WASHINGTON – People For the American Way Foundation (PFAWF) President Ralph G. Neas announced that several key positions in its Washington, D.C. headquarters have been filled by new staff.
Nick Ucci is the organization’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, a new position reflecting the rapid growth of PFAWF and its advocacy affiliate People For the American Way in recent years. Ucci will oversee financial management, development, administration, and the regional offices, and will serve as the principal staff liaison with the Board of Directors. “Nick brings us a tremendously sophisticated level of financial management expertise,” said Neas.
Prior to joining People For, Ucci served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at The HealthCare Chaplaincy in New York City. Before that he spent more than two decades at the national office of Common Cause, where he served as the Senior Vice President for Management and Financial Planning. Ucci serves on the Board of Democracy 21, a national pro-democracy organization, and is a Trustee of Interfaith Neighbors, a nonprofit dedicated to helping at-risk children in East Harlem to succeed in school and life.
Vicky Beasley has joined People For the American Way Foundation as Deputy National Field Director. Beasley will manage PFAWF’s civic participation work, including its leadership in the Election Protection coalition and its Arrive with Five voter participation project. Beasley will also oversee PFAWF’s African American Ministers Leadership Council and PFAWF’s work with Partners for Public Education, a partnership between PFAWF and the NAACP. PFAWF National Field Director Mary Jean Collins said, “We have worked closely with Vicky for two years as Election Protection allies, and are thrilled to have her expertise and commitment to civic participation at People For the American Way Foundation.”
Beasley joins PFAWF from the law firm Latham & Watkins. As an attorney with Latham & Watkins, Beasley played a major role in the Election Protection coalition in 2001 and 2002, overseeing research on state election laws and the creation of 20 state-specific voters’ bills of rights. Beasley is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Columbia Law School.
Rev. Romal J. Tune joins PFAWF as an Organizer with primary responsibility for coordinating the efforts of the African American Ministers Leadership Council, which works with clergy to mobilize community involvement in civic participation and public education efforts. “Rev. Tune has been recognized as an outstanding young leader in the faith community,” said Neas. “His experience as an organizer and minister will help us expand our existing outreach to community leaders among African American clergy.”
Tune, a graduate of Howard University and the Duke University Divinity School and a Gulf War veteran, has served as Minister of Congregational Care and Outreach for Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Baptist Church and currently serves as associate minister at the historic 19th Street Baptist Church with Dr. Derrick Harkins. Tune has also done faith community outreach for the North Carolina Democratic Party and has worked at The Faith and Politics Institute on Capitol Hill.
PFAWF, founded two decades ago by television producer Norman Lear, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh and other civic, religious, business and civil rights leaders, defends and promotes constitutional liberties, civil rights, quality public education, and an independent judiciary. It has regional offices in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Miami and Tallahassee, Fla.