Who We Are

John Cameron is the Founder and Managing Partner of Cameron Engineering & Associates, LLP. The Firm is in its 33rd year of business, specializing in various aspects of consulting engineering and planning, serving the public and private sectors.

An engineering graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, Mr. Cameron also holds a Master’s Degree in Environmental Science from Long Island University and has an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Molloy College. Mr. Cameron serves on numerous boards including those of civic, professional and educational organizations, including the Long Island Regional Planning Council, where he serves as Chairman; the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County, the Hofstra University and Stony Brook University Engineering Schools, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Association and others.

Mr. Cameron has diverse personal interests including surfing, running, sports, music, travel, reading, writing, art and politics. He and his wife Loretta, reside in Rockville Centre as do their two married children, and grandsons, Jack and Will. His favorite time is spent anywhere with his family, but most especially at the beach.

Michael E. White is a practicing attorney and concentrates his law practice in areas of environmental law, municipal law, land use, natural resources and rail freight transportation. Michael is also the President and owner of L I Strategies, Inc., an environmental planning consulting firm.

Michael serves as a Member of the Long Island Regional Planning Council and was previously the Executive Director of the Council. Prior to that appointment he was a partner in the firm of Jaspan Schlesinger Hoffman LLP where he headed the Environmental Law Practice Group and was part of the Municipal Law Practice Group.

Michael is Chair of the Board of Governors of New York Sea Grant. He is an Adjunct Faculty in Environmental Law and Environmental Management in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences of Stony Brook University and Chair of its Dean’s Council. Michael serves on the Long Island Commission on Aquifer Protection, is Chair of its Finance Committee and is also on the Management Committee for the Long Island Nitrogen Action Plan. Michael was a Commissioner on the Blue Ribbon Commission on Sustainability and the MTA. Michael is the recipient of the Touro College Law Center Pro Bono Attorney of the year in 2004, the Old Westbury College Foundation Theodore Roosevelt Preservation Award in 2005, Co- Honoree with his wife Judy of the Cornell Cooperative Extension in 2008 and named Educator / Professional Environmentalist of the Year by the 2014 Stony Brook University EarthStock Program.

Prior to joining JSH LLP, Michael was managing partner of White & Kretzing P.C., which merged with JSH in 2002. He is admitted to practice in the Courts of New York, the Eastern and Southern District Federal Courts of New York, the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. He received his Juris Doctorate from Touro College Law Center and has degrees in Environmental Studies and Earth and Space Sciences, with graduate studies in Marine Sciences at Stony Brook University.

Prior to his legal career, Michael served as an environmental planner in the Department of Environmental Control of the Town of Huntington, and then as Director of that Department, was an environmental consultant in the private sector, worked in the Environmental Monitoring Division of the Suffolk County Department of Environmental Control and then with the Suffolk County Department of Health Services Water Quality and Drinking Water Supply Bureau and was a research scientist at the Marine Sciences Research Center of Stony Brook University. He is a former Chair of the Environmental Law Committee of the Suffolk County Bar Association as well as a former member of the Board of the Suffolk County Water Authority, the Long Island Regional Planning Board 208 Technical Advisory Committee and the Long Island Regional Ashfill Board.

Jeffrey Kraut serves as the executive vice president for strategy and analytics at Northwell Health and as associate dean for strategy for the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, one of the nation’s newest medical schools. In addition to coordinating the strategic planning and health policy activities of Northwell, as well as the development of its network of providers through merger, acquisition or affiliated relationships, he is also responsible for data governance and organizing the next generation of business and clinical analytics throughout the Health System.

Often recognized for his skills in health planning, policy and analytics, Mr. Kraut serves as Chair of the NYS Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC). The PHHPC oversees public, health planning, regulatory and Certificate of Need activities in New York State. He has focused on regional planning and policy development, promoting the interoperability and sharing of health data and incubating innovation opportunities through strategic partnerships.

