Women to Watch: Rubin Fortunato Celebrates Inspiring Women Leaders — Pamela Hansen
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March 13, 2024
In honor of Women’s History Month, Rubin Fortunato is calling attention to the work of contemporary women – like Pamela Hansen – who make a difference by adding their voice, donating their time, and following their interests and dreams.
Pam Hansen has worked in the financial sector for more than 40 years and is currently a Senior Vice President in Mid-Corporate Lending for Citizens Bank. Believing from a young age that it is important to try to make a difference, Pam donates her time, energy, passion, and knowledge of finance to two not-for-profit organizations in the Philadelphia area: White Horse Village and HopePHL (formerly People’s Emergency Center and Youth Service, Inc.).
Pam’s introduction to White Horse Village in Newtown Square, PA occurred years ago, when Pam was working as a not-for-profit and healthcare lending officer. Even at that time, and among the many not-for-profit continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) that Pam supported, White Horse Village stood out to Pam as having a special, accepting, and nurturing culture. So, when White Horse Village was searching for new board members nine years ago, Pam didn’t hesitate. In many ways, it was an easy decision because Pam believes in the mission of White Horse Village to support people as they age at first independently and then providing healthcare in a positive way. As the current Chair of the Board of Directors, Pam considers herself lucky, explaining: “I’ve personally benefitted from engaging with the dynamic residents about the incredible lives they’ve led, sharing the wisdom and vibrancy that you find in a continuing care environment.”
Pam also serves on the board of HopePHL, an organization that seeks to fill a “critical need” by providing benefits and services to the “strong and resilient” underserved families, youth, children and communities in Philadelphia, including: providing affordable housing, advocacy, trauma-responsive social services, vocational and computer training, literacy support, food coverage, early interventional educational programs proven to reduce the high school dropout rate as well as events to support and pull the community together. The overriding goal is to promote equity and independence with access to quality education, healthcare and safe housing. Drawing on her passion for the mission and her knowledge of finance, Pam chairs the HopePHL audit committee, serves on the finance committee, and works with the property management committee to coordinate with developers for tax credit projects that provide affordable housing and mixed-use projects to benefit the community and support HopePHL’s mission as well as volunteering in the community food cupboard. When asked where she finds inspiration, Pam explains: “It is easy to be inspired by the incredibly dedicated and hard-working staff as well as the stories of resilience and courage of the youth and families we serve, especially the single mothers who are determined to overcome the challenges, improve their skills and options and provide a better and more stable life for their children.”
On how it makes her feel to work with two organizations that share Pam’s long-held view that everyone should be treated with respect and given equal opportunities, Pam puts it simply: “It does my heart good.”
Rubin Fortunato celebrates Pam and others like her, who inspire us by making a difference. For more information about White Horse Village, visit https://www.whitehorsevillage.org/. For program information, events, donations, and other ways to help support HopePHL’s mission, visit https://www.hopephl.org/ and HopePHL: Overview | LinkedIn.
Do you know an inspiring woman leader? Email bpalma@rubinfortunato.com or mliebesman@rubinfortunato.com to feature them in a future post.
