The Brandywine Health Foundation has announced its newest team member, Sophia Hanson, as Senior Program Officer. Hanson is charged with overseeing the alignment of BHF’s mission, its business operation, and philanthropic impact, amid extraordinary events that have illuminated the depth of systemic threat to the health and economic well-being of low-resourced communities in the Greater Coatesville area.

“I am excited to be part of the path forward for the Brandywine Health Foundation, as it continues to serve as a national model for bringing real transformative community change through greater philanthropic impact,” said Hanson. “I am honored to join this amazing team and to continue the meaningful positive work on behalf of the Coatesville community.”

As Senior Program Officer, Hanson will be responsible for the development and administration of innovative strategies and initiatives that meet community need and demonstrate effective responsive philanthropy. She will oversee a portfolio that impacts the foundation’s future direction in grantmaking, brand identity, and mission-aligned projects.

Throughout the course of her career, Hanson has served in several grant-management capacities. She was recognized and appointed by the Mayor of Wilmington to manage the city’s multimillion-dollar annual grant allocation. Her natural connections to the community and the nonprofit sector drove her passion to engage and foster authentic relationships and partnerships focused on community economic development and urban planning and design initiatives.

This success led to her next appointment as General Manager by the Executive of New Castle County, where she was responsible for annually managing $20 million federal grant allocations to nonprofits.

She is a strong proponent of volunteerism and serves as a volunteer grant advisor with the California-based Pollination Project, which provides seed funding for grassroots projects, both nationally and internationally. She also currently serves as a volunteer for the National Youth Foundation, an organization she co-founded with other women focused on diversity and gender equality.

Hanson’s most recent position was as Director at Valley Youth House, whereby she managed programs that support some of the most-challenged youth of Chester County: foster-care teens. She successfully strengthened its program delivery and raised the profile of the agency throughout the region.

She possesses a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s degree in city planning and development from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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