Meet Our Speakers

Neela Mukherjee Lockel, MSW, MPA      President and CEO, EAC Network 

Neela Mukherjee Lockel is the newly appointed President and CEO of the EAC Network. She has served as the Chief Executive Officer of the American Red Cross on Long Island since 2016, where she oversaw Red Cross activities across Nassau County and Suffolk Counties, and sat on the Regional Leadership Team of Greater New York. She facilitated the Regional Board Diversity Committee, was a member of the Advanced Public Affairs Training Team and the American Red Cross LEAD, an internal leadership development program. She has deployed to Red Cross disaster responses for Hurricanes Matthew (2016) and Florence (2018) and the California Wildfires (2017), and also sat as the Interim Regional CEO for the Maine Region, to lead the team through a merger into the Northern New England Region.

Neela has over 25 years of experience in the non-profit sector. Before coming to the Red Cross, she served as the Founding Executive Director of Girls Inc. of Long Island. Prior to assuming this role in 2012, she worked in academia as an adjunct instructor at Stony Brook University and served as the Director of the Office of Continuing Education for the Adelphi University School of Social Work as well as a Director of Programs at the EAC Network. She has also consulted with several organizations for strategic planning and program development.

Neela has been recognized numerous times for her achievements by several organizations, including: City and State’s 50 Most Powerful People on Long Island, Long Island Press Power List, 40 Under 40 and Top 50 Women in Business by Long Island Business News; Leadership Award from the Shanti Fund and a Young Professionals Award from the American Heart Association.

She received an MPA in Public and Non-Profit Management from the NYU Wagner School of Public Service, an MSW from Fordham University, and a BA from Bates College.

Neela is a Partner (2015) and Member of the Board of Advisors for the Energeia Partnership through Molloy College, and holds Executive Leadership Certificates from both Fordham University and Adelphi University's Center for Non-Profit Leadership. She is appointed to the Board of Directors for the Middle Country Library Foundation, and the LIPA Community Advisory Board.

Fred S. Sganga, MPH, FACHE, LNHA

Fred S. Sganga is the Executive Director of the Long Island State Veterans Home at Stony Brook University, a 350-bed Skilled Nursing Facility serving honorably discharged veterans and their families. Board certified in Health Care Management and a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator, Mr. Sganga has worked in a variety of senior level healthcare positions in academic medical centers, community hospitals, long-term care facilities and physician practice management. 

Mr. Sganga earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Community Health from Hunter College and his Masters of Public Health from Columbia University. 

Mr. Sganga serves as an adjunct professor in the Graduate Healthcare Administration Programs at Stony Brook University and Hofstra University. He lectures extensively on the topics of Healthcare Leadership and Long-Term Care Management.

Mr. Sganga is currently the Legislative Officer of the National Association of State Veterans Homes. Mr. Sganga also served as President of this organization in 2011-2012. In his current role as Legislative Officer, Mr. Sganga advocates on behalf on the 165 State Veterans Homes in all 50 States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The State Veterans Home program consists of 30,000 beds and is the largest provider of long term care to our nation’s veterans.

He is also a Board Member of Healthix, a Regional Health Informational Organization serving the New York area. In addition, Mr. Sganga has served as Regent for the American College of Healthcare Executives representing the Greater New York area and is a member the Association’s faculty. Mr. Sganga has received numerous awards during his career including the 2000 Award of Distinction from the Metropolitan Health Administration Association. In 2008, he received the MHA Program Professor of the Year from Hofstra University. Also in 2012, he received the Secretary’s Award from the Veterans Administration for his commitment and dedication to our nation’s veterans.

Vanessa Baird-Streeter, President/Chief Executive Officer   Health and Welfare Council of Long Island

Vanessa Baird-Streeter attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a double major in Economics and Education.  Upon graduating from Dartmouth, Vanessa joined Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs and as a financial analyst, Vanessa worked in the financial industry for a total of ten years serving as a financial analyst and bond buyer. She has also served as the Director of the Ministry to Catholics of African Ancestry (1997-2005), Director of Communications for the Town of Babylon (2005-2009), Executive Director and Vice President of Communications for the Long Island Power Authority 2009-2012, Director of the Venettes Cultural Workshop, CEO of VBS Hair Collection and most recently served as the first woman of color to hold the position of Suffolk County Deputy County Executive (DCE). As of Febraury 5, 2024, Vanessa serves as the President and CEO of the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island.

