Our Leadership
Officers
Steve Kendall
President
Steve Kendall
President
Dr. Kendall is a registered architect and holds a PhD in Design Theory and Methods from MIT. His career in architectural practice, research and education spans more than 35 years. Before his retirement in 2014, he taught in the US, Japan, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Africa and Italy. His teaching, research and writing focus on the Open Building approach, needed to make buildings more adaptable, easier to customize to meet changing preferences and thus more sustainable. He has authored more than 50 published papers and research reports and three books. He is Co-Founder and Vice President of the Council on Open Building, a professional non-profit advocating that buildings be prepared for change.
Kristin Haskins-Simms
VP Community Affairs
Kristin Haskins-Simms
VP Community Affairs
Kristin was born and raised in West Mt. Airy. She graduated from Germantown Friends School and attended University of Penn. Upon graduation in 1993, she lived in NYC before earning an MFA from RISD in 2000. Kristin accepted a position as visiting professor at UCONN while also starting her own graphic design studio in Philadelphia. After a year at UCONN, she moved back to Philadelphia and accepted various adjunct positions at UPENN, Philadelphia University, Rutgers and Rowan. She also continued to grow her graphic design studio.
Kristin started a t-shirt line called “Strangefruit” which was intended to use fashion to educate about Black History. She taught herself how to sew using her grandmother’s old sewing machine. Eventually she made a whole fall line and debuted at a Philadelphia fashion week which elevated her to a “one to watch fashion icon” status. She was cast to Season 8 of Project Runway. Even though Kristin was the 5th one eliminated, she learned a lot from that experience and vowed never to apply to a competition reality show ever again. The best thing about that experience was netting and spending quality time with Tim Gunn. Kristin continued with fashion with a new line “Krysi” and a small manufacturing company helping independent designers develop their lines. (2011-2020). When COVID occurred, she dissolved the business and is now working in her family’s Real Estate business as the Interior Architect and Designer. They have been renovating and flipping houses.
Morrie Zimmerman
VP Physical Resources
Morrie Zimmerman
VP Physical Resources
Morrie is Principal of O Z Collaborative, an award-winning architectural firm established in 1988 that serves clients in the Philadelphia region with a range of project types, including affordable housing, non-profit, higher-ed, K-12 schools, institutional, sustainable design and historic preservation. Morrie and his wife, Anne Deaner, moved to West Mt. Airy a year after purchasing a fixer-upper in 2000, and raised their son with all the amazing amenities that we have around us, including the Wissahickon, Lovett Library, and Mt. Airy Baseball. Morrie has a deep interest in community, historic fabric, and the built environment. He has served on the WMAN Zoning Committee for the past 12 years.
Rob Pelszynski
VP Finance
Rob Pelszynski
VP Finance
Rob and his wife Elizabeth have lived in West Mount Airy since 2006. They opened the Mount Airy Taproom in 2019. Rob holds a Bachelor of Business Administration specializing in Risk Management and Insurance. He has a wide range of experience in restaurant management. Rob is interested in deepening his roots in the community by serving on the WMAN Board.
Board Members
Adrienne Carpenter
Adrienne Carpenter
Adrienne is an educational leader. She has experience with coordinating partnerships with universities, businesses and community programs. Her vast experience includes being an principal, and an assistant regional supervisor an Instructional Officer supervising 36 schools. She currently works as a consultant for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Adrienne holds a Doctor of Education from Temple University. She is a resident of Mt Airy. In her free time she enjoys reading, global travel, dancing and fine dining. Adrienne is currently the leader of the Historic Preservation arm of WMAN’s Neighborhood Transformation Committee and is working tirelessly to organize neighbors around protecting the character and integrity of the buildings in our community.
Ben Van Couvering
Ben Van Couvering
Ben Van Couvering moved to West Mt. Airy 4 years ago from New York City with his wife Sara, and since then their family has expanded by two with their daughter Rowan and son Kieran. Ben works for a nonprofit affordable housing developer based out of Lancaster, where he uses his experience in financial underwriting, project management, and community engagement to build homes for households of limited means in central PA, Delaware, and Maryland. He enjoys walking his dog and riding his mountain bike in the Wissahickon and family meet-ups on the playground at CW Henry.
Anne Dicker
Anne Dicker
Anne Dicker lives in W Mt Airy with her husband, 11 year old daughter, and their two cats. A resident of Mt Airy for 13 years, Anne works at Living Beyond Breast Cancer as a database coordinator. She studied economics and geography at Middlebury College, and has a continuing interest in using maps and data to solve problems. Anne is a lifelong organizer and advocate for progressive causes and neighborhood issues – most recently for increasing voter participation, maintaining Mt Airy’s trees, and calming traffic. Anne is the co-chair for Keep Mt Airy Green and is the leading the Northwest Traffic Calming Campaign. She is passionate about making Mt Airy more livable by improving our walking infrastructure and increasing the density and vibrancy of our tree canopy.
Leroy Hall
Leroy Hall
Leroy has been the principal of Henry Houston since July of 2014. He is also an Adjunct professor at Chestnut Hill College. Previous experience includes different roles in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh school districts. Principal Hall is currently pursuing a Doctor in Education from Drexel University. He also holds Masters in ED from University of Pittsburgh. Leroy lives with his family in Landsdale, PA. He will be an invaluable voice to hear from on how WMAN can better support our schools.
