About Friends of Via – Friends of Via

Who We Are

FRIENDS OF VIA is a 501 (c) (3) organization in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania founded in 2004 which supports Via Foundation, an independent Czech foundation that is committed to community and philanthropy development in the Czech Republic.

What We Do

FRIENDS OF VIA gives American donors an easy and tax-deductible way to donate to Prague-based Via Foundation. Learn more here.

FRIENDS OF VIA also has the capacity to act as a grantmaker for other donors seeking to make contributions to other Czech non-profit organizations:

Management and Leadership

Friends of Via is governed by a Board of Directors. Carol Hochman serves as the Executive Director.

Meet the members of the Friends of Via Board of Directors:

Carol Hochman, Executive Director

Dr. Carol Hochman, chairperson of Friends of Via, is a Pittsburgh native who grew up in a Czech-speaking family with family roots in Kladno and Pribram. She taught in public schools and, after receiving a doctorate in education, also taught at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2001, She joined William Lafe and Robin Zoufalik in successfully establishing a sister city partnership with Pittsburgh and Ostrava. In 2004, Friends of Via was officially established as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with an all volunteer board serving as the U.S. fiscal agent for Nadace Via. From 2007 – 2021, Carol served as the Honorary Consul for the Czech Republic for Western Pennsylvania and Ohio, and currently participates as an advisor to Cesky and Slovensky Svet, the Pittsburgh Czech and Slovak Language School for children ages pre-school through high school.

Kevin Kearns, Director and Program Development

Dr. Kevin Kearns is professor emeritus in the School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh, where for 35 years he taught and conducted research on nonprofit management, governance, and leadership. He is the author of four books and many articles on the topic, including most recently the Elgar Encyclopedia of Nonprofit Management, Leadership, and Governance. In 2007 he received the Fulbright – Masaryk Award for NGO Management, teaching at Charles University and the University of Economics in Prague.

John Allison, Director and Program Development

John Allison, a Pittsburgh native, has been a journalist for more than 40 years. In 1990, he left New York for Prague, where he taught English and then worked for the Lord Mayor of Prague, Jaroslav Kořán, as an “American Advisor” for a year, followed by a year in Prague Castle as assistant to staff. Through this time, he was writing columns (feuilletons) for Prognosis, the first English-language publication in Czechoslovakia after the Communist government collapse. In 1993 he joined Prognosis full time and became editor-in-chief. He returned to Pittsburgh in 1994 to work as an editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for more than two decades. He’s now an editor at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He is the author of “The Adventures of Joe Marlboro,” a parody novel he serialized in Prognosis about an American cowboy who moves to Prague to find love; it was published in 1995 by Argo in a dual English-Czech edition, translation by Jiří Pilucha.

William Lafe, Director and Treasurer

From 1972 to 1989, William Lafe worked as Assistant Director and subsequently Associate Director of the Pittsburgh Foundation and the Heinz Endowments. From 1990-2016, he managed William Lafe Associates, a consulting firm that provided services to non-profit organizations.

Bill graduated from Juniata College and received his Masters Degree in International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh. Over his career, he has worked as an advertising copywriter, teacher, actor, Foreign Service Officer, foundation executive and consultant. As a Foreign Service officer, he served in Argentina and the Dominican Republic.

Bill has served on the board of directors of the following organizations: Chamber Music Pittsburgh, Three Rivers Arts Festival, Arsenal Family and Children’s Center, Pittsburgh International Children’s Theater Festival and the Central European Linkage Program. In 2004, he became a founding board member of Friends of Via.

Marge Petruska, Director and Program Development

Marge Petruska retired from The Heinz Endowments, one of Pittsburgh’s most influential philanthropies, after 32 years, where she oversaw it’s Children, Youth and Families Program that approved $200 million in grants during her tenure where she utilized innovative grantmaking to help vulnerable children and families with initiatives that aimed at reforming the health, early education and human services systems that support them.

Currently Marge is the Chair of the Squirrel Hill Health Center, a comprehensive primary health organization serving many of Pittsburgh’s refugees and immigrants; a board member of the Opportunity Fund, a Pittsburgh-based philanthropy that awards grants to mid-sized arts organizations and initiatives that advance social and economic justice; and a board member of the Friends of Via Foundation where she enjoys supporting philanthropic programs in the Czech Republic, the home of her grandparents.

