Little Flower Children and Family Services

Our Board of Directors

We are grateful to the dedicated and caring individuals who volunteer their time and talent in support of Little Flower. The continued operation and growth of our agency depends on the hard work and commitment of our Board of Directors.

David Gilmartin, Jr.

Chair

David Gilmartin, Jr.

Chair

David “Rooney” J. Gilmartin Jr., is a shareholder at Greenberg Traurig, LLP. He is co-chair of the Long Island Land Use Practice, and focuses his practice on land use, zoning, and real estate matters as well as related litigation. David previously served in a variety of government roles, including as Village Attorney for the Village of Sag Harbor and as Town Attorney for the town of Southampton. In his government roles, he regularly represented various municipal boards. David currently represents developers as well as individuals before all land use boards in Eastern Suffolk County.

David is a former Southampton Hospital trustee of the board and board member of the South Fork Breast Health Coalition. He is a graduate of St. John Fisher College and Fordham University School of Law.

Very Rev. Patrick J. West

Vice-Chair

Very Rev. Patrick J. West

Vice-Chair

Father West was ordained to the priesthood on May 30, 1981, at the parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in South Ozone Park. After serving there for ten years he was assigned to the parish of St. Francis de Sales in Belle Harbor and then served as pastor of the parishes of St. Peter Claver in Bedford Stuyvesant, and Our Lady of Solace in Coney Island. He is the Pastor of St. Sebastian Church and Corpus Christi Church in Woodside, as well as the Dean of the Queens 2 Deanery.

Father West says, “I have been extremely blessed in my over 40 years of priesthood. I have had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people who have been a true blessing to me.”

Father West is a graduate of Tioga Central High School, Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception, and Immaculate Conception Seminary.

Barbara Catoggio Kullen, JD

Secretary

Barbara Catoggio Kullen, JD

Secretary

Barbara Catoggio Kullen, JD of Shoreham, NY joined the Board of Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York in 2013. A native of Jamaica Estates, NY, Barbara graduated from The Mary Louis Academy and from Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart and received the degree of Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law. She thereupon embarked upon a thirty-four year career in corporate and securities law in the financial services industry in New York (including at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, rapidly-expanding CBWL-Hayden Stone, Shearson, and a Citigroup predecessor.) Meanwhile, Barbara and her husband raised four now-grown children, Rick, Mike, Lisa and Tony.

Shortly after 9/11/2001, Barbara and her husband, the late Richard C. Kullen, Jr., a corporate and corporate finance lawyer, withdrew from the practice of law. Since then, Barbara’s “Retirement Career” has been primarily pro bono work, largely at Little Flower and Little Flower School, including serving as Director and Acting Secretary of Little Flower, Director and Secretary of its affiliate, St. John’s Residence for Boys, Chairman of their joint Audit Committee, and member of their joint Executive and Governance and Nominating committees. She has also been a Classroom and Reading Room Aide in Little Flower School and a leader of song at Campus Masses and Prayer Services and at McSharry ICF.

Additionally, Barbara has served as a member of the Little Flower UFSD School Board, and as Chairman of its Audit Committee, and currently serves as Chairman of the Audit Committee at Shoreham-Wading River CSD.

Her other public service has included Trustee and Finance Committee Member of Manhattanville College, Director and Audit Committee Member of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Greater New York, volunteer at Hope House Ministries, and Village Justice of the village of Shoreham.

C. Craig O’Neill

Treasurer

C. Craig O’Neill

Treasurer

Craig O’Neill of Garden City, New York, joined the Little Flower Board in 2023. He has volunteered alongside board members since 2016 on investment and finance oversight. He is currently the CEO of Hilton Capital Management, a Long Island-based asset management firm. His prior work experiences include running the Equity desk and Prime Brokerage at Rafferty Capital Markets and working as an Options Specialist on the floor of the American Stock Exchange for CDM Partners.

Mr. O’Neill graduated from Hobart College in 1989 with a degree in Economics. He and his spouse, Julie, have three children.

