CIS Board Member Spotlight: John Hart
Communities In Schools of Eastern PA Board Secretary John Hart has served on the Board of Directors for the last ten years and prides himself on being a "provocateur for positive change." In addition to his role as board secretary, John serves as a member of the Board Executive Committee, the Talent Committee chair, and the co-chair of the Bylaws Committee.
Hart discovered CIS of Eastern PA in the late 90s while working for the Lehigh Valley Health Network when the CIS office was located within the School of Nursing at LVHN's Allentown Hospital.
Before joining the CIS Board, John spent years serving as a member and eventually Chair of the Penn State Lehigh Valley Board of Directors, as well as chairing the Pennsylvania state and local boards for March of Dimes. For John, CIS of Eastern PA was a natural and desirable evolution of his charitable community work that combined his love of children and education.
Throughout his time serving on the Board of Directors, John has made many significant accomplishments that have worked to improve the efficacy of the board and further CIS's impact on the schools it serves. Some of those accomplishments include:
Overseeing the integration of Personnel and Board Development Committees into a sole Board Talent Committee, which he's since chaired since its inception
Instituting a higher level of new board member scrutiny and an improved screening process in addition to helping to improve the board's diversity
Instituting CIS's Management Incentive and Retention Program
Co-leading an initiative to majorly update the corporate CIS bylaws.
When he's not serving on the board, John can be found spending time with his three—soon to be four––grandchildren, golfing, reading, fishing, or traveling.
In December of this year, John will be closing out his ten years of service on the CIS of Eastern PA Board of Directors but says that his time spent working for the board has been both an honor and a joy. Reflecting on his upcoming resignation, John said,
"Service on charitable boards has always been a two-way benefit for me — giving and receiving."