The Coalition has close to 300 full- and part-time employees working in communities. A core staff, including senior managers, provides administrative support to the overall organization.
Keith Daviston, CPA, Chief Financial Officer
Kevin Satterthwaite, Chief Information Officer & Chief Operating Officer
Karen Harvey, Manager of Program Partner Services
Sandra Higginbotham, Director of Human Resources
Arun Prabhakaran, Director of Government & Strategic Partnerships
Farrah Samuels, MSEd, Director, Youth Division
Beverly Woods, Director, Economic Opportunity Division
Sharmain Matlock-Turner
President/Chief Executive Officer
Phone: 215-851-1701
Email: smturner [at] uac.org
About Sharmain Matlock-Turner
Keith Daviston, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Phone: 215-851-1724
Email: kdaviston@uac.org
Keith Daviston joined the Coalition in June of 2010. Keith leads and manages the Coalition's Fiscal Department and provides strategic direction and overall supervision of finance and accounting. Keith is a seasoned finance veteran with over 22 years of progressive experience in the for-profit and non-profit sectors. He began his career as an accounting manager with JC Penney, and spent over a decade with MBNA/Bank of America in roles of increasing responsibility, including serving as a member of the transition team that merged MBNA's and Bank of America's operations. Most recently, Keith served as CFO of an alternative fuel business, and CFO of Tri-County Community Action Partnership (now Gateway Community Action Partnership), a $50 million nonprofit organization in Southern New Jersey with over 500 employees, and 110 programs in four counties. Keith was an Army officer for 21 years in the National Guard, retiring from the Delaware National Guard, where he served as Comptroller. Keith holds a BA in Accounting from Slippery Rock State University.
Nancy Pontone, CPA
Phone: 215-851-1708
Nancy Pontone joined the Coalition in 2011. She is a Certified Public Accountant with over 29 years of experience in controllership, internal audit and financial management in a non-profit museum and academy and in the banking industry. Originally from Princeton, New Jersey, she worked in Scranton, PA before relocating to Philadelphia in 1996. She holds a BA in Political Science from New York University and did coursework in Accounting, Economics, Finance, Law and Business at the University of Scranton. She is a volunteer gardener in the perennial garden at her local branch of the Free Library. She is the clerk of the vestry at her church where she also gardens and sings in the choir. Nancy volunteers for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and has been a Philadelphia architectural tour guide.
Kevin Satterthwaite
Chief Information Officer & Chief Operating Officer
Phone: 215-851-1896
Email: ksatterthwaite@uac.org
Kevin Satterthwaite joined the Coalition in 2009. Kevin oversees and manages teams responsible for the daily operations necessary to service the multiple business lines supporting the Coalition's 65 programs and 400 employees. These include IT, HR, Program Services, Risk Management, Facilities and Core Programs. A former Principal and Vice President of Information Systems at CMS Companies, a financial services and private investment banking firm with assets in excess of $1.5 billion, Kevin has worked with for-profit and nonprofit organizations, leading the implementation of innovative technology solutions that significantly increased revenues, improved business processes, and minimized costs. He successfully managed talented technical teams on critical IT projects, which resulted in improved customer service strengthening CMS's competitive positioning in the industry. Kevin holds a BBA degree in Computer and Information Sciences from Temple University.
Arun Prabhakaran
Director of Government & Strategic Partnerships
Phone: 215-851-1774
Email: aprabhakaran@uac.org
Arun Prabhakaran was recently appointed to the position of Government and Strategic Partnerships after serving as the Corporate and Foundation Relations Manager for UAC's Advancement Department. Arun has raised over $12 million dollars for the Coalition and its program partners. In his new role he oversees, development, new business, government relations, strategic partnerships, board development and relations, marketing and communications and community affairs. Arun's previous professional experience includes Government Relations and sales for Solutions for Progress, a public policy IT firm. Arun founded the city's first youth-oriented harm reduction drop-in center at Youth Health Empowerment Project, serving homeless and youth with substance abuse challenges. He has worked as an independent consultant to nonprofits, government, political candidates, and other institutions and has over a decade of grassroots organizing experience working to advance human rights and end poverty in the USA. Arun holds a BA in Chemistry from Kent State University.
Sandra Higginbotham-Briddell
Director of Human Resources
Phone: 215-851-1717
Email: shigginbotham@uac.org
Sandra Higginbotham joined the Coalition in December 2005, and has over 20 years of human resources management and employee benefits experience. She has spent the majority of her professional career in the corporate arena. Prior to joining UAC, Ms. Higginbotham was a Benefits Manager at GE Capital - TIP, and was responsible for managing benefits for approximately 2000 employees. Proudly and actively involved in her community, she currently tutors high school students in English and History, and previously held the position of Vice President of her local school board from 2000-2007. Ms. Higginbotham obtained her BS in Business Administration from LaSalle University and received her MA in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix. She is a Six Sigma Green Belt and holds a certificate as a Corporate Conflict Resolution Trainer.
