Board of Directors

The Friends Fiduciary Board of Directors is an all Quaker, volunteer board. The board follows best practices in board governance to ensure a high functioning board and to avoid any conflict of interests. No board members, nor member firms, receive compensation of any kind from Friends Fiduciary. Friends Fiduciary highly values diversity and supports the appointment of diverse Quaker candidates to the Board. We believe that having directors of diverse gender, race, age, and ethnicity, along with varied skills, backgrounds, perspectives and experiences, contributes to a balanced and effective Board — one that is well-positioned to address the changing needs of Friends Fiduciary and the constituents we serve. Our board diversity matrix is updated annually, following the approval of the board slate at the annual meeting in September.

W. Bruce Beaton, IV, Treasurer

Bruce is the Treasurer of the board and serves on the Charitable Services and Human Resources Committees.
He is President of W. Bruce Beaton Company, Inc., an insurance & surety bond broker.
Bruce is a member of Abington Monthly Meeting; he serves as a trustee for the Johns Barnes Trust.
Business Management, Widener University.

Carl Butler

Carl is a member of the HR Committee.
He has been the Vice President, Associate General Counsel of Angi. Inc. since 2014. Prior to Angi, Inc. Carl was the managing associate at Frost Brown Todd LLC.
Carl is a flutist with the Indiana Wind Symphony and currently serves on their Board of Directors as the Secretary. Carl has served on a number of arts organizations as well as legal organizations.
He is a member of the Indianapolis First Friends Meeting and serves on their Finance and Friends Educational Trust Committees.
B.S. Indiana University Jacobs School of Music; J.D. Indiana University Maurer School of Law.

Douglas Costa

Doug is a member of the Audit and Investment Committees.
He is a Lecturer and Emeritus Director of Quantitative Research, Susquehanna International Group, LLP.
Doug was Professor of Mathematics at the University of Virginia with research specialties in commutative algebra, linear groups, and derivative securities. His work has included development of models for pricing a variety of derivative securities, and he has collaborated in the development of equity and index trading strategies.
He is a member of Merion Monthly Meeting, where he serves as Clerk of Trustees (Philadelphia Yearly Meeting).
B.A., Oberlin College; M.A., University of Kansas; Ph.D., University of Kansas, all in Mathematics.

Joan Countryman, Secretary

Joan is the Secretary of the board, clerk of Human Resources Committee and a member of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee.
A lifelong educator, she is the former Head of Lincoln School in Providence, Rhode Island, a position she held for 12 years until her retirement. Joan was a consultant and Interim Head of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. She also served as Assistant Head for Academic Planning and Director of Studies at Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia where she taught mathematics.
Joan is a member of the Germantown Monthly Meeting and was the first African-American graduate of Germantown Friends School. She has served on the Board of Managers of Haverford College and continues as a member of the Haverford College Corporation. She has served on the Germantown Friends School Committee and as Chair of the board of the Kendal Corporation. She is Chair of the Friends Center City Retirement Community.
B.A. Sarah Lawrence College; M.U.S. City Planning, Yale University; Research Fellow, London School of Economics.

Christie Duncan-Tessmer, Vice Chair

Christie is a Vice Chair of the board, serves as clerk of the Finance Committee, and is a member of the Investment and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committees.
She is General Secretary of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (Phila YM). Christie was Associate Secretary for Program and Religious Life at Phila YM from 2008 to 2014 and Children’s Religious Education Coordinator before that. Prior to her tenure with Phila YM, she held positions at Friends General Conference and Newtown Friends School as well as leadership roles at several Greater Philadelphia social service nonprofit organizations.
Christie is a member of Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting (PA). She is currently a member of the Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust and the Friends Center Board. In the past she has served on the Plymouth Meeting Friends School Committee and the People’s Emergency Center board.
B.A. Ohio University, Honors Tutorial College; Doctoral Program (1990-95) in Clinical Human Development, Bryn Mawr College.

Robert G. Hayden, Jr.

Bob is the clerk of the Investment Committee and a member of the Finance Committee.
He is a First Vice President – Investments at Wells Fargo Advisors in Philadelphia.
Bob is a lifetime member of Swarthmore Friends Meeting. He is a volunteer firefighter with the Swarthmore Fire & Protective Association, currently serving as their Treasurer and Engineer.
B.A. Swarthmore College.

John Helding

John is a member of the Governance Committee.
He has been an Interpersonal Dynamics Coach at Stanford Graduate School of Business since 2000. Prior to that John worked at the consulting firm, Booz Allen Hamilton, in several lead roles.
John is a member of Lopez Island Friends Meeting and currently serves as co-clerk. He has served on the board of AFSC and was a founding board member of Quaker Voluntary Services and San Francisco Friends School.
B.S. Oregon State University; MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Beth Henricks

Beth is a member of the Finance and Governance Committees.
She is the Associate Pastor and Christian Education Director at First Friends Indianapolis where she has worked in several capacities for the past 10 years.
Beth is a seasoned senior executive with extensive experience in building a business, managing it through uncertain regulatory times, managing the acquisition process, and understanding the environment of family held as well as public companies.
Beth is a member of Indianapolis First Friends Meeting.
B.A. Taylor University; M.B.A. Butler University; MDiv, Earlham School of Religion.

Daniel B. Isaacs

Dan is a member of the Investment Committee.
He is Managing Director of Latin America at Wellington Management Company. Prior to Wellington, he worked at Fidelity Investments as Vice President of Investment Consulting Services. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Dan is a member of Wellesley Monthly Meeting.
He has served as treasurer of the investment committee for New England Yearly Meeting of Friends.
B.A. Religion, Dartmouth College; Masters in Management, MIT, Sloan School of Management.

