Leading us in the right directionFrom our Executive Team to our Board of Directors, Big Brothers Big Sisters has a compassionate and dedicated group of individuals on our side that are willing to do whatever it takes to help change children’s lives for the better.
Marlene has been leading Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA (BBBS SEPA) since 2002, after spending a year working with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America to spearhead the merger of regional affiliate agencies into what has become the Southeastern PA organization. She brings to the agency a wealth of senior management experience derived in the for-profit arena, where she focused primarily on operations, customer service and retail sales development and expansion.
Marlene’s very specific knowledge of operations, support, service delivery and sales/funding was developed throughout the course of her career as she focused on expansion and growth of the business lines she managed. Prior to joining the Big Brothers Big Sisters network, Marlene spent five years in an entrepreneurial investment services consulting group where, as a Managing Director of the Spectrem Group, Inc., she participated at the highest levels in the design and growth of this $10 million, national organization’s product line, marketing programs, and managed all operational services.
Her experience in developing products, services and generating revenue was begun in the retail industry where, over a fourteen-year period, Marlene held the role of Vice President for three major retailers and oversaw an extensive network of sales outlets. Specifically her responsibilities included management of a $200 million, 200 store business line for The Children’s Place; a $50 million, 17 store business line for Conran’s home furnishings; and a $100 million, 100+ store business line for Macy’s Specialty Stores.
Marlene’s passion for trying to reach and help every at-risk child drives the growth that she and her Executive Team direct at BBBS SEPA. In her own words, the desire to “level the playing field” for children facing what could be insurmountable social, economic and academic challenges keeps her motivated and focused on always expanding and improving the mentoring services that the agency delivers.
Under her management, BBBS SEPA has been recognized nationally for working with a partner, Public Private Ventures, to develop the first one-to-one mentoring program designed to meet the specific needs of children with an incarcerated parent or guardian. The Amachi program has since spread to multiple agencies and organizations throughout the country and has served more than 100,000 children nationwide since its inception.
Marlene and her team also developed a new one-to-one mentoring program, Beyond School Walls ™, which is designed to expose children from inner city and highly challenged neighborhoods to professional working environments. The children are transported during the school day from their classroom to a corporate partner’s facility where they meet with volunteer mentors in the mentors’ own office settings. The success of this program concept has been so great that it is now being adopted across the nation by other Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies, and is a nationwide community initiative for Comcast, who is partnering with several agencies to offer Beyond School Walls™ programs at multiple office locations of theirs throughout the country.
Marlene has been recognized for her efforts in supporting and trying to improve the communities within the BBBS SEPA service region and was voted one of Philadelphia’s 101 most connected leaders in 2006 by Leadership Philadelphia; is one of only a handful of non-lawyers appointed to the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Commission on Judicial Selection and Retention; and was named by the Governor to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency prevention. Her numerous published articles and interviews continually focus on the need to engage more volunteers and funders so that BBBS SEPA can ultimately provide a Big Brother or Big Sister to every child within the region who wants or needs one.
Judith D. Spangler
Chief Program Officer jspangler@bbbssepa.org
B.S. in Social Work, Brigham Young University
Judy has been part of the Big Brothers Big Sisters network since 1997 and was pivotal in helping navigate the multi-agency merger in 2002, from which the Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA (BBBS SEPA) agency was formed. Prior to the merger Judy spent three years as the Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Chester County, as well as a year as the Director of Program Services for Big Sisters of Philadelphia. Post merger she assumed the new role of Vice President, Recruitment and Retention and since then, has grown to assume responsibility for all of BBBS SEPA’s program services as the agency’s Chief Program Officer and Executive Team member.
Judy began her career as a Social Worker and spent fifteen years working throughout various social services networks in a multitude of capacities. She focused on everything from serving handicapped adults, to working on child abuse cases, adoption services, foster care, drug and alcohol intervention and juvenile probation services. From there, Judy transitioned from direct human services and assumed management of the YWCA of Erie, Pennsylvania. Over a six year period as the Executive Director, she turned the organization’s six figure deficit around to realize a notable cash surplus. In addition, Judy focused heavily on expanding community partnerships via collaborative programs and initiatives that helped advance the YWCA’s overall mission. With the experience of managing 120 employees and five facilities, Judy then turned her focus back to direct intervention services and joined the Big Brothers Big Sisters network.
Judy’s desire to try and help individuals faced with significant social challenges, as well as those in need of support and services provided the foundation for what has grown to be Judy’s true passion for helping children subject to significant risk factors and, in particular, those of incarcerated parents and guardians. While overseeing program services for almost eight thousand children and volunteers in a four-county region, Judy continually works to ensure that BBBS SEPA’s mentoring matches are safe, effective and life changing for all parties involved.
