Philadelphia Foundation recently announced that Kate Allison is the new chair of its board of managers. The appointment is part of a transition plan announced last year by the previous chair Anthony J. Conti.

“Kate is an exceptional business and civic leader, and a passionate community advocate,” Pedro A. Ramos, president and CEO of the foundation, said via the announcement. “Strategic and creative, her leadership has already made an impact.”

Allison is the founder of the strategic communications firm Karma Agency, of which she was CEO for 21 years. Earlier in her career, she served for eight years as managing director for GolinHarris, and as VP of public affairs for Fidelity Bank (now Wells Fargo), for another eight years.

According to the announcement, Allison served on Philadelphia Foundation’s board of managers from 2010 to 2018. In 2019, she led the Second Century Committee, and in 2015, she chaired the search committee that engaged Ramos.

She is a member of the board of trustees of The Academy of Music; has been a member of the dean’s advisory council for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences of Villanova University for the past seven years: and a member of the executive committee of the board of directors of Summer Search for the the past four. She formerly served on the executive committee, and as the director of the board of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.

“There are both great opportunities and significant challenges facing our region that call the Philadelphia Foundation to continue to grow its capacity to lead, fund and serve efforts that overcome disparities and expand the inherent potential we have as a great metropolitan area,” Allison said via the announcement of her appointment.

A resident of Gladwyne, Allison holds two bachelor’s degrees from Villanova University.

In addition to Allison’s appointment, the foundation announced that it has added three new members to its board:

• Christina Mesires Fournaris is a partner at Morgan Lewis & Bockius, and leader of its Private Client Group. Fournaris is also an adjunct lecturer of trusts and estates at the University of Pennsylvania, and holds a bachelor’s degree from Smith College and her law degree from Cornell Law School.
• Dixie James is the president and CEO of Einstein Healthcare Network Philadelphia. She sits on the board of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Heart Association, and on the board of Philabundance, where she serves as vice-chair. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut and a master’s degree from Loyola College.
• Jane Scaccetti is the CEO of Drucker & Scaccetti. She serves as a trustee of Temple University, and of Salus University.  She serves as a Champion of Change of the Thirty Percent Coalition, and is a member of The Women’s Nonprofit Leadership Initiative. She has also served at various times on the boards of Temple University Health System, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia Center City District Foundation, and Friends of Rittenhouse Square, as well as on the corporate boards of Myers Industries, Inc. and Penn National Gaming, Inc. In 2020, she became chair of the board of Mathematica.

Get stories like this daily in your inbox