Seven YAI employees with a combined 165 years of experience have been promoted to a newly created role of Regional Deputy Director (RDD). This new role will support our current Regional Directors in managing, enhancing, and developing their respective regions.

The seven new RDDs are as follows:

• Melanie Alexopoulos from our Queens region
• Liz Annarella from our Long Island region
• Dawn Bacigalupo-Albit from our Bronx region
• Cameo Beramsingh from our Brooklyn region
• Lisa Cornall from our Hudson Valley region
• Cheryl Karran from our NY START program
• Lisa Orbegoso from our Center of Specialty Therapy program

A majority of the new RDDs are enrolled in YAI’s Management Development Program(MDP). This new program is in pilot mode since it first launched in September 2018. The MDP is a year-long program, designed by YAI’s Human Resources department to offer knowledge and training to a select group of employees in a variety of subjects including leadership, emotional intelligence, and critical thinking.

Each new Regional Deputy Director has consistently proven their dedication to YAI and our mission of living, loving, working, and learning. As a group, they will be in charge of implementing our Strategic Plan and ensuring the future success of their regions. Now each region will have a designated official second-in-command to help with day-to-day performance, generate enhanced results, and produce even better person-centered outcomes for the people we support.

Congratulations to YAI’s seven new Regional Deputy Directors!