Three new influential members join the board of directors of Alliance member KidsPeace.

Dr. Ira Blake of Kutztown University, noted engineer Emil Herkert of New Jersey, and educator, philanthropist, and former United States Olympic Committee State Chair Mary Jane Willis of Delaware are the newest caring luminaries to join a group of 27 distinguished VIPs from 10 U.S. states serving on the board of directors for KidsPeace.

The 125-year-old organization, which helps children overcome traumas and the crises of growing up, was founded in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and now has 65 centers nationwide.  Through direct care and global prevention efforts, KidsPeace reaches millions of kids and families each year with life-saving tools and services to cope with such problems as abuse, neglect, depression, autism, and the modern pressures of life. 

Dr. Ira. K. Blake is assistant to the president for public engagement at Kutztown University. She has an extensive educational background in psychology and educational psychology and her research on the role of culture and language in children's learning and development has been published in several scholarly journals and texts. Blake is on leave from Kutztown University for 2006-07. She is currently working for the chancellor's office of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

Emil C. Herkert is a noted civil and environmental engineer. With more than 40 years of top-level experience in the field, Herkert is the retired chairman and CEO of Hatch Mott MacDonald Infrastructure and Environment Inc., a large environmental engineering firm headquartered in New Jersey.

Educator, philanthropist and former U.S. Olympic Committee Delaware State Chair Mary Jane Willis worked in public education for 15 years as a guidance counselor, a diversified cooperative training coordinator, and a teacher of gifted and talented students. In addition to her work with KidsPeace (this election marks her second term in a dozen years) she is a trustee on the boards of literally dozens of charities and worthy causes, including the University of Delaware, BayHealth Medical Center, and Children's Beach House.

In addition to the 27 members of the board, KidsPeace is supported by its national spokesperson Leeza Gibbons, television personality and executive director of the Leeza Gibbons Memory Foundation, which she created to help Alzheimer’s victims and their families. Other well-known supporters who serve as honorary directors include Frances Hesselbein, chairman of the Leader to Leader Institute, and former CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA and philanthropists Mrs. Inez Donley and Ann Ardoline of Bethlehem, and Mr. Douglas Patt of Allentown.

Learn more about KidsPeace.