Chautauqua Institution’s Board of Trustees elected Matthew Benson, Karen Goodell and Dave Pelton to four-year terms at the final meeting of the body’s 2023–24 cycle on Aug. 24.  
 
Board-elected trustees are vetted and nominated by the Board’s Nominating and Governance committee that considers the knowledge, skills and experience necessary to support the Institution’s leadership, advancement and evolution, guided by the strategic plan, 150 Forward: A Renewed Vision for Chautauqua Institution. 
 
Also at the Aug. 24 meeting, David Peckinpaugh was elected to a second four-year term. 
 
Additionally, members of the Chautauqua Corporation elected Michelle Adelman as the newest of the four trustees selected by Chautauqua property owners at the Corporation’s annual meeting on Aug. 10.  
 
Board Chair Candace Maxwell expressed appreciation to the Nominating and Governance Committee, the full Board of Trustees and to Chautauqua property owners for their dedication to perpetuating excellence among members of Chautauqua’s board.  
 
“We are fortunate to continue to successfully recruit and elect highly qualified and dedicated volunteers to serve Chautauqua’s mission,” Maxwell said. “This class of trustees brings to our board an impressive range of needed experiences and expertise that will help to shape and inform policy and decision making as Chautauqua concludes its 150th anniversary and looks forward.” 
 
All four new board members are property owners at Chautauqua Institution. 
 
Michelle Adelman worked for the management consulting firm Accenture for 22 years, holding key managing director roles globally. Her experience at Accenture provided her with a strong foundation in human resources, technology, and operations. She spent two years in private equity as the CEO of a start-up home healthcare company before moving to Africa in 2012, where she founded an impact investment firm, Accite Holdings. Accite has made investments in several businesses, primarily in the food and agriculture technology sector, including a hydroponic farm in Botswana and a recent start-up in the U.S. protein market. Michelle is also the cofounder and director of Impact Fund, a nonprofit organization that focuses on improving the lives of women and children in northern Botswana through sustainable philanthropy funding partnerships with the tourism industry. 

Michelle has been recognized for her professional work with various awards: Africa’s Most Influential Woman – Business & Professional Services (2017) by CEO Global; the Forbes Africa “20 New Wealth Creators” (2019); Meaningful Business 100 (2021) recognizing leaders globally who are dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing issues to help achieve the U.N. Global Goals; and a Distinguished Alumni Award from Cornell University (2022). Her career also includes extensive board work for for-profit companies, government agencies and nonprofit entities. 

Michelle earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Cornell University. She and her partner, Earl Miller, U.S. Ambassador-retired, make Chautauqua their year-round home after returning from overseas service in 2022.  

Matthew (Matt) Benson is a partner at the Charlotte, N.C., architectural firm, Meyer Greeson Paullin Benson. Since 1998 he has focused on single-family residential architecture, historic preservation and strategic planning. 

Matt’s work can be found up and down the east coast, in the manner of many historical styles. His designs have been seen in national publications such as Southern Living, House Beautiful, and Luxe. He received a bachelor’s degree in Studio Art from Denison University and a Master of Architecture from Georgia Tech. He is a licensed member of the American Institute of Architects, a LEED Accredited Professional by the U.S. Green Building Council, and a member of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art. 

He most recently served on the Board of Directors for the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art as Collections Committee Chairman. He has also served on the Levine Museum of the New South Development Committee, as Charlotte Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission Chairman, and on the Charlotte Chamber Land Use Committee. 

Matt is a third generation Chautauquan. He and his spouse, Barrie are Chautauqua property owners and have two children who are both lifelong Chautauquans and recent employees. Favorite associations include the Chautauqua Visual Arts, the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, and the Chautauqua Yacht Club. 
 
Karen Goodell is a fully licensed associate broker with ERA Team VP in Chautauqua County, with a real estate concentration on Chautauqua Institution and the Chautauqua Lakefront properties. She is one of the top-selling realtors of Chautauqua Institution properties. For her work, she has earned the Chautauqua County Board of Realtors, Inc. Presidential Award since 1999 and ERA Team VP’s Diamond Presidential Award 2009-2010, 2012-2015, 2017and 2022. In 2021, she was the top agent for overall sales volumes. Karen was a cofounder of ERA Team VP in 1982. 
 
Karen serves as a director of the Chautauqua Hotel Corporation Board and is active in the Chautauqua Dance Circle, where she served as a board member from 2016-2021. In 2021, she stepped down from her role as member of the board of directors of the Chautauqua Foundation after serving for 20 years. She has served as a volunteer for four Institution capital campaigns, Renewal (Chair), Idea, Promise, and Boundless. She previously served as a trustee for the Roger Tory Peterson Institute and on the advisory board for the Association to Benefit Children in New York City.  
 
Karen earned a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Cortland and is a 2000 graduate of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle. She and her husband, Tim, are Chautauqua property owners with three adult daughters, all of whom enjoy time at Chautauqua during the summer months. 
 
Note: While Karen is a cofounder of Vacation Properties (now ERA Team VP), she has no ongoing financial interest in the company beyond real estate transactions for which she serves as referral, agent and/or broker. To avoid any potential conflict, Karen will not represent the Institution in any real estate transactions, and she will recuse herself from Board discussions or decisions on Institution transactions in which she represents another involved party. 

Dave Pelton is an experienced leader and entrepreneur in the software industry with a focus on strategic planning, product management, marketing and general management. He retired in 2020 as product line leader for Vertex Inc., which went public in his last year there. Prior to Vertex, he served in leadership roles in product management, operations and marketing for Logitech, Software Publishing Corporation, Entigo, and InvestorForce, and was a consultant for companies such as Intuit, Ricoh and Xerox. As an entrepreneur, Dave successfully founded or acquired, advanced and sold two businesses: QPS Marketing and AutoQual of Delaware. 

Dave earned a bachelor’s degree in math/computer science from Bucknell and an MBA from UCLA. He currently serves on the Board of the Chester Charter Scholars Academy (CCSA) Foundation. CCSA is a K–12 charter school in Chester which is one of the poorest communities in Pennsylvania.  

When they are not at their Chautauqua home, Dave and his wife, Cindy (Warman), a multigenerational Chautauquan, reside in Wayne, Pennsylvania. They have three adult children who frequently join them at Chautauqua in the summer. 

ABOUT CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION 
Chautauqua Institution is a not-for-profit, 750-acre community on Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York State where approximately 7,500 people are in residence on any day during a nine-week summer season. More than 100,000 attend scheduled public events each year and even more engage online via the streaming channel CHQ Assembly. Chautauqua is dedicated to the exploration of the best in human values and the enrichment of life through a program that explores the important religious, social and political issues of our times; stimulates provocative, thoughtful involvement of individuals and families in creative response to such issues; and promotes excellence and creativity in the appreciation, performance and teaching of the arts.  

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