Blake Henry is the Housing Director and Program Team Lead at Ripple Community Inc., a nonprofit organization focused on creating social connections among those who are homeless or housing insecure. Blake has fallen in love with the people of the city of Allentown and looks forward to seeing the city…

Thespina Godshalk is a 2009 graduate of Chestnut Hill College, where she completed her master’s degree in counseling mental health with a specialization in child and adolescent therapy. Thespina is a licensed professional counselor and clinical educator with certifications from the Sanctuary Model in trauma-informed care and from the Pennsylvania…

Carol Andersen is the CEO of Bloom For Women, whose mission is to provide sanctuary and a continuum of care to heal, empower and employ women survivors of sex trafficking and exploitation. Bloom’s two-year residential program is part of a network of more than 75 programs that follow the nationally…

Michael Shaffer is Vice President of Community-based Services at Pinebrook Family Answers, where he has administrative oversight of the out-of-home placement and adoption services; in-home family-support, family education and school engagement programs; and reentry services. Michael began his career at Pinebrook in 1989 after earning a bachelor’s degree in criminal…

Yolanda is a seasoned urban community organizer and advocate who focuses her efforts on the day-to-day operations of Cohesion Network. She is dedicated to optimizing the impact of existing community programs and resources, ensuring the efficient functioning of vital services at the grassroots level. Previously, s he served as a…

Crystal Perez is the Assistant Director of Health Services with the Allentown School District and is deeply committed to promoting health and wellness to the Allentown community. First and foremost, Crystal is a nurse who obtained her bachelors of science in nursing from The College of New Jersey. After working…

Christine Rivera, BSN, RN, graduated in 2018 from the Cedar Crest College School of Nursing, Allentown. She is currently completing her MSN in Executive Leadership at Chamberlain School of Nursing. Prior to joining Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN), she worked in other institutions providing bedside care. Christine joined LVHN in…

Christina Graham (she/her) is a public health researcher passionate about using data to inform evidence-based programming. She earned her master's of public health from George Washington University and her bachelor's in epidemiology from the University of Rochester. Christina previously worked as a Research Technologist for Penn State University's Administrative Data…

Blake Ritchey is the Vice President of Human Resources for Community Services For Children (CSC), a non-profit organization dedicated to preparing young children and their families to succeed in learning and in life. CSC operates Pennsylvania’s Early Learning Resource Centers throughout 17 counties in the Northeast and provides Head Start…

First Cohort Susan Bartels, Debrah Cummins, Susan Jones, Julia Kocis, David Mickenberg, Pam Russo, Yamil Sanchez Second Cohort Hasshan Batts, Kim Brown, Veronica Gonzalez, Samantha Shaak, PhD, Miriam Huertas, Dan Kunkle, Stacy Milo, Timothy Mulligan, William Vogler, PhD Third Cohort Becky Bradley, Shannon Calluori, Beth Careyva, MD, Christi Dominguez, Radhika…