Bennett Lomax, Chair

Bennett serves as Chair of the board. He is a member of the Governance; Investment; and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committees.
He is President and CEO of The Lomax Companies LP. He is the Principal of Lomax Real Estate Partners. He serves as the board chair of Prime Image and serves on the board of directors of Stoneridge Investment Partners. He also serves as the board chair at WURD Radio. Bennett is a member of board of directors of StoneRidge PMG Advisors. He is also a board member of the Museum of the American Revolution, Finance Committee Chair, Treasurer.
Bennett is a member of Doylestown Friends Meeting.
George School; B.S. in Finance, Hampton University; J.D. Law, Temple University – James E. Beasley School of Law.

Takashi Moriuchi

Takashi serves as the clerk of the Audit Committee and is a member of the Investment Committee.
He is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Estancia Capital Management a specialist private equity firm investing in asset and wealth management businesses and related business services companies. Prior to founding Estancia Capital Management, he was a Managing Director of Cedar Hill Capital Partners, an Executive Director of Morgan Stanley and a Principal at Lovell Minnick Partners.
He is a member of Moorestown Monthly Meeting and currently serves on Germantown Friends School Board. Takashi has also served on the Board of The Philadelphia School and the Assets Committee of Moorestown Friends School.
Moorestown Friends School; B.S. University of Pennsylvania.

Mark Myers

Mark is a member of the Finance Committee.
In 2001, Mark retired as a senior vice president of the Xerox Corporation 37 years in its research and development organizations where he was in charge of corporate research and technology as well as a member of the senior management committee in charge of strategic direction for the company. Mark was a founding board member for two successful tech start-up companies, SDLI and Nuance Communications.
Mark is a member of the London Grove Friends Meeting (PA). He serves on the boards of Friends Center Corporation and Arch Street Meeting House Trust and is an Emeritus Trustee of Earlham. Mark was interim general secretary of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in 2006-2007.
A.B. Earlham College; Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University.

Teresa Nance

Teresa is a member of the Charitable Services and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committees.
She is the Vice President of Diversity Equity and Inclusion at Villanova University and a Professor of Communication.
Her research interests include race and rhetoric, intercultural communication and communication education.
Teresa is a member of Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting. She is on the board of Friends School Haverford, William Penn Charter School, and Haverford College Corporation.
B.A. and M.A. Emerson College; Ph.D. Temple University.

Stanley A. Pelli, Vice Chair

Stan is a Vice Chair of the board, the clerk of the Governance Committee, and a member of the Charitable Services Committee.
He has served on the Executive Committee of the Probate and Trust Law Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association and on the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Bar Association. Stan has been a frequent lecturer on trust and estate-related topics and has been a mentor and trainer in probate and estate planning areas for the Volunteers for the Indigent Program of the Philadelphia Bar Association.
Stan has served as Clerk of the Board of Media-Providence Friends School, Chair of the Board of Kendal at Hanover (NH), and Vice-Chair and Treasurer of Upper Valley Community Credit Union. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Kendal Corporation.
He is a member of Providence Monthly Meeting in Rhode Island and worships with the Conanicut Worship Group.
B.A. Bates College; J.D. Temple University School of Law.

Christina Repoley

Christina serves as clerk of the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee and is a member of the Governance Committee.
She is the Vice President of Program at the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE). FTE is a leadership incubator that inspires young people to make a difference in the world through Christian communities. Christina was the founder and Executive Director of Quaker Voluntary Service.
Christina worked for the American Friends Service Committee on several program initiatives and as Program Coordinator for the Faith and Service Program of the Cousins Family Foundation.
A member of Atlanta Friends Meeting, Christina has been active with a number of Friends organizations. She served on FGC’S Youth Ministries Committee and their Stoking the Spiritual Fire of Quakerism Capital Campaign Steering Committee.
B.A. Guilford College; M.Div. Candler School of Theology, Emory University.

Elizabeth Widdicombe

Elizabeth is a member of the Finance Committee.
She has had a long career in publishing, including with MacMillan Publishers and Harcourt, Brace. Most recently Elizabeth was the Managing Director of Academic and Educational Publishing with John Wiley and Sons
She serves on the board member of Friends Select School, is board chair of Princeton University Press, and a member of the editorial board of the American Philosophical Society.
She is a member of the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia and serves on the Finance and Worship & Ministry Committees.
B.A. Connecticut College; graduate coursework University of Chicago.

Tommy Wrenn

Tommy is a member of the Charitable Services and Governance Committees.
He is the Associate Director of Individual Engagement at Resources for the Future (RFF), a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, DC that conducts independent research into environmental, energy, and natural resource issues. Tommy works with individual philanthropists to provide financial support to RFF.
Tommy is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and has worked with several nonprofits in their fundraising efforts.
A Member of First Friends Meeting (Greensboro, NC), Tommy is an active volunteer with Friends organizations and with the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). He currently serves on the General Committee of FCNL and previously served as a Trustee of the Pickett Endowment for Quaker Leadership.
B.S. Appalachian State University.

Tom Wright

Tom is the clerk of the Charitable Services Committee.
He is a practicing attorney at McDonald Wright Law Firm in Greensboro, N.C.
Tom is a member of New Garden Friends Meeting in North Carolina. He has served on on numerous non-profit boards including Friends Homes, Inc., the New Garden Cemetery Association, Inc., the North Carolina Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, and Haverford College.
A.B. Political Science Haverford College; J.D. University of North Carolina.