Board of Directors
"The
Capacity to Care Gives Life Its Deepest Significance"

Bottom: (left to right)Teri Fritz, Dr. Ellenmorris Tiegerman, Toya Davis
2nd row: Linda Biordi, Dino Biordi, Sher Sparano, 3rd row: Joseph Farber, Paul Rosen, Georgiana Reese
Top: Mario Moretto, Mario Fischetti (Chairman), Leroy Foster.
Mario Fischetti
Ellenmorris Tiegerman. Ph.D.
Joseph Farber, Esq.
David Katz
Mario Moretto
Paul Rosen
Toya Davis
Teri Fritz
Dino and Linda Biordi
Georgiana Reese
Leroy Foster
Sher Sparano
Linda Darroch-Short
SLCD Board of Directors
Biography
Mario Fischetti
"All
of us have a responsibility to help children. As Chairman
of the Board, I ask people ... What have you done today to help
a child?"
Mr. Mario Fischetti is the Chairman of the Board of Directors. He
successfully built his own business, Mario Fischetti Nursery, Inc. Mr.
Fischetti is deeply involved with his community and believes that success
in business must extend beyond the boundaries of his own family. As
a result, he has worked with many charitable organizations including,
The Loggia Glen Cove #1016 Order of the Sons of Italy and Long Island
University - C.W. Post College. He has been honored on many occasions
by the Knights of Columbus, Town of North Hempstead, City of Glen Cove,
and Village of Williston Park by Nassau County.
Back to Top
Dr. Ellenmorris Tiegerman
Dr. Ellenmorris Tiegerman is the Founder and Executive Director of the School for
Language and Communication Development (SLCD) and Professor Emeritus at the Derner
Institute for Advanced Psychology Studies at Adelphi University.
As the Founder of SLCD, Dr. Tiegerman is responsible for the creation
and the development of the preschool, elementary school and integrated
programs within the School.
In 1994, Dr. Tiegerman served on Governor Pataki's Transition
Team for Education in New York State. She was appointed in 1995
by the New York State Assembly to the 21st Century Schools Committee.
In 1996, Dr. Tiegerman was appointed by means of a gubernatorial recommendation
to the New York State Early Intervention Coordinating Council. Most
recently, Dr. Tiegerman served as Chairperson of the Parent Involvement
Committee.
Dr. Tiegerman has served on the faculty of several Universities
in the New York Metropolitan area. She has functioned as the Director
of the Adelphi University Speech and Hearing Center as well as being the
Founding Director of the Adelphi University Preschool Language Stimulation
Program.
Dr. Tiegerman holds a Ph.D. and a Master's degree in speech-language pathology
from the City University of New York. She also received Masters degrees
in special education and social work from Adelphi University. She has extensive experience
in the areas of child language disorders and special education. She
has been involved in many research projects and is the author of textbooks
in the areas of language disorders, early intervention, parent language
training and autism spectrum disorders. Dr. Tiegerman’s textbook
on early intervention entitled "Language and Communication Intervention
in Preschool Children" was published in 1995 by Allyn and Bacon.
Dr. Tiegerman recently co-edited a major textbook entitled "Language
and Communication Disorders in Children," now entering its 6th edition
will be published by Prentice Hall in 2008. Her co-authored book
entitled "Babysignals" appeared in hard and soft cover (Walker
Publishing) in 1987. The textbook "Collaborative Decision Making:
The Pathway to Inclusion" was co-authored with Dr. Christine
Radziewicz and was published by Prentice Hall in 1998. Dr. Tiegerman's latest book with Dr. Christine Radziewicz is entitled "Language Disorders in Children: Real Families, Real Issues and Real Interventions" has been published by Prentice Hall and is now at amazon.com.
Back to Top
Joseph Farber, Esq.
"At SLCD, silence is not golden. We want to give every
child the gift of language."
Mr. Joseph Farber, Esq., is the senior partner in the law firm of Farber
Rosen & Kaufman, P.C. He is Chairperson of the Board of Directors
for Queens Legal Services. Mr. Farber is also Chairperson of the
Neuroscience Institute Advisory Committee at New York Hospital, Queens.
He has held past leadership positions at numerous organizations
including: Chairman of the Lions Eye Bank at North Shore LIJ Hospital;
President of the Queens County Chamber of Commerce; and
District Governor of Lions Clubs International.
