Bernicestine McLeod Bailey (Westport) is President of McLeod Associates, Inc., an information technology consulting firm. Her volunteer efforts range from trustee for both Brown University and the Westport public library, and director of the Fairfield/Westchester chapter of the Independent Computer Consultants Association, to treasurer of the Mid-Fairfield County Dress for Success board of directors and director of Reach Prep. She is co-founder of a company to recruit diverse teachers and an alumna of Brown University.
Harold Bailey, Jr. (Westport, TEAM Westport Chair) is President of Aisha & Co. LLC. He was formerly CEO, Americas for Show Business Software, Ltd. Prior to his retirement in 2000 as IBM's Vice President of Lotus Marketing Integration, he worked at IBM for 30 years in marketing, sales and services. He is a trustee emeritus of Brown University, his alma mater, from which he also received an honorary Ph.D. He is also a board member of the Westport Country Playhouse, and a founding member of the Stamford chapter of 100 Black Men. Bailey received the Anti-Defamation League's Distinguished Community Leadership award in 2005.
Barbara H. Butler (Westport, Education Committee Chair) has been director of human services for the town of Westport since 1989. She is also chairman of the Westport-Weston United Way's professional advisory committee, a founding member and director of Saugatuck Child Care Services, Project Return and A Better Chance of Westport, and past president of the Westport League of Women Voters. She earned a BA in English from Marymount College, and a masters in public and private management from the Yale School of Organization and Management.
Stephen E. Daniels (Westport), a Westport resident since 1982, is co-owner of ERA Select Homes. He is a former executive with Trans World Airlines and Oxford Health Plans. An active community volunteer, he is a board member and past president of A Better Chance of Westport, past president of United Way of Westport/Weston and a member of Westport’s Human Services Commission. As co-chair of the commission’s Workforce/Seniors Housing Committee, he brought focus to the need for affordable housing in Westport. He is a participant in the Westport mentoring program and is an alumnus of the University of Pittsburgh.
Judith A. Hamer, Ph.D., teaches at NYU, writes grants for the Music and Arts Center for Humanity in Bridgeport, and runs a family non-profit, Children of the 21st Century, that supports minority children in predominantly white schools. A learning specialist with over 25 years experience in such organizations as The Rockefeller Foundation, UBS (formerly the PaineWebber Group), and Columbia University, Judith and her late husband, Martin, raised their children in Westport, where all three daughters attended school. She earned a BA from Cornell University, an MAT from Smith College and a Ph.D. in education from Columbia University. Recently married to Bill Buckley, a former Westport resident, she plays with her five grandchildren in her spare time!
Gordon F. Joseloff (Westport) was elected as Westport’s First Selectman (Mayor) in 2005. Before his election, he served as Moderator of the town’s Representative Town Meeting (RTM), its legislative body, for 10 years and was a member for 14 years. He is a state-certified volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician and has served on the Advisory Boards of the Westport Historical Society and Westport/Weston First Night. Educated in the Westport school system and a graduate of Syracuse University, he worked as a journalist for United Press International and CBS News, where he won an Emmy for news coverage. In 2003, he founded WestportNow.com, a local community news Web site for Westport.
Shelly Kassen (Westport) was elected as Westport’s Second Selectwoman in 2005, running with Gordon Joseloff. She is a Certified Public Accountant and experienced financial manager. A two-time elected Board of Finance member and its vice chair before her election as Second Selectwoman, she served as president of Westport’s Conservative Synagogue. She has also had leadership roles in a wide range of community activities since moving to Westport in 1989, including Westport's public schools, the Anti-Defamation League, UJA/Federation Westport-Weston-Wilton-Norwalk, the Laura Hartenbaum Breast Cancer Foundation, and the Charter Oak Challenge Foundation.
Stephane J. Kirven (Weston) is a faculty member at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT. where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the criminal justice program. She was formerly a faculty member at Norwalk Community College, where she Chaired the Committee on Diversity for several years. Prior to academia, Stephane was an attorney in New York with experience in both criminal and civil
litigation. She is a graduate of Tufts University (B.A.) and Georgetown University Law Center (J.D.). Stephane lives in Weston with her husband, daughter and twin boys.
