United Way welcomes five new members to the organization’s Board of Directors - Lorenzo M. Boyd, Kim Harris, Pericles Lewis, Annie Merkle-Ward and Angela Wardlaw.
"The pandemic has shown us clearly that too many of our neighbors have been struggling to survive; United Way of Greater New Haven is focused on helping families in our community not just survive, but thrive. We are thrilled to welcome new members to our Board who will bring fresh energy, expertise, and perspectives as we move from responding to the COVID pandemic to reimagining and rebuilding our community,” remarked Jennifer Heath, President and CEO of United Way of Greater New Haven. “We are committed to creating a future of greater opportunity and true equity for all people living in our community and look forward to doing this work with leadership from our new and continuing board members.”
Lorenzo M. Boyd, Ph.D., is a nationally recognized leader in police-community relations and an authority on urban policing, diversity issues in criminal justice, race and crime and criminal justice systems. He served for 14 years in the Suffolk County (Mass.) Sheriff’s department. Additionally, Dr. Boyd has taught at the university level for 20 years. While working as an associate professor and graduate coordinator of criminal justice at Fayetteville State University, he created a community-policing program after observing the community’s high levels of unemployment, drug use, and transience, and lack of afterschool programs. He also served as Associate Professor and Chair of the Departments of Criminal Justice and Social Sciences at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and was the master's Program Coordinator for the University of Massachusetts Lowell’s School of Criminology & Justice Studies. After serving as Director of the Center for Advanced Policing at University of New Haven, Dr. Boyd was named the University’s Vice President for Diversity & Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer in July 2020.
Kim Harris is a community activist, business owner, and Chair of the Newhallville Community Management Team. Kim is the owner of Harris and Tucker Preschool, and in 2015 co-founded a child-care coalition called Cercle to tackle a wide range of concerns about early education for black and brown children. In 2018, Kim launched the “One City Initiative,” convening leaders of the city’s management teams to create family-friendly events citywide throughout the summer. She has also founded a nonprofit that focuses on providing after-school enrichment opportunities for children in her neighborhood. Kim is committed to changing the narrative about Newhallville and building partnerships to improve lives.
Pericles Lewis serves as Vice President for Global Strategy at Yale University. Reporting to the President and the Provost, he is responsible for ensuring that the global efforts of the university serve Yale’s academic goals and priorities. His primary responsibility is to enhance Yale’s international leadership in education and as a world-class research institution. As President of the Gruber Foundation, Pericles oversees its program honoring individuals in the fields of Cosmology, Genetics, Neuroscience, Justice, and Women’s Rights. Pericles earned his B.A. in English literature from McGill University in 1990 and his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Stanford University in 1997. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, he joined the Yale faculty in 1998. He formerly served on the Board of Directors of the Children’s Preschool in New Haven and is currently a member of the executive committee of the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate.
Annie Merkle-Ward is an executive currently serving as Associate Vice President, Strategy, Planning and Engagement at New York University. She is a strong cross-functional leader, an advocate for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, and possesses excellent internal and external consulting and influencing skills. She earned a Masters in Organization Psychology from Columbia University, BA from University of Michigan, and Leadership Coaching Certification from Newfield Network. She is the former President of The AMI Solution and led engagements, ensured results, and served as an advisor and coach to clients. With respect to business outcomes and strategy, Annie facilitated and led solution ideation, problem solving, project planning, and change management. With a focus on people and process, she worked with clients to improve team dynamics, work processes, and leadership skills.
Angela Wardlaw was born and raised in New Haven, CT. She attended Wellesley College where she graduated with a degree in Psychology. Motivated by a passion for giving back to the community and creating opportunities for black and brown children, Angela accepted a position at Trinity College as the Director of Multicultural Recruitment in 1990. This position allowed her to help students from across the country reach their dream of attending college. After 4 years at Trinity College, Angela was offered the opportunity to join Hopkins as the school’s first Director of Diversity and Assistant Director of Admission. Since arriving at Hopkins in 1995, Angela has served the school in a variety of capacities. She is currently the Associate Director of Admission and Director of Community Engagement. Angela sits on the Board of Directors of two non-profit organizations, Urban Community Alliance and Higher Heights Youth Empowerment Program. She has been an active member of Women United.
These new members join the following current Board of Directors of United Way of Greater New Haven:
Ted Norris, Board Chair, Regional Water Authority • Jenna Allegretto, Marcum LLP • Jerome Barrillon, KX Technologies • Chris Brown, Yale University • Heather Samson Calabrese, Yale University • Timothy Cashman, Wells Fargo • Nitza Diaz-Candelo, State Education Resource Center • Joe Dornfried, Carmody, Torrance, Sandak & Hennessey • Caroline Hendel, Yale University • Beverly Hodgson, Beverly Hodgson Mediation, Arbitration & Consulting • Michael Holmes, Yale New Haven Hospital • Rebecca Matthews, Wiggin and Dana • Judith Myers, Miller Meyers, LLC • Patrick O’Brien-Sevilla, Yale Univeristy • Jason Price, NXTHVN • Leonard Rodriguez, Avangrid • Vinay Sawant, Yale New Haven Health • Elizabeth Stewart, State of CT Judicial Branch • Dominic Woolfrey, BankMobile