Mr. Kraut is a board member of Healthix, New York’s largest RHIO and the American Hospital Association’s Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development. He is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and serves on the Standards Council of the Commission on Accreditation on Healthcare Management Education. He was the recipient of the 25th Anniversary Leadership Award of The New York State Society for Health Planning, an organization of which he served as past president and serves on various committees of the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS), the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) and on the board of the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council.

Mr. Kraut is also involved in regional economic development and community building activities as a board member of the Long Island Regional Planning Council, Sustainable Long Island and The Brookville Center for Children Services where he serves as its President. Mr. Kraut also serves as a health policy advisor to the Long Island Index and ERASE Racism and is a member of the Energeia Partnership which is dedicated to achieving social equity through regional private/public partnerships.

Prior to joining Northwell, Mr. Kraut served as the Vice President for Policy and Planning at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center, where he was recruited from the health care consulting group of KPMG Peat Marwick. Mr. Kraut received an MBA in Healthcare Management from Baruch College/Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.

Theresa E. Sanders has been a C-Suite Executive for over twenty years. As Urban League of Long Island President and CEO, Ms. Sanders has developed direct service programs that help infuse millions of dollars into the regional economy, by empowering individuals to become economically self-sufficient and socially conscience community members. Ms. Sanders holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from the State University of New York at Old Westbury, a Masters of Science in Instructional Technology from the New York Institute of Technology and is currently completing her Doctorate in Education Leadership at St. John’s University. Ms. Sanders is an adjunct professor at the State University of New York College at Old Westbury, and serves as Chair of the Board at Suffolk County Community College. In addition, Ms. Sanders is a member of the Executive Committee for the Long Island Regional Planning Council, a member of the Hall of Fame for Long Island Business News’ Top 50 Women and an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc Coming Soon.

Throughout her professional and personal life, Barbara Donno has devoted herself to helping and serving others.

She is currently serving her fifth term as Mayor of the Village of Plandome Manor. She has consistently held the line on tax increases while continuing to provide the services necessary to preserving the quality of life expected by her Village residents.

Under Barbara’s leadership the Village building codes have been rewritten in order to protect the integrity and character of the Village, she has worked diligently with Nassau County and the Town of North Hempstead to rebuild and repair critical infrastructure within the Village. Working with the Village board of trustees she has implemented a capital improvements plan all the while maintaining fiscal discipline to protect taxpayer dollars.

Barbara is past President of the Nassau County Village Officials Association, and a member of the executive board advocating for Nassau County’s 64 incorporated villages. She also served as Director of District Operations for former New York State Senator Jack M. Martins and for NY State Senator Elaine Phillips.

Prior to her tenure as Mayor, Ms. Donno was a nine-year member of the Manhasset School District Board of Education serving as President for 4 years. She is also a former elementary school teacher with a Master’s Degree in Education from Hofstra University.

Outside of the public sector, Ms. Donno sits on the Board of the Long Island Regional Planning Council and serves as an officer on the Board of Directors for the Lead the Way Fund, a non-profit organization established to raise funds in support of Army Rangers and their families. She is a member of the Manhasset Rotary Club and a board member of the Port Washington-Manhasset Office of Emergency Management.

In recognition of her longstanding community service, Barbara was named to the Town of North Hempstead’s May W. Newburger Women’s Roll of Honor. A graduate of Duquesne University, she was also named one of the University’s Distinguished Alumni.

Barbara Donno and her husband, Robert, reside in Plandome Manor and have two adult children, Jackie and Matthew, and two grandchildren, Emma and James.

Elizabeth Custodio, a longtime resident of Stony Brook, NY, was born and raised in the Bronx, NY. Ms. Custodio attended C.U.N.Y.'s Herbert H. Lehman College, and soon thereafter, her banking career was launched at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co. Here, she was introduced with the concept and importance of true customer service. Today, Elizabeth has over forty years of banking experience, most recently at People's United Bank as Vice President, Community Development & CRA Officer for NY. Her duties include economic and community outreach while ensuring the Bank meets all local, State, and federal regulatory requirements including the Community Reinvestment Act. Prior to People's United Bank, she had a similar role at Suffolk County National Bank and at Astoria Bank, following a long career at HSBC where she managed the Community Business Development Officers throughout the organization's national footprint.