Back to Top
David Katz
Mr. David Katz has developed commercial and residential properties, overseen condominium conversions, and evaluates acquisition opportunities. Mr. Katz is a Partner at Sterling Equities (www.sterlingequities.com). Mr. Katz also presides over Sterling's non-real estate affiliate company Changing World Technologies (CWT), where he sits as a Board member. CWT is a bio-energy company using the thermodepolymerization process (TDP). He also sits on the Board of Renewable Environmental Solutions, a partnership of CWT and ConAgra Foods that is focused on deploying the TDP in the agricultural market. In addition, Mr. Katz is a Board member of the New York Mets. David was recently honored at our 2007 Casino Night.
Back to Top
Mario Moretto
Mario Moretto was born in Ferrara, Italy and grew up in Queens
He worked for his father in the construction industry
and then pursued a career in the financial industry. He
spent five years as an equities trader before obtaining his license as
an investment broker. He opened his own investment firm West Field Securities.
He is a member of the Queens Borough Chamber of Commerce
and is on the Governmental Relations Committee.
Mario Moretto believes that children with disabilities are very special
and deserve every possible opportunity to live and learn like other children.
Back to Top
Paul Rosen
"My daughter Lauren started as a preschooler at SLCD. In
elementary school she was the third place winner in the Governor's
Annual Art Contest. Today she is a beautiful young woman
who is a talented artist. I will always be grateful to SLCD
- always."
Paul Rosen has been on the Board of Directors of SLCD since
1990. His daughter was diagnosed with a language disorder and attended
SLCD from 1987-1993. Paul was born in Queens, grew up in Westbury, and
now resides in Huntington, NY. He attended Boston University from
1971-1973 where he studied business. Mr. Rosen returned to Long Island
to help with his family’s business and graduated from Hofstra University
in 1975. He is the co-owner of DGR Contract Furniture in Jericho.
His daughter Lauren attended Syosset High School and is a talented
artist who designed all of Dr. Tiegerman's textbooks and much of the artwork
at SLCD.
Back to Top
Toya Davis
Toya Davis has been an active member of SLCD's Board of Directors since
its inception, and is the proud mother of Jonathan Davis one of SLCD's
original students. She is a contributor to Dr. Tiegerman's textbooks
and serves as Parent Liaison at SLCD. Toya advocates for parents and lectures extensively on topics
related to families and children with disabilities. Toya serves on the Executive Board of the following organizations:
Glen Cove Rotary
|
Glen Cove Chamber of Commerce
|
Glen Cove Interagency Council
|
Hempstead Village Zoning Board
|
Toya Davis resides in Hempstead, New York with her husband
Arthur Davis.
Back to Top
Teri Fritz
"We have an obligation in life to help children - especially
when they cannot help themselves."
Teri Fritz became involved with SLCD because of her deep commitment to
ensuring that all children have fulfilling educational experiences. For
the past 4 years she has been an active SLCD Board member and an advocate
for the school. Mrs. Fritz is an extremely successful business woman
and entrepreneur.
Back to Top
Dino and Linda
Biordi
Dino and Linda Biordi reside in Port Washington, New York. The Biordi's
have five children and six grandchildren. Last year, the Biordi's
attended SLCD's Annual Dinner Dance, which honored their long-time friends
Alice and Joseph Ficalora. They were deeply moved by the struggles faced by SLCD's children and their families. After learning about SLCD,
Mr. Biordi turned to his wife and stated that they must become more involved
with the School. The Biordi's have a history of active community
involvement with organizations such as the Arthritis Foundation and the
Rosary Society.
The Biordis' knowledge and expertise have been an asset to SLCD as it continues
to provide a variety of services to children with special needs. Thirty-five
years ago Mr. Biordi helped to expand his father's granite and marble
fabrication business into a thriving business. Mrs. Biordi is a
former partner in Carlin Properties and has worked in the commercial and
residential real estate industry for 20 years. She retired in 2002
to spend more time with her young grandchildren.
Dino and Linda are deeply committed to becoming a Voice
for children with language and autism spectrum disorders to ensure their voices
are heard.
Back to Top
Georgiana Reese
Georgiana Reese works for New York Community Bank (NYCB) as a Community
Relations Consultant. Spending more than 25 years with Queens County
Savings Bank (a division of NYCB), Georgiana served in many capacities
and held the position of First Vice President of Purchasing from 1998
to 2003.
