Valley United Way Elects New Officers

 Newly Elected VUW Chairman Michael Gnibus 

SHELTON - Despite Valley United Way not being able to hold its planned public Annual Meeting on April 30, its Board recently elected new officers to serve until its next Annual Meeting and thanked a number of long-time directors whose terms have ended.

Members whose terms have ended include Jimmy Tickey, who served as Board Vice Chair; Jennifer Bull, CPA, (PKF O’Connor Davies, LLP); Peter Dagostine (First Group America); Michael Duncan (Edgewell Personal Care); Fred Ortoli (Ortoli Photography); Ramon Peralta (Peralta Design) and Janice Sheehy (Webster Bank).

On his departure, Tickey remarked, “The Valley United Way has made a real difference for people in our community. It has been a pleasure to serve on the Board for 10 years and lead our community campaign for 3 of those years - working to raise substantial funds to support the programs and agencies that thousands of families rely on in the Lower Naugatuck Valley.  I know the Valley United Way will continue to focus on preparing youth to succeed, strengthening families, and helping people in crisis."

David Kennedy, Interim President and COO, commented, “Valley United Way has been gifted with decades of exceptional service from these Directors.  It was very hard to say “thanks” to them in a non-public forum for their care for the Valley through United Way. However, we look forward to doing that at our rescheduled Annual Meeting, whenever that will be.”

At its April 22 board meeting, directors elected the following officers for terms ending at the next Annual Meeting:  Chair, Michael Gnibus (Armstrong Teasdale); Vice Chair, Karen Stockla (Prudential Financial); Secretary, Dominick Thomas, Esq. (Cohen & Thomas) and Treasurer, Gregory DeStefano, CPA (Cherubino & Company, PC).

Gnibus is an intellectual property attorney and partner in the New York office of the St. Louis based law firm of Armstrong Teasdale. Before working there, he spent 10 years at the General Electric office in Shelton where he led the GE United Way campaign and multiple service projects that were run through VUW. He has served on the Valley United Way Board for ten years and has provided leadership support to the United Way’s Youth Leadership program.

“It is with mixed emotions that I acknowledge the United Way’s departing Board members,” Gnibus remarked.  “On behalf of Valley United Way I want to thank the departing Board members for their many years of service. We are grateful for their collective, tireless commitment to ensuring that Valley United Way’s support aligned with and met the evolving needs of area residents.  Although they will not be active on the Board going forward, I am pleased to let you know that many of the departing Board members have committed to remaining active by supporting our committees. I am looking forward to leading our dedicated Board, and continuing to evolve the organization to ensure that we maximize Valley United Way’s positive impact on the community.”

Board members continuing to give leadership to Valley United Way include Patrick Charmel (Griffin Hospital); Joy DeMarchis (DeMarchis Family Holdings);  Brian Diehl (Pitney Bowes); Jill Johnson (Iroquois Pipeline); John McFarland (Hubbell Incorporated); Mary Ann Miskowicz (Better Packages); Bill Purcell (Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce); Jeffrey Tracey (Mutual Security Credit Union) and Michael Wilson (Seymour Public Schools).

As a leading philanthropic organization in Lower Naugatuck Valley, Valley United Way improves lives by mobilizing the caring power of the community through philanthropy, volunteerism, and collaboration. For more information about the organization, visit its website at www.valleyunitedway.org or contact David Kennedy, Interim President/COO at 203-538-6341.

(This is a press release from Valley United Way)

Valley Foundation Welcomes New Members

DERBY- The Valley Community Foundation (VCF) welcomes James Hodge, Angela Powers, and Jack Walsh to the VCF Board of Directors and bids farewell to Will Ginsberg, Bill Nimons, and Diane Stroman as they conclude their terms.

 

Sharon Closius, VCF President and CEO, said:

 

“On behalf of the VCF Board of Directors, we would like to thank Will Ginsberg, Bill Nimons, and Diane Stroman for their terms of dedicated service to the Valley community. Our organization has grown dramatically under their tenure. We are also thrilled to welcome James Hodge, Angela Powers, and Jack Walsh to our Board. They each bring a range of diversified knowledge and a history of community involvement to our organization and will play a key role in helping VCF build philanthropy in the Valley.”

 

New VCF Board Members:

 

James A. Hodge, Jr.

James (Jim) Hodge retired from the Bridgeport School System in 2005 after 35 years serving as a classroom teacher and later as a teacher/administrator on special assignment for new schools and new project development.

Jim has been a member of the Board of Directors of Ashlar of Newtown, Masonic Home and Hospital. He serves as secretary of the Board of Managers for the Ralphola Taylor Community Center, Central CT Coast YMCA in Bridgeport, as well as Chairman of the Prince Hall Grand Masonic Lodge’s Scholarship Fund. He is the recipient of numerous community, Masonic Fraternity, and professional awards in the Bridgeport, New Haven, and Naugatuck Valley communities.

He has served as a member of the Admissions Review Board for Bullard Havens Technical School, member of the Board of Directors of the Charles Smith Foundation, and member of the Board of Directors of the Katherine Matthies Foundation.

 

Jim resides in Derby with his wife, Yvette. They have two children and four grandchildren.

 

Angela G. Powers

Angela has more than 35 years in development, communications, marketing, and senior management and leadership. In her role as Senior Vice President, she oversees The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven (TCF)’s work identifying and serving community leaders and donors and insuring their philanthropic goals are achieved now and in the future.

