People on the Move is a rundown of recent hirings, promotions, appointments and other notable movements by professionals in the state. If you’re interested in submitting an entry, please contact news@delawarebusinesstimes.com.
Terra Taylor has been nominated the 11th Commissioner of the Delaware Department of Correction (DOC). She took the oath of office on Feb. 16 and was confirmed unanimously by the State Senate on Jan. 24. Taylor served as acting commissioner since July 2023 and was previously the deputy commissioner of DOC.
“Commissioner Taylor has been part of the team that has embraced these challenges head-on, and I have full confidence that under her leadership the Department of Correction will continue that progress to better serve our communities,” Governor Carney said.
“I joined the Department of Correction 27 years ago as a college intern and that experience sparked my life’s passion for criminal justice and my strong belief in the power of rehabilitation, second chances, and public service,” Taylor said. “I am incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to build a rewarding career, contribute to public safety, and establish a comprehensive reentry program alongside the many dedicated and capable men and women on our DOC team.”
Taylor has served with the DOC since 1997, since then she completed academy training and became a probation and parole officer, specializing in domestic violence and sex offender supervision. In 2016, Taylor was named regional manager responsible for all probation and parole activities across Kent County. She was promoted to statewide probation and parole director in 2017 where she focused on new initiatives to improve officer equipment, enhance community outreach and education, and improve communication and employee relations. She was named deputy chief of the Bureau of Community Corrections in November, 2019 and chief of the Bureau of Community Corrections in August, 2021. A year later, Taylor was promoted to deputy commissioner, the Department’s second-highest position with responsibilities for supervising the Department’s four Bureaus.
Nemours Children’s Health named Vanessa A. Olbrecht, MD, MBA, FASA, chair of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine for Delaware Valley. Olbrecht will focus on academic training as well as retaining and recruiting top talent in a competitive marketplace.
“Dr. Olbrecht possesses a wealth of clinical and academic experience, along with a relentless commitment to providing the highest-quality care, and an innovative spirit that fuels her ability to be a trailblazer in her field,” Meg Frizzola, DO, FAAP, Chief of Medical Staff, Nemours Children’s Health, Delaware Valley, said. “We are proud to welcome Dr. Olbrecht to Nemours with her extensive qualifications and passion for advancing pediatric healthcare.”
Olbrecht serves on the Board of Directors for the Society for Pediatric Sedation as well as on the executive committee as the chair of the Quality and Safety Committee. Prior to Nemours, Olbrecht served as the vice chair of quality improvement and development and the director of Fetal Anesthesiology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. After completing her fellowship, she joined the faculty at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center where she worked as an associate professor in anesthesiology and pediatrics and the director of quality improvement and accreditation for procedural sedation for the institution. She was also the associate director of research and the clinical director of the procedure center.
Olbrecht obtained her MD from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed her residency in anesthesiology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Olbrecht also completed a pediatric anesthesia fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She received her MBA from the University of North Carolina Chapel.
Jasmine Patel, MHA, has been named director of operations for ChristianaCare’s Delaware-based emergency departments and the Avenue North campus. In this role, Patel supports system and service line annual operating plan (AOP) goals and accreditations while also conducting strategic planning, program development and implementation of new processes for managing flow and optimize resources.
Patel joined ChristianaCare as an administrative fellow while attending George Washington University and subsequently accepted a position as a project manager, advancing to the position of campus operations manager of Avenue North. While at ChristianaCare, Patel has supported the COVID-19 vaccination rollout to our caregivers and community members and implemented streamlined temporary labor processes and space allocation for the Avenue North campus. She has also served as the co-chair for the OneGeneration employee resource group.
Patel received a Master of Health Administration degree from George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in cognitive science from the University of Connecticut.
The Delaware Community Foundation (DCF) has named Robbie Tarpley Raffish vice president of communications and marketing.
In this role, Raffish will be a member of the leadership team, working directly with DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay. She will oversee the external and internal communications for the organization, including brand strategy, development and implementation of marketing plans, public relations, crisis communications, advertising and design.
Raffish, an integrated marketing industry veteran, joins the DCF from a.s.a.p.r. Integrated Marketing, a firm she founded in 1996. Her experience includes project and consulting work with the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore (CFES), philanthropy – most notably as a member of the communications launch team for the National Museum of Jewish American History – and expertise in commercial real estate, healthcare, education, food and beverage, automotive and consumer goods.
“Raffish’s career makes her uniquely suited to working at the DCF,” Comstock-Gay said. “Her ability to assemble and manage teams and merge them with external resources for successful programs was exactly what we were seeking. Most importantly, she has a love of philanthropy that is visible throughout her journey.”
Through her most recent work with Ensemble/Mosaic, the joint venture leading the $6 billion redevelopment of the Navy Yard in Philadelphia, Raffish has honed her experience in diversity, equity and inclusion, and sustainability. Raffish led all aspects of communications, most notably the development of the Ensemble/Mosaic Marketing Center, a $500,000 project that includes augmented reality, video, a 7’ x 11’ scale model, a 14’ LED wall loaded with content, and large-scale murals.
“I am thrilled to join the DCF and be a member of an organization that has a clear focus on the betterment of and for the people of Delaware,” Raffish said. “I had been seeking a way to deploy what I have learned in my varied career in a new and impactful way; a role where I could collaborate with smart, creative and interesting people who share a similar desire to make a difference. I feel very at home at the DCF already.”
Raffish earned a degree in Communications and Political Science from the University of Delaware and has served on a number of non-profit boards including the Greater Salisbury Committee and the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce, both in Maryland. She has published nearly 200 articles and is currently working on a novel of historical fiction. A parent of two adult children, she resides in Georgetown, Delaware with her husband Clay Tarpley.
David L. Anderson, Dover City councilmember, has been appointed to the National League of Cities (NLC) 2024 Council on Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Council). Councilman Anderson was elected to a one-year term to develop and guide programs among local elected officials from similar communities.
Anderson has been recognized for spearheading creative innovations including a policy to waiving recreation fees for all youth in families receiving SNAP, master plans for the major parks based upon citizen surveys resulting in Dover’s first Can Do Playground, skate park and dog park, and encouraging after school and summer programs through ARPA funding with the Dover Art League, Community funds for the Inner-City Cultural League and Boys to Men program. Anderson is the first City of Dover Councilmember to sit on the committee since the late Councilwoman Sophia Russell who passed away in 2012. The appointment was announced by NLC President Mayor-Elect David Sander of Rancho Cordova, CA.
“Dover has a story to tell,” Anderson said. “We have been innovative in partnering with nonprofits and the community to serve at a higher level without burdening local taxpayers… the top-notch staff that makes up team Dover has been incredibly innovative.”
Anderson will play a key role among a diverse group of local leaders to encourage collaboration, networking and the development of resources and programs beneficial to communities that share demographics, size or location that can be replicated across the country.
