Board of Directors:
Sr. Barbara Finch, President
Sister Barb has been a Sister of St. Joseph for over 30 years. She remains committed to changing institutional structures that cause oppression, hunger, poverty, or the diminishment of human dignity. Sister Barb is well known throughout the justice and peace community as well as the interfaith community. Her greatest gifts are consensus building and networking. She presently is working at the Allegheny County Jail as a nurse.
DeWitt Walton, Vice President
DeWitt works as Special Assistant to the President of the United Steelworkers. He is an activist in his church and with several community-based organizations, including the A. Philip Randolph Institute and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.
Mary Elizabeth McCarthy, Secretary
Mary Elizabeth serves in many capacities with Just Harvest. For the city budget campaign, she advocates for funds for food pantries at City Council meetings. She is on several Just Harvest committees. She received a Golden Eagle award for her volunteerism as an interviewer for Dollar Energy and a Jefferson Community Champions Award for her volunteer work at Just Harvest. She is on the Council of Congregations of the East End Cooperative Ministries, the St. Charles Lwanga Pastoral Council and the Central Deanery of the Diocese of Pgh for religious education. Her cerebral palsy has given her direct experience with struggle. A former teacher, Mary Elizabeth teaches religious education for inner city grade school children.
Kenneth Munz, Treasurer
Ken had extensive experience working with Homeless and Housing organizations in the San Francisco area. He arranged a partnership with San Francisco Redevelopment to purchase housing for non-profit ownership and orchestrated neighborhood approval of two housing program sites. Ken’s advocacy experience includes input into legislation at all levels. For 6 years he was Vice President and Administrator for the Society for the Preservation of the Duquesne Incline in Mt. Washington.
Sara Bennett
Sara has been on Just Harvest Board of Directors since 2008. She serves as the chair of the Board Development Committee and has also been involved on the Grassroots Fundraising and Co-Director Search Committees. Sara currently works as a community organizer for the Hilltop Alliance, an umbrella organization that represents 10 neighborhoods in the south Pittsburgh. Sara is a former intern at Just Harvest and has been a tax preparer for five years. She has experience in event planning, grant writing, and community organizing and engagement and would love to continue to utilize these skills on behalf of Just Harvest.
Alex Carlisle
Alex works as Team lead in the Grievance Department of Coventry Health. He is also on the Boards of the Kappa Scholarship Endowment Fund of Western PA and the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., East Central Province.
Barbara Coffee
Barbara works as Community Program Liaison at the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh. She is a lifetime member of the NAACP and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Her volunteer activities include a long-term involvement with the March of Dimes.
Fran Gruden
Fran is currently a sales and marketing consultant and member of MoveOn political action group, He has been active in the civil rights and civil justice movement since his college days. Fran has been active in local and national political campaigns, voter registration drives, and voter awareness campaigns. Prior to becoming a Board Member he worked with Just Harvest’s Honorary Advisory Council to utilize their skills and public status to make them better ambassadors and advocates for Just Harvest’s programs.
Theresa Orlando
Theresa Orlando is retired from Social Work. She belongs to the North Hills Anti-Racism Coalition, Call to Action, PA and Call to Action’s National Anti-Racism Training Team. She is a volunteer at the Pittsburgh Aids Task Force and a reading tutor for the Oasis Intergenerational tutoring program. She is an active member of a multi-cultural Church, member of Thomas Merton Center and active in social justice and peace movements.
Anna Redmond
Anna brings a determination and commitment to help alleviate hunger in our society. A housewife, she has available time to commit to working on community projects. She belongs to the A. Phillip Randolph Institute and has coordinated phone banks for the United Steelworkers and developed Kwanzaa programs for Christian Missionary Baptist Church.
Ann Sanders
Ann’s enthusiasm for social action has led her to volunteer with such national organizations as Amnesty International, Oxfam and the International Labor Rights Forum. She joined up with the Obama campaign very early and she enjoys telling elected officials what is on her mind. She is a regular member of Allegheny Center Alliance Church. While a student at Pitt School of Social Work and Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, Ann interned at Just Harvest. She has been a tax preparer with Just Harvest for several years.
Kathleen Sheehan
Kathleen has been a tax preparer at Just Harvest for five years. As an attorney she volunteers avidly for Neighborhood Legal Services as well as donating more than 500 hours of pro bono services annually. She belongs to the Alleghny County and Pennsylvania and American Associations, the Bar Leadership Initiative, and Assumption Parish.
