Dr. Philomena Mantella
Director, Term: 2025-2027
About
Dr. Philomena (Philly) V. Mantella is an accomplished leader with more than 30 years of C-suite and executive leadership experience, with 15 of those years spent serving as the CEO of organizations ranging from start-ups to large complex nonprofits. Dr. Mantella is a master facilitator and consensus builder, whose creative vision and dedication to being future-fit, financial acumen and sound risk management fuels organizations to succeed and flourish without exposing foundational business and operations. She has been a board member and officer on several nonprofit boards, including Michigan’s largest employer.
Since 2019, Dr. Mantella has served as the first female president of Grand Valley State University (GVSU), Michigan’s third-largest university. She reports to the school’s Board of Trustees, and her forward thinking and commitment to growth and disruption has created measurable success in market position and return on investment for learners and stakeholders.
Dr. Mantella enjoys organizational complexity and driving value while creating a line of sight between present and future goals. Her commitment to the public good includes the belief that it is critical to embrace the intersection of education, talent and economic development. From the board room to the classroom and beyond, Mantella’s skill at collaborating and connecting has led to the business community forging unprecedented partnerships with GVSU, like the Laker Accelerated Talent Link, Corewell Scholars, Veterans Advance, HBCU/HSI Consortium, and K-12 Connect.
Dr. Mantella has extensive board experience in the nonprofit and start-up sectors and currently serves on the boards of Corewell Health, which is Michigan’s largest employer, the Economic Club of Grand Rapids, the Conference Board’s Committee for Economic Development, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Grand Action 2.0, the American Council on Education, the Michigan Association of State Universities, the Michigan Education Trust, The Right Place, Inc., and Talent First.
Dr. Mantella earned a Ph.D. in college and university administration from Michigan State University and master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Syracuse University.
