Trailblazers
The 2026 Hudson Valley Trailblazers
Key leaders across a seven-county region
City & State presents the 2026 Hudson Valley Trailblazers. Montefiore Einstein; Steven Paneccasio; ELEC 825
One of the most competitive and closely watched congressional races this year is in the Hudson Valley, where moderate Republican Rep. Mike Lawler is facing an up-and-coming Democratic rival, Cait Conley, in a race that could determine which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives next year. The region is also a battleground in statewide races and could prove pivotal in determining whether Gov. Kathy Hochul is able to secure another four years in office. Further to the left on the political spectrum, the Democratic Socialists of America have been making inroads in the area, creating new bastions beyond their strongholds in Brooklyn and Queens.
While those political dynamics have garnered attention across New York and even nationwide, they aren’t the only big things happening in the Hudson Valley. Local leaders are busy spurring economic growth, expanding access to higher learning, creating affordable housing, upgrading key infrastructure and providing a range of services for those most in need. City & State’s Hudson Valley Trailblazers list puts a spotlight on a selection of influential figures who are active across a seven-county region, including Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties.
Neil Alexander
Neil Alexander has been making his mark in the Hudson Valley as a top real estate and land use attorney. Among the recent projects he worked on are Greystar’s 25 North Lex, a 500-unit multifamily rental development in White Plains; 1 Water St., a 380-unit multifamily rental tower in White Plains; and a new rabbinical college in Warwick. Alexander has also represented Volta on charging station expansion in the Hudson Valley and Connecticut. Alexander chairs Cuddy + Feder’s Energy & Environmental Practice and is a partner in the firm’s Land Use, Zoning & Development Practice.
Shari Rosen Ascher
Shari Rosen Ascher is Westchester County’s point person for small businesses. She helps small businesses and chambers of commerce in Westchester connect with services, and she supports downtown districts in a role created for her in 2018. She also runs the Westchester Diverse Abilities Job & Resource Fair, which connects people with disabilities with employers, and she launched a county internship program for people with disabilities. She is a former Dobbs Ferry village trustee.
Kristin Backhaus
Kristin Backhaus leads efforts by SUNY New Paltz to spur economic growth in the Hudson Valley. Backhaus became the school’s first economic development chief in 2024, combining the role with her longtime position as business school dean until this year. Under Backhaus’ leadership, SUNY New Paltz received a $400,000 National Science Foundation grant to boost innovation in the region. The professor of management has also helped carry out the university’s community engagement and economic development strategy and expand the services of the school’s Hudson Valley Venture Hub.
Heather Bell
Heather Bell is bolstering the impact that the Orange County Chamber of Commerce makes on the regional economy. Since she took the reins of the organization in 2021, she has doubled the membership, improved membership retention, added corporate partnerships and increased revenue. She also launched ChamberGrow, a U.S. Small Business Administration-approved entrepreneurial training program, and has spearheaded economic development and advocacy initiatives. Last year, the Business Council of New York State named Bell’s organization the 2025 Chamber of the Year.
Meredith Brinkmann
Meredith Brinkmann specializes in public finance and accounting, in particular working with agencies serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She also is a subject matter expert with the state Office for People with Developmental Disabilities’ fiscal intermediary and self-direction systems. Brinkmann also works with clients who deal with the state Education Department and the Office of Children and Family Services, and she has developed an outsourced finance model for the public sector. Brinkmann continues to focus on advancing technology-based financial solutions for nonprofits and human services organizations.
Brendan Cahill
Brendan Cahill leads Charter Communications’ government affairs efforts in the Hudson Valley through its Spectrum brand, connecting the telecommunications company with the region’s leadership. Prior to joining the company in 2022, he worked for former state Sens. David Carlucci and Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, managing constituent service operations and serving as a liaison between the lawmakers and local governments in their Hudson Valley district. Cahill also helps to lead Spectrum’s community engagement efforts across upstate New York and New England.
Stacey Cohen
Stacey Cohen is a go-to public relations consultant in the Hudson Valley. The firm she founded recently designed and implemented communications plans that allowed Westchester Joint Water Works and The Osborn senior living facility to secure land use and siting approvals in Westchester County. She represented Build the Bridge Now, a coalition spanning Westchester and Rockland counties that championed the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge project. Other clients include Orange Bank & Trust Company, Fordham University and the Westchester County Office of Economic Development. Last year, she published a book, “Brand Up 2.0: Propel Your Early Career Success.”
John Cooney Jr.
