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| :: Home > About Us > Staff and Board > Board Members |
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| Gary Calnek - Board Chair |
Gary Calnek recently retired as a Hospital Administrator in the Bronx. He specialized in personnel issues and was instrumental in developing new hospital employment programs for Bronx residents. Gary has helped significantly in our negotiation with the Parks Department for use of the West Bronx Recreation Center. He joined the HCLC board in 2004.
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| Michael Potack |
Michael has been a member of the board since 1980.
He is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Unitex/Med-Apparel Services.
He began his successful career in the linen and laundry business in 1966 as Vice President of Unitex.
From 1972-1975, he served as Director of the Textile Rental Services Association,
a national trade association representing this $6 billion a year industry.
Unitex's headquarters and large laundry facility was located in Highbridge until 2003 and is now in nearby Mt. Vernon.
The company has always hired local Highbridge residents and has in recent years hired residents for their other plants in Westchester and Orange Counties. Mr. Potack has shared his management skills with the HCLC staff and has taken a particular interest in monitoring the Outcomes project.
Currently, he is also chair of the board of Beth Abraham Hospital, a not-for-profit health care facility.
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| Y. Gail Goode |
Y. Gail Goode has been a member of the board since 1990. She worked for the Bronx District Attorney from 1986-1992 before moving on to be Executive Agency Counsel for the New York City Transit Authority, a position she has held since November 1996. In this capacity she is a major case attorney handling all of New York Country’s high profile personal injury cases. For example, train derailments, bus crashes, pedestrian knockdowns and many others.
Gail lived in the Morrisania section of the Bronx for most of her life before moving to Co-op city. She attended South Bronx elementary schools and was enrolled in the College bound program at Walton High School. While being an Assistant District Attorney, she volunteered at several community organizations. She sponsored a fundraiser in the summer of 2004 involving the Bronx Half-Marathon.
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| Joan McGuire |
Joan McGuire has been a board member since the beginning of the agency in 1979. She holds a Master's Degree in Urban Planning from New York University. She does volunteer consultancy work with schools and community agencies. Joan is particularly helpful to the HCLC staff in the development and fundraising field.
Together with Nona Petioni, Joan developed our individual donor fundraising plan the past year as part of a foundation sponsored course in development.
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| Nona Petioni |
Nona Petioni was appointed to the HCLC board in 1998. Ms. Petioni has been a resident of Anderson Avenue since 1970. Two years before being appointed a board member, she joined the Leadership Group of the Neighbors in Highbridge Initiative of HCLC. She did volunteer work with The United Harlem Aids Ministry from 1995 through 2005.
Ms. Petioni retired from NYNEX in 1991. She is a constant advocate for involving retired people in addressing many particular needs in the Highbridge community. She envisions retired people helping youth in the local PS 73 to catch up to grade level. Nona and Joan McGuire developed our individual donor fundraising plan the past year as part of a foundation sponsored course in development.
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| Gail Hernandez |
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Gail Hernandez has been a resident of Highbridge for over 30 years. Currently, she works with the young women and their children who live in Sienna House, a temporary shelter in Highbridge. Two years ago, Gail retired from the Metropolitan Museum of Art where she was the Office Manager for the Museum store. Gail joined the HCLC board in 2004.
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| Penny Guest |
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Penny Guest volunteers her accounting services with several not-for-profit organizations in Manhattan. She worked as a CPA for Ernst & Young with responsibility for tax compliance for not-for-profit clients. She also worked as an Account Manager for the Baltimore Symphony and owned her own accounting business. She has been a board member for several non-profits. Penny joined the HCLC board in 2004.
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| Peter Harsham |
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Peter was introduced
to Highbridge as a volunteer for the Taproot Foundation.
As the brand strategist on the Taproot team conducting a
brand assessment survey for Highbridge, he had the opportunity to
meet many of the organization’s constituents and to see how its
programs provided support and empowerment in the community,
first-hand. That
experience fueled his desire to do more.
After a career in marketing and sales in
banking –JP Morgan Chase, The Bank of
New York—and
magazine publishing –Scientific
American, Institutional Investor--Peter
moved into the not-for-profit sector,
earning a certificate in fundraising
from the Heyman Center on Philanthropy
at New York University.
He has worked as the major gift
officer for the Columbia University
libraries and is currently as an
independent development and marketing
consultant.
Peter holds BA and MA degrees in history
from the University of Cincinnati, and
an MBA from Xavier University.
He joined the Highbridge board in
2009, and currently chairs its
development committee.
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| Anthony Hitchman |
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Tony Hitchman joined our board in the summer of
2007 after volunteering with HCLC through a grant from the Taproot
Foundation. He is currently a Senior Vice President at U.S.
Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management. Prior to Bank of
America he worked in Segment Marketing at Morgan Stanley and in
Strategic Initiatives at The Bank of New York. Tony holds a
bachelors degree in Political Science from Villanova University and
is pursuing a Masters in International Political Economy and
Development at Fordham University. |
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| Nicole M. Clare - Secretary |
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Nicole M. Clare joined the HCLC board in early 2008 after completing
the Linkages Board Training
and Placement program through the United
Way of New York City (now BoardServeNYC). She is currently Project
Manager for Housing & Fund Development at Settlement Housing Fund, a
non-profit affordable housing developer. Prior to joining
Settlement Housing Fund, Nicole was a Community Development Project
Manager at Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation; an Associate
in the NYC office of AECOM Economics (formerly Economics Research
Associates), a well-respected real estate development consulting
company; and held several positions at the City of New York / Parks
& Recreation. Nicole
received her Bachelor's degree from Brown University and a Master of
City Planning degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a
proud native of the Bronx, New York.