Directors

Robert Abiuso, Esq.

Director

Robert Abiuso, Esq.

Director

Robert joined the Little Flower Board in 2023. He has been an active board member for St. John’s Residence for Boys, Little Flower’s affiliate, since 2016.

Robert is an attorney with Sahn Ward Braff Koblenz who practices law in the tri-state area. He focuses on Insurance and Criminal law matters and routinely represents individuals in a pro-bono capacity.

Robert is a graduate of St. John’s University (1989) and received the Pro-Bono Attorney of the Year award in 2016 from Touro College’s Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, where he graduated in 1994.

Bianca Buckridee

Director

Bianca Buckridee

Director

Bianca Buckridee leads Marketing for Amazon’s Machine Learning Solutions Lab. She is responsible for developing the go-to-market strategy for a team of 150+ data scientists, strategists, and engineers helping Amazon’s largest customers looking to solve real-world business challenges with machine learning.

Previously, Buckridee worked for Blue Yonder, BMC Software, The Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation, Sprinklr, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Trust Bank (fka SunTrust) in progressively responsible customer service operations and product marketing roles. She is best known for pioneering the new field of social customer service and has built the operational and technological model for businesses to interact with customers via social media.

She’s also taught kindergarten and third grade proving there is no challenge she won’t accept!

Michael Brachlow

Director

Michael Brachlow

Director

Mike Brachlow joined the Board in late 2023.

He has been involved in the insurance business for over 40 years, specializing in employee benefits. He had his own business, Weston Insurance, with over 30,000 Corporate Clients, which he sold to BenefitMall in 2006, where he remains as an employee as Director of Business Development. He has been on the Little Flower Golf Committee for multiple years and he and his wife, Charlie, serve on the 95th Annual 2024 Gala committee as well.

Charlie and Mike live in Harrison, New York and have 4 children and 3 grandchildren.

John Corbett

Director

John Corbett

Director

John Corbett, of Manhattan, joined the Little Flower Board in 2014. He is a Principal and Chief Financial Officer of Sound Harbor Partners, an investment firm that provides private credit to U.S. companies, including secured loans, subordinated debt and equity securities. He is focused on investments in the consumer and healthcare industries.

Prior to joining Sound Harbor in 2009, John was a Vice President in the Leveraged Acquisition Finance Group at Banc of America Securities where he was responsible for originating, structuring and syndicating leveraged loan and high yield bond transactions for financial sponsor leveraged buyouts. John also worked as an Associate at Goldman Sachs.

John has a B.A. in Economics and Accounting from College of the Holy Cross, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Father Alonzo Cox

Director

Father Alonzo Cox

Director

Father Alonzo Cox was born in the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn on March 22, 1983. He was raised in a loving home with his mom and dad, and three years later his sister would be born. His family was active parishioners of Queen of All Saints parish. He would go on to become an altar server and after his Confirmation a lector and catechist.

Alonzo attended the area public schools, P.S. 20, J.H.S. 117, and Metropolitan Corporate Academy in Downtown Brooklyn. Feeling called by God to serve as a priest, at the age of 18, after graduating from high school, Alonzo entered the minor seminary, Cathedral Seminary Residence while attending St. John’s University.

In June 2005, Alonzo graduated from St. John’s with a B.A. degree in Philosophy and was assigned by Bishop DiMarzio to continue his studies for the priesthood at the major seminary, the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, New York. Alonzo spent his pastoral year of formation at the parish of St. Sebastian, in Woodside, Queens.

In May 2009 Alonzo received his M.A. degree in Theology and on December 8, 2009, was ordained a transitional deacon. On June 26, 2010, Alonzo was ordained to the sacred priesthood at St. James Cathedral Basilica by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio. He was assigned to the parish of St. Clare, in Rosedale Queens as Parochial Vicar.

