Board

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Board

Leah Michelle Ziniti

MBA – President, Board Member

Leah started the Caterina Grace Foundation in April 2016 in memory of her daughter, Caterina Grace. Caterina passed away at 3 months old and was later diagnosed with Nemaline Myopathy. Leah’s dream is to one day eradicate genetic diseases like Nemaline Myopathy. There is no cure or treatment for Nemaline Myopathy. The current goal is to fund the discovery and development of effective therapies for Nemaline Myopathy.

Formerly, Leah was a Manager of Inventory Management within the Global Supply Chain Team at Henry Schein, Inc. Based in Melville, NY, Henry Schein, Inc. is the largest distributor of dental, medical, and laboratory equipment in North America. Leah spent 10 years with increasing responsibility as a strategic and inspirational leader focused on coaching and developing team members and driving supply chain best practices, including providing superior fill rates and customer satisfaction, optimizing inventory levels, increasing gross margin, and maximizing cost containment and profitability initiatives.

Leah holds an M.B.A. in Management from Hofstra’s Zarb School of Business and a B.A. from Quinnipiac University where she dual majored in Mathematics and Psychology. Leah lives in Garden City with her loving husband, Anthony and beautiful son, Dominic.


Wendy Ehrlich

MBA, CRPC – Director of Finance, Board Member

Wendy Ehrlich is a Vice President and Senior Advisor Consultant for OppenheimerFunds, Inc which is a top investment firm and mutual fund company that has been around for 50 years. She supports financial advisors by taking the time to understand their business and offer a broader range of insights, tools, and resources to enhance the success of their practice.

This includes not only investment expertise but also acting as a partner to help advisors build and run their practice. Wendy offers actionable insights that enable advisors to enhance the expertise of their team, structure of their practice, client-service standards, new business development, and wealth management strategies.

Wendy has been with OppenheimerFunds since 1987. Prior to joining OppenheimerFunds, she worked as a Financial Advisor at Gruntal & Company. She began her career at E.F Hutton in 1982. Wendy holds a B.S. in Business Management from the University of Buffalo, as well as an M.B.A. in Finance from New York University.

Wendy holds the CRPC® (Chartered Retirement Planning Consultant) and Series 7 and 63 licenses.

Wendy’s deep-rooted financial background will serve the CGF very well.


Scott Wolke

Board Member

Scott has been with the Caterina Grace Foundation since it’s creation, and proudly sits on the board of directors.He is no stranger to charity endeavors, as he currently is in his 14th year working for a sports marketing firm that specializes in fundraising and philanthropy.

Scott will be implementing his knowledge and background of such to help further grow CGF and help spearhead all future events to grow exponentially.

Married to his wife of 5 years, and father of 3, this family man has an infectious personality and willingness to always go above and beyond to help others, making him an extraordinary asset to the Caterina Grace Foundation!

Scott can always be reached by the following

Scott.wolke@caterinagracefoundation.com


Karen Beck

M.A. – Board Member

Karen is the Director of Distribution for the sports profile-interview television series, In Depth with Graham Bensinger. Based in St. Louis, MO the show airs on FOX, CBS, ABC, & NBC stations across the US & internationally on ESPN & Fox Sports. Karen handles the distribution and sales efforts for the show which is currently in its 8th season. Karen is also a Research Consultant for Debmar-Mercury, the production & distribution company behind programs such as The Wendy Williams Show & Family Feud. In addition, she is an adjunct instructor at Molloy College in Rockville Centre, NY where she teaches Media Management. Prior to her current roles, she was Director of Programming for 10+ years at Fox Television Stations, the largest Owned & Operated Station Group in the US.

Karen holds an M.A. in Corporate Communications from CUNY’s Baruch College and a B.A. from York College of Pennsylvania.

Karen lives in Lynbrook with her husband Gregory and their three beautiful children, Madison, Michael & Christopher. She is very active in the PTA & leads her daughter’s Girl Scout troop.


Colleen Cavaliere

Director of Marketing

Colleen has been involved in the Caterina Grace Foundation since its inception. Colleen is currently employed as an Executive Office Supervisor for Northwell Health in their Central Region Administrative Office with a history with the organization for over 11 years including Long Island Jewish Medical Center and Cohens Children’s Hospital. Colleen has a strong background in fundraising, marketing and event planning which she is so eager to implement into Caterina’s foundation to help others who are not as fortunate as her beautiful healthy grandchildren.

 

 

 


Dr. Eugene Deblasio

Advisor


Greg Kilian

Technology Consultant