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OFFICERS
Diane Aubin, President
Diane offers a lifetime of experience in the field of special education and is a tireless supporter of The Arc Eastern Connecticut. Her commitment is rooted in her early days as a teacher when she received a scholarship sponsored by The Arc. Since that time, she has served in various leadership positions on the Board, including President for The Arc New London County, The Arc Quinebaug Valley, and The Arc Connecticut. Diane currently works at the university level as a clinical supervisor for student teacher candidates throughout the state.
Gene Michael Deary, Vice-President
Gene Michael is Chief Administrative Officer, Consumer Lending and Payments at Berkshire Bank. He serves on The Arc ECT’s Finance Committee as well as the Golf Committee. He volunteers his time and secures top sponsorships for all major fundraisers from area businesses that support The Arc. This will be his 14th term on The Arc Eastern Connecticut’s Board.
Shannon Aiello, Treasurer
Shannon has been an active volunteer with The Arc for twelve years and has served on the Board Directors for the last six. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Art Education from Radford University; her graduate work at the University of Wisconsin focused on Special Education. Shannon also holds a Master Gardener Certificate through the University of Connecticut; this is a rigorous 16-week program designed to train volunteers committed to sharing their passion and enthusiasm for gardening, education and outreach with their communities. Her volunteer work includes education and landscaping projects for local non-profits, including several of The Arc’s group residences, as well as coaching The Arc’s Special Olympics bowling team. Shannon continues to donate her time and artistic talent to making The Arc a beautiful place for both staff and participants. She has also served as a special education teaching consultant and contractor for The Lighthouse Vocational Education. Recently, Shannon became a member of the Camp Harkness Foundation in addition to being on its Advisory Committee.
Attorney Ray Baribeault, Secretary
Ray is a Director at the New London law firm of Suisman, Shapiro, Wool Brennan, Gray & Greenberg, P.C. He concentrates his practice in the areas of contracts, business, commercial transactions, corporate law and municipal law. Ray received his Bachelor of Science magna cum laude from the University of Connecticut in 1986 and received his Juris Doctor magna cum laude from Vermont Law School in 1989. He is a member of the bar in Connecticut (1989) and Rhode Island (1991) as well as the U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut (1990). He is currently a member of the Connecticut and New London County Bar Associations, the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee, the Eastern Connecticut Association of Realtors Commercial Committee, the New England Land Title Association, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, the Norwich Rotary Club, and sits on the Franklin Inland Wetlands and Watercourses and Conservation Commissions.
Linda Rhodes, Immediate Past President
Linda is a retired Public School Administrator and Speech and Language Pathologist. Throughout her professional career in both the public and private sectors, she has been passionate about ensuring positive educational outcomes and expanded opportunities for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. As Immediate Past President of The Arc Eastern Connecticut’s Board of Directors, she welcomes the opportunity to continue to advocate and work in partnership with adults who have intellectual and developmental disabilities as they pursue their dreams.
DIRECTORS
Kelly Allard
Kelly is a Financial Examiner with the State of Connecticut Department of Banking. Before joining the Department of Banking in 2024, she was the Loan Servicing and Lending Compliance Manager at Chelsea Groton Bank where she had worked since 2002. Kelly received her Bachelors of Science degree from Southern New Hampshire University in 2019 and her Masters of Science degree from Liberty University in 2023. Kelly is passionate about ensuring those with intellectual disabilities have equal access to opportunities. Kelly and her husband reside in Baltic, CT, with their youngest daughter and her brother who is employed at The Arc ECT's Donation Station in Woodstock, CT.
Rebecca Durham
Rebecca is the currently the Senior Director of Clinical and Operational Integration for Hartford Healthcare in their Eastern CT region where she has worked for over 20 years. Starting her career out as a registered nurse, Rebecca has been in many roles within the health care sector. Her newest role includes overseeing Community Health and developing strong relationships within the community. She is passionate about equal opportunities and inclusion for all individuals and is excited to help further The Arc Eastern Connecticut vision and mission. She lives in Stonington with her husband and three children.
Kelly McNamara
Kelly has worked in the field of education for over twenty years as a school psychologist, special education administrator, and consultant, working on behalf of students in preschool through age twenty-two. As a special education administrator, she helped to create a Special Education Parent Teacher Organization (SEPTO), created functional programming for students in middle and late elementary school, and directly supervised special in-district programs for students with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disabilities. She also spent many years working for Southern Connecticut State University’s School of Education, as both an adjunct instructor and Assistant Professor, teaching a range of courses to preparing future special educators and school psychologists. In 2014, Kelly was a finalist for the J. Philip Smith Outstanding Teaching Award at Southern Connecticut State University. Kelly earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, a Master’s degree in School Psychology, and a 6th year Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies (C.A.G.S.) from Tufts University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut.
Emily Morrison
Emily is the Director of Development at United Services, Inc. in Dayville, CT. She was previously President of Board of Directors of The Arc Quinebaug Valley. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Maryland and was previously the President of the Quinebaug Valley Regional Rotaract Club. This will be her eighth year on The Arc’s Board.
Abby Snyder
Abby is The Arc’s Receptionist at the Sachem office and participates in Special Olympics Quinebaug Valley. She was adopted from El Salvador when she was 5 ½ months old. She serves on The Arc’s Golf Committee as well as the Safety Committee.
Donald Trella
Don currently is the VP of Human Resources at Mohegan Sun where he has had held several roles of increasing responsibility within HR over the last 22 years. These include Director of Employment, Licensing and Indian Preference, Director of Employee Relations, Communications and Training, and Director of Employee and Guest Experience. In his current role, Don is responsible for creating a special environment and culture for the Team Members of Mohegan Sun that keeps them engaged and helps them deliver unmatched guest service … “Every Guest….Every Time.” Don has played a key role in the success that Mohegan Sun is currently experiencing. In almost every metric that a business typically utilizes to define success, Mohegan Sun is now enjoying numbers that haven’t been seen in quite some time due to the economy and increased competition in surrounding states. Those numbers include improved market share, margins, EBITDA, Guest Service scores, and Team Member satisfaction scores.
Prior to Mohegan Sun, Don has enjoyed a distinguished career in Human Resources including positions as VP HR for Shop Rite Supermarkets in Florida New York and Director of HR for Big Y Supermarkets in Springfield Massachusetts. Don earned his BS Degree in Marketing from Central Connecticut State University and a MS Degree in Instructional Technology and Design from Southern Connecticut State University. Don is also an active professional boxing judge and has officiated over 1000 professional bouts and 115 World Title contests all over the world.
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