(Poughkeepsie, NY) The Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse (CPCA) announced today the appointment of seven members to the Board of Directors: Stephen Caswell; Renee Fillette, PhD; George Metz; Steven Miccio; Himali Pandya, MPA; Kathy Queenan; and Richard Turi, CPA. This increases the CPCA Board of Directors to 18.
“We are delighted to welcome these seven new directors to our board,” said Executive Director for the CPCA, Kimberly Haight. “They bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise that will provide strategic direction in the areas of finance, board governance, program execution and contract management to strengthen the CPCA’s mission of effectively addressing child abuse in the Mid-Hudson Valley.”
Stephen Caswell represents District 21 of the Dutchess County Legislature in the Town of East Fishkill where he serves on the Budget, Finance, and Personnel Committee. Prior to his election, he worked at IBM for 40 years with various roles in accounting and finance, most recently serving as Internal Audit Operations Manager at their corporate headquarters in Armonk, NY. He is active in the community as the announcer and statistician for John Jay High School Varsity Boys Soccer, Santa Claus for the Town of East Fishkill Holiday Celebration, and Director and Treasurer for Julie’s Jungle Playground Project, a nonprofit in East Fishkill. He has previously served on the board for Hudson Valley Credit Union, East Fishkill Rotary, and both the Planning Board and Recreation Advisory Board for the Town of Fishkill.
Renee Fillette, PhD is the Executive Director of Dutchess Outreach. She has over 18 years of executive experience in the nonprofit sector including Chief Operating Officer for Astor Services for Children and Families, Executive Director of Grace Smith House, and the Founder and CEO of St. John Bosco Child and Family Services. She has been awarded the Athena Leadership Award for Excellence, ’40 Under 40’ Mover and Shakers Award, and was honored at the annual gala for the State University of New York at New Paltz. She has represented several boards over the past 20 years and was recently a member of the Dutchess County Path to Promise Steering Committee, co-chaired for the New York State Coalition for Children’s Behavioral Health, and a board member for the Council of Family and Child Care Agencies.
George Metz is retired from IBM Global Business Services North America where he was the Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Operations. Prior to this, he held several financial and consulting roles at IBM. He maintains an active lifestyle in the community as a parish trustee and serves on the finance committee at St. Mary, Mother of the Church in Fishkill, Vice Chair and head of the finance committee at Catholic Charities in Dutchess County, Board President at Meals on Wheels of Greater Poughkeepsie, and does the public address announcing for Our Lady of Lourdes football and basketball programs.
Steven Miccio is the Chief Executive Officer of People USA, a peer operated advocacy and service organization serving people throughout New York State. He has spent over two decades providing insight in becoming one of the nations’ foremost experts in establishing and managing peer operated crisis diversion/respite services and has assisted in the creation of peer services both nationally and internationally. He has been recognized for his advocacy and leadership in mental health services including New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, Mental Health Association of New York, Association for Community Living of New York State, and both Mental Health America of Dutchess County and of Ulster County. He has served on several boards concerning behavioral and psychiatric health and is currently Board Chair of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association, a board member for Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) International, a policy board member for United Way 2-1-1 of the Hudson Valley, the diversion committee chair for the Dutchess County Criminal Justice Council, member of the Dutchess County Police Reform and Modernization Collaborative, and an advisory board member for the Northeast Caribbean Mental Health Technology Transfer Center.
Himali Pandya, MPA is the Director of Project Management at Astor Services for Children and Families in Rhinebeck, NY where she manages the strategic planning process for the Hudson Valley region. She previously held a position as a Special Projects Manager and has worked for the State University of New York at New Paltz as a Coordinator of Holistic Academic Success Programs, Mount Saint Mary College as Assistant Director of Student Activities and Leadership Development Coach, Grace Smith House as Youth Education Outreach Coordinator, and National Constitution Center as a Government Relations and International Engagement Fellow.
Kathy Queenan is the Customer Success Specialist and Vice President for Nota powered by M&T Bank in Fishkill, NY where she manages attorney business relationships and acts as a liaison between the bank and attorneys. She has an extensive background in banking having previous roles as Senior Branch Manager for M&T Bank, Wealth Liaison for KeyBank, Market Manager for People’s United Bank, and Small Business Banker for Bank of America. Kathy is a board member for Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce and has served as a board member for Hudson Valley House of Hope and Rebuilding Together Dutchess. She is also trained to provide Personal Safety lessons to children for the CPCA.
Richard Turi, CPA is retired from IBM Global Business Services North America where he most recently was the Strategy and Operations Executive for the Distribution Sector. In his over 30 years with IBM Services, he has successfully driven business outcomes, led the execution and implementation of new management systems, and improved operational efficiency in several IBM business units. Prior to his career at IBM, he held a senior accountant position at Ernst & Young. He is a mentor for Excelsior Academy (an IBM P-Tech School), an active volunteer for FeedHV, and a certified soccer referee.
The new members of the board for the CPCA follow the June appointments of Rob Ranieri, Senior Vice President for NFP; Tonya Pulver, School Psychologist for Millbrook Central School District; Sharley McIver, adjunct professor for State University of New York at New Paltz and for Marist College; and Sarah Ortiz, Program Coordinator for Pawling Resource Center.
About the Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse
The Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse is a private non-profit that has been dedicated to the reduction of child maltreatment since 1973. Each year, it serves approximately 20,000 children and provides support and education services to more than 3,000 adults. They are the only agency in Dutchess County providing sexual abuse prevention training. Support services help abused children—and educate adults to prevent future abuse. For more information, visit TheCPCA.org.
###
