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Staff

Photo by Sarah Kenyon.

Nancy Heaton

President and Chief Executive Officer (she/her)

Nancy has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Foundation for Community Health (FCH) since February 2004.  In this role, Nancy oversees FCH’s grantmaking, policy advancement, and communications. She brings to the role a deep knowledge of health care systems, health education, and the unique challenges and opportunities experienced by small place-based nonprofits.

Before joining the foundation, she served as the Executive Director of the Northwestern Connecticut AIDS Project for 12 years, an HIV/AIDS service organization serving Litchfield County, CT. A committed advocate, Nancy’s early career took her to California and the Philippines, as a health educator and director of an orphanage. In California, Nancy worked alongside refugee Vietnamese and Cambodian parents and families to develop outreach and parent education programs and created of the first HIV/AIDS education and prevention program for the Mexican American population in Santa Clara County. In the Philippines, Nancy directed the field operations for the International Alliance for Children, an organization based in both Connecticut and Manila. In her capacity, she managed a home for abandoned, orphaned, and neglected children with a variety of physical and emotional problems.

Nancy has served on various regional and statewide commissions and consortiums over the past 30 years and is currently a Member of the Connecticut Commission on Women, Children and Seniors, Equity & Opportunity.  From 2022-2023 she served on the State of Connecticut’s Certificate of Need (CON) Taskforce, which was directed to study and make recommendations to the Office of Health Strategy to improve the state’s CON process; a critical regulatory process between the state and healthcare providers that are seeking to make major changes.

Nancy received a certification in non-profit management from the University of Connecticut, a Master of Public Health in Community Health Education from San Jose State University, and a BA in Government and Law from Lafayette College. She is a long-term member of the American Public Health Association.

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Sarah Allyn

Program Lead (she/her)

In the summer of 2023, Sarah joined Foundation for Community Health in the role of Program Lead. In this role, Sarah focuses on grants management and supports the foundation’s programs and initiatives. A lifelong dweller in northwest Connecticut, Sarah is excited to work alongside local organizations and leaders in serving her greater hometown region.

Sarah’s previous work experience included maintaining green spaces for Connecticut State Parks, programming development at Great Mountain Forest, and most recently, aiding in grant administration at Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. She received her BA from Rollins College in 2020 for Environmental Studies and Music Performance.

When Sarah is not in the office, you can find her playing trumpet with her father, running with her mother, or baking pies. 

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Photo by Sarah Kenyon.

Cathy Glasner

Operations Lead (she/her)

You will meet Cathy when you call or visit FCH. She supports all activities and functions at the foundation as Operations Lead. Cathy joined the FCH staff in November 2017 after having worked as Office Manager for Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation for several years.

Before her work for BTCF, Cathy worked in for profit businesses in administrative, management and sales roles.

Cathy is a graduate of Western Connecticut State University’s Ancell School of Business with a bachelor’s degree in business administration concentrating in marketing and human resource management.

Cathy, her husband, and numerous pets are longtime residents of Litchfield County.

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Photo by Sarah Kenyon.

Natashea Winters

Director of Programs and Learning (she/her)

As Director of Programs and Learning, Natashea identifies strategies and develops initiatives that align with the foundation’s mission and facilitates the foundation’s efforts to proactively measure, assess, and learn from its work. Combining her interests in equity, evaluation, and community-based strategies, Natashea feels very fortunate to focus her professional efforts on the social sector that serves the foundation’s region.

Prior to joining Foundation for Community Health in 2018, Natashea served various local and national nonprofits in roles that encompassed program management, coalition building, and evaluation to develop and scale social service and public health programs. Most recently Natashea worked at Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, where she managed a portfolio of funds and worked closely with many of the organization’s advisory committees. Before this, she served as a Programs Consultant for Wholesome Wave, a national nonprofit focused on expanding access to fresh produce. In this role, Natashea supported the organization’s evaluation efforts and provided technical assistance to grantees and clients, from troubleshooting data collection to launching multi-year evaluation efforts.

