Let’s hear it for the gents! Lehigh Valley Style is once again recognizing a crop of exceptional guys as our 2024 Influential Men of the Year. Read on to hear how these six are making our community a better place, just by doing what they do.
Dr. Hasshan Batts
Executive Director, Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley
Who is Hasshan Batts? He’s a father, a grandfather, a husband and a son. Dig deeper, and the list of descriptors grows: prison survivor, healer, mentor and changemaker. At one time, he was also a kid for whom success was not assured. “I’m from Brooklyn, the Brooklyn of the ’80s, as we say, which was a rough place,” Batts says. He moved as a teenager first to the Poconos and then to Allentown, where he began to make his way as an entrepreneur, which laid the foundation for what he calls tri-sector work: “How do we get the business community to work in partnership with government to work in partnership with nonprofits?”
Batts is the executive director of Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley, a grassroots organization dedicated to creating safe, inclusive and enriching communities for young people. Members chase that mission on multiple fronts, focusing on health and wellness, leadership building and anti-violence initiatives. “The secret sauce is really engaging with and actively listening to community,” says Batts. And Promise Neighborhoods’ presence is growing. Last year, the group helped to spearhead an effort to open a food and wellness center for families in need inside Allentown’s Hays Elementary School. In 2022, Cure Violence, a collaboration between Promise Neighborhoods and Lehigh Valley Health Network that treats community violence as a public health problem, was awarded a nearly $2 million state grant.
"… giving to the world is where the change is going to come"
Although much of the success of Promise Neighborhoods depends on a team of community members working in concert, Batts has been singled out for his leadership. Last year he was named a Fulbright Specialist by the U.S. Department of State, enabling him to share his expertise and experience with a global audience overseas. Batts is also the head of the Batts Development Group, as well as an author, podcast host and philanthropist. In all of his endeavors, there is one unifying thread: “I learned that service and giving to the world is where the change is going to come,” says Batts.
Stephen Flowers
Owner, Suddenly Samantha
A haircut can be a transformative experience, and not just for the person in the chair. Stephen Flowers would know. He opened his salon, Suddenly Samantha, in Easton in 1996. He enjoyed the work, but a chance encounter some 13 years later gave him a new perspective on what was possible. Flowers says he was walking his dog on Christmas Day when he encountered a homeless man. Flowers bought the man some food and took him back to his shop, where he cleaned him up a bit and gave him a haircut. “A few days later I ran into the guy, and he said that was the best Christmas he ever had,” Flowers recalls. Thus began a new Christmas Day tradition for Flowers: opening his shop to give haircuts to the homeless. Eventually the event grew in size and scope, with less fortunate families invited to enjoy food and gifts above the salon, which is inside the Grand Eastonian Hotel and Suites.
"The Easton community is off-the-hook amazing."
Flowers was just getting started. He got an idea for a back-to-school event after giving free haircuts to the children of a mother who couldn’t afford to pay for them. Not long after that, he helped to organize Beards for Breasts, an annual fundraiser for Cancer Support Community—Greater Lehigh Valley in which men who are willing to part ways with their carefully cultivated facial hair are auctioned off to the highest bidders. 2023’s event raised more than $14,000. Finally, Flowers also launched Deck the Walls, inviting local artists to put their own creative spin on skateboard decks that are auctioned off to benefit Safe Harbor Easton.
Although Flowers was instrumental in getting each of the events off the ground, he’s since ceded control of some, and brought in more manpower to help run others. “My goal is for people to see what I do and take it to the next level,” he says. And he’s quick to share the spotlight. It was never about him, he says. “All of these events couldn’t have happened without my staff and the community’s input. The Easton community is off-the-hook amazing.”
Dennis Hower
President, Teamsters Local 773
Dennis Hower is hard to miss during the month of October. Just look for the guy with the very long, very pink beard. He’s dyed his beard for the past five years to raise money for the American Cancer Society’s Men Wear Pink campaign. In 2023, Hower’s fuchsia follicles raked in more than $121,000 for breast cancer research, advocacy and patient support. That made him the third highest individual fundraiser in the entire country for the campaign.
Hower, the president of Teamsters Local 773 since 2013, got involved with the campaign at the behest of some union members who were battling breast cancer. They were hoping he could raise $2,500; he was thinking bigger. “We got to $10,000 before October even started,” he says. “It just took off.”
"… we do whatever we can to help..."
The decision to reach for the pink hair dye (he eschews the easier-to-apply spray) was an easy one, he says: “Everybody’s family knows somebody who has had cancer.” And that includes his own. His father, Claude, succumbed to bile duct cancer in 2007, only a few weeks after his initial diagnosis. Hower cites his father as his greatest teacher of the importance of selflessness and supporting those who are down on their luck. He saw this kindness reciprocated when Claude was seriously injured in a workplace accident. Hower was a student at Whitehall High School at the time. “We received so much help from the people in his union and the community,” Hower says. “I learned through that experience and learned by his example that we do whatever we can to help out those around us in any situation.”
In addition to the American Cancer Society, he’s helped with campaigns for other nonprofits, including the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, and Big Brothers Big Sisters. He’s on the board of the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley. He also served two terms as a Whitehall Township Commissioner. You might even spot him playing bass with his band Union Jack at a local fundraising event. “Whatever I can do to help out in the community, I’m here for,” Hower says.
