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Lynette M. Brown-Sow (Chairperson) is the
Vice President of Marketing and Government Relations at Community
College of Philadelphia. In 1980, she founded L.M. Brown Management
Group, a certified minority/female-owned consulting firm that
provides professional services to corporations, non-profits, and
governmental entities. As an entrepreneur, Ms. Brown-Sow helped to
create Health Pass, one of the nation's first health insurance
organizations (HIO), in the mid-1980s. In 2008, Mayor Michael
Nutter appointed her to the Philadelphia Zoning Board of
Adjustment, which she chaired from 2010-2013. In 1991,
then-Mayor Edward Rendell appointed Ms. Brown-Sow to the position
of Deputy Mayor of Administration to manage appointees to
all boards, commissions, and non-civil service positions.
A member of Cheyney University of Pennsylvania Council of
Trustees, her diverse board appointments include The Philadelphia
Tribune Co. Inc., Hahnemann University Hospital, and Girard
College. In 2009, she founded and now chairs the Hardy Williams
Education Fund, a non-profit organization that provides support for
educational endeavors, and scholarships for people interested in
careers in law, government, or social action. She is also chair of
the Board of Directors of Youth Advocate Program Inc., an
international youth service organization, and a member of the Board
of Directors of YAP Ireland.
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Leslie D. Callahan, PhD serves as pastor of
St. Paul's Baptist Church in North Philadelphia. She received her
Bachelor of Arts in Religion from Harvard/Radcliffe, her Master of
Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
and her PhD in Religion from Princeton University. Her research
interests include religious history in the United States,
particularly independent African American Christianity and
Pentecostal studies. |
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Rev. Bonnie Camarda has served as Director of
Partnerships for the Salvation Army of Eastern Pennsylvania and
Delaware since 1999 as a tireless advocate for the underserved.
Rev. Camarda co-chaired the Mayor Nutter's Faith Leaders Advisory
Task Force for Community Safety with the goal of maximizing the
neighborhoods' spiritual assets, social capital and civic values.
She is a non-violent activist encouraging mutual trust and respect
through amnesty programs that provide musical instruments to
Philadelphia schools for weapons turned in to authorities. An avid
supporter of education, Rev. Camarda serves as Moderator for the
Faith and Community Partnerships of the School District of
Philadelphia. She is also the past president of the Hispanic Clergy
of Philadelphia, which she helped co-found. |
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Asia Coney is one of two
Resident Commissioners who were elected in April of 2014 by PHA
residents, pursuant to a process created under the Pennsylvania
Housing Authorities Law, Act 130. Commissioner Coney is the
President of PHA's Resident Advisory Board. A Philadelphia native,
her dedicated community activism over the last thirty-six years has
included: advocating for public and assisted housing safety,
greater resident input into PHA decision-making, and improvement of
existing public housing conditions; conducting local and national
workshops; ensuring compliance with federal and state directives
regarding the quality of resident life; and working closely with
PHA in its creation and implementation of resident programs.
She has served on numerous City Boards, including the Redevelopment
Authority and the Malt and Beverage Board, and was paid by PHA to
serve as the Director of Tenant Support Services, Inc., which
terminated operations in 2012. Her community activism has included
the following marches: being one of two Chairs for the 1997
historic Million Woman March; Chair of the "Sistahs of the Million
Woman March" in 2007; and serving as a key organizer of the 1997
Grays Ferry March, to reduce violence and race riots. |
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Julia Danzy has extensive administrative
experience in the area of Social Services, especially child
welfare. She has served as the City of Philadelphia's Director of
Social Services; Deputy Commissioner of Health; and Operations
Director for the Department of Human Services; as well as serving
as Deputy Secretary of the Office of Children, Youth and Families,
in the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. Her work has
included oversight of the creation of a large urban area's
integrated data system for all its departments of Human Services,
Prisons, and Behavioral Health, which was responsible for the
city's homeless housing services, and has worked as a human
services consultant, with a focus on spanning area of
organizational design, integrated data systems, and program design.
She is known as a tireless advocate for children and families and a
proven leader in innovative use of human service systems.
Commissioner Danzy earned a B.A. at Howard University, an MSW at
Columbia University, and a Masters of Government Administration at
the University of Pennsylvania. She has published articles on child
welfare, made speaking appearances nationwide, served as the
President of Black Administrators in Child Welfare, and is an
Ex-Officio Board member of the Women's Opportunities Resource
Center. |
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Kenneth A. Murphy, Esq. is a partner and
vice-chair of the Products Liability and Mass Tort Practice Group
at Drinker Biddle. His background encompasses a broad area of legal
expertise in federal and state courts in New York, New Jersey and
Pennsylvania. He is a member of the International Association of
Defense Counsel and the Defense Research Institute, former
vice-chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Judicial Selection
and Retention Commission, and a former member of the Pennsylvania
Bar Association's Minority Committee. Commissioner Murphy received
his B.A. from Duke University and his J.D. from Duke University
School of Law. |
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Herbert Wetzel (Vice-Chair) is the
Executive Director of Housing and Community Development for the
Philadelphia City Council. He is also a founding member of the
board of directors and former executive director of the Greater
Germantown Housing Development Corporation. Mr. Wetzel has a long
history of community development activities and during the past 20
years, he established a small business in the Germantown section of
Philadelphia to create neighborhood-based economic development, and
also served as Director, Deputy Executive Director and, upon
appointment by former Mayor John Street, Executive Director of the
Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority. |
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Ethel Wise is one of two
Resident Commissioners who were elected in April of 2014 by PHA
residents, pursuant to a process created under the Pennsylvania
Housing Authorities Law, Act 130. Commissioner Wise is President of
the Wilson Park Family Resident Council, a native of Philadelphia
and has a personal history of involvement, community engagement and
commitment to bettering the lives of those in public housing for
over 40 years. As President of the PHA housing development at
Martin Luther King for approximately 32 years, Commissioner Wise
developed an effective job bank, a food bank and a town watch
program that was recognized as one of the best in the country, and,
in 1993, she received the Mayor's Community Service Award.
Commissioner Wise also created and managed PHA's Lobby Monitor
Program, which promoted resident safety and resident employment
with a well-defined career path. She has been a leader in providing
national and local training for Resident Councils on HUD
regulations and also has served as a Democratic Party
Committeewoman for the last 25 years. |