Judy has participated in numerous nation-wide committees and panels for Big Brothers Big Sisters including the National Child Safety Task Force; the National Leadership Council Program Committee of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America; and the Big Brothers Big Sisters Pennsylvania State Association, both as a past Vice President and current association member. In addition, she has participated on several US Department of Education mentoring panels and works with the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania on the training and education of its members.
Over the course of her career and, in particular, as a result of working with children of incarcerated parents and guardians via the Amachi program and other mentoring children of prisoners initiatives, Judy has become an expert resource on the subject. She travels throughout the country on behalf of the Big Brothers Big Sisters network, speaking on the subject of child safety; and conducts mentoring children of prisoners training for Public Private Ventures (the originating organization of the nation-wide Amachi program) on the challenges of serving this specific population of children.
Judy has appeared on television and radio programs, as well as provided interviews to multiple journals on the subject of mentoring, and focuses much of her training and lectures on child safety and positive mentoring relationship development. Judy’s main focus continues to be on ensuring that all BBBS SEPA matches are safe, thriving and impactful; that needed mentoring volunteers are effectively identified and recruited; and in helping the agency ultimately provide a Big Brother or Big Sister to every child within the region who wants or needs one.
B.A. in English Communications, Holy Family University
M.A. in Professional Communications, LaSalle University
Ted has been a part of Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA (BBBS SEPA) since 2007, when he was hired to fill the newly created role of Director, Government Relations and became a member of the Executive Team. At the time, BBBS SEPA recognized the growing impact government funding streams were having on revenue and ultimately, the agency’s ability to fully fund its mentoring initiatives. As such, Ted’s position was created to specifically address and effectively manage this important revenue source. Since his hire, Ted’s role has grown to include foundation relationships and as a Vice President, he now has responsibility for securing over 50% of the agency’s $5 million plus annual revenue needs.
Ted began his career in news production, working for Fox News in Philadelphia, and got his first taste of government communications when managing election pool feeds for the station during the 2000 Presidential election. Ted then broadened his communications and public relations experience as an Account Executive for Keel Communications. He worked on numerous media and communications strategies for a variety of clients, as well as continued his government interaction through his work on cause-related advertising campaigns and public information strategies for several government agencies.
Ted leveraged his three years of communications and specific government experience when he assumed the position of Director of Communications for the Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS). While assigned to DHS, Ted was responsible for creating impactful new public policy campaigns, engaging external corporate partners in the efforts; and creating programs that gained national recognition for their effectiveness. He also focused on expanded bi-lingual services for his department; and enhanced the information website, resulting in increases of more than 25,000 page views per month.
Ted then advanced to the Office of the Mayor as Deputy Director of Communications, and continued his efforts to effectively help manage communications between the City of Philadelphia and its residents. He worked on a variety of high-profile projects and events, and was the point person on communication strategies between all City operating departments and the Mayor’s office; as well as numerous press conferences, rallies and multi-media campaigns. At the conclusion of the then-Mayor’s administrative term, Ted joined BBBS SEPA to continue working on government-related activities and relationships in a whole new way.
Under Ted’s guidance, BBBS SEPA has been strategically positioned to interact effectively with a variety of government funding agencies and sources. He has worked to create direct relationships with representatives in Harrisburg through initiatives such as the “Bigs Caucus”, a group of more than 50 General Assembly members committed to helping support the public policy agenda of Big Brothers Big Sisters; and has been elected as President of the Big Brothers Big Sisters Pennsylvania State Association – a statewide umbrella organization leading public policy and fundraising efforts on behalf of Pennsylvania’s 26 BBBS agencies. Ted led the drafting and grant application submission for Pennsylvania’s first ever state-wide Mentoring Children of Prisoners program, and works tirelessly to garner support for the Big Brothers Big Sisters mission.
Ted is also an Adjunct Faculty member at Temple University; an appointee to the HR-203/SR-52 Joint State Commission’s Children of Incarcerated Parents project; a member of the City of Philadelphia’s Human Services Alignment Committee; and a past member of other numerous advisory boards and steering committees. He continually focuses his efforts on expanding awareness of Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring services; securing funding to continue this important work; and on helping BBBS SEPA ultimately provide a Big Brother or Big Sister to every child within the region who wants or needs one.
B.A. in Human Development, Boston College M.B.A. in Marketing and in Organizational Behavior, Boston College
Laurie has been a part of the Big Brothers Big Sisters network since mid 2002, when she worked as a consultant tasked with helping build the organizational infrastructure to support what would later become the newly merged Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA (BBBS SEPA) agency. Upon completion of the merger, Laurie actually joined the new organization in 2003 as its Director of Finance & Human Resources. Since that time her role has expanded to that of Vice President, Administration and Executive Team member; and she is charged with overseeing a division responsible for all support services including Facilities, Operations, Finance and Accounting, and Information Technology.
