Frances Sheehan
COATESVILLE – One of Coatesville’s and Chester County’s top community leaders is leaving.
Brandywine Health Foundation Board Chair Dawn James announced Thursday that Frances Sheehan would give up her position as CEO of the Brandywine Health Foundation at the end of 2016 to take the lead on a new Delaware County health foundation — the newly formed Crozer-Keystone Community Foundation.
“We are tremendously grateful to Frances for her nearly 15 years of service building and leading our work in Coatesville, Chester County,” James said in a statement, Thursday. “This is an ideal opportunity for her and for Delaware County, where she lives. Our new Strategic Plan and experienced staff position the foundation to have even more impact in the future. Guided by our Succession Plan, the board has appointed Dana Heiman as Interim CEO.
“Dana came to the foundation 14 years ago as Vice President for Development and Communications, and currently serves as Senior Vice President responsible for all grantmaking and program activities, including oversight of the Youth Mental Health First Aid Program. She was recently recognized by the national Grantmakers in Health as a Terence Keenan Fellow for her leadership promise in the field of philanthropy. Dana knows our donors, our grantees, and community leaders in Chester County, and she knows the Coatesville community’s issues and needs. The board will launch a formal search for a permanent President and CEO early in the new year.”
Sheehan has led the Brandywine Health Foundation for 15 years — since its inception — and leaving was a tough decision, she said.
“Leaving the Brandywine Health Foundation and the Coatesville community was a very difficult decision for me because I love working here and am so proud of all that we have accomplished together in such a short period of time,” Sheehan said in a statement. “Chester County has been my professional home for 26 years and I hold its nonprofit sector, business community, elected officials, volunteers and donors in the highest regard. The opportunity to take everything I have learned here back to Delaware County was one I could not pass up, and I know that the Brandywine Health Foundation is in such good hands with the current committed board and the exemplary staff we have in place.”
Sheehan served at the foundation as its first President and CEO beginning in 2002, following an 11 year stint as Planned Parenthood of Chester County’s President and CEO. In her role, she received numerous awards including the March of Dimes Woman of Achievement in the Field of Health in 2002, the Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry’s Robert Thompson Citizen of the Year Award and a Philadelphia Business Journal Woman of Distinction recognition in 2007, the Western Chester County Chamber of Commerce Joseph G. Filoromo Jr. Community Service Award in 2012, and a Main Line Today Power Woman Award in 2014. She is a Certified Fund Raising Executive with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University, and an MBA from Temple University’s Executive MBA Program.
Currently celebrating its 15 year anniversary, the Brandywine Health Foundation has distributed over $15 million in grants and scholarships since its inception in 2001. Signature projects include bringing ChesPenn Health Services and other needed health services to Coatesville, building the Brandywine Health & Housing Center, the first major development in the City of Coatesville in over three decades, and launching the Coatesville Youth Initiative, the Youth Mental Health First Aid Program, and the new Greening Coatesville Initiative. Signature events include the Brandywine Strawberry Festival with over 25,000 visitors each year, and the Garden Party, which 500 supporters attend in May. Together the two events contribute over $200,000 to health-related causes in the community.