Mike Stout
Mike has been a labor activist and organizer for 37 years. He is also a community advocate and Board member of the Steel Valley Authority. Mike serves on the Boards of PUSH, Battle of Homestead Foundation and the PA Labor History Society. He is the principal owner and business manager of Steel Valley Printers, an employee-owned union print shop that does business with and supports many unions, non-profits and progressive groups in the Pittsburgh and Allegheny County area.
Staff:
Tara Reynolds Marks began her relationship with Just Harvest as a volunteer, lobbying US Representatives to change welfare policies to help single parents earn their college degree. This work led to her career in politics, and Tara worked a variety of positions for candidates including, and numerous judicial and state representative campaigns in Allegheny County. Tara also served as the Family Equality Coordinator for the Women’s Law Project. Tara was a member of the Democratic State Committee, and sat on the Boards of the Steel City Stonewall Democrats, National Stonewall Democrats, and the Pennsylvania Young Democrats.
Tara graduated from the Community College of Allegheny County with 2 degrees while raising her son, and later received a BA from Carlow University and an MBA from Point Park University. She continues to support organizations that promote diversity, empowerment of woman and minorities, and equal rights for members of the LGBT community, and actively advocates to end hunger and poverty and promote economic justice for all.
Tara lives in Shadyside with her husband and four children.
Ken Regal, Co-Director Ken has been with Just Harvest since our founding in 1986, with primary responsibility for Just Harvest’s fundraising and financial management. Before working for Just Harvest, he was a community organizer with several grassroots groups, including Just Harvest’s predecessor organization (Hunger Action Coalition), where he led the organizing campaign which persuaded the Pittsburgh Public Schools to join the national School Breakfast Program. He is a graduate of Brandeis University and lives in Highland Park with his wife and son.
Rochelle Jackson, Welfare Client Advocate/Organizer Rochelle joined Just Harvest in 2001 and is an advocate and organizer for our Welfare Justice Project. She also supervises our Food Stamps Make a Difference campaign. Rochelle serves on the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Income Maintenance Advisory Committee and is the chairperson of the Allegheny County Family Support Policy Board. She has an Associate’s Degree from Community College of Allegheny County and is currently working on a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology at Carlow University. She is the proud (single) mother of four beautiful children.
Eugenia Mosby, Food Stamp Specialist Eugenia is a single mother of two from the Mon Valley. She joined our staff in August 2007, but has been involved with Just Harvest as a grassroots activist and leader for about eight years. She has also been active in the local Family Support Center system, and previously worked for Consumer Health Coalition, Head Start, and the Center for Minority Health at Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health.
Shauna Ponton, Child Nutrition Advocate Shauna has been with Just Harvest since 2001. In the past she has utilized many of the public safety net programs she works on (WIC, School Meals, Summer Food), which allows her to approach her job with dedication, understanding and empathy for the population we serve. She recently graduated from Carlow University with a degree in Social Work.
Kristie Weiland Stagno, Tax Campaign Organizer Kristie is from Butler, PA and completed her Masters in Social Work at the University of Michigan before coming to Just Harvest in 2003. She currently lives in Bloomfield with her husband and coordinates our "Give Paychecks a Boost" campaign as well as helping with a variety of other projects at Just Harvest.
Heather Seiders, Administrative Assistant As Just Harvest's first full-time Administrative Assistant, Heather manages the day-to-day office operations at Just Harvest. From answering phones to managing the Just Harvest blog to food stamp outreach, Heather works on an array of projects at Just Harvest.
Noah is a graduate from the University of Pittsburgh with dual degrees in Creative Nonfiction and United States History. He hopes to embark on a career in non-profit management. Noah hopes to address issues surrounding hunger, domestic cooperation, and international peace throughout his future career. While away from work he enjoys studying American Civil War History, playing and watching soccer, and spending time with family and friends.
Anne is a senior at Pitt majoring in social work, and is completing her year long field placement at Just Harvest. She's currently working on applying to the Peace Corps, which is her after-graduation plan. After that, she's considering law school. Anne loves a good book, a good movie, and Pittsburgh-- though Pittsburgh winter, not so much.
Dawn Wallhausen, Volunteer Webmaster