Board of Directors
Geana Connelly
Treasurer
Geana started her career at Misericordia 24 years ago after graduating from St. Norbert College in DePere, WI, with a bachelor’s in Psychology. She received her master’s in Psychology with a specialty in Counseling from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology and is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor. Geana currently is the Administrator of Clinical Services, Strategic Development and Quality Assurance at Misericordia. She acts as a liaison, advocating for choice for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. She also serves as Chairperson for the Intersect for Ability Network in the Chicago metropolitan area, striving to move services for the intellectually and developmentally disabled population forward. Through her coordination and leadership, Misericordia held its first national conference in October 2015, “Together for Choice,” which included more than 100 participants from 25 states.
Scott Mendel
Chairman
Scott M. Mendel is a parent of a daughter with a developmental disability who lives at Misericordia. He is a retired partner of the international law firm K&L Gates. At K&L Gates, Scott concentrated his practice in complex antitrust litigation, including class actions, the antitrust aspects of mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures, and counseling clients on antitrust compliance with respect to pricing, distribution and other matters. He also counseled the firm’s healthcare clients on antitrust matters. During his 40 years of practice, Scott has been involved in a number of pro bono matters involving individuals with disabilities, indigent clients and incarcerated individuals.
Other Leadership
Tracy Brown-May
Corporate Secretary
Tracy Brown-May serves Opportunity Village, and people with disabilities, as the organization’s Chief Administrative Officer. In her role, she oversees Advocacy, Human Resources, Marketing, Volunteer Engagement, and Family Outreach. She has an Associate’s Degree from the College of Southern Nevada and a Bachelor’s from Northeastern University. Tracy has spent the last 20 years engaged in disability support services and systems advocacy. Public policy is her passion and she has often shared her love of the government with the people she serves. A founding member of the A Team Nevada, Tracy believes grassroots initiatives, that engage people, are at the heart of good policy. A proud member of the Nevada Assembly, Tracy represents the residents of Assembly District 42 and was appointed to the seat in February 2021. Her legislative focus has been to bring the issues important to our community forward.
Tracy is a weekly volunteer at The Crossing Church. She has three adult children, all of who were born and raised in Nevada. She and her husband Jeff can often be found cycling around the city. A passionate advocate, Tracy is a champion of the people.
Ashley Kim Weiss
National Coordinator
Ashley is an entrepreneur and disability advocate who currently serves as the National Coordinator for Together for Choice. She is also the President & CEO of Elevare Community, a non-profit organization whose mission is to create supportive communities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Prior to Elevare, Ashley was the co-founder and Executive Director of Villa de Vida, a non-profit organization building an affordable housing community for adults with developmental disabilities in San Diego.
Ashley is a National Certified Guardian and licensed California Professional Fiduciary. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Management from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Claremont Graduate University’s Drucker School of Business.
Rep. Allison Tant
Director
Representative Allison Tant currently serves as the Representative of District 9 in the Florida House of Representatives. A native Floridian, she was born in Jacksonville and graduated from Florida State University in 1983.
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Along with being a State Representative, Representative Tant is the Anti-Defamation League of Florida’s regional representative. She is also an active member of the Tallahassee Rotary Club, Capital Women’s Network, Tiger Bay, and Temple Israel’s Social Action Committee. She has served as president, treasurer and advocacy chair of the Children’s Home Society in Tallahassee, secretary of the Tallahassee Community College Foundation, chair of Holland & Knight’s Opening Doors for Children fund, and board member of Big Brothers Big Sisters. She is a former member of the Leon County Schools Exceptional Student Education Advisory Committee and District Advisory Committee.
Representative Tant also worked with Leon County Schools and Lively Technical College to found an acclaimed summer institute teaching life, social, and independence skills for 60 disabled young adults. Additionally, she founded KEYS (Keys to Exceptional Youth Success), a scholarship program for students with disabilities. The organization provided instructional supplies to students, endowed a scholarship at Tallahassee Community College (TCC) for students with disabilities and worked with TCC’s Board of Trustees to create Eagle Connections, a college curriculum for students with cognitive disabilities. Furthermore, Representative Tant helped launch Tallahassee’s Independence Landing, an innovative, exciting, and affordable housing option for adults with a range of cognitive and physical disabilities.
Adam Pomeranz
Director
Adam C. Pomeranz joined Annandale Village in 2004 as its Chief Executive Officer. A widely respected leader in the developmentally disabled sector, Adam oversees Annandale’s strategic direction and daily operations including the delivery of programs and services, finance, development, health services, and community outreach. In addition, Adam also serves as the Executive Director of The Annandale Foundation.
