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Advocacy
Advocacy
White Plains, NY (January 9, 2020) – The Westchester County Association (WCA) – Westchester’s leading economic development and business advocacy organization – today announced the appointment of twelve new members to its board of directors, a new vice chair of its board of directors, and three board members to its executive committee.
Joining the WCA’s board of directors are:
Susan Fox, president and chief executive officer of White Plains Hospital and a WCA board member, has been appointed as vice chair of the WCA’s board of directors.
Appointed to the WCA’s executive committee of the board of directors are:
“As the leading independent voice of Westchester’s business community, we’re excited to have these diverse leaders in their respective fields share their expertise, talents and contributions, to help the WCA continue to drive economic development across the region,” said William Harrington, chairman of the WCA’s board of directors.
Kara Bennorth is executive vice president and chief administrative officer of WMCHealth, the 1,700-bed regional medical system serving New York’s Hudson Valley and beyond, encompassing a regional academic medical center, children’s hospital, trauma centers, several community hospitals and inpatient and outpatient behavioral health centers, nursing homes, homecare and numerous outpatient health and related services. With 35 years of public affairs, marketing, communications and development experience in both healthcare and the public sector, she oversees the overall administrative direction of the network and has a strategic role and involvement in network-related activities, driving organization development and culture, and inter-network and inter-departmental collaboration and coordination.
John Cooney, Jr. is executive director of Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley, which represents 600 companies in the heavy-highway contracting community, as well as hundreds of suppliers and builders across the seven counties of the lower Hudson Valley. His career in the construction industry has spanned 40 years. Previously, he was New York region president at Oldcastle Materials, with responsibility for three operating companies in New York State. He also previously served as president of his family-owned business County Asphalt, Inc., in Tarrytown, NY.
Sarah Reynard Epifano is senior director, business development, at Skanska USA. Previously, she was director of business development at Skanska USA Building Inc., and served as the lead business developer responsible for organically growing Skanska’s Connecticut office. Reynard Epifano’s career accomplishments include pioneering Turner Construction Co.’s special projects division in Connecticut and overseeing major construction projects for Collins Development. She currently serves on the board of Professional Women in Construction and is an active member with the Westchester Biotech Project and with NYC Builds Bio+, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing New York City’s real estate and life sciences communities together.
Lindsay Farrell is president and chief executive officer of the Open Door Family Medical Center and Foundation, a Federally Qualified Health Center system in New York’s Hudson Valley serving nearly 57,000 low-income people in 14 locations. Under her leadership, Open Door has significantly expanded, adding new locations, programs and digital technologies to more than triple the number of low-income people served. Farrell began working at Open Door as a volunteer and has served there since 1986 in both operational and fundraising roles. She is also a corporate director of MVP Health Plan, a large regional insurer in upstate New York, chairperson of the board of HealthEfficient, a health center controlled network, and chairperson of the board of HITCH – Health Information Technology for Community Health. Farrell also serves as director of the Community Health Care Association of New York State, and chair of the Health Care Executive Forum.
Seth M. Mandelbaum is the managing partner of McCullough, Goldberger & Staudt, LLP. He practices in the areas of land use and environmental law, alternative energy, municipal law, and not-for-profit organizations. In addition, he is one of only a small group of attorneys in New York to be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED® AP). Mandelbaum serves on the WCA’s real estate task force, and he is also chairperson of the board of trustees for the Westchester Parks Foundation (formerly Friends of Westchester County Parks). He is a member of the board of directors of the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center, a member of the New York State Bar Association, and a member of the Westchester County Bar Association, for which he formerly served as co-chair of the environmental law committee.
Kevin J. McCarthy is a managing director at Cushman & Wakefield, serving the commercial real estate requirements of clients in the New York tri-state area as well as throughout the United States. As a real estate adviser with over 15 years of experience, he is a strategist on real estate solutions for tenants, landlords, owners and buyers. He also provides portfolio real estate expertise on executing transactions for companies with decentralized real estate departments across multiple locations. Prior to his career in commercial real estate, McCarthy worked at ESPN in media conglomerate distribution sales.
Stephen J. McCulloch, Jr. is senior director at Houlihan-Parnes Realtors. He has been actively involved in the commercial real estate business since 1984, serving in roles in sales, financing, ownership, leasing, and the management of multifamily, office and retail properties. He has also been active in the construction of single-family homes, working in partnership with various builders in Westchester and Long Island. He is president of the Building and Realty Institute, a 1,500-member real estate trade association actively involved the commercial and residential development arena throughout New York State. He is also a trustee of the Construction Industry Foundation and a member of the area development council of the county chamber of commerce.
Frank P. Micalizzi is senior vice president and serves as regional president for M&T Bank’s Tarrytown and Connecticut Region, responsible for the middle market, commercial real estate, healthcare and not-for-profit commercial relationships teams serving Westchester County, NY, Rockland County, NY, and all of Connecticut. Micalizzi began his career at M&T Bank in 2009 and previously served as senior group manager for the Tarrytown middle market group. He is active in several local charitable organizations in both New York and Connecticut. Prior to joining M&T, he spent 30 years with JPMorgan Chase, holding senior positions including senior vice president and division manager.
Jim O’Connor is vice president of business development and government affairs for Empress Ambulance Services, the contracted provider of 911 emergency medical services (EMS) for the cities of White Plains, Yonkers, New Rochelle and Mount Vernon. He has been active with many EMS organizations and has held board positions locally, regionally and on a national level. He currently serves on the boards of Hospice of Westchester, the New Rochelle Police Foundation and the American Heart Association. He was a founding member and first chairman of the Westchester County Regional EMS Council and has served on the Hudson Valley Regional EMS Council, the New York State EMS Council and the American Ambulance Association in Washington, D.C.
Deborah Novick is the Director of BioInc@NYMC, the incubator for innovative startups dedicated to improving human health, based at New York Medical College. She serves on two task forces for Westchester County: Element 46, the County’s incubator program now completing its pilot cohort, and the Biosciences Innovation Ecosystem Task Force. With more than 25 years of experience working with entrepreneurs and small business owners on strategic growth, business development, and financing, Novick developed her expertise in working with business owners while on Wall Street for 20 years, and in a private consulting practice for 10 years. She has extensive experience raising capital for early stage companies, in the private and public capital markets, handling transactions ranging in size from $50,000 to $20 million. She has managed two investment funds, and sat on advisory boards and boards of directors, including serving as a director of two public companies.
Robin White is director, New York City and Westchester external affairs for AT&T, and oversees the company’s foundation support across New York City. She manages AT&T’s relationships with dozens of local organizations to support the mission of AT&T ASPIRE and to develop and nurture a pipeline of talent to increase diversity in the tech sector, “life up” communities, and help shape the future generation of AT&T employees. Prior to joining AT&T, she served for more than a decade in various roles across both city and state government.
Teresita Wisell is vice president of workforce development and community education at Westchester Community College (SUNY). With more than 30 years of experience in higher education administration, she also serves as executive director of the Community College Consortium for Immigrant Education (CCCIE), a national network of community colleges and other organizations committed to expanding programs for immigrants and leveraging the role that community colleges play in successful immigrant integration. In 2014, the White House recognized Wisell as a champion of change for her contributions to workplace citizenship programs. She is a National Community College Hispanic Council fellow and a SUNY Chancellor’s award recipient. She serves on the board of the National Council for Workforce Education (NCWE), the national advisory board of the National Skills Coalition for Skills Equity and the board of Neighbors Link of Northern Westchester, a regional organization that strengthens the whole community through the healthy integration of immigrants.
For headshots of the new board members, click here.
The Westchester County Association (www.westchester.org) is the preeminent business leadership organization serving Westchester County and the region. The Association is committed to Smart Growth, business advocacy and economic vitality, and to providing a strong and clear voice for the interests of business. Its key objectives are to promote positive economic development in the region, foster business development, and provide its members with access to and interaction with key public and private sector individuals, agencies, and organizations.
For more information about the Westchester County Association, visit www.westchester.org.
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