Board of Directors

Jeffrey A. Jacobs, Esq.

Chairman of the Board

Deputy General Counsel, Comcast Corporation

Mr. Jacobs is Deputy General Counsel for Comcast Corporation, where he specializes in local, state, and federal regulatory issues, advises the company’s government relations personnel, and manages litigation.  Prior to joining Comcast in 2002, Mr. Jacobs worked at White & Case and the Bienstock Law Firm in Miami, FL, representing cable operators in litigation around the country.  He graduated from the University of Florida with a J.D., Masters of Mass Communications, and Bachelors in Journalism.  A graduate of the GPCC’s Business on Board program and a Leadership Philadelphia Fellow, Mr. Jacobs joined the Board of Center City Opera Theater in 2008.

Sean R. Sullivan, Esq.

President of the Board

Curtin & Heefner, LLP

Mr. Sullivan possesses considerable appellate and litigation experience. In addition to Mr. Sullivan's appellate practice, he also has maintained a significant commercial litigation practice. Mr. Sullivan is an active leader in a number of professional and civic organizations. He serves as an elected member of the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Bar Association and as a member of the Council of the Litigation Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. Mr. Sullivan is the Secretary of the Brehon Law Society, a professional association organized to foster the profession of law among individuals of Irish ancestry.  Mr. Sullivan speaks and writes frequently on legal topics. He regularly serves as a speaker and course planner for continuing legal education programs for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and other organizations. Mr. Sullivan's professional honors include being named a Lawyer on the Fast Track in 2007 by The Legal Intelligencer and being named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer Rising Star by Thomson Reuters in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011, published annually in Philadelphia magazine.

John Durso

Board Treasurer

John Durso’s career as a physicist spanned 40 years and included three years as a post-doctoral fellow in Naples, Italy and Michigan State University, 35 years as a professor at Mount Holyoke College, from which he retired in 2002, and numerous short-term appointments as a visiting researcher at the State University of New York (Stony Brook), NORDITA (Copenhagen) and the Forschungszentrum Juelich (Germany). He and his wife, Lois, moved to Philadelphia eight years ago in order to sample the delights of urban living, which they do with vigor. He maintains his interest in teaching by serving as a volunteer presenter at the Franklin Institute and by teaching an occasional course at St. Joseph’s University.

Dr. Harold R. Kurtz

Board Secretary

President, Synergy Educational Consultants, LLC

Harold Kurtz retired from public education after thirty-six years serving as a teacher, principal and superintendent of schools. He is the Founder and President of Synergy Educational Consultants, an LLC set up to help develop, design and open new charter schools in Pennsylvania. His firm also provides on-going support for many schools throughout the state.  He is committed to providing educational alternatives for students and parents. Dr Kurtz received his Bachelors and Masters degrees at Temple University and his Doctorate in Educational Administration from the University of Pennsylvania. He is active on the national and international level with Odyssey of the Mind and serves as a volunteer in the role of State Director for New Jersey and as the Treasurer of Creative Opportunities Unlimited. He is a founding board member of CCOT. One of his passions is travel and he has travelled extensively throughout the World.

Lois Durso

Lois is a retired high school science teacher and science department head.  She worked in both public and independent schools and served as president of the Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers.   Since moving to Philadelphia in 2003, she has become active in the Granny Peace Brigade Philadelphia---serving that organization as email secretary---and Planned Parenthood, where she serves in several volunteer capacities.   In addition to these activities, and because of her enjoyment of the arts in Philadelphia, she has become active in the Friends of the Avenue of the Arts organization.

Susanne Iannece

Susanne Iannece has over twenty years of leadership development and organization development expertise. She has worked in diverse settings as a manager, training consultant and organization development consultant. Susanne held the position of Director of Human Resources, Training and Organization Development at the University of Pennsylvania for seventeen years.  While at Penn, she provided a variety of consulting services to the university community, working in partnership with clients in the areas of organization diagnosis and development, team building, transition planning, performance management, executive coaching, management training and diversity and implementation awareness programs. Susanne was actively involved in the university wide development of a leadership competency model for management and staff.  She and her staff were responsible for designing and delivering a training curriculum to support the leadership competency models and professional development. Prior to working at Penn, she was the Director of Employee Development at the Corporate Headquarters of Reliance Insurance Company.  In addition, Susanne has provided external consulting services to Allegheny Health Systems.  Trained in Marvin Weisbord’s Future Search Conference Methodology, Susanne volunteered to work with Woman Organized Against Rape and The Philadelphia Interagency Coordinating Council. She co-conducted a three-day future search conference for both these organizations. Susanne has participated in executive programs sponsored by the Center for Creative Leadership, National Training Labs, Disney Corporation, Angeles Arrien, The Gestalt Institute and several leadership wilderness experiences. She is a graduate of the Wharton School and received her M.Ed. in group process and organization development from Temple University.  Additionally, Susanne completed the Villanova University Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) program and received a Professional Human Resource Certificate in 1998. Susanne graduated from The Gestalt Institute’s program, Organization Systems and Development.