Natashea is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire with a BA in philosophy and women’s studies. She received her MSW from Boston University School of Social work with a concentration in social administration and planning and her MPH from Boston University School of Public Health with a concentration in health policy and management. In 2022, Natashea was selected by Grantmakers in Health for the Terrance Keenan Institute for Emerging Leaders in Health Philanthropy.

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Board Members

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Tom Quinn

Board Chair and Board Treasurer (he/him)
Salisbury, CT

Tom Quinn is a resident of Salisbury, CT, where he lives with his wife, Maria Horn, and their three children, Maude, Abby and Max. In addition to serving on the FCH board, he is on the boards of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation and the Salisbury Association and is a member of the Salisbury Land Trust and the Conservation Commission. He is an alumnus and trustee of The Hotchkiss School and a former member of the National Real Estate Advisory Board of the Nature Conservancy.

Mr. Quinn is an investment adviser with over 30 years of experience in banking, investment management and commercial property.  He is the former global head of Real Estate Investment Management (REIM) of UBS Wealth Management and Business Banking, a position he held from 2004 to 2009. Prior to joining UBS in April 2004, Mr. Quinn founded and managed TS Quinn Associates, LLC, a real estate investment management firm. Before that, he spent 23 years at JP Morgan where he was responsible for JP Morgan’s investments in real estate private equity.

He received his B.A. from Dartmouth College and his M.A. in French from Middlebury College.

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Ceely Ackerman

Board Secretary (she/her)
Salisbury, CT

Ceely Ackerman has lived in Salisbury since 2008.  She is a Connecticut native having grown up on the Connecticut coast.  She has over 30 years of work experience and expertise in the human services non-profit sector.

Her Director and Executive Director leadership positions have focused on programs including: the establishment of a family involvement project in out-of-school learning opportunities in the greater New Haven area; a United Way based community-wide early childhood collaboration that brought together families, corporations and providers of health and human services; the development of a nationally recognized substance abuse prevention and treatment coalition across 15 Connecticut towns; coordinating volunteers to serve daily meals to elderly and home-bound citizens through Meals on Wheels; and the direction of a large hospital volunteer program.

She began her career as a VISTA Volunteer community organizer in rural southeast Missouri.  She has served on the Board of Directors for the Center for Women & Families in Bridgeport, CT and locally, the Amesville Association and the Northwest YMCA Canaan Branch Advisory Committee.  She is currently on the Board of Directors of The Chore Service.  Through her initial involvement with the Big Brother Big Sister program, she has remained involved with a young girl, and now her entire family, for more than 25 years.

Ceely has a BA from the University of Connecticut and a MS from the University of Bridgeport.  She and her Dutch husband lived for five years in Amsterdam. They have traveled extensively and spend a month every winter traveling in southeast Asia.

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Christian Allyn

Board Member (he/him)
North Canaan, CT

Christian Allyn joined the FCH Board of Directors in June 2021. He resides in North Canaan, CT where he sits on the board of selectmen and owns a local business that eradicates invasive plants.

He’s a member of the Friends of Beckley Furnace, which works to preserve and research the historic industrial monument. He wants his town and its residents to thrive.

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Katty Brennan

Board Member (she/her)
Canaan, CT

While living in North Canaan and raising her two children, Katty has been working at the North Canaan Elementary School since 2013 and will join the Torrington School System for a year to fulfill her internship towards her master’s degree in the arts of teaching with a teaching certification for K-12 in world languages with a focus in Spanish.

She has been a community volunteer in many roles from youth sports coach to scouting leader to PTO Vice President.  As a native of Peru, she is fully bilingual and bicultural, and she holds a BA in Spanish with a minor in Psychological Science from Central Connecticut State University.   Katty has long been a staunch advocate for local Latino families dating back to her work with Catholic Charities in Columbia County in 2004 and continuing today with her work in the Region 1 School District and in the town of North Canaan.  She also offers translation services as an interpreter and translator facilitating school communications.