The construction industry is booming, which is a boon for John Cooney Jr. of the more than 600-member Construction Industry Council of Westchester & Hudson Valley. Cooney is a leading advocate for the industry in the region, pushing for public investments in clean water infrastructure, renewable energy projects and upgrades to roads, highways and bridges. The trade organization, which Cooney has led since 2019, represents major contractors, suppliers and builders and also partners with about 30 labor union locals. He has also been active in the Rebuild New York Now campaign for infrastructure investment.
Robert Cordero
Robert Cordero is a partner and chief operating officer at PKF O’Connor Davies, where he also leads the firm’s education and independent schools practices. He specializes in auditing and consulting for educational institutions and nonprofit organizations, while also leading the firm’s operational efficiency efforts. This year, Cordero joined the board of the Business Council of Westchester, a leading business advocacy organization in the county. Cordero is also board treasurer for both the Westchester Community College Foundation and Nonprofit Westchester.
Seth Diamond
Seth Diamond is the longtime leader of Westchester Jewish Community Services, a major human services organization that serves more than 20,000 people a year. WJCS is behind a new community connections center in Yonkers that will serve as a one-stop shop for many critical services, including behavioral healthcare, food assistance, early childhood programs, support for crime victims, benefits guidance and tax preparation, allowing for more coordinated care. Diamond, a former commissioner of the New York City Department of Homeless Services, has led WJCS since 2018.
L. Todd Diorio
L. Todd Diorio makes sure that unionized construction workers have a say in how the Hudson Valley is developed. Diorio has negotiated over 150 project labor agreements, pushed industrial development agencies to adopt strong labor policies and advanced apprenticeship programs in counties, school districts and local governments across the region. He keeps busy in multiple roles, as special international representative for Laborers’ International Union of North America, chair of the New York State Laborers’ Political Action Committee and president of the Hudson Valley Building & Construction Trades Council.
Michael Dorf
Michael Dorf is elevating tourism and culture in the Hudson Valley. In 2020, Dorf transformed an old mill overlooking the Wallkill River into City Winery Hudson Valley, a popular spot in Montgomery for live music, wine, food and events. He is now focused on transforming the Borden Condensed Milk Factory in Walden into a sustainable boutique hotel with a spa, restaurant and event space. Dorf’s focus on the Hudson Valley, where he has deep roots, comes after he launched City Winery in New York City and expanded the brand to major cities around the country.
Conor Eckert
Conor Eckert took the top job at the Orange County Partnership last year, after serving as the organization’s senior vice president, and he’s focused on future-proofing the local economy. Eckert led the effort to recruit Garonit Pharmaceutical as a life science anchor in Orange County. He also helped secure a state grant to turn the old Maybrook Rail Yard into the Switchyard Terminal for Economic and Advanced Manufacturing Rail & Business Park. Eckert backed Gov. Kathy Hochul’s data center moratorium, saying it allows for careful planning to responsibly develop data centers.
Jan Fisher
Jan Fisher is making sure New York’s nonprofit organizations are paid on time for delivering the critical services they provide. She has built a statewide advocacy coalition around the issuance of timely payments, upfront funding, and greater accountability and predictability in government contracts. Fisher has positioned her nearly 400-member Nonprofit Westchester as a hub for cooperation in addressing the most complex challenges facing the Hudson Valley. This year, she convened almost 200 leaders from across Westchester County to develop a new community health initiative.
Susan Fox
Susan Fox is guiding White Plains Hospital through a major transformation. The hospital is undertaking a 10-story, 475,000-square-foot expansion, which will increase its beds from 292 to 436 by 2028, add patient and operating rooms, and more than double the emergency department’s size. Fox has presided over a growing network of over 30 outpatient practices, including a location in Scarsdale that opened last year. Fox, who has led White Plains Hospital as president and CEO since 2015, expanded her scope in 2024 when she was named regional senior vice president for the Hudson Valley for Montefiore Einstein.
Jeannette García
Jeannette García is opening doors in the labor movement and in the Latino community in the Hudson Valley. At the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, she has developed national initiatives focused on immigration and organized labor. With the United Yonkers coalition, she organized 14 neighborhood associations and advocated for responsible development. García, who was born in Puerto Rico to Dominican immigrants, unsuccessfully ran for an Assembly seat in Yonkers this year, bringing working families, immigrants, young people and others into the political process.