Dr. Kerry Bron

Kerry Bron is a pediatric radiologist and former pediatrician who currently works at the A.I. DuPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, DE, where she heads the ultrasound section of the radiology department.   Dr. Bron enjoys teaching and is responsible for the lecture series on pediatric radiology for the radiology residents at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA and the radiology residents at Christiana Hospital in Newark, DE. Involved in several medical organizations, she is a member of the cardiac imaging committee of the Society for Pediatric Radiology, a member of the Radiology Society of North America, and a member of the American College of Radiology as well as the Medical Society of Delaware.    She is also active in the Young Leadership Division of the United Jewish Federation of Wilmington, DE.  A great fan of song and classical music, Kerry fell in love with opera after she saw  Mozart’s Magic Flute as a teenager.  Kerry is also involved in singing herself and sings with Nashirah, a Jewish chorale in Philadelphia.  She is thrilled to participate in an organization which promotes young singers and brings new musical works to life.

Jack Butler

Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, Accountant, Retired.

Jack Butler is a lifelong Philadelphian who has loved this city as long as he can remember.  He grew up in the Cobbs Creek section of West Philly, then moved with his family to the Oxford Circle section of Northeast Philly when he was sixteen. He currently lives in the Far Northeast as a confirmed bachelor. A graduate of Central High School in 1961, Jack earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Temple University.  After a short career in accounting, Jack began teaching elementary school for the Philadelphia School District, where he spent nineteen years in the classroom. He earned his Master’s degree in Education from Temple University.  In 1985, he retired from teaching to pursue a dream of doing restaurant work.  That third career lasted about ten years.  His final fifteen years as a working man were spent as an accountant, and he retired from the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging in 2009. He is thoroughly enjoying his current career as a retired senior citizen.  Jack is relatively new to the world of opera.  About fifteen years ago, a friend persuaded him to go see a production of Carmen.  After seeing several more operas, he was hooked.  Jack’s love of the arts and love Philly has led him to the Center City Opera Theater Board, where he is excited and gratified to be able to contribute his expertise.

Maria P. Vickers

Maria Parisi Vickers is an attorney whose career as a federal court litigator in Pa’s Office of the Attorney General was followed by twenty years with the US Environmental Protection Agency where she served in a variety of leadership positions. Upon her retirement in 2010, Ms Vickers was stationed in Washington, DC where, as a member of the Senior Executive Service, she had led a national program that managed municipal and hazardous waste.  Ms Vickers has over 30 years of senior management experience, has led many national conferences, has been a keynote speaker in national fora, and has served on numerous boards. She is a past president of Center City One Condominium Association in Philadelphia and a past president of Executive Women in Government, a national organization of senior executives dedicated to mentoring and promoting women leaders in the federal government. Ms Vickers resides in Center City Philadelphia. She is a staunch supporter of the arts and enjoys the energy of a diverse community. Ms Vickers was born in Italy and came to reside in Philadelphia at the age of ten.  Her earliest musical memories are of operas performed in the town square.

Joy Kurtz

Education Director, Chair of the Education Board of Directors

Joy Kurtz was a teacher and administrator, K-12, in Philadelphia and its suburbs for more than 32 years. As a teacher of English, communications and reading, she was involved with developing the middle school gifted curriculum for the School District of Philadelphia. She was Curriculum Consultant for In Every Way the Arts, the education program of The Pennsylvania Opera Theater. She also served on the education curriculum development committee for productions at the Annenberg Theater. As International Spontaneous Problem Captain for Odyssey of the Mind, a creative problem- solving program for students in K-college, Joy Kurtz has traveled internationally to train teachers and parents. She has also written several training videotapes for new coaches. She is responsible for coordinating the Odyssey of the Mind, World Finals Spontaneous competition each year, and was Project Director of the Microsoft Mid Tier Grant for Odyssey of the Mind. Joy was selected Pennsylvania Middle School Principal of the Year for 2003. She is Vice-President of Synergy Educational Consultants, and also serves as a consultant/staff developer for American Reading Company, and as an adjunct instructor at the University of Pennsylvania serving as a university mentor for principal intern program.