Other appointments include Heather Bell Pellegrino, associate executive director; Zachary Swierat, membership director; Shannel Lewis, fitness director; Eric Hammermeister, aquatics director; Devin Johnson, residence director; Anita Vaswani Martell, director of child care services; and Francisco Arizmendi, director of buildings and properties.
Hay has an extensive background in leadership roles at all levels during his career. He most recently served as the senior vice president of operations for the Rockland County YMCA in Nyack. Hay has also served key roles for the Special Olympics and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Bell Pellegrino is new to the YMCA and brings experience in corporate and nonprofit management. She is an expert in event planning, fundraising and membership services. Other specialties include customer service appreciation, business development and marketing, and project management. She has worked for Heineken USA, Portaga and CTG corporations as an operations specialist. Bell Pellegrino is also an aquatics instructor, seasoned nonprofit board member and well-known community liaison in Westchester.
Swierat joined the Y in April as membership director. Most recently, he served as the volunteer referral manager for Volunteer NY and has worked as a district executive for the Westchester-Putnam Boy Scouts.
Lewis joined the White Plains YMCA last June. She has a bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and is a certified personal trainer. She also is a TRX-qualified instructor and also has Body Pump, Turbo Kick, AAFA and Silver Sneakers certifications.
Hammermeister has extensive American Red Cross training and has obtained certificates in team coordination training, organizational risk management study and leadership and management. He is an expert at helping those with water phobia overcome their fear and become accomplished swimmers.
Johnson joined the YMCA staff in February and has extensive residence experience in higher education. Martell has been with the White Plains YMCA since 2010 and is a candidate for a master's degree in education from Columbia University. Arizmendi joined the Y staff in 2006 and leads the organization’s building and maintenance team.
For more information about the White Plains YMCA, visit its website.
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