Kevin Keen
Kevin Keen
Kevin Keene was born in Philadelphia and has lived in the city for all but ten years. He is a graduate of Central High School and Clark University. He has been a resident of West Mount Airy for four years. He served in the City of Philadelphia for over 30 years as a Real Property Evaluator; Mass Appraisal Analyst; Real Property Supervisor; GIS Manager; Modeling Director and Director of Mass Appraisal and Analysis.
In his semi-retirement he is the principal at Keene Mass Appraisal Consulting. His primary passions are promoting assessment equity, teaching, community activism, cycling, travel and enjoying life with a loving wife and two adorable dogs.
Will Lippitt
Will Lippitt
As a recent arrival to the West Mt Airy neighborhood, the strength of this community and deep connectivity among the neighbors stand out as core values that resonate deeply for Will. Alongside the high quality of life, verdant gardens, tree lined streets, many parks, and walkable retail, this community spirit was among the many qualities that drew his family to this particular pocket of Philadelphia from Seattle last year. Since arriving, Will been inspired to serve the neighborhood-drawing on his passion for stewardship of public space as a Master Watershed Steward for Carpenters Woods, and recently bringing his Real Estate development expertise to the neighborhood zoning committee.
Will is excited to bring 10 years of construction and real estate experience to the neighborhood board to assist in navigating the current wave of development activity. As an alumni from Brown University in Architectural History and Urban Studies departments, he is passionate about urban design and the shared experience of public space. Having served in board positions with community nonprofits in the past, Will has earned some useful perspective on how to draw forth the voices of all of the stakeholders that may not otherwise be heard or empowered. As a member of the WMAN board, he hopes to be an advocate for robust discussion that brings the neighbors together and collaborative effort that delivers proactive and thoughtful progress.
Cheryl Ann Nelson
Cheryl Ann Nelson
Cheryl Ann is a recent retiree of Community College of Philadelphia where she served as an English professor for 30 years. She has lived in the West Mt Airy neighborhood since 2004 in a lovely Victorian home on Sharpnack Street. Her primary area of interest during her retirement is working with organizations that promote the importance and enjoyment of reading, especially for children and youth. Recent home and apartment development in her immediate area has spurned a desire to protect the W. Mt Airy neighborhood from being overly developed with construction that does not reflect a respect for this historic area of the Wissahickon Valley.
Ralph Pinkus
Ralph Pinkus
Ralph has lived on Westview Street since 1980. He and his family moved to Philadelphia from the Washington, DC area where he worked in the Office of General Counsel for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He then served as a Deputy City Solicitor in Philadelphia in the City Law Department. In 1984, Ralph opened his private legal practice specializing in real estate and zoning matters. He has chaired the West Mt. Airy Neighbors Zoning Committee since 2005. He is currently in the process of retiring and has a part time “gig” serving on the Philadelphia Board of License and Inspection Review. He enjoys walking in the Wiss with his lovely wife Cheryl, and traveling to Colorado to visit his two fantastic grandchildren.
Gwyneth Shaw
Gwyneth Shaw
Gwyneth moved to Mount Airy in 2013 and is raising two baseball-crazed sons and a dog with her husband. A former journalist, she now writes for an academic institution but still enjoys a good sleuthing expedition. She and her family particularly enjoy easy access to the Wissahickon and the other green spaces in the neighborhood, including all the Mount Airy Baseball fields and their backyard, where they are locked in an eternal battle with weeds. Gwyneth is most passionate about making the neighborhood safer for walkers, runners, cyclists, kids, and drivers; she also cares deeply about working to preserve the neighborhood’s unique characteristics, including its diversity.
Natalie Sloane
Natalie Sloane
Natalie’s work with WMAN revolves around trees and trash. She and her partner Brody started Mt Airy Trash Team shortly after moving here. MATT is a group of volunteers that meets once a month to pick up trash together around our community. Natalie holds a BSW from the University of North Carolina and a MSW from NYU. Natalie is also the co-chair of Keep Mt Airy Green, and Mt. Airy Tree Tenders, and is dedicated to increasing the tree canopy in Mt Airy. She regularly organizes meetings of “the tree people”.
Staff
Josephine Gasiewski Winter
Executive Director
Josephine Gasiewski Winter
Executive Director
Jo lives in W Mt Airy with her husband, two young children, poodle pup Penny, and Balinese cat Beef Stroganoff. Born in the Overbrook Farms section of Philadelphia, she is a graduate of three pillars of Philly based education, Central High School (257!), the University of Pennsylvania (BA, MSEd), and Temple University (Phd). After completing her doctorate in Urban Education, Jo did three years of post-doc research at UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute where she focused on qualitative analyses related to diversifying the STEM pipeline. Jo now serves as a qualitative data consultant primarily on diversity, equity, and inclusion projects in higher education. She first joined WMAN as the VP of membership, but after organizing Covid vaccinations for hundreds of elderly folks during the peak of the pandemic, Jo caught the community organizing bug, and took on the role of full time ED in December 2022. She is dedicated to reigniting WMAN’s advocacy and activism roots, and establishing WMAN as true community led, hub of West Mt. Airy life.
Paul Chase
Executive Assistant
Paul Chase
Executive Assistant
Candis Lupeituu
Bookkeeper
Candis Lupeituu
Bookkeeper
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