Sheldon L. Cohen

• Appointed by: Governor Cuomo
• Term Expires: December 31, 2020
• Board Committees: Finance & Audit (Chair), Governance

Mr. Cohen formerly served as Senior Managing Director of CBRE’s Downtown Manhattan office. In this role, Mr. Cohen has responsibility for the strategic planning and day-to-day management of the firm’s Downtown operations, while helping to accelerate the company’s growth plans in the Lower Manhattan market-the fourth-largest Central Business District in the U.S. He is also responsible for the firm’s operations in Manhattan’s Midtown South market, heads up the New York Tri-State Region’s practices in the health care, education and government sectors, and is a member of CBRE’s New York Tri-State Region management team.

Mr. Cohen has extensive public and private sector business experience. He most recently served as the first Director of Real Estate Planning and Development for Nassau County and was a member of the County Executive’s Executive Management Team. In that role, he managed a portfolio of over 2,500 County-owned properties comprising over 6 million square feet. He developed and implemented the County’s first strategic Real Estate Consolidation Plan that provided for a significant program of property disposition, acquisition and management as part of the County’s efforts to enhance operational and fiscal efficiency.

Mr. Cohen was also responsible for the County’s building and space management. In 2004, he spearheaded the consolidation of the County’s Health and Human Services operations into a 217,000-sq.-ft. state-of-the-art facility. That transaction was the largest lease transaction in Nassau County that year and was recognized by both the Association for a Better Long Island (ABLI) and the Commercial and Industrial Brokers Society of Long Island (CIBS) as “The Most Ingenious Deal of the Year.”

Prior to this, Mr. Cohen was Vice President of Facilities and Services for MetLife, managing the relocation of 2,500 MetLife associates and overseeing lease negotiations, tax incentives, space design, building construction requirements, procurement, security issues and migration plans. He previously served as MetLife’s Vice President of Government Relations, developing company positions and strategies on national legislative and regulatory issues. Mr. Cohen is often quoted in The New York Times as well as in a number of other business, industry and regional publications and is a frequent speaker on the Manhattan real estate market. He was also profiled in the June/July 2010 issue of NY Inc. as “15 People You Should Know” in New York City real estate.

Mark Fischl, Vice Chairman

• Appointed by: Governor Cuomo
• Term Expires: December 31, 2021
• Board Committees: Oversight and REV (Chair), Finance & Audit

Mr. Fischl is the President of Pinnacle Real Properties LLC, a real estate consulting and development advisory firm that focuses on closing transactions and redeveloping downtown areas. Pinnacle also has experience with industrial properties.

Prior to joining Pinnacle, Mr. Fischl spent 13 years with RGE, a local real estate firm located on Long Island. At RGE, Mr. Fischl managed commercial properties as well as dealt with certain environmental issues. While at RGE, Mr. Fischl assisted the acquisition of almost 1 million square feet of space. Mr. Fischl spent six years as President of the American Platform Tennis Association.

Elkan Abramowitz

• Appointed by: Governor Cuomo
• Term Expires: December 31, 2019
• Board Committees: Governance, Planning and Personnel (Chair), Finance & Audit

Mr. Abramowitz is a leading white collar criminal defense lawyer experienced in handling civil and criminal matters in state and federal court for individual and corporate clients. He has built his career as a trial lawyer representing prestigious clients fallen into high stakes personal and professional crises both in and outside the courtroom. Mr. Abramowitz is the recipient of the 1999 Milton S. Gould Award for Outstanding Oral Advocacy presented by the Office of the Appellate Defender. Named a leading lawyer by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers in the area of Litigation: White Collar Crime & Government Investigations every year since Chambers’ 2003 launch in the United States, he has been described as “an unquestioned dean of the field… with a potent combination of experience, intelligence and composure.” He is also listed as a Leading Lawyer in White Collar Criminal Defense by The Legal 500 United States, and as a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation: The Definitive Guide to America’s Leading Litigation Firms & Attorneys. In 2008, Elkan was honored with the New York Council of Defense Lawyers’ Norman S. Ostrow award for the defense of liberty and the preservation of individual rights.

