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.
Aerojean Baughn
Aj, a former Just Harvest intern and current tax program volunteer, currently works for MEDRAD as a Business Analyst. She works to educate people on the culture of deaf individuals. Aj teaches sign language classes at the Pittsburgh Laymen's Bible Institute and is the Program Manager for Anchored in Jesus radio broadcast ministry. She led a team of 17 to do mission work in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Aj is affiliated with the Pinochle Bugs Civic Organization, Greater Pittsburgh Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf and is a member of Bethany Baptist Church.
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.
Keith Caldwell
Keith is the Director of Career Services and Alumni Affairs for the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh. He currently is a faculty member at the rank of Lecturer with the School of Social Work. Keith serves on the board of the Program to Aid Citizen Enterprise, an organization committed to strengthening the grassroots organizations that serve African American and economically disadvantaged communities. He is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and the Association of Community Organizations and Social Administration.
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.
Melissa Farabaugh
Melissa is a determined, dedicated, proud single mom and full-time student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania - CCAC site. She is studying Business Management and Human Resources. Melissa is the Student Class President at CCAC Braddock Hills Campus. She has organized food drives for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and several on-campus fundraisers to benefit non-profits in the area. She is also a volunteer with Good Shepherd.
Marsha Fuge
Marsha is the Assistant VP/Manager at First Commonwealth Bank at the Squirrel Hill location. She has a strong commitment to her neighborhood, and serves as a board member on the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition, the Redd Up Pittsburgh Committee, Squirrel Hill Magazine, and Squirrel Hill Merchants. She also serves as a board member for Campfire Girls of Western PA and volunteers with Highmark Caring Place.
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.
Mary Ann Hvizdos
Mary Ann is an Independent Consultant/Project Manager and Adjunct Instructor at Point Park University in the School of Arts and Sciences. She is a current Board Member of the Pittsburgh Camerata and a past BoardMember of the Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children. She is a member of St. Benedict the Moor Parish.
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.
Paul McKrell
Paul works for the City of Pittsburgh as the Government Affairs Manager. Paul is the former Executive Director of PA Young Democrats, a member of the Stanton Heights Community Council and Lawrenceville United and a former member of AFSCME. Paul volunteers for North Hills Christian Youth Ministry and Benedictines Sisters of Erie/AIM International.
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.
Staff:
Tara Reynolds Marks began her relationship with Just Harvest as a volunteer, advocating for 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 judicial, state representative, gubernatorial and United States Senatorial campaigns. 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, the Pennsylvania Young Democrats, Pittsburgh Community Services and Community Human Services, Inc..
Tara graduated from the Community College of Allegheny County with two 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 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.
Jessica fills Just Harvest's newly created Communications Coordinator position, managing internal and external communications and outreach efforts. Prior to working with Just Harvest, Jessica was the Communications Director for Pride At Work, AFL-CIO.
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.
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 the University of Pittsburgh with a Masters in Social Work.
Ann became familiar with Just Harvest on 2007 as an intern from the School of Social Work, and then returned as a tax preparer in 2008 and 2009. She completed her Masters in Social Work and Masters in International Development from the University of Pittsburgh in 2008. She sat on Just Harvest's Board of Directors from May 2009 until April 2010, when she was hired as our Food Stamp Specialist.
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.
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.
Noah Whelan, VISTA Volunteer
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.