Dr. Rebecca Mitchell
President
Dr. Rebecca Hayward Mitchell is a retired high school principal. As an educator for thirty-four and a half years, she served as a High School and Middle School Principal, Assistant Principal, English Teacher, Lead Teacher, Staff Development Leader/Consultant, a Middle States Accreditation Evaluator, Lecturer, and college professor.

Dr. Mitchell is the author of an inspirational poetry book entitled, Her Sculptures Speak To My Soul. Throughout her teaching and administrative career in the School District of Philadelphia, Dr. Mitchell taught College English, Educational Administration, and Writing courses at night and during the summer at various universities and colleges. She has won numerous awards and commendations for her educational achievements and community service.

Dr. Mitchell holds an earned doctorate degree from Temple University in English, Curriculum, Instruction and Technology. In addition to her Teaching and Principal certifications from Temple University, Dr. Mitchell holds a Superintendent’s Letter of Eligibility from Saint Joseph’s University.

Married for forty-three years to R. Robert Mitchell, II, a retired Philadelphia School District High School Principal, they have two sons, R. Robert, III and Rodney; one daughter-in-law, Jennifer; and three grandchildren, Amaya, Alessandra, and Robbie.

Mrs. Barbara Saunders
Vice President
Currently, Ms. Saunders is a "Stay-at-home" parent for two of First Philadelphia students, ages 9 and 7. Her experiences as a parent, is growing and developing every day and is proud of the outcome and happy to have her children at First Philadelphia Charter.

Ms. Saunders' formal work experience is in the field of Human Services, of which
she was employed for 14 years. She worked first at Lynch Community Homes, of Montgomery County, where working her way up through the ranks, she supervised several community living arrangement facilities. Most of those facilities dealt with challenging behavioral issues.

At Overbrook, a division of Overbrook School for the Blind, Ms. Saunders supervised a sheltered workshop program, developed behavior programs, trained staff etc. More proudly, she participated in the Mission Statement Committee, which, as the name indicates, developed the Mission Statement of the Friedlander Program. The staff, under her supervision, as well as herself formally, re-named the sheltered workshop program with the acronym F.O.C.U.S. (Finding Opportunities Created though Unique Support).

Ms. Saunders has also participated in developing and reviewing the overall financial budget for the Philadelphia School District's Headstart program, participated in a partnership with Univ. Of Penn to develop a functional study of Head Start students and how to tract their success, she has also been involved in the decision making process on just about every level of the Head Start, including renaming sites, opening new sites, qualification criteria, hiring procedures, and even disciplinary issues. As Chairperson, Ms. Saunders also had the shared responsibility to host and be interviewed by the Federal Government for their routine review of the overall program. From these experiences, Ms. Saunders learned how to function as a parent in a cooperative effort with the school and the importance for a cooperative relationship to exist. She feels both honored and privileged to be able to serve on the Board for First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy.


Ms. Sharon Dennison
Secretary
Sharon Dennison is enjoying her life as a retired librarian She received her BA from Rosemont College. At Drexel University School of Library and Information Services, Sharon received her MSLIS (Masters in Library & Information Sciences).

During her career at the Free Library of Philadelphia Sharon held the following positions: Supervisor, Overdues Department; Clerical Supervisor, Cataloging Department; Adult Services Specialist; and Branch Manager.

Her current positions include: Board Secretary, Aldersgate Youth Services Bureau, Willow Grove, PA; Board Treasurer, Philadelphia Unemployment Project, Philadelphia, PA; Reading Group Leader, Center In The Park, Germantown, PA; Member, American Library Association; Member, Pennsylvania Library Association;
Member, Past Secretary, Drexel University Alumni Association; and Member, Past Secretary, Olney Neighbors Civic Association.

Sharon’s awards received include: Free Library of Philadelphia President’s Award for Distinguished Service - 1986, 1991, and 1994 and the Mayoral Citation for Distinguished Service – 2004.