Mr. Abramowitz became a principal at a predecessor firm to Morvillo Abramowitz in 1979. He was appointed Special Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Investigation for the City of New York in 1990 to investigate a stock transfer by Mayor David Dinkins to his son. He served as counsel to the Special Master in the garment center antitrust case in 1992. Mr. Abramowitz has also served as Assistant Deputy Mayor for the City of New York, as a Special Counsel to the Select Committee on Crime for the U.S. House of Representatives, and as the Chief of the Criminal Division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a former director of the New York Council of Defense Lawyers. He is also a member of the New York State and American Bar Associations, the New York City Bar Association (past member of the Criminal Law, Federal Courts, Ethics, and Judiciary Committees), and the Federal Bar Council. Mr. Abramowitz is a co-author of the “White Collar Crime” column in the New York Law Journal. Mr. Abramowitz is a graduate of Brown University and the New York University School of Law, where he was a Pomeroy Scholar and editor of the Law Review.

Laureen Harris

• Appointed by: Governor Cuomo
• Term Expires: December 31, 2021
• Board Committees: Finance and Audit

Ms. Harris has established herself as a credible authority on tax certiorari proceedings within the State of New York. With over 30 years of experience, Ms. Harris has gained extensive trial and appellate experience, while creating legal precedent in a myriad of areas, both in terms of valuation and legal principles.She is the past Chair and Vice Chair of the Nassau County Tax Certiorari and Condemnation Committee (1988 u2013 1992, 2010 u2013 2012) and has continued to be an active participant in the Committee. Ms. Harris is currently President of the Association for a Better Long Island (ABLI) and has been a Board Member since 1996. She is also a founding member and current President of the Institute of Real Estate at Hofstra University, an educational forum for the Long Island real estate community. She currently serves as the Downstate Chairman in Tax Certiorari and Condemnation for the New York State Bar Association.

Matthew C. Cordaro, Ph.D.

• Appointed by: Assembly Speaker
• Term Expires: December 31, 2019
• Board Committees: Oversight and REV

Dr. Cordaro’s career includes many years as an executive in the utility industry and positions as an educator, a scientist and a researcher in the fields of business, energy and the environment. Dr. Cordaro was most recently the Dean of the Townsend School of Business at Dowling College. Before his position at Dowling, Dr. Cordaro served in a number of high level administrative, academic and research positions at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University in the College of Management.

Previously, Dr. Cordaro served as the first President and Chief Executive Officer of the Midwest Independent System Operator (Midwest ISO) based in Indianapolis, Indiana, the largest independent transmission system operator in the nation. The Midwest ISO is responsible for electric reliability and markets covering 57,000 miles of transmission lines and 150,000 Megawatts of electric generation and clears over 23 billion dollars in energy transactions, over an area exceeding 200,000 square miles, and extending into 13 states and one province of Canada.

Prior to that, Dr. Cordaro was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Nashville Electric Service, one of the ten largest public electric utilities in the nation. He also previously served as President of Long Lake Cogeneration Corporation and as Senior Vice President of Long Lake Energy Corporation, an alternative energy producer. For 22 years prior to that, Dr. Cordaro was with the Long Island Lighting Company, an investor-owned utility, finally holding the position of Senior Vice President of Operations, Engineering, and Construction.

Dr. Cordaro is currently a member of the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance’s advisory board and is serving as a “Grid Master” for the T&D World publication. He is a past member of the board of directors of the Electric Power Research Institute, the American Public Power Association, and the Nature Conservancy of Tennessee, and has served on the editorial advisory boards of World Transmission and Distribution magazine and the Long Island Business News. Dr. Cordaro has also testified many times before congressional and state legislative committees and is frequently sought by the media for expert commentary. Dr. Cordaro also served as the Chairman of the Suffolk County Legislature’s Utility Oversight Committee prior to being appointed by the New York State Assembly Leader to the Long Island Power Authority’s Board of Trustees.

Dr. Cordaro holds a Ph.D. in Physics and Engineering from Cooper Union, an M.E. in Nuclear Engineering from New York University, a B.S. in Engineering Science from C. W. Post College and completed the Executive Management Program at the University of Michigan. He has also been an Atomic Energy Commission Fellow, a Guest Research Associate at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, and has served as an adjunct faculty member at Polytechnic Institute of New York and C. W. Post College. Dr. Cordaro has also authored many publications on education, business, energy, environment and utility issues.

Peter J. Gollon, Ph.D.

