Sewickley Public Library Board of Directors

Sewickley Public Library Board of Directors

Patricia Jones
President

Patty and her family moved to Sewickley in 2009 when she joined Pittsburgh Social Venture Partners. SVP is a network of partners who give skills and time to support innovative nonprofits in Allegheny County. Patty then joined the Village Theater Company board as acting treasurer in 2012, and she is engaged with the construction and operation of a regional art house for film and live performances.  Patty has held leadership positions in garden councils, church organizations and women’s forums.  She volunteers with the Quaker Valley School District as she did with the American School in London where her four children attended. Prior to her volunteer work, Patty was employed as an engineer and manager with several manufacturing companies including Exxon, General Electric and Hercules Inc. and worked as a management consultant at Booz Allen and Hamilton. She is a graduate of the Darden Graduate School of Business where she met her husband, Harris Jones, and holds two engineering degrees from Carnegie Mellon University.

Joel W. Swanson, MD
Vice-President

Joel moved to Sewickley in 1991 and believes he found the best community in which to raise his family of two sons and two daughters.  He has supported the community through sports, as coach, referee, secretary, VP and (two terms) as president for Sewickley Area Soccer, and is on the Board of Quaker Valley Recreation Association.  Joel continues to serve as referee assignor and mentors newly certified referees, and also plays soccer in an adult men’s league.  He has long been a frequent patron of the library and was elected to Friends of the Library in 2007; he joined the Board of Directors of the SPL in 2015.  Joel is a founding member of the Sewickley Men’s Garden Club.   He graduated from Allegheny College and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine.  After completing his anesthesia residency at Allegheny General and obstetric anesthesia fellowship at Magee Women’s Hospital, Joel joined the anesthesia group at Allegheny General in 1991.  He moved to UPMC in 2002 and in 2006, joined Butler Anesthesia Associates, serving Butler Memorial Hospital and Benbrook Ambulatory Surgical Center.   Joel is an avid skier, oenophile, traveler, and reader and especially enjoys sharing these activities with his family.

Ann Siuciak, Treasurer
Board Member

Ann brings her skill set in business leadership and financial expertise to the library’s board of directors.  She currently serves as treasurer and previously served the Friends of the Library’s board of directors in the same position for nearly nine years.  Ann is an accountant with Child Health Association of Sewickley, and has served in similar roles throughout various community organizations like the PTA of Edgeworth Elementary and Friendship Nursery School.  Her career reflects her commitment to assisting community organizations with missions dedicated to education and family. She holds a BS in Accounting and Business Management from Elon University, and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Joyce D. Cortese
Secretary to Sewickley Public Library Board of Trustees, Ex-officio

Joyce, with her husband Joseph and five children, moved from upstate New York to Sewickley in 1974.  She had started a secretarial career after high school as a civilian working for the US Air Force Research and Development Center at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome.  After moving to Sewickley, she served the Quaker Valley School District as a parent-volunteer. When her oldest was ready for college, she went back to work full-time as an executive secretary for Mellon Bank Corporation in Pittsburgh, where she retired after 20 years of service.  Joyce is a long-time advocate of all the arts and sports in Pittsburgh.  She is proud to be a long-time holder of season tickets to both the Pittsburgh Symphony and Steelers organizations.  During those years, she continued to volunteer at QVSD and served sixteen years as a School Director, became a Trustee of the Sewickley Public Library Board in 1981, was appointed as their secretary shortly thereafter and has continued to serve for the past 30+ years.  Joyce immediately got involved with Friends of the SPL, where she served in many areas and has supported the Friends’ board projects and events ever since. For relaxation she loves reading, good movies, knitting Christmas stockings, and is a member of the St. James English Hand Bell Choir.

Kati Doebler
Quaker Valley School District Representative

Kati Doebler lives in Aleppo after growing up in New Jersey.  She and her husband Matt have two children, Heidi and Libby.  Kati has a degree in English from Miami University and a master’s of science in new media and information systems from London School of Economics.  She works full-time as a software engineering product manager.

 

 

 

Jeff Getty
Board Member

Jeff Getty joined the Library Board in 2019.  He is the Managing Director of Private Business Consulting for Key Bank and he leads a team of professionals who advise business owners on transition, transaction and tax strategies.  Jeff holds a BA from the College of Charleston, a MS (tax) from Duquesne University and a JD from the University of Pittsburgh.  Additionally, he has earned his Certified Financial Planner, Accredited Estate Planner, Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor and Certified Value Growth Advisor designations.  He is active in civic and professional affairs having previously served on the Duquesne Tax Advisory Board, the Girl Scouts of Western PA Board, and as an Elder at Sewickley Presbyterian Church.  Jeff resides in Edgeworth with his wife and three daughters.

Bernard C. John, Esq.
Board Member

Before beginning his term on the library’s board of directors in 2018, B.J. served as president of the Friends of the Library board.  He has a long history with the Sewickley Public Library going to back to his years of law school study in the historic reference room.  A graduate of Denison University with a degree in Political Science and Theatre, and Duquesne University School of Law, he is in-house counsel at PNC Bank, N.A.  B.J. resides in Sewickley with his wife and two children.

Jonathan Kuzma
Quaker Valley School District Representative

Jonathan grew up in Leet Township and is a proud member of Quaker Valley’s class of 2001. He has a bachelor of arts degree in economics and history from the College of William and Mary. Since graduating, Jonathan moved to Leetsdale, where he currently resides. He is a commercial real estate appraiser for Newmark Knight Frank. In addition to serving on the Quaker Valley School Board, he represents the district on the Sewickley Public Library of the Quaker Valley School District board and is the chairman of the municipal authority of the Borough of Leetsdale. Jonathan is the chairperson of the policy committee and on the finance and facilities committees.

Andrew L. Surloff, Ed.D.
Quaker Valley School District Representative

Andrew has worked in the Quaker Valley School District since 1998 and currently serves as the Quaker Valley School District’s Assistant Superintendent. Andrew has several significant leadership responsibilities district-wide including personnel administration, principal supervision, new teacher induction, and School Board liaison duties to the Education Services and Personnel committees. He holds a degree in Political Science, a Master of Arts degree in Teaching, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership, along with a Superintendent’s Letter of Eligibility from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Surloff’s Dissertation was titled, “Interviewing for Great Teachers: A Study of the Preparation and Practices of K-12 School Principals Responsible for Interviewing and Hiring Teachers.” Dr. Surloff started at Quaker Valley Middle School as an intern, then worked as a middle school social studies teacher, assistant high school principal, high school principal, and now assistant superintendent. Andrew resides in Gibsonia, PA, part of the Pine-Richland School District, with his wife Tara, and two children.

Leslie Riker
Board Member

Leslie and her husband discovered Sewickley and moved their family here in 2004, a little more than a decade after she came to Pittsburgh to work in nonprofits and get her Master of Public Policy and Management from the University of Pittsburgh. Here in Sewickley, Leslie’s volunteering included 6 years on the Board of the Friends of the Sewickley Public Library, serving on multiple committees and chairing events, before she joined the Library Board. She created Leslie Riker Consulting services in 2017 to assist small businesses and nonprofits with financial management, development, and compliance and certification efforts, and in that capacity is currently helping several Pittsburgh-area organizations, including senior centers and another library. She is a lifelong avid reader and has a real passion for literacy and libraries.