In addition to his position as Parochial Vicar, Bishop DiMarzio appointed Father Alonzo to serve as the Diocesan Coordinator of the African American Apostolate and Ministry to African American Catholics. In November 2014, Father Alonzo was appointed Pastor of St. Martin DePorres parish, which consists of Our Lady of Victory, Holy Rosary, and St. Peter Claver churches in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

In August 2017, Bishop DiMarzio appointed Father Alonzo to serve as secretary for the Diocesan Commission on Racism and Social Justice.

Paul J. Garavente

Director

Paul J. Garavente

Director

Paul “Woody” Garavente of Millington, New Jersey, joined the Little Flower Board in 2018 as part of the affiliation between Little Flower and St. John’s Residence for Boys (St. John’s). He has been president of the St. John’s Board since 2003 and a member of the board since 1998. He was a full-time volunteer at St. John’s in 1987-1988.

Woody currently owns his own tutoring business, Crimson Consulting. He started the company in June 2020 after a 29-year career on Wall Street and three years as a teacher at the Pingry School in Basking Ridge, NJ. He also coaches girls lacrosse for Cougar Lacrosse Club in Chatham, NJ, and is an avid golfer.

Woody is a 1985 graduate of Harvard University where he earned a degree in engineering sciences. He has three adult daughters.

Tiffany Graham

Director

Tiffany Graham

Director

Tiffany C. Graham is an Associate Professor of Law and the Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion at Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center in Long Island, New York. She joined the law school in May 2020 after serving for six years on the faculty and as the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the University of South Dakota School of Law. Professor Graham primarily teaches in the areas of constitutional law and race and the law, but has also taught criminal procedure, law and sexuality, and torts.

She has written and spoken nationally on topics broadly related to LGBTQ+ equality, including marriage equality, LGBTQ+ youth homelessness, conversion therapy, and the integration of LGBTQ+ communities in rural spaces. Her work has appeared in multiple law journals, has been cited at various stages of appellate litigation, and has most recently been included in the Carolina Academic Press book, Integrating Doctrine and Diversity: Inclusion and Equity in the Law School Classroom.

In addition to her scholarly work, Professor Graham is active in the professional community, where she recently served as the Chair of the South Dakota State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and now serves on the corresponding New York State Advisory Committee. She has also served on various boards of directors and fulfilled an appointment to the Magistrate Judge Selection Panel for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

A graduate of Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges and the University of Virginia School of Law, she previously served as a federal law clerk on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and did commercial litigation in the Los Angeles office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver and Hedges, LLP. Professor Graham was named a U.S. Fulbright Scholar in 2014.

Professor Graham is a resident of Sound Beach, New York.

Pastor Matt Greco

Director

Pastor Matt Greco

Director

Pastor Matt Greco is the Lead Pastor of Real Life Church in Wading River, NY since 2012 with his wife Christina and three beautiful children.

Having grown up in Center Moriches, NY on the south shore of Long Island, in an amazing Christian family, my wife and I consider it an incredible honor to serve the communities so close to where we both grew up. We attribute who we are today because of parents who exemplified Christ in every way possible. Their lives were a daily reminder of what it meant to love and serve Christ with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Having received my calling into ministry at 15 yrs. old, I chose to later attend Valley Forge University in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, where I would pursue a Pastoral Ministry degree and graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Biblical Studies. It was there that I met my beautiful wife, Christina. We have three awesome children, Skye, Matthew, and Cali that bring the greatest amount of joy to our lives!

Together my wife and I have had the incredible privilege, over the past 20 years, of impacting the lives of thousands of children and adults across NY and NJ in roles as full-time Children’s Pastors, Youth Pastors, and now Lead Pastors. Having served as the Children’s Pastor at Vailsburg Assembly of God in Newark, NJ for four years, we then transitioned back home. In May of 2005, we accepted an opportunity to Pastor as the Youth and Children’s Pastors at Medford Assembly of God in Medford, NY, and would spend the next eight years doing so.