Elizabeth Shribman, Director and Program Development

Elizabeth Shribman is currently the Chief Operating Officer at the San Francisco Symphony. Prior to joining the San Francisco Symphony, she spent three years working in artistic planning and international touring at the Czech Philharmonic in Prague. During that time she became fluent in Czech and also began performing as a violinist with Muzicka, a traditional Czech folk music group. Elizabeth holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Stanford University.

Outside of her day job, she has exercised her side passion for facilitating cultural exchange through music through fundraising and planning three separate month-long tours of a combined 17 American states and one Canadian province for Muzicka. She also enjoys fitness, the outdoors, and all things Czech.

Robin Zoufalik, Director and Program Development

Robin R. Zoufalik is a native of Prague, Czech Republic and has lived in the US since 1967 following a successful escape from communist Czechoslovakia with his parents assisted by the legal immigration process. He has lived in Houston and Dallas, TX, La Crosse, WI, Washington DC, Harrisburg, PA and has been a Pittsburgh resident since 2000. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Professionally, he has been in the Built Environment Industry for more than 40 years including real estate development, design, construction, operations, and maintenance services. Robin leads business development as an associate and stockholder for the Pittsburgh office of POH+W Architects. He has been an active Rotarian for 30+ years, leading several initiatives and serving as the only two-time President of the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh. He has a belief in civic involvement through participation in a variety organizations.

Since coming to Pittsburgh, Robin has been involved in numerous Czech related initiatives which include organizing a Czechs in the Burgh Meet-Up Group, Pittsburgh-Ostrava Sister City Committee, a founding board member of Friends of Via, and an advisor to the Czech Slovak Language School of Pittsburgh. Robin also currently serves as an Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic. He promotes and coordinates many Czech activities in the Pittsburgh region that include business and culture. Robin is very interested in building awareness of and maintaining Czech culture, and currently operates Czech It Tours with Robin, conducting small group personally curated tours involving a native perspective of Prague, Bohemia, and Moravia.

Petra Viragova, Director and Program Development

Petra Viragova was born in the small town of Písek, located in Southern Bohemia. She received a master’s degree from the Czech Technical Institute (CVUT) in Prague. She currently works as a paraprofessional at Sunrise School in Monroeville.

In 2001, Petra relocated to the United States with her husband and their three children, eventually settling in the Pittsburgh area. While building a new life, she remained strongly committed to her Czech roots. Driven by a passion for preserving her heritage, Petra became a co-founder of the Czech and Slovak Language School of Pittsburgh in 2015. Petra continues to play many roles within the school and community. She served as a teacher and event coordinator, helping to shape both the school’s educational program and the cultural life surrounding it. She has organized activities such as Dobro-Druzi, a philanthropic event for children that combined community engagement with charitable giving. She also contributed to organizing language immersion camps, creating meaningful opportunities for students to deepen their connection to the Czech and Slovak language and culture. Petra looks forward to helping to build bridges between cultures and ensuring that traditions continue to thrive for future generations.

Jitka Benediktova, Director and Program Development

Jitka Benediktova was born and raised in the South Moravian region of the Czech Republic. She studied and graduated from the Institute of Chemistry and Technology in Prague as an Engineer of Biochemistry and Biomedicine. After graduation she worked at the Academy of Sciences in Prague at the Department of Biochemistry participating in studies on viral proteins.

In 2000, Jitka moved to San Diego, CA, working first as a volunteer and later as a Research Assistant for a small bio company Bioedge Research conducting contact lens and biomaterial research. She met her husband in San Diego and in 2007 they moved to Pittsburgh, where both of their sons were born. A priority has always been their children, so Jitka decided to stay home with them and help them to become full members of the society and at the same time maintain their Czech and Italian languages and heritage. Jitka became part of the Czech and Slovak Language School of Pittsburgh team and currently serves as the Director of the school. She enjoys working with children and also firmly believes in how important it is to know your family origins and to teach our children to become proud Czechs.

Friends of Via board members support the Via mission and serve as volunteers, receiving no compensation for their services.

To find out more, please contact:
Carol Hochman
412.855.6581
chochman@friendsofvia.org