Westchester County Newsmakers, 3.17.2014

MRM names new partner

Michael Welling joined Meridian Risk Management of Pelham as the company”™s newest partner.

A lifelong resident of Westchester County, Welling brings almost 20 years of experience in managing a variety of workplace enhancement programs and more than 10 years as an entrepreneur managing his own successful businesses. He will lead the firm”™s life sciences group and will work closely with the worksite-solutions department to serve the needs of the commercial insurance marketplace, specializing in biotech and technology companies.

Danone announces new marketing VP

Danone Waters of America, the North American bottled water division of Danone, has appointed Olga Osminkina-Jones to the position of vice president, marketing.

With 15 years of experience in marketing and business development in the consumer packaged goods and retail sectors, Osminkina-Jones brings extensive global marketing expertise to the Danone Waters of America team. She will be responsible for leading marketing strategy and execution across Danone”™s three water brands in the region, Evian, Badoit and Volvic.

Osminkina-Jones most recently served as senior brand director for Heineken. She has served as the global executive director at Estee Lauder and senior group brand manager at Procter & Gamble. Osminkina-Jones holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and marketing management from TOURO College and a global executive MBA degree from SDA Bocconi School of Management (Milan, Italy) in collaboration with Fudan University and the University of California.

An addition at WESTMED

Dr. Sandra Ganea of New Rochelle, a board-certified pediatrician, has joined WESTMED Medical Group, a Purchase-based, multispecialty medical practice. She was awarded her medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, followed by an internship and residency in the Department of Pediatrics at Montefiore Medical Center. Most recently, she was a primary care pediatrician with Pelham Pediatrics for the past nine years, where she provided comprehensive care for patients from newborn to age 21. Prior to that, she worked as a pediatrician with the Segunda Ruiz Belvis Diagnostic and Treatment Center in the Bronx for more than seven years.

$300K for Guiding Eyes for the Blind

Guiding Eyes for the Blind, located at 611 Granite Springs Road in Yorktown Heights, and known around the globe as one of the foremost guide dog schools, has completed its Two-for-One Challenge, to engage local Lions Club members throughout the tri-state area with its fundraising goal in order to replace Guiding Eyes”™ aging fleet of vehicles.

The Van Tassel Society, which is comprised of Lions Club members from local districts, including 20-R1, whose sole purpose is to inspire volunteerism at Guiding Eyes and to support the advancement of the school”™s mission and purpose matched $150,000 to the $75,000 pledged from local district 20-R1 Lions raised through events, public outreach and letter appeals to their members as well as foundations, individuals and corporate founders plus the $75,000 from the Lions Club International Foundation, which awarded Guiding Eye”™s a matching gift. In total, $300,000 was raised and nine new vehicles have been purchased.

CNR names new trustee

The College of New Rochelle recently appointed of Gwen Adolph to the college board of trustees.

A graduate of Duke University and Emory University School of Law, Adolph started her professional career as a corporate attorney. She”™s overseen contracting practices with a small London-based trading company, as well as co-founded and ran a boutique speakers”™ bureau to represent notable African-Americans with domestic and international appeal. Before entering the international corporate environment, Adolph served as deputy director of purchasing for Fulton County, Ga.

After careers in law and government, Adolph works today as a professional writer. She resides with her family in New Rochelle and devotes much of her personal time to community service through various national and local organizations, including the New Rochelle Public Library Foundation board and the Westchester chapter of Jack & Jill of America Inc., for which she recently accepted the position of foundation chair.

New associate at law firm

The law firm of Enea, Scanlan & Sirignano L.L.P., with offices in White Plains and Somers, welcomed a new associate attorney and Katonah resident Samantha A. Lyons, whose practice areas include elder law, Medicaid planning and home health care.

Lyons received a B.S. degree in criminal justice from Pace University and a J.D. from the Pace University School of Law. She is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey, and is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the New York Women”™s Bar Association, and a former volunteer for the New York Law Help Program. Prior to Enea, Scanlan & Sirignano, Lyons was a law clerk for the Westchester County Board of Legislators, worked for the Westchester County district attorney”™s office, Judge John Colangelo of the Westchester Supreme Court, and the White Plains and Yonkers Family Courts.