BOARD MEMBERS

President
Tina Q. Richardson

  • Dr. Tina Q. Richardson joined Pennsylvania State University Lehigh Valley campus as Chancellor in July 2015. She came to Penn State from Drexel University, where she served as associate dean of academic affairs at Drexel University’s School of Education where she served as Director of the University Assisted School, an effort to improve K-12 public education in West Philadelphia’s Promise Zone. She spent 20 years of her academic career as a faculty member at Lehigh University’s College of Education. Her extensive leadership experience in education includes the American Council on Education Institute for New Presidents, American Council on Education Fellowship, and the Higher Education Resource Services Leadership Institute. She currently serves on several community boards related to education, health, and economic development in the Lehigh Valley where she is a longtime resident. Dr. Richardson earned her bachelor’s in psychology, and a doctorate in counseling psychology, all from the University of Maryland.

Vice President
Carolyn Stennett

  • Carolyn Stennett is Vice President, Human Resources at Victaulic Company. She leads all aspects of Victaulic’s Human Resources organization and people strategy, including Talent Management, Compensation and Benefits, Learning and Development, Leadership Development, and the creation and execution of employee policies that support Victaulic’s strategic objectives. She joined Victaulic in 2015. Before Victaulic, Carolyn served as Assistant General Counsel for United Technologies Corporation, where she was responsible for developing and implementing the legal strategies for the corporation’s merger, acquisition, and divestiture activities in North America. Carolyn also served as Deputy Director and General Counsel for the National Head Start Association. She also held the position of Chief Operating Officer for the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, the District of Columbia’s juvenile justice agency responsible for the care and supervision of court-involved youth. Carolyn currently serves on the board of trustees for Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, ESSA Bank and Trust, Allentown Art Museum, and Cedar Crest College. Carolyn holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Howard University, a J.D. from Boston College Law School, and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University Kennedy School.

Board Member
Sherri L. Manson

  • Sherri L. Manson is an Executive Administrator for the Interim Dean and Associate Deans in the School of Education (SoE) at Drexel University. Joining Drexel in 2009, Sherri began in the Office of Equality and Diversity as the Equal Employment Opportunity Coordinator and transitioned to the SoE in 2011. She Co-Chairs SoE’s Critical Conversations in Urban Education since 2016. As part of Drexel’s Academy of Natural Sciences IDEAL Charter Team, she supports the cultivation of a community environment of inclusion, and access within the institution. She also Co-Chaired the SoE Dean’s Equity Leadership Team focused on a transformation plan to ensure sustainability of anti-racist systems. She coordinates the operations for a cohort of elder community researchers as part of a grant entitled “Arts-centered Community Action: How Public Arts Programming Strengthens Civic Infrastructure and Promotes Civic Innovation” through JoY Lab, housed in SoE. Ms. Manson received a B.A. degree from Sweet Briar College and a M.B.A. from Keller Graduate School of Management.

Board Member
Brenda Deets

  • Brenda has over twenty years experience in the financial services industry, leading teams in the areas of customer service, collections, business development and supplier management. She has managed and been responsible for portfolios of varying sizes from $500 million to $3.6 billion.

    Brenda currently serves as Vice President, Community Lending for Citizens Bank. In this role, Brenda develops strategies and monitors business programs that demonstrate adherence to Fair Lending and Community Reinvestment regulations.

    From January 2019- January 2020, she was co-pillar lead of Citizens’ Business Resource Group PRISM, a multicultural group dedicated to highlighting career opportunities for colleagues, financial literacy for communities and volunteer events in Citizens’ footprint

    In April 2019, Brenda was recognized as one of Citizens’ Credo champion, given to top 3% of colleagues recognizing performance and living values.

    Brenda is actively involved in the non-profit Better Investing, and serves as a state chapter director. Better Investing is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating investors and investing clubs to become successful lifelong investors.

    Brenda holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Technology Advisor
Elena Kenney

  • Elena Kenney earned a Bachelor of Science degree in neuroscience with a minor in psychology from Temple University where she graduated with summa cum laude. She is currently pursuing a Master in Science degree in Data Science at Eastern University.

    She is a Pennsylvania native and has returned to the Lehigh Valley to prepare for a pivot in her career to the field of data science and analytics. Previously, she worked in healthcare, specifically in clinical research. Most recently, she was a research program coordinator leading research studies from inception at the Johns Hopkins Multiple Sclerosis Center in Baltimore, Maryland and prior to that, a data coordinator at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, working on studies with a focus on developing new immunotherapies to treat a variety of cancers.

    Elena loves to travel and approaches life, leading with curiosity as she most recently was on a trip to Ghana. Upon graduating from college she spent a year traveling and working in New Zealand on a working holiday visa and also traveled around Australia. She plans to continue to explore international opportunities.

Treasurer
Phyllis Alexander

  • Phyllis Alexander has been a champion for social justice for several decades, and civil rights professional for over twenty years working for both corporate America and city government.

    Phyllis is a experienced coalition builder and trainer and credits her skills to her 30-year plus affiliation with the National Coalition Building Institute, an international social justice/ social change organization. Phyllis has had several roles with NCBI including senior trainer and was President of the NCBI Board of Directors from 2012-2017. In addition to facilitating NCBI workshops including their Welcoming Diversity training, Phyllis facilitates a variety of conversations ranging from courageous conversations about race, to strategic planning sessions for boards.