In 2012, my family and I were asked to consider leading a church that was about to close its doors in Wading River, NY. The name of the church at the time was the Wading River Assembly of God. We were honored to accept the position and have had the privilege of being the Lead Pastors of the church ever since. Over that time we have been able to serve Little Flower with teams of volunteers on a weekly basis. Those volunteer opportunities eventually led to having been asked to serve on the Board of Directors, which I have been able to do since 2018.

What an incredible gift I consider it to be, to be able to serve the children of Little Flower and to be able to fulfill the mission of this great organization!

Robert Griffith

Director

Robert Griffith

Director

Robert E. Griffith, of Garden City, joined the Little Flower Board in 2006. He is currently the Managing Director and Head of North America Distribution in Fixed Income for Credit Suisse in New York City. His past professional experiences include work in investment banking in various positions at Credit Suisse and Citibank.

Griffith is a graduate of Harvard University where he earned a degree in Economics.

In addition to his work at Little Flower, Griffith is a Board Member of the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR) and an active parishioner of St. Joseph’s Church in Garden City.

Gary Lavery

Director

Gary Lavery

Director

Gary Lavery is a Senior Vice President in EPIC’s commercial insurance division where he advises privately held middle market companies and organizations on all risk management related matters.

Prior to joining the firm in early 2011, Gary worked in the medical device industry with Teleflex Medical for about three years overseeing and growing their San Diego California market presence. Prior to that, Gary worked with Automatic Data Processing (ADP) for three years consulting with businesses on technology solutions for payroll, tax, human resources, and regulatory matters.

Gary graduated from Loyola University Maryland in 2002 with a degree in Business Finance. He and his wife Tara have three children, Gary III, Summer, and Aaron and they enjoy all things outdoors. Gary has been a member of the Little Flower Annual Golf Outing committee since 2014 and enjoys volunteering every spring as a Little League baseball and softball coach.

Howard Nolan

Director

Howard Nolan

Director

Howard is the Chief Financial Officer at Softheon Inc. Prior to joining Softheon, Howard was Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Corporate Secretary of BNB Bank. He joined the Bank in 2006 and has served as Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, as well as a member of the Board of Directors.

Prior to that, Howard was the Vice President of Finance and Treasurer at Gentiva Health Services. Additionally, Howard held several management roles at Long Island Savings Bank and began his career as an Auditor at KPMG. Mr. Nolan is a graduate of Dowling College and a Certified Public Accountant.

Howard joined the Board of Little Flower as Treasurer in 2014, and has served as Chairman of Little Flower’s Annual Golf Committee for 25 years, and has been an active participant on the Finance, Executive, Governance, and Audit Committees.

Howard and his wife Lisa reside in Medford and are the parents of Brendon and Lindsay.

Father Valentine Rebello

Director

Father Valentine Rebello

Director

Father Valentine was born and raised in Mumbai, India, where he grew up in a large and caring family. In 1979, he joined a seminary in Nagpur and Goa, India. There, he pursued a bachelor’s degree and studied Philosophy and Theology. He was ordained as a priest on April 8, 1989.

After completing his studies, he worked as an associate Pastor with a focus on serving indigenous people in India. This experience provided him with valuable insights into the realities of life. After six years, he was transferred to a semi-urban parish where he held various positions, including Pastor, Director for Social Work in the diocese, and Coordinator for the Catholic Relief Services.

Father Valentine witnessed the plight of young children in the area who had run away from their families and sought shelter at railway stations and bus depots. He was inspired to initiate a project called “The Butterfly,” which aims to integrate these children into mainstream society and help them build better lives for themselves.

In June 2000, he moved to the United States and settled in Northport, Long Island for a pastoral experience under the guidance of Fr. Peter Garry. Since then, he has made Long Island his new home. Currently, he is serving as a Pastor at St. Pius X Church in Plainview, NY.

Father Valentine is thrilled to be a part of the Little Flower Family, and looks forward to continuing his journey of serving and supporting others in their spiritual and personal growth.

