Committee Members

Photo by Matteo Bernardis
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Chair, Jarvie Commonweal Service Committee

Richard “Dick” Clay is a Louisville, Ky., attorney who most recently served as President and C.E.O. of the Filson Historical Society, a non-profit organization. He recently retired from that role. Additionally, he served as interim CEO of the Foundation in 2009, and has served as a Foundation Board member. Currently, he is of counsel at Dinsmore, a large law firm, and has practiced in the areas of business and fiduciary litigation, appellate practice, and administrative law. He has tried more than 80 jury trials in state and federal court and has argued more than 35 appeals in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the Kentucky Supreme Court, and the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Additionally, Dick has served as Dinsmore’s Kentucky ethics partner. Dick is a graduate of Davidson College in North Carolina (a Presbyterian-related college), where he received a bachelor’s degree in economics. He attended Yale University Divinity School under the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation Fellowship and received his J.D. from the University of Kentucky College of Law. He also has served on the board of the Cabbage Patch Settlement House and the Kentucky Country Day School. He was board chairman and a trustee of the Speed Art Museum and currently is vice chairman of the advisory board of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Art.

Committee Members

Rachel Brenner comes to the Jarvie Commonweal Service Committee via Elinor Hite, who was a long time Jarvie member and former Foundation Board of Trustees chair. Rachel has a career in television production, but has a heart for service and particularly for the elderly. Non-profit work has always been part of her life. Because she has had many multiple open-heart surgeries, she helped create a program to transition children into adult care at New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia. She’s led a writing class through the YWCA, and has done communications work for a food pantry in Northern New Jersey. JCSC feels like a good fit for her own story, Rachel says, because she has had many intergenerational friendships, and because she considers herself an “old soul.” Rachel works for Warner Brothers Discovery, and she has been there for 11 years. She is now a Senior Director of Development for Investigation Discovery. Rachel creates and conceptualizes new television shows for the network. She is a member of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, where she has been attending for many years and leads a Bible study group there. She is a graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications. 

Rev. Joe Chu is an ordained Presbyterian minister who has extensive experience in Elder Care.  In March 2018 he started his business (Assisted Living Locators of Bergen County, NJ), which is in the Jarvie catchment area.  He specializes in helping people find the right care facility for older family members.  His YouTube Channel (Assisted Living Answer Man) provides education on Assisted Living and the larger world of Senior Care.  He also serves as a pastor. He has an extensive record of service in the Presbyterian Church (USA).  He currently serves as Stated Clerk for the Eastern Korean American Presbytery, Vice Moderator of the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Synod of the Northeast, board member of Johnsonburg Camp and Retreat Center, member of the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly, and member of the Synod of the Northeast Discernment Team. Joe serves as lead pastor of Fellowship Church of New Milford, New Jersey. Joe received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Northwestern University, and Master of Divinity degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Rev. Dr. Betty Tom holds a Doctor of Ministry from McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, IL, (2013); a Masters of Divinity from Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, IN (2003); a Master of Science degree in Education from Butler University, Indianapolis, IN (1986); and a Bachelor of Science degree from Ball State University, Muncie, IN (1978). Rev. Tom has served churches in Indianapolis, IN, Mt Vernon, NY and Newark, NJ.  After 21 years of full-time ministry, Rev. Tom is honorably retired as of July 31, 2022, but is still serving the church and her community. She is an active member of the National Association of Presbyterian Clergy Women. She has served on the Advisory Board for the Presbyterian Hunger Program and currently serves as a board member for the Institute of Music for Children in Elizabeth, NJ.