Dolores R. McCray, Ph.D.
Chair
Named one of the 25 Influential Black Women in Business by The Network Journal in 2000, Dr. McCray held a career in banking that spanned over 25 years, which includes serving as Vice President and Branch Manager at Banco Popular, Sales and Business Development Manager at Amalgamated Bank, and former member of the Urban Bankers Coalition. Today, she has her own insurance and financial services businesses.
An active member of the Harlem community, Dr. McCray is a member of the NYC Police Department’s 28th Precinct Community Council. Involved in health care since 1991 through her civic duties, she is the former chair and a current member of the Renaissance Diagnostic and Treatment Center’s Community Advisory Board, as well as prior chair of the Council of Municipal Hospital Community Advisory Boards.
She is also a member of the Board of Columbia University’s School of Dental and Oral Surgery, Community DentCare Network, which provides patient-centered dental services to underserved populations in Northern Manhattan, focusing on preventive services.
Dr. McCray earned her doctorate in banking and finance from Arizona University, and her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from Pace University.
Angelo Moultair
Vice Chair, Chair of Compliance Committee
Angelo Moultair is a Vice-President at JP Morgan with over two decades of experience in leading complex businesses in various industries. He holds two Bachelor of Science degrees in business administration and Computer Information Science from the Lock Haven State University of Pennsylvania. Angelo is credited with creating a variety of industry best practices in financial management, customer service, team leadership & business acumen.
He is the organizer and participant in various community lead initiatives such as health care, education, human rights, professional develop, civic duties & fitness serving in many capacities with distinguished professionals across NYC to discuss strategy to improve access of vital resources for communities in need.
At work, Angelo is a coach to his team treating everyday as a day to help employees manage stress, work pressure effectively, and achieve their personal best. When he is not immersed in his work, he likes to go snowboarding in the winter and sail in the summer. The Fall and spring you will most likely find him camping with a BBQ grill fired up.
Alyse Portera
Treasurer, Chair of Finance Committee
Alyse has spent her career in senior leadership roles in organizations that span the non-profit spectrum including healthcare, biomedical research, government and higher education. Alyse started her career in the NYC Department of Health, holding roles in both program and financial management. She also spent several years managing medical services at the original North General Hospital before moving to the Mount Sinai School of Medicine as the Associate Affiliation Administrator for the Queens Health Network.
Alyse then spent 10 years as Deputy Commissioner for Administration for the Westchester County Health Department, where she was responsible for the administrative operations of the agency including finance, human resources, grants, contracts, facilities, information technology, emergency preparedness and compliance. She went on to serve in several leadership roles during a 6-year tenure with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a world-renowned biomedical research foundation and the largest private funder of science education in the United States. Alyse is currently providing consulting services to assist small non-profit organizations to develop sustainable financial and operational infrastructures. She is also a volunteer fitness instructor in the NYC Parks Department’s ShapeUp program.
Alyse earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Maryland and received her master’s degree in Health Services Administration from Hunter College.
Antoinette Brown
Secretary
A Brooklyn resident, Ms. Brown serves as Deputy Director of Administrative Payroll at the NYC Department of Education. She has served as Chairperson of Cumberland Diagnostic & Treatment Center’s Community Advisory Board, as well as Vice Chairperson of the Council for CABS for the NYC Health + Hospitals Corporation.
While serving as the Chairperson of the Cumberland Diagnostic and Treatment Center’s Community Advisory Board, Ms. Brown was instrumental in advancing the role of the Advisory Board and increasing its membership.
She was also instrumental in securing funding for signage at Cumberland Diagnostic and Treatment Center with the assistance of Councilwoman Leticia James. In addition, she worked with North Brooklyn Health Network Senior Vice President George Proctor to secure a digital mammography machine for Cumberland to aid in the fight against breast cancer. Ms. Brown holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Brooklyn College.
Herman D. Smith
Chair of Strategic Committee
Herman D. Smith is the Vice President for Human Resources at the Wildlife Conservation Society. The society’s mission saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, and global conservation. It is based at the Bronx Zoo, and covers all NYC Zoos and the Aquarium. Mr. Smith has spent his professional life as a missionary in public health, non-profit, education, and community service sectors.
Among his many activities, Mr. Smith is a current and original board of trustee’s member of the Carlos Lezama Archive and Cultural Center (CLACC-C). He is an advisory board member of the Center for the Women of New York and a recipient of their prestigious 2002 Good Guy Award for his support of their mission in aiding distressed women and victims of domestic violence. He is President and CEO of a Human Resources consulting firm, The Global Village Interpreters Management Incorporated (GVIMI), Mr. Smith was selected by NYC Health +Hospitals as a National Association of Public Hospitals Management Fellow in the year 2000. He is a certified Spanish teacher having received his Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, Liberal Arts, and Business from the University of Northern Iowa. He took postgraduate studies in International Comparative Education, and Law. Smith holds multiple professional certificates, and received his Master degree in International Economic Policy and Advanced Management from Columbia University.
