Dr. Brent D. Glass, Interim Executive Director
Dr. Glass is the Interim Executive Director of the Sing Sing Prison Museum. He is Director Emeritus of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, the world’s largest museum devoted to telling the story of America. A national leader in the preservation, interpretation, and promotion of history, Glass is a public historian who provides management and consulting services to museums, historical organizations, and cultural institutions throughout the United States and in other countries. His most recent book, 50 Great American Places (Simon and Schuster, 2016), explores the power of essential historic sites and how they illuminate core themes in American history. Dr. Glass has worked with the SSPM since 2015.
Hilary Strimple, Interim Assistant Director
Ms. Strimple is the Interim Assistant Director for the Sing Sing Prison Museum. She has nine years of experience in museum management and operation, collections, and fundraising. She began her career as the Special Events Coordinator and Collections Manager at the Heurich House Museum in Washington, DC. After returning to the DC area after graduate school, she served as the Auction Coordinator and the Junior Specialist in Furniture at Alex Cooper Auctioneers in Towson, Maryland. Ms. Strimple holds a master's degree in Fine and Decorative Art from Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London, and a bachelor's degree in Art History from Wittenberg University. She has been working with the SSPM since 2017.
Victoria Gonzalez, Communications Manager
Ms. Gonzalez is the Communications Manager for the Sing Sing Prison Museum. Her work focuses on partnership marketing and social media support, grant writing, and diversity and inclusion. She began her career in broadcast media and event production with CNBC and other media outlets in the New York City area. After working at Cornell University, Victoria began producing digital content about museums and tourism. Gonzalez holds a bachelor's degree from Rutgers University in Journalism and Media Studies, and a master's degree from the University of Amsterdam in Heritage and Memory Studies.
Jerry Faiella, Public Affairs Officer
Mr. Faiella is the Public Affairs Officer for the Sing Sing Prison Museum. He has been involved with the initial development of the museum project through his position as the Executive Director of Historic Hudson River Towns and has secured $750,000 in state grants for the project. Mr. Faiella has over thirty-three years in executive management of non-profits and government agencies. He previously served as the Town Administrator for the Town of New Castle, NY for 13 years and as the Village Manager of the Village of Ossining, NY for 11 years.
Robert W. Elliott (President) serves as a consultant to organizations that develop solutions to operational, economic, community and environmental issues. He has broad leadership experience in government and offers his expertise to untold numbers of nonprofit boards in the Hudson Valley and beyond. Previously, he was NYS Deputy Secretary of State and currently is Executive Director of Sustainable Westchester, Chair of the Hudson River Foundation and President of the SS Columbia Project.
Stephanie Lynn (Vice President) is a founder of Ossining MATTERS Educational Foundation and a member of Jacob Burns Film Center's Partners in Education Committee as well as a member of the board of trustees of Jacob Burns Film Center. She has a strong interest in children's books and previously published one for use by the Brooklyn DA's office for children who must go to court.
Sean Pica (Secretary) is the Executive Director of Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, a nonprofit that provides college education, life skills and re-entry support to incarcerated men and women to help them make a positive impact on their own lives, their families and communities. Sean earned a Master of Professional Studies from the New York Theological Seminary, a Master of Social Work degree from Hunter College and is currently pursuing his MBA at Mercy College.
Abigail Lewis (Treasurer) is a strategy and operations leader who has held a variety of roles in IBM, including Director of Strategy, IBM Research; Director Partnerships, IBM Watson Health; Program Director, IBM On Demand Innovation Services. She began her career at Greater Boston Elderly Legal. She has a J.D. from Fordham Law School and a BA from NYU. She has raised two children in Ossining and coached AYSO girls soccer.
Elias Alcantara is the founder and CEO of Bronx Element Strategies (BESt), a social impact and justice strategy consulting firm that advises organizations across the country on how to build sustainable social justice reform. He is a Fellow at Columbia University’s Center for Justice and served five years in the Obama White House in the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. He is a graduate of Lehman College of the City University of New York.
Ronnine Bartley has long been dedicated to serving the needs of children, both as a teacher and as a school administrator. She received a BA degree in Psychology, with a minor in Education from York College, and received an MA degree in School Administration and Supervision from Touro College. Ronnine has personal experience with the criminal justice system as a family member of a previously incarcerated individual, and values initiatives that support rehabilitation and reduce recidivism.
Gale Epstein is co-founder, President and Creative Director of Hanky Panky Ltd., an upscale intimate apparel brand that is designed and manufactured locally and distributed world-wide. Gale is a life-long supporter of social, environmental and animal rights issues. She has served on several not-for-profit boards in the Hudson Valley area and is also a member of Wellmet Philanthropy, a group that supports community-based social innovation by funding emerging New York City non-profits.
