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.
Shakuntla L. Bhaya, co-owner of a statewide Delaware law firm, Law Offices of Doroshow, Pasquale, Krawitz & Bhaya, has been appointed by President Joe Biden to the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States, an independent federal agency charged with convening expert representatives from the public and private sectors to recommend improvements to administrative process and procedure.
Bhaya’s practice focuses on representing individuals who are seriously injured as a result of businesses and people making unsafe decisions. For the past seven years, Bhaya has been a member of Governor Carney’s Judicial Nominating Commission. In addition to practicing law, Bhaya is very involved in Delaware politics. She is currently a member of the Delaware Democratic Party’s State Executive Committee.
Bhaya, past President of the Delaware Trial Lawyers Association, continues to be involved in protecting consumers’ 7th Amendment Right to a jury trial and access to courts. Bhaya is also a member of the American Association for Justice and American Civil Liberties Union, and is actively involved in helping pro-choice democratic women become elected to office. Bhaya was actively involved in fighting for rights for the LGBTQ+ community and helping members of her community to adopt children, seek legal redress when discriminated in the workplace, and permit people to marry.
Bhaya is the first South Asian Indian to be admitted to the Delaware Bar Association. Bhaya continues to work towards diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession and in politics. Bhaya is a graduate from Northeastern University School of Law.
Leland Ware, the Louis L. Redding Professor and Chair for the Study of Law and Public Policy at the University of Delaware since 2000, has been appointed by President Joe Biden to the Commission on Presidential Scholars.
Before his present appointment, he was a professor at St. Louis University School of Law. He was a visiting professor at Boston College Law School and at the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany. Ware was University Counsel at Howard University, and for the five years prior to his position at Howard, he was a Trial Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division, in Washington, D.C. He had previously practiced with a private firm in Atlanta, Georgia, and with the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
Ware’s research focuses on various aspects of Civil Rights law. He has authored more than 100 publications consisting of books, academic journal articles, book chapters, essays, book reviews, editorials, and other publications in academic journals and other publications. Professor Ware has organized several academic symposia and professional programs and hosted many distinguished lectures.
Ware is a co-author, with Robert Cottrol and Raymond Diamond, of Brown v. Board of Education: Caste, Culture and the Constitution. He is the editor of Choosing Equality: Essays and Narratives on the Desegregation Experience (co-edited with Robert L. Hayman with a Foreword by then-Vice President Joe Biden). His most recent book, A Century of Segregation: Race, Class, and Disadvantage, was published in 2018. He has lectured and made other presentations to numerous audiences in the United States, Europe, and Africa. Ware is a graduate of Fisk University and Boston College Law School.
Goldey-Beacom College (GBC) President Colleen Perry Keith, a longtime advocate of bettering student-athletes’ lives and a longtime voice within the NCAA, will be elevated to Chair of the NCAA Division II Executive Board when the 2024 NCAA Convention concludes this January in Phoenix.
“Dr. Keith’s appointment is important for the College and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC),” Director of Athletics Jeremy Benoit said. “Our president continues to make an impact on the College, but she always has her eyes set on the improvement of our community … whether that means our immediate community or a community as large as the NCAA membership. Her willingness to get involved at this level will continue to ensure that small colleges like Goldey-Beacom have their voices heard in the legislative process. There is no one more well-read and capable to do that than she.”
Dr. Keith will also serve as the Division II representative on the NCAA Board of Governors in a renewable one-year term. She is one of nine presidents on the 14-member board out of the 311 Division II institutions who will serve on the Executive Board (formerly known as the Presidents Council).
BrightFields, Inc., a Wilmington-based environmental consulting and remediation company, has appointed Jenna (Connelly) Harwanko to executive vice president.
Harwanko started her career as a part-time intern at WIK Associates in New Castle, assisting with environmental investigation and planning for the Christina Riverfront Redevelopment. She joined the company full time in 1998 after earning her B.S. in Environmental Science, with minors in Biology and Geography, from the University of Delaware. Harwanko continued her career at BrightFields when it purchased WIK in 2003. She completed her M.B.A. at UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business & Economics in 2006.
During the past 25 years, Harwanko has been instrumental in the development and growth of BrightFields’ technical expertise, training, organizational processes, and corporate governance. Throughout her career at BrightFields, she has mentored many scientists and project managers.
In addition to her corporate and technical management responsibilities, Harwanko has performed, managed, and/or directed numerous environmental investigation, remediation, and brownfield redevelopment projects including AAA MidAtlantic, Justison Landing, former General Motors Boxwood Road projects, and the Southbridge Wilmington Wetland Park. Some of her current projects include managing BrightFields’ contract with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control and the Christina-Brandywine River Remediation, Restoration, Resilience (CBR4) Program, as well as the environmental planning for Wilmington’s Riverfront East urban redevelopment.
Harwanko was recognized by Delaware Today as a Top Woman in Business in 2016. She is involved with the Committee of 100; the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce; the Urban Land Institute (she is a former co-chair of ULI’s Delaware Region); Delaware Commercial Real Estate Women; and the Society of Women Environmental Professionals.
Ayanna Khan, founder & President/CEO of the Delaware Black Chamber of Commerce, has joined the World Trade Center Delaware board of directors, the organization announced today.
Khan is the newest business leader to join the board, which guides and advises the operations of the state’s foremost global business resource. She is founder, president and CEO of the Delaware Black Chamber of Commerce; president and CEO of Khan Consulting LLC; and an adjunct instructor in grant writing at Delaware Technical Community College. Khan is also a former board member of the Middletown Area Chamber of Commerce and Middletown Main Street, and previously worked for Verizon Enterprise Solutions for 10 years.
The Delaware Black Chamber of Commerce has been a World Trade Center Delaware member since 2021. With over 700 members, it was named the Best Black Chamber for 2023 by the National Black Chamber of Commerce, and Khan was recently inducted into the Delaware Business Hall of Fame.
“I am honored to join the board of World Trade Center Delaware and support its continued growth and success,” Khan said. “International trade and business are the next frontier for many Black-owned businesses. I look forward to contributing to the forward momentum World Trade Center provides for all of Delaware.”
“We are very pleased to have Ayanna Khan join our Board. Her expertise in community building will allow us to increase our outreach to additional businesses throughout the state,” said Carla Stone, president of World Trade Center Delaware.
The Delaware Black Chamber of Commerce and World Trade Center Delaware have been working together to promote international trade opportunities to underserved communities throughout the state. In 2023, World Trade Center Delaware organized two in-person events on financing trade and developing new markets.