During his healthcare career, Herman D. Smith served as Chief Human Resources Executive for 5 of the 11 acute care Hospitals within the NYC Health + Hospitals Corporation (NYC Health + Hospitals), the largest public health care system in the United States. At Elmhurst Hospital Center he served for 5 years as the Director of Labor Relations and Safety, and he served 16 years as Chief Human Resources Executive. He is the first Chief Human Resources Executive of the Queens Health Network encompassing Elmhurst and Queens Hospital Centers being appointed to that position in 1996. In 2004 he became Chief Human Resources Executive for The Generations Plus – Northern Manhattan Health Network encompassing Harlem, Lincoln, and Metropolitan Hospitals.
During his career in NYC Health + Hospitals, Smith achieved 24 perfect scores in the management of Human Resources portion of the Joint Commission of Accredited Health Care Organizations survey process. As a Human Resource Developer, Smith created arguably the largest recurrent youth development program in NYC. At its peak, 1000 of the most diverse and promising youth within the city were given employment, mentoring, training, and life skills for college and career preparation. He is the recipient of the National Association of Public Hospitals people development award for this endeavor.
After completing his Spanish Teaching degree at the University of Northern Iowa, Smith began his career as a K-6 bilingual education teacher for first generation Mexican immigrants in East Palo Alto California, at the Ravenswood City Public School District. He then taught K-6 secondary school at the Gertrude Wilkes Academy of East Palo Alto where he was quickly elevated to Head Master and School Administrator. Thereafter, Smith returned to NYC and began his Human Resources career as an employer representative for fortune 500 companies appearing before Administrative Law Judges at the New York State Department of Labor. He then was recruited to the NYC Health + Hospitals Corporation where he spent 25 years in Labor Relations and Human Resources.
Lori E. Ferguson
Chair of Quality Committee
Lori Ferguson is a Senior Director of Urban Health Plan, Inc. (UHP) a network of federally qualified health centers serving residents serving the Bronx and Queens. She directs the CitiCares site, which provides primary and specialty care services, and the school based health program comprised of eleven clinics in public schools throughout the Bronx and Queens.
Prior to joining UHP, she worked at Harlem United as the Associate Vice President for healthcare providing strategic direction for its new start federally qualified health center. For eight years, Lori worked at the Primary Care Development Corporation as project director for performance improvement where she directed and taught process improvement programs to healthcare organizations throughout New York City.
Lori is on the board of directors of the New York Association for Ambulatory Care and Gotham Health. She is Co- Chair for the New York State School Based Health Alliance Downstate Chapter. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology from the University of Pittsburgh and holds a Master of Science Degree in Community Health/Health Administration from Long Island University.
Vivian Bright
Chair of Membership Committee
Ms. Bright had a career in accounting for 25 years and is the longtime business administrator of the historic Berean Baptist Church in Brooklyn. She is a recognized, outstanding leader in the East New York section of Brooklyn, where she has lived for decades.
Among her many affiliations are former Board Chair of the Cypress Community Day Care Center; and former member of the Brooklyn NAACP Board; President of the Leadership Council of Open Communities of Brooklyn, Inc.; and former Vice President of Community Board No.5.
Ms. Bright is a former member of the East New York Diagnostic and Treatment Center and Kings County Hospital Community Advisory Boards, and a member of Brooklyn’s Community Board 5. She is also the Chair of the Land Use Committee.
Among her many awards are: Brooklyn Navy Yard Community Leadership; The Lucille Rose Humanitarian Award-NAACP; Gov. Carey International Year of the Child Award; New Horizons Village Homeowners Leadership Award; community service awards from the offices of local government representatives; and the Robert J. Epslinger Distinguished Service Award from Lions Inc. Ms. Bright is also listed in the 107th Congress Congressional Record.
Ms. Bright earned her Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Brooklyn College and Master in Human Resources Management from The New School for Social Research, as well as a certificate from Pratt Institute Community Economic Development Program.
Fernando L. Brinn
Member
A native New Yorker Fernando L. Brinn was born in East Harlem to parents who migrated from Puerto Rico in the early 1930’s. Mr. Brinn was raised in the Bronx and attended Bronx Community College of the City University of New York. He transferred to the State University of New York at Stony Brook where he was awarded a Bachelors of Science Degree in Social Work in 1973, and received his MSW in 1976.
He worked a number of years in the field of Psychiatric Social Work, beginning at Bellevue Hospital and later at the Bronx Psychiatric Center.
