Board Bios

Nancy Toscano, Ph.D., LCSW

President & Chief Executive Officer

Known for her strengths as both a clinical therapist and effective nonprofit leader, Nancy Toscano never wavers in her compassion and pursuit of life-changing solutions for vulnerable children and families in Virginia. She believes every child deserves to be loved, protected and empowered, and that caring families come in many varieties.

Nancy was named President & Chief Executive Officer of Shineforth in April 2021 and has been with the organization since 2007. She’s committed to upholding Shineforth’s resources in service to its mission, striving to elevate awareness, engage and build support in the Central Virginia community.

A licensed clinical social worker with extensive experience in organizational behavior and culture, metrics analysis, and strategic thinking, Nancy has been highly sought after as both a thought leader and practitioner in the family services realm. Her work has taken her to many different locations around the world, including California, New York, Malaysia and England. 

In 2018, Nancy was invited by Virginia’s Office of Children’s Services and the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to facilitate strategic planning for the State Executive Council. She’s President of the Virginia Coalition of Private Provider Associations (VCOPPA), President of the Virginia Nonprofit Leadership Council (VNLC), and past- Chair of Richmond City’s Community, Planning and Management team.   

Originally from Long Island, New York, Nancy earned her Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration with a concentration in nonprofit leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Siena College and her master’s degree from New York University, both in the field of social work.  

Nancy enjoys exploring nature and spending time with her husband, John, and their son, Jack. 

Bruce Whitehurst

chair

Bruce began his career in retail and commercial banking. He joined the Virginia Bankers Association in 1993. He currently serves as president and chief executive officer of the association, a position he has held since January 2007. While at VBA, Bruce has worked with member banks in a variety of areas, to include government relations, education and training, economic education and financial literacy, and helping banks enter new lines of business such as insurance and brokerage services. 

In addition to Shineforth, Bruce serves on the boards of Ferrum College and the Virginia Council on Economic Education. 

Bruce received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of William & Mary and his MBA from the University of Richmond. 

Keith Hare

VICE chair

Keith is the President and CEO of the Virginia Health Care Association. He served as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Office of Governor, Commonwealth of Virginia.

Keith has many years of experience in government relations and public affairs for three Healthcare associations. He earned an MPA from Virginia Tech. Keith also serves as the Board Chair of Voices for Virginia’s Children. 

Chris Henderson

SECRETARY

Chris became President & CEO of Pinnacle Living, formerly Virginia United Methodist Homes (VUMH), in 2005. Since assuming this role, Pinnacle Living has successfully developed and opened a new CCRC in Williamsburg, Virginia and has broken ground on an $85 million repositioning of Cedarfield. Pinnacle Living is also working closely with Action Pact to create Health Care households and neighborhoods in all seven Pinnacle communities and opened their first health care households in Williamsburg in early 2018.

Originally from western Pennsylvania, Chris is a graduate of Slippery Rock University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration. He began working at Hermitage Northern Virginia in 1992 and became the Administrator in 1994. In 1997 Chris became Executive Director of Cedarfield. After the operations of Hermitage Richmond and Cedarfield were merged in 2003, Chris became the Executive Director of both Richmond communities. 

N.H. Cookie Scott

past chair

Cookie recently retired as Deputy Director, Division of Administration for the Virginia Department of Corrections, overseeing a $1.2 billion budget. In this role, Cookie managed multiple departments including finance, human resources, information technology, the academy for staff development, legal, planning & research, architecture & engineering, correctional enterprises, health, compliance & accreditation, general services, and project management. 

Cookie’s career began as a social worker on a psychiatric ward, working with adolescents. She also served as a juvenile probation officer and a Juvenile Court Service Unit Director. Cookie was the first African American graduate of Longwood University, earning a degree in sociology. The Cultural Diversity and Inclusion Center at Longwood is named in her honor. 

John S. Brenneke

John is a retired pastor of the United Methodist Church and a former President of the Shineforth Board of Associates.

He serves as the current Chair of Guardian Place Board of Directors. Past professions as a Naval officer and businessman give him skills in the areas of leadership and business development. 

Caroline Browder

Caroline E. Browder is a member at Roth Jackson. Her practice focuses on all aspects of commercial real estate, including strategic planning, finance, leasing, and construction. Ms. Browder represents landlords and tenants in commercial lease transactions including ground leases, “build to suit” and national tenant leasing. She also represents lenders and borrowers in commercial financing. Ms. Browder has extensive experience in cellular communications leasing and development. 

