Three new members have been appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Princeton Area Community Foundation.
Peg Forrestel, the Director of Community Impact for Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Heather Eshelman McCusker, a shareholder at Stevens & Lee, and John P. Thurber, a partner in The Br’Island Group, were appointed to three-year terms on the Board at its June meeting.
“We want to welcome our three newest members,” said Sonia Delgado, Board Chair. “They bring a wealth of experience and join a talented group of Trustees who are working to further our mission of promoting philanthropy to advance the well-being of our communities forever.”
The Community Foundation awarded more than $19 million in grants last year and has provided more than $173 million in grants since its founding 30 years ago.
Jamie Kyte Sapoch, a Trustee and Chair of the Governance Committee, acknowledged the commitment the Governance Committee brings to its recruitment efforts and in particular their work to ensure that the board grows with members who share a passion for the mission, knowledge of the communities being served and the skills to advance to strategic objectives during their terms of service.
Heather Eshelman McCusker
McCusker, of Yardley, Pa., is Co-Head of the firm’s New Jersey Estates and Trusts practice, where she concentrates on wealth planning, estates and trusts and fiduciary matters. She works with individuals, families, business owners, executors and trustees in a range of areas, including estate planning, trust and estate administration, taxation, strategic planning for generational wealth transfer, business succession planning, and charitable planning and planned giving services.
She frequently lectures on a broad range of tax, trust, estate and fiduciary-related topics and presents before the community and professional education organizations for accountants, financial planners and advisers, attorneys and insurance professionals.
McCusker is a graduate of Class II of the Mid- Atlantic Fellows Institute sponsored by the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC.) She is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association, Mercer County Bar Association, Princeton Bar Association, Mercer County Estate Planning Council, CohnReznick Executive Women’s Forum, the Community Foundation’s Professional Advisors Committee and the D&R Greenway Land Trust Board of Trustees.
She is a former trustee of the Princeton Child Development Institute.
Peg Forrestel
Forrestel, of Holland, Pa., leads the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson’s social impact efforts that center on realizing healthier futures for patients and healthier communities in the vicinity of Janssen campuses in Mercer County, New Jersey and Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is a strategic giving program that involves collaborations, cash, pharmaceutical products, in-kind donations as well as initiatives that engage employees through personal giving and volunteerism.
She joined Johnson & Johnson 26 years ago, working in finance in internal audit, operations, and marketing departments within the company at its corporate office as well as its offices in New Jersey and Puerto Rico. She previously worked in public accounting for Coopers & Lybrand.
Forrestel serves on the Board of Directors of Greater Trenton, the Board of Directors of the Johnson & Johnson Patient Assistance Foundation, and the Audit Committee of the Princeton Area Community Foundation.
John Thurber
Thurber, of Lawrence, has more than 35 years of legal, public policy, strategic analysis, and organizational development experience, and assists organizations in program development, equity, strategic planning, governance, and change management.
He previously served as vice president for Public Affairs at Thomas Edison State University, executive vice president for the Thomas Edison State University Foundation, Inc., and was the founding director of the University’s John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy and its Trenton Office of Policy Studies. Before joining the University, he served with the New Jersey Department of the Public Advocate.
Thurber has received the Champion for Business Award from the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Shining Star Award from the American Cancer Society, and the Program Development Award from the Leadership New Jersey Graduate Organization. He was selected as “Man of the Year” by the NJ Association of Family Food Centers. Thurber is Chairman of the Mercer County Improvement Authority and an Advisor for the Bunbury Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation. He is past chairman of the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation, the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Trenton Downtown Association and the Mercer unit of the American Cancer Society.
