Historic Friends Center Names New Leadership

Friends Center Corporation, the historic Center City compound for Quaker and peace and justice-oriented nonprofits, has named Christopher Mohr as its new executive director.

Mohr previously spent three years as the resource development manager at Community Design Collaborative, which gave him an “opportunity to learn about Philadelphia, its neighborhoods, and the nonprofits here,” he said.

A practicing Quaker who lives in Germantown, Mohr was eager to work in the Quaker field. The leadership position at Friends Center, he said, “seemed like a good fit.”

Along with meeting areas and an active worship room, Friends Center is also a 65,000-square-foot office space, home to tenants like the Scattergood Foundation, College Possible, and American Friends Service Committee. Forty-three organizations (both Quaker and non-Quaker) are located there.

In addition to the values of peace, justice and equality, Quakers are also focused on environmental stewardship. The green-certified compound underwent a Platinum LEED renovation in 2010. “We have geothermal wells, use wind power for our electricity, and we manage the stormwater runoff on-site,” Mohr said.

Mohr hopes Friends Center will be an example to other organizations seeking to incorporate sustainable technology.

“Our primary goal is to maintain as green a building as we can that works well for the many groups that are doing good work here,” he said. “When we’re doing our job right, we fade into the background and let the people doing the nonprofit work come to the foreground.”