Board of Directors
Pamela Chipman, South Bend, Indiana, Treasurer
Pamela Chipman has given much time to improve the South Bend, Indiana community. She served on many committees of the local schools, was a member of the Parent Communication Network, and ran the local Hands on Science program. Pam was a key to Roger Parent’s successful campaigns for Mayor of South Bend.
Pam was President of the local League of Women Voters and a member of the League’s State Board; she is Membership Chair of the Ladies of Notre Dame / St. Mary’s College, President of the Board of Family Connection, and member of the board of Fischoff National Chamber Music Association.
Pam has a B.S. in Zoology & Bacteriology from Iowa State University and a M.S. in Medical Microbiology from the University of Wisconsin. She has held positions at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Colorado. She has been a Grant Administrator, substitute teacher, and researcher for the Priests of Holy Cross development office.
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Anne Hayes, South Bend, Indiana
Anne Hayes serves as President of Hayes Towers, a certified woman owned company, headquartered in South Bend, Indiana. Hayes Towers builds, owns and manages cellular communications towers throughout the Midwest. She is also a member of Five Corners LLC, a South Bend owned real estate development company that specializes in mixed use development of land located near the University of Notre Dame.
Anne earned her BA and MA from the University of Notre Dame. She is a member of the Board of Directors of First State Bank of Middlebury, the Board of the Friends of the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, and is an active volunteer and advocate for Good Shepherd Montessori School. Having worked “next door” to Roger Parent for almost a decade, Anne is excited to join the board and the important work of World Dignity, Inc.
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Richard L Hill, Granger Indiana
Rich Hill, a founding board member of World Dignity, has recently rejoined the board. Rich practiced law for over 45 years in various settings in South Bend prior to his retirement in January, 2018. He received a BA in political science from LaSalle University and JD degree from Notre Dame Law School.
Rich began his legal career as a staff attorney at the Legal Services Program in 1972 becoming Deputy Director in 1973 and Executive Director the following year. Rich led the expansion of what was then a single county program into a 25 county program with multiple offices throughout northern Indiana serving low income clients previously without access to a lawyer.
After co-managing Roger Parent’s successful campaign for mayor in 1979, Rich joined Roger’s administration as the first full-time city attorney in January, 1980. As city attorney, he focused on public safety and economic development initiatives. After drafting required state legislation and structuring a test case, he pioneered the first use of tax increment financing in the state in 1985. In 1987, Rich left the city attorney’s position to start his private practice with the law firm of Parker and Jaicomo, serving as managing partner of the firm. Rich continued his representation of the city on key projects and structured the successful lease/purchase financing of Coveleski Stadium and negotiated an innovative operating agreement with the franchise owners in which the city participated in every revenue source produced by the franchise.
In 1990, Parker and Jaicomo was acquired by the Indianapolis law firm of Baker and Daniels. Rich was the managing partner of the South Bend office and also led the firm’s public finance practice. He served as bond counsel for governmental entities throughout the state including South Bend.
Throughout his career, Rich as been active in community affairs and local politics. He has chaired the boards of United Way, Goodwill, the South Bend Symphony and the St. Joseph County Bar Foundation. He has also served on the boards of the Community Foundation, the Chamber of Commerce, the South Bend Education Foundation and Project Future. He has been an adjunct faculty member at IUSB and Notre Dame. Rich has been recognized as an Indiana Super Lawyer and by the Best Lawyers in America and is the recipient of the Sagamore of the Wabash award.
Rich and his wife Debbie share four grown children and four grandchildren. They are avid boaters in South Haven, Michigan during the summer and at their home in Cortez, Florida during the winter.
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Doug Hunt, South Bend, Indiana
Check back at a later date for Biography
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William (Bill) Odell, South Bend, Indiana
William Odell’s last “paying” job was with REAL Services as Director of Development, but remains connected to REAL as a volunteer for Meals on Wheels. He, along with his wife Cathy, have been active members at St. Therese Little Flower Catholic Church for over 30 years and was active in youth ministry for many of those years, and most recently the Coordinator of the Whatsoever You Do Outreach Ministry.