AJ Suero
Chair, Hispanic Chamber of the Lehigh Valley
Brooklyn native AJ Suero remembers feeling a little bit like a fish out of water when he and his wife, Sandra, moved to the Lehigh Valley 20 years ago. But that’s no longer the case. “Over the past couple of decades, we’ve seen how vibrant the Valley has become and it really has become home,” Suero says. It all comes down to having a connection with the community; Suero feels it, and he wants to make sure everyone else does, too. He currently works in communications for PPL; it’s a career path he began charting several years ago, first with the American Red Cross. “I feel that’s where I started connecting with the community and really building up that desire to want to help in a more profound way,” says Suero. “Being able to have direct interaction with people allows them to sense your heart.”
"… walk alongside the people who we live with …"
Since July of 2022 he’s served as the chair for the Hispanic Chamber of the Lehigh Valley, which seeks to not only support Latinx-owned businesses in the region, but also develop deeper relationships with the larger community. Their slogan, Suero explains, is “Somos Familia,” which translates to “We Are Family,” in English. In 2023 the Chamber launched a podcast and radio show called Somos Lehigh Valley (“We Are Lehigh Valley”) to give a voice to local Latinx luminaries.
His role as a business leader for the Chamber landed him on the Pennsylvania Latino Convention’s 2022 list of “Who’s Who in Latino Pennsylvania.” “It was a profound honor,” Suero says. “I think it’s also an opportunity to continue building bridges and building awareness.” It’s also another opportunity for Suero to continue to lead by example. “The best way to be a great neighbor is for us to walk alongside the people who we live with, who we go to school with, who we worship with, and really see what their needs are and step in wherever we can to help,” he says.
William Sanders
Artistic Director, Civic Theatre of Allentown
William Sanders’ gig at Allentown’s Civic Theatre was supposed to be a one-anddone: direct one play, and then move on. That was 1989. Plot twist: that’s not how it worked out. Minus a brief detour to New York City, Sanders has served as Civic’s artistic director since 1991. He recently took on the role of managing director as well. Sanders says he knew he was in the right place when, inspired by a friend’s battle with AIDS in the early ’90s, he sought approval from Civic’s board to put on Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart, a play about the AIDS crisis and the public’s perception of it. The board said yes, even though, Sanders says, its subject matter was still somewhat taboo for the time. “That sort of turned a key in me that this is a place where I think I can make a home, if they’re willing to do that kind of work.”
"We work really hard to create that energy where people feel welcomed"
Sanders has continued to seek out and push for productions from diverse voices. Sure, there are the “toe tappers,” as he calls them—mainstream musicals like 9 to 5 and Billy Elliot that are great fun, but Civic’s playbill over the years has also welcomed Trouble in Mind, Angels in America (Parts 1 and 2) and The Color Purple. “One of the things I felt really strongly about when I came into this position was to make the theater accessible to as many people as possible, as many artists as possible as well,” says Sanders.
Recently, Theatre 514, the smaller venue across the street from Civic’s main stage, launched a program called The Hub, which gives a stage to emerging artists seeking a place to explore and fine-tune their work. As its name suggests, The Hub is meant to be a community gathering place. It’s an opportunity to connect for those who are new to Civic, those who grew up in the floodlights, and everyone in between. “We work really hard to create that energy where people feel welcomed, feel accepted, feel appreciated and feel part of something bigger than themselves,” Sanders says.
Lyell Scherline
Owner, Jay’s Local & The Scherline Group
Lyell Scherline wasn’t intending to open a restaurant when he purchased a corner property next to Allentown’s Muhlenberg College. “I didn’t really know what I was going to do with the space, I just liked the location,” he says. By the fall of 2019 he had figured it out with the opening of Jay’s Local, a casual eatery catering to Muhlenberg students and denizens of the West End. Fast-forward to 2024, and the restaurant has morphed into much more than just a place to grab a quick bite and a cup of coffee. And that’s been Scherline’s hope all along.
Scherline is the owner of real estate management and development company The Scherline Group. The “Jay" of Jay’s Local is his father, the late attorney and philanthropist Jay Scherline. “He gave so much back to the community and it’s important for me to follow in his footsteps as best as I can and support the community as best as I can,” says Lyell of his father. During the pandemic, Jay’s Local, like so many other eateries, had to rethink its business model. Scherline wanted to support other small local businesses that were trying to weather the storm. Jay’s Local began to offer workshops, a kitchen rental program, pop-ups and a space for vendors to sell their wares, everything from arts and crafts to hot sauce. Children’s story time is a more recent addition to the events calendar; Jase, the young daughter of Scherline and his wife, Tracey, is a frequent attendee. “It’s like a second home and everyone in the family has a part in it,” Scherline says. That also includes his mother, Lorrie.
"It’s like a second home. .."
Now the family is trying to deepen its commitment to supporting the community with the creation of the Jay and Jase Foundation. “We’re trying however we can to support people in the Lehigh Valley that are looking to start a business, or grow a business.” That can mean many things: mentorship, helping with contacts or finances, or using the Jay’s Local space to test and launch products. The way Scherline sees it, it’s all just part of being a good neighbor. “This is where we live, and this is where we’re raising our family. I want it to be as best it can.”
Published as "Lehigh Valley Style's Influential Men of the Year" in the February 2024 edition of Lehigh Valley Style magazine.
