Three Professionals Join Nonprofit Leadership; 2023 Chair, Vice Chair Announced
Denver—The National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®) welcomes three new members to its Board of Trustees. Christine D. Lovely, vice president and chief human resources officer at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.; the Honorable Loretta Sanchez, former representative of the United States House of Representatives from Orange, Calif.; and Bob Lewis, senior vice president and private wealth advisor at Capital Group Private Client Services in Florida, have joined the 17-member board.
“It is a tremendous pleasure to welcome Christine, Loretta and Bob, all of whom are distinguished professionals, to complement our organizational leadership,” says Billy J. Hensley, Ph.D., president and CEO of NEFE. “The NEFE mission to champion effective financial education is possible not only because of our dedicated and energetic staff, but also through the expertise and collaboration of the accomplished leaders on the NEFE Board of Trustees, all of whom share a passion for advancing financial well-being.”
The NEFE Board of Trustees also announces that it has named Richard G. (Rick) Ketchum, former CEO (retired) of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), as 2023 chair and Jason Young, partner of Totally Human in Atlanta, as vice chair. Colleen Walker, CEO of the Auraria Higher Education Center in Denver, will serve as chair emeritus.
Christine D. Lovely
Lovely, a talented lawyer turned higher-education leader with extensive experience in delivering human resources (HR) services and leading organizations through change, began her appointment as vice president and chief HR officer at Cornell University in August 2022. Her portfolio includes oversight of the HR function, the Department of Inclusion and Belonging, and the Office of Institutional Equity and Title IX. Prior to joining Cornell, Lovely was associate vice chancellor and chief HR officer at the University of California, Davis. Responsible for the central HR teams on both the UC Davis and UC Davis Health campuses, her focus was on building a customer service-oriented people and culture unit that prioritizes the employee experience, transparency, and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging initiatives.
Before joining UC Davis, Lovely was vice president for HR at California State University, Sacramento. She previously worked for the Sacramento County Office of Education as associate general counsel; the Public Employment Relations Board as a California Governor-appointed legal advisor; and was in private law practice for over 10 years, representing school districts and community college districts throughout California.
She began her appointment as an at-large board member of College and the University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) in 2022. Before her move to New York state, Lovely served on boards for the Sacramento Black Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Sacramento Urban League, and as board president of the CUPA-HR Northern and Central California Chapter. She received a Bachelor of Arts in mass communication from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Juris Doctorate from the UC Davis School of Law.
“I am honored and energized to join the NEFE Board of Trustees. This is an incredible opportunity to work with thought leaders from diverse industries and backgrounds toward the shared goal of helping influence and advance financial well-being for all. This is a critical element of our employee experience at Cornell and across the nation, and I’m excited to be able to lend a workforce development lens to this work,” says Lovely.
The Honorable Loretta Sanchez
Congresswoman Sanchez represented Orange County (OC), Calif., in the U.S. Congress from 1997-2017. As a senior member of the Armed Services and the Homeland Security Committees, she negotiated budgets, provided oversight on agencies and programs, and assisted in developing policies related to treaties. Sanchez also sat on the Committees of Homeland Security, Education and Labor, and Joint Economics.
She is a recognized leader in international affairs, national security, counterterrorism and economic development matters. Sanchez led efforts on education attainment for all, small business regulatory reform, healthcare initiatives and technology innovation. She expanded preschool for children, championed the construction of the largest water recycling project in the world (in OC) and directed research funding to universities in her area to help develop a Bio Med industry. Sanchez represented the highest concentration of Bio-Med start-ups in the nation.
As a 2018 advanced leadership fellow at Harvard University, Sanchez developed a business model to increase supply of affordable housing in Southern California through vocational training of “second chance” young adults, which is now a business model for housing in California. She stays very involved in leadership and mentoring at Harvard. Sanchez also founded Datamatica, LLC, in conjunction with Google partners, to help small businesses expand their social media reach to potential customers. She currently is managing partner of that enterprise. Sanchez also sits on the board of Chapman University in Orange, Calif.; the national board of the Career Education Colleges and Universities; and the board of the Former Members of Congress Association and Universal Technical Institute. Sanchez also is a board member of several start-up companies in the data and health industries.
She has a Bachelor of Science Bachelor of Arts (BSBA) in economics from Chapman University and an MBA in finance from American University in Washington, D.C. Sanchez also has been a senior fellow in leadership at George Washington University in D.C., and at Florida International University’s Adam Smith Institute.
“Ensuring people understand their finances and have the tools to make smart financial decisions is my number one reason for joining the NEFE Board of Directors. I’m excited to work with my colleagues to spread the knowledge,” says Sanchez.
Bob Lewis
Lewis is a senior vice president and private wealth advisor for Capital Group Private Client Services, helping individuals and multi-generational families achieve their financial objectives during their lifetimes while stewarding their wealth for future generations. He assists clients who have a wide range of complex financial issues and challenges, with the goal of helping them make decisions more easily and with greater confidence. Prior to Capital Group, Lewis was a financial advisor at Bernstein Global Wealth Management. He also held roles at Intergraph Corporation and the U.S. subsidiary of Asahi Chemical of Japan. Lewis earned an MBA at Northeastern University in Boston, and a Bachelor of Science from Colby College in Maine. He lives and works in Florida, although he serves clients throughout the U.S. and overseas.
“I am honored to be given the opportunity to join such a wonderful group of professionals at NEFE and my colleagues on the Board of Trustees. The important work being done by NEFE is helping to address the incredible void of financial education today. I look forward to contributing to the progress being made and helping to achieve the ultimate goal of effective financial education for all,” says Lewis.
Read more information on the NEFE Board of Trustees.