Education has always been a core value for Katty which she is currently exemplifying through her graduate coursework in Master of Arts and Teaching.

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Dr. John Charde

Board Member (he/him)
Lakeville, CT

Dr. Charde is currently a healthcare consultant for healthcare companies. He has lived in this community since 1970 and has worked in a variety of professional medical roles in the tri-state area. In 1983, Dr. Charde co-founded a not-for-profit managed health care plan in Poughkeepsie, NY.  Since then he has been in management and leadership roles in managed care in both the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors. Dr. Charde has focused primarily on quality management, improving clinical care in organizations, and the improvement of care for chronic diseases.

Over the last 10 years he has focused on care management programs for the elderly, and most recently on care management for dual eligible persons (Medicare and Medicaid eligible). He has extensive experience and has worked locally, nationally and internationally on health care policy, financing, public health and clinical issues. From 1970-1982, he practiced pediatrics at the Sharon Clinic in Sharon and Millbrook, NY and was an active member of the Sharon Hospital staff. He became board certified in pediatrics in 1972 after completing his pediatrics internship and residency at Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester in 1970. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1967 and from Georgetown University in 1963 with an AB in philosophy.

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Jill Fieldstein

Board Member (she/her)
Dover Plains, NY

Jill Fieldstein, a resident of Dover Plains, NY, joined Foundation for Community Health’s Board in June 2023.  She is currently the Business Manager of the Louis August Jonas Foundation, which, since 1930, has been committed to developing in promising young people from around the world a lifelong commitment to compassionate and responsible leadership for the betterment of their communities and the world.

In 2021, Ms. Fieldstein retired from her law practice in which she specialized in securities regulation.  Prior to earning her law degree, Ms. Fieldstein worked in television news for nearly two decades. Ms. Fieldstein is an active member of the Auxiliary to Dover’s volunteer fire department and is a founding director of Concerned Citizens of Dover, an organization seeking to protect the health and well-being of the community by opposing the further influx of power companies into Dover.  Ms. Fieldstein is also the Chair of the Dover Democratic Committee, the Treasurer of the Dutchess Democratic Women’s Caucus, and was her District’s Democratic candidate for NYS Assembly in 2022.

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Karren Garrity

Board Vice-Chair (she/her)
Kent, CT

Karren Garrity lives in Kent, CT and is a therapist working with individuals, families and couples for over twenty years. She lectures, presents workshops for parents and conducts professional development seminars for teachers. In addition to FCH, Ms. Garrity has served on the Kent Board of Education and the Board of Selectmen as well as the Environmental Task Force and the Kent Education and Learning Foundation.

She has been an EMT for the Kent Volunteer Fire Department and has spent many years working with a variety of community based initiatives.  Consequently, Ms. Garrity is excited to blend her experiences for the benefit of the FCH mission.  She firmly believes that the availability and access to healthcare is of paramount importance nationally, regionally and locally.

Ms. Garrity is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Nationally Certified Counselor.  She graduated with a BA from Sarah Lawrence College and a Masters of Science from Western Connecticut State University.

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Photo by Sarah Kenyon.

Peter Halle

Board Member (he/him)
Salisbury, CT

Peter Halle has lived in Salisbury since 1983.  He and his wife, Amanda, have two grown children who went through the local public school system. Since the 1990’s, Peter has served on the board of Salisbury Housing Committee (SHC), a non-profit that provides affordable rental housing within the town. He is currently co-President.

Peter is also President of Hispañola Health Partners (HHP), an NGO strengthening access to healthcare along the Haitian-Dominican border. HHP also partners with the Centre de Santé Union de Grand-Gosier, a health clinic in the rural Southeast of Haiti.

