Thursday, May 5, 2011

New United Way director looking to ‘make a difference’

Brenda Episcopo enjoys helping other people.

She has a wonderful chance to do that after being named Wednesday executive director of the United Way of the Valley and Greater Utica Area.

“This gives me a great new opportunity to make a difference in this community,” she said at a news conference at the organization’s new location on Lafayette Street.

The hiring marks the end of the year-long search to fill the position after the nonprofit’s former executive director, Phil Hayne, resigned in July. Interim Executive Director Tim Reed, also the Utica Boilermaker Road Race executive director, will hand over duties to Episcopo June 6.

“Brenda is a wonderful addition to the United Way staff,” Board President James Wallace said in a news release. “Brenda’s leadership skills, resource development and campaign experience and community involvement are exactly what our organization needs to continue on the right path and take us to the next level to best support our community.”

Episcopo is not a newcomer to the United Way. She served as a volunteer and former officer of the United Way Nonprofit Executive Director’s Group.

She said her goals are to make this year’s fundraising campaign better than it ever has been, as well as raising year-round awareness about the United Way’s work.

Of her new role she said, “It’s the person who keeps the ship on the right path.”

Episcopo has served for the last eight years as the executive director for the Peacemaker Program, an organization that provides services to resolve conflict and achieve positive outcomes for children, families and the community.

Episcopo has been a board member of the New York State Dispute Resolution Association, and has served on the advisory boards for the criminology department at Mohawk Valley Community College and sociology department at SUNYIT.

She has a master’s degree in applied sociology from SUNYIT, and is an instructor at MVCC, teaching a course on mediation within the criminal justice system.

Original article from UticaOd.com

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