Glenn Lau-Kee (Westport), who has lived in Westport since 1993, is a lawyer. He serves on the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association and on the Boards of the YMCA of Greater New York, Legal Services for New York City, and The Fund for Modern Courts. A graduate of Yale University and the Boston University School of Law, he has also served on the New York City Commission on Human Rights and as president of both the Asian American Bar Association of New York and the Congregation Council of the Church of St. John the Divine.
Dr. David L. Levinson (Westport) is president of Norwalk Community College in Norwalk, CT. An author, editor and professor of sociology, he has spoken before the American Association of Community Colleges and Society for the Study of Social Problems. Appointed to Connecticut’s Early Childhood Research and Policy Council by Governor Rell, he also serves on numerous local boards, including Greater Norwalk Chamber of Commerce, Norwalk/Wilton United Way and U Thant Institute. Married and the father of two, Dr. Levinson holds a B.A. in Sociology from SUNY New Paltz, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Stuart M. Losen, Ph.D., (Westport) a Westport resident since 1965, is a licensed psychologist recently retired from a Westport private practice. He works as a facilitator with the Lifetime Learners Institute at Norwalk Community College on Comparative Religion, Memoir Writing, Aging Issues, and Racism. He is also a group leader at Westport’s Community Senior Center. Formerly the coordinator of Special Education Services for the New Canaan Public Schools, Stu has been a columnist, the author of several professional books and articles, past president of the Connecticut Psychological Association and a lecturer at Yale, Southern CT State, Fairfield and Sacred Heart Universities.
Amy Lin Meyerson (Weston), Past President of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (2005-2006), founder and director of the Connecticut Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and lawyer in Weston, Connecticut, practices business and corporate transactional law. She is the 2006 Award Recipient of the Edwin Archer Randolph Diversity Award presented by the Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity along with a proclamation from Connecticut Governor Rell designating April 26, 2006 as Amy Lin Meyerson Day in Connecticut. She was graduated with distinction from Duke University, and received a J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law.
Catherine Onyemelukwe, CFRE, (Westport) served in the Peace Corps, taught and ran her own company in Nigeria before returning to earn her MBA at Yale. She is a volunteer fundraiser for her Mt. Holyoke class. She was chair of the Westport Public Library when it launched its 1997 capital campaign. She began her professional fundraising as Westport YMCA’s Director of Development. She has created sound fundraising policies and practices for secular and faith-based nonprofits and provided training in solicitation strategies and donor cultivation. She is Director of Development and Communications at the Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition. She chairs the Racial Justice Task Force at her Unitarian Church and serves on the board of the Unitarian-Universalist United Nations Office.
Maria D. Paoli (Westport). Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New York City, Ms. Paoli has lived in Westport with her husband and son since 1993. She is the founder and former President of Vermont Pure Holding, Ltd., a bottled water company. Previously, Ms. Paoli practiced real estate law and developed major commercial real estate projects. Active in facilitating interfaith dialogue in Fairfield County, she is a member of Social Venture Network, promoting socially conscious enterprises, coaches the Westport Lego Robotics team and mentors students in the Westport public schools. Ms. Paoli got her B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. from New York Law School, and a M.S. in Real Estate Development from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture and Planning.
Alfred J. Puchala, Jr. (Westport, Governance Committee Chair) is managing director and co-founder of Signal Equity Partners, a New York-based merchant bank. He previously worked as an investment banker with Lazard Freres and Morgan Stanley. He is a member of the boards of directors of the Westport Public Library and the Westport Basketball Association, in addition to coaching Westport Youth basketball and soccer teams. He earned a B.A. from Yale University, a masters degree from New York University and a J.D. from Georgetown University.
Nicholas Rudd (Westport), who moved with his wife to Westport from New York City in 2002, consults to organizations on business strategy, organization change and marketing. He serves as Marketing Chair on the board of the Stamford Symphony Orchestra and has worked on special projects for A Better Chance of Westport. He spent 31 years with Young & Rubicam, including service as its first chief information officer. He received his B.A. and M.B.A from Columbia University.
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