Power Moves is a semi-regular column chronicling leadership movements within Philly’s social impact community. Send announcements to philly@generocity.org.

1. Academic administrator Uva Coles starts a new gig today.

Peirce College’s VP of institutional advancement and strategic partnerships is now Widener University’s associate VP of civic and global and engagement.

“It means I will lead a new center that will centralize Widener’s priorities around inclusive community relations, partnership development, civic engagement, service learning and global strategies,” Coles wrote in an email. “And I will do so with a strong team that has been seeding this ground for some time and is excited about amplifying this work even further locally, nationally and globally.”

The Ignite Philly 21 guest curator and Introduced speaker worked at Peirce for nine years, including as VP of student services and executive advisor for the college’s Diversity Council.

“I see roles as assignments and firmly believe I have completed the assignment I was charged with stewarding at Peirce and am now ready for an assignment with even broader potential for impact,” she said. “The best news? The new role will leverage my background, experience, and passion for ensuring we are finding alignment between higher ed, workforce, and the communities we occupy. Better yet? I will continue to do this work with a focus on diversity, inclusion and equity. Today, more than ever, it matters immensely.”

Read Coles’ guest post on the ways employers can shrink Philly’s economic divide here.

2. Markita Morris-Louis is getting Karin Copeland’s old job at the Arts + Business Council.

Markita Morris-Louis. (Courtesy photo)

Clarifi’s SVP of community affairs and general counsel takes on the executive director position within the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia on Nov. 5. Copeland stepped down from the role in June.

In an email, Morris-Louis said she hopes to bring “strategic leadership, programmatic focus and and alignment with the needs of our region’s creative community and a race/gender equity and inclusion perspective to the organization.”

The graduate of the inaugural Philadelphia African American Leadership Development Forum worked at financial empowerment nonprofit Clarifi for over five years and was previously a real estate lawyer.

“I’ve had this amazingly varied career that offered me experiences in community outreach, economic development, strategic collaborations, program design, nonprofit governance and fundraising,” she said. “The only constant over my career has been my love of the arts, specifically dance.

“It seems that my personal passion for the creative arts has always been overshadowed by my professional endeavors. Finally, all of these ostensibly unrelated experiences will converge in my new role with the Arts + Business Council. That’s what makes me thrilled about this new opportunity.”

Read Morris-Louis’ advice for other women seeking leadership positions here.

3. Michelle Feldman left Keep Philadelphia Beautiful for the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania.

Michelle Feldman. (Courtesy photo)

Feldman became the housing advocacy organization’s new policy director at the beginning of September after leading the beautification nonprofit for five years.

The Drexel grad previously worked as the commercial corridor manager and communications director Frankford Community Development Corporation.

4. Mikey Ilagan left Think Company for Comcast.

The web developer and 2018 Leader List honoree became a product manager on Comcast’s accessibility team on Monday. The former Philly Geek Awards organizer was previously supporting the Comcast team but as a staffer of web design company Think.

Read his really lovely love letter to Think and a recounting of his own professional journey here.

Mikey Ilagan. (Courtesy photo)

5. Pennsylvania’s new Maternal Mortality Review Committee includes 12 local folks.

Gov. Tom Wolf announced the formation of the committee addressing maternal mortality in the state this October.

“With the alarming rate of maternal deaths in Pennsylvania, establishing this committee will help take immediate action in determining the reasons for this phenomenon and, more importantly, help to develop prevention recommendations,” Wolf said in a statement. “I’m pleased to announce the comprehensive and distinguished list of committee members who I am confident will bring their expertise with a shared goal of determining how to address the growing concern of maternal mortality in Pennsylvania.”

Local committeemembers include:

• Valerie Arkoosh — Specialist, Delaware County
• Jason K. Baxter— Maternal fetal medicine specialist, Philadelphia County
• Joanne D. Craig — Social worker, Delaware County
• Sam P. Gulino — Medical examiner, Philadelphia County
• Roy Hoffman — Specialist, Philadelphia County
• Karen Pollack — Secretary of Health appointment, Philadelphia County
• Stefanie B. Porges — Emergency medical service provider, Philadelphia County
• Loren Robinson — Secretary of Health appointment, Philadelphia County
• David F. Silver — Psychiatrist, Philadelphia County
• Nazanin E. Silver — Psychiatrist, Philadelphia County
• Sindhu Srinvias — Obstetrician, Philadelphia County
• Christina Vandepol — Medical examiner, Chester County

6. Penn State Abington hired a Citizens Bank CSR pro.

The local campus of the State College-based university recently announced two director-level hires.

