Chair: Mr. William Kaplan
Vice Chair: James D. O’Donnell
Secretary: Carmen Vazqueztell
Treasurer: Dr. William Richards

Board Members:
Dawn Fucheck
Cheryl Gross
W. Chris Hawkins
Richard Herbek
Wilbur Higgins
Joan Kaplan
Rick Milton
Joy Pittman
David Rider
Mark Stellwag
Russ Vernon

President & CEO: Deirdre Glenn

William Kaplan, Chair
Newburgh businessman and philanthropist Bill Kaplan is the founder of the Elaine and William Kaplan Family Foundations, which concentrates on support of innovative and sustainable projects primarily in the Newburgh area. Key grantees include Mount St. Mary College, St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital, Hospice of Orange, The Greater Hudson Valley Health Center, Occupations, Inc., McQuade Foundation, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh, and Orange County Community College, for which a grant of $10.3 M from the Kaplan Foundation leveraged the funding for a $100M project and creation of a college in downtown Newburgh.

James D. O’Donnell, Vice Chair
Deputy County Executive for Orange County Jim O’Donnell is the former Chief of Police of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department, prior to which he served 23 years with the New York State Police, retiring as Lieutenant Colonel in 1997. The father of seven children and an avid sportsman, Jim has often been called on as a coach.

Carmen A. Vazqueztell, Secretary
Director of Bilingual Education for the Newburgh Enlarged City School District, Carmen is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Elementary Education at SUNY New Paltz. Carmen has a MA in Educational Administration from NYU, a Professional Diploma in Reading, Language and Cognition from Hofstra and is PhDABD from Hofstra.

Dr. William Richards, Treasurer
President of SUNY Orange Bill Richards has been a community college educator for 28 years. He currently serves on six non-profit boards and is an officer on four. He also serves as a consultant to the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Dawn M. Fucheck, Board
Ms. Fucheck is currently in her second year as President of the Board of Education for the Newburgh Enlarged City School District, which has a student population of 13,000. She has been a member of the Board of Education for the past six years. She is also on the Board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Newburgh and the New York State Association of Small City School Districts.

Cheryl A. Gross, Board
Cheryl A. Gross is the City Comptroller of the City of Newburgh. Cheryl has a BS in Accounting from MSMC, 30 years in the field of finance, 12 years in government accounting. She is a 2nd generation Newburgher.

W. Chris Hawkins, Board
A licensed professional engineer, Chris has donated significant service to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh and to the Newburgh Armory Unity Center, since retiring from the New York State Office of General Services after 35 years of service. He has assumed responsibility for management of rehabilitation for the center.

Richard Herbek, Board
Richard F. Herbek was appointed Acting City Manager of the City of Newburgh on August 31, 2009. Mr. Herbek is also President of RFH Management Services, Inc., which specializes in providing management services to local governments and related agencies. From 1981 to 2008 Mr. Herbek was the Village Manager of Croton-on-Hudson, New York and from 1971 to 1980 he was the Deputy Village Manager of Scarsdale, New York. Professional affiliations include the International City County Management Association, New York State City County Management Association, American Society of Public Administration, American Public Works Association, Westchester Water Works Conference, and New York State Association of Fire Chiefs among others. He received his master’s degree in public administration from the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and his undergraduate degree from St. Lawrence University. Mr. Herbek also had a lengthy career in the United States Army Reserves. He is a Vietnam veteran and retired as a Colonel in 1994.

Wilbur R. Higgins, Board
Wilbur Higgins is the now-retired Director of the City of Newburgh Recreation Department, having started working with Newburgh in 1971. He is past president of the St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital Board of Trustees, and has also served as a member of the Mount St. Mary College President’s Advisory Council, President of the Anne F. Bourne Memorial Fund, Inc., and also on the Boards of Meals on Wheels of Greater Newburgh, the Orange County Board of Parks, Recreation and Conservation and the NY State Parks and Recreation.

Joan Kaplan, Board
Daughter of Bill Kaplan, Joan runs the Elaine and William Kaplan Family Foundation. She is a licensed clinical social worker and is a graduate of Mount Saint Mary College and Columbia University. Joan serves on several boards in the Newburgh area, including Hospice and Mount Saint Mary College.