Christopher Gaur
Christopher Gaur is expanding telehealth to patients across New York state and beyond. In 2012, Gaur co-founded Vital Care Services, whose remote patient monitoring now serves 4,500 patients across New York and in seven other states. Through his White Plains-based healthcare organization, Gaur has built a culturally sensitive community health worker and telehealth partnership with a tribal nation on Long Island. He has developed and launched a maternal health monitoring program and is expanding programs addressing social determinants of health.
Susan Gerry
Susan Gerry is transforming Yonkers’ waterfront. The city’s first woman deputy mayor is driving significant economic development efforts, creating new parks, schools and affordable housing. Gerry, who’s also vice chair and secretary to the Yonkers Industrial Development Agency and secretary for the Yonkers Economic Development Corp., helped win a $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant from the state focused on waterfront development this year, as well as a $9 million state grant for the first waterfront park in southwest Yonkers. Gerry previously served as Yonkers deputy mayor from 2012-2017 and was reappointed in 2024.
Michael Gilfeather
With Michael Gilfeather at the helm since 2014, Orange Bank & Trust Company has grown into a more than $2.7 billion asset bank, with 17 branches across three Hudson Valley counties and the Bronx. Gilfeather has overseen the financial institution’s investment strategy, with a focus on construction and trade. He also launched a new legal services specialty division supporting law firms across the Hudson Valley, led by bankers who are also attorneys. In January, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced that he had been elected one of its Class A directors.
Marsha Gordon
Marsha Gordon is one of the leading business advocates in the Hudson Valley, leveraging the membership of the Business Council of Westchester to support economic growth. In 2024, she launched AI Alliance 360 to keep businesses up to date on the rapidly advancing technology. Gordon, who co-chairs the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council, was a key proponent of constructing the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. In June, she hired former New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson as an executive vice president.
Karen Hagstrom
Karen Hagstrom co-leads the litigation team at the Hudson Valley law firm Stenger, Glass, Hagstrom, Lindars & Iuele, where she focuses on tax certiorari, civil litigation, appellate advocacy, land use and municipal law. She has been successful in her use of Article 78 proceedings challenging government decisions and won multiple cases reducing tax payments for clients. She is a former counsel to the Dutchess County Legislature and a former prosecutor in the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office, where she was the first attorney to successfully try a domestic violence case without victim testimony.
Nick Hartman
As the Westchester County Airport modernizes its passenger terminal, Nick Hartman is on a mission to ensure it continues to serve multiple entities – commercial air carriers, corporate flight departments, charter operators, light general aviation – with a limited footprint while accounting for the impact on neighboring communities. Hartman, who has chaired the Westchester County Airport Advisory Board since 2020, has also navigated federal compliance issues and pushed for enhancing access to sustainable aviation fuel. Hartman’s day job is vice president at Capgemini, an international business and technology firm.
Benjamin Kern
Benjamin Kern is a key operator in the Hudson Valley. The Parkside Group lobbyist helped broker the sale of Kingston-Ulster Airport, a privately owned, public-use facility. Kern also advocated on behalf of ALS United Greater New York to pass legislation to create an ALS patient registry to improve care and research. Kern also pushed for the passage and expansion of the state’s local news jobs tax credit to support local journalism. He was previously a staffer in the Andrew Cuomo administration and worked for former Hudson Valley Rep. Maurice Hinchey.
George Lence
George Lence spearheads public affairs campaigns for some of the biggest names in New York, while cultivating growth in the Hudson Valley. Lence, a longtime Sleepy Hollow resident, is a vice chair of the Business Council of Westchester, where he oversees government action. Lence’s Hudson Valley clients include Empire City Casino and the Teatown Lake Reservation, in addition to his many New York City clients. He also serves on the community board of Northwell Health’s Phelps Hospital in Sleepy Hollow.
Thomas Leslie
Thomas Leslie concentrates his law practice on representing financial institutions and developers with purchasing, selling and financing real estate. Leslie, the founding shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s Westchester County office in White Plains, counts some of the country’s largest financial institutions as his clients. He advises real estate lenders on revolving credit and term financing, along with land use matters. He has been involved with the Planning Board and Board of Assessment Review in the village of Bronxville. He is a past member of the village of Bronxville Planning Board.
David Lubarsky
Dr. David Lubarsky has positioned the Westchester Medical Center Health Network, or WMCHealth, as a financially stable healthcare institution with a mission to deliver compassionate care to all patients. Lubarsky, who came on in February 2025, has invested in staff compensation, community programs and patient access. He secured $161 million in state transformation funding to put the WMCHealth on a single information system and accelerated a customer service initiative to benefit patients, families and staff. Under his leadership, Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla is in the process of constructing a new critical care tower.
