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.
Chesapeake Utilities Corporation announced Andrena Burd has been promoted to assistant vice president to head the risk management department, and Puru Buddha has been promoted to assistant vice president of enterprise applications.
Burd has served as director of internal audit at Chesapeake Utilities since 2019. Prior to that, she worked for more than 10 years as an auditor for the state of Delaware’s Office of Auditor of Accounts where she oversaw the business continuity efforts of the office. Previous roles include the director of internal audit at Delaware State University; administrative auditor for the Delaware Office of Auditor of Accounts; and others. Burd also previously served at Chesapeake Utilities Corporation, beginning her career in 2004 in the Company’s internal audit department.
Burd serves as the audit chair for REACH Riverside, a nonprofit organization in Delaware focused on the ongoing redevelopment of Wilmington’s Riverside neighborhood. Within Chesapeake Utilities, she is a member of the Women in Energy steering committee. Burd has a bachelor’s degree in accounting, and she is a Certified Information Systems Auditor, Certified Fraud Examiner and Associate Business Continuity Professional.
Buddha will be responsible for enterprise applications, data and analytics, and IT project management competency. He will continue to provide technical and project leadership in modernizing billing systems, financial applications, work order management, human resource information systems and many other business systems.
Buddha has 21 years of experience aligning and delivering technology solutions in support of organizations’ overall business strategies. He led large global IT organizations to drive company initiatives and growth with an emphasis on continuous improvement. He has extensive experience in architecting and executing technology solutions across utilities (gas and electric), hi-tech (semiconductor), service, retail, distribution, chemical and manufacturing industries. He also served as director of enterprise applications and projects at Chesapeake Utilities since 2016. Prior to that, he worked for seven years at Kennametal leading and managing global applications, development and integration teams in North America, Europe and Asia.
Christy Watkins, senior vice president and regional investment advisory lead at Wilmington Trust, has been named to Forbes Magazine’s 2022 list of Top 100 Women Wealth Advisors and Best-in-Delaware Women Wealth Advisors. Watkins is responsible for developing customized investment portfolios for her clients based on their parameters for risk, return, liquidity, and other factors. She co-leads the investment advisory team in family wealth, and is responsible for developing customized investment portfolios for her clients based on their parameters for risk, return, liquidity, and other factors.
Watkins is a CFA charter holder, a member of the CFA Institute, and a member of the CFA Society Philadelphia, where she co-founded the Inve$t in Her Future initiative driving engagement with young women regarding careers in investment management.
Mark Mumford, executive vice president and chief executive of Nemours Children’s Health, will serve as chair of the Wilmington Heart Walk 2022. The Heart Walk will be held on the Riverfront in Wilmington on October 9 to support the American Heart Association.
“I am truly honored to serve as Chair of the Wilmington Heart Walk 2022. I have a strong personal commitment to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, in honor of my wonderful daughter, who is an inspiring survivor of a congenital heart defect. Nemours Children’s Health is honored to support the Heart Walk to demonstrate our significant leadership and commitment to heart and brain health in our community,” Mumford said in a statement.
Mumford joined Nemours in 2020. Prior to joining, he served as the senior vice president, finance and chief financial officer of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
Gaudenzia announced Dr. Philip Moore the new chief medical officer. The role focuses on standardizing the medical protocols and processes in Gaudenzia’s 51 facilities across Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. He will also be focusing on medication-assisted treatment (MAT) across the regions, including programs for pregnant, post-partum and breastfeeding women, as well as MAT training for staff and consultants.
He has over 15 years of experience in both rural and urban healthcare systems in inpatient, outpatient, primary and tertiary, academic and private practice environments. He specializess in substance use disorder treatment and toxicology and is available for an interview at any time on issues related to substance use disorders.
The Asian American Hotel Owners Association Award Program recognizes achievement and excellence in the hospitality industry with its annual awards. Pinky P. Bhaidaswala of SSN Hotel Management, LLC was awarded Woman Hotelier of the Year. This award recognizes a woman hotelier for strong leadership and a commitment to lodging excellence, and for her significant contributions to the industry and to her community.
National Alliance for Public Charter Schools awarded Melissa Tracy one of 10 recipients of the 2022 Changemaker Award for making a positive difference in her community this year. The award honors individuals who positively impacted their charter school, brought innovation and creativity to solve problems, and consistently lifted voices around them.
“Melissa embodies what it means to be a charter educator. The flexibility that charter schools allow has created a space for Melissa to be truly innovative. But it wasn’t enough for her to just impact the lives of the students in her classroom and her school. Through relationships that she has built with other educators, she is sharing her innovative best practices and helping to replicate the programs she created across both charter and district schools. We are very proud to have her in our charter community,” Kendall Massett, executive director of the Delaware Charter Schools Network, said in a statement.
Nina Pedraza-Zinna has been promoted to manager of body shop and collision service operations at Carman Auto Group. Prior to joining Carman, Zinna managed repair manager for Progressive Insurance for three years. In that capacity, she served as liaison between Progressive policy holders and collision centers during the body repair process. Zinna is formerly a collision repair instructor and has been a vice president of operations at an independent collision repair company. At that same company, Zinna served as vice president of claims. She has served multiple terms on the board of directors of the Women’s Industry Network, an association of women in the collision repair industry.
Zip Code Wilmington, a nonprofit software development boot camp, announced today that Gary Moyer of TD Bank has joined its board of directors.
Moyer serves as the technology executive at TD Bank in Wilmington, leading the Canadian consumer investments technology organization. He previously was senior vice president, card issuer services for Fiserv in Wilmington. Before joining Fiserv in September 2020, Moyer was managing director/chief technology officer, Chase consumer lending with JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Wilmington.
Zip Code Wilmington is a 12-week coding bootcamp in Delaware that gives students the technical, interpersonal and leadership skills needed to secure a competitive developer job, raise their earning potential, and transform their lives. The program has more than 400 alumni.
The District of Delaware announced the retirement of Chief Magistrate Judge Mary Pat Thynge, effective March 31, 2023. Judge Thynge joined the Court as magistrate judge in 1992, after 16 years in private practice. She is the longest serving federal magistrate Judge in the history of the District of Delaware.
RiversEdge Advisors, a financial services firm, announced Amy Solano has passed the CFP exam. She is one of the 23.4 % of CFPs who are women. The firm also announced the addition of Greg Johnson as a client service associate and working towards his CFP.