Moira Baylson has been named director of strategic communications and community engagement after working as VP of regional public affairs at Citizens Bank , where she led charitable giving and community outreach efforts for four years. She previously worked as deputy cultural officer for the City of Philadelphia.

Willie L. Williams has been named as director of diversity, equity and inclusion after working as director of education and outreach at the Office of Diversity and Engagement of the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering.

7. Reinvestment Fund picked Cheila Fernandez as its new chief compliance and risk officer.

Fernandez worked for the previous 14 years as a risk management consultant at Deloitte & Touche, where she led “complex strategic, regulatory and operational changes at large domestic and foreign banking organizations,” per a press release.

She is also a founding board member and first VP of Philadelphia’s Association of Latin Professionals in Accounting and Finance as well as a member of the Women in America mentoring program.

Cheila Fernandez. (Courtesy photo)

8. Montgomery County has a new HHS director.

The county’s Department of Health and Human Services recently hired Tara Gaudin as its director.

The Norristown native recently worked as the City of Philadelphia Office of Homeless Services’ chief of staff and deputy director and previously worked as director of diversity, inclusion and equality for the American Friends Service Committee and as United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey’s director of inclusion and engagement.

9. City Year Philadelphia hired two new comms staffers.

The local branch of the national nonprofit serving urban youth via near-peer mentorships gained new marketing and creative team members in September.

Communications and External Relations Director Andrea Carter previously worked as a staff writer for C-Change Media as well as assorted communications roles at the Villanova School of Business, financial services firm Ascensus and tech company AWeber.

Marketing Coordinator Fred Scott was previously Little Giant Creative’s production and administrative coordinator.

Fred Scott and Andrea Carter. (Courtesy photo)

10. A whole bunch of boards are gaining or losing members …

• Mazzoni Center saw five “legacy” board members retire on Oct. 18: Sheila Peopples, Kelly A. Harris, Anthony R. Rodriguez, Russell H. Harris and Michael J. Wolf.
• The Pennsylvania Public Protection Office of the Attorney General’s former executive deputy attorney general, Sara Manzano-Díaz, was recently named to the Mann Center’s board of directions.
• Rashanda Perryman, program officer at The Vanguard Group; Laval Miller-Wilson, executive director of the Pennsylvania Health Law Project; and Joe Pyle, president of the Thomas Scattergood Foundation all joined the board of the Health Federation of Philadelphia this past spring.
• The Food Trust launched its Ready Set Grow initiative, which “aims to increase Farm to Early Learning activities on a statewide level in the early care and education area,” and local advisory board members are Yoshiko Yamasaki, Shenita Patterson and Galissa Jones.
• Juvenile Law Center recently announced three new board members: James Bell, founder and president of the W. Haywood Burns Institute; Judge Nancy Gertner, a professor at Harvard University; and Julia Pudlin, assistant deputy general counsel for government investigations at Comcast.
• United Way Chester County added John E.D. Larkin, is a partner at West Chester law firm Gawthrop Greenwood, PC, and QVC producer CJ Witherspoon to its board.
• Council for Relationships picked five new board members: James Ask, Rev. David W. Brown, Dr. Robert L. Perkel, Marla Green and Steven Kempf.

11. … and a whole bunch of impact folks are receiving awards this fall.

• GreenLight Fund Philadelphia awarded Cantor Fitzgerald Senior Managing Director Reginald M. Browne with the inaugural H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest Award at its fifth annual launch event on Oct. 25.
•  First Up will honor Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Rob Wonderling with the Champion Award at its Champions for Young Children event on Oct. 30.
•  State Sen. Christine Tartaglione will be named the 2018 Public Servant of the Year by City & State PA on Nov. 15.
• PhillyCAM hosted its annual CAMMY Awards on Oct. 20 and honored local media makers in categories such as the Community Responder Award and the Collaboration Award; see all winners here.