Mr. MacDonald’s deep concern for the community is evidenced by his involvement in many voluntary associations across the city. He currently serves as president of the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations, and the Kensington and Allegheny Business Association, while also sitting on the executive board of the American Street Erie Avenue Business Association and the Commerce Department’s Urban Industry Initiative. He recently joined the board of Northeast Hospital, and is active on the board of First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy. The former head golf coach of Temple University, Mr. MacDonald remains very active in the scholastic golf arena, serving on the boards of the Greater Philadelphia scholastic Golf Association, the John Dyniewski Foundation, and The First Tee Center of Philadelphia.

A proud graduate of Temple University, where he earned an M.Ed. and a BS. in business, Mr. MacDonald is a frequent conference speaker at regional and national economic development forums including the Business Roundtable, National Conference on Community Economic Development, and University of Pennsylvania’s International Business Forum.



Ms. Karin Coger, Vice President
Karin Y. Coger is an associate at Wong Fleming. Her practice focuses on employment and labor law, commercial law, civil rights law and entertainment law. Prior to joining Wong Fleming, Ms. Coger practiced criminal law within the Office of the Public Defender in Trenton, New Jersey. Ms. Coger is admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York.

In 1999, Ms. Coger graduated, cum laude, from Hampton University with an undergraduate degree in Mass Media Arts. She subsequently received her Juris Doctorate from Howard University School of Law in 2002. During law school, Ms. Coger served as the Sub-Regional Director of the Mid-Atlantic Region for the Black Law Students Association and she was a member of the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association.

Ms. Coger is a member of the New Jersey Bar Association and the Women Lawyers Committee and the Young Lawyers Committee of the Mercer County Bar Association. Ms. Coger is an active member of the National Association of Black Female Executives in Music and Entertainment and Big Brothers Big Sisters.



Mr. Leonard Lebowitz, Treasurer
Leonard Lebowitz is the Administrative Services Director of the Philadelphia Police Department and is responsible for the Department's Budget, Payroll, Purchasing and Accounting systems as well as their Capital Projects.

Mr. Lebowitz has an A.A. from Community College of Philadelphia and has a B.S. and M.B.A. from Temple University

Mr. Lebowitz and his wife Carol, a Kindergarten teacher with the Philadelphia School System, are proud parents of Helene, a Technical Support Specialist with I.B.M., and Brian a Post Doctorate fellow in Neuropsychology.

Mr. Lebowitz has over thirty-five(35) years of managerial experience with the City. Prior to his current position, he was the Human Resource Director for the Police Department. In this position, Mr. Lebowitz was appointed the Department's Compliance Officer and played an active role in the Department increasing the number of Afro-American and Hispanic Police Officers. He was also a member of the city's negotiating team in regard to Police and School Crossing Guards employment contacts.

Mr. Lebowitz is a part-time instructor at Community College of Philadelphia teaching several management and human resource courses.

Mr. Lebowitz is an active member of the Police Department Commander' Sports Team, a basketball team that visits Philadelphia Middle Schools to promote the Police Department's Anti-Drug program.

Mr. Lebowitz holds membership and offices in several police and civic organizations.
Southeastern PA.



Ms. Anita Kaiser, Member
Mrs. Kaiser is Legislative Assistance for State Representative John J. Taylor. Mrs. Kaiser is currently working at the district office in Juniata Park. She works closely with the neighborhood attempting to solve all types of problems ranging from issues with a drivers license to acquiring birth certificates to abandoned cars. Prior to joining Representative Taylor's group she was employed with The Union League of Philadelphia. Kaiser was in charge of numerous tasks such as coordination luncheons, business events, maintaining a variety of databases. She is a 1999 graduate of Thomas Edison High School and is currently an undergraduate student at LaSalle University. She is studying for a bachelor's degree in Psychology and anticipates becoming a Child Psychologist. Anita looks forward to some day working with a child who may happen to be living in a broken and/or dysfunctional family and/or environment that needs some professional counseling. She has a beautiful baby girl named Gianna.



