Capitalize Albany Board of Directors
Chair – Anders Tomson, President & CEO, Chemung Canal Trust Company
In December of 2016 Anders Tomson was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Chemung Canal Trust Company (CCTC), the oldest community bank in New York State founded in 1833. CCTC now has 32 branches spread across 13 counties in NY and PA. Prior to being named President of CCTC, Anders held the title of President and Chief Operating Officer at the bank, where he had regional oversight of the Capital Bank Division in the New York Capital Region. From 2010-2015, Anders served as the President of Capital Bank, and was instrumental in facilitating the merger and acquisition of Capital Bank by Chemung Canal Trust Company. Anders leads the CCTC Executive Management Team and is a Director on the boards of CCTC and Chemung Financial Corporation, the bank’s parent holding company.
Prior to joining CCTC and Capital Bank, Anders was the Division Executive for commercial real estate in New York State for RBS Citizens Bank. Anders began his commercial real estate lending career for the Community Preservation Corporation (CPC) where he last served as Senior Vice President and Regional Director. CPC is a not-for profit mortgage lender, capitalized by more than 90 banks and insurance companies, which finances low, moderate and middle-income housing in New York State and New Jersey.
Throughout his career, Anders has been very involved in healthcare, economic and community development initiatives in the Capital Region. Currently, Anders is involved in board or advisory capacities with Southern Tier Economic Growth, Arnot Health, Three Rivers Development Corporation, Capitalize Albany Corporation, Community Preservation Corporation, Albany Medical Center, and the Albany Medical Center Foundation.
Anders graduated from Cornell University.
Vice Chair – Heather C. Mulligan, Esq., President & CEO, The Business Council of New York State
Heather C. Mulligan, Esq. is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of The Business Council of New York State, Inc., the primary, statewide association advocating for New York’s business community. Ms. Mulligan is a dynamic leader, trusted advisor and champion for economic growth, good jobs and strong communities across New York. Ms. Mulligan joined The Business Council in 2007, as vice president of government affairs, overseeing the organization’s legislative and pro-growth agendas. She holds a Juris Doctor from Albany Law School. She has won numerous honors for her leadership in the business community including City and State’s Above & Beyond award, and the Albany Business Review’s Women who Mean Business award. Additionally, she has been included in City and State’s Albany Power 100 List and profiled in the Albany Business Review, The Buffalo News and Her Life magazine. Born in Tunisia to Peace Corps volunteers, she was raised in Syracuse, New York. Attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at 16, she transferred to the State University of New York at Binghamton, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. She graduated from Albany Law School at the age of 23. Ms. Mulligan currently lives in New York’s Capital Region, on a farm with her three sons.
Treasurer – John S. Harris Esq., Partner, Brown & Weinraub, PLLC
A partner at Brown & Weinraub, a government relations and full-service law firm, Mr. Harris focuses his practice on the intersection of law, business and government. He has significant experience working with clients on environmental, energy and government affairs matters. Mr. Harris has also represented clients before state and local agencies in connection with the regulatory review, permitting, financing and development of projects such as residential apartment complexes, solid waste and recycling facilities, asphalt plants, mines, golf courses, office buildings, casinos, shopping centers and electric transmission and generation projects.
A 1989 graduate of Amherst College with a B.A. in economics, Mr. Harris received his law degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1992, where he was on the law review staff and graduated cum laude.
Mr. Harris is a member of the New York State and American Bar Associations. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Capitalize Albany Corporation, the Center for Economic Growth, and the Bethlehem Soccer Club, and is a former member of the Board of the Albany Convention Center Authority.
Secretary – John Vero, Esq., Delaney Vero, PLLC
John furnishes legal services to new, emerging and established businesses, commercial entities, not-for-profit and tax exempt organizations, religious organizations, healthcare organizations, municipal entities, professional service entities, civic groups, business organizations and individuals in the formation, merger, restructuring, sale, acquisition, capitalization, management, operation and financing of real and personal property, including contractual, licensing, reporting and compliance matters.
