Our Board

Tom Slick
Board Chair
PVS Visitor - FCI Sheridan

Tom has been a PVS visitor at FCI Sheridan in Oregon since 2009 and joined the board in 2020. Tom says “PVS visitors, staff and board members make up a wealth of talent so it is my hope in serving on the board that we can garner sustainable financial resources to support these individuals as they work to achieve our mission which is to provide prisoners with regular, face-to-face, contact from the world outside of prison to help them cope with prison life and prepare for a successful re-entry into society.”

Gary Blanchard
PVS Visitor - FCC Coleman

Gary has been a visitor with PVS for 15 years, and local coordinator for 10 years at FCC Coleman in Florida. He is semi-retired and volunteers at the local hospital with Chaplain services. Gary is married with two daughters and four grandchildren. He has been active in the community as a past businessman and leader including Kiwanis, Chamber of Commerce, and Board of Directors for Boys and Girls Club.  Presently serving on staff as Associate Pastor of First Baptist Church with responsibilities in Pastoral Care. He loves to play golf.

Luis "Suave" Gonzalez
Artist, Activist, Podcaster

Suave graduated from Villanova University with a degree in Education and Marketing. He is the subject of the national, IDA and Pulitzer Prize award winning podcast “Suave.” He is also the creator of the “Death by Incarceration” podcast, a podcast that addresses the criminal justice system from the inside out. Suave is currently an Administrative Reentry Coach at Community College of Philadelphia, where he assists returning citizens getting into college.

Michael Guerra
Attorney

Mike has been a PVS board member since 2020 and serves on the Board’s Personnel Committee. Mike is an attorney and lives with his wife and son in Connecticut. 

Erika Janifer
Baltimore Yearly Meeting

Erika has been a PVS board member since 2021 and serves on the Board's Finance Committee. Erika is an engineer and management consultant.  She enjoys volunteering and has served on humanitarian missions in Mexico, Tanzania, Kenya, and Ethiopia.

Brian Lewis
Deputy Director, exalt.

Brian is the Chief Program Officer at exalt, Deputy Director of the New York Community Trust leadership Fellows, Senior DEI consultant with DBI Projects, and has taught courses in Nonprofit Management, Human Services, and the Arts as an Adjunct Professor at NYU Wagner School of Public Service, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The New School, and Monroe Community College. He is an expert in Critical Pedagogy, Restorative Justice, and making education and justice system more fair and equitable. He lives with his wife and puppy in Rochester, NY and his work is based out of New York City.

Rachel Osborn
Board Secretary

Rachel is a retired professional fundraiser and a longtime volunteer for PVS. A former PVS visitor with her husband Nicholas Butterfield at FCC Butner, NC, she has served on the PVS development committee since June 1997, has been a PVS Board member since September 2004 and was the PVS Board Chair from April 18, 2015 through December 31, 2021. She and her husband reside in Allentown PA and are the parents of two adult children. Rachel is a member of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of friends (Quakers). She enjoys travel, reading, gardening, and the gourmet cooking of others.

David Poundstone
Finance Committee Chair
PVS Visitor – FCC Florence

David is a PVS visitor since 1999, visiting at both FCI Englewood and starting in 2004, at FCC Florence in Colorado. He has served many roles with PVS since 2005, as a National Recruiter, Board Treasurer, Board Chair, and Board member. He has served on the training team since 2010 and co-authored the new Visitor Manual. David says “The act of talking together is like sharing communion. Thanks for the memories.”

Virginia Rinella
Board Co-Chair
PVS Visitor – USP Marion

Virginia has been a visitor with PVS for almost 30 years, and serves as the local coordinator for USP Marion in Illinois. She is the Co-Chair of the Board, and the Chair of the Personnel Committee. Virginia spent 42 years as Director of the Pre-Major Advisement Center at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and was name their social work "Citizen of the Year" in 2012.

Susannah Rose
Communications Consultant

Susannah is a technical writer, instructional designer, and communication generalist whose works has been focused largely on behavioral health. She has visited prisoners in Maryland state prisoners for over a decade. 

Dan Struble
Board Treasurer
PVS Visitor – FCI Otisville

Dan discovered PVS after a long and rewarding career in state government and has been a PVS visitor at FCI Otisville in New York since his retirement in 2012. He finds being a PVS visitor can be a life-enriching experience for both the prisoners he sees and himself alike. 

Scott Sussman
District of Columbia Board of Elections
Former BOP Deputy Administrator, Community Reentry Affairs Branch

Scott retired from the Federal Bureau of Prisons in 2021, where for the last 10 years he served as the Deputy Administrator of the Community Reentry Affairs Branch, but more importantly to us, was PVS’s primary point of contact for the Bureau. Scott assisted PVS throughout its many iterations and wishes to be a part of its current evolution as he believes it’s more important than ever to link our incarcerated citizens with those outside the prison gates. Scott is currently working for the District of Columbia’s Board of Elections heading up a program that encourages incarcerated DC residents to register and vote in DC’s local and national elections.