The board of directors of the Bucks County Women’s Advocacy Coalition elected Marcia Miller Telthorster as the fourth president of the 12-year-old organization dedicated to advocating for the needs of women and families.
Her two-year term began April 20. Telthorster succeeds Kathleen Welsh Beveridge who led the nonprofit organization for the past two years.
“As president of BCWAC, I hope to continue the strong advocacy work begun by my predecessors,” said Telthorster. “I believe strongly in the economics of women and work and that an effective safety net for women and children in our county, state and nation is more needed today than ever before.”
Telthorster has extensive leadership experience. During her career, she led teams at three hospitals to develop human resources functions for 3,000 employees. In addition, she chaired the Bucks County Workforce Investment Board’s Strategic Planning Committee and served on the American Healthcare Human Resources Board, most recently on their Advocacy Committee. She has served in various fundraising initiatives for the Philadelphia Chapter of the ALS Association, such as co-chair of the Bucks County Walk to D’Feet ALS and has chaired the ALS Express bike ride to the Jersey shore fundraiser. She was a board member of the Network of Victim Assistance.
Beveridge will join previous BCWAC presidents and founders Tam St. Claire and Nancy P. Morrill as a president emerita of the Coalition.
BCWAC also announced the election of Barbara Price to another term as vice president and Danielle Pollack as secretary. Karen Kreller will continue as treasurer.
Price, a 45-year member of the American Association of University Women Lower Bucks Branch, a BCWAC partner organization, has served in various board positions at both the state and local level. She is currently public policy chair of the Lower Bucks Branch of AAUW, Public Policy Chair of AAUW-PA and serves on the national AAUW Public Policy Committee.
Pollack is a reform advocate for the family court and child welfare systems. As ambassador for CHILD USA, a Philadelphia-based think tank, Pollack spearheads the development of a comprehensive program using evidence-based legal, medical and social science research to reform family court standards and protocols for responding to child abuse, especially child sexual abuse. She is the co-founder of The Court Said USA, and key author of Kayden’s Law, which is currently under review in the Pennsylvania legislature. Together with the offices of the Bucks County District Attorney and Commissioner, Pollack developed and ran the CLE program Child Abuse and the Criminal, Civil, and Family Courts.
Kreller is a self-employed social worker who for 25 years has coordinated special multidisciplinary projects involving Bucks County’s public and private agencies, schools, law enforcement, and the community to work on issues related to Violence Prevention, Forensic Mental Health, Drug and Alcohol Prevention, Domestic Violence, and Truancy Reduction. Prior to that, she was executive director of Planned Parenthood Association of Bucks County and Big Sisters of Bucks County.
