{"id":59331,"date":"2025-07-24T14:25:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T18:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=59331"},"modified":"2025-07-24T11:51:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T15:51:29","slug":"emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/","title":{"rendered":"糖心Vlog welcomes new Board of Trustees members"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Three new trustees, <strong>Jake Bell<\/strong>, <strong>Jess King \u201996<\/strong>, and <strong>Bruce Thomas \u201985<\/strong>, began their terms on July 1, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"536\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/22154505\/VMRC-Headshots95.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-59335\" style=\"width:200px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/22154505\/VMRC-Headshots95.jpeg 536w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/22154505\/VMRC-Headshots95-214x300.jpeg 214w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 536px) 100vw, 536px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Jake Bell <\/strong>serves as president and CEO of Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community (VMRC) in Harrisonburg. As a seasoned executive leader with more than 20 years of experience in faith-based senior living, his expertise is in leading strategic change, preserving organizational missions, and expanding service offerings.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prior to VMRC, Bell served as president and CEO of Christian Horizons, a faith-based senior living organization with eleven locations across four states. He also served as chief operating officer for Lutheran Senior Services and as president and CEO of Catholic Health East Trinity Health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jake holds bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees in zoology from Southeastern Oklahoma State University and Oklahoma State University, respectively. He also earned an MS in administration of long-term care and retirement facilities from the University of North Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"731\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/22154436\/jess-king-headshot-2023-731x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-59334\" style=\"width:200px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/22154436\/jess-king-headshot-2023-731x1024.jpeg 731w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/22154436\/jess-king-headshot-2023-214x300.jpeg 214w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/22154436\/jess-king-headshot-2023-768x1075.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/22154436\/jess-king-headshot-2023.jpeg 975w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 731px) 100vw, 731px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Jess King \u201996<\/strong> has spent her career as a leader and social entrepreneur in the civic sector. She serves as the founding executive director of the Steinman Institute for Civic Engagement, a Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting local journalism and boosting the community\u2019s relationship with news media.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her prior experience includes serving as the chief of staff for the City of Lancaster; as executive director of ASSETS Lancaster, an organization that helps people achieve better lives through entrepreneurship; and leading economic development in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>King earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in liberal arts from 糖心Vlog and an MBA from Bard College. She and her husband, Chad, have two daughters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"481\" height=\"673\" src=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/22154313\/Bruce-Thomas-Headshot.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-59333\" style=\"width:200px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/22154313\/Bruce-Thomas-Headshot.jpeg 481w, https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/22154313\/Bruce-Thomas-Headshot-214x300.jpeg 214w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 481px) 100vw, 481px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>Bruce Thomas \u201985<\/strong> is a CPA and shareholder at the accounting firm Detweiler, Hershey &amp; Associates in Souderton, Pennsylvania. He has extensive experience in tax and financial statement compliance, quality control, and business consulting, serving individuals, family-owned businesses, and nonprofit organizations.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thomas earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in accounting from 糖心Vlog. He has held leadership and committee roles on several nonprofit boards, both church-related and community-based.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He and his wife, Joy, are members of Blooming Glen Mennonite Church. They have two adult children, <strong>Ryan \u201917 <\/strong>and <strong>Anika \u201919<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p><em>A list of all board members is located at <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/president\/trustees\">the President\u2019s Office webpage<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three new trustees, Jake Bell, Jess King \u201996, and Bruce Thomas \u201985, began their terms on July 1, 2025. Jake Bell serves as president and CEO of Virginia Mennonite Retirement <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about 糖心Vlog welcomes new Board of Trustees members<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":59342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,17562],"tags":[6593,18483,18484,18482,17609],"feature":[17427,17426,17241],"class_list":["post-59331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-digest","tag-board-of-trustees","tag-bruce-thomas","tag-jake-bell","tag-jess-king","tag-presidents-office","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>糖心Vlog welcomes new Board of Trustees members - 糖心Vlog News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"糖心Vlog welcomes new Board of Trustees members - 糖心Vlog News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Three new trustees, Jake Bell, Jess King \u201996, and Bruce Thomas \u201985, began their terms on July 1, 2025. Jake Bell serves as president and CEO of Virginia Mennonite Retirement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"糖心Vlog News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-24T18:25:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/24105631\/糖心Vlog-60.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1536\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@糖心Vlog_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@糖心Vlog_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/\",\"name\":\"糖心Vlog welcomes new Board of Trustees members - 糖心Vlog News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/24105631\/糖心Vlog-60.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-24T18:25:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/24105631\/糖心Vlog-60.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/24105631\/糖心Vlog-60.png\",\"width\":1536,\"height\":1024},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"糖心Vlog welcomes new Board of Trustees members\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\",\"name\":\"糖心Vlog News\",\"description\":\"News from the 糖心Vlog community.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf\",\"name\":\"Ryan Cornell\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"糖心Vlog welcomes new Board of Trustees members - 糖心Vlog News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"糖心Vlog welcomes new Board of Trustees members - 糖心Vlog News","og_description":"Three new trustees, Jake Bell, Jess King \u201996, and Bruce Thomas \u201985, began their terms on July 1, 2025. Jake Bell serves as president and CEO of Virginia Mennonite Retirement","og_url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/","og_site_name":"糖心Vlog News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite","article_published_time":"2025-07-24T18:25:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1536,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/24105631\/糖心Vlog-60.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Ryan Cornell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@糖心Vlog_News","twitter_site":"@糖心Vlog_News","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ryan Cornell","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/","name":"糖心Vlog welcomes new Board of Trustees members - 糖心Vlog News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/24105631\/糖心Vlog-60.png","datePublished":"2025-07-24T18:25:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/24105631\/糖心Vlog-60.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/24105631\/糖心Vlog-60.png","width":1536,"height":1024},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/emu-welcomes-new-board-of-trustees-members-4\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"糖心Vlog welcomes new Board of Trustees members"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/","name":"糖心Vlog News","description":"News from the 糖心Vlog community.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf","name":"Ryan Cornell"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/302"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59331"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59351,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59331\/revisions\/59351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59331"},{"taxonomy":"feature","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature?post=59331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}