New to HACC's board of trustees is Pedro A. Cortés of Harrisburg, PA Secretary of the Commonwealth. He previously served as executive director of the PA Governor's Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs and has a lengthy history of community service on behalf of the Latino and Hispanic populations in Harrisburg.
In 2003, Cortés was named among the 100 Most Influential Latinos in the U.S. by Hispanic Business Magazine, among Lawyers on the Fast Track by American Lawyer Media, and among Central Penn Business Journal's Forty Under 40 Business Leaders. He also received the Latino Leadership Award from the Puerto Rican Cultural Alliance in Allentown in 2003 and HACC's Leadership Award in 2002.
Cortés received his Juris Doctor from The Dickinson School of Law of The Pennsylvania State University, Carlisle, and has been admitted to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He holds a master's degree in Public Administration from Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor's degree in hotel, restaurant and travel administration from University of Massachusetts.
Also new to the board is S. Frank Fritsch of Mechanicsburg who serves as senior vice president, Human Resources, Select Medical Corporation, Mechanicsburg after more than 20 years in senior management positions within the healthcare industry.
Fritsch holds a master's degree in Corrections from Xavier University, Cincinnati, and a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Thomas More College, Fort Mitchell, KY. He was a Fulbright candidate, studying abroad for a year.
Returning to HACC's board of trustees after a previous stint and move away from the area is Charles E. Graves of Harrisburg. He is senior vice president, senior relationship manager, business banking, Wachovia Bank N.A., PennDel region, in Harrisburg. Graves is a senior management professional with 28 years of commercial lending experience and a strong focus on deployment of market strategies for new business.
He also is active in numerous professional and community organizations including Harrisburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, Pennsylvania Economy League, Heinz Harrisburg Senior Center, Allied Arts and others.
Graves holds a bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University and has completed numerous banking courses and seminars including those held at American Institute of Banking, Pennsylvania School of Banking, Bucknell University, and Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Virginia.
Reappointed to the board are Hon. Patricia H. Vance of Mechanicsburg, Margarita M. Kearns of Harrisburg and Donald E. Schell of Camp Hill.
Vance has been a member of the PA House of Representatives since 1990, serving the 87th District, Cumberland County. Re-elected five consecutive terms, her committee assignments include Finance, Health and Human Services, Insurance, Majority Policy, and Professional Licensure, of which she is vice chairman. Her original career was nursing, and she held several area positions including surgical pediatric nurse at Harrisburg Hospital where she graduated from its School of Nursing.
Vance serves on the boards of the American Trauma Society, PA Division; The Caring Place and Ester Shore YMCA, as well as advisory boards or committees of Domestic violence Services of Cumberland and Perry Counties, United Cerebral Palsy, Orrstown Bank, Keystones of Public Health and more.
Kearns has a long history of volunteering at HACC's Learning Center, tutoring in English as a Second Language, writing and Spanish to students, as well as serving on HACC's Multi-cultural Advisory Committee and HACC's Act 101 Advisory Committee. HACC recognized her contributions by naming her an Honorary Alumna in 1991 and awarding her with an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service in 1993.
She has been an active community volunteer, supporting the role of Hispanics by serving on numerous boards and committees, as well as the National Conference on Puerto Rican Women, Mayor's Hispanic Advisory Council, and Task Force on Hispanic Human Services. A native of Puerto Rico, Kearns holds a bachelor's degree in Hispanic studies from the University of Puerto Rico and a master's degree in romance languages and literature from Columbia University in New York City.
Schell currently is co-chairing HACC's first Capital Campaign to raise $12 million to construct and outfit the Select Medical Health Education Pavilion and the new Grace Milliman Pollock Childcare and Early Childhood Education Center. Schell is a retired executive from Express Scripts, Inc. He also served on the West Shore School Board for 10 years, five as president, and currently is vice president, board of trustees, for the Homeland Center in Harrisburg.
Previously, Schell was president and founder of Central Fill, Inc. (CFI), a mail order pharmacy in Harrisburg and East Hanover, N.J. He was senior vice president of National Prescription Administrators (NPA), a prescription benefit management company headquartered in East Hanover. Both companies were acquired by Express Scripts. Schell also was president of Pennsylvania Prescriptions, Inc./Emerald Drug Stores. He has a bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Temple University.
Elected officers of HACC's board of trustees include Ronald Brown, P.E., of Marysville, chair; Harlon Robinson of Harrisburg, vice chair; Schell, secretary; Marsha M Davis of Harrisburg, assistant secretary; Terry Burrows of Millersburg, treasurer, and Mark Whitmoyer of New Bloomfield, assistant treasurer.