Berks County Community Foundation has elected Susan Denaro, Esq. as the chair of its board of directors. Denaro has served on the board since 2020, most recently as vice chair. She succeeds Al Weber, who served as chair for the past three years and will remain on the board as immediate past chair.
Denaro is an attorney at Georgeadis Setley. She’s practiced law for more than thirty years, primarily in the areas of estate planning/administration and adoption. She also handles guardianship, real estate, and family law matters. She is the solicitor for the Prothonotary of Berks County, a position she’s held for more than twenty-five years. She has also served on the boards of the Yocum Institute and Co-County Wellness Services and is an honorary board member of both the Wyomissing Public Library and the LGBT Center of Greater Reading. She is also a sustaining member of the Junior League of Reading.
In addition to Denaro, the Community Foundation welcomed three additional members to its board this month:
Thomas F. Flynn, senior associate for advising services at the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, senior fellow at the Association of Governing Boards, and president emeritus of Alvernia University, Carissa Johnson, magisterial district justice of Reading District 23-1-02 and Rick Stoudt, president, High Construction Company.
Flynn is senior associate for advising services at the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, senior fellow at the Association of Governing Boards, and president emeritus of Alvernia University. A university president for two decades, he served previously as an academic administrator and professor of English.
A graduate of Boston College and the University of Michigan, he completed professional development programs at Harvard University. Beyond membership on local, state, and national boards, he has received awards for teaching, academic leadership, community engagement, and interfaith efforts and served as a consultant for more than two hundred universities.
Johnson has served as the magisterial district justice of district 23-1-02, which is located in Southeast Reading, since 2018. As an MDJ, she dedicates much of her time to improving the conditions of her community.
Johnson also serves as a mentor for The Sisterhood of Reading (an organization that empowers young women to achieve their dreams), and as a member of the NAACP Reading Branch, the Women2Women council of the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance, and the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. She also volunteers for the Ready.Set.Read program through the United Way of Berks County and launched the Pipeline 2 Opportunities MDJ Shadowing Program.
Stoudt began his career with Turner Construction, eventually becoming the vice president of operations overseeing noteworthy projects including Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center in Bern Township, the Santander Arena in Reading, and Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. He moved on to Hammes Company in 2007 as an executive vice president for project development, overseeing healthcare development across the country with fourteen offices nationally. In 2014, Stoudt became president of High Construction Company, where noteworthy projects in Berks County include UGI’s world-class training facility near the Reading airport.
Board members may serve three, three-year terms.
Berks County Community Foundation is a nonprofit corporation that serves as a civic leader for our region by developing, managing and distributing charitable funds aimed at improving the quality of life in Berks County.
The Community Foundation manages more than 370 charitable funds. Each year, those funds distribute scholarships and grants to support local students and assist a variety of nonprofit organizations and causes. More information is available at www.bccf.org.
