NPR Foundation Welcomes Four New Trustees

NPR welcomes the election of four new Trustees to the NPR Foundation Board this fall with three-year terms beginning in October 2021.

The NPR Foundation provides current and long-term financial support for NPR, in service of NPR’s mission to create a more informed public. In addition to securing direct funding for NPR and prudently managing the assets of the Foundation, it supports nationwide recognition and celebration of the generous donors dedicated to public media. NPR’s Foundation Board of Trustees is currently comprised of 54 elected Trustees, the Chair of the NPR Inc Board of Directors, the Chair of the Development Committee of the Board of Directors, and the NPR President & CEO.

Brief biographies of the new Trustees follow:

Suki Carson

Suki Carson is an active leader and supporter of nonprofits focused on literacy, the expansion of financial opportunity for women, and the building of community institutions. She is past-Chairman of the Library Foundation of Memphis and past-President of the Junior League of Memphis, as well as having chaired board committees in Strategic Planning (Memphis University School, Junior League of Memphis), Finance (Women’s Foundation of Memphis, the Junior Leagues of Northern Westchester and Memphis), and Visual Arts (Dixon Gallery and Gardens).

Suki received her BA from the University of Virginia and her MBA from UVA’s Darden School. In her early career, she worked as an analyst for Legg Mason (Washington DC) and as an investment banker for JP Morgan in New York. She lives in St Petersburg, FL and Kamas, UT, with her husband, John Carson, who is the President of Raymond James Financial. They have four adult sons.

Susanna Lachs

Susanna E. Lachs is a former commercial litigation partner with the law firms of Cohen, Shapiro, Shiekman and Cohen and Kaufman, Coren and Ress of Philadelphia. She is the Immediate Past Chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, a member of the Board of Jewish Federations of North America, and is a former Chair of the Board of The Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, PA. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, a former Co-Chair and current member of the National Board of Governors of Penn Hillel, former Chair and member of the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women, and past member of the Board of the Penn Libraries. She serves on the Board of Visitors of Temple University Beasley School of Law, and is a former Trustee of Temple University. In Philadelphia she also serves on the Policy Board of WXPN-FM, and is an avid supporter of WHYY-FM.

Susanna is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University Beasley School of Law. She is married to Dean Adler, a co-founder and principal of Lubert- Adler Partners, LLP, a national real estate fund headquartered in Philadelphia. They have two married daughters.

Jaison Robinson

Jaison Robinson is a partner of Dream Variation Ventures, which makes investments across a broad range of industries including tech, sports, health, entertainment, and real estate. He co-founded Dream Variations in 2020 with his wife, Jamie Van Horne Robinson, a former management consultant at Camber Collective responsible for advising philanthropic organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Hewlett Foundation, among others. He is also the founder of JJM Investments, LLC which has completed more than $600M in real estate transactions in the five years since its founding. Jaison was a contestant on the television show Survivor in 2009.

Jaison earned a BA from Stanford University and a JD from the University of Chicago.

Steven Summer

Steven Summer was named President and CEO of the Healthcare Institute (HI) following his retirement in 2019 from the Colorado Hospital Association (CHA). HI is composed of 35 of the most progressive, successful, and admired nonprofit hospitals and health systems in the country. Steven serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kavod Senior Life—a senior living community in Denver. In 2018, he joined the KUNC Board of Directors and chairs the Governance Committee. He is an active volunteer in the community and sits on two Arapahoe County Council appointed panels. He currently sits on two corporate boards. Steven is a Life Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). In 2010 and 2019, he received ACHE Regent’s Award.

Steven holds an MBA in Health Care Administration from George Washington University and a B.S. in Business Administration from Northeastern University in Boston. He and his wife Loraine, who has a Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology, have two adult sons--Ari and Jason.

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