Kelly MacMillan
Kelly MacMillan is a Hudson Valley star. The leader of Statewide Public Affairs’ Hudson Valley office recently helped ArtsWestchester secure $5 million from the state budget for its capital program. She worked with MuniCollab to persuade local government boards to use the Kingston company’s land use review platform. She also assisted Tilcon New York in adopting green technology for its local facilities. MacMillan was previously senior vice president for government and community relations at the Westchester Medical Center Health Network, as well as the director of public infrastructure at Empire State Development and as a chief of staff in the state Legislature.
Pavan Naidu
Pavan Naidu serves as Gov. Kathy Hochul’s eyes and ears in the Hudson Valley, collaborating closely with local government officials, community leaders and others across the region. Naidu also helps coordinate Hochul’s events in the area and advance her priorities in the Hudson Valley. Naidu brings ample public sector experience in the region, having served as an aide in the state Legislature and in the Dutchess County government, while also having handled government and community relations for Westchester Medical Center.
Alexandra Obremski
In May, Alexandra Obremski became president and CEO of Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, a nonprofit research, planning and policy organization covering nine counties. She is also the first graduate of the Pattern Fellows program to lead the organization, which identifies civic challenges and crafts solutions. She was previously director of the Rockland County Office of Community Development, where she created the county’s $13.5 million Housing Action Loan Opportunity fund and spearheaded the county’s housing needs assessment. She also launched a program to draw attention to affordable housing needs.
Daniel Ortega
Daniel Ortega is an economic development champion and an energy thought leader, supporting projects that create jobs and improve the business climate in the Hudson Valley and statewide. Ortega backs an all-of-the-above energy approach, and as the executive director and president of New Yorkers for Affordable Energy, he has pushed for the natural gas Constitution Pipeline and supported scaling back the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Ortega, who also handles community affairs for Engineers Labor-Employer Cooperative, or ELEC 825, helped secure up to $1 billion for the Route 17 expansion project in Orange and Sullivan counties.
Philip Ozuah
Dr. Philip Ozuah is expanding healthcare access in the Hudson Valley. Last year, Montefiore Einstein’s White Plains Hospital broke ground on a new 10-story expansion project, which will eventually include 240 single-bed patient rooms, operating suites and a larger emergency department, with expanded access to critical cardiac and stroke care. Ozuah is also leading White Plains Hospital in opening a new 70,000-square-foot outpatient care location. Ozuah recently presided over the opening of an expanded emergency department and a renovated Family Health and Wellness Center at the healthcare system’s Mount Vernon Hospital.
Amie Parikh
Amie Parikh operates Hudson Valley Care Coalition, a Tarrytown-based nonprofit organization with an expansive care management network. HVCC coordinates with federally qualified health centers, behavioral health providers, payers, hospital systems, local governments and community organizations to advance value-based care for Medicaid recipients across seven counties. In 2024, she completed a merger between the Hudson Valley Care skilled nursing facility and Coordinated Behavioral Health Services to create HVCC. This year, Montefiore St. Luke’s Cornwall, Access: Supports for Living as well as Independent Living partnered to launch an emergency department-based social care navigation program facilitated by HVCC.
Michael N. Romita
Michael N. Romita is writing Westchester County’s next economic chapter. He led the Westchester Economic Alliance, a partnership between his Westchester County Association and county officials, in creating Blueprint ’26, a road map for business growth. Romita is also serving on a new Affordability and Economic Development Task Force created by the Westchester County Legislature and played a key role in advocating this year for changes to the State Environmental Quality Review Act.
Frank Sánchez
Frank Sánchez is making an impact at Manhattanville University. Since he became president of the Purchase, New York, higher education institution in 2023, he has overseen its transition from college to university status, introduced a new seal and logo, expanded alumni engagement, increased investments in grant development and transformed campus athletics. He joined the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council earlier this year and serves on the boards of the Business Council of Westchester and the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.
Sarahana Shrestha
Sarahana Shrestha is on the front lines of a leftward shift in the Hudson Valley. The Democratic Socialists of America-backed lawmaker saw the governor sign her Public Renewables Transparency Act last year, holding the New York Power Authority more accountable as it implements the state’s Build Public Renewables Act. She’s now pushing legislation that would turn Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. into a publicly owned utility. The first DSA candidate to win a state legislative seat outside of New York City, Shrestha is also focused on creating affordable housing and opposing the federal immigration crackdown.