In the role of Deputy County Executive, Vanessa oversaw a wide variety of County agencies, projects, and initiatives: Community Based Intervention, Language Access operations, the Department of Labor Licensing and Consumer Affairs, the Traffic and Parking Violations Bureau, an early education pilot entitled; Smart Start Suffolk that focused on the social emotional development children 0-5 years of age, their families and community, and, the Suffolk County Department of Human Services which housed the Youth Bureau, Women’s Services, the Offices of Minority Affairs, Aging, and Veterans Services. Additionally, Vanessa served as one of the County’s Police Accountability Liaisons and led the County’s MWBE/SDVOB (Minority, Women, and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned businesses) Disparity Study aimed at providing the legal framework for establishing MWBE/SVDOB requirements as part of the County’s procurement process.

In September 2020, County Executive Bellone appointed Vanessa to serve as chair of the Suffolk County Police Reform and Reinvention Task Force leading the effort of Reform and Reinvention of the Suffolk County Police Department. Throughout seven-month reform plan process, Vanessa facilitated executive and sub-committee meetings of the Suffolk County Police Reform & Reinvention Task Force, led public listening sessions that provided opportunities for over 1,200 Suffolk County community members to share their recommendations on police reform and met with hundreds of stakeholders to ascertain suggestions regarding fair and equitable policing in Suffolk County. At the end of the process, Vanessa and her team produced a final report which serves as the framework and foundation for 21st century, community-oriented reform and reinvention of the Suffolk County Police Department. Suffolk County’s plan has been deemed as the most comprehensive Police Reform plan in New York State.  Vanessa leads the implementation team to effectuate the reform and reinvention plans.

Very early on during the COVID 19 pandemic, Vanessa led the effort of creating hot spot testing sites in underserved and under resourced communities to ensure residents had access to testing, guidelines, resources and assistance.  This initiative helped to stem the spread of COVID 19 and ensure the health and safety of the County’s most vulnerable populations.  During the pandemic, DCE Baird-Streeter also created the Suffolk Cares Food Distribution initiative for those who lacked transportation but were food insecure and needed food delivered to their homes. As the COVID 19 vaccine became available, Vanessa worked with a myriad of community based organizations to ensure equitable distribution of the vaccine.  As the digital divide hampered some residents from securing vaccine appointments, Vanessa worked with the County’s IT Commissioner to create a streamlined, abbreviated appointment process as to make it as easy as possible for residents to access appointments. In addition, Vanessa spearheaded education campaigns addressing vaccine hesitancy

Robert Vitelli, CEO  LGBT Network

Robert served as the LGBT Network’s first fundraising officer 20 years ago and built its entire development operation from the ground-up.  He transitioned from being a program staffer and grant writer to development professional and has raised more than $25 million enabling the organization to grow and expand into a multi-site enterprise with an expansive footprint and reach.  He has launched and sustained various signature fundraising events, along with a robust corporate partnership program while leading a growing grants operation.

For the last two decades, he has led and developed various campaigns and initiatives to advance LGBT inclusion and equity, including leading the organization’s Workplace Initiative.  Robert has delivered more than 1,200 LGBT-inclusion education programs, including programs for the 75 companies and organizations that the LGBT Network partners with that creates safe spaces for LGBT people where they live, learn, work, play, and pray.

Robert earned his Masters’ degree from New York University and his Bachelors’ degree from Manhattan College.  He completed a year of volunteer service helping to operate an afterschool tutoring center in Oakland, California, earning credit as an AmeriCorps National Service Volunteer.  Robert has served as a Board member of AFP-LI twice, including service on the Chapter’s Diversity Committee and the Philanthropy Day Committee as Sponsorship Chair.  In 2022, he was recognized as the Pride Champion by Webster Bank.  He is a recurring presenter for the Long Island Chapter of Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM-LI).

Tommy DiMisa  #TheNonProfitSectorConnector

Tommy sits on the boards of several nonprofits on Long Island & NYC including the Spirit of Huntington Arts Center, HorseAbility, the Lindy Loo Foundation, and the Bayside Business Association. He also serves in advisory roles with Career Day Inc. and TSINY’s TSI CARES committee. Tommy has hosted over 170 episodes of his weekly radio show/podcast – Philanthropy in Phocus where he meets with nonprofit leaders to help them “tell their stories and amplify their messages.” Tommy is also part of the founding team of the Nonprofit Resource Hub and serves on committees for both the Long Island & NYC Imagine Awards. 

Tommy has several business interests. He is a partner in the Long Island-based employee benefits firm, Vanguard Benefits, and a partner in the Philanthropy Network of NY which provides a turn-key solution to businesses to engage their employees in volunteer days of service with nonprofit organizations. Tommy also co-created PALS – Professionals & Animal Lovers Show, soon to be the new community - Professionals & Animal Lovers Society – where the topics are animal-centered and focused on Learning, Educating & Advocating!