Farrah Samuels-Alexander, MSEd
Director, Youth Division
Phone: 215-851-1713
Email: fsamuels@uac.org
Farrah Samuels joined the Coalition in July 2008. She provides program development expertise, grant-writing, direction, and management of core Coalition-led youth initiatives such as our youth workforce development programs, which include four Summer WorkReady program models and the year-round WorkReady Job Placement Services Project for out-of-school youth ages 17-24. She also oversees a three-year grant funded by the William Penn Foundation to provide organizational health and development support to 10 youth-serving program partners to improve program quality through organizational assessments and the provision of targeted technical assistance and capacity building services, including the organization and oversight of the Coalition U workshop series. Farrah serves as liaison to external partners and funding agencies such as the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania (UWSEPA), the Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), and the Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN) for multi-systemic initiatives that the Coalition is a member of. Farrah was previously employed at the University of Pennsylvania's C.H.A.N.G.E.S. Research Center, Philadelphia Safe and Sound, and the Department of Human Services. Farrah received her BA in Political Science and Sociology from Tulane University and her MSEd in Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development (ISHD) from the University of Pennsylvania.
Karen Harvey
Manager of Program Services
Phone: 215-851-1882
Email: kharvey@uac.org
Karen Harvey joined the Coalition in 1999, and has over 25 years of human resource management, workforce development, and fiscal management experience in the nonprofit, corporate, and government sectors. At UAC, she supports the new program intake process, and provides organizational support to programs that are considered to be "in crisis" stabilizing operations and increasing program effectiveness. Karen also assists with the analysis, coordination, and creation of best practices for UAC program services. Prior to becoming Manager of Program Services, she was the Deputy Director for Workforce Development Programs and Director of the Employment, Advancement, Retention (EARN), Partnership for Jobs, and Housing and the Career Employment Program (CEP). Prior to joining UAC, Karen accumulated years of progressive management and human resources experience in the financial services, government, and education sectors including: Manager of New Business Development for BISYS Plan Services, a retirement plan investment firm; Manager of Human Resources for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; and Career Development Program Coordinator for New York University's Graduate School of Business (The Stern School). Karen obtained her BS in English Education from Clarion State University and her MA in Guidance and Counseling from Atlanta University.
Beverly Woods
Director, Economic Opportunity Division
Phone: 215-851-1917
Email: bwoods@uac.org
Beverly G. Woods came to the Urban Affairs Coalition in March 2009 to launch the Economic Opportunity Division after a distinguished 14 year career in City government and the non-profit sector before that. The Division focuses on the development of policy and practices that increase access to and ensure equity in business development and workforce opportunities for communities which face barriers to wealth-building. In her capacity as Division Director, Ms. Woods provides leadership to Economic Development Projects, a consultant services business of the Coalition that assists businesses and owners of construction projects committed to structuring their operations to provide economic opportunity.
In her role with UAC, Ms. Woods served as the wealth building consultant to the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation for its “Central Delaware River Waterfront Master Plan” which won the 2012 AIA Institute Honor Award for Regional Urban Design. She also serves on The Reinvestment Fund New Markets Tax Credit Advisory Committee and on the Board of Directors of the Mantua Community Improvement Committee. Ms. Woods holds a BA in English from the University of Pennsylvania and a Construction Management Certificate from Temple University.
Don Kelly
Director, Community and Economic Development
Phone: 215-851-1738
Email: dkelly@uac.org
Don Kelly has been Director of Community and Economic Development (CED) of the Urban Affairs Coalition for ten years (2003) where he manages programs in financial education, home improvement lending, foreclosure prevention, small business lending and employer-assisted housing. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from St. John’s University in New York and a master’s degree in urban planning and policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is an Accredited Financial Counselor through the Association of Financial Counseling and Planning Education.
Prior to joining the Coalition in 2002 Don had over 20 years’ experience in the banking industry in the fields of community development and Community Reinvestment Act compliance with Talman Home Federal Savings and Loan in Chicago, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and PNC Bank. Prior to his banking career Don was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala and community organizer in Chicago. Since 1991 he has been a member of the adjunct faculty of Eastern University teaching courses on community revitalization, economic development, urban planning and public policy. Don is an active civic leader in his hometown of Haverford Township in Delaware County serving on the boards of the Haverford Township Civic Council and Haverford Partnership for Economic Development which he helped to found.