Professionally, Peter had a career in Wall Street finance and derivatives trading for over 25 years.  Following his position as managing director and CFO of Empirica Capital LLC, Peter spent five years as an expert witness for the Department of Justice and the IRS. He retired in 2011.

Peter graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University, and received an MBA in finance from NYU. He enjoys sailing and lake swimming in the summer and cross-country skiing in the winter.

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Dr. Zach McClain

Board Member (he/him)
Falls Village, CT

Dr. Zachary McClain’s career began as a middle school teacher in New York City. From then on, he has committed his career to advocating for children and youth. Currently, he is the medical director of the Wieler Health Center at The Hotchkiss School. Prior to this he was a general pediatrician specializing in Adolescent Medicine at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Prior to teaching, Dr. McClain received his BA in Biological Sciences from the University of Chicago, and, after teaching, completed medical school at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City. He completed a residency in general pediatrics at the Comer Children’s at the University of Chicago and his fellowship in adolescent medicine at CHOP.

His clinical work includes the full spectrum of adolescent health including: primary care, reproductive health, eating and feeding disorders, medical management of depression and anxiety, care for LGBTQ youth, care for youth living with or at-risk for HIV, and gender identity development issues.

Beyond medical care, Dr. McClain is a tireless advocate for LGBTQ youth, educating parents, community members, and medical providers on their unique health care needs and resilience on local and national levels. He has authored multiple book chapters and original articles on the care for LGBTQ youth.

He was the program director of the Adolescent Medicine fellowship program and served as the medical director for the Leadership Education in Adolescent Health training program—a federally funded grant through the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. McClain also had the distinct honor to serve as a member on the Board of Directors of Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, and continues to work with the society to advocate for all youth.

He has written many peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and most recently co-edited the American Academy of Pediatrics definitive textbook on communicating with adolescents—Reaching Teens. This multimedia resource integrates a trauma-sensitive model with the core belief that identifying, reinforcing, and building on inherent strengths can facilitate positive youth development.

In his spare time, Zach likes swimming in our community’s gorgeous lakes and hiking with his dog, Scrappy.

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Photo by Sarah Kenyon.

Hila Richardson

Board Member (she/her)
Millerton, NY

Hila Richardson has filled a wide range of positions in public health, health administration and nursing.  She was most recently an Associate Dean at the College of Nursing at NYU where she was also a founding faculty member for the Global Public Health program.

Prior to NYU, Dr. Richardson’s positions included the Deputy Director of Medical Research and Practice Policy at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University; the Senior Assistant Vice-President for Long Term Care at the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, and a Program Analyst at the Institute of Medicine in Washington D.C. Her teaching positions include the University of Virginia School Of Nursing, Columbia University School of Public Health and New York University’s Robert Wagner School of Public Service. Dr. Richardson’s clinical practice was in public health nursing in rural and urban communities in Virginia and in long term care settings.

In addition to Foundation for Community Health, she is a Trustee of the Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson, NY, and a member of the Advisory Board for the Fund for Columbia County.  She also Chairs the Board of Isabella Geriatric Center in New York City and has previously been on the Executive Boards of the American Public Health Association, and the Public Health Association of New York City.  She was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 2001 and the New York Academy of Medicine in 2005.

Dr. Richardson received a BS in Nursing from the University of Virginia, a MPH. from The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a DrPH from The Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.

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Photo by Sarah Kenyon.

Rev. A.J. Stack

Board Member (he/him)
Amenia, NY

The Rev. AJ Stack is an Episcopal Priest serving St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Amenia, New York, where the mission is the Food of Life/Comida de Vida Food Pantry. Through the pantry, an average of 375 of our neighbors receive nutritious fresh food on a weekly basis.

He is a native of southeastern Ohio, where, before ordination, he was a Licensed Social Worker practicing in the fields of drug and alcohol recovery, adolescent mental and behavioral health, foster care, and employability and job retention skills development.

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