Pennsylvania Humanities Council Welcomes Four New Board Members

Pennsylvania Humanities Council’s (PHC) Board of Directors has elected four new members: Seulky McInneshin (Philadelphia), Jane Sheffield (Hollidaysburg), Michael Smith (Pittsburgh) and Omar Woodard (Philadelphia).

All four incoming members began November 1 and are eligible to serve up to two successive three-year terms.

“We are excited to bring aboard such talented and accomplished leaders,” said Silas Chamberlin, chairman of PHC’s Board of Directors. “Seulky, Jane, Michael and Omar each bring impressive levels of experience that will help us in our ongoing work to put the humanities into action to create positive change throughout Pennsylvania.”

PHC is governed by a 24-seat board of directors, which is made up of both elected individuals and governor appointees. Currently 21 members serve on the board with backgrounds in business, law, education, philanthropy, government, and arts and culture.

Biographies of new members follow. Additional information about board members is available at pahumanities.org/board.

Seulky McInneshin is Executive President at The Enterprise Center. She has led The Enterprise Center and its affiliates in fundraising development to support advancing minority entrepreneurship as a sustainable solution toward economic parity, equitable community development impact, and inclusive capital investments. Dr. McInneshin has also held various nonprofit and higher education leadership positions in arts and culture, social services, and around diversity and inclusion issues, and is a retired academic.  She holds a B.A. from Duke University, a M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, and is certified in nonprofit management from the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government. She currently serves as an executive committee member of the Asian Mosaic Fund and a steering committee member for the Women’s Way’s Women’s Economic Security Initiative.

Jane Sheffield is the Executive Director of the Allegheny Ridge Corporation. While there she has spearheaded several initiatives including public/private partnerships resulting in certified historic rehabilitation and organizational sustainability, regional large landscape projects including the Main Line Canal Greenway™, and curriculum development and education outreach. Jane earned a BA in Economics and Psychology from Duke University and a Masters in Landscape Architecture, Community Design Policy from NC State University School of Design. Her volunteer activities include serving as Treasurer for the September 11th National Memorial Trail, Vice-Chair of the Hollidaysburg Planning Commission, board member of several non-profits, President of Holy Trinity’s Episcopal Church Women, and Flower Garden Manager for St. Vincent de Paul Food Donation Project at the Monastery Gardens.

Michael Smith is the Manager of Foundation and Government Giving at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, a non-profit arts-presenting organization that curates Pittsburgh’s 14-block Cultural District.  In this capacity, he has enabled the growth of the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival, the Three Rivers Arts Festival, and arts integration residencies in K-12 schools across the region. Michael is also a doctoral candidate at Duquesne University, writing on geocriticism and American railspace.  He has presented this research at the Modern Language Association Convention, the National Humanities Conference, and the American Literature Association conference.

Omar Woodard is executive director of GreenLight Fund Philadelphia, a nonprofit venture capital firm focused on improving economic mobility, and an adjunct professor of business at Temple University. He is a board member of the Philanthropy Network of Greater Philadelphia, Global Philadelphia Association, Maternity Care Coalition, and Girard College Foundation. He is a Fellow with the Institute for Emerging Health Professions at Thomas Jefferson University, a Fellow with the Association of Black Foundation Executives, a Toyota Presidential Fellow with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, and he received the Hansjoerg Wyss Award for Social Enterprise from Harvard Business School. Omar received an M.P.A in nonprofit management, and a B.A. in International Affairs (Economics, Arabic), and a minor in public policy, both from the George Washington University, where he was a Presidential Fellow and Student Body President.