Contact: Tameka L. Altadonna, Pennsylvania Bar Foundation, 888-238-3036, [email protected]
Pennsylvania Bar Foundation Names 2024-25 Officers and Directors
HARRISBURG, Pa. (May 29, 2024) — The Pennsylvania Bar Foundation has named 22 lawyers, judges and other leaders from across the commonwealth to assume 2024-25 roles as officers and directors.
The following members began their positions at the close of the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation Annual Meeting on May 9.
Officers
Michael B. Jones, McMillen Urick Tocci Jones, Aliquippa, was named president. He is an Advocacy Club Fellow level supporter of the foundation and chair of the Development Committee. He is co-chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Bylaws Committee, and a member of the Civility in the Profession, and Cybersecurity and Data Privacy committees, and Municipal Law Section. He is a Zone 10 delegate, former Zone 10 governor to the PBA House of Delegates and secretary of the Conference of County Bar Leaders.
Larry E. Coploff, Coploff, Ryan & Houser, Lock Haven, has been named vice president. He is a Keystone Society Fellow level supporter, and his firm is a Liberty Club Law Firm Fellow supporter of the foundation. Coploff is a member of the PBA House of Delegates. He is also a member of the Business Law; Elder Law; Municipal Law; Real Property, Probate and Trust Law; and Solo and Small Firm sections. He is a former Zone 11 governor to the PBA House of Delegates.
Jeffrey M. Bower, Bower Law Associates PLLC, State College, is the immediate past president. He is a Commonwealth Club level supporter, and his firm is a Liberty Club Law Firm Fellow supporter of the foundation. He is a member of the PBA Transportation, Aeronautical and Space Law, and Solo and Small Firm sections. He is a Zone 11 delegate to the PBA House of Delegates, a former Zone 11 governor and a past member of the PABAR-PAC Board.
Christine Hall McClure, Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett PC, Erie, has been renamed secretary. She is a Keystone Society Fellow level supporter and previously served as vice president of the foundation. McClure has served as a member of the PBA House of Delegates and secretary of the Pennsylvania Bar Trust & Insurance Fund. She is a member of the PBA Education Law and Municipal Law sections, and Commission on Women in the Profession (WIP).
Helen L. Gemmill, McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC, Harrisburg, has been named treasurer. She is a Keystone Society Fellow level supporter of the foundation. She is a member of the PBA Civil Litigation Section and the WIP. Gemmill previously served as a Zone 3 delegate to the PBA House of Delegates.
Elected Directors
The following board member was elected to her first three-year term.
Melinda C. Ghilardi, Munley Law, Scranton, is a Commonwealth Club Fellow level supporter of the foundation. She is co-vice chair of the PBA Federal Practice Committee and a member of the PBA House of Delegates, Executive Council of the Civil Litigation Section, Minority
Bar Committee and WIP. She serves on the WIP’s Retreat Committee and is a former unit county governor.
The following board members were elected to their second three-year terms.
Anne N. John, John & John, Uniontown, is a Life Fellow level supporter of the foundation. She is a past PBA president, chair of the PBA Solo and Small Firm Section Council, vice chair of the Senior Lawyers Committee, co-vice chair of the Quality of Life/Balance Committee and member of numerous other PBA committees and sections. Previously, she represented Pennsylvania in the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates.
Brian J. Lindsay, Lindsay & Hatheway, Meadville, is a Life Fellow level supporter of the foundation. He is vice chair of the PBA Transportation, Aeronautical and Space Law Section Council, vice chair of the Judicial Evaluation Commission and treasurer of the Solo and Small Firm Section Council. He is a Zone 7 director of the PABAR-PAC and former Zone 7 governor in the PBA House of Delegates.
Designated Directors
The following designated directors are serving one-year terms.
Francis O’Rourke, retired PBA deputy executive director, Palmyra, is a Life Fellow level supporter of the foundation. Before retiring in 2022, he worked at the PBA for 32 years directing and managing staff operations spanning the areas of communications, information technology, meetings and membership development, as well as the administrative support of nearly 70 committees and sections focusing on specific areas of the law and the Young Lawyers Division (YLD).
Nancy Conrad, White and Williams LLP, Lehigh Valley, is a Life Fellow level supporter of the foundation. She is the 2024-25 PBA president, co-vice chair of the PBA Federal Practice Committee, a member of the Labor and Employment Law Section Executive Council and a member of the WIP Executive Council.
Jennifer Galloway, Counsel Trust Company, York, is a Young Lawyer Life Fellow level supporter of the foundation. She is the immediate past chair of the PBA YLD and previously served as the YLD’s delegate to the PBA House of Delegates. She is a member of Civility in the Profession, WIP, LGBTQ+ Rights and Membership Development committees.
Kathleen D. Wilkinson, Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP, Philadelphia, is a Life Fellow level supporter of the foundation. She is a PBA past president, and member of more than 20 PBA committees, including the Finance, Membership Development and Minority Bar committees. She also is a PBA-appointed delegate to the ABA House of Delegates.
Sandy Feliz, Chartwell Law, Camp Hill, is a Young Lawyer Life Fellow level supporter of the foundation. He is co-vice chair of the PBA Minority Bar Committee, council member of the Criminal Justice Section and member of the Administrative Law, Immigration Law and Workers’ Compensation Law sections. He is also a graduate of the Bar Leadership Institute class of 2022-23.
The following previously elected directors are continuing their terms.
Sara A. Austin, Austin Law Firm LLC, York (2023-26)
Christopher G. Gvozdich, Gvozdich Law Offices, Ebensburg (2022-25)
Bernadette M. Hohenadel, Nikolaus & Hohenadel LLP, Lancaster (2023-26)
Jonathan D. Koltash, Governor's Office of General Counsel, Harrisburg (2023-26)
Stephanie F. Latimore, Legislative Reference Bureau of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg (2022-25)
Wesley R. Payne IV, White and Williams LLP, Philadelphia (2023-26)
Judge A. Michael Snyder, The Dispute Resolution Institute, Philadelphia (2022-25)
Rhodia D. Thomas, MidPenn Legal Services, Harrisburg (2022-25)
James P. Valentine, Rosenn Jenkins & Greenwald LLP, Wilkes Barre (2023-26)
For a full list of the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation Board of Directors visit https://www.pabar.org/site/Foundation/Who-We-Are/Board.
About the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation
The Pennsylvania Bar Foundation, the 501(c)(3) charitable affiliate of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, was incorporated in 1984 in response to the organized bar’s desire to become more involved in public service. The foundation works to increase the public’s understanding of the law and its appreciation of democracy and strives to ensure that Pennsylvania’s citizens have full access to the legal system.
Source: Pennsylvania Bar Foundation, 100 South Street, Harrisburg, PA 17108