Bill has been active in theater, both in the community and at Little Flower. He has written and directed three plays at Little Flower. Past theater experience has included performing in a dozen plays in community theater and at Little Flower.
Bill has a Master’s in Religious Studies and a Certificate in Biblical Studies. An active gardener and composter, he also remains active as a “rower across Lake Michigan” on his rowing machine in the basement.
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Roger O. Parent, South Bend, Indiana, President
Roger Parent is a past Trustee of the South Bend Community School Corporation and a founder of World Dignity, Inc. Roger was in the first group of Peace Corps Volunteers in Thailand in the early 1960’s, and he was Director of Peace Corps in Haiti and in the Eastern Caribbean. In 2005, Roger was Deputy Director of the Tsunami Volunteer Center in Thailand, helping victims of the 2004 Tsunami.
Roger was a member of the South Bend, Indiana City Council for eight years, and Mayor of South Bend for another eight years. He served in the antipoverty programs of the late 1960’s as Director of Neighborhood Centers. He has a Bachelor degree in Economics (Magna Cum Laude) from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada, and a Masters degree in Education from the University of Notre Dame, in Indiana. Roger is a director on various boards, and wrote, The Making of a Peace Corps Volunteer: From Maine to Thailand, in 2004.
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Rolande O. Parent, South Bend, Indiana
Rolande Parent is a founder of World Dignity, Inc. While taking care of four children at home, she assisted her husband, Roger, in successful political campaigns for City Councilman and Mayor of South Bend.
During those decades, she was a founding member of the first Women’s Crisis Shelter to assist women and children in domestic violence situations. She was a board member of the YWCA, St. Joseph County, Indiana, and was chairperson of the first YWCA Tribute to Women. She was a member of the Women’s Political Caucus and campaigned for the Equal Rights Amendment in Indiana.
Rolande is retired from more than 16 years of service as Instructional Assistant with the South Bend Community School Corporation. She volunteers at Little Flower Church, Christ Child Society, and is a mentor to a student in the South Bend Community School Corporation.
Rolande and Roger have four children and six grandchildren.
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Luther T. Taylor, Sr., South Bend, Indiana
Retired Manager of Emergency Preparation, St. Joseph Regional Medical Center. Luther Taylor was Fire Chief of South Bend, Indiana for 21 years, longer than any other South Bend Fire Chief. In 2004, he also served as Executive Director of Indiana’s Emergency Management Agency.
Luther graduated from West High School in Denmark, Tennessee, attended the National Fire Academy and received his Chief of Fire Designation. During his career he participated in many workshops and seminars on fire fighting, hazardous materials, and management.
Luther Taylor has served on many boards including: Board Member and Past President of the Indiana Fire Chiefs Association, chair of the Indiana Emergency Response Committee, and the YWCA, St. Joseph County. He is a Board member of the local Red Cross, and he is a deacon and chairman of the finance committee of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in South Bend.
Luther and his wife Gwen have two children and five grandchildren.
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Robert J. Urbanski, South Bend, Indiana
Robert Urbanski is a retired business man and former Managing Member of GUY Construction, located in Phoenix, Arizona. He co-founded Trans Tech Electric Company in 1983, was its President, and in 1998, as a founding member of Quanta Services Inc. (a NYSE company) took Trans Tech public. Trans Tech grew from six employees and a sales volume of $1.3 million to 300 employees and a sales volume of over $50 million today.
Bob is a Member and past president of the Achievement Forum. He was a Member and President of the St. Joseph County Liquor Board and of the St. Joseph County Board of Zoning Appeal. He has served on other boards and commissions.
Bob is very concerned about education and the quality of our schools. He has attended the Milwaukee School of Engineering and Indiana University, South Bend.
Bob and his wife, Debbie, have five children and five grandchildren.
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