Foundation Staff
Lynn Berner
Program Officer, Partnerships and Learning
lberner@socfdncleveland.org
As Program Officer for Partnerships and Learning, Lynn Berner directs the grantmaking and other activities of the Foundation’s community partnerships, including foundation and government-initiated collaborations and support to the affiliated ministries of the Sisters of Charity Health System. She is also responsible for framing and communicating many aspects of the Foundation’s work internally, for the Board, and for the broader community.
Ms. Berner has spent more than a decade focused on health care law and policy. Before joining the Foundation in 2006, she served as a consultant to the Ohio Commission to Reform Medicaid. Prior to that, she was a staff attorney for the Cleveland Clinic, focusing on regulation and policy. Before moving to Cleveland, she was a lawyer in litigation, and later, in health care, at two law firms in Washington, D.C.
A graduate of Tulane University, Ms. Berner earned her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master’s degree in public health at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Ursula Craig
Grants Coodinator
ucraig@socfdncleveland.org
Grants Coordinator Ursula Craig oversees the Foundation database to track and archive information on grants and grantees. This work expands the responsibilities she has managed since joining the Sisters of Charity Foundation in 2001 as Grants Secretary/Assistant. Ms. Craig continues to act as a key liaison between applicants, grantees and program staff, monitoring reporting schedules, deadlines and grantmaking requirements. In this capacity she ensures the quality and timeliness of all aspects of grants processing and management.
Adriennie Y. Hatten, MNO Program Officer, Education
Adriennie Hatten joined the Foundation in June 2008 as Program Officer for Education. She brings an extensive background in social service and education to her work that continues the Foundation’s community engagement efforts in Cleveland’s Central Neighborhood. She previously worked as Prevention Educator for Golden Ciphers in Cleveland where she developed a tutoring program for 12- to 18-year-old juvenile offenders. Since 2005 she's worked as a Graduate Assistant in Cleveland State University’s Curriculum & Foundations Department where she collected data for national and local grants to the university.
Prior to that, Ms. Hatten worked as a Program Developer for Koinonia Homes, Inc. in Independence, OH, a nonprofit organization providing residential and vocational services to individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities. She had formerly served the Council for Economic Opportunities in Greater Cleveland as Senior Planner in the Department of Planning and Evaluation, leading the proposal development team for a multi-million dollar federal grant for the HeadStart program. From 1999 to 2003, Ms. Hatten was the Cleveland Municipal School District’s Performance Manager in its Office of Research, Evaluation & Assessment.
Ms. Hatten’s understanding of how non-profits and government respond to the needs of low-income and underserved Cleveland residents was furthered by her work as a Planning Associate in the Office of Planning and Evaluation of Catholic Charities Services Corporation and as a Social Services Supervisor in the Case Review Unit of the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). She joined DCFC in 1990 as a Licensed Social Worker .
A magna cum laude graduate of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, Ms. Hatten is pursuing her doctorate in urban education from Cleveland State University. She holds a Masters degree in non-profit organizational management from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.
Kym Hemley, MSW, MPH
Program Officer, Health
khemley@socfdncleveland.org
Kym Hemley brings significant expertise in developing strategies to address health disparities and build cultural competencies. She joined the Foundation in 2005 and was selected by the Rotary Foundation to be a 2007 Group Study Exchange Fellow in Brazil. Before coming to Cleveland, Ms. Hemley served for three years as a Program Officer at the Missouri Foundation for Health in St. Louis. Prior to that, she directed a program of the Archdiocese of St. Louis designed to improve health access for immigrants and refugees. She also worked as a cultural competency consultant for several Midwestern health care organizations. Internationally, Kym has been involved with various programs and organizations in Europe, Mexico and Central America.
Ms. Hemley began her career as a Research Assistant/Project Liaison for a variety of health-related efforts on the U.S./Mexico border co-sponsored by the FEMAP Foundation, the University of Texas at El Paso, the National Science Foundation and The Mujeres Project.
A native of El Paso, Texas, she attended St. Mary’s University in San Antonio where she received undergraduate degrees in multinational organizational studies and Spanish. She also holds master’s degrees in both public health and social work from Saint Louis University in St. Louis.
Frances Kansy
Office Assistant
fkansy@socfdncleveland.org
Frances Kansy joined the Foundation as Administrative Secretary in 1997, ranking her as the staff member with the longest tenure. With more than 18 years of office management experience, she handles various administrative and secretarial responsibilities such as event coordination and scheduling meetings and travel. In addition, she serves as the staff’s primary liaison to the Board of Directors.