He has experience with New York’s strategic sourcing procurement method and other public procurement programs. John is a Director of the Capitalize Albany Corporation. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Central Avenue Business Improvement District and he is a Trustee of the Destroyer Escort Historical Museum, Inc. (USS Slater). John was a member of the City of Albany Industrial Development Agency and the Capital Resource Corporation. John served as a member of the College of Saint Rose Board of Associates.
Mr. Vero is a former member of the Board of Trustees at Union College and past president of the Union College Alumni Council. He is a former member of the Board of Trustees at Albany Law School of Union University. John formerly served as Chairman of the Board of Managers of the Albany YMCA, and he formerly served on the Board of Directors of the Capital District YMCA.
John was a founding member of GenNEXT, the council dedicated to promoting the Capital Region’s economic vitality, currently known as the Tech Valley Young Professionals Network. He served on the Advisory Board of The Stakeholders Inc., a not-for-profit organization formed to promote the sustainability of the Capital Region. John also served on the I Live New York Steering Committee, a statewide organization aiming to attract and retain professionals in New York State. John was named to the Business Review’s Forty Under Forty for 2005. The Forty Under Forty program recognizes outstanding members of the business community under the age of forty.
John has been a co-author and co-contributor to the Albany Times Union’s Workbytes column series. He has also been a contributor to the local PBS affiliate business show “The Bottom Line with Wally Altes.”
Kaweeda Adams, CEO, Paseo United
Kaweeda G. Adams served as the Superintendent of the City School District of Albany for five and a half years, where she lead a diverse urban school district of nearly 9,700 students in New York State’s capital city. Her experience spans a wide range of service at all levels of an educational organization, community partnerships and engagement opportunities, as well as work with legislators focusing on educational advocacy and developing equitable practices and systems within business and education. A third-generation educator, she served in increasing levels of responsibility for 28 years in the Clark County School District in Nevada before accepting her position in Albany. Adams began her career in education as a secondary-level English teacher, working at the middle and high school levels for 6½ years before moving into administration. She served as dean of students at the middle level, assistant principal and principal at the middle level, university instructor at Regis University, human resources director, and director of the instruction unit and facility administrator.
Michael Castellana, CEO, Broadview Federal Credit Union
Currently serving as Broadview Federal Credit Union’s CEO, Castellana joined SEFCU in 1988 as a member of the executive management team and during his tenure has seen the credit union grow both geographically and in overall size. Currently the largest credit union in the Capital Region and the seventh in the state, Castellana has successfully negotiated and completed six mergers throughout the Capital Region, the Southern Tier of New York, and the Buffalo Region.
A recognized leader in the industry, Castellana is chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council and vice president of the Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. He was appointed by Governor Andrew Cuomo to the University Council at the University at Albany in 2013 and is currently serving as chairman. From the summer of 2011 through the fall of 2012, Castellana served as co-chair of the Capital Region Economic Development Council, a position he was also appointed to by Governor Cuomo.
Castellana gives his time and talent to many area organizations in addition to Capitalize Albany including, the University at Albany Foundation, Fuller Road Management Corporation, Big Brothers Big Sisters Advisory Board, the Albany Promise Executive Council, Credit Union National Association (multiple committees), and the Governmental Affairs Committee of the New York Credit Union Association.
Sonya del Peral, Proprietor and Manager, Nine Pin Ciderworks
Sonya is a proprietor and the Manager at Nine Pin Ciderworks, a New York craft cider company located in Albany’s warehouse district. Sonya is also a Partner of Bowers & del Peral, PLLC and her law practice focuses on intellectual property, real estate, alcohol industry licensing and wills. She spent the first five years of her legal practice in large law firms in New York City and Albany. In 1996, she opened her practice in Columbia County. Sonya received her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Albany Law School in 1991, where she served as an Editor of the Albany Law Review, was named a Justinian Society Member, and was awarded the Nathan Burkan Memorial Copyright Award and the Selma Mintz Memorial Award. Sonya received a M.A.T. degree from SUNY Binghamton in 1984 where she was awarded the Outstanding Professional Performance Award, and her B.A. from SUNY Albany, summa cum laude, in 1980. Sonya is a fluent Spanish speaker and speaks intermediate French. She is admitted to practice in New York and Connecticut.
