Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation
Maria Gereda, EPCAMR (SUBMITTED)
Maria Gereda, a Kingston native and 2018 Holy Redeemer High School graduate, has been hired by the nonprofit in the role of GIS watershed outreach specialist. Her duties will mainly involve digitizing and georeferencing coal mine maps, especially in support of the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Mine Subsidence Insurance Program. She also will assist with EPCAMR activities such as conducting watershed assessments and coordinating illegal dumpsite cleanups.
Gereda received her bachelor’s degree in 2022 from the University of Texas at El Paso. More recently, she completed an online certification program in Geographic Information Systems through Austin Community College in Austin, Texas. Gereda began assisting EPCAMR in April 2025 as a part-time intern. She then had an opportunity to serve full time at the local nonprofit for a six-month stint as an AmeriCorps member.
During that time, Gereda became certified as a North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC) Level 1 coordinator. She also assisted staff with water-quality monitoring and event planning, attended professional conferences and helped to manage volunteers.
EPCAMR is a small but impactful nonprofit organization based in Ashley. The organization got its start in the mid-1990s and continues to successfully lead projects throughout the region to improve landscapes and lives.
Geisinger Health Plan
Jeremy Gaskill is the new president of GHP and executive vice president of insurance operations for Geisinger, effective Feb. 23. He joins GHP after more than two decades at Humana, where he most recently served as the national insurance carrier’s central region president for Medicare, overseeing a nine-state region based in Kansas City, Kan.
Gaskill’s Humana experience included overseeing the growth of the organization’s network of providers and managing commercial and government business lines, including Medicare and Medicaid, for various regions.
Gaskill takes over the position of GHP president from Karen Murphy, who stepped into the job last March after having served in a variety of other leadership roles at Geisinger for several years.
Reading & Northern Railroad
Jim Raffa, Reading & Northern Railroad (SUBMITTED)
The railroad announced that Jim Raffa has been promoted to the position of chief marketing officer.
Raffa began his railroad career in 1989 with the railroad’s predecessor, the Blue Mountain & Reading Railroad, as a trackman. After the Reading & Northern Railroad was formed in December 1990, he transitioned to coal traffic manager and real estate manager. In 2007, Raffa accepted an ownership position with Lehigh Railway and Luzerne & Susquehanna Railway. In 2020, after the sale of those rail lines to R.J. Corman, Raffa returned to the railroad to manage the petrochemical and minerals accounts, including the natural gas and Marcellus shale business. He was named executive vice president of marketing and sales last year. In addition to the petrochemical and mineral business, Raffa assumed management of the railroad’s industrial development department.
Raffa has over 35 years of railroad experience, specializing in business development, project management, marketing and operations. He was born and raised in Schuylkill County and has a passion for railroads, especially around his hometown of Schuylkill Haven. Raffa graduated from Penn State University in 1988 and has a Bachelor of Science in mathematics with a minor in secondary education. He has also completed some graduate courses, working toward a master’s degree in education.