Scott Smith
Scott Smith is a rising star within the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, leading the labor group’s Carpenters Local 279. Smith has previously served as shop steward and foreman at Local 279, which is based in Rock Tavern and has jurisdiction over eight Hudson Valley counties: Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess, Sullivan, Ulster and Columbia. Smith advocates for strong labor standards, workforce development and cooperation with stakeholders to support economic growth. He previously represented labor on the board of the Sullivan County Industrial Development Agency.
Mark Stagg
Mark Stagg has spent 30 years building homes in New York, including taking on ambitious high-rise apartment projects in Westchester County. Among his notable buildings are the 100-unit Willett Point development in Port Chester and the 186-unit West View Apartments in New Rochelle. Stagg has made affordable housing development and community engagement a hallmark of his work in the region. He delivers thousands of turkeys during Thanksgiving, supports the Camp Bronx Fund and is a board vice chair and campaign co-chair of the White Plains Hospital Foundation.
Michael Steiper
Michael Steiper has hit the ground running since relocating to Westchester County from Staten Island a year ago. The SUNY Purchase president has finalized agreements with Rockland Community College and Dutchess County Community College to allow community college students a guaranteed transfer pathway to SUNY Purchase without losing credits. He also announced plans to deepen the relationship between the college and Broadview Senior Living, where residents already have the ability to audit college classes. Previously, at the College of Staten Island, Steiper served as provost and vice president for academic affairs.
Latavia Sturdivant
As Ms. Wheelchair America 2026, Latavia Sturdivant has traveled the country advocating for disability rights, improved healthcare access and durable medical equipment reform with a national platform she has dubbed “Breaking Barriers through Education and Leadership.” She has taken her advocacy to Capitol Hill, organized disability rights initiatives, emceed the Disability Unite festival and published a book on inclusion. Sturdivant, who was born with cerebral palsy and raised in the Bronx before moving to Yonkers, is an adjunct faculty member at Lehman College and a licensed speech pathologist.
JD Summa
JD Summa is revitalizing the Hudson Valley through construction, investment and policymaking. In New Rochelle, Summa is developing over 100 units of affordable senior housing at 438 Main St. and also rebuilding the Union Baptist Church that was destroyed by fire at the site. He has worked on other projects across Westchester County, including Harrison Playhouse Lofts, Artis Senior Living in Briarcliff Manor and Parcel D in Port Chester, along with a Nanuet fire station in Rockland County. Summa founded the Kings Charitable Foundation, launched Summa Capital and serves on the town of Mount Pleasant Planning Board.
Olga Luz Tirado
Olga Luz Tirado is an expert on public relations, marketing, economic development and tourism. She spent a decade leading the Bronx Tourism Council, where she saw Bronx tourism increase by 14% in her first year, boosted the Tour de Bronx cycling event and launched an award-winning podcast celebrating Bronx history. She now serves on the boards of the Hudson Valley Regional Council and the Orange Bank & Trust Company in addition to the New York State Tourism Industry Association and state Tourism Advisory Council.
Masha Turchinsky
It has been a transformative year for Masha Turchinsky. The Hudson River Museum in Yonkers received a seven-figure donation from the Anita K. Hersh Philanthropic Fund to support free weekend admission for high school students and to fund youth leadership programs – while changing Turchinsky’s title to the Anita K. Hersh director and CEO. Turchinsky also secured $500,000 in congressional funding from U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and $285,000 from the New York State Council on the Arts to modernize a planetarium. The museum also plans a study to reenvision its environmental galleries.
Judith Watson
Judith Watson has a clear message for Gov. Kathy Hochul: Fully invest in community health centers to keep New Yorkers healthy. Watson, who was elected chair of the Community Health Center Association of New York State this year, has noted that these centers serve 2.5 million New Yorkers annually but face cuts due to federal policy changes. In 2019, Watson became CEO of the Westchester Community Health Center in Mount Vernon. The organization has launched new food assistance programs, expanded insurance enrollment for patients facing coverage gaps and forged community partnerships during her tenure.
Ken Zebrowski
Ken Zebrowski is no longer serving in the Assembly, but he hasn’t stopped serving the people of the Hudson Valley. Many of his Brown & Weinraub clients are based in the region, including Rockland County, Clarkstown, West Haverstraw, the One&Only Hudson Valley resort and United Hospice. Zebrowski is also president of the Rockland Business Association, and, this year, he was appointed by Gov. Kathy Hochul to the Rockland Community College board and by Rep. Pat Ryan to the West of Hudson Transit Study’s Stakeholder Advisory Committee.
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