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Three new board members join Leadership Delaware

March 1, 2021

Leadership Delaware Inc. announced the appointment of three new members to its board of directors, one from each county.

They are Preston Schell from Sussex County, Linda Parkowski from Kent County and Bianca Fraser-Johnson from New Castle County.

"We are extremely fortunate to have these stellar individuals join our LDI board of directors. They bring with them a wealth of experience that will make both the board and the LDI program better. We are also thrilled to be adding additional board members from Kent and Sussex counties,” said Jennifer Cohan, CEO of Leadership Delaware.

Preston Schell is co-founder and president of the Ocean Atlantic Companies, a diversified group of real estate development, management, construction and brokerage firms primarily focused on and operating in southern coastal Delaware. He serves as the managing member of approximately 50 limited liability companies engaged in OAC’s various real estate activities and development projects. Prior to starting Ocean Atlantic in 1997, he worked as an investment banker for Merrill Lynch in Chicago.

Schell is also involved in several nonprofit entities. He is a board member of the Lewes Historical Society. In 2001 he co-founded the Sussex County Land Trust, a public/private partnership between the real estate community and the county with the mission of preserving open space in Sussex County, and served as its vice chair for over 10 years. He recently served as chair of the Delaware Chapter of the Nature Conservancy.

He is also a leader in the formation of the Sussex Academy charter school, serving as chair of the site selection, design and construction committees. He graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. He resides in Rehoboth Beach with his wife and two sons.

Linda Parkowski is  executive director of the Kent Economic Partnership Inc., trading as Choose Central Delaware, the economic development agency for Kent County. She is charged with business attraction, retention and expansion in central Delaware along with business assistance for Kent County. She works collectively with many municipalities and groups to raise awareness of central Delaware as a prime business location.

Previously, she was the state’s acting director for the Division of Small Business. Prior to that, she was director of tourism for the State of Delaware. She launched several successful marketing initiatives, including the state’s first multi-platform branding campaign. She has more than 20 years of experience in the Delaware tourism, hospitality and economic development industries, including a stint as general manager of both the Sheraton Dover Hotel and Wild Quail Golf and Country Club in Wyoming. She has served on many boards, including the Governor’s Tourism Advisory Board, Kent County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Delaware Hotel & Lodging Association, and Greater Dover Committee.

Bianca Fraser-Johnson spent 20 years in the financial services industry, joining MBNA America through its accelerated management development program, and retiring from Bank of America in 2019 as a senior vice president and head of employee financial services. During her tenure, she worked in areas such as business development, affinity management, e-commerce acquisition, customer satisfaction, collections and business lending.

Fraser-Johnson earned her bachelor of science degree in business administration from Georgetown University, with a double major in international business and marketing. She is passionate about leadership development and an avid volunteer. Born in Montreal, Canada, Fraser-Johnson moved to Delaware in 1986. She resides in Wilmington with her husband Michael, of the Asplundh Company, and their two children.

Leadership Delaware is a nonprofit organization founded in 2008 whose mission is to recruit and mentor outstanding young Delawareans who have the capacity, desire and courage to seek and excel at community, nonprofit, political, professional, and corporate leadership within the First State. It offers a series of issue-oriented forums and experiences which are based on the belief that knowledge is a key element and prime motivator of leadership.

Leaders with integrity, vision, knowledge and the ability to make a positive impact within their communities are desperately needed in Delaware and throughout the United States. In fact, the need for principled leaders has rarely been greater.

For more information, go to leadershipdelaware.org.

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