Our Board of Directors
Marie Suvansin
When Marie isn’t cooking and/or eating delicious food, she’s reading (have you read “In the Shadow the Banyan” by Vaddey Ratner or “Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng? Marie says you should!) or helping out her fellow citizens on Yelp (need a recommendation?). In her spare time, Marie serves as the Executive Director of The Ardmore Initiative, where she helps keep downtown Ardmore vibrant!
Kate Galer
Kate is a mother of three children ranging from middle School to college age. If she’s not diving into a cheese plate with David Bowie’s “Fill Your Heart” on repeat, it’s because she’s at Lower Merion’s Belmont Hills Elementary School, where she works with students who on the Autism Spectrum, or at Linwood Park, where she serves on the Board of Friends of Linwood Park. She also stays busy volunteering at Box Lunch and a Book or the Ardmore Food Pantry. A Philadelphia area native (in East Mount Airy she was born and raised… at Temple University she spent her college days), Kate has lived in Ardmore for 16 years, and loves the neighborhood for its walkability, diversity, and her wonderful, outgoing neighbors!
Christine Vilardo
Recently retired from her position as Executive Director at The Ardmore Initiative, Christine now has more time to focus on Aqua Hut, her dive shop in Ardmore (glub, glub want to get Dive Certified? Christine can help! glub). How is a water lover look so graceful on land? Christine’s first career was as a dancer and choreographer… think she can dance in scuba fins? No stranger to the area, Christine has served as an Officer on the Boards of The Ardmore Initiative and the Ardmore Business Association for over a decade!
Robin Hawkins
A passionate chef, loving daughter, and mother of two, Robin finds the time to volunteer with Chosen 300 Ministry and to coordinate the meals for Zion Baptist Church every 5th Friday. Looking to visit a new locale? Robin may have traveled there – as a Navy Spouse, she’s travelled the world, always managing to be involved with the community. She’s been a Sunday school teacher (and co-authored a book with her church Writer’s Ministry), and Navy Ombudsman, a role in which she put her welcoming and magnetic personality to use helping military spouses get used to unfamiliar surroundings. Wherever she finds herself, Robin strives to recreate the feeling of the tight-knit West Philadelphia community of her youth!
Amy McCann
Though officially described by many roles, Amy considers herself a Community Builder in everything that she does. In her work as a classroom teacher, Learning Specialist, and Founder / Director of Carousel Connections, Amy loves to bring people together to celebrate and share the gifts that they bring one another. At Carousel Connections, Amy helps young adults with developmental disabilities identify, develop, and share those gifts. As a Board Member of Families CCAN, she helps families of individuals with disabilities bring the dream of independent living to reality! While you were reading this, she cooked a delicious meal without you noticing!
Adam Rosenblatt
Adam is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Peace, Justice, and Human Rights at Haverford College. He holds a PhD from Stanford University, and is the author of Digging for the Disappeared: Forensic Science after Atrocity (Stanford University Press, 2015) and many articles about the intersections of human rights, humanitarianism, science, and the ethics of care. In addition to sharing his favorite comic books and indie rock tunes to students, he also engages in seminars on Human Rights and the Dead," "Thinking Differently: Politics and Practices of Neurodiversity" (which is participating in a Philadelphia Area Creative Collaboratives grant), the community-engaged "Social Justice Organizations," the introductory class in Peace, Justice, and Human Rights and other core seminars in the concentration. Adam bikes around Haverford, with coffee in hand. He loves spending time at the ocean with his spouse (co-founder of the humanitarian aid startup NeedsList), and two children. Thinking about a movie night? Adam can recommend his favorite Miyazaki movie title!
Chris McCann
Chris is a father of three; teacher of math; lover of music, mountains, and water; typer of this bio; and user of semi-colons in this list. When he's not teaching his kids to request Pearl Jam from Alexa, he's teaching middle school math at Friends School Haverford or independent living skills at Carousel Connections. Chris especially loves watching the community come together at Common Space!
You!
Ok, so you're not on the Board of Directors, but you can be involved, too! Common Space is for you, so come on in and grab a cup of coffee. And a pastry. Attend an event. Suggest an event. Host a meeting. Have another cup of coffee. Bring a friend. Make a friend. Read. Have a conversation. Change someone's mind. Change your mind. Laugh. Just come in and see what happens!