People in the News

ADVISORY COMMITTEE - Steven J. Weiss of Williamsville, partner in the law firm of Cannon Heyman & Weiss, has been appointed to Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer's housing policy advisory committee as well as the interview panel for housing and real estate. Weiss concentrates his practice in the areas of affordable housing and community development transactions including the syndication of various tax credits and other tax incentives. He also serves on the boards of several local non-profits. BOARD MEMBER - Amherst resident Alphonso O'Neil-White, president and CEO of HealthNow New York Inc., has been re-appointed to the Buffalo State College Council by Gov. George E. Pataki for a term to expire on June 20, 2013. O'Neil-White was first appointed to the College Council in 2000. He has more than two decades of experience in the national healthcare arena. O'Neil-White is also chair of the Buffalo Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and serves on many boards. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - Allison Lawson of Amherst was named executive director of the Northeast Family YMCA located at 4433 Main St., Amherst. She will be responsible for managing membership and program development, annual campaign fund raising, marketing, and volunteer development. Lawson is the former executive director of the YMCA Buffalo Niagara's Ken-Ton Family Branch and interim executive director and fitness director of the Northeast Family YMCA Branch. COORDINATOR - We i n b e r g Campus, in Amherst, has named Jessica Makowski as volunteer coordinator. In her new role, Makowski will be responsible for managing all volunteer activities on Weinberg Campus, including special events, such as United Way Day of Caring and Mitzvah Day. She joins Weinberg Campus from Catholic Charities, where she was most recently the coordinator for the foster grandparent program. BOARD OF DIRECTORS - Amy J. Vigneron of Amherst, a senior associate at Cohen & Lombardo, a Buffalo based law firm, has been appointed as a member of the board of directors of the Joan A. Male Family Center Foundation, a non-profit founded in 1973 and has grown to be the only 24-hour phone and in-home crisis intervention program in Erie County. She is also a member of the New York State and Erie County Bar Associations.