WEST OF HARTFORD@HOME
 
Home Our Services Our Board FAQ Join us Other Support Systems

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President:    
CAROLE B. SHMURAK, Ph.D.
Professor Emerita of Education, Central Connecticut State University

Carole has been an educator for over 40 years. Coming to Connecticut in 1974, she became head of the Miss Porter’s School science department and later chair of the Department of Teacher Education at Central Connecticut State University. She also directed and taught in Miss Porter’s summer Elderhostel program for five years. In the last decade, she has published ten books, including two award-winning mystery novels.  She also leads book discussion groups all over Connecticut.
Carole Shmurak
Vice President:
STEVEN H. SHMURAK, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist (retired)

Steve was a psychotherapist in private practice in Bristol for nearly 30 years. He has also taught at Trinity College, Greater Hartford Community College, and Wesleyan University, and consulted at Suffield Academy. Before becoming a psychologist, he taught mathematics in grades K-12.  He has been retired for about three years, during which he has enjoyed a wide range of fiction and book groups, getting and staying physically fit, and following the various vicissitudes of the economy and the financial markets.
Steven Shmurak
Secretary:   

ANN NICHOLS, M.S.
Organizational Development Consultant, West Hartford.

Ann is a management consultant with extensive experience in transforming organizations. She was a public sector executive for over 30 years, preparing the first set of affirmative action guidelines to bring Connecticut state agencies into compliance with state and federal mandates and assisting in developing the state’s first executive management training program. Currently, she is pursuing her MA in Spirituality from the Hartford Seminary and volunteering at the CT Hospice in Branford.
Ann Nichols
 

Treasurer:

MARK E. KOVITCH, CPA
Chief Financial Officer, Key Human Services, Farmington CT

Mark began his employment with Key Human Services, Inc in 2001 as the Chief Financial Officer. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Mark came to Key from public accounting firms specializing in providing accounting, auditing, and consulting services to nonprofit, higher education, and governmental agencies.  Mark serves on the steering committee of the Connecticut Community Providers Association/Connecticut Association of Nonprofits’ Business Manager’s Forum, and is a Board member of Planned Lifetime Assistance Network of Connecticut, Inc.


Mark Kovitch

CARRIE ANDREOLETTI, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Central Connecticut State University

Carrie joined the Central faculty in 2004 and teaches Lifespan Development, Adult Development and Aging, and Positive Psychology. She is the co-director of the Gerontology Minor Program and the Adult Development and Gerontology Lab at Central. Her publications include research on the influence of beliefs about memory and aging on memory, and the content and consequences of age stereotypes. She earned her Ph.D. in social/developmental psychology from Brandeis University.

 


Carrie Andreoletti

CHERRY A. KARL, RN, MSN, Ph.D.
Gerontological Nursing Educator

Cherry is a Clinical Nursing Specialist at The Hospital of Central Connecticut at the Bradley campus working with a predominantly older population. As an educator she teaches Nursing Research at the University of Hartford and is working with Lincoln College of New England to develop an RN to BSN Program.   She has a MSN in Gerontological Nursing and has worked with the elderly, both inpatient and outpatient, in critical care and long term care.  She is a retired Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) from the Army Reserves and active duty in the Air Force. Cherry was a volunteer in post-Katrina Louisiana, setting up small patient clinics in devastated areas.



Cherry Karl

JOO ENG LEE-PARTRIDGE, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Management Information Systems, Central Connecticut State University

Joo Eng has her PhD in Management Information System from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.  She taught in Singapore before coming to Connecticut in 2002.  Joo Eng has published her work in the areas of group support systems, knowledge management, end-user computing, and conflict management.  Besides teaching at CCSU, Joo Eng is active in her church work and is involved in a summer teaching program in the Dominican Republic with Kids Alive International.


Joo Eng Lee-Partridge 

MATTHEW C. McGRATH, J.D.

Attorney at Law, West Hartford

Matt is an attorney licensed to practice in Connecticut and New York.  He has over 15 years experience representing businesses, individuals and nonprofits in a variety of corporate, finance and real estate matters, and has also taught law courses at the university level.  Matt holds a JD from Fordham University School of Law, and a BA cum laude from Manhattan College.


Matthew McGrath

MARK RITTER, M.S.
President and CEO of Key Human Services, Farmington

Over thirty years ago, Mark began with Keystone Service Systems in Pennsylvania, an agency that provides community residential services to  children and adults with mental retardation.  Since 1989, Mark has been Keystone's lead person in Connecticut, where he heads Key Human Services, which operates a variety of programs including group homes, a supported living program, early intervention services, foster care, and nursing services, exclusively supporting people with mental retardation. Key also subcontracts specialized nursing services to fifteen other non-profit organizations. Mark holds two graduate degrees from Pennsylvania State University, including a degree in rehabilitation.




Mark Ritter 

PAMELA SISKIN, FTCL, M.S.M.
Cantor/Director of Lifelong Learning, Congregation Beth Israel, West Hartford

Since 1998, Pamela has been Cantor at Congregation Beth Israel, where she is also the Principal of the Youth Education Program and the Director of Life Long Learning. She is also responsible for the S.A.G.E program (Seniors for Arts, Growth and Education) which has a regular attendance of 50-70 senior learners who attend the program at Congregation Beth Israel on a weekly basis. Her voice has been heard all over the world, including the Royal Opera House in London, the Israel National Opera, and the Queen Elizabeth 2. In 1985, she decided to become a cantor and moved to the United States to enroll at the Hebrew Union College where she became an ordained cantor in 1989.


Pamela Siskin 
   
ADVISORY BOARD  

Florence Eddins, Pastor,
Memorial United Methodist Church, Avon CT

Ned W. Edwards, Jr., D. Min., Senior Minister,
First Church of Christ Congregational, Farmington CT

Mark Goldstein, Ph.D., Professor of Community Psychology,
Central Connecticut State University

Steve A. Johnson, Ph.D., Sc.D., Pastor, Congregational Care and Counseling
Valley Community Baptist Church, Avon CT

Incy S. Muir RN, MPA, CNAA ,Executive Director
Farmington Valley Visiting Nurse Association