Before joining Roth Jackson, Ms. Browder served as senior vice president and in-house counsel for SunTrust Banks, Inc., where she handled all of the bank’s corporate real estate transactions in the Mid-Atlantic region. Representative transactions include: Portfolio sale/leaseback of 447 branch banking facilities, sale/leaseback of 25 office buildings, 1031 Tax Deferred Exchange Projects, drafting and negotiating leases for all retail and office space leased by and from SunTrust Bank, AIA contracts, condemnation, and premise liability litigation. 

Nancy Campos

Nancy Campos works for the Virginia Department of Social Services as the Data Manager for the Division of Family Services. Nancy previously worked for Shineforth as a graduate assistant and quickly demonstrated her strengths as a trusted collaborator, data and visualization guru, and research professional.

Nancy’s contributions to Shineforth’s social impact metrics, strategic planning process, kinship care, family engagement, EBPs and all things data have been substantial. She is a Governor-appointed Advisory Group Member on the Committee for Juvenile Justice and Prevention, serves on Peter Paul’s Board of Associates, and is bilingual in English and Spanish. 

Mike Giancaspro

Mike retired after 25 years as Vice President of Tredegar Corporation, a spin-off from Richmond-based Ethyl Corporation, where he led efforts in operations, strategic planning, acquisitions, divestitures, capital projects and real estate. He’s also the founder of Turnaround Strategies LLC, a consulting firm that helped struggling small businesses develop and execute a game plan for success in order to achieve new bank financing.

Mike currently serves on the board of Gateway Homes, which provides affordable housing wrapped with mental health services. Previously, he served on the boards of UMFS and Chesterfield County Mental Health Support Services.

Mike began his career as a CPA at Deloitte after receiving a B.S. in Business Administration from Virginia Tech. He also earned an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University. Mike and his wife of 43 years, Kim, live in Richmond where their two adult sons also reside.

Ann Hodges

Ann C. Hodges is Professor of Law Emerita at the University of Richmond where her teaching and research focused on labor and employment law, feminist legal theory, and nonprofit organizations. She currently teaches at the University of Virginia School of Law as a Visiting Professor of Law. She is Interim Program Chair for Paralegal Studies and previously was Interim Program Chair for Human Resources Management, both at the University of Richmond School of Professional and Continuing Studies. She practiced labor law in Chicago after graduating from Northwestern University School of Law, and worked for the National Labor Relations Board prior to attending law school. 

In 1996, Ann co-founded CancerLINC, an organization that assists cancer patients and their families in Central Virginia with the legal and financial issues that arise from cancer. She served on the board of directors for a number of years. She is a member of River Road United Methodist Church where she has served in several leadership positions, including currently chairing the Missions Committee. 

Pamela Kipps

Pamela graduated with a B.A. from the University of Virginia and spent 12 years in the business world prior to responding to God’s call into ministry. She worked in the fields of Training and Development and Employee Relations for Saks Fifth Avenue’s corporate offices in New York City and served as a Human Resources Director in Northern Virginia. Pamela also led a Training and Development Department for Ruesch International and provided management training workshops as an independent training consultant. 

She earned a Master of Divinity Degree from Wesley Theological Seminary in 2018 and was blessed to serve on staff as the Director of Kids’ Ministries and Associate Pastor in two Northern Virginia churches. Pamela recently returned to Wesley and is currently working on her Doctor of Ministry degree. 

She has a heart for serving others and providing compassionate support to those in need of soul care. Pamela is honored to serve the Shineforth community as it helps strengthen children and families so they can live into a promising future. 

Bill Leedom

Bill is a retired Human Resources professional. His last position was as Christian Children’s Fund’s (now ChildFund) International Director of Human Resources and formerly was a Vice President of Human Resources at LandAmerica Financial and at Central Fidelity Bank. After retiring, he worked as a consultant for a financial services company and a management training corporation. 

While in Richmond, Bill served on the boards of the local Human Resources association, Communities in Schools of Chesterfield, Chesterfield Public Education Foundation and Family LifeLine. He has also been a member of Shineforth’ss Resource Development Committee and currently serves on the Scholarship Committee. After retiring to Myrtle Beach, SC he has joined the board of New Directions of Horry County, a homeless shelter and drug addiction resource center. 

Bill holds a BA and MA from the University of Delaware, studied for a Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina, and earned a Certificate in Financial Planning from VCU. 

Jim Mallory

Jim is an Institutional Investment Advisor at Truist, where he has been for two years. Prior to this role, he previously served as an Institutional Investment Advisor at SunTrust Bank, Vice President Client Portfolio Manager at IronOak Advisors LLC and Trusco Capital Management, Inc. He also worked at SunTrust Bank as a Vice President, Commercial Relationship Manager, where he served as Team Lead for Hospital, University, & Municipal Banking.

