Two Community Leaders Added to Board of Directors

Pearl S. Buck International is pleased to announce that Dave Herold and Tanya Casas have joined its board of directors. For over 60 years Pearl S. Buck International has carried on the humanitarian, cross-cultural, and educational legacy of award-winning writer Pearl S. Buck.

A Bucks County native, Dave Herold currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Lenape Valley Foundation (LVF), a leading nonprofit behavioral health organization serving more than 14,000 individuals annually across Bucks County and the greater Philadelphia region. In this role, he oversees the operations of 37 programs and is leading LVF in its collaborative efforts to open the first standalone crisis center in the county.

Herold brings over 30 years of leadership experience in nonprofit operations and strategy. Prior to joining Lenape Valley Foundation, he served as Associate Vice President of Strategy at St. Luke’s University Health Network, where he played a key role in the network’s growth into one of the largest independent non-profit health systems in the state.

Herold has a personal connection to Pearl S. Buck International—his godson was adopted from Korea through Welcome House, the adoption agency founded by Pearl Buck specializing in the placement of multiracial children. Welcome House later became a part of Pearl S. Buck International before closing in 2014. This personal connection to the organization has deepened Herold’s appreciation for the history and mission of Pearl S. Buck International. A strong believer in the value of diversity and cultural understanding, Herold brings both professional expertise and personal commitment to his role on the Board.

Herold holds a Bachelor’s degree from Messiah University and a Master of Business Administration from Lehigh University. He and his wife Doreen have three children and reside in Perkiomenville.

Tanya Casas currently serves as the dean of the School of Business, Arts and Sciences, at Delaware Valley University. Casas is a dedicated academic leader and sociologist with over 15 years of progressive leadership in higher education administration, interdisciplinary program development, and community engagement. Throughout her career as an educator and administrator, Casas has been passionate about public policy, equity, and fostering cross-sector partnerships.

In her years in leadership roles at Delaware Valley, she has spearheaded program assessment initiatives and supported MSCHE accreditation, founded and managed the ‘Question It! Change It!’ Colloquium Series, supported the launch of new graduate and undergraduate programs, and initiated international exchange with Jagiellonian University in Poland.

Casas earned her bachelor’s in international relations from Johns Hopkins University, and her master’s and Ph.D. in development sociology from Cornell University.

Casas was drawn to the mission of Pearl S. Buck International to bridge cultures and change lives through her interest and studies in intercultural education and humanitarian aid. While conducting research towards her dissertation in Ecuador, she worked as an English teacher with Quechua-speaking students in a small, economically impoverished community who were part of a bilingual intercultural school system – a system of education that was critical in advancing indigenous rights, dignity and self-determination in Ecuador and elsewhere throughout Latin America.

Pearl Buck believed in education as the key to helping people lift themselves out of poverty, and education continues to be a core tenet of Pearl S. Buck International’s overseas child sponsorship programs and local community programming.

“I cannot even describe how thrilled I am to have both Dave and Tanya as our newest board members,” noted Pearl S. Buck International President and CEO Cheryl Castro. “We are so fortunate that they are willing to dedicate some of their valuable time and talents to our organization, and I am very grateful to for their support.”

~

Pearl S. Buck International^® provides opportunities to explore and appreciate other cultures, builds better lives for children around the globe and promotes the legacy of our founder by preserving and interpreting her National Historic Landmark Home.

– END –