My career as a volunteer on the boards of not-for-profits began in 1988 when I was recruited for the Parish Council, the parish conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and as Eucharistic Minister (EM) for St. Margaret Roman Catholic Church on Hertel Avenue in North Buffalo. While on the Parish Council, I served on many committees, such as finance, buildings and grounds, special events, and fundraising. In 2016, I left the parish council but continued as EM and in the SVdP conference.

     The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a Roman Catholic lay ministry. I began in 1988 as a member of the St. Margaret conference and served as treasurer and president. I also joined another conference, the Timon conference. In 2016, I became president of the Diocesan Council board, overseeing 60+ parish-based conferences involving 700+ volunteers. I timed off that board in 2022. My ministry continues to this day, with visits to people in need, in their homes, and in low-income areas of Buffalo. To date, I have made over 600 home visits. This experience qualifies me to be an expert on poverty.

     Buffalo Seminary is a private, secular girls' high school founded in 1851. 1995, a leadership crisis caused an exodus of alumni, faculty, parents, and students. I was recruited to a special committee to deal with the crisis and find a solution. Our solution was implemented, reversed the situation, and led to stability and growth. From ‘96 to ‘98, I served as president of the parent-teacher Guild and served on the board for one year.

     From 2013 through 2016, I served as a member of the Program for Applied and Computational Mathematics (PACM) advisory board at SUNY Buffalo State College. In May 2016, I was on the committee that organized the Data Analytics Across Disciplines conference held in Niagara Falls. Speakers included representatives from colleges and universities across the United States, and I was also a presenter. The meeting was sponsored by the National Professional Science Master’s Association (NPSMA), the SUNY Professional Science Master’s Consortium, and Buffalo State.

     In late 2012, I joined the Western New York Land Conservancy board, where I served for 7 ½ years. During that time, the organization’s budget grew from six figures to eight figures, and the staff grew from two FTs and one PT to a current staff of 18. I served as president of the board from 2016 until 2020, when I termed off the board.

     In 2016, with partner Jay Burney, I co-founded the 501c3 Pollinator Conservation Association Inc., which supports pollinator conservation through initiatives and action plans that promote community engagement, collaboration, education, and implementation strategies based on science and ecological integrity. The action plans consist of planting pollinator habitats at four publicly accessible sites on or near the Niagara Frontier waterfront.