Jim has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics & English from the University of Richmond and has served on a number of Boards and Committees. These include: The Shineforth Investment Committee, the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church’s Pension Plan Board and Investment Committee, and the Board for Voices for Virginia’s Children, where he served as Board Chair from 2010-2011. 

Linda Nablo

Now serving as a Special Advisor to the Office of the Governor, Linda Nablo was formerly the Chief Deputy Director for the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS). She came to DMAS in April 2014 from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) where she served as Director of State Coverage Programs. At the federal level she oversaw state programs that provide coverage for 8 million low-income children through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP); served as part of the team implementing the Affordable Care Act; and led development of the Basic Health Program.

Prior to joining CMS in August 2010, Linda had a long career in Virginia state government that included serving as the Commissioner of the Virginia Department for the Aging and before that as the Director of the Division of Maternal and Child Health for DMAS. During her former time with DMAS she was instrumental in revamping the CHIP program and significantly increased enrollment. Earlier in her career she was the policy director for a nonprofit advocating on behalf of children. She has extensive experience in program administration, working with state and federal agencies, policy makers, stakeholders, and advocating for individuals who need a voice. 

Rev. Bayo Ogungbade

Bayo serves as the Associate Pastor of Adult Discipleship at Reveille United Methodist Church. He is a Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) graduate with a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies degree with a focus on religious studies, mass communications, and entrepreneurship. Bayo also holds a Master of Divinity from Union Presbyterian Seminary and his primary ministry focuses are around church planting and other entrepreneurial-related ministries. Bayo also has a strong aptitude for investing in youth and young adults and is excited to be a board member at Shineforth and serving the community! 

Bayo is the proud son of Nigerian immigrants, a Richmond native, enjoys traveling, watching and playing sports, connecting with new people, trying new foods, listening to all genres of music, and learning new skills. 

Greg Peters

Greg retired as President and CEO of Shineforth in 2021. He and his wife Gail are blessed to have two children and two grandchildren. He began his career as a service provider and advocate for children and families as a Juvenile Probation Officer in Harrisonburg, Virginia after graduating from Bridgewater College. He then completed his Masters in Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University and began his 41-year journey at Shineforth. He was a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who started the treatment foster care program; opened the first regional center in Tidewater; and returned to Richmond to serve as Associate Executive Director and CEO for 21 years. 

He was appointed by five Governors to serve on the State Executive Council of the Office of Children’s Services. He was also Board Chair of four Virginia and one national association that focused on serving vulnerable children and their families. He also served on the Board of the Department of Medical Assistance Services and various task forces. He has had the opportunity along with his Shineforth team to develop many innovative local and statewide public/ private partnerships that impacted children and families throughout Virginia. 

Harley Rowland

As a testament to the transformative power of kinship care, Harley connects deeply with Shineforth’s mission. At 15, Harley was fortunate to be placed with a loving family that supported her in many ways, including helping her become the first member of her biological family to graduate from high school. She credits the nurturing environment they provided for much of her success. 

Harley earned her bachelor’s degree in Human Development from Brigham Young University, where she developed a passion for working with teenagers in the mental health industry. She furthered her education with an MBA from William & Mary. She currently works as a Data Consultant at Merakata. In her free time, Harley enjoys running, hiking, reading, and spending time with her family. 

Melissa Sikes

Melissa has long supported Shineforth and the children and teens we serve. She returned to Shineforth in 2025 for a second board term.  

A partner at Brown Edwards and a member of several professional associations, Melissa has earned several professional accolades.  Melissa is a CPA and an alumna of Bridgewater College, where she earned a B.A. in Accounting and Finance.   

Taylor Williams

Taylor is a Principal and Co-founder of Spy Rock, where he focuses on sourcing new opportunities, arranging debt and equity financing, and structuring transactions. 

Prior to Spy Rock, Taylor worked with Wachovia Securities (now Wells Fargo) in its Real Estate Investment Banking Group and with Cassidy & Pinkard (now Cushman & Wakefield) in its Investment Sales group, focusing on commercial properties. 

Taylor holds a B.A. and an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia. He is on the Board of Directors for Morris Investment Company and sits on the Investment Committee of Aston Realty Investment Company, both of which are based in Charlotte, NC, and own shopping centers in the Southeast. He also serves on the Virginia Advisory Board for South State Bank and the Board of Directors for St. Christopher’s School.