Michael M. Fancher, Executive Director, NYS Center for Advanced Technology in Nanomaterials and Nanoelectronics, University at Albany CNSE
Michael Fancher is the Executive Director of the New York State Center for Advanced Technology in Nanoelectronics and Nanomaterials (CATN2) and is the Principal Investigator on over 15 projects and programs in excess of $125 million advanced manufacturing, cyber-physical systems, clean energy and entrepreneurial growth. He has over three decades of experience in industry, government and academia that includes serving as a founding member of the University at Albany’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering executive leadership team as Vice President of Economic Outreach and Business Development (1997-2016) catalyzing an array of public private partnerships in excess of $15 B in technology development, manufacturing competitiveness and regional cluster formation. Most notably, he has been directly responsible for the successful award of funding to establish the U.S. Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium – U.S. PVMC in 2011, the New York Power Electronics Manufacturing Consortium – NY PEMC in 2014, and the American Institute for Manufacturing of Integrated Photonics – AIM Photonics in 2015 and supported the recent designation as a regional hub by the U.S. Dept. of Defense for the Microelectronics Commons under the CHIPS & Science Act.
As Associate Professor of Nanoeconomics, Mr. Fancher has been profiled in the “Mover and Shaker” and “Expert Perspective” sections of Semiconductor International Magazine for his work in the development of emerging theory, principles and methods for nanoeconomics and the changing roles of government, industry and academia, among other periodicals. Mr. Fancher received his M.A. in Economics (International) from the University at Albany in 1988, his B.S. in business administration (accounting and finance) from Syracuse University in 1982 and was certified by New York State in public accountancy in 1985.
Previously, Mr. Fancher served on the New York State Assembly Ways and Means Committee as Deputy Budget Director for nine years where he designed economic development policy, programs and projects to assist strategic industries, strengthen regional eco-systems, and accelerate technology commercialization. He has been recognized for legislative achievement by the New York State Governor and has practiced as a Certified Public Accountant for several years.
Anthony Gaddy, Co-Founder and President/CEO, UpState New York Black Chamber of Commerce
As a Co-Founder and President/CEO of the UpState New York Black Chamber of Commerce, Anthony is committed to helping build a stronger overall business community in the Capital Region and Upstate New York. The UpState New York Black Chamber of Commerce is one of more than 145 U.S. Black Chambers in the U.S. and Canada.
Raised in Albany, Anthony is a graduate of The Albany Academies and attended the University of Chicago and the University of Southern California where he majored in Economics. He is active in the community, having served as Vice-President of the Schenectady County Public Libraries, the NAACP and the Empire State Black Arts & Cultural Festival and several other organizations. He currently serves as Vice-President of 4th Family, an Albany-based nonprofit that focuses on teaching STEM through sports. Anthony was appointed to the City of Albany Industrial Development Agency and the City of Albany Capital Resource Corporation in 2020 and serves at the pleasure of the City of Albany Common Council.
David A. Parente, Director, McVeigh Funeral Home Inc.
David has extensive experience as a funeral service professional, serving Albany area families for more than 30 years. David is very active in related business associations, as well as within the wider community. He currently serves as president of the Capital District Funeral Directors Association; member and trustee of Blessed Sacrament Church, Albany; past president of the Parish Council at Blessed Sacrament Church, Albany; board member and vice president of The Community Hospice Foundation; Advisory Board member at Hudson Valley Community College Morturary Science Program; chairman of the board of Albany’s Central Ave Business Improvement District; and also serves on the board of directors for Directors Choice Credit Union, and NYS Funeral Director Support Services in addition to Capitalize Albany Corporation.
His curriculum vita includes Canisius College, Hudson Valley Community College, and the prestigious, internationally renowned Fountain National Academy of Professional Embalming Skills.