    Phyllis has a Bachelor of Science in Economics and later received a Master of Science in Community Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University.

    As a consultant with the Promise Neighborhood of the Lehigh Valley (PNLV), Phyllis worked as the Project Director for the Leadership Without Limits Leadership Institute. In this role, Phyllis practiced her “pass the baton” strategy by supporting the leadership of mostly millennial students.

    Community engagement includes volunteering as a board member of the Freedom Memorial, a Lehigh Valley, PA non-profit dedicated to commemorating the life and continuing the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. & Coretta Scott King. Phyllis is also the Vice President of the Resurrected Community Development Corporation (RCDC), a Lehigh Valley faith-based non-profit dedicated to social justice. Per their vision statement, RCDC is committed to creating communities of equity, excellence and empowered residents.

    A former resident of Allentown, PA, Phyllis has been recognized for her community service, receiving two awards from the Allentown Human Relations Commission, an Allentown YWCA Women’s Leadership Award, the Humanitarian Award from the Allentown NAACP, and a Distinguished Woman award from the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Phyllis has two daughters and currently resides in Oak Ridge, TN.

Board Member
Jacqueline M. Jenkins

  • Jacqueline M. Jenkins is the acting executive director of Strategic Planning and Innovation at FIT, where she leads the development of the college’s strategic plan and fosters innovation. Previously, she was the dean of graduate studies at LIM College, founding key programs in fashion and supply chain management, and co-authoring Fashion Supply Chain Management. Her career includes leadership roles at the Wharton School and Milligan & Co., where she advanced opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses. She founded Add Value Day 1, advising early-stage companies, and has held positions in finance and supply chain at Ann Taylor and First National Bank of Boston. Jenkins serves on several boards, has earned multiple business honors, and holds degrees from Spelman College and the Wharton School. She is also the founder of Sophisticated Curation, a digital community for mature fashion enthusiasts.

Board Member - Emeritus
Tonya Amankwatia

  • Dr. Tonya Amankwatia is Assistant Vice Provost of Distance Education and Extended Learning at North Carolina A&T State University. Dr. Amankwatia has been active in the larger distance education and instructional technology field for over 15 years, having contributed to conferences and publications. She has teaching experience at the K12, undergraduate, graduate and non-credit professional education levels, having earned the rank of Associate Professor at both St. Petersburg College and Regent University. She worked in the educational technology industry as a higher education consultant. Her K12 consultation and research experience at Lehigh University involved one-to-one laptop initiatives in three public school districts. As a college administrator, she directed large-scale technology evaluations, implementations and professional development teams. She’s led international, governmental, regional and corporate higher education collaborations, including ones with NATO-ACT and the IBM Academic Initiatives. Her professional affiliations are consistent with her passion to provide accessible, flexible access to credentials.

Board Member - Emeritus
Joy Reed

  • Joy Buckley Reed retired from full-time employment in the spring of 2022. Her most recent professional role was as the Operations Manager at Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services in Nashville, TN through early 2022. Prior to returning to Nashville in 2018, Reed spent more than two years with Penn State Lehigh Valley as the Campus Events Coordinator and more than thirty-two years in the semiconductor industry with AT&T legacy companies; Lucent Technologies, Agere Systems, LSI, and Avago Technologies in Madrid, Spain, Berkeley Heights, NJ, and Allentown, PA. Her roles included process and product engineering, HR Compensation Manager, IT Analyst, HR Customer Service Manager, HR Business Partner, and HRIS Business Analyst. While in HRIS, she discovered her passions for process improvement and project management.

    She was active in the Lehigh Valley community through her work with Meals on Wheels of Lehigh County where she volunteered from 2009 to 2017 which also included serving as a board member for six years. She also served on the Governance Committee for the Center for Humanistic Change in Bethlehem, PA in 2018. Reed was very involved with her church, Lifechurch, where she was the Toddler Ministry leader for almost five years and the Greeter Ministry leader for two years.

    Since Retiring, Reed has become an active member in the Alpha Delta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and she is exploring other volunteer opportunities in the Nashville community. Reed grew up in Nashville, TN and received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tennessee State University in 1983.

Board Member - Emeritus
Kelley Kenney

  • Dr. Kelley Kenney is Emeritus Full Professor of Higher Education at Kutztown University and a retired Associate Professor of Higher Education at DeSales University, bringing over 40 years of experience in higher education. Throughout her distinguished career, she has held affiliate faculty appointments at institutions including The George Washington University, Reading Area Community College, Chestnut Hill College, Lehigh University, Johns Hopkins University, and Antioch University–Seattle. Dr. Kenney has 17 years of clinical counseling experience working with college students and individuals across the lifespan, along with over 30 years of graduate teaching in counseling and higher education. She has spent 25 years coordinating and directing graduate programs in higher education and has been actively involved in leadership roles at local, state, regional, national, and international levels. Her scholarly work centers on diversity, inclusion, and social justice, with a focus on multiracial individuals, couples, and families, including transracial adoptees and their families. A recognized leader in her field, Dr. Kenney has received numerous honors, including Fellow of the American Counseling Association, Diamond Honoree of the American College Personnel Association, and the Robert H. Shaffer Award for Academic Excellence as a Graduate Faculty Member from NASPA Region II. She is also a dedicated mentor, consultant, author, social justice advocate, and activist.