Tami Stark

Director

Tami Stark

Director

Tami Stark is a Partner with the global law firm, White & Case, LLP. Her practice focuses on representing individuals and companies facing white collar criminal and regulatory investigations. Before joining White & Case, Tami practiced at a boutique white collar criminal defense firm where she similarly helped clients navigate government inquiries and lead monitorship teams. Tami also served as Assistant Regional Director in the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission’s Enforcement Division, where she led enforcement efforts alongside other regulators and agencies. Before joining the SEC, Tami clerked for the Honorable Carol B. Amon on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Tami has served on several government and non-profit boards. Tami currently serves as the Vice President of the Board of Education for the Cold Spring Harbor School District and was a Board Member of the Zoning Board of Appeals for the Town of Huntington. She also currently serves on the Board of the Child Care Council of Suffolk, Inc., and on the Board of Advisors for The Energeia Partnership.

Joseph Trainor

Director

Joseph Trainor

Director

Joseph P. Trainor, ESQ. joined the Little Flower Board in 2018 as part of the affiliation between Little Flower and St. John’s Residence for Boys.

Joe has a wealth of experience, ranging from business, government, law, and education. In the ’70s, Joe was the District Representative for Congressman James H. Scheuer. He then entered the education field, teaching at Kingsborough, Nassau Community, Hofstra, Marist College, and C.W. Post. At Marist College, he taught courses in a non-traditional environment that were designed to meet the academic requirements of the college as well as to aid in the rehabilitation of the residents.

He is currently semi-retired and practices law out of his Massapequa Park office. He also teaches Political Science as an adjunct professor at Kingsborough Community College.

Emeritus Board

Thomas K. Cullen

Thomas K. Cullen, of Bellport, joined the Little Flower Board in 1986. He is a retired Vice President of King Kullen Grocery Company, Inc. where he oversaw government relations, industry and public relations and donations, and he continues to serve on King Kullen’s Board of Directors. Cullen manages Crown Advertising & Marketing, a full-service agency based in Plainview, New York.

Cullen is a graduate of Seton Hall High School, Long Island.University/Southampton College and CW Post College where he earned a Masters Degree in Business Administration.

In addition to his work at Little Flower, Cullen is a Member of the Board of Directors at Long Island Community Hospital and Independent Group Home Living Program, Inc. (IGHL).

J. Keith Fell

J. Keith Fell

JKFJ. Keith Fell Esq., of Garden City, joined the Little Flower Board in 2005. He is a Managing Director and heads the RaffCap Division of Tradeweb’s IDB Business Unit. Prior to joining Tradeweb in November 2011, Fell was Chief Operating Officer at Rafferty Capital Markets, LLC. He also previously worked as Managing Director, Co-Head Capital Markets North America at Dresdner, Kleinwort, Wasserstein Securities, Inc.; as Managing Director, Global Debt Markets at Merrill Lynch & Co.; as Vice President, Fixed Income Division at PaineWebber Inc.; and as Vice President, Assistant General Counsel at Prudential Bache Securities.

Fell holds a Juris Doctorate from New York Law School and a B.A. in Economics from Tufts University.

Michael Rafferty

Michael Rafferty, of Manhattan, joined the Little Flower Board in 2006. He is the owner of Rafferty Holdings, LLC of Garden City, an investment banking and brokerage services firm, which includes Rafferty Capital Markets, Hilton Capital Management, & Direxion Funds. Prior to his current tenure, he was a senior trader at Merrill Lynch in New York.

Rafferty is a graduate of Boston College.

Connect With Little Flower

Our Board of Directors

David Gilmartin, Jr.

Very Rev. Patrick J. West

Barbara Catoggio Kullen, JD

C. Craig O’Neill

Directors

Robert Abiuso, Esq.

Bianca Buckridee

Michael Brachlow

John Corbett

Father Alonzo Cox

Paul J. Garavente

Tiffany Graham

Pastor Matt Greco

Robert Griffith

Gary Lavery

Howard Nolan

Father Valentine Rebello

Tami Stark

Joseph Trainor

Emeritus Board

Thomas K. Cullen

J. Keith Fell

Michael Rafferty

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