A graduate of the N.F. Nunnelly Business School in Childersburg, Alabama, Ms. Kansy is a member of the Downtown Chapter of International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP). She has served the organization as Second Vice President, Chair of the Nominating Committee and as a member of the Audit Committee.
Susanna H. Krey
President
Susanna H. Krey joined the Sisters of Charity Foundation as President in 2004. In addition to significant governance and oversight experience with various health and human service organizations, she also provides guidance to the Sisters of Charity Foundations in Canton (Ohio) and South Carolina in her additional role as Senior Vice President, Foundations & Marketing for the Sisters of Charity Health System.
Prior to her extensive career in hospital and health care administration, Ms. Krey was a nationally recognized nutritional expert working in clinical research and administrative positions in Cleveland and her hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. She has published numerous articles and co-edited two textbooks on nutritional health.
Ms. Krey served on the Board of the Ohio Grantmakers Forum from 2000 to 2006. During that time she also chaired the Northeast Ohio Committee which provides oversight to the organization’s efforts for funders located in or funding this region. On behalf of the Foundation, Ms. Krey also chaired the Diversity Task Force during the first phase of the Fund for our Economic Future, a significant philanthropic collaboration to achieve economic transformation across northeast Ohio.
Since 1997, Ms. Krey has served on the Boards of the Sisters of Charity Foundations of Canton and South Carolina. She has also been a Board member for the Center for Fathers & Families in Columbia, South Carolina since 2002 and serves on several advisory boards associated with nonprofit work.
A summa cum laude graduate of Simmons College, Ms. Krey holds a Master’s Degree from Tufts University. She also completed an internship in nutrition at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston where she received her clinical degree as a nutritionist. She has completed post-graduate studies in health care, marketing and planning at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, the Wharton School of Management at the University of Pennsylvania and Baldwin-Wallace College.
Robin L. Polack
Project Manager
rpolack@socfdncleveland.org
Robin Polack joined the Foundation as Project Manager in 2005. Her first assignment was to coordinate the year-long process involving staff, Board, grantees and community leaders that would shape the Foundation’s new strategic plan. A multi-faceted executive with extensive sales, marketing and operational experience, she also oversees the Foundation’s various operations and finance needs.
Ms. Polack had previously worked with an international apparel manufacturer headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio. With that firm, she earned a series of promotions with increased financial and administrative responsibility, serving most recently as Senior Vice President.
In addition to an undergraduate degree in accounting from Cleveland State University, Ms. Polack holds an Executive MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Her many volunteer commitments include serving as Children’s Program Coordinator for the Salvation Army Southeast Chapter and as a personal finance and economics instructor for youths in Junior Achievement.
Sr. Ruthmary Powers, HM
Program Director, Religious Communities
rpowers@socfdncleveland.org
As Program Director for Religious Communities, Sr. Ruthmary Powers continues the Foundation’s longstanding commitment to aid the health and human service ministries of Catholic women religious that address unmet needs of the poor. In this capacity, she oversees the Collaboration for Ministry Initiative which encourages alliances to enhance ministry sustainability. Before joining the Foundation in 2006, she served for eight years as Major Superior of the Sisters of the Humility of Mary.
For 22 years, Sr. Ruthmary worked as both a teacher and principal at Catholic elementary schools across northeast Ohio and as Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Tucson (Arizona). She has also served as Associate Director of the Diocese of Cleveland’s Office on Women in Church & Society and as a Policy Liaison for the First Lady’s Unit of the Governor’s Office in Ohio.
Sr. Ruthmary holds a Ph.D. in educational leadership from Union Institute in Cincinnati and a master’s degree in English literature from Northwestern University. She earned her undergraduate degree in elementary education from St. John College in Cleveland.
Leslie Strnisha
Director of Program and Evaluation & Program Officer, Housing
lstrnisha@socfdncleveland.org
As Director of Program and Evaluation, Leslie Strnisha leads the Foundation’s program team to develop targeted, outcomes-based approaches for its grantmaking and non-grantmaking activities. She is also an adjunct instructor at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University.
Prior to joining the Foundation in 2006, Ms. Strnisha served in various capacities for the Cleveland office of the Enterprise Foundation until 2003. She provided training and technical assistance to community-based organizations in the areas of community planning and program development.
Ms. Strnisha is a Ph.D. candidate in social welfare at Case Western Reserve University. She holds a master’s degree in urban studies from Cleveland State University and a B.A. in psychology from Indiana University.