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

ahatten@socfdncleveland.org

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.

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.

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.

CONSULTANTS

Kathyrn Csank

Kathryn Csank, consultant for the Collaboration for Ministry Initiative (CMI) in Cleveland and South Carolina, is uniquely qualified for this work. In 2001, Ms. Csank was engaged by the Saint Ann Foundation to conduct its initial research on the ministries of women religious in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee (Region VI of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious). She later served the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland as Program Director for CMI.

In 2004, she performed similar research for the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina. That project resulted in the expansion of CMI to that state and collaboration between the two Sisters of Charity Foundations in support of the ministries of women religious. Prior to joining the Foundations, Ms. Csank was Director of the HM Center for Women & Children and the Family Outreach Center of Community Health Partners Hospital in Lorain, Ohio.

From 1990 to 1995, she served the Diocese of Cleveland as Director of the Office on Women in Church & Society. Ms. Csank previously worked as a Research Associate for the diocesan Parish Social Ministry Office and as a therapist and case manager at a residential treatment center for young women. A graduate of Ursuline College, she holds a Masters degree in counseling and human services from John Carroll University. Ms. Csank is an Associate member of the Sisters of the Humility of Mary and served as the first lay-co-director of that congregation’s Associate program.

Kym Hemley

Kym Hemley served as the Foundation’s Program Officer for Health for three years, and in that capacity she was instrumental in the 2007 launch of the Health Literacy Initiative. Prior to that, Ms. Hemley was a Program Officer at the Missouri Foundation for Health in St. Louis. She has also directed a program of the Archdiocese of St. Louis designed to improve health access for immigrants and refugees.

In addition, Ms. Hemley has worked as a cultural competency consultant for several Midwestern health care organizations. Internationally, she was involved with various programs and organizations in Europe, Mexico and Central America.

A native of El Paso, Texas, she attended St. Mary’s University in San Antonio where she earned undergraduate degrees in multinational organizational studies and Spanish. Ms. Hemley also holds master’s degrees in both public health and social work from Saint Louis University in St. Louis.

Sr. Ruthmary Powers, HM

Sr. Ruthmary Powers, HM is Assistant Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Tucson, Arizona. She is a co-author of a book published in 2008, Sustaining Our Spirits: Women Leaders Thriving for Today and Tomorrow. Sr. Ruthmary previously served as the Foundation’s Program Director for Religious Communities. In that role she provided oversight to 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. She 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.

Karen Malone Wright

Karen Malone Wright served the Foundation as Communications Director for almost three years, balancing the part-time position with responsibilities as President of Odyssey Creative Communications Consulting. She established Odyssey in 2000 to create and tailor messages and stories for nonprofit organizations, foundations, progressive businesses and others committed to social justice and improving our world. In every instance, her objective is to introduce audiences to the people and faces behind the numbers of both successful outcomes and unmet needs.

Previously, Ms. Wright worked as Vice President, Marketing Communications for the joint venture between the Sisters of Charity Health System and University Hospitals in Cleveland. She had formerly led public and community relations efforts at Cleveland’s WKYC-TV, WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C. and at WXYZ-TV in Detroit where she also served as Public Affairs Producer.

Ms. Wright has been published in regional magazines and honored with a national Telly Award, a Catholic Hospital Association Spirit Award and a Cleveland Advertising Club ADDY award. A graduate of the American University School of Communications, she also studied graduate level creative writing at the University of Toledo.

INTERNS

In 2008, for the second consecutive year, the Foundation participated in a unique internship program, “Summer on the Cuyahoga”. Open to students of Case, Colgate, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, Smith and Yale, the program is supported by alumni who assist in presenting the professional, civic, and social offerings of the Cleveland area. This year the Foundation sponsored Katherine Welbeck (left), a native of the Atlanta area now in her junior year at Princeton University.

The Foundation was also assisted throughout Summer 2008 by a second intern, Jennifer Castelucci of Brecksville (right) who is a junior at the University of Pittsburgh.