A New Class of Leadership in Westchester

Photo Caption: Leadership Westchester Alumni (new and old) Who Are New Rochelle Residents Gathered for a Group Photo During the 2015 Leadership Westchester Graduation Celebration at the Gateway Center on June 23rd. Standing left to right: Angela Derecas Taylor, New Rochelle author; Mary Jo Jacobs, USI Insurance Services Vice President; Heidi Seisfeld, Pro Bono Partnership Director of Development; Mayor Noam Bramson (LW ‘15), City of New Rochelle; Diane Tukman (LW’15), My Sisters’ Place Chief Program Officer; Alisa H Kesten, Volunteer New York! Executive Director; Lynn Honeysett, Pelham Art Center Executive Director; Ellen Sonet, CancerCare Chief Strategy and Alliance Officer; Cassandra Campbell, City of New Rochelle Budget Analyst; Jared Rice, New Rochelle City Council Member; and, Lini Jacob (LW’15), United Way of Westchester and Putnam Senior Vice President of United Way’s 2-1-1. Photo by Paul Schneiderman, also of New Rochelle. (Missing from New Rochelle Group: Tessa Garcia (LW’15) of the Journal News.

Members of the 2015 graduating class included: Hamra Ahmad, Hudson Valley Justice Center; Donna Banks, Communications Professional; Noam Bramson, City of New Rochelle; Alicia Brockway, M&T Bank; Ian Ceppos, Colliers International; Karen Daugherty, Bunge; Judy Eisele, YWCA of Westchester; Tessa Garcia, The Journal News Media Group; Lini Jacob, United Way of Westchester and Putnam; Lindsey Jones, Axiom Legal; Lauren Candela-Katz, LCK Consulting; Lindsay McAllister, Reader’s Digest Association; Kathleen Reckling, ArtsWestchester; Laura Rossi, Westchester Community Foundation; Rosario Samudio, Volunteer New York!; Paula Saraiva, People’s United Bank; Diane Tukman, My Sisters’ Place; Jackie Vanover, Network System Solutions; Sabine Werner, Leviticus Alternative Fund; and, Tracey Zimmerman, The Westchester Bank.

This year the Leadership Westchester Alumni Association presented Kate Bialo (LW ‘07) the 2015 Alumna of the year award for her outstanding leadership and professional achievement.

During her award acceptance, Bialo read from a recent thank you note she received, “ . . . never change the steps you have your clients start out with when they first come into your warehouse. The first item that I got to choose was a mirror. To me the mirror was a message that I was about to see my entire life change; the change starts with the person in the mirror.” Kate then commented, “Thanks to this note, I can think of no better way than to thank Leadership Westchester and its facilitator, David Severance, for giving us all our own mirror and teaching us how to see our inner leader in our own reflections.”

As a member of Leadership Westchester’s Class of 2007, the year in which she founded Furniture Sharehouse, Bialo credits the training and focus she was given in Leadership Westchester with helping her rally the resources needed to make Furniture Sharehouse a reality.

A corporate attorney by training, Bialo has received numerous awards in recognition of her work (including being named one of ten Woman of Worth by L’Oreal Paris in 2012) with Furniture Sharehouse, the prominent nonprofit Furniture Bank of Westchester. A resident of Westchester County for over 20 years, since conceiving of the idea of a “shared warehouse” in 2005, Bialo has helped provide over 47,000 items of free furniture to more than 8,700 individuals of need, enabling them to fill their empty apartments and begin rebuilding their lives (and keeping 280 tons from Westchester’s waste stream).

“One of the many benefits of being involved with Leadership Westchester is access to our growing Alumni Association, an impressive group of men and women who continue to make a difference professionally and personally. The alumni calendar of activities includes ongoing workshops, networking, volunteering events and more,” said Alisa H. Kesten, Volunteer New York! Executive Director.

Volunteer New York! is currently accepting applications for the class of 2016. To find out how to apply please visit http://www.volunteernewyork.org/leadership or call 914-948-4452.

Leadership Westchester is supported generously by Westchester Community Foundation and RPW Group, with additional assistance from Westchester Community College.