Elizabeth possesses a unique sensitivity and profound awareness to the needs and concerns of economically disadvantaged and socially challenged communities. In this capacity, she has excelled in exploring, creating and developing synergies between corporations, business, industry, education, and key community-based organizations throughout the region. She is a proven leader that has been successful in developing her banking acumen and career while raising three exceptional children Eliud II, Christie and Mark with her husband, Eliud Custodio.

Being fluent in Spanish and having grown up in the inner city provides Ms. Custodio with a broad perspective of 'community' including sensitivity to diversity, multiculturalism, points of view, and socio-economic issues and concerns needed to perform her duties for such groups as the LI Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Long Island Regional Planning Council, Community Development Corp. of Long Island, Childcare Council of Suffolk, Long Island Housing Partnership, Hispanic Brotherhood of Rockville Centre, Long Island Coalition for the Homeless, Urban League of LI, College at Old Westbury Board of Trustees and many others.

Her work and advocacy in the greater community has garnered Ms. Custodio with a plethora of honors, awards, and recognition, and deservedly so, from her peers and the broader community. This abundance of recognition is a testament to the influence and positive impact she has on our communities.

Ms. Custodio believes that the strategic alliances she has helped forged over the years have stimulated and continue to sustain economic development as a form of individual empowerment and advancement for both communities and their residents.

Nancy Engelhardt, LLC is a for profit enterprise that is committed to social good. Nancy’s business background includes co-founding Interactive Marketing Services (IMS), raising venture capital for an internet marketing software in the late 1990’s. IMS was renamed eShare Technologies and was acquired by a public company which gave Nancy the opportunity to change her career path and discover her professional passion; helping to develop high performing teams within community minded organizations and in the region.

As the former Founding Director of The Energeia Partnership, an Academy for Regional Stewardship, Nancy helped bring together, influential leaders in the region, providing them with the information and networks necessary to become change agents. Under Nancy’s leadership the program educated over 400 graduates who are serving on over 250 boards and commissions across Long Island. Nancy’s is a passionate trustee of Long Island and continues to be a catalyst for change in all areas of her life.

As a master planner and facilitator, Nancy provides leadership development programs, workshops and/or retreats that help organizations to identify their goals, build meaningful relationships, and to develop high performing teams that produce measurable results. She is also a certified Equine Assisted Corporate Trainer.

Newly elected Town of Hempstead Supervisor Laura Gillen is a Nassau County native from Baldwin and the mother of four children. Ms. Gillen has had a passion for serving others from a very early age, when she would regularly volunteer at South Nassau Communities Hospital and Camp Anchor. Her interest in public service ripened while a student at Georgetown University, where she concentrated her studies in government. At Georgetown, Ms. Gillen participated in the Baker Scholar program, which impacted the direction of her life profoundly with its focus on community service. After graduating cum laude, Ms. Gillen returned to New York to study at Stella Adler Studio. She later became an agent for a leading speakers bureau. During these years, Ms. Gillen was also a GMHC volunteer, assisting persons living with HIV/AIDS and later embarked on transformational visits to destinations in China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and India. The focal point of her travel was an extended volunteer mission in Calcutta with Missionaries of Charity, where she worked in Mother Teresa's home for the dying. Afterwards, Ms. Gillen returned to Georgetown for law studies at night while also interning for Hon. Marian Blank Horn of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims by day. It was here where her passion for the law blossomed. Eventually, Ms. Gillen would take on securities regulation, defamation, employment and intellectual property cases, while also volunteering her time to assist victims of domestic abuse. Ms Gillen currently resides in Rockville Centre with her husband and their children. She is a member of the Nassau County Bar Association and a parishioner of St. Agnes Cathedral, where she serves as a catechist.

