Leadership Updates

July 2, 2019 | JVI

JVI Appoints Two New Board Members

We are pleased to welcome Asha Matthews to our board. Asha is Chief Counsel for Regulation at the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC). Prior to joining the DOC, Asha served as Senior Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Asha holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Brown University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

In addition, Nancy Sung, Ph.D. has rejoined the board after a short time away. Nancy is Science Advisor in the Office of the Assistant Director for Biological Sciences, National Science Foundation (NSF). From 2014-2018, she was Head of NSF’s China Office in Beijing, while serving as a Science Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Dr. Sung earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), where she was named a Lineberger Fellow for excellence in research.

JVI Hires New Chief Operating Officer 

We are excited to announce that  Russ Pope, will be joining the JVI staff as Chief Operating Officer (COO) starting September 2019.  Russ is a former law partner of international law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP. This new COO position was created as part of JVI’s 2022 Strategic Plan to  accommodate our continued growth.

In this new role, Russ will work closely with CEO Jeffrey Pankratz to implement the strategic direction set by JVI’s Board of Directors.  Russ will assume primary responsibility for day-to-day management and direction of JVI’s growing staff and programs in the USA and overseas, including human resources, finance, and maintaining partnership relationships.  This, in turn, will free Jeff to focus more on long-term vision and strategy, development, and the cultivation of new initiatives and partners.

Russ brings a wealth of talent, skills and experience to this position.  He is both a skilled and successful litigator as well as an entrepreneur, founding and managing a successful law firm and helping to start several Christian ministries.  In addition, Russ has been a faithful volunteer with JVI for many years. Russ first joined JVI in early 2012 as a pro bono lawyer, using his skills and talents to support our lawyers in the field.  Later that year, Russ expanded his involvement, continuing as a regular volunteer and also joining the JVI Board of Directors. For more than six years, Russ has served as JVI’s Board Chair and has engaged with the US and India staff in a variety of roles, traveling to India on multiple occasions.  Given Russ’ servant leadership style, capabilities and knowledge of JVI, he is ideally suited for this role. 

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