Barbara Saunders, Member
Currently, Ms. Saunders is a "Stay-at-home" parent for two of First Philadelphia students, ages 9 and 7. Her experiences as a parent, is growing and developing every day and is proud of the outcome and happy to have her children at First Philadelphia Charter.

Ms. Saunders' formal work experience is in the field of Human Services, of which
she was employed for 14 years. She worked first at Lynch Community Homes, of Montgomery County, where working her way up through the ranks, she supervised several community living arrangement facilities. Most of those facilities dealt with challenging behavioral issues.

At Overbrook, a division of Overbrook School for the Blind, Ms. Saunders supervised a sheltered workshop program, developed behavior programs, trained staff etc. More proudly, she participated in the Mission Statement Committee, which, as the name indicates, developed the Mission Statement of the Friedlander Program. The staff, under her supervision, as well as herself formally, re-named the sheltered workshop program with the acronym F.O.C.U.S. (Finding Opportunities Created though Unique Support).

Ms. Saunders has also participated in developing and reviewing the overall financial budget for the Philadelphia School District's Headstart program, participated in a partnership with Univ. Of Penn to develop a functional study of Head Start students and how to tract their success, she has also been involved in the decision making process on just about every level of the Head Start, including renaming sites, opening new sites, qualification criteria, hiring procedures, and even disciplinary issues. As Chairperson, Ms. Saunders also had the shared responsibility to host and be interviewed by the Federal Government for their routine review of the overall program. From these experiences, Ms. Saunders learned how to function as a parent in a cooperative effort with the school and the importance for a cooperative relationship to exist. She feels both honored and privileged to be able to serve on the Board for First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy.



Ms. Sharon Dennison, Member
Sharon Dennison is enjoying her life as a retired librarian She received her BA from Rosemont College. At Drexel University School of Library and Information Services, Sharon received her MSLIS (Masters in Library & Information Sciences).





During her career at the Free Library of Philadelphia she was:

	Supervisor, Overdues Department
	Clerical Supervisor, Cataloging Department
	Adult Services Specialist
	Branch Manager

Current positions include:

	Board Secretary, Aldersgate Youth Services Bureau, Willow Grove, PA
	Board Treasurer, Philadelphia Unemployment Project, Philadelphia, PA
	Reading Group Leader, Center In The Park, Germantown, PA
	Member, American Library Association
	Member, Pennsylvania Library Association
	Member, Past Secretary, Drexel University Alumni Association
	Member, Past Secretary, Olney Neighbors Civic Association

Awards received include:

	Free Library Of Philadelphia President’s Award for Distinguished Service - 1986, 1991, and 1994
	Mayoral Citation for Distinguished Service - 2004

Mr. Gerald L. Santilli,

Mr. Santilli has always been active in community activities serving as PTA president when his children were in elementary school, as treasurer, board of education member for his church and on various community organizations.

He is also known for his early work in the charter school movement in Pennsylvania having implemented the program for the School District of Philadelphia and was instrumental in the implementation of numerous charter schools in the City of Philadelphia. He served as the Board Treasurer for LEAP Academy University Charter School in Camden, NJ, is the Treasurer of the Alliance of Boards of Charter Schools (PA) and is the founder of First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy. Gerald is married to a second grade teacher and has two children, who are both college students.



Ms. Karen DelGuercio, Treasurer Emeritus
Employment:
Ms. DelGuercio is presently retired. She is the Founder of MaST Community Charter School. She was a former Cluster Leader for the School District of Philadelphia. In addition, she was both a High School and Middle School Principal for the School District of Philadelphia.

She has given many conference presentations in the educational field. At Partnership for After School Education she did a presentation on, "The Role of the Independent Assessor in Evaluating School Programs". At the Charter Schools Conference she presented, "Establishing a Charter School". For LaSalle University she gave the presentation, "Peer Mediation and Conflict Resolution Programs". The University of Pennsylvania had Ms. Delguercio present, "Using Social Workers Effectively in Schools". The ASCD had the presentation, "Strategic Planning for High School Reform. Block Scheduling."