Mrs. Anita Kaiser
Assistant Secretary
Mrs. Kaiser is Legislative Assistance for State Representative John J. Taylor. Mrs. Kaiser is currently working at the district office in Juniata Park. She works closely with the neighborhood attempting to solve all types of problems ranging from issues with a drivers license to acquiring birth certificates to abandoned cars. Prior to joining Representative Taylor's group she was employed with The Union League of Philadelphia. Kaiser was in charge of numerous tasks such as coordination luncheons, business events, maintaining a variety of databases. She is a 1999 graduate of Thomas Edison High School and is currently an undergraduate student at LaSalle University. She is studying for a bachelor's degree in Psychology and anticipates becoming a Child Psychologist. Anita looks forward to some day working with a child who may happen to be living in a broken and/or dysfunctional family and/or environment that needs some professional counseling. She has a beautiful baby girl named Gianna.


Mr. John MacDonald
Treasurer
John MacDonald, President and CEO of Impact Services Corporation, has spent the major part of his adult life building Impact Services Corporation from a Ford Foundation demonstration project employing 5 people, to a nationally recognized organization that employs over 120 people and provides a broad array of services to needy Philadelphians.

Mr. MacDonald’s deep concern for the community is evidenced by his involvement in many voluntary associations across the city. He currently serves as president of the Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations, and the Kensington and Allegheny Business Association, while also sitting on the executive board of the American Street Erie Avenue Business Association and the Commerce Department’s Urban Industry Initiative. He recently joined the board of Northeast Hospital, and is active on the board of First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy. The former head golf coach of Temple University, Mr. MacDonald remains very active in the scholastic golf arena, serving on the boards of the Greater Philadelphia scholastic Golf Association, the John Dyniewski Foundation, and The First Tee Center of Philadelphia.

A proud graduate of Temple University, where he earned an M.Ed. and a BS. in business, Mr. MacDonald is a frequent conference speaker at regional and national economic development forums including the Business Roundtable, National Conference on Community Economic Development, and University of Pennsylvania’s International Business Forum.


Mrs. Linda Salandra
Member, VP PNC Bank
Linda is a graduate of The Pennsylvania State University; Master of Business Administration (MBA) 1991 and has 18 years working in financial institutions.  Her expertise focuses on lending, real estate and credit administration.  Prior to that Linda worked primarily with children in alternative education settings.  She has a MA in Education from George Washington University and applied that to her work in museum education.  In addition, she worked with special needs children in a hospital setting providing therapeutic recreation.

Currently, her community outreach extends to Tacony Civic Association and Tacony Community Development Corporation where she holds a Board seat.  Previous Board Chair positions included Habitat for Humanity of Greater Bucks and Leadership Bucks County Program with the Lower Bucks Chamber of Commerce.  Linda grew up and attended catholic schools in Tacony where she currently owns a home.

Mr. Charles Tarloski
Member
Charles Tarloski is a commercial real estate advisor with NAI Geis Realty Group, Inc. Charles works with local, national, and international corporations providing them with strategic consulting and transactional services so his clients are able to achieve their business goals.

Mr. Tarloski’s work with youth and giving back to the community is evident in his participation over the years. His efforts have gone to Special Olympics, the Opening Eyes Program at Sayre Middle School in West Philadelphia, and the Knights of Columbus. He’s also received the Rotary International (Wayne, PA) Annual Award for “Service Above Self.” Mr. Tarloski is also an integral member of the Valley Forge Military Academy and College Alumni Board where he maintains a hands-on role for the benefit of cadet life.

A distinguished graduate of Valley Forge Military College, Mr. Tarloski earned his Associates degree in Business Administration where he was admitted to Alpha Beta Gamma, an international business honor society and Who’s Who Among American Junior Colleges. He completed his studies at Drexel University, receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Finance.  He continues to participate as a member of the Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship in Technology at Drexel University.

In his spare time, Mr. Tarloski is an active rugby player for Philadelphia-Whitemarsh Rugby Club and enjoys playing golf.

Mr. Joseph Bauer
Member
Joe was born and raised in the Mayfair section of Northeast, Philadelphia. He has been married for thirty-one years and he has two grown children, one of which is a high school teacher in Montgomery County. Joe began his career in the dairy industry. He worked there for eighteen years until they closed in 1996. Joe was also a union shop steward and on the contract negotiating committee for twelve years. Joe is presently working for Citizens Bank where he’s been for fourteen years. He began as a bank teller and is now a branch manager, AVP.

Joe is active in many community activities. He is currently the treasurer of the Tacony Business Association, President of the Aramingo Business Association, A Republic Committee Man of the 57th Ward and a basketball and football official with PIAA.