• Appointed by: Assembly Speaker
• Term Expires: December 31, 2020
• Board Committees: Oversight and REV

Dr. Gollon’s interest in physics started in New York City’s Bronx High School of Science. He received his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University, and stayed on there to receive his Ph.D. degree in nuclear physics. While at Columbia he was elected a member of Sigma XI, an honorary society for those in scientific research.

In 1968, Dr. Gollon started working at what was to become Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory outside of Chicago, then the world’s largest high energy physics research laboratory. He first participated in the design of the laboratory, and ultimately became responsible for radiation safety of the 2000 person, 10 square mile laboratory.

He moved to Long Island with his family in 1979 and for seven years split his time between working at Brookhaven National Laboratory and at a family business, eventually devoting all of his time to the family business. He continued consulting for Brookhaven for another eight years.

After selling the business and retiring in 2007, Dr. Gollon put his science and business backgrounds to use as the volunteer Energy Chair of the Long Island Sierra Club. His focus there has been promoting the rapid conversion of our economy from one based on burning fossil fuels to one based on renewably generated energy that does not emit the carbon dioxide that causes global climate change and threatens our environment, health and safety. In that position, Dr. Gollon has spoken and testified before various local, State and Federal bodies.

Prior to being appointed to the LIPA Board of Trustees, Dr. Gollon was one of the five original citizen members of the Environmental Advisory Committee established by PSEG Long Island when it assumed operation of the LIPA electrical system in 2014.

One of Dr. Gollon’s concerns since graduate school has been the protection of civil liberties and civil rights. He has served on the Boards of Directors of both the Illinois and the New York State branches of the American Civil Liberties Union for more than thirty years, and was Treasurer of the latter for several years. He was awarded status as Director Emeritus in recognition of his contributions there.

In April 2016, Dr. Gollon received the “Environmental Vision for Sustainable Development” award from the Long Island Progressive Coalition. He has lived with his wife Abby Pariser near Huntington Village since 1979. Their two adult children live out of state.

Ali Mohammed

• Appointed by: Senate Majority Leader
• Term Expires: December 31, 2020
• Board Committees: Oversight and REV

Ali Mohammed has nearly 20 years of experience as a business and technology executive, leading technology-driven transformations at both domestic and global technology organizations. In his current role, Mr. Mohammed is the Senior Vice President at Broadridge Financial Services the leading provider of investor communications, technology-driven solutions, and data and analytics to the financial services industry in New York.

Prior to this Mr. Mohammed served as an Executive Director at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and held various positions including leading its Global Technology Infrastructure and Production Services and Applications group.

Previously, Mr. Mohammed served as the head of end-user technology at Bridgewater Associates, the worldu2019s largest hedge fund and also worked as a Senior Manager at TD Ameritrade Holding Company and was the Executive Director of Technology Management at the Goldman Sachs Group in New York and India.

Mr. Mohammed began his career as an Assistant Vice President at Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup in New York, where he managed a technology engineering team.

Reverend Alfred L. Cockfield

• Appointed by: Governor
• Term expires December 31, 2021

Reverend Cockfield is the Chief Operating Officer of God’s Battalion of Prayer Ministries with experience in leadership, education, youth development, and civic and community engagement. Reverend Cockfield also serves as Executive Director of the Battalion Christian Academy in Far Rockaway, Queens, and Brooklyn, New York, as well as the Lamad Academy Charter School in Brooklyn. As Executive Director, Reverend Cockfield manages a diverse portfolio of services to ensure successful outcomes for the students and their communities.

Reverend Cockfield is a graduate of Nyack College with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Religious Studies and a Master of Business Administration and International Business Marketing and Management.

Nancy S. Goroff, Ph.D.

• Appointed by: Assembly Speaker
• Term Expires: December 31, 2024

Dr. Goroff has a record of accomplishment as a leader, scientist, and communicator. She served as a Professor in the Chemistry Department of Stony Brook University for more than 20 years, rising to lead the Department as its Chair. Among her various leadership roles in the scientific community, Dr. Goroff is a Member of the National Advisory Board of the Union of Concerned Scientists, served as Chair of the Graduate Education Advisory Board of the American Chemical Society, and serves as a Faculty Affiliate of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University. Dr. Goroff is a graduate of Harvard University with a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Goroff is an active member of the community, including serving as President of the Board of Gallery North, Long Island’s largest non-profit art gallery, and as a Founding Board Member of the Institute for Digital Media and Child Development.