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| Barbara Biel - Vice President |
Barbara Biel is a new member
of the Board who joined in July, 2008. She had been a
Senior Managing Director at Bear Stearns specializing in
credit risk management for over ten years. Barbara worked
at a number of global financial institutions in both New
York and London in risk management and analysis including
Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Bear Stearns. She started
her career as an auditor and consultant at Ernst & Young.
Ms. Biel received her
undergraduate degree from Wellesley College and her MBA from
the Wharton Graduate School of the University of
Pennsylvania.
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| William Staples - Treasurer |
Bill joined the Board in the
Fall of 2007. He graduated from St John's University in 1973
with a B.S. in Accounting. Started his professional career
with the Chemical Bank in July, 1973 and retired as Managing
Director and Chief Admin Officer for JPMorgan's North
American Investment Bank. Earlier in his career Bill focused
on supporting JPMorgan's trading businesses where he
developed a broad and diverse background in the Financial
Services Industry, with increasing responsibilities and
accomplishments.
For the past year Bill has
been a part-time consultant for Goodwill Industries serving
as Director of Business Innovations.
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| Ronald Rapatalo |
| Ronald G. Rapatalo has been an HCLC board member since May
2009. He has been working for the past five years as the Director
of Recruitment Strategy and Admissions Operations at New Leaders for
New Schools, a national non-profit that recruits, trains, selects
and supports outstanding urban public school principals and supports
the schools they lead. Prior to working at New Leaders,
Ronald has also worked at Teach For America, Morgan Stanley, and New
York University. Ronald graduated from NYU in 1997 with a BS in
Neural Science and is an active member of the NYU alumni community,
currently serving as Vice-President of the NYU Alumni Association
and co-chair of the Multicultural Alumni Committee. |
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| Michael Horgan |
| Michael Horgan was appointed to the board in
the Fall of 2009 coming to us by way of the Robin Hood Foundation.
Michael graduated from Georgetown University with a double major in
Finance and Accounting. He started his career in Investment Banking
at Bank of America Securities and now serves as a Vice President at
Twin Capital, a New York City based Hedge Fund, focused on Event
Driven Situations. |
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| Eric Weisman |
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Eric Weisman has been a member of the Board
since May 2009. Eric's professional experience includes working for
Obrem Capital, a New York-based hedge fund, The Blackstone Group,
and Lehman Brothers. Eric also worked in the Corporate Development
Group at Cingular Wireless (now AT&T Wireless). Eric received his
Master in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and
his Bachelor of Arts from Duke University. Eric is a member of the
Audit, IT, and Program and Quality Improvement committees and has
completed the United Way Linkages Board Training Program.
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| Jennifer A. Klear |
Jennifer A. Klear is an attorney in New York
with a solo practice where her practice includes
media and technology counseling and litigation. In particular,
Jennifer has advised clients on the First Amendment and
Intellectual Property issues as they relate to the internet.
She has also handled cases and matters involving defamation,
copyright, trademark, the Federal Communications Commission, student
speech, political speech, and reasonable time, place, and manner
restrictions.
Jennifer is the chair of
the Entertainment & Media Law Committee for the New York County
Lawyers Association and an active member of the Communications &
Media Law Committee for the City Bar of New York. She served
as a panelist for New York Law School's Media Entertainment Sports
Law Association's "Privacy Rights in Relation to the Internet" in
October 2008 and spoke about "The Pitfalls of Hosting a Blog or
Podcast and How to Avoid Them" at Philly PodCamp in September 2008.
She has authored several articles on First Amendment issues,
including "Protecting Employers from Negative Employee Blogs," which
was published in New Jersey Business in February 2007 and
"Avoiding the Legal Risks of Hosting a Blog," which was published in
The Antenna. She is a graduate of Emory University
Rutgers University School of Law - Camden.
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| Patricia Meadow |
Patricia Meadow joined the New York State
Banking Department as First Deputy Superintendent in August 2007.
With over 20 years of experience in the field of financial services,
Patricia has worked in major international financial institutions in
the areas of administration, finance, business development, human
resources, and governance. Her broad experience includes
specialization in developing best practice operating procedures and
building trust and consensus among diverse constituencies. Having
lived abroad for over 10 years, Patricia is fluent in Spanish, and
conversant in Portuguese and French.
Patricia most recently held
the position of Head of Administration for the New York office of
Investcorp, a global private equity firm, where she was responsible
for human resources, finance, technology, office administration,
premises, and special events. Prior to joining Investcorp, Patricia
held management positions in corporate lending at HSBC, Chemical
Bank, and Citibank. She has served as a Board member of the American
Chamber of Commerce of Chile, and was a member of the Eisenhower
Exchange Fellowship Committee. She has served on several nonprofit
boards, and is currently a Board Member of Heartsong Inc., a
nonprofit organization dedicated to providing music and art therapy
for challenged youth.
Patricia holds a Masters Degree in
International Relations from Columbia University School of
International and Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts degree in
Political Science from Arcadia University.
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Staff Members