His Master’s thesis was based on a year’s worth of research and work with the skid row population in the Bowery. Mr. Brinn thesis on the skid row population, a subculture, is on file at the library of the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
In 1980 Mr. Brinn was appointed Executive Director of the Higher Education Development Fund. He held this position until 1982 when he was appointed by Governor Mario Cuomo to the position of Assistant Regional Director for the office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. In this position Mr. Brinn actively increased the number of minorities in state government. In 1992 he launched his own company, F. Brinn and Associates. F. Brinn and Associates provided an array of services for individuals seeking training and job placement. Through its Work Force Development Institute, the company serviced over a thousand individuals annually. In the year 1999, F. Brinn and Associates opened a subsidiary company, to provide services to individuals with disabilities in New York City and Bridge Port Connecticut. In 2001 “Craines New York Business” magazine named Mr. Brinn as one of that year’s top entrepreneurs.
Currently he is President of The Brinn Group, a Marketing, Public Relations and Real Estate company which he founded. The company’s clientele list consist of for profit and non for profit providers in Supportive Housing, Transitional Housing, HIV/Aids Services and Affordable Housing.
Darold Burgess
Member
Henrietta Ho-Asjoe
Member
Until May 2017, Henrietta was the interim executive director of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families which she previously served on the Board for 10 years. She was the past Executive Director of General Human Outreach in the Community, Inc. (GHO), a non-profit agency providing services for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families. Prior to that, as Administrator and Director of Community Development for the NYU Center for the Study of Asian American Health (CSAAH), she built ongoing partnerships with organizations ranging from grassroots nonprofits to national healthcare agencies and government entities. Henrietta began her career as the Special Assistant to the Executive Director and then became the Manager of Radiology at Gouverneur Health Services where she worked for over 10 years.
Henrietta is a consultant for best practice in non-profit management and program development. She has extensive experience in management, program design, research and advocacy and recognized skills in partnership relationships. She is also the Co-Editor of the Praeger Handbook of Asian American Health: Taking Notice and Taking Action (2009). She serves on the boards of several local and national nonprofits.
Whittaker Mack III, CFP
Member
Born in Brooklyn to Whittaker Mack, Jr., a retired NYC Sanitation Foreman, and the late Ethel Mack, a real estate developer. He would later move to Hollis, Queens and attend August Martin High School Institute of Science and Technology. He moved on to graduate from Duke University and later, a MBA from the Fordham Gabelli Graduate School of Business.
His professional career is the tale of two stories. The first 19yrs he spent in the pharmaceutical industry where he held several positions including Analytical Research Scientist, Formulation Research Chemist, Plant Manager, and Senior Sales Representative. He worked for Barr Laboratories, Novartis, and Pfizer.
While Whittaker has never had children of his own, he considers the communities where he serves as part of his legacy
For over 25 years, he has served as Chairperson for Duke University Alumni Advisory Committee for Orange and Rockland Counties of New York. During his tenure, Whittaker has provided college admission interview support to over 2400 HS seniors applying to college. As Past President and current Area Director for the Eta Zeta Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Whittaker created the Westchester Alphas Educational Foundation. It is 501C(3) certified and the fraternity’s development engine that has provided over 50 scholarships to young college-bound Westchester HS Seniors over past six years. On Sundays, he serves within the Usher Ministry at the Allen AME Cathedral in Queens, NY.
For the second part of his career, Whittaker has been spent tin the wealth management with Merrill Lynch, Guardian and LPL. For the past ten years, he works as a Private Client Advisor, VP Investment Services with JP Morgan Securities. He has achieved accreditation as a Certified Financial Planner. He takes pride in helping his clients realize their financial dreams and achieve their goals. He manages high net worth clientele including individuals and small business enterprises.
He is a Life Member for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and the National Black MBA Association. In his spare time, he plays golf and baseball.
Elissa Macklin
Member
Ms. Macklin capped off her career in healthcare as Director of Operations of the Ambulatory Care Departments of Harlem Hospital Center in Manhattan, and then at Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center in Brooklyn. She retired from the NYC Health + Hospitals Corporation in 2011.
Since 2011, she has been involved in various volunteer activities, and is a registered grant reviewer for Susan G. Komen NYC and the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. Before joining NYC Health + Hospitals, Ms. Macklin worked at the Primary Care Development Corporation, where she implemented process improvement programs for primary care organizations, including working on an ambulatory care redesign project at NYC Health + Hospitals. She has also served as an administrator at Sloan-Kettering Memorial Cancer Center, Elmhurst Hospital Center, Queens Hospital Center, and Long Island College Hospital Center.
Prior to Ms. Macklin’s work as an administrator she was a Registered Pulmonary Function Technologist, serving at SUNY Brooklyn/Kings County Hospital Center and Methodist Hospital Center.
With safety-net health care her stated passion, Ms. Macklin also served as Chief Operating Officer for the Morris Heights Health Center, a FQHC, in The Bronx. She is past president of the New York Association for Ambulatory Care, where she is currently a member of the Board of Directors.