 

Prior to joining TCF as the first President of the Valley Community Foundation, Angela worked with its founding Board to design and grow the new organization. She is also associated with Ekstrom & Associates, a consulting firm of practitioners in philanthropy whose clients include community foundations, charitable organizations, families, individuals, and their advisors.

 

Angela served as Director of the Annual Development Program at Quinnipiac University, directed membership and development at the DeCordova and Dana Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and was a coordinator for the March of Dimes of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Angela also spent two years working in Greece with her husband, Bill, who was a teacher at the American Community School in Athens.

 

Angela earned her B.A. from Fairfield University, is a Certified Fund-Raising Executive and is a trained facilitator. She and her husband live in Hamden and have two sons, Will and John.

 

Jack Walsh

Jack Walsh is life-long resident of Derby who served as President & C.O.O of Valley United Way from 1989 until his retirement in 2016.

 

Jack has always been an active member of the Valley community. He currently serves as President of the Board of Directors at the Derby Neck Library and is Chairman of Derby’s Water Pollution Control Authority. He is a past Chair of Derby's Park & Recreation Commission, currently chairs the City's Greenway Committee, and is co-chair of the Naugatuck River Greenway Committee.

 

He served on the Valley Advisory Committee for the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, which helped create the Valley Community Foundation. Jack is a corporator for Griffin Hospital and a member and past Co-chair of the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Yale/Griffin Prevention Resource Center. He is a past member of the Board of Directors for the Online Journalism Project. One of the founders of the Commodore Hull Thanksgiving Day 5K Road Race, Jack also served on the Community Advisory Board for the Yale Community Rowing Program, and is a recipient of several regional awards.

 

Departing Board Members:

 

Bill Nimons

Bill Nimons is a life-long Valley resident. He grew up in Seymour and lives in Ansonia with his wife, Elaine. Their three children and four grandchildren all live nearby. Bill is retired from a 40-year banking career—he was Executive Vice President of Shelton Savings Bank and Senior Vice President of Naugatuck Valley Savings and Loan.

 

Bill brought his financial expertise to VCF and served as the Board’s Treasurer. He also served on The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven’s Audit Committee. He sits on the boards of the Boys & Girls Club, BHcare and the Ansonia Board of Education. He is a member of the Derby-Shelton Rotary. Bill and his wife have their own charitable fund, Elaine N. and William C. Nimons Fund, at VCF, which supports the Lower Naugatuck Valley Boys & Girls Club’s Ansonia Project after-school programs and pre-school slots. Bill is also the sole trustee of the Colonel Lloyd and Joan Platt Witmer Fund, held at VCF.

 

Diane Stroman

Diane Stroman is Vice President of TEAM Inc., where she’s worked for more than 20 years. Diane is deeply passionate and very knowledgeable about the community’s needs.

 

Diane has served on several boards: the Lower Naugatuck Valley Boys & Girls Club, Ansonia’s Elderly Services Commission and the Valley Juvenile Review Board. She co-chairs the Julian A. Taylor Scholarship Committee, which has a fund at VCF. Diane is corporator for Valley United Way, Griffin Hospital and BHcare. She was formerly on the Ansonia Board of Education and past president of the Derby-Shelton Rotary Club. She is active in her church, Greater Evangel Temple Church of God in Christ. In 2017, Diane was awarded the Platinum Award from the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce – one of the most prestigious and time-honored community service awards in the Valley.

 

Diane lives in Ansonia, where she grew up. She has two children and two grandsons. She enjoys taking her grandsons to action movies and reading African American literature and motivational books.

 

William W. Ginsberg

Will Ginsberg has devoted his career to community issues, working at the local and national levels in community economic development, community banking, and community philanthropy.

 

William W. Ginsberg has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven since 2000.  Mr. Ginsberg serves on the boards of numerous local organizations including New Haven Promise, Yale-New Haven Hospital, the Connecticut Council on Education Reform, and the Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology. He recently completed a six-year term on the board of the Council on Foundations, the national trade association for the philanthropic sector. From 2006-09, Mr. Ginsberg served as a Gubernatorial appointee to the Connecticut Early Childhood Policy and Research Council. In 2011, Mr. Ginsberg received the Community Leadership Award from the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, the community's highest recognition for lifetime civic leadership.

 

Mr. Ginsberg graduated from Columbia Law School in 1980 and practiced law in New York City from 1980 to 1984. He graduated from Trinity College in 1976. He has been married for 35 years to Ellen Kelly Ginsberg, who directs Yale University's efforts to create Asia's first liberal arts college in collaboration with the National University in Singapore, and they have two children: Emily and Connor. Will and Kel live in New Haven.

 

About the Valley Community Foundation

Established in 2004, the Valley Community Foundation distributes hundreds of thousands of grant dollars each year to support the local nonprofit sector and the people it serves. VCF works in strong partnership with The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven (TCF), to promote philanthropy in Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour and Shelton and receives a majority of its discretionary funding as a result of The Gates Fund and other preference funds at TCF that benefit the Valley. To learn how your gifts of cash, life insurance, appreciated stocks, bonds, real estate, and other assets can help to support the quality of life in the Valley, please visit the website at www.valleyfoundation.org or contact VCF President, Sharon Closius, at sclosius@valleyfoundation.org or 203-751-9162.

 

(This is a press release from VCF)