Fred Barnett

Fred Barnett, an Arkansas State graduate, was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1990 and played most of his career with the team. He retired from football in 1997 after a stint with the Miami Dolphins.  After his football career, Barnett was involved in CityLivin’, a reality TV show that showcased Philadelphia’s many offerings from restaurants to sporting events. He co-starred alongside former Eagle Mike Quick, Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins, and many others.

Barnett is dedicated to a variety of charity efforts. He is involved in a program called 'Champions of Carrying' in which professionals go into the inner city and mentor youth who are having academic trouble and serve as a role models for them. Barnett is also active with the Eagles organization, and has been supporting the Eagles efforts to fight breast cancer since 2004.  Barnett also handles PR and fundraising for the Institute for the Development of African-American Youth. The mission of IDAAY is to provide educational and cultural programs as well as prevention-intervention social services for youth, their families, and the broader community via a combination of carefully designed programs.

Currently living in Philadelphia with his wife Jackie and two daughters, Barnett is an avid runner. He also enjoys traveling, specifically to London, England, and loves talking to various individuals from different cultures.

Robert S. Bright, Board Treasurer

Founder and President of Talson Solutions, LLC, is a capital project consultant and financial specialist with diversified engineering, project management, litigation and consulting experience. Mr. Bright has significant domestic US and international experience having worked in the commercial real estate, education, healthcare, mining, petroleum, retail, sports facilities and theme park industries. Mr. Bright holds board positions on Rebuilding Together Philadelphia and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Small Business Board. In 2004, President Bush recognized Mr. Bright for his commitment to volunteerism. Mr. Bright holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Masters of Business Administration from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Robert is married with two children and coaches youth sports, including baseball and ice hockey.

Chip Finney, Board Secretary

Chip Finney is a partner in Diga Brazil Travel, a boutique travel agency that specializes in Bed & Breakfast style vacations to Salvador Bahia Brazil . In addition to tourism, Diga Brazil builds community and business relationships between Brazil and the United States.

Mr. Finney has spent his entire life in Philadelphia with the exception of the years spent at Penn State University where he studied Political Science. Community and cultural development are his areas of passion. While active in many organizations, he currently is Board Member of Wireless Philadelphia and Co-Chairperson of the Young Friends of the Philly Pops.

Anthony Griffith

Mr. Griffith is a Partner at Phoenix Capital Partners, LLP; a financial advisory firm specializing in municipal debt structuring, swap advisory services, and economic development. He has more than twenty years of experience in investment and advisory work for municipal clients across the country. Prior to joining Phoenix Capital Partners, he was a Managing Director at Commerce Capital Markets (formerly A.H. Williams & Co., Inc.). Mr. Griffith also has experience as a commercial lending officer at Chemical Bank in New York City. He garnered extensive community development experience and interests, both through his work in public finance, as well as his service to the Philadelphia community. Mr. Griffith served as a key member of the Philadelphia Community Development Corporation’s Board and Finance committee. He also served on the Mayor’s Education Task Force for the City of Philadelphia and was Board President for Youth Services, Inc. Mr. Griffith holds a B.A. in Economics from Williams College and a MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

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Ken Kearns

Mr. Kearns is Vice President of Trinity Capital Advisors, LLC, a full-service commercial real estate company located in Philadelphia, PA. Mr. Kearns is responsible for marketing, leasing, transaction, investment and consulting services for Trinity’s Development and Brokerage Divisions. Mr. Kearns is responsible for the sourcing and marketing of Trinity’s largest redevelopment project, Girard Square, a full city block of Philadelphia’s East Market retail district. When completed, Girard Square will be the largest mixed-use development project in the history of Philadelphia. Prior to Trinity Capital Advisors, Mr. Kearns served a variety of roles for one of the region’s largest adaptive-reuse real estate development companies, Preferred Real Estate Investments. Mr. Kearns started his career as a Project Manager for PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC). During his tenure at PwC, he was instrumental in developing and operating The Zone, PwC’s Management Consulting Services Global Solution and Data Center. Mr. Kearns has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and Marketing from Villanova University and is currently a candidate for CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Manager) designation. Mr. Kearns is a member of the National Association of Realtors, the Tri-State Realtors Commercial Alliance and has been a featured speaker at the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) retail convention. Mr. Kearns serves on the boards of Wireless Philadelphia and The East of Broad Improvement Association in Philadelphia. Mr. Kearns participates in a variety of charitable foundations and coaches youth baseball and soccer. Mr. Kearns is also a professional musician and maintains an active musical career, playing multiple instruments. Mr. Kearns was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Long Island, NY and currently resides in Wayne, PA with his wife and four children.
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Terry Phillis, Chief Information Officer, City of Philadelphia

