Vice President, JBJ Soul Foundation

From the very first days, Stephen Perna was instrumental in helping to evaluate the Philadelphia Soul Arena Football franchise opportunity and assist in building the Soul organization.  With his experience, familiarity with the organization and outstanding reputation in the Philadelphia community, it was only natural that Steve be a Board Member of the newly established Philadelphia Soul Foundation subsequently renamed the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation.  Steve serves in many roles including the Membership Committee and New Initiatives Committee.  In this capacity Steve’s responsibilities include defining board composition in line with our mission and assisting in developing a strategy for the expansion of the JBJ Soul Kitchen.

Steve’s professional responsibilities as Principal and Director of PernaFrederick Commercial Real Estate include strategic development of all brokerage related activities as well as building the firms real estate holdings. Prior to forming Perna Frederick, Perna was a Partner, Director and Sr. VP of Arden Group, where he developed strategic alliances for all properties in the company portfolio.

Steve is a native of Philadelphia and holds a bachelor’s degree from Temple University.  He resides in Haverford, PA with his wife, Joleen.

Board Member, JBJ Soul Foundation
Executive Director and President, Project HOME

Sister Mary Scullion has been involved in service work and advocacy for homeless and mentally ill persons since 1978. She was a co-founder, in 1985, of Woman of Hope, which provides permanent residential and support services for homeless, mentally ill women. In 1988, she founded the first Outreach Coordination Center in the nation, an innovative program coordinating private and public agencies doing outreach to chronically homeless persons living on the street.

In 1989, Sister Mary and Joan Dawson McConnon co-founded Project HOME, a nationally recognized organization that provides supportive housing, employment, education and health care to enable chronically homeless and low-income persons to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty. Under their leadership, Project HOME has grown from an emergency winter shelter to over 700 units of housing, including JBJ Soul Homes which provides supportive housing for homeless youth, and three businesses that provide employment to formerly homeless persons.  Project HOME also prevents homelessness in a low-income neighborhood in North Philadelphia.  This initiative includes economic development, homeownership for the working poor, and the Honickman Learning Center and Comcast Technology Labs – a 38,000 square foot, state-of-the-art technology center that offers comprehensive educational and occupational programming.

In 2015 Project HOME opened the Stephen Klein Wellness Center.  The Stephen Klein Wellness Center is a model for integrated health care including primary care, behavioral health, dental, a YMCA, pharmacy and wellness services.  It serves those that are homeless and is located in the second poorest zip code in Philadelphia.

Sister Mary is also a powerful voice on political issues affecting homelessness and mentally ill persons. Her advocacy efforts resulted in the right of homeless persons to vote as well as a landmark federal court decision that affects the fair housing rights of persons with disabilities.

Sister Mary has received numerous honorary doctorates for her leadership in the City of Philadelphia. She was named 2011 Citizen of the Year by the Philadelphia Inquirer and selected by Time Magazine as one of the “World’s Most Influential People in 2009”. In addition, Sister Mary and Joan Dawson McConnon received the Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame in 2011.  She was awarded the Eisenhower Fellowship in 2002 as well as the Distinguished Alumnus Eisenhower Award in 2010.

Sister Mary serves on the Board of Trustees of St. Joseph’s University; the Board of the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation and Chaired the Hunger and Homelessness Committee for Pope Francis’s visit to Philadelphia in 2015.

Ron Jaworski

Board Member, Vice President

One of the most prolific names in Philadelphia sports history, Ron Jaworski is the Arena Football team Philadelphia Soul’s team president. Jaworski works directly with head coach Bret Munsey on football operations and assists the organization on all strategic marketing opportunities.

One of only two quarterbacks to lead the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl berth (Donovan McNabb), Jaworski has enjoyed as much success off the field as he has on the field.

In 1991, Ron Jaworski Management, Inc. was founded to oversee the day-to-day operations of Jaworski’s business ventures. Currently four different entities fall under the umbrella of RJM ownership: Valleybrook Golf Club, The Chateau Resort, Edgewood in the Pines and The Showcase Sports Apparel Store. As well as being an ownership partner, RJM manages the daily operations of The Showcase Store, Valleybrook Golf Club and Edgewood in the Pines.

As Board Member of the Philadelphia Soul Charitable Foundation, Ron provides expertise garnered from managing several local nonprofit organizations. Ron is responsible for overseeing the business of the oldest football club in America – the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia – as well as The Ron Jaworski Annual Celebrity Golf Challenge and the Jaws Youth Fund Fall Golf Classic.

Aside from his business ventures, Jaworski is a regular on ESPN, NFL Films and Eagles Television Network (Philadelphia) and has become one of the most distinguished NFL analysts on television. He gives fans a weekly, in-depth insider’s view of the NFL through “EA Sports NFL Matchup,” along with Sal Paolantonio and former NFL player Merrill Hoge. Every Sunday and Monday, Jaworski assists on “NFL Sunday Countdown” and “NFL Monday Night Countdown” with his team-by-team analysis.

A second-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 1973, the rights to Jaworski were traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1977. Over the course of his 10-year career with the Eagles, Jaworski started 116 straight NFL games – a record for most consecutive starts until Brett Farve broke it in 1999. He passed for nearly 27,000 yards, including 175 touchdowns and is the all-time Eagles leader in several passing categories, including career touchdowns and career passing yardage.

Born and raised in Lackawanna, NY, Jaworski married his high-school sweetheart, Liz. The couple resides in Voorhees, NJ and have three children Joleen, Jessica and BJ.

Treasurer, JBJ Soul Foundation

Paul Korzilius is a widely respected and successful senior Entertainment and Sports executive with over 30 years in the business and has been responsible for the success of some of the biggest selling albums and tours in music history. He has served as General Manager for the AFL’s Philadelphia Soul and consultant to the AFL.

Involvement in the community has been a long time passion for Paul that has evolved into his current position as Treasurer of the foundation.

Paul is a graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in Education and serves on the boards of high tech companies and not for profit organizations.