Our Board of Directors

Friends Life Care is a nonprofit 501(c)3 charitable organization governed by a volunteer board of directors — the majority of whom must be members of the Religious Society of Friends “Quakers”*.

The Friends Life Care Partners board consists of up to 13 individuals. These board members, and the boards of the Friends Life Care Partners subsidiaries — Friends Life Care, Intervention Associates and Friends Life Care Consultants — are appointed at an annual meeting. Additionally, the board of directors may occasionally appoint one or more emeritus directors.

Below, please find more information on the board members serving Friends Life Care Partners and its subsidiaries:

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Samuel T. Barnett has spent over 30 years consulting and building professional services businesses. He founded what was to become one of the leading industry-focused consulting and training companies in the Life Sciences industry. Sam led the Life Sciences consulting practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers and subsequently at IBM and retired from IBM/PWC several years ago.  Sam remains active as an Independent Consultant and serves as a director for several public, private, and non-profit organizations. Sam is a recognized speaker across the industry, and has published frequently in industry periodicals. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University, and both his Masters and Doctorate degrees from Temple University.

Tom Bowen* was born and grew up in Salem, New Jersey, where after attending First Day School and Meeting as a child and teenager, he was a member of Salem Monthly Meeting for several years. After attending the local public high school, he obtained his bachelors degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1964, and his bachelor of laws from Penn Law School in 1967. Bowen served two years as an officer the Army after law school, spending the year 1969 as a Captain in the Quartermaster Corps in Vietnam. He then returned to Salem to practice law from 1970 to 1992, when he was appointed to the Superior Court of New Jersey by Governor Florio. He served as a New Jersey Judge, principally in Salem County, but also in Gloucester and Cumberland Counties, until his retirement in 2007. From 1998 to 2005, Bowen was also an adjunct professor at Widener Law School in Wilmington, where he taught the New Jersey Court Rules of Practice to third year law students. Judge Bowen moved to center city Philadelphia in 2010, where he attends Friends Meeting for Worship at Fourth and Arch Streets, and since 2018, has served on the Board of Directors of Friends Center City. He is an active member of Friends in The City (FITC), and also is a member of Jefferson Hospital’s Center City Patient Advisory Committee.

Gabriel Ehri* is executive director of Friends Publishing Corporation, publishers of Friends Journal and QuakerSpeak. He has over 15 years of experience with search engine and media firms, including 9 years in executive leadership with Friends Publishing, where he has led digital transformation efforts, product and website launches and redesigns, and a successful capital campaign. He is a member of the Corporation of Haverford College and treasurer of Quakers Uniting in Publications. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Haverford College and a certificate in nonprofit management from LaSalle University. He is a member of Green Street Friends Meeting.

Richard R. Fernandez is a Minister of the United Church of Christ and serves as a consultant to nonprofit organizations and religious congregations. He has been the Executive Director of three interfaith/ecumenical organizations focused on public policy advocacy and service programs. In 2002, Dick concluded 21 years as the Executive Director of the Northwest Interfaith Movement in Philadelphia. He has also served on nearly two dozen nonprofit boards, chairing six of them. He is a founding member of three of these organizations.

Virginia Frantz* is President and CEO of Montgomery County Foundation, Inc. She has spent 20 years of her career overseeing the development and growth of human services organizations. Her leadership roles have included strategic planning, management and revenue enhancement. She is a member of the Council on Foundations, of Philanthropy Network, and a board member of The Montgomery County Estate Planning Council, the Montgomery Bar Foundation and the Montgomery Bar Association Community Task Force.

Anne B. Hagele has been active with a wide variety of non-profit organizations for the last 30 years. These range from grassroots organizations (Welfare Rights Organization) to cultural institutions (Wagner Free Institute of Science) and private foundations (Emergency Aid of Pennsylvania Foundation). Until 2000, she was Executive Director of Philadelphia Senior Center, the largest of its kind in Pennsylvania. Most recently she was a founding member of an all-volunteer, membership organization to help older residents remain living in East Falls for as long as possible. She has an undergraduate degree from Goucher College and a Master’s degree from Bryn Mawr College.

