Leadership

Senior Staff

TylaAnn Burger, Executive Director

TylaAnn is a recognized hospice leader, author and speaker, with expertise in palliative care. She is the former clinical director of a hospice serving the five-county Philadelphia area and the former director of admissions at Betak, an innovative inpatient facility in West Mt. Airy for people with end-stage AIDS. Her board leadership experience in Quaker organizations includes: past presiding clerk and treasurer for Friends General Conference, treasurer for Friends Journal, and current treasurer for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.  TylaAnn is a member of Green Street Monthly Meeting.

tburger@friendshospice.org

Carolyn Schodt

Carolyn is the former executive director and founding board member of A Quaker Ministry to Persons with AIDS, an innovative program of supportive care for people ill and homebound with HIV/AIDS (1992 – 2000).   She brings her background as a researcher, grant writer, teacher of nursing at the graduate and undergraduate levels at University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and Temple University.  She has played a leadership role in design, implementation and evaluation of several alternative care programs.  For six years, Carolyn has led Quaker retreats and alternatives to violence training in prisons.  She is a member of Chestnut Hill Monthly Meeting.

Brad Sheeks, Clerk

Brad has served in leadership roles in Quaker organizations locally and in Friends General Conference in the wider Quaker world.  He was a principle in the start-up and operation of the University City Montessori School.  A Presbyterian minister in his early preparation, and a certified marriage and family therapist of 30 years in marital enrichment workshops and counseling work, Brad brings much depth to his later-in-life career as a practicing hospice nurse.  Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting is his home meeting.  Brad may often be seen on his bicycle zipping past traffic-stalled cars on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

John Lang, Treasurer

John specializes in endodontic dentistry, working and teaching in the Veteran’s Administration since 1971. Himself a Navy veteran of the Viet Nam War, John has a special concern for hospice services reaching the veteran’s community.  Since 1976, John has been serving veterans in the Lebanon, Wilkes-Barre, Philadelphia and Wilmington Veterans Administration Healthcare System.  John brings the superb organizational skills of one who navigates a complex bureaucracy with good humor and care. He enjoys doing home repairs, fishing, and making small organizers out of Plexiglas.  St. Maximilian Kolbe is his parish.

Margaret Brown, Recording Clerk

Margaret  has extensive hospice experience as case manager, team leader and Director of Clinical Services, with graduate education and expertise in oncology nursing.  She recognizes the deep spiritual component of hospice care. Having worked in many  hospices, she is devoted to the concept of a Quaker hospice and nurturing the spiritual journey of the staff as key to providing excellent care to the participants.  She is member and clerk of Westtown Monthly Meeting and served two terms as on officer of the Board of Stratford Friends School .  In her leisure time, Margaret loves her family retreat in the Adirondacks.

Board

Anne Baer Clark

Anne is a founding board member of two vital, non-profit organizations, the Philadelphia-based Survivors of Suicide in 1983, and, the Chester County AIDS Support Services in 1987.   With an extensive background in nursing and alternative healing, Anne is now at the Veteran Administration Hospital (Coatesville) in a newly formed residential hospice where veterans with addiction, fractured family relationships, and post traumatic stress disorders are her focus.  Anne counts her experiences as a parent of Westtown School and George School graduates as formative in her Quaker identity, and is a member of Kennett Square Monthly Meeting.

Freddie Burger

Freddie has 18 year’s experience working for the U. S. General Services Administration (New England Region) in graphic design, major event planning and computer technology.  She designed the Friends Hospice Project’s logo, the tree with the falling leaves, and our printed material. A devoted grandmother, a gardener of roses and tomatoes, and an avid knitter, Freddie is particularly interested in seeing the hospice as a place of warmth and hospitality. A member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Melrose, Massachusetts, she is relocating to Philadelphia this fall.

Daniel B. Evans

Dan practices law in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, mainly in the areas of estate planning, estate and trust administrations.  Active in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and American Bar Associations, and a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, Dan has written and spoken extensively on estate and trust law and legal technology.  A former deacon in the Presbyterian Church, Dan is a member of Chestnut Hill Meeting and serves on the Care and Counsel Committee.   Dan is married, with grown children, and enjoys hiking and kayaking in the Adirondacks, writing and genealogy.

Paula Cell

Paula’s board experiences  include the NJ Home Care Accreditation Commission; Chair of the Community Health Division, NJ State Nurses Association; and Pennswood Village Board of Directors, Clerk of the Health and Resident Services Committee. She has held the position of Director of the Visiting Nursing Nurse Association of the Delaware Valley, Director of Quality Improvement Activities for the Visiting Nurse and Health Services of South Jersey and consultant to the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services, Division of Aging and Consumer Support.  A member of Yardley Monthly Meeting, Paula carries a concern for the uninsured.  She enjoys quilting and gardening.