Happy New Year to the MOCHA Center Family & Friends —
As we say goodbye to 2012, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge and thank several staff and board members for their service to the MOCHA Center. This year, three of my managers: S. Alex Williams (Director, Capacity and Community Engagement); Thaddeus Price (Director, Programs & Services Rochester); and Stephaun Wallace (Interim Deputy Director) moved to new opportunities. Their wealth of knowledge, community engagement, and commitment to the MOCHA Center will be missed. I wish each of them the very best in their new endeavors. I also would like to thank staff members that moved on in 2012 — Coralyn Hunter (Health Access Specialist); Mariah Harvey (Health Educator); and Adalik Rivera (Program Coordinator) — for their service and commitment to the MOCHA Center.
The Board of Directors also saw changes in 2012. Many thanks to Patricia Coury-Dongiger, Charlie Lytle, Martin Jones, Chris Gengo, Denyse Lewis, Lillian Medina-Zelazny, and Rev. Alicia Heath-Toby for their service to the MOCHA Center and the Board of Directors.
Since March 2011, Dr. Ed Brockenbrough served as the President of the Board of Directors at the MOCHA Center. I appreciate Dr. Brockenbrough’s leadership and willingness to bring change to the MOCHA Center. On January 1, 2013, the Board will be under the leadership of Dr. Stanley Byrd. Dr. Byrd previously served as Vice President and will serve as the Interim President (January – March 2013) to complete Dr. Brockenbrough’s term while he is on a research sabbatical for his faculty position at the University of Rochester.
The new Board Officers as of January 1, 2013 are: Dr. Stanley Byrd (Interim President), Mitchell Wharton (Vice-President), Dinash Lal (Treasurer), and Sasha Eloi (Secretary). Beverly Jackson, LeShea Agnew, Kamila Barnes, Demetrius Jones, and Beverly David-Lewis are also members of the Board of Directors.
Beginning on January 1, 2013, the Leadership Team will consist of the Executive Director (Bruce E. Smail), Director of Finance (Marti Blazick), Director of Human Resources, Administration & Quality Assurance (Julie Rosado), and Senior Director of Programs & Services (to be hired). We also created a new tier of management for Programs & Services. The Managers Team includes Manager of Health Access & AFS Programs (Renee Law), Manager of Capacity Building (Jasan Ward), Manager of Prevention Programs & Services – Buffalo (DeMarkis Bonner) and Manager of Prevention Programs & Services – Rochester (Barbara Turner). Until the Senior Director of Programs & Services is hired, the Executive Director will fulfill the position responsibilities with the Leadership Team and Managers Team reporting directly to him.
We are excited about 2013. We are looking forward to additional fundraising activities. Very shortly we will have an online donation option on our website for easier support of the MOCHA Center. Very shortly, we will launch the MOCHA Weekend 2013 Planning Committee and will be looking for community participation. If you are interested in serving on the committee, please email me at bsmail@mochacenter.org.
Thank you for your support during my tenure and I look forward to working with the MOCHA Center family — Board of Directors, staff, clients, community, donors, and funders as we continue to grow and make an impact in Rochester, Buffalo and New York City.
Happy New Year —- Bruce E. Smail, Executive Director