For over 20 years, Terry has provided leadership at the executive level in technology-driven organizations. He has had experience in strategic planning and tactical problem solving coupled with operational and sales responsibilities as well as success in acquisition, integration and process reengineering. As Acting CIO, Terry is responsible for strategic and tactical initiatives in the delivery of reliable, dependable and available IT infrastructure capabilities to over 14,000 employees serving City constituent. He oversees all development and support functions involving core services to the city as well as Project Management Organizational issues relating to IT initiatives. He is also responsible for establishment of an Information Security office that sets policy regarding protection of IT infrastructure with appropriate monitoring and enforcement of the City’s data.

Carole Smith

Carole is the President and CEO of the Workforce 2000 Initiative, and DigitalSistas.net, an on-line network for African American women in technology and new media, and Vice President, Marketing, Multi-Media Concepts, Inc.. She has served, under contract, as the Executive Director of the Mayor’s Commission on Technology (MCOT) since 1996. A recipient of the 2002 Special Recognition Award for Women of Color in Science & Technology, she established a Telecommunications Technology Task Force in 1994, and is credited with focusing the City of Philadelphia on the importance of technology in shaping the city’s 21st century economy.

Richard Trzaska

Currently the CEO of MaST(Math Science and Technology) Community Charter School, Mr. Trzaska has been a dedicated educator for more than 30 years. A graduate of Millersville University and Arcadia University, Richard has taught in various educational institutions such as Austin Meehan Middle School and West Philadelphia High School. While in the Philadelphia School District, he was a member of the Schoolmen’s Club. He has also served as the principal for the Upper Merion Middle School.. As of 2000, Richard has focused on the success of MaST Community CHarter School and has been instrumental in it growth. From its beginnings as a store front school located in a shopping center in the Northeast to its present site on Byberry Road that boasts a two-building campus educating children MaST is committed to offering grades K to 12 a wide variety of learning opportunities. Students at MaST have a choice of language, state-of-the-art computer labs and are also able to study the wonders of the universe. MaST has installed, as part of its curriculum, the largest telescope in the tri-state area outside of The Franklin Institute. Richard also serves on the 7th Police District Advisory Council and is a member of the Greater Northeast Chamber of Commerce. He and his wife, Maureen, have five children - four daughters and a son. They also have four grandchildren.

Leigh Wood, Board Chair

Currently the COO of Real Win Win, a Philadelphia based, transaction processing company in the energy conservation business. She has extensive operational experience managing both startups and high growth communications businesses. From 1996 through 2000, Leigh was the Chief Operating Officer of NTL Inc., the largest cable company in the UK. NTL, with annualized revenues in excess of $2 billion and employees greater than 20,000, is a full service telecommunications company offering telephone, cable, Internet and broadband services to consumers and businesses across the UK and Ireland. Prior to NTL, Leigh was CEO for Cellular One of Ohio and Michigan, now owned by Verizon. Cellular One was serving in excess of 2 million customers at its buyout in 1996. Leigh was the fifth employee at Cellular Communications Inc in 1984 and held various operational roles leading up to CEO of the joint venture with AirTouch from 1993 through 1996. In 2002, Leigh directed the startup of a software company formed to commercialize a suite of knowledge management tools developed by British Telecom. And during 2004 she was an investor/CFO of a startup Voice over IP telecoms business. Leigh earned a B.A. from Williams College and a MBA from NYU.