Dominick Macchia

• Appointed by: Temporary President of the Senate
• Term Expires: 12/31/24

Mr. Macchia has served as International Representative for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) since 1997, where he is responsible for servicing and negotiating contracts in the various industries represented by the IBEW.

Mr. Macchia is also Treasurer of both the Long Island Federation of Labor and the Labor Education and Community Services Agency Inc., where he oversees the finances of the 250,000-member federation, while ensuring governmental and regulatory compliance. In addition, Mr. Macchia serves as an Executive Board Member of the New York State AFL-CIO. Previously, he was Treasurer at the New York State Association of Electrical Workers and Business Manager at Local 1430 IBEW.

Mr. Macchia is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

Valerie Anderson Campbell

• Appointed by: Assembly Speaker
• Term Expires: December 31, 2023

Ms. Campbell has more than 20 years of experience in building successful organizations, including her current position as a Senior Executive Recruiter and Consultant at Anderson Campbell Recruiting, a division of Anderson Campbell Enterprises. She has shaped high-performing cultures at Fortune 500 companies with communications and developmental programs to drive revenue growth while attracting and retaining high-potential talent. Ms. Campbell is a leader in the community, serving as the Nassau County Director for the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Vice President of Membership for the Uniondale Community Land Trust. Ms. Campbell also served on the Nassau Community College’s Presidential Search Committee.

In 2020, Ms. Campbell was honored as one of Long Island’s Top 50 Women in Business by the Long Island Business News and in 2019 as one of the Top Influential Long Island Women by Long Island Weekly. Ms. Campbell is a graduate of Long Island University.

Mili Makhijani, Esq.

• Appointed by: Temporary President of the Senate
• Term Expires: 12/31/23

Mili Makhijani, Esq. serves as the Principal Law Clerk to Hon. Randy Sue Marber, Justice of the Supreme Court, County of Nassau. Ms. Makhijani began her legal career as an Associate and Trial Attorney at the Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington, where she litigated discrimination and civil rights cases. Later, she worked at Catalano, Gallardo & Petropoulos, focusing on professional liability defense, employment law, and complex tort litigation. Ms. Makhijani has served as an Adjunct Law Professor at the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Touro Law Center and is an active member of the Nassau County Bar Association (NCBA), serving on the Advisory Board of the Nassau Academy of Law, and was elected to NCBA’s Board of Directors.

In November 2019, Ms. Makhijani was appointed by the former Governor as Chair of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Old Westbury College Council.

Ms. Makhijani is also a member of the Equal Justice in the Courts Committee in Supreme Nassau, and serves as the Chair of its Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Subcommittee.

Ms. Makhijani holds a Juris Doctorate from Touro Law Center, graduating magna cum laude, and is a graduate of Hofstra University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance.

Drew Biondo

• Appointed by: Senate Majority Leader
• Term expires December 31, 2019
• Board Committee: Governance, Planning and Personnel

Drew Biondo has nearly 30 years of experience as a strategic communications executive and administrator in both the public and private sectors. He is the Director of Communications at Suffolk County Community College, New York State’s largest community college.

Prior to joining the college president’s staff, Mr. Biondo served as Director of Communications and Press Secretary for New York State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle, chair of the New York State Senate’s Select Committee on Higher Education, where he acted as the Senator’s chief spokesperson and a policy advisor.

Mr. Biondo served as an Account Director and Counselor with The Torrenzano Group, a leading New York City strategic communications firm that builds and protects corporate reputations, enhances shareholder value and helps clients grow their businesses.

He joined Delta Financial Corporation in January 2002, and served as the company’s senior communications executive where was responsible for public relations, executive and employee communications and advertising and branding for the 1,500 employee public company. Mr. Biondo also served in an investor relations capacity for a short period.

Prior to joining Delta, Mr. Biondo served for more than a decade as an assistant and Director of Communications to the Suffolk County, NY District Attorney where he served as the District Attorney’s spokesperson and directed communications and media relations.

Previously, Mr. Biondo was an account executive and vice president at Henry Sheinkopf Communications, an internationally recognized New York City political and communications consulting firm where he developed communications and media strategies for a diverse group of clients.

Mr. Biondo launched his communications career as a strategic communications advisor to the New York Hotel-Motel Trades Council during New York City’s first-ever hotel strike in 1985 where he was serving as an editor of the council’s weekly newspaper.

Mr. Biondo attended Marist College and is a graduate of LIU Post with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications.