The Horizon Foundation has announced the appointment of two new members of its board of trustees: technology executive Gopi Suri and Mark Cissell, president and CEO of KatzAbosch, an accounting firm. The new trustees will serve four-year terms on the 18-member board of the Horizon Foundation, the largest independent health philanthropy in Maryland. The Foundation focuses on working to improve the health and wellness of people who live or work in Howard County, Md. and has invested nearly $55 million in more than 300 community programs since 1998.
“We are thrilled to welcome our new trustees and are excited to see the impact they will have on our ability to serve the community effectively and efficiently,” said Nikki Highsmith Vernick, president and CEO of the Horizon Foundation. “They bring a wealth of experience and leadership in the community that will help us advance our mission to improve the health and wellness of everyone Howard County.”
More about the new trustees below:
Gopi Suri
Chief Executive Officer, Supriv Group; President, Suri Foundation
Mr. Suri, an entrepreneur and strategic technology executive, has extensive experience in business and IT transformation. He is skilled at utilizing leading-edge technologies to grow businesses and has managed multi-million dollar budgets and staff across the globe for a number of public and private companies. In addition to leading the Supriv Group, an information technology strategic advisory firm based in Ellicott City that works with healthcare and financial services clients, Mr. Suri is the founder and president of the Suri Foundation, which builds drinking water facilities, toilets, health and hygiene camps and first aid centers in India and other parts of the developing world. Mr. Suri also serves on the board of American Society of Engineers of Indian Origin, Maryland chapter where he mentors and provides career guidance to University of Maryland engineering students. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from Nanak Engineering College in India and an M.B.A. from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Mark Cissell
Chief Executive Officer and President, Director, KatzAbosch
Mr. Cissell advises KatzAbosch clients in developing growth strategies, business and succession planning and mergers and acquisitions. Having joined the firm in 1985, he has over 30 years of accounting experience serving individual and business clients in the health care, construction and real estate, nonprofit and government sectors. Mr. Cissell currently serves on the Executive Committee for Maryland Free, a nonpartisan, nonprofit political research and education organization focusing on business and job growth, and as Chair of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the University of Baltimore’s Merrick School of Business. He also won The Daily Record’s Most Admired CEO Award in 2016. Mr. Cissell holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Western New England University.
The new trustees began their four-year terms on Jan. 1, 2020. Paul Gleichauf, Henry Posko and Ned Tillman all completed their terms with the board in December, each having served since 2012.