Ms. Macklin has a Master in Business Administration from Adelphi University.
Jacqueline Narine
Member
Jacqueline V. Narine, a born and bred Brooklynite, retired from New York City Health + Hospitals after 33 years of service. Mrs. Narine brings a plethora of healthcare administration and community relations experience to the New York City Health + Hospitals / Gotham Health Board of Directors. She started as a Hospital Care Investigator until being promoted to Systems Analyst. As a testament to her work ethic and commitment, Mrs. Narine was promoted again as the Assistant Director for Clinical Operations, with responsibilities extending throughout the entire North Brooklyn Health Network at the time.
Prior to retirement, Mrs. Narine’s final assignment was Liaison of the New York City Health + Hospitals / Cumberland Community Advisory Board (CAB). In this capacity, she also worked with the Auxiliary Board and the Reach Out and Read Program of Greater New York. After retirement, she served as Chairperson of the New York City Health + Hospitals / Cumberland Community Advisory Board and as a member of the Auxiliary Board. During her tenure as the Chairperson of the Cumberland Community Advisory Board, Mrs. Narine succeeded in gaining capital funding from elected official New York City Council Majority Leader Laurie A. Cumbo.
Throughout Mrs. Narine’s career she was awarded many achievements including, a
Proclamation from Public Advocate Mark Green for “The Bed-Stuy Family Day” (1997), Citation from New York City Council Letitia James for “Outstanding Healthcare Services” (2010), The United Hospital Fund Hospital Auxilian and Volunteer Achievement Award (2016), and the Gotham Health Cumberland Board Award for “Outstanding Leadership” as Chairperson (2016).
Himanshu Pandya, MD
Member
Dr. Himanshu Pandya is a board-certified Internal medicine physician with primary care practices in Queens, Brooklyn, and Long Island.
He is a past Chair of the AAPI academic and research committee and current Board of trustees of AAPI Queens-Long Island. AAPI- American Association of Physicians of Indian origin is the third-largest organization of Physicians in the US after AMA, and ACP represents more than 80,000 Indian physicians and 40 000 residents/fellows/medical students in the country.
He was an executive committee member of the Diabetes Expo by the American Diabetic Association at Jacob Javitz Convention. Each event had more than 8000 registrations. He served on a board of directors for SNAP- Services Now for Adult Persons. SNAP is a social service agency dedicated to improving and enhancing the quality of life for older adults in Queens. SNAP delivers 2,700 hot Meals under the program Meals on Wheels a month in Queens.
On a social front, Dr. Pandya is an executive member of the health committee for Gujarati Samaj of New York, 2012 to present, and has served as a chairperson of the Milan Senior citizen program run by Herricks Indo-US and committed 2 hours (11 AM – 1 PM) of voluntary service every Friday for two years. He is a chairman of the South Asian diabetes Expo and organizes Diabetes health fairs for the South Asian community in New York City and Long Island. He has not only selflessly conducted Numerous Community Programs and Health Fairs but also provided Pro Bono Medical Advice to the Community at large at these Health Fairs.
Hofstra University honored Dr. Pandya as a part of its Suburban Diversity program in November 2017. He also received the Nargis Dutt Memorial Cancer Foundation award in 2018. The organization works to prevent and treat cancers that disproportionately affect women in India. DREAM Foundation, NYC, 2019, also honored him.
Professionally, he is a Medical Director of a 400 beds nursing home in Queens.
His passion is to combine a healthy lifestyle with modern medicine to bring a positive synergistic effect in today’s medicine.
He lives in Roslyn with his wife Dipali, a dentist, and son Aadi, a BA-MD student at Brooklyn college-SUNY Downstate Medical center and an author of five children’s books.
Donald Young
Member
Donald Young is on the ballot for 2nd Vice Chair.
I recently learned that my connection with Gouverneur dates back to the 1920’s when my maternal grandparents arrived in NYC. My mother’s family were all patients of what was then Gouverneur Hospital. In keeping with that tradition, I have been engaged with Gouverneur as a patient, active CAB member, as well as CAB Chair and Vice Chair. During this time, I have witnessed the transition of the CAB from a static and moribund entity to an active progressive advocate for the delivery of health services to the community of the Lower East Side and beyond. If elected to the 2nd Vice Chair position, I will work collaboratively with all members to advance the CAB’s mission to guarantee high quality, culturally competent healthcare to the community whose needs are greater than ever before in the COVID-19 pandemic.
After retiring from the City Planning Commission, as Director of Human Resources, I applied my human resources skills to counseling immigrant students in personal career development at LaGuardia Community College for 10 years. Currently serving on the Gotham Board, I am a graduate of Georgetown University and The Institute of Political Studies of the University of Paris. In addition, I hold a TESOL Certificate (Teaching English to Students of Other Languages) from the New School.