Meet the NFWFWF Board of Directors
Click name to view bio.
Matilde Busana
Matilde hails from Sydney, Australia where she lived with her wife Bronwyn Guthrie before moving to Manhattan in late 1999. Eventually they came to the North Fork to visit a friend