board of directors

  Richard Dowgun is a member of RSVP- VEC (Retired Senior Volunteer Program -Volunteer Executive Committee).  Richard was the RHC Information and Telecommunication Director -CIO of St. Francis Medical Center before retiring.  He was responsible for all aspects of Information Technology and Telecommunications for this Regional Health Corporation in central New Jersey.  Before that he was the Director of Information and Telecommunication Systems for Temple University Hospital Episcopal Division. Richard received a BA in English Literature from University of Sussex in Brighton, England. A Ph.D. in English Literature from University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania with a Health Care Systems Major.  He graduated with distinction.  

  Shauna Yeldell  has over twenty years of banking and finance experience managing commercial relationships with very diverse industries.  Her experience includes start-up entities, growth companies, non-profit organizations, government-guaranteed and community development projects.  She is currently a business consultant for the Temple University Small Business Development Center. Shauna has served on numerous non-profit boards of directors and has been an active member of every community that she has lived.  Throughout her career, Shauna has maintained an affinity for developing sustainable communities through economic development of under-served populations. She has a Doctorate of Business Administration degree at Temple University’s Fox School of Business.  Shauna holds an MSA degree with a concentration in Finance from Lincoln University and a BS degree in Industrial Engineering from Mississippi State University.   

  Zoe Rind spent her career as an elementary school teacher and administrator serving under-resourced communities in both district and charter schools in New York City.  After finding a meaningful yoga practice and spending the last year traveling, Zoe recently relocated to this area to be closer to her parents who retired to the Kendal-Crossland Community and to enjoy the delights of the beautiful Brandywine Valley.  Zoe works as a Project Manager for Teaching Lab, an organization working to shift the paradigm of teacher professional learning to achieve educational equity. She holds a B.A. from Haverford College in Political Science as well as graduate degrees from St. John’s University (NY) in Elementary Education, from Stanford University in Education Policy, and from the City University of New York in Educational Leadership.  

Jonette Marcus is the Manager of Educational Partnerships in Pennsylvania and Delaware for a national, non-profit educational organization, Center for the Collaborative Classroom.  She has nearly twenty years of K-12 experience as a teacher, administrator and consultant. Before joining the Collaborative Classroom, Jonette created the first-ever comprehensive literacy plan PK-12 and implemented the first district-wide elementary writing program at Coatesville Area School District as a district administrator.  Prior to her administrative role in Coatesville, Jonette taught various elementary grades in both Philadelphia and Brooklyn. She has been actively involved in the Coatesville community for the last nine years. Jonette received her BA in Psychology from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University; her MEd in Elementary Education from West Chester University; and, her MEd in Educational Leadership from Cabrini College.

 Michael Weiss received his BA degree from Long Island University. He completed MS and Ph.D. degrees in Speech Science at Purdue University. His first position was a Joint appointment as Coordinator of Research, Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center/Senior Research Associate, Department of Speech Communication, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.  He was an Assistant Professor at Howard University, Washington, D.C. He held a Joint appointment as Co-Director/ Scientific Director of an NIH funded Information Center for Hearing, Speech, and Disorders of Human Communication, and Instructor, Department of Laryngology and Otology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland. Additional appointments included a position as Associate Professor of Human Communication Disorders, Department of Otolaryngology, Creighton University School of Medicine and Coordinator of Continuing Education and Media Development for the Boys Town Institute for Communication Disorders in Children in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1978 he joined the faculty of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, West Chester University, where he remained until his retirement in 2013. Michael has served as an officer on the Boards of the Cerebral Palsy Association of Chester County and the Hill Top Preparatory School, Rosemont, PA. 

 Sara Getchell:  Sara works as a mortgage advisor for Whitecap Mortgage in Kennett Square.  She grew up in Coatesville, and after moving to L.A. and Arizona, came back home, and currently resides there again with her husband and two kids.  Sara has a BA in Musical Theatre from West Chester University, teaching certification in English, as well as a background in event planning and management.  She is excited to work with AHHAH as it involves bringing so many of her passions for children and helping them learn and grow verbally and creatively. 

 Carin Brastow:. Most recently Carin was the managing Director of Enchantment Theatre Company, an international theater company for children and families. She has over thirty years of experience of nonprofit & events management across broad industries. Prior to Enchantment Theatre she was the Director of Development at OperaDelaware, where she focused on connecting to the community through a variety of educational and event programs. She was instrumental to the success of the company’s turnaround by designing an in-depth plan that propelled OperaDelaware towards a sustainable future in an ever-changing environment. She attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids Michigan in Communications, Arts and Sciences and Business minor.