Fr. Kevin E. Mackin, OFM, Board
Fr. Kevin E. Mackin, OFM, is president of Mount Saint Mary College, now ranked a Top-Tier Regional University (North) by U.S. News & World Report. He was previously president of Siena College. During his tenure as president-rector of Christ the King Seminary, he chaired the Seminary Department of the National Catholic Educational Association. Fr. Kevin is a commissioner of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. He has also served on the board of directors of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities. He is Presidents Council Chair of the Skyline Conference of colleges, and is on the board of directors of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce, and of Pattern for Progress of the Hudson Valley.

Rick Milton, Board
Originally from La Jolla, CA, Milton has been a resident of New York since 1983, and has been licensed in real estate for 40 years. He and his wife own and operate Mesh Realty Group, Inc. in the City of Newburgh. Managing residential and commercial properties for others, the Miltons also have several properties of their own. Rick currently serves on the Board of Meals on Wheels and the Downing Park Planning Committee. He is a founding member of the Newburgh 20/20 Committee, which promotes the development of new business in Newburgh. He has served on the Board of INSPIRE, and organization that works with developmentally handicapped children, the Balmville PTA and Newburgh Parks and Recreation Committee for the town of Newburgh.

Joy Pittman, Board
Director of the City of Newburgh 21st Century Learning Center, Joy has also been head of the City’s Youth Bureau since 2000. She is active in the Orange County Youth Bureau, Team Newburgh Leadership, Ebenzer Baptist Church Trustees, and the SUNY Orange CETA board. Joy is a graduate of Mount Saint Mary College and is certified as a NYS Youth Development facilitator.

David Rider, Board
Member of Rider, Weiner, Frankel, P.C., a general practice law firm concentrating on business law and business formation, employment relations, intellectual property and copyright, banking and finance, health care, pension and benefits law, tax, trusts and estates, commercial real estate, construction law and commercial litigation. David Rider was born in Newburgh, NY, and received his BA from Cornell University and LLB from Yale. Co-author of “The Legal Right to Die,” International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, 1982 Annual Educational Conference Proceedings Focus on Education. Attorney for the Town of Newburgh, 1989-1993 and for the City of Newburgh, 2002. David Rider was a 1st Lt. US Army Intelligence during the Vietnam War.

Mark Stellwag, Board
Administrative Vice President Commercial Real Estate at M&T Bank, responsible for managing the commercial real estate lending activities of the Bank for the eastern part of New York and New England. Prior to joining M&T Bank in 1993, Mark was VP-Commercial Real Estate for Fleet Bank in Newburgh. He is a graduate of Newburgh Free Academy and is active in the community. Mark has a BBA in Finance from Pace University. He is a former manager of the Town of Newburgh Little League and a former coach for Town of Newburgh Recreation Soccer, and presently serves on the Golf Committee for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh.

Russ Vernon, Board
Russ Vernon is co-founder and General Partner of BVM Capital (www.bvmcap.com), a Venture Capital, Private Equity and consulting firm serving the United States Gulf Coast and Hudson Valley Region of New York State. During his career Russ has held numerous senior level management positions, which include President of Commerce Capital Markets, Inc., Chief Operating Officer at Barrett Associates, Inc. Earlier in his career, Russ served as a Senior Manager at Deloitte & Touche, where his consulting practice focused on management, M&A, financial service, and due diligence engagements and issues, and as a Vice President of Citibank, NA. In the public sector, Russ served as a full Colonel in the New York Army National Guard until 2004. He has served in numerous positions including Company Commander, Battalion Operations Officer, Commander of the 1st Battalion 69th Infantry, “The Fighting 69th”, the Inspector General of the 42nd Infantry Division, Military Liaison to the New York State Department of Governmental Affairs and Commander of the New York State ARFOR Command. Russ holds a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy at West Point, a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University and a Master of Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College. He also serves on non-profit boards of the Hebrew Technical Institute, Tuxedo 9/11 Foundation and the Onyx and Breezy Foundation.

Deirdre Glenn, President & CEO
Following 10 years as the Executive Director, building the capacity of the not-for-profit Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh, Deirdre became involved in the Newburgh Armory Unity Center, first as a volunteer and now as the President and CEO. Deirdre has a Masters in Public Management from Carnegie Mellon University School of Urban and Public Affairs. She completed her undergraduate at NYU and undertook graduate work in History of Art at Trinity College Dublin. For several years prior to moving to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she worked in archaeology and the arts in Ireland. Before returning to her hometown of Newburgh, New York, Deirdre was in business and management at the University of Pittsburgh. She has worked with AmeriCorpsVISTA, NCCC, and managed the World Monuments sponsored summer school at the Dutch Reform Church in Newburgh.