J. Philip Faranda is a broker and owner of J. Philip Real Estate, headquartered in the Town of Ossining. A native of Ossining himself, his four children all currently attend Ossining schools. Phil graduated from Villanova University with a BA in English. He is a past Hudson Gateway Multiple Listing Service President, was a member of the Ossining Downtown Redevelopment Working Committee, and also serves on the Ossining Historical Preservation Committee.
Brian Fischer served as Commissioner of the New York State Department of Correctional Services from 2007 to 2013. Prior to that he was Superintendent of Sing Sing Correctional Facility. He spent his entire career in the Correctional Services department, after having receiving his B.S. degree in Psychology from Upsala College and his M.S. degree from the University of Bridgeport. He is now in demand nationally as a consultant and speaker addressing criminal justice issues.
Cecilia Gutierrez is the president of the Ossining Rotary Club, and the original founder of the Ossining Hispanic Coalition, an advocacy group for Ossining day laborers. For 33 years she worked as chef and house manager for David Rockefellerat his family estate in Pocantico Hills. She has studied with world class chefs in Euro-Toques, an organization committed to healthy and organic diet. She earned a BS in Business Management from Mercy College.
Robin Melen is a program officer at the Westchester Community Foundation. Since 2002, she has been a tutor in the Marymount Manhattan College program at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, and she’s a former board member of Rehabilitation Through the Arts. She is passionate about changing the conversation around incarceration, rehabilitation and re-entry. She earned her master’s degree from Manhattanville College.
Lithgow Osborne is the great-grandson of Thomas Mott Osborne, the eminent penal reformer and warden of Sing-Sing from 1914-16, and a member of the board of the Osborne Association for the past 25 years. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and the New York School for Interior Design, his career has been in the antiques and design fields.
Susanne Pandich is Executive Director of the Westchester County Historical Society. Previously, she was manager of public programs for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund at the Pocantico Center in Pocantico Hills. She earlier served as director of both Filoli in Woodside, CA, and Lyndhurst in Tarrytown. Ms. Pandich holds a BA from Wheaton College and a MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University’s School of Architecture.
Mark Sarazen received a BFA in Printmaking and Painting from Antioch College. He owns Sarazen Editions, a digital printmaking company, and is a charter member of the International Association of Fine Art Digital Printmakers. Mark has served as president of the Ossining Arts Council and on the Ossining Village Arts Committee.
Rochelle Udell is a Creative Marketing Consultant. She held executive positions at Conde Nast Publications, including Art Director of Vogue, Editor-in-Chief of SELF magazine, Founder and President of CondeNet, Epicurious,
WWD.com. She was SVP/Creative Director at Revlon, Chico’sFAS and Founder of CRK (Calvin Klein Advertising Agency.) At her induction into the Art Director's Hall Of Fame, she was introduced as "a creative director whose mission is to change the world by changing how we see it.”
Michele Y. Washington is a New York City-based design researcher and strategist who works with non-profits, startups, and cultural institutions. She is currently a Columbia University Community Scholar and founder of “CuriousStory Lab,” a curated series of podcasts and short docs on architects and designers of color. She holds two masters degrees, her most recent in Design Criticism from the School of Visual Arts.
Dana White has served as Ossining Village Historian since January 1, 2015. She is a freelance writer and editor, contributing to WestchesterMagazine, among others. A collector of Sing Sing memorabilia, Dana frequently gives presentations on Sing Sing Prison and other aspects of Ossining history. She is a Trustee of the Ossining Historical Society Museum and the Ossining Historic Preservation Commission. She she also served on the Downtown Revitalization Working Committee.
Arthur M. Wolpinsky has been a Corrections Officer at Sing Sing Correctional Facility since Oct. 25, 1971. He started as a Narcotics Correction Officer for the N.A.C.C. at Ridge Hill Rehabilitation Facility in Yonkers in February of 1971. He was laid off due to cut backs, then rehired after the Attica riot by the Ossining Correctional Facility, as it was then called. He is the Facility Historian, Photographer, and Security Liaison Officer. In 1984, while in charge of the Barber Shop, he started a Barber Program that helped inmates obtain their license.
Dana Levenberg (Ex Officio) is the Supervisor of the Town of Ossining who became involved with the Sing Sing Prison Museum while serving as Chief of Staff in the Ossining office of Assemblywoman Sandy Galef. She has been instrumental in working with State agencies to obtain grants for the Museum, as well as to get the Museum recognized as a priority project by the Regional Economic Development Council.
Victoria Gearity (Ex Officio) is the Mayor of the Village of Ossining. Beyond her work for the Village, Victoria is mother to two young sons in the Ossining Schools, and wife to a local business owner. Her pathway to politics was through environmentalism. Encouraging a healthy balance of economic development, sustainability, and the needs of her diverse community, are guiding principles for her service as Mayor.
