G OOD THINGS

College Dreams Made Possible

Join The Party to recognize Greenwich Public School AVID (advancement via individual determination) alumni and educators in celebrating 10 years of college dreams made possible by the Greenwich Alliance for Education. The Party will be a fun-filled benefit on June 10 at Arch Street Teen Center to recognize the AVID classes, their families and teachers from 20132023. The evening promises to be one of inspiration and gratitude, looking back at a decade of empowering young minds. The benefit fundraiser will include a special performance by Kovac Brothers, delicious food provided by Pizza Luca and the Taco Guy, a silent auction and more.

AVID is a shared vision and commitment between the Greenwich Alliance and Greenwich Public Schools. A national college-readiness system, AVID's mission is to close the opportunity gap by preparing all students for college and career readiness and success in a global society.

All In The Family

The Board of directors of Big Y Foods Inc. appointed Maggie E. D’Amour to the newly created position of senior manager, environmental, social and governance (ESG). The purpose of the new role is to review, explore and recommend environmental and sustainability options and social responsibility strategies throughout the entire company. D’Amour will coordinate with other teams to establish overall sustainability goals in areas such as energy sourcing, waste management and eco-friendly packaging. She will also collaborate with several groups to develop social responsibility strategies in order to align with Big Y’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, philanthropic partnerships.

D’Amour’s career started in 2000 as a part-time service clerk. She then went on to additional roles and then to full time as an employee services representative. In 2016, she was appointed assistant store director and in 2017 she became a store director, a position she held in several supermarkets until assuming her new responsibilities.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Providence College along with Food Marketing Institute’s Food Retailer Certification. She was named a Top Woman in Grocery by Progressive Grocer in 2021.

Big Y Foods Inc. is one of the largest independently owned supermarket chains in New England operating throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Website For Gay Parents To Be

In partnership with fertility clinic Illume Fertility, the new Gay Parents To Be (GPTB) website o ers comprehensive guides for those pursuing fertility treatment and surrogacy, a diverse collection of patient stories, information about a ording treatment and other resources to support LGBTQ+ parents-to-be.

GPTB, the leading international fertility resource serving the LGBTQ+ community, launched its new website featuring a modernized virtual hub for LGBTQ+ family planning. The new GPTB website o ers comprehensive guides for those pursuing fertility treatment and surrogacy, a diverse collection of patient stories, information about a ording treatment, and other resources to support LGBTQ+ parents-to-be.

Together, GPTB and Illume Fertility are committed to providing an inclusive patient experience, exceptional care and innovative treatment options, all under the guidance of eight board-certified reproductive endocrinologists.

Founded in 2012, Gay Parents To Be strives to help LGBTQ+ patients explore and understand the various pathways to parenthood so they can achieve their biological family-building goals.

The program was founded in 2012 by Dr. Mark Leondires, a prominent advocate for the LGBTQ+ family-building community, and a gay dad through egg donation and surrogacy himself.

Illume Fertility, formerly RMA of Connecticut, is a leading modern fertility practice with an exceptional patient experience, providing care, guidance and expertise to help patients achieve their fertility and family-building goals. For the last six years, Illume Fertility has been recognized as a leader in health-care equality by the Human Rights Campaign. It is one of the largest fertility clinics and egg donation centers in the region, also o ering egg freezing, oncofertility preservation, and PCOS management, helping patients as young as 16.

New Board Members At Bcw

The Business Council of Westchester’s new board members are Daniel Blum, incoming CEO of ENT & Allergy; Sarah Jones-Maturo, president of RM Friedland LLC; and Wallace Lynch, senior vice president, business banking sales team leader Hudson Valley/Metro New York market of KeyBank.

“The three new board members represent real estate, banking and health care —three sectors that are essential to Westchester County’s economy,” said BCW President and CEO Marsha Gordon.

Blum a health-care executive has more than 25 years’ experience across urban and suburban hospitals and health-care systems. He served in high executive positions at LifeBridge Health and Sinai Hospital of Baltimore and was president and CEO of Phelps Memorial Hospital Center.

Jones-Maturo has led RM Friedland — the largest privately held commercial real estate brokerage company in Westchester County — since 2015. Previously, she spent 11 years at CBRE, the global leader in commercial real estate brokerage.

Lynch leads an experienced team of highly trained local business bankers who serve customized financial solutions for companies. He has more than 20 years’ experience in financial services in such banks as KeyBank, Sterling National Bank, TriState Capital Bank and Signature Bank.

The Business Council of Westchester is the county’s largest business membership organization representing more than 1,000 members, including multinational corporations, hospitals, universities, biotech pioneers, not-for-profits, entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes.

College Dance Program On Tv

Manhattanville College dance students and their professor were featured on the PBS educational program “Let’s Learn” on May 25.

Professor and Program Director Shawn Bible developed the educational segment to teach kids math concepts after he was approached by PBS. “Let's Learn” helps children ages 3-8 with athome learning.

Students Jessica Bessler, Danielle Chu, Alexa Rivera and Paije Pasols and Bible worked together in the on-campus dance studio during January and filmed footage that illustrates concepts of spatial awareness and math.

The segment aired as part of episode 1211 “There’s a Silent ‘e’ in Kite!” on Thursday, May 25 in the WNET viewing area. The episode is online at https://www.letslearn.org/episodes/.

Manhattanville has been named to the Colleges of Distinction list, which recognizes colleges that excel in student engagement, great teaching, vibrant communities and successful outcomes

BEER & MUSIC FESTIVAL WINNERS AT BETHEL WOODS

The winners of TAP® New York Craft Beer & Music Festival were recently announced from the festival grounds of the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts –– a nonprofit performance venue, museum and site of the 1969 Woodstock festival – which hosted this year’s longest-running craft beer event featuring 100 breweries and close to 400 carefully crafted beers from across New York state. A team of beer experts and guest judges awarded 39 medals in 13 categories, recognizing the best breweries and best beers in New York state. The Gold Medal winners are:

• Wheat: Drowned Lands

• Light Lagers: Mill House Brewing Company

• Amber/Dark Lagers: Catskill Brewery

• Light Ales & Brown Ales: Mill House Brewing Company

• IPA: Frog Alley Brewing

Stouts & Porters: Bridge and Tunnel Brewery

• Saisons & Wild Ales: Brown’s Brewing Company

• Fruit/Spiced/Herb/Vegetable: Peconic Country Brewing

• Hazy IPAs: Old Klaverack Brewery & Hop Farm LLC

• `Strong IPAs: Talking Cursive Brewing Company

• Strong Ales & Strong Belgiums: Chatham Brewing

• Bock Beers: Soul Brewing Company LLC

• Sour Ales: Sloop Brewing

Top honors went to three breweries, one in Columbia County, one in Kings County, and one in Queens County.

For the first year, online voting leading up to the event allowed fans near and far to vote for their favorite New York brewers. The People’s Choice Award was awarded to Allied Brewing, Brewery Ommegang, 17 West Brewery, Catskill Brewery,Equilibrium Brewery, Keegan Ales,Sloop Brewing Co., Prison City Beer,Po Bo Brewery and Roscoe Beer Co.

“New York proudly stands among the nation’s craft beer capitals, with more than 460 craft breweries. This year’s successful TAP® festival served as a way to recognize and celebrate the exceptional breweries that consistently push the boundaries of beer and take the craft beer industry to new heights,” said Nat Collins, founder, TAP® New York.

For a full list of winners and more information about TAP® New York, visit the event page on the Bethel Woods website.