Cathy Barker
President
Jewish Family Service, President and Chief Executive Officer
Cathy Barker is an experienced Non-Profit Executive with 25 years of progressive growth in leadership of both local and national social service and mental health non-profits. She has built a distinguished 14-year record of progressive, successful leadership at Jewish Family Service of Greater Dallas in her role as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Development Officer, and as of 2018, the President and Chief Executive Officer.
Cathy holds a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Texas A&M University. Prior to her nonprofit work, she was a Licensed Professional Counselor in both hospital and private practice settings.
She has been married for 32 years to her husband, Don and has two grown sons, Dalton and Riley.
Jonathan Blum
Treasurer
Holland & Knight, Partner
Jonathan Blum is a nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations attorney in Holland & Knight's Dallas office. Mr. Blum's experience includes assisting nonprofit leaders in managing their legal matters on a broad array of issues affecting charities, foundations, trade and professional associations, advocacy groups, educational organizations, and other nonprofit organizations. Mr. Blum recognizes the importance of concentrating on the key issues affecting clients and moving quickly to identify practical legal options in order for clients to stay mission-focused and make informed decisions.
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Blum worked in the nonprofit practice group for a national Am Law 100 firm in Dallas, where he served as counsel and later as shareholder. He also spent nearly seven years serving as in-house counsel for tax-exempt organizations such as a national breast cancer foundation and a private family foundation. In addition, Mr. Blum served as a transactional attorney for an international law firm headquartered in New York City. He previously served as an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University's Dedman School of Law.
Mr. Blum is a frequent speaker on best practices in governance, fundraising, tax compliance, and current developments for nonprofit organizations.
In addition to his law and undergraduate degrees, Mr. Blum has completed course work at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Argentina and Universidad de Carabobo in Venezuela.
Ona Foster
Programs Chair
Family Compass, Chief Executive Officer
Ona Foster, LMSW, has been the CEO of Family Compass since 2016. Ms. Foster previously directed the Supervised Visitation Initiative for the Vera Institute of Justice for six years, providing training and technical assistance for two national grant programs under the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. Prior to working for Vera, Ms. Foster spent seven years implementing and directing Faith and Liberty’s Place (FLP) Supervised Visitation Center in Dallas, Texas under The Family Place umbrella and also spent four years working in the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office in the Family Violence Unit. Prior to working at the DA’s Office, she facilitated Battering Intervention and Prevention groups and also worked for a women’s shelter.
Barbara B. Johnson
Board Member
Hope Supply Co., Chief Executive Officer
Barbara is honored to be leading Hope Supply Co. in its vital work for homeless and at-risk children. She has overseen the organization’s growth and transformation for ten years.
She holds a degree in Economics from Stanford University (BA 1985) and in her early career was a licensed CPA in California and Texas. She has lived in Dallas for 35 years.
Barbara was born and raised in Southeast Asia. She first lived in the United States when attending Stanford in California. Her father was an executive with a multinational corporation, and her mother is from Germany. She has had the wonderful privilege of living and traveling around the world, which has provided her with a truly global perspective.
Barbara began her nonprofit career at Literacy Achieves, an adult literacy center where she opened and ran the organization’s first satellite campus in a low-income, immigrant neighborhood in west Dallas. After getting that program off to a successful start, Barbara joined an international medical nonprofit based in Austin, HeartGift, where she started the Dallas Chapter and led its growth as the Executive Director. From there, she was recruited as CEO of Hope Supply Co., an organization whose mission is to meet the critical needs of homeless and at-risk children.
Barbara has three grown children and three grandchildren.
Charnella Derry
Board Member
Beacon Hill Preparatory Institute, Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer
Charnella Derry is the President, CEO, and Founder of Beacon Hill, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to improving educational outcomes for underserved students across Dallas–Fort Worth. A former corporate executive with over 20 years of experience, she holds a BBA in Accounting from Texas A&M University and an MBA in Finance from the University of Dallas.
In 2011, Charnella left corporate America to pursue her passion for education, growing Beacon Hill into the largest in-school tutoring provider for reading and math in Dallas ISD. Under her leadership, Beacon Hill became the first nonprofit selected for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program and has received numerous honors for excellence in program delivery and community impact.
A proud Houston native, Aggie, and member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Charnella remains deeply committed to empowering the next generation of leaders through education.