Immediately prior to joining Annandale Village, Adam served as Director of the Access Center at Ridgeview Institute, a $30 million a year psychiatric and substance abuse hospital in metro Atlanta. In this role, he directed a high volume psychiatric and substance abuse emergency room that triaged over 700 emergent patients a month. Prior to his tenure at the Ridgeview Institute, Adam held several senior-level positions for The Devereux Foundation, managing the daily operations of the 125-bed residential component of the network, supervising five programs, including 120 staff and a yearly operating budget of $5 million.
Adam holds a Master’s of Science degree in Mental Health Counseling from Nova Southeastern University and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Florida State University. In 2013, Pomeranz graduated from Emory University’s Executive MBA program. Though he no longer practices, Adam is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Georgia. Adam and his wife, Veronica, live in Peachtree Corners with their two children, Lily and Evan.
Joe Moore
Director
A career educator, Joe spent 33 years as a classroom teacher. He taught high school Spanish teacher for most of that time, but broke from that routine to spend two years teaching fifth grade at Colegio San Carlos in Bogotá, Colombia. Now retired from the classroom, Joe serves as the director of the International Cultural Center in Tiffin, Ohio where he resides with his wife, Linda. They have three children, the eldest of whom has developmental disabilities and is the motivation for Joe’s advocacy work on behalf of individuals with I/DD. On the state level, he has offered testimony before various legislative committees in Columbus, Ohio, specifically regarding day services. As an ardent advocate for choice, he has also travelled to Washington, D.C. on several occasions to speak with legislators in defense of the rights of individuals to have a choice about where they work, live and receive services.
Joe holds a B.A. Ed. from The Ohio State University and a M.A. Ed. from Bowling Green State University.
Jim Whittaker
Director
Jim Whittaker is retired President and CEO of The Arc Jacksonville and The Arc of Putnam County. He had held the position in Jacksonville and Putnam County since 1999 and 1975, respectively. Both organizations provide services, supports and advocacy to hundreds of individuals with intellectual and developmental differences throughout the two NE Florida communities. He has provided consulting services nationally for the development of quality, inclusive housing options and actively promotes community-based employment opportunities.
Jim is a graduate of the University of Florida and is actively involved in local, state and national organizations that focus on disability issues. Jim’s most recent innovation in the field is the development of The Arc Jacksonville Village, an affordable rental housing community in suburban Jacksonville that opened in May 2016. This apartment-style neighborhood is comprised of 97 one and two bedroom units and is home for 121 individual and has become a national residential prototype of independent living for adults with cognitive differences. Jim promotes individual and family choice while providing an array of options for services and supports in quality community settings which value each individual with dignity and respect.
Paul Landers
Director
Paul C. Landers, President and CEO, Pathfinder Village, an internationally renowned community in upstate New York supporting children and adults with Down syndrome and intellectual disabilities. As the chief executive at Pathfinder Village, Paul has initiated a new era of growth, both for Pathfinder’s physical campus and through innovative programs. Paul has devoted his career in human services to organizational transformation and community living choices that include congregate settings. He is a graduate of Boston University and Cambridge College, with 30 years of experience in the disability field. Paul is married to Kathy Landers, a senior vice president at New York Central Mutual Insurance, and has two grown children, one grandchild, who make their homes in the Memphis and Boston areas, respectively.
Sister Rosemary Connelly
Director
Sister Rosemary is a member of the Religious Sisters of Mercy. A native Chicagoan, she attended parochial schools and taught in several Chicago Archdiocesan schools while continuing her studies. She earned a B.S. in Social Science in 1959, a Master of Arts in Sociology from St. Louis University in 1966, and a Master’s in Social Work from Loyola University Chicago in 1969. Over the years, she has received nine honorary doctorate degrees, and numerous awards and honors. In 1969, Sister was appointed Administrator of Misericordia Heart of Mercy when it had only 36 children and 39 staff.
Sister Rosemary has received numerous awards and honors throughout the years. She has gratefully received all of them on behalf of everyone who is involved with Misericordia.
Kevin Connelly Director
Kevin Connelly has worked at Misericordia since 1992. As co-assistant executive director, Kevin assists the executive director with Financial, Development and Legislative Affairs. Kevin was named CFO in 2000, and prior to assuming this role, he was the controller. In his role as CFO, Kevin has made management responsibility for the Finance, IT and Purchasing Departments. In addition to his duties as CFO, Kevin oversees major gifts and planned giving for the Development Office, as well as assists with Special Events and Legislative Affairs. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Misericordia.
Kevin received his Bachelor’s degree in accounting from Marquette University in 1991 and his M.B.A. from DePaul University’s Charles H. Kellstadt Graduate School of Business in 2001. He received his CPA designation in 1992, and was a past recipient of the FEI Chicago CFO of the Year Award for mid-size not for profits.
