Dr. Howard B. Slaughter Among Those Elected to The Pittsburgh Foundation Board
New role created for local nonprofit leaders
April 1, 2009
PHLF News
The Pittsburgh Foundation has broadened membership of its Board of Directors to include community leadership representing key nonprofit organizations serving the southwestern Pennsylvania region.
Two positions have been created under the initiative, and the first directors elected to the Foundation’s Board to serve in this role are Lisa Schroeder, Executive Director of Riverlife, and Walter Smith, Ph.D., Executive Director of Family Resources, who will each serve a single three-year term.
The Foundation also elected three new full-term Board members, Maxwell King, Executive Director of the Fred Rogers Center, Claudette Lewis, Special Assistant to the Director of Allegheny County Department of Human Services, and Howard B. Slaughter, Jr., D.Sc., President and Chief Executive Officer of Landmarks Community Capital Corp., who each are eligible to serve up to three, three-year terms.
Additionally, former Foundation Chairman, George A. Davidson, Jr. who retired from the Board in March 2008, was re-elected following a one-year absence and he also may serve up to three, three-year terms. The elections increase the Board’s membership to 19 directors.
“As our region’s community foundation and a fulcrum for local philanthropy it is vital that we maintain strong and diverse Board membership that is representative of our community,” said Greg Curtis, Chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. “The Foundation is entering a new era as an agent for transformative change in our community, and I am delighted to welcome our new Board members whose knowledge, insight and passionate commitment will be of invaluable support.”
“I am especially pleased that our Board includes representatives of nonprofit organizations, since this sector is central to the Foundation’s missions and to our successful engagement with and understanding of the critical needs and issues in our Pittsburgh region,” said Grant Oliphant, the Foundation’s President and CEO.
Under Lisa Schroeder’s leadership, Riverlife – established in 1999 to create a vision and master plan for Pittsburgh’s riverfronts – is creating a metropolitan scale waterfront park along 12 miles in the heart of Pittsburgh, comprised of new parks, water landings, bridge connections and lighting.
Ms. Schroeder raises capital funds from public and private sources and manages liaison with elected officials, foundations, nonprofit organizations and commercial real estate owners and developers.
Dr. Walter Smith joined Family Resources in 1987 and became Executive Director in 1997. Family Resources serves more than 20,000 children, teens and adults residing in Allegheny County with concerns related to preventing and treating child abuse and neglect. Dr. Smith is a licensed psychologist with a private practice that specializes in treating children, couples, and families. He is the founding member of the Western Pennsylvania Family Center, an education resource center for lay and professional persons interested in family therapy and family studies.
Maxwell King is the Executive Director of the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at Saint Vincent College. The Center was established in 2003 to serve as a national and international resource for addressing emerging issues affecting children and families. Mr. King retired as President of The Heinz Endowments in 2007, where he led initiatives to improve the quality of life of this community and presided over the awarding of more than $500 million in grants.
As Special Assistant to the Director, Allegheny County Department of Human Services, Claudette Lewis has been responsible for the implementation of Change Management processes during the consolidation of the agency. She has spent the past twenty years spearheading important social causes for several non-profit organizations: the Episcopal Urban Caucus in Washington, DC; the Connecticut Interfaith Housing Coalition in Hartford, Connecticut; and the Housing Authority’s HOPE VI Project in New Haven, Connecticut. Mrs. Lewis is married to The Reverend Dr. Harold Lewis, the rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside.
Dr. Howard B. Slaughter, Jr. is President and Chief Executive Officer of Landmarks Community Capital Corporation, a non-profit and Chief Executive Officer of Landmarks Development Corporation, a for-profit, both wholly owned subsidiaries of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. Both companies provide economic development financing to nonprofit and private developers respectively in Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio and West Virginia. He was formerly Director of Fannie Mae’s Pittsburgh Community Business Center; he also served as Vice President of Dollar Bank’s Community Development, where he led the bank to its first ever “outstanding” CRA rating and he received a gubernatorial appointment and was unanimously confirmed by the Pennsylvania State Senate to the board of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. He is also the Treasurer of the Board of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh and has received numerous local, regional, educational and national awards for charitable and community service.
George A. Davidson, Jr., is the retired Chairman of the Board of Dominion Resources. Mr. Davidson previously served for 18 years on the Foundation’s Board, most recently as Chairman. He is a Trustee and past Chairman of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Chairman Emeritus of the Civic Light Opera and a member of the Boards of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the Sewickley Valley Hospital Foundation. Mr. Davidson is a Trustee of the University of Pittsburgh, Chairs the Board of Visitors of the Katz Graduate School of Business and is Vice Chair of the Board of Visitors of the School of Engineering.