“Living in the Capital Region has been a privilege for me, and especially serving New York’s great Capital City…..Albany”
Dr. Havidán Rodríguez, President, University at Albany
Dr. Havidán Rodríguez was appointed by the SUNY Board of Trustees as the 20th president of the University at Albany in June 2017. He took office in September 2017 with more than 25 years as a leader in higher education.
Before coming to UAlbany, he served as the Founding Provost & Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). He also served as President, Ad Interim, and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Texas – Pan American (UTPA). Prior to arriving at UTPA, Dr. Rodríguez served as the Deputy Provost, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and International Programs, and Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware. He was also a core faculty member and director of the Disaster Research Center (DRC), the oldest and one of the leading social science disaster research centers in the world; and held a faculty position and several administrative positions at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez (UPRM) for more than a decade.
He has been the recipient of many awards, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) Outstanding Achievement Award (2004); the American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity Cesar Estrada Chavez Award (2016); and the 2017 Inspiring Leaders in STEM Award by INSIGHT Into Diversity Magazine.
Dr. Rodríguez has led and participated in a number of disaster management field research projects, including in Honduras following Hurricane Mitch; India and Sri Lanka following the Indian Ocean Tsunami; and the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Rodríguez has a significant number of publications in the area of disasters, as well as Latinos/as in the United States.
He has played an extensive role in community engagement at the local, regional, and national levels, with service on many community, professional, and university boards and organizations. He currently serves as co-chair of the Capital Region Economic Development Council, as a board member of the Center for Economic Growth, and as co-chair of the SUNY Puerto Rico Task Force.
Rodríguez received a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Maryland, an M.A. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Dr. Toyin Tofade, President, Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Prior to her appointment as ACPHS President in July 2022, Toyin Tofade served as the dean and professor at the Howard University College of Pharmacy in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Tofade also served in multiple roles at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP) in Baltimore including associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science and associate director and assistant dean of the Experiential Learning Program. She served as a pharmacist and a clinical specialist in the general medicine service at University of North Carolina (UNC) hospitals as well as director of pharmacotherapy services at the Wake Area Health Education Center (AHEC).
Dr. Tofade was appointed in 2020 as president-elect of the International Pharmacy Federation (FIP)academic pharmacy section, a global federation representing over five million pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists. She is the first Black female to serve as president of the academic section in its 50-plus years of existence. In 2018, she was the first Black woman to be named an FIP Fellow, recognizing her for exhibiting strong leadership internationally, distinguished pharmaceutical sciences and/or practice of pharmacy, and contributions to the advancement of pharmaceutical sciences and/or practice of pharmacy.
On the national front, she was elected as a member of the board for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy in 2020 and has participated on a variety of diversity, equity and inclusion task forces nationally. Dr. Tofade facilitated meetings with industry leaders and participated in pharmacy coalition meetings to advance provider status in the District of Columbia.
Dr. Tofade received a bachelor’s in pharmacy (BPharm) from Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria, as well as a master’s in pharmacy practice and a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree from UNC at Chapel Hill. She received a certificate of public leadership from Harvard Kennedy School. She completed a residency with emphasis on clinical pharmacokinetics from UNC Chapel Hill and an ASHP-accredited residency at UNC hospitals. She is a certified coactive coach and completed the Academic Leadership Academy from the Academic Leadership Institute at Penn State and the Management Development Program from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Karen Torrejon, Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer, Humonix
Karen is the Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer at Humonix. She invented the Glauconix platform technology in response to an unmet need in drug discovery/development and looking to bring more effective therapies to patients. Karen patented technology geared toward facilitating the discovery of glaucoma therapeutics. She received her Ph.D. in Nanoscale Engineering at the University at Albany (SUNY) where her research focused on tissue engineering. She was recognized by MIT Technology Review as an Innovator Under 35, the Albany Business review 40 under 40, and has been the recipient of 20+ scientific and technical awards. Dr. Torrejon has a PhD from the State University of New York, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, and a BS in Physics & Chemistry from the University at Albany.
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