Stephen R. La Pierre has served the senior living market for over 30 years. He consulted with and directed operations at CCRCs, skilled nursing facilities and hospital-based senior outreach programs. During his time as a long-term care insurance executive, Steve worked closely with insurance regulators and served as Secretary to multiple insurance companies’ Boards of Directors. He has opened new skilled nursing facilities, and worked together with staff, residents, families and regulators to effectively lead campuses through ownership transitions. Steve is currently serving as Executive Director for Acts-Retirement Life Communities at The Evergreens, a newly affiliated CCRC campus in New Jersey. He received his MBA from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Paul J. Manz is the Chair of the Friends Life Care Partners board.  He is also Managing Partner of Vydahl, LLC — a health care precision medicine analytics firm focused on investment and consulting opportunities.  Paul also serves as the President of the firm, Health Care Strategic Solutions, Inc. He is the former Vice President of provider contracting & reimbursement for Independence Blue Cross. Paul has extensive experience in the health insurance industry, having held leadership positions at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Connecticut, John Hancock Health Plan and Anthem, among others. Paul earned his Master of Business Administration in Health Care Management from Temple University and his Bachelor of Science from Villanova University.

Dianne E. Reed* is a Principal at reedgroup LLC, a marketing research and management consulting firm based in Philadelphia. She previously served as a university Professor, an Executive Director of three nonprofit organizations, as a Senior Manager in the national public sector practice at KPMG, and as Budget Director of the City of Philadelphia. She serves as a member of the finance committee of Friends Life Care Partners and of Germantown Friends School, and serves as chair of the finance committee of Friends Center City anad of the Cosmopolitan Club. A graduate of UCLA, she holds a doctorate from Stanford University and a Master of Government Administration from the Fels Center, University of Pennsylvania.

Jeannette Sanders has more than 25 years of experience serving the pharmaceutical industry with expertise in brand marketing for pre-launch and inline products, customer segment marketing, global pricing and tendering, market access, product forecasting, planning and analysis.  For the majority of her career, Jeannette has been at Merck & Company where her responsibilities have grown and expanded over time as she successfully honed skills in business/marketing, market access, customer focus, interpersonal and communication skills, strategic thinking, analytics, negotiation as well as leadership skills. Jeannette received her Bachelor’s degree from The Pennsylvania State University and her MBA from New York University.

Scott Townsley has over 30 years’ experience in the senior care field.  He was managing Principal of Third Age, Inc. – one of the largest consulting and strategy firms serving senior living organizations.  He was also a Principal in the CliftonLarsonAllen senior living practice for 7 years.  After that, Scott formed Trilogy Consulting.  He has led hundreds of client assignments for planning, market analysis, affiliations/mergers, project development and executive search. He formerly served on the faculty of the University of Maryland Baltimore County’s Erickson School and co-founded their Center for Innovation, a 501(c)(3) organization that serves as the sponsor for The Green House Project.  Scott is a frequent speaker at national and state conferences.  He received a Bachelor’s degree from Drexel University and Juris Doctorate from Villanova University.

Howard A. Trauger is Managing Director, Carnegie Investment Counsel – Philadelphia, whose total assets under management (AUM) exceed $1 Billion. Howard provides advisory services to a select group of pension funds, endowments, foundations and private asset clients totaling $100 million AUM. His 30 years in the investment business encompasses a variety of roles with banking and asset management firms, including research analysis and portfolio management. At PNC Bank he was portfolio manager for $120 million of personal trust assets and co-manager of $140 million in common trust fund assets. He has acted as merger and acquisition advisor to the Rohm & Haas Company acquisition program. Howard is the current president of The Bond Club of Philadelphia and is an active member of various charitable and professional organizations in Philadelphia.

Sam Swansen* was a founding Director of Friends Life Care in 1990.  He served as Board Chair for many of the organization’s earlier years before taking a hiatus in 2006 and returning several years later as a board member.  Sam was a Partner for 20 years at Dechert, Price and Rhoads — a major Philadelphia law firm with one of the nation’s largest trust and estate practices. His professional affiliations include admittance to the Bar of the United States and Pennsylvania Supreme Courts as well as the American Bar Association and state, regional and local Bar Associations.  In addition, he founded a law firm in 1994 to bring innovative estate planning services to individuals, families and small businesses.  Sam has served as General Counsel to the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Wisconsin Law School.

*This individual is either a member or an active attender of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) Meeting.