Power moves: Five new board members for Scattergood Foundation

1. Scattergood Foundation appoints five new board members

The Scattergood Foundation recently appointed five new members to its board of directors. According to the emailed announcement of of the appointments. they “represent diverse perspectives from the financial, legal, philanthropic, healthcare,
and community-serving sectors [and] will provide guidance and oversight for the Foundation in both programming and operations.”

Chris Arlene is the principal of Chris Arlene Consulting. He has previously served in several human services capacities for the United States Army Reserve; as project manager of strategic initiatives for the School District of Philadelphia; a senior analyst at Public Financial Management; and as project manager at City Year.

He also serves as a member of the board of trustees of the Free Library of Philadelphia and of Youth Service Inc. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University, and a master’s degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

John Church is  the managing director of endowment and foundation investments at The Glenmede Trust Company, where he has worked for the past 19 years. He is an alum of Skidmore College.

Steven Larín is the deputy director of Nationalities Service Center (NSC). Larín joined NSC in April of 2006 as a staff attorney. He has served in several capacities during his tenure, including legal director, interim executive director and senior director of legal and Immigration policy.

Larín has served as an adjunct professor for the immigration law clinic at Temple University – Beasley School of Law and for the political science department at La Salle University. He is a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association, the Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association – Philadelphia Chapter.

Larín holds a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College and and a law degree from Loyola Law School – Los Angeles.

Kim Paymaster serves as a program officer for the Pew Fund for Health and Human Services at the Pew Charitable Trusts. Prior to joining Pew, Paymaster was the executive director of Rodney Street Tennis and Tutoring Association; a consultant and program officer at DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation; a grants manager and senior finance analyst at United Nations Foundation; as well as serving in various capacities at CNFA, The George Foundation, the Art Institute of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools.

She’s a development and fundraising volunteer at Dawn’s Place, and holds a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University, and a master’s degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Glenda Wrenn is the chief medical officer at 180 Health Partners and an associate professor at Morehouse School of Medicine. She was previously the director of behavioral health at Satcher Health Leadership Institute, and also served as a resident physician and as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.

She is on the board of Mercy Care Atlanta, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Mental Health America of Georgia, Decatur City Church, and Skyland Trail.

Wrenn holds a bachelor’s degree from the United State Military Academy at West Point; a doctor of medicine degree from Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. She completed her residency at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; she also holds a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

“We are thrilled to have these five new members join our Board,” Joe Pyle, president of the Scattergood Foundation, said in the announcement. “They bring both national and local perspectives and will enhance our work to promote equity in behavioral health.”

2. Ana Pujols McKee and Evan Figueroa-Vargas join the board of Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity.

Left: Ana Pujols McKee; right: Evan Figueroa-Vargas. (Courtesy photos)

Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity (PLSE) announced recently that Ana Pujols McKee and Evan Figueroa-Vargas have joined its board of directors. According to the announcement of the appointments, “both were elected as a part of PLSE’s deepening engagement with public health centers and the medical community as ways of reaching, and helping, low-income people with criminal records.”

In addition, as Spanish-speaking Puerto Ricans, both are expected to be instrumental in helping to expand PLSE’s engagement with and service to Philadelphia’s Latinx communities.

McKee serves as the executive vice president and chief medical officer of The Joint Commission, and previously served as the chief medical officer and associate executive director at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and a member of the University of Pennsylvania’s faculty.  She has served on the board of the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, Public Health Management Corporation, and the Philadelphia AIDS Consortium.

The website Modern Healthcare named McKee one of the “Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare” in 2020. She received her medical degree from Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital in Philadelphia.

“Today in America,” Dr. McKee said via the announcement, “criminal records exclude millions of people from engaging fully in community and social life. They keep financial stability out of the reach of individuals and their families, for generations. That’s why I believe criminal records are a key determinant of public health, and one that the health profession can and must help address.”

According to the announcement, Figueroa-Vargas “became involved with the criminal justice system as a result of health care gone wrong — a dependence on painkillers that lead to an addiction in 2006 — and he is currently seeking a pardon for crimes he committed in 2007. After his release from prison, he earned his GED, then an associate’s degree from the Community College of Philadelphia and his bachelor’s degree from Eastern University, and expects to receive his Master’s in Social Work from Widener University within the next year.”

Figueroa-Vargas serves as employment systems program analyst at the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and disAbility Services. Prior to that he served as a program manager at Mental Health Partnerships MHPHOPE, and as a certified recovery specialist at the Council of Southeast Pennsylvania Inc. He serves on the boards of Unity Recovery Community Organization, Pathways to Housing PA, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, among others.

“As I come to the end of a nine-year educational journey,” Figueroa-Vargas said via the announcement, “I worry that no matter how much I demonstrate hard work and dedication, my criminal conviction will continue to be a barrier to me. My career goal is to be part of the solution for Philadelphians struggling with substance use disorder and homelessness. I want to be a part of the change that creates an equitable and safe Philadelphia for my wife and children. I am proud to join an organization that is so energetically and creatively working toward that future.”

3. Citizen Diplomacy International of Philadelphia announces new board chair, two new board members and one board departure.

L to r: Steve Kelly; Edgar Vesga; Gabriella Vacca; and Nancy Schure Olivieri. (Courtesy photos)

Steve Kelly, CEO and founder at ELAP Services, has become the board chair of the Citizen Diplomacy International of Philadelphia, succeeding Brian Rankin, who served in that role for three years.

Nancy Schure Olivieri has joined the board as a new member. Schure Olivieri serves in public relations for Pat’s King of Steaks, and previously served as a consultant for Dranoff Properties and Carlyle Real Estate Group. She has held sales positions at Kohler Company Baker Knapp and Tubbs; Seymore Rubin Associates; the Ritz-Carlton; and PS Business Interiors/Worldwide Furniture. She volunteers with the Jewish Federation of North America, and holds an associates degree from the Art Institutes.

The other new board member, Edgar Antístenes Vesga Arias, is the executive president and CEO of Philadelphia International Medicine. He previously served as the director of the department of international child health, and as the director of the office of international affairs at the American Academy of Pediatrics, and in various positions at the Texas Medical Center; Texas Children’s Hospital; New York Presbyterian Hospital, and St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital.

Additionally, Vesga has served on boards, committees and councils at: Heart Exchange Support Group; the National Hispanic Council of the March of Dimes; Chicago Sister Cities International; City of Houston, Mayor’s International Trade Development Council; and Greater Houston Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Houston.

Gabriella Vacca will be leaving the board after having been appointed chief technology officer at Sky Italia in Milan. According to the announcement, while a member of the board at Citizen Diplomacy, Vacca “welcomed an annual group of high school students from Milan, her home town.” Vacca has been employed by Comcast for the past 10+ years, serving variously as VP of enterprise technology, VP of the office of CIO, and VP of residential product enablement. She also previously served at Gogo, Mobile ESPN, and AT&T. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Universitá degli Studi di Torino, and a master’s degree from Golden Gate University.

4. Pennsylvania District Attorneys Institute appoints new board members.

The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Institute, the education and training arm of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, has appointed four new board members:

• Chester County DA Deborah Ryan
• Crawford County DA Francis Schultz
• Northampton County DA Terrance Houck
• Schuylkill County DA Michael O’Pake