historic Site Director of Pennsbury Manor, the reconstructed home of William Penn on the Delaware. He has over 25 years of experience as a museum director having served as Director at Hope Lodge, Graeme Park, Washington Crossing and Curtin Village. Doug is an accreditation peer reviewer for the American Alliance of Museums and he serves as a volunteer consultant in AAM’s Museum Assessment Program

2/25/2016 |

Dr. Lukens strongly advocated for education and outreach as President of the Chester County Historical Society (CCHS) from 2011 to 2015. Rob’s association with the Chester County Historical Society began in 1993, as a volunteer during his under-graduate studies. Later, he was an intern at CCHS and then became Collections Manager. Rob left CCHS in 2003 to become the Head of Collections at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. His career then took him to Historic Yellow Springs and the United States Capitol Visitors Center before bringing him back to CCHS. Rob brought a special combination of his professional attitude and contagious enthusiasm for local history to all of his efforts. Sadly, he passed away on August 2, 2015 following a long fight with cancer.

2/25/2016 |

Tamela Luce is the Senior Program Officer for the North Penn Community Health Foundation and leads the foundation’s efforts to improve nutrition and food access in Montgomery County. Currently, she serves as Co-Chair for the Greater Philadelphia Food Funders. Tamela has a Master of Public Administration degree, with a concentration in nonprofit management, from West Chester University and a Bachelor’s degree in Institutions and Policy from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri.

2/25/2016 |

After serving as the organization’s Program Director for seven years, Kimberly Kirn became Need in Deed’s third Executive Director in July 2012. Need in Deed uses a teacher network model to bring service-learning to 3rd through 8th grade classes in Philadelphia public schools.

2/25/2016 |

Amanda Jefferson is Executive Director of Summer Search Philadelphia, a national youth development organization that is helping 200+ low-income students in Philadelphia to develop the skills and character traits they need to become college-educated leaders who give back to their families and communities. Amanda began her career in Washington, DC in international education, worked in Chile while completing a bilingual MBA and then returned to the U.S. to advance Wharton Executive Education’s Social Impact initiatives.

2/25/2016 |

Ami Patel Hopkins is the Vice President of Teaching, Learning and Innovation at the Philadelphia Education Fund. Previously, she served as Deputy Education Officer to Mayor Michael Nutter. Ami currently serves as a board member of YESPhilly, is on the Executive Committee of PhillyCORE Leaders, and is on the Advisory Board of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association.

2/25/2016 |

Helen Haynes is the Chief Cultural Officer for the City of Philadelphia, Office of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy (Creative Philadelphia), appointed by Mayor Michael Nutter. Prior to joining Creative Philadelphia, Helen was the Director of the Office of Cultural Affairs at Montgomery County Community College for twelve years. Helen previously served as the Managing Director for Full Circle Theatre and Director of the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts.