Marshall Ross, Chair

Marshall serves as a Senior Assistant Attorney General and Chief of the Civil Trial Section defending the Commonwealth, its agencies, and employees. Marshall earned a Bachelor of Arts with High Distinction and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Virginia before obtaining his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Marshall began his law career serving in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps as a felony prosecutor and labor and employment counselor. After military service, Marshall practiced with a large law firm in Washington, D.C., followed by 20 years as a partner with Wharton Aldhizer & Weaver in the Shenandoah Valley, where he defended health care providers and other professionals. He and his wife Leigh Anne relocated to Richmond in 2014, and they are members of Reveille United Methodist Church.

Nancy Campos

Nancy Campos works for the Virginia Department of Corrections as a Senior Research Analyst for Special Projects. Nancy previously worked for UMFS as a graduate assistant and quickly demonstrated her strengths as a trusted collaborator, data and visualization guru, and research professional. Nancy’s contributions to UMFS’s social impact metrics, strategic planning process, kinship care, family engagement, EBPs and all things data have been substantial. She is a Governor-appointed Advisory Group Member on the Committee for Juvenile Justice and Prevention, serves on Peter Paul’s Board of Associates, and is bilingual in English and Spanish.

Jim Mallory

Jim is an Institutional Investment Advisor at Truist, where he has been for two years. Prior to this role, he previously served as an Institutional Investment Advisor at SunTrust Bank, Vice President Client Portfolio Manager at IronOak Advisors LLC and Trusco Capital Management, Inc. He also worked at SunTrust Bank as a Vice President, Commercial Relationship Manager, where he served as Team Lead for Hospital, University, & Municipal Banking. Jim has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics & English from the University of Richmond and has served on a number of Boards and Committees. These include: The UMFS Investment Committee, the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church’s Pension Plan Board and Investment Committee, and the Board for Voices for Virginia’s Children, where he served as Board Chair from 2010-2011.

John S. Brenneke

John is a retired pastor of the United Methodist Church and a former President of the UMFS Board of Associates. He serves as the current Chair of Guardian Place Board of Directors. Past professions as a Naval officer and businessman give him skills in the areas of leadership and business development.

John Fuller

John serves as Executive Director of Virginia United Methodist Pensions, Inc. Prior to this position, he was employed by Mercer as a Senior Associate and as a Business Advisor / Marketing Research Manager for Anthem. He earned an MBA from the University of Richmond. John live in Glen Allen and is a member of Good Shepard UMC.

Keith Hare

Keith is the President and CEO of the Virginia Health Care Association. He served as Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Office of Governor, Commonwealth of Virginia. Keith has many years of experience in government relations and public affairs for three Healthcare associations. He earned an MPA from Virginia Tech. Keith also serves as the Board Chair of Voices for Virginia’s Children.

Melvin Roy

Melvin is a former recipient of service through UMFS, including our Treatment Foster Care program. He is also very involved with Project Life, which helps youth by providing critical skills they will need when they transition out of care. Within Project life, he has facilitated workshops and engaged in various speaking engagements to help build up other foster youth. Melvin currently attends Old Dominion University where he is studying Human Services with a minor in Psychology with the intention of working on Capitol Hill as an elected official in the future. While working to obtain his bachelor’s degree, he has created an organization called Foster-U which seeks to help foster youth strive for higher education. Melvin is a resilient young leader with the determination to create world change. He has always committed to bettering himself and his current/former foster youth peers; it’s not what you went through that defines you, it’s what you learn from the situation that shapes you.

David Reid

David is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 32nd district. David grew up in Rockbridge County, Virginia. In 1972, he moved to UMFS, which was then known as the Virginia Methodist Children’s Home. He left UMFS six years later, moving to Oklahoma with his foster parents. David became the first person in his family to graduate from college and went on to serve as a Naval Intelligence Officer for 23 years in the US Navy Reserve. In 2014, David founded Rockbridge Consulting.

In his first year as a delegate, David sponsored HB1219, legislation which allows foster children ages 14 years and up to request that their birth parents regain custody. Delegate Reid invited Governor Northam to the UMFS Richmond campus to sign the bill into law in May 2018.

David lives in Loudoun County with his wife Barbara and two daughters. He is a member of Arcola United Methodist Church.

Jennie Reynolds

Jennie is President of Anthem HealthKeepers Plus, Virginia’s largest provider of Medicaid managed care services. She leads the medical and behavioral health groups that work directly with the population of children and families that are impacted by UMFS.

Prior to her current position she had over 27 years of experience in the healthcare industry, including service as Chief Operating Officer and Director of Finance at Anthem. Jennie holds a master’s in business administration.

N.H. Cookie Scott, Secretary

Cookie recently retired as Deputy Director, Division of Administration for the Virginia Department of Corrections, overseeing a $1.2 billion budget. In this role, Cookie managed multiple departments including finance, human resources, information technology, the academy for staff development, legal, planning & research, architecture & engineering, correctional enterprises, health, compliance & accreditation, general services, and project management.

Cookie’s career began as a social worker on a psychiatric ward, working with adolescents. She also served as a juvenile probation officer and a Juvenile Court Service Unit Director. Cookie was the first African American graduate of Longwood University, earning a degree in sociology. The Cultural Diversity and Inclusion Center at Longwood is named in her honor.

Melissa Sikes, Vice Chair

Melissa is a partner at Mitchell, Wiggins & Company, where she serves clients in a variety of industries, including financial institutions, manufacturing, and healthcare. Melissa also provides audit and tax return services to nonprofit and small business clients.

Melissa is a member of the firm’s nonprofit and accounting and auditing committees. She is a member of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants. Melissa has a bachelor of science in business administration with a concentration in accounting from Bridgewater College. She was named Virginia Business Magazine’s Super Young CPA in 2008.

Linda Nablo

Now serving as a Special Advisor to the Office of the Governor, Linda Nablo was formerly the Chief Deputy Director for the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS). She came to DMAS in April 2014 from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) where she served as Director of State Coverage Programs. At the federal level she oversaw state programs that provide coverage for 8 million low-income children through the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP); served as part of the team implementing the Affordable Care Act; and led development of the Basic Health Program. Prior to joining CMS in August 2010, Linda had a long career in Virginia state government that included serving as the Commissioner of the Virginia Department for the Aging and before that as the Director of the Division of Maternal and Child Health for DMAS. During her former time with DMAS she was instrumental in revamping the CHIP program and significantly increased enrollment. Earlier in her career she was the policy director for a nonprofit advocating on behalf of children. She has extensive experience in program administration, working with state and federal agencies, policy makers, stakeholders, and advocating for individuals who need a voice.

Bruce T. Whitehurst

Ann C. Hodges

Ann C. Hodges is Professor of Law Emerita at the University of Richmond where her teaching and research focused on labor and employment law, feminist legal theory, and nonprofit organizations. She currently teaches at the University of Virginia School of Law as a Visiting Professor of Law. She is Interim Program Chair for Paralegal Studies and previously was Interim Program Chair for Human Resources Management, both at the University of Richmond School of Professional and Continuing Studies. She practiced labor law in Chicago after graduating from Northwestern University School of Law, and worked for the National Labor Relations Board prior to attending law school.

In 1996, Ann co-founded CancerLINC, an organization that assists cancer patients and their families in Central Virginia with the legal and financial issues that arise from cancer. She served on the board of directors for a number of years. She is a member of River Road United Methodist Church where she has served in several leadership positions, including currently chairing the Missions Committee.

Chris Henderson

Chris became President & CEO of Pinnacle Living, formerly Virginia United Methodist Homes (VUMH), in 2005. Since assuming this role, Pinnacle Living has successfully developed and opened a new CCRC in Williamsburg, Virginia and has broken ground on an $85 million repositioning of Cedarfield. Pinnacle Living is also working closely with Action Pact to create Health Care households and neighborhoods in all seven Pinnacle communities and opened their first health care households in Williamsburg in early 2018. Originally from western Pennsylvania, Chris is a graduate of Slippery Rock University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration. He began working at Hermitage Northern Virginia in 1992 and became the Administrator in 1994. In 1997 Chris became Executive Director of Cedarfield. After the operations of Hermitage Richmond and Cedarfield were merged in 2003, Chris became the Executive Director of both Richmond communities.

Vernon Green Jr.

Vernon Green Jr. is a retired Army Chief Warrant Officer. He has a master’s degree in Cybersecurity, a B.S. in Computer Information Technology, as well as Certified Information Security Systems Professional (CISSP), Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), and Security+ certifications. He is an active NAACP member, serves on the Business Advisory Committee for Stafford County, and previously served as President of the Board of Directors for the community HOA.

Having served his country for 20+ years, he continues a tradition of service through GCubed’s 501 (c)(3), non-profit entity, G3 Community Services, an organization focused on improving lives and strengthening communities.

Currently he, his wife, and three daughters are residents of Virginia with an established presence in New York and the Washington Metropolitan Area.

Nancy Toscano
President & Chief Executive Officer

Nancy Toscano was named UMFS President and Chief Executive Officer in April 2021. She previously served as Chief Operating Officer. Before joining UMFS in 2007, Nancy worked with youth and families in New York, California, as well as in England and Malaysia. She has extensive experience in organizational behavior and culture, metrics analysis, and strategic thinking, and she is trained in Innovation Engineering and the Gazelle’s method of strategic execution.  

A Licensed Clinical Social Worker and graduate of VA-LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities) from the Medical College of Virginia, Nancy also is a graduate of University of Michigan and the Alliance’s Executive Leadership Institute. She was chair of Richmond City’s Community, Planning and Management Team and facilitated its strategic planning process. She serves on the Child Abuse and Neglect Advisory Committee, has appointments to the boards of Virginia Coalition of Private Providers and the United Methodist Association (UMA), and she played a key leadership role in Virginia’s implementation of the Family First Preservation Services Act. In 2018, Nancy was invited by Virginia’s Office of Children’s Services and the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to provide strategic planning facilitation for the State Executive Council. 

Nancy received her bachelor’s degree in social work from Siena College and her master’s in social work from New York University. She earned her PhD in public policy and administration with a concentration in nonprofit leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she later became an adjunct faculty member at the School of Social Work.  

Matt Lisagor
Chief Financial & Administrative Officer

UMFS Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Matt Lisagor is a Certified Personal Accountant who brings more than 29 years of financial experience to his role at UMFS. Through years of working with private, public, and non-profit organizations of varying budget capacities, Matt has developed extensive operational finance expertise. 

Prior to joining UMFS, Matt served as Vice President of Finance, Hospital Operations, for a national publicly traded behavioral healthcare company responsible for seven facilities.   

Matt earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting from Old Dominion University in 1991. In September of 2000, he became a Certified Public Accountant. Matt’s been leading UMFS’ financial operations since 2007. 

Adalay Wilson
Vice President of Programs

Adalay Wilson is Vice President of Programs at UMFS, where she’s worked since 1989. She has more than 35 years of experience developing and directing successful programs and initiatives in the nonprofit and public sectors and provides leadership, strategic direction, and vision for statewide community-based services and grant programs. Adalay previously served UMFS as Associate Vice President of Programs, Adoption Director, Regional Center Director, and Treatment Foster Care Supervisor. 

Adalay has a passion for supporting the strengths of children, teens, and families through services that promote prevention, preservation, reunification, and Kinship Care. She has extensive experience in program management, budgeting, child protection, child welfare, mental health, counseling, grant administration, collaborative partnerships, and community relations. 

After earning her bachelor’s of social work from Virginia State University, Adalay went on to earn her master’s of social work from Norfolk State University. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and past-president of the Virginia Association of Licensed Child Placing Agencies. Adalay currently serves on the Chesterfield Community Policy and Management Team, Child Welfare Advisory Committee, and the Three Branch Appropriate Foster Care Placement and Prevention Services workgroups. 

Lindsey Layne
Associate Vice President of Strategy & Innovation

Lindsey Layne has worked in the field of education and training for fifteen years.  She earned her bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Longwood University and her M.Ed. in Adult Learning from Virginia Commonwealth University. 

Lindsey has played an integral part in designing, training, and implementing the Gazelles Model of strategic execution at UMFS.  She has a successful track record of instructional design, consulting and facilitation, often asked to deliver trainings across the Virginia. Lindsey is a MBTI Certified Trainer and earned her Blue Belt Certification in Innovation Engineering.  Additionally, Lindsey has trained with UMFS’s partner agency, Diakonie, in Munich, Germany.  Lindsey’s professional interests are CX, innovative startups, and data visualization. 

Erica Ellison, Esq., MBA
Associate Vice President of Human Resources

Erica Ellison brings a wealth of experience to UMFS in her role as Associate Vice President of Human Resources. She joined UMFS in February 2020 after having worked for 20 years in leadership positions with private-sector leaders like Hewlett Packard and Northrop Grumman.  

A skilled human resources executive, Erica’s strengths include achieving strategic objectives through well-developed analytical, diagnostic, and partnering skills that create authentic and lasting solutions for complex organizational challenges like acquisitions, mergers, divestitures, and high-growth cycles. 

Erica is a Catholic University of America alumna with a bachelor’s in business. She’s earned her juris doctorate and MBA from the University of Maryland.