Senior Staff
Ken Jockers, Executive Director, has served at the Guild since November 2008. Mr. Jockers came to the Guild after serving since 2005 as Deputy General Counsel in the New York City Mayor’s Office of Contract Services. Mr. Jockers has had extensive experience with contract management and the City’s human services programming. Previously, Mr. Jockers held the position of Executive Director at two organizations dedicated to ensuring access to justice in New York. He was Executive Director at the Fund for Modern Courts, the leading citizens group dedicated to improving the court system in New York State. He also was Executive Director for the Brooklyn Volunteer Lawyers Project, the only borough-wide program providing free legal services to the indigent in Brooklyn. Mr. Jockers holds a BA degree from Connecticut College and a law degree from Brooklyn Law School.
Miguel Pedraza-Cumba, Deputy Executive Director, started at the Guild in 1992. As Deputy Executive Director, Mr. Pedraza-Cumba oversees Children and Youth Services, the Arts Program, Mental Health Services, and Adult Services. He assumed the role of Interim Executive Director from July through October 2008. With an MSW from Columbia University and an M.A. from the University of Puerto Rico, he has extensive experience developing and managing programs for youth and their families. In addition, he has 10 years of experience as an educator working within the public school system in Puerto Rico.
Theresa McKenna, Director of Development and External Relations, joined Hudson Guild in July 2010. As Director of Development and External Relations, Ms. McKenna oversees all aspects of the organization’s fundraising and development strategy, donor relations, communications and marketing efforts. Ms. McKenna brings over 20 years of experience in nonprofit management, fundraising, board development, volunteer recruitment and training, public relations and strategic partnerships. Before joining the Guild, Ms. McKenna served as Director of Development at New Vision for Public Schools, the largest education reform nonprofit in New York City. As Vice President of NFL & United Way Partnership Group, she managed United Way of America’s partnership with the National Football League, which is the largest charitable collaboration of its kind. Ms. McKenna holds a B.S. in Leadership and Management Studies from New York University.
Stella O’Hara, Director of Operations, joined Hudson Guild in November 2010 and comes to Hudson Guild with extensive experience in both the nonprofit and private sectors. Prior to joining the Guild, Ms. O’Hara worked at organizations such Verizon Telecom, Time Warner Cable and Youth Consultation Services, New Jersey's largest non-profit children social service agency. An expert in talent acquisition and recruitment, benefits and compensation, employee relations and conflict management, Ms. O’Hara is responsible for administrative management, human resources, IT supervision and various aspects of operations. Ms. O’Hara holds a MA in Human Resources Management from The Milano School, The New School and a B.S. in Marketing and Communications from Adelphi University.
LeeAnn Scaduto, Director of Children and Youth Services, has over 12 years experience working in NY City’s Settlement Houses. She is currently the Director of Hudson Guild’s Children and Youth Services Department and is responsible for the planning, development, assessment and overall supervision of all early childhood, after-school and teen services programming. Ms. Scaduto has a BA in Psychology and Economics from Rutgers College of Rutgers University and an MSW from Hunter College. She has focused her career on working in community-based settings and in developing and implementing creative programming for at-risk children, youth and families. She has experience working in both academic and non-academic settings, and has developed programming for disconnected youth for over ten years. Ms. Scaduto is also a Faculty Advisor and Adjunct Professor at Hunter College School of Social Work.
Cheryl Kamen, Director of Adult Services, joined the Guild staff in 2004, bringing 20 years of experience in Senior Services with her. She previously served as Executive Director of Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge Center for Older Adults. Ms. Kamen received her BA from Gettysburg College and her MSW from Fordham University; she also has a post-Masters Certificate in Aging from the Hunter College Brookdale Center on Aging. She now coordinates the activities and services of the Guild’s Adult Services, integrating participants age 55 and better into the daily life of Hudson Guild and the Chelsea community as a whole
Alisa Robbins, LCSW, Director, Mental Health Services, As Director of Mental Health Services, Alisa Robbins has overall responsibility for the operation of Mental Health Services. Ms. Robbins holds an MSW and is a graduate of a Psychoanalytic Training Institute. Ms. Robbins came to Hudson Guild with a wealth of experience in mental health services, serving as the Executive Director of a domestic violence agency and the Director of Mental Health Services at the Educational Alliance, a settlement house on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
Jim Furlong, Director of Arts: Mr. Furlong has served as Director of Arts since 1994, and through his position, Jim brings theatre, visual art, video, music and dance to seniors, children and others who might not otherwise have the chance to explore them. As director of the Guild’s resident theatre company, he has staged sold-out productions of The Cherry Orchard, Stage Door, Sketches of Blanche (early Tennessee Williams one-acts) as well as his own original adaptations of The Arabian Nights, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, The Fables of Aesop, The Land of Oz, Hamlet, The Cyclops, Prometheus Bound, Robin Hood, As You Like It and Ghosts. Previous to working at the Guild, Mr. Furlong was on the directing staffs at the major opera houses in Santa Fe, San Diego, Chicago, Central City, Memphis, Amsterdam and Taipei, as well as the New York City Opera, where he worked on the staging staff from 1986-1991. Mr. Furlong holds a B.A. in Theatre from Hartford College
