Meet the Team Behind the Emerald Foundation

With tenacity and vision as his tools, Joe Besecker (Jeb) founded both Emerald Asset Management and Emerald Foundation. He built Emerald Asset Management from a start-up investment to a diversified asset management firm with over $5 billion under management today. That same drive for growth led Jeb to found Emerald Foundation, which to date, has distributed around $400,000 to 70-plus charities. Emerald Foundation is here where Jeb can lead the way for traditional non-profit programs as well as define cutting edge non-profit enterprises such as the Emerald Esports Initiative.

Jeb has served as a National Trustee and Past President of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and as a board member of the Boys and Girls Club (Lancaster, PA). Under his leadership Emerald Asset Management was named the Corporate Citizen of the Year in 2005 by the Central Pennsylvania Business Journal. He has received numerous community and national awards including the Lighting the Way annual award from Merakey.

Martha comes to the Emerald Foundation with a diverse background of project management and problem-solving skills. With a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University, Martha approaches each project with a unique, creative perspective. Her strong appreciation of the arts and humanities gives Martha the inspiration needed as the point person for the Emerging Artist Series. She has served on the board of the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County and is currently on the board of the Emerald Foundation.

Residing in Lititz, Martha lives with her husband, four very active children, a menagerie of dogs, cats, fish and an occasional horse. When not tending their 10-acre property, Martha loves a good book or binge watching a Netflix series with one of her children. She also maintains a design studio from where, on occasion, she consults.

Motivated by the impact that a diverse and equitable community brings, Rachel enthusiastically leads the Emerald Esports Team as they encourage students to embrace their potential through their passion of gaming. As a mother of two school-aged daughters, she is inspired by the testimonials and scholastic results that reflect an increase in student engagement when esports is added to their curriculum.

Rachel’s community experience includes leadership roles with Lancaster Recreation Commission, Red Rose Film Festival, as well as Leadership Lancaster’s 2020 Core Class.

A long-time believer of the power of Esports and its career opportunities, Samuel is dedicated to making sure each student gets the chance to explore the industry and pursue careers they never thought possible. His dream is to one day see a world where education providers view esports as an equal to traditional varsity sports and embrace it as more than “just playing a video game.”

Samuel is an active leader in offline and online Esport communities, whether at home, Lancaster, or worldwide. He is involved with the Lancaster Fighting Game Community, leading the Soul Charge Fighting Game Community (worldwide), creating tournaments all over the US and EU, raising money for charity, and connecting gamers of all ages and abilities. During his free time, Samuel is an active esports competitor, participating in fighting game tournaments and connecting with other members of his community.

As Building/Operations Director for the Emerald Foundation, Suzy has a wide range of responsibilities. She handles all room and property rentals with the exception of ballroom rental. She manages maintenance staff, janitorial staff, coordinates all building inquiries from tenants, visitors, and contractors and contributes to writing Policy, Procedure and Safety Guidelines for the Foundation. As part of the Rise ‘N Shine Initiative, she manages volunteers from intellectually disabled adult communities who provide cleaning, gardening, and Autumn’s Food Pantry assistance.

Suzy has a Bachelor of Science from Duquesne University with a major in Professional Studies, Leadership and Communication. She also holds an Associate in Arts Degree in Business Administration from Harrisburg Area Community College. She comes to the Emerald Foundation with respected leadership and management experience and has worked in the behavioral health, legal, accounting, private business and hospitality fields. She has significant experience in writing Policy and Procedure and Safety Manuals and has managed (3) businesses from build-out to startup as well as done private business consulting.

Not only is Terry an integral part of the Esports operations at Emerald, but she also is the Founder and CEO of The Pivotal Group, a consulting firm based right here in Lancaster. This group was founded with a passion to empower individuals and organizations to embrace and ignite their potential.
Throughout her career, Terry has held leadership positions with local and national organizations in both the private and not-for-profit sectors creating impactful mission-based programming and innovative development opportunities. She currently serves on the President’s Leadership Council at Elizabethtown College and is a founding member of the Lancaster County STEM Alliance Advisory Board where she chairs the Community-based Learning Initiative.