People on the Move: June 23

People on the Move is a rundown of recent hirings, promotions, appointments and other notable movements by professionals in the state. If you’re interested in submitting an entry, please contact [email protected].

President Joe Biden has nominated Yair D. Robinson to serve on the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, which ensures that sites important to populations impacted by Nazism, communism, and the Cold War would be preserved for future generations.

As far back as he can remember, Robinson has been committed to making a positive difference in the world. Active in social action causes since he was a teen growing up on Cape Cod, where his father was the rabbi of the local synagogue and his mother the president of Hadassah, Robinson attended Oberlin College and then received rabbinic ordination from the Hebrew Union College in 2003. He served Shir Ami in Newtown, Pa., for six years before moving to Wilmington, where he has been the senior rabbi of Congregation Beth Emeth since 2009.

In addition to his pulpit work, preaching, teaching, and providing pastoral care, he has worked with many local organizations, including serving on the boards of Rotary Club of Wilmington, The Anti-Defamation League of Philadelphia, The Ninth Ward Interfaith Coalition, The Siegel JCC and Jewish Family Services, Planned Parenthood of Delaware and Clergy for Choice, and the ACLU of Delaware, always striving for a sacred, just, and loving community. He is married to Dr. Marisa Robinson and they have one son, Elishai, who graduates from Mount Pleasant High School in Wilmington in 2025.

Melanie Chichester, a clinical level III staff nurse in Labor & Delivery at ChristianaCare with over 35 years of experience, received the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is AWHONN’s most prestigious honor for those who have shown exemplary characteristics in the nursing care of women and newborns. This coveted award is given to an AWHONN member whose accomplishments in the specialties of women’s health, obstetric, and neonatal nursing and contributions to the association exemplify a commitment to excellence.

Chichester has helped facilitate the Loving Arms Perinatal Loss support group for over 20 years, advocated for loss education for all health care professionals, been part of IMPACT, the Infant, Maternal, and Perinatal Advance Care Team, an interdisciplinary group which offers an extra layer of support to families anticipating a baby with a life-limiting diagnosis, and the planning committee for a multidisciplinary biennial Perinatal Palliative Care conference.

“Melanie embodies ChristianaCare’s core values of love and excellence with every patient, family member and caregiver whom she touches,” said Danielle Weber, interim chief nurse executive at ChristianaCare. “A tireless advocate for newborns and their mothers, Melanie has elevated the level of labor and delivery education nationwide through her tireless work. But she’s also just as committed to taking on the hardest jobs – supporting parents who have suffered a loss during their pregnancy. She is a shining example of what every nurse should strive to be.”

National law firm Eckert Seamans has promoted Jessica L. Reno, of its Wilmington office, to partner, effective July 1.

Reno concentrates her practice on general litigation, including products liability, professional negligence, employment discrimination, and complex commercial litigation matters. She also advises organizations on institutional liability matters involving sexual abuse allegations. Reno is involved in all areas of case management and phases of litigation, from inception through trial. She has handled matters and argued before state trial and federal courts in Delaware, including arguing many successful dispositive motions before the trial courts.

Literacy Delaware has announced the addition of Jacqueline Ortiz, M.Phil., to its board of directors.

As vice president of health equity, Ortiz is responsible for leading the system’s health care equity initiatives to identify, understand, measure, and reduce disparities in health and health care affecting the community served by ChristianaCare. She joined ChristianaCare in February 2012 with over 15 years of experience researching, teaching, and working in cultural competence, health equity, social networks, and economic sociology.

Prior to joining ChristianaCare, she led a firm specializing in the application of social network analysis to resolve organizational challenges, working in Latin America and the United States, in both public and private sectors. Ortiz has consulted for Fortune 500 companies, the government of Argentina and multi‐lateral organizations like the World Bank and Transparency International.