Bergen LEADS Program Welcomes Glen Rock Resident

Bergen LEADS, the county’s first and only civic leadership program, has accepted Glen Rock resident Cindy Andrake into its competitive program, which prepares leaders to tackle the tough challenges that face Bergen County today and in the future.

The class will meet monthly to dissect issues, debate viewpoints and develop approaches to community problems. Participants will be immersed in a stimulating curriculum that introduces them to issues of local importance and enables them to explore their leadership styles, enhance their leadership capacity and become meaningfully engaged in helping to solve some of the challenges facing Bergen County.

“We are thrilled with the level of commitment and energy that this new class demonstrates. A critical component of Bergen LEADS is developing in participants a sense of responsibility for the community,” says Lynne Algrant, Bergen LEADS Director. “We’re eager to see what this class will accomplish. … The sky’s the limit.”

Members of the 2014-2015 Bergen LEADS class are:

Cindy Andrake from Glen Rock, Marisa Santiago from Lyndhurst and Linden resident Eric Hugo, all from the Volunteer Center of Bergen County.

Passaic residents Conor Browne of the American Red Cross and Mark McKoy of United Water; Boiling Springs Savings Bank’s Tonice Bunting of East Rutherford; Blake Levine, resident of Hoboken and with CCI Direct Mail in East Rutherford; Tenafly resident Connie Choi of Family Touch; Maria Deptula, resident of Haskel, employed by Berkeley College in Paramus; Teaneck residents Rhona Feimster-Vega of Whittier, Working Parents’ Association, and James O’Leary of PSEG; Woodcliff Lake residents Beth Figman of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, and James Narin of Right Now Life Coaching; Rutherford residents Shonya Jordan of United Water and Eric Tomaszewski of Golub Isabel & Cervino, P.C.; Kimberly Lewis-Banks of Lodi, from the COPE Program, CUNY; BD & Co.’s Erika Monell of River Vale; Hillsdale resident William Mullaney of Bergen Community College; Ringwood’s Kristen Pakonis of Flat Rock Brook Nature Center in Englewood, and Englewood resident Scott Reddin, of Project Literacy of Greater Bergen County; Isabel Perez from Fairview, employed by IP Consulting, LLC; KPMG’s Tenia Peterson of Clifton; New Milford resident Kristine Scheufele of SCORE Bergen; JoAnne Seibel of Ramsey, Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc.; Paterson resident Charisse Taylor of the Girl Scouts of Northern NJ in Paramus; Allendale’s Paul Thomasset of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management; and David Van Schak of Mahwah, Ameriprise Financial.