Board of Directors

Senator Yaw represents the 23rd Senatorial District, which includes Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan, Tioga, and Union counties. Sen. Yaw serves as chairman of the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. He is also vice chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and a member of the Agriculture & Rural Affairs, Banking & Insurance, Community, Economic & Recreational Development, Rules & Executive Nominations, and the Majority Policy committees. Prior to serving in the Senate, Sen. Yaw served as Lycoming County solicitor. He serves as chairman of the board for the Pennsylvania College of Technology and previously served as general counsel to the college. Presently, Sen. Yaw also serves as a member of the Chesapeake Bay Commission, a member of the Environmental Quality Board, a member of the Pennsylvania Aggregate Advisory Board, and a member of the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority. He attended Bucknell University, and earned degrees from Lycoming College and the American University School of Law in Washington, D.C.

Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski serves the 121st Legislative District, which consists of Wilkes-Barre City, Fairview, Wilkes-Barre, and Hanover townships, and Ashley and Laurel Run boroughs. Rep. Pashinski was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2006. Currently, he serves as the chair of the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. Rep. Pashinski is a graduate of Wilkes University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education and he has a master's equivalency. He was a music teacher and choral director at the Greater Nanticoke Area School District and has held leadership roles with the Luzerne County Coordinating Council, Luzerne County Legislative Committee, United Way of Wyoming Valley, and State PACE Committee.

Dr. Falvo represents faculty from the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) and taught the online Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program for Penn West Clarion. From 2002 to 2010, she served as the Director of Clarion University's Health Science Education Center, a health education project that provided health education programs to school-aged children in Clarion, Venango, Armstrong, Butler, Elk, Forest and Jefferson counties. Dr. Falvo has served as the Director of the Pittsburgh Programs at Clarion's Pittsburgh site teaching in both the undergraduate and graduate nursing degree programs. She received a bachelor's degree from Duquesne University, a master's degree in nursing from LaRoche College, and a doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a member of the National Association of Health Education Centers (NAHEC) Board of Directors, chairperson of the NAHEC accreditation committee, and serves on various committees for the School of Nursing and the university.

Mr. Brame is president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association (PREA) and Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Allegheny). Mr. Brame has also served as PREA/Allegheny vice president - public affairs & member services. Before joining PREA/Allegheny in 2001, Mr. Brame served as a senior staffer for former Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. and Gov. Mark S. Schweiker. His responsibilities in the lieutenant governor's office included legislative priorities, General Assembly relations, and communications strategy. Mr. Brame is also a member of the Pennsylvania Rural Development Council.

Senator Schwank serves the 11th Senatorial District, which includes parts of Berks County. Sen. Schwank serves as the Democratic chair of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. In 2021, she was named Administrator of the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus, and she also serves on the Aging and Youth, Appropriations, Game and Fisheries, and Health and Human Services committees. In addition to her committee assignments, Sen. Schwank also serves on the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education's (PASSHE) Board of Governors and is a co-chair of the Pennsylvania Women's Health Caucus and the Jewish Legislative Caucus. Prior to serving in the Senate, Sen. Schwank was a Berks County Commissioner and worked as a Berks County horticultural agent for Penn State Cooperative Extension. Sen. Schwank also served as President of 10,000 Friends, and as the Dean of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at Delaware Valley College. She received her B.S. and M.Ed. in agricultural education from Penn State University and completed the Executive Leadership Program through the Institute for Conservation Leadership and the Institute for the Management of Life-Long Education at Harvard University.

Rep. Moul serves the 91st Legislative District, which includes Conewago, Cumberland, Franklin, Freedom, Germany, Hamiltonban, Highland, Liberty, Mount Joy, Mount Pleasant, Straban, and Union townships, and Bonneauville, Carroll Valley, Fairfield, Gettysburg, Littlestown, and McSherrystown boroughs in Adams County. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2006. Currently, he serves as Republican chair of the House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. He also serves as a member of the Local Government Commission and the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin. Prior to being elected to the House of Representatives, Rep. Moul spent 20 years as owner-operator of his own real estate management and renovation business, and he worked in the sales division of Hanover-based Utz Quality Foods. Rep. Moul is a graduate of New Oxford High School and studied finance at York College. He is a member of A.B.A.T.E - Mason-Dixon chapter, participating in its annual Christmas for Kids program and efforts to support the Gettysburg Monuments project.

Mr. Esch is president of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford and Titusville. He began his career at the University of Pittsburgh in 1994 as the director of auxiliary services. In 1999, he was named chief business and administrative affairs officer and was promoted to vice president for business affairs in 2003. In 2012, he was named vice president for business affairs at Pitt-Titusville. He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh's Katz Graduate School of Business.

Dr. Kelsey is a professor of Agricultural Economics at the Pennsylvania State University, where he conducts research on the economic and community impacts of unconventional energy development and their local policy implications for land use and public finance/taxation. He has extensive experience across Pennsylvania presenting informal workshops for local government officials, the business community, and others on these issues. He currently teaches courses on community-based research methodologies, economic development tools, such as economic impact analysis, and community development. He has been at Penn State since 1991, and received his Masters and Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University.

Shannon M. Munro is Vice President for Workforce at Pennsylvania College of Technology, a special mission affiliate of Penn State University, that provides degrees that work in more than 100 diverse majors. Ms. Munro oversees the department responsible for developing and delivering training, consulting, and product development services for companies in multiple business sectors, including industrial, business/leadership, healthcare, plastics, computer, energy and transportation. She previously served as the Executive Director of the Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corporation (CPWDC). She earned a bachelor's degree from Bloomsburg University and a master's degree from Shippensburg University.

Dr. Charles Patterson is president of Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Shippensburg, he was president of Mansfield University, a rural-serving anchor institution for Northern Pennsylvania. He has also served as an executive in the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Federal Student Aid, and president and vice president for research and economic development within the University System of Georgia.

Ms. Snelick is president of the Northern Pennsylvania Regional College, which was established in 2017. She brings extensive workforce development expertise to the position, having most recently served as the executive director of Workforce Solutions for North Central PA, and holding various other workforce development leadership positions in the region spanning nearly three decades. Among her professional accomplishments, President Snelick has served as the Regional Liaison for the National Association of Workforce Boards, was appointed to the Governor's Middle-Class Task Force in 2017-2018, participated in the Disney Institute's Leadership Excellence Program, and chaired the PA Workforce Development Association, while also serving on the boards and advisory boards of several educational institutions.

Mr. Youker is the policy director at the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Previously, he worked for Horizon Farm Credit as the government affairs officer, and for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau in government affairs and as director of Member Communication. Mr. Youker also worked for more than a dozen years as a daily newspaper reporter for publications in New York and Pennsylvania. He received his degree from the State University of New York at Fredonia.

Dr. Hyde joined The Pennsylvania State University's College of Agricultural Sciences as an assistant professor of agricultural economics in 2000. He was a member of the College of Agricultural Sciences between 2000 and 2019, holding a number of administrative positions and being promoted to professor of agricultural economics. Dr. Hyde served the college as interim Associate Dean and Director of Extension between February 2018 and August 2019, when he became Director of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. After nearly five years at Texas A&M, Dr. Hyde rejoined Penn State as Associate Dean and Director of Extension in April of 2024. In this position, he is responsible for leading Penn State Extension in its mission of bringing science-based knowledge and education to bear on individuals, families, businesses, and communities across the Commonwealth and beyond.