Advisory Council
Education
ILONA HOLLAND is an educator, children’s book author and civic leader in Delaware. Her passion for designing curricula and evaluating educational programs has led to her serving as an author, consultant and evaluator for curricula and educational initiatives across the country. She has served on the faculty of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she taught courses in formative evaluation and educational program evaluation. She received a bachelor’s degree in art history from Swarthmore College, a master’s of education in reading from the University of Delaware's College of Education and Human Development, and a doctorate in education from Harvard University.
ROBERT M. MORRIS is an author, entrepreneur, and inventor. He became interested in interactive media technology in 1978, becoming project manager for a videodisc company in Philadelphia. After receiving a Master’s Degree from Villanova in 1986, he founded V_Graphic Inc. and developed the first commercial multimedia system, VirtualVideo, the original of which is now in the Smithsonian. V_Graphic Inc. worked with the Federal Aeronautics Administration, the US Naval Academy, Dupont, Adria Labs, Bell Atlantic, and other Fortune 500 companies. Robert was awarded a number of patents for web-based technologies that are now integral to modern cell phones, software development and appointment calendars. Starting in 2001, he championed the construction of "The President's House" on Independence Mall where Washington and Adams lived during their Presidential terms, and his study of the Revolutionary Period resulted in his recent book on his ancestor, Robert Morris: Inside the Revolution.
KERMIT ROOSEVELT is a professor, an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction books and a legal scholar. He is the David Berger Professor for the Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. He works in a diverse range of fields and has published two scholarly books on his main fields: Constitutional Law and Conflict of Laws. He is a member of the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court and the American Law Institute; a board member of the Theodore Roosevelt Library and Museum Foundation, the U.S. Presidential Scholars Foundation, and the National Constitution Center’s Coalition of Freedom; and a distinguished research fellow of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Harvard University and earned his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Yale Law School
Community Resources
SUSAN GERRITY is National President of Daughters of the British Empire (DBE), a British and Commonwealth of Nations non-profit social and philanthropic organization for women of British or Commonwealth birth, marriage or ancestry, with over 3,000 members nationally. In her role as president, she oversees the group's monthly meetings and its fundraising initiatives, which benefit its four retirement homes as well as local charities. She has over 30 years of experience in the insurance industry and received a Bachelor of Arts in English and Economics from the University of Manchester, England.
R PERRY MONASTERO is the Principal of RPM Consulting. He specializes in strengthening nonprofits by providing philanthropic strategies, organizational assessment, and strategic planning services for rapidly growing organizations. As a National Standards for Excellence practice, he makes recommendations to leaders who want to bolster governance and fund campaign opportunities simultaneously, focusing on small to global nonprofits and for-profit entities that have an impact investment vehicle for change.
Media
BOB CRAIG is celebrating over 60 years in broadcasting. After successes as a programmer and announcer in Boston and Hartford, he came to Philadelphia in 1979 to program WMGK-FM and led it to one of the top stations in the market within a year. He hosted the popular “Solid Hour of Sinatra” shows on WPEN and “Smooth Jazz” on WMGK. Since 2005, Bob has been on air at WRTI, Temple University radio and online, where he hosts and produces shows of his true love: jazz: “Voices in Jazz,” “Sunday Morning Jazz Brunch,” and “Big Band Jazz.” He has interviewed or introduced in concerts many great musicians, from Dizzy Gillespie to Miles Davis. An enthusiast of pop culture since childhood, he enjoys reading about the people and things that have shaped our social values.
SHARON EISENHOUR is currently the voice for WRTI’s on-air announcements. She has been a Philadelphia Orchestra national broadcast producer, news radio announcer and producer, and voice-over artist for national clients and books-on-tape. She was adjunct professor at Temple University, teaching broadcast performance and writing; and as a voice coach, she has given classes and workshops for both corporate and media clients. She is currently working on a memoir/biography with and about renowned jazz drummer Roy McCurdy, known for his work with Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Rollins, Nancy Wilson and many others.
VERNON ODOM is a veteran broadcast journalist, who retired in 2019 as senior reporter for WPVI (6ABC) in Philadelphia. He started his broadcasting career in Atlanta, working in both radio and television. He moved to Philadelphia in 1976 to accept a reporting job at 6ABC. Mr. Odom has covered some of the biggest news events in the world, including the Martin Luther King assassination, 11 Presidential elections, the MOVE confrontations, the Three Mile Island disaster, the Clarence Thomas hearings, the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, the O.J. Simpson Trial, the fall of the Soviet Union and the release of Nelson Mandela. Mr. Odom received a bachelor’s degree from Morehouse College in Atlanta, and a graduate certificate in journalism from Columbia University in New York City. He is currently a “Professor of Practice” in the Department of Communication and Media, West Chester University.
Technology
CHRIS CERASOLI was the general manager of Videosmith, and is currently the branch camera rental manager of Red Star Pictures. He has extensive experience in film and video equipment, and provides broadcast video equipment rental services, production management and video equipment sales to clients in the Philadelphia area and beyond. He oversees the operations of Red Star Pictures, a broadcast video equipment rental facility in Philadelphia. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Radio-Television-Film from Temple University.
CHRISTOPHER MANNING is the founder and CEO of Clear on Tech, LLC, a technical consulting and support company that specializes in providing individual clients and small businesses with a wide range of IT solutions. His technical expertise includes home automation, home theatre, security systems, remote surveillance, lighting design, VOIP phones and IT networks. He is a member of the Apple Consultants Network and has provided consultation to businesses nationwide. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Technical Theatre from Barry University and a Master of Fine Arts in Lighting Design from the University of Missouri.
AUSTIN MORRIS Jr earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Southern Methodist University, a master's degree from Penn State and a second master’s degree from Rutgers. He lectures frequently on cybersecurity matters. His insurance brokerage, Morris Risk Management LLC is a leader in cyber insurance, directors & officers / management liability, employment practices liability, crime and fiduciary liability, lawyers’ professional liability, and media liability. He previously was Board Chair of Independence Historical Trust, and President of InfraGard's (FBI) Philadelphia Chapter.