Laurie brings over twenty years of operational and financial expertise to BBBS SEPA. Her extensive experience in the corporate sector, including specific skills in managing multi-million dollar budgets, and in the implementation of performance-based metrics is an integral part of the commitment by BBBS SEPA to continually strive to improve the quality and success of the agency.
Laurie began her career working in the insurance and financial fields where she focused much of her training on customer service, financial and statistical reporting, and product development. Her functions at Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance Company and Pershing, a BNY Mellon company included proprietary claims management system development and training; new product design; trading staff recruitment and development; and multi-year product line budgeting and forecasting.
Laurie then transitioned into the entertainment industry where, as an Assistant Vice President of Administration, she worked with a variety of support departments at Radio City Music Hall Productions. Her tasks included financial management of a $5 million expense and $3.5 million capital improvements budget; oversight of the Customer Service department; coordination of the "New Horizons" Rockette career transition program; and management of employee benefits and satisfaction survey initiatives. She also worked with the Security department and the City of New York on historic landmark safety provisions and criminal prevention.
Prior to joining BBBS SEPA, Laurie spent six years with a nationwide entrepreneurial investment services consulting group where, as Director of Finance and Human Resources for the Spectrem Group, Inc., she was responsible for the financial tracking and reporting of a $10 million budget. In addition, she had oversight of all Human Resources functions; facilities management; and development of technology services. Under her guidance, the organization realized 25-50% reductions in vendor contract fees; the implementation of online time tracking services and web-based product sales functionality; and effective operational transitions during merger and acquisition initiatives.
Since joining BBBS SEPA, Laurie and her team have worked diligently to provide high quality customer service to the agency, and to continue to deliver ever-improved support functionality at decreased costs. The financial tracking tools she and her team have developed have been identified by the national organization as effective templates to replicate and as such, Laurie has worked with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America to help train and educate other network members on best practices associated with financial tracking and reporting, policy development and implementation, and grant management.
Laurie is committed to the mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters and believes that strong support and effective administrative services are required in order to help provide staff with the tools necessary to deliver the agency’s highly successful mentoring service and ultimately, provide a Big Brother or Big Sister to every child within the region who wants or needs one.
Jody is the newest member of the Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA (BBBS SEPA) organization and its Executive Team, having joined the agency in November of 2010. In her role as Vice President, Development, Jody is tasked with continuing and ultimately, expanding the individual giving, corporate giving and special events fundraising efforts that have been undertaken by the agency to date. The next area of significant potential growth lies within individual donor stewarding and development and, under Jody’s management; BBBS SEPA seeks to make great strides in building meaningful relationships with new friends and supporters of the agency and its work.
Jody brings to BBBS SEPA a wealth of donor and relationship development expertise that she has honed over almost 15 years within the field of development and marketing. Having held Director and Vice President roles for several universities and non-profit organizations, Jody’s focus has always been on effectively communicating the message of the institutions she’s represented; and identifying and securing new funders and supporters who could help advance the mission of each organization.
While at Villanova University, Haverford College, and Cabrini College, Jody focused on cultivating donors and securing five and six-figure gifts for the schools. She helped expand the number and variety of events and activities held, and worked diligently to reengage alumni and solidify their relationship with their alma maters. Under her guidance, Villanova University experienced a 50% increase in giving by those who attended college activities; Haverford College realized a 40% increase in attendance at reunion weekends; and Cabrini College saw a 143% increase in the number of annual donors who contributed to the school.
Jody also brings significant experience in the cause related non-profit arena. Prior to her collegiate work, Jody spent several years as Vice President of Development and Marketing at Easter Seals Virginia. While there, Jody tackled everything from direct marketing and sponsorship growth, to grant management, planned giving and corporate relationship development. Her successes included a 35% increase in annual fund program revenue; a 35% increase in planned giving, grants and corporate donations; and significant expansion of special events including the Eggstravaganza event and summer concert series.
Prior to that, Jody worked in similar capacities for the Associated Builders and Contractors Education Foundation and the Friends of the Earth. Her efforts included generating $3.2 million in funds for the Friends of the Earth and securing a half million dollar sponsorship for the Associated Builders and Contractors Education Foundation. Jody focused her energies on ensuring that the organizations’ missions were clearly communicated to a wider audience; and securing donors and funders who could help support their undertakings.
In Jody’s own words, she is thrilled to now be working at BBBS SEPA and to be connected with such a life-changing mission. She believes there is room for a good deal of growth within her department and is looking forward to helping the agency expand its reach; secure the required funding needed to provide its blue print mentoring service to a larger population; and helping the agency ultimately provide a Big Brother or Big Sister to every child in the region who wants or needs one.
