Eight highly skilled older adults have been selected as the newest fellows for The Dayton Foundation’s Del Mar Encore Fellows Initiative, which deploys retired or career-transitioning older adults to work on significant community issues. Each fellow brings new sources of talent and experience to nonprofit organizations tackling critical needs in Greater Dayton.
Since the initiative launched in 2017, Del Mar Encore Fellows have been placed with 25 organizations and have contributed more than 42,000 hours of work, providing an estimated $3 million in value to the Greater Dayton economy. This initiative is made possible thanks to generous grants from the DMH-Dayton Fund of The Dayton Foundation.
Serving for the next year as Del Mar Encore Fellows are the following.
Arnie Biondo is assisting the Miami Valley Age-Friendly Network, an initiative of the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission’s Institute for Livable and Equitable Communities, to establish and implement age-friendly strategies for the Greater Dayton region. Biondo’s career spans over 40 years in three states and in Arabia and has included leadership positions with organizations focused on conservation, arts, community recreation and more.
Rosalie Bonacci-Roberts is helping Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) to promote the inclusion of underrepresented adults in the workplace and assist others experiencing barriers to employment. Bonacci-Roberts has over 30 years of experience in strategic planning, operations and human resource development, including with the civilian workforce at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Most recently, she served as vice president of Business Planning and Operations for Prosperi-Key, a Connecticut-based nonprofit digital marketplace aimed at connecting individuals who are living paycheck to paycheck with discounted products and services offered by businesses, nonprofits and government agencies.
Steven Box is working with the United Way of the Greater Dayton Area to provide a systemic review and development of practices and procedures to support the organization’s operational structure. For nearly 30 years, Box has blended his mindset as a promoter with his innate skills as a manager in a variety of fields. He has worked for a wide array of businesses across the county, lending his strategic and creative thinking to a diverse group of nonprofits, centers of education, Fortune 500 companies, professional entertainers and more.
Debra A. Brathwaite, PhD, has joined the Miami Valley Urban League to collect and analyze data to identify trends in the issues facing Black communities and advocate for policy changes to achieve equity. Brathwaite brings more than 50 years of experience as an educator in school systems in New York City, New York, Cleveland, Ohio, Dayton, Ohio and Columbia, South Carolina. In Dayton, she served from 2003 to 2008 as the deputy superintendent/chief academic officer for Dayton Public Schools. She has been an adjunct professor at the University of Dayton and is the president and CEO of her own education consulting firm. She also previously served as a Del Mar Encore Fellow for the YWCA and Preschool Promise.
Brenda I. Dewberry is working with Brigid’s Path to conduct a comprehensive study on the need for housing, childcare and workforce development services for mothers struggling with substance abuse and trauma. Dewberry has over 30 years of experience in higher education, most recently serving in administrative roles at Central State University, Wittenberg University and Wright State University. As an accomplished grant writer, Dewberry secured external funding to support the creation of new, pre-college programs for students in grades K-12 designed to promote college attendance.
Daniel K. Foley is supporting the Employers’ Workforce Coalition, a Dayton Foundation leadership initiative, to develop and implement strategies to enhance regional workforce development. This initiative addresses the critical challenge of bridging the gap between the supply of skilled workers and the demand from employers in the Greater Dayton region. Foley served as an elected official for over 18 years, including as the Montgomery County Clerk of Courts and as a three-term Montgomery County Commissioner. Most recently, he directed the Great Miami Riverway Initiative for the Miami Conservancy District to drive public and private investment along the Great Miami Riverway.
Jane L. McEwen is partnering with Sinclair Community College’s Fast Forward Re-Engagement Center to devise innovative transportation solutions for Dayton Public Schools’ high school students, aiming to improve equitable access to education and increase graduation rates. McEwen's passion for community service stems from her roots in South Bend, Indiana, where she was a prominent church and community leader. Her initiatives included founding a youth choir and department at Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church in Elkhart and establishing a city-wide Kwanzaa celebration in South Bend. After moving to the Dayton area in 1988, McEwen founded PALS (Positive Parenting and Life Skills) for Young Moms (formerly known as Omega Teen MOPS), an inner-city, teen mother support group.
Beverly Williams Odon, PhD, has joined Learn to Earn Dayton to collaborate with critical educational, governmental and community organizations to launch a year-long academy to inform residents about the function of schools and local governments to become advocates who drive systemic change. Odon’s career includes a myriad of institutions and organizations that address community needs through comprehensive services to children, youth and families. For more than 40 years, she has worked on behalf of abused and neglected children at Montgomery County Children Services, supported Dayton Public Schools’ early childhood education services, administered a first-diversion program for female status offenders through a federal Law Enforcement Assistance Administration grant to the National Council of Negro Women and delivered social services to Head Start children and families through the Miami Valley Child Development Centers. She also was the first center director for the Dora Lee Tate Service Center, promoting local collaboratives, advocacy initiatives and support for the local nonprofit sector through the United Way of the Greater Dayton Area.
These eight new fellows join current fellows Brett Hart and Sharon Hawkins, who have been working for the past year on the Foundation’s community leadership initiatives. Hart is supporting the Brain Health Collective, a partnership with the University of Dayton to coordinate care, education and community outreach for individuals inflicted with traumatic brain injuries. Hawkins is leading an effort through the University of Dayton’s Fitz Center for Leadership in Communities' Health Equity Activation Think Tank (HEATT) to increase Black infant and maternal vitality in Montgomery County.
For more information about the Del Mar Encore Fellows Initiative, please contact Leigh Sempeles, senior fellow, at lsempeles@daytonfoundation.org or (937) 225-9949.
About The Dayton Foundation
The Dayton Foundation has been the trusted charitable giving resource for thousands of individuals, families and organizations since 1921. Ranked among the oldest and largest community foundations in the nation, the Foundation has awarded more than $1.37 billion in grants since its founding, with current assets from all funds exceeding $1.12 billion.