Robert Kennedy has proudly served as the Mayor of the Village of Freeport since March 18th, 2013. He decided to get into politics after a long career in the private sector. In 2009 he was elected Trustee of the Village of Freeport and promptly appointed Deputy Mayor.

During his tenure in politics he has shown the ability to bridge the gap between all parties, and continues to work together with anyone who has the desire to help the people of Freeport. Robert gained invaluable experience as an active duty member of the United States Navy aboard the USS Vulcan in the early 1970’s spending time in Guantanamo Bay, Norfolk Virginia, and various other countries. It was in the Navy that he began to learn mechanical engineering and the discipline it takes to be successful as an entrepreneur and a leader.

After his tenure in the United States Navy, Robert was named the Vice President of Technical Services for Starrett Property Services Inc. During this time he was responsible for maintaining hundreds of residential and commercial high rise buildings and supervising several thousand employees. During his term at Starrett Property services, Robert learned the importance of maintaining a fiscally responsible budget, something he continues to do for Village of Freeport. In 1984, Robert decided to leave Starrett Property Services to open up his own entrepreneurial venture. Winston Mechanical Corporation is a successful commercial HVAC company that services the Tri-State area.

Robert has been married for 38 years to his wife Mary. They have three sons Robert, Vincent, and Michael, and five grand-children, Leah, Olivia, Vincent, Eliana and Jack. He enjoys spending his weekends surrounded by his family, often spending time on the water, or having family and friends at his home to watch the New York Giants. Robert has employed the same open door policy to the Village of Freeport, taking the time out of his busy day to meet with any and all residents who would like to discuss a particular matter. Robert is an accomplished FAA Pilot, licensed U.S. Coast Guard Captain (100 Ton License), and a certified SCUBA diver. In addition, he is a member of the NAACP, American Legion, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary (Division Chief), (AOPA) Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, (USCOM) the United States Conference of Mayors, President of (NCVOA) the Nassau County Village Officials Association, and 2nd Vice President of (NYCOM) the New York Conference of Mayors.

Ralph Scordino has served the people of the Village of Babylon as Mayor for the past 16 years and as a Trustee and Deputy Mayor for 16 years under Don Conroy. In addition, he currently serves as a past President of the Suffolk County Village Officials Association.

His rise to the position of Mayor was the result of many years of community service, commitment, accomplishments and experience in Village government. As Mayor, Ralph has proven his leadership by utilizing the talents in the Village in order to continue our Babylon traditions, embrace new concepts and enhance the quality of life that we all enjoy.

During his tenure as Mayor, the Village has seen many improvements including road renovations, lighting, improved fire equipment, docks, trails from Argyle Lake to Southards Pond, parks for our children, installation of an environmentally significant fish ladder in Argyle Park, the encouragement of new businesses, rehabilitation of the main dock, improved drainage, road resurfacing, and expansion of our stormwater drainage program which is currently a model in New York State.

In addition, Ralph was influential in making Babylon Village the first municipality in Suffolk County to offer Wi-Fi in the business district and Babylon Village was awarded the “2010 Smart Growth Award by Vision Long Island” under his watch. As Mayor, Ralph instituted the Babylon Village Youth Corps to involve our children in community awareness and service; the Green Committee to advise our Village Government in environmental matters, the Newcomers Committee to welcome and support new residents.

Mayor Scordino worked diligently in conjunction with the Village of Babylon Highway and Sanitation crews, the Babylon Volunteer Fire Department, Suffolk County Police First Precinct officials as well as the Town of Babylon and our civic organizations to aid the community in our recovery and reconstruction efforts during and after Superstorm Sandy. Those efforts continue today with direct services to our residents as well as participating in future mitigation planning.

Ralph is retired after 34 years in education and therefore can often be seen throughout the Village. This offers the residents the advantage of having a mayor who is visible and easily accessible. Ralph and his wife Linda, have been married for 43 years and raised both their children in Babylon Village and have added twin granddaughters to the family.