She has spent much of her life working in banking and sharing her talents
with the Queens community. She is a member of the Queens Chamber
of Commerce, Queens Historical Society and the Queens Botanical Garden
(QBC). Georgiana presently serves on the boards of the Queens Theatre
in the Park, the Voelker-Orth Museum, Holy Cross High School, Flushing
Council on Culture and the Arts (Vice President 1998 and 1999), Juvenile
Diabetes Research Foundation, Oratorio Society, Queensborough Community
College, Queens Child Guidance Center and New York Families for Autistic
Children. She is affiliated with the American Cancer Society, Long Island
City YMCA; Samaritan Foundation, Inc. and the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival.
Georgiana has served on the following committees: co-chair of the Queens
Botanical Garden's 50th Anniversary celebration, co-chair of QBG's Rose
Ball Gala, organized a "Garden on Parade" gala luncheon sponsored
by Queens County Savings Bank, co-chair of the Samaritan Foundation, Inc.'s
Annual Gala Dinner, the Queens Child Guidance Golf Outing, and for the
past four years as co-chair on the Flushing Town Hall's Gala Committee.
In the past years, Georgiana has been recognized for her
outstanding contributions to the Queens community and has been a recipient
of the following awards:
- In 1998, the "Woman of the Year Award" from
the Flushing Council on the Arts.
- In 1999, the "Outstanding Achievement in Fundraising"
from the American Cancer Society.
- In April 2000, the "Queens Symphony Orchestra
Award for Community Service".
- In October 2000, the "Recognition for Outstanding
Service for the People of Queens Award." from the Queensboro
Council for Social Welfare Inc.
- In 2001, the "Carl Goldstein Samaritan Ambassador
Award." from the Samaritan Foundation, Inc.
- In November 2001, the "Overall Dedication to
Arts in the Community Award" by the Alliance of Queens Artists.
- In 2003, the "Excellence in the Community Award"
from the New York Families For Autistic Children.
- In 2004, the "Lifetime Achievement Award"
from the Community Advocacy Center.
Georgiana is a lifelong resident of Queens County. She attended
St. Agnes Academic High and St. John's University and is the recipient
of numerous certificates of merit awards from The American Management
Association.
Back to Top
Leroy Foster
Mr. Foster is the Director of Taxation for TIAA-CREF. He has a long
history of working with non-profit organizations and has served as the
former District Governor of Lions Club International. Leroy has relocated with TIAA-CREF to North Carolina and continues to serve on SLCD's Board.
Back to Top
Sher Sparano
Sher Sparano is the president of Benefits Advisory Service, an independent
firm that works with employers to obtain the best possible health and
benefit plans at the most reasonable cost. BAS takes pride in being
known for its commitment to providing ongoing and in-depth support to
employers and their employees.
Prior to founding BAS, Ms. Sparano enjoyed a highly successful career
as a senior executive working in all facets of the health care industry.
As an executive at Empire Blue Shield, she directed all components
of the Mega Accounts Division (including customer service, underwriting,
claim processing, managed care, and marketing). As Vice President
of Green Spring Mental Health Services, she played a key role in the formation
of managed care companies, and developed systems that made the programs
more user-friendly, (i.e., designing review and appeals processes).
Ms. Sparano began her career as a benefits specialist at
Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and St. Joseph's Medical Center
in Lexington, Kentucky (where she selected carriers and ran self-insured
funds). Subsequently, she was an administrator for the New York
State Nurses Benefits and Pension Funds (where she managed benefit negotiations,
enrollment, education, and customer service for fifty-five hospitals).
At BAS, her consulting projects have included design and
management for employer self-insured funds as well as for the Teamsters,
United Crafts, and other union accounts. Ms. Sparano believes that
her extensive experience sitting on all sides of the table has given her
a unique advantage when it comes to negotiating the best contracts for
her clients.
BAS is very involved in community service. Ms. Sparano believes
that she must give back to the community in which she earns her livelihood.
She sits on key committees of many local charities such as Working
Organization for Retarded Children and Adults; she serves on the Board
of Directors of the Queens Chamber of Commerce and The School for Language
and Communication Development. In addition, she is a past president
and active member of the Rego Park/Forest Hills Lions Club. She
also serves proudly as an Ambassador for the Samaritan Foundation.
Back to Top
Linda Darroch-Short
Linda Darroch-Short, M.S. is the Director of Student Life at New York College of Osteopathic Medicine of New York Institute of Technology. In her role at NYIT, she is primarily the advocate for the medical students on and off campus. She helps them educationally, socially and psychologically to become the professionals that they are training to be. Linda also works at St. Joseph's college in Patchogue as a Academic Advisor and Adjunct Faculty.
Back to Top
|