The YMCA of Central New York held its Annual Meeting on June 15, 2021, and elected a new slate of board members and officers. Robert Markowski was voted to succeed Fran Nichols, who had reached his term limit, as the new Association’s Board of Directors Chair and Chief Volunteer Officer.
Bob is a long-time member of the YMCA of Central New York. He was previously the 1st Vice Chair of the Association’s Board and served as chair of the board development committee and sat on the executive committee. He also served on the Downtown branch board for seven years, five as president of that board, and was deeply involved in conversations relative to the improvement and growth of that branch.
Bob graduated from St. Lawrence University with a degree in both economics and history in 1987 and then started his career at Marine Midland Bank. He became involved in commercial lending in 1999 and is currently a Vice President and Senior Commercial Lender with NBT Bank.
Bob and his wife Sandy celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary in October 2020. Their daughter, Christy, is involved in the thoroughbred horse industry in Kentucky and their son, Bradley, works in IT for Inficon. In Bob’s free time, he enjoys training for and participating in triathlons, working in his yard, traveling to Kentucky, and reading history books.
“I am excited and honored to become the next Board Chair and CVO and to follow in a long line of outstanding board leaders,” Bob shares. “Being a long-time member of the YMCA, I have seen firsthand the help the Y has provided both to individuals and the overall community in general. I look forward to working with our new CEO and expanding our fundraising efforts so we can continue to provide and expand the services to help those in need in Central NY.”
The remaining slate of officers elected at the Annual Meeting includes 1st Vice-Chair Paula Mallory Engel, 2nd Vice-Chair Rick Cote, Treasurer Vic Vaccaro, and Secretary Cindy Dowd Greene.
Additional new members of our Association Board of Directors include:
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BJ Adigun – Director of Community Partnership & Market Engagement for BlueCross BlueShield and previously served on the Downtown YMCA Branch Board of Managers
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Kenyon Black – Director of the Le Moyne College Upward Bound Program
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Diane Crawford – Executive Director of Institutional Culture at the Syracuse University Whitman School of Management
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Iris St. Meran – Award-winning journalist who joined the Syracuse NewsChannel 9 team in March of 2021
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Kelly Pelcher – President, Owner, and Operator of Burdick BMW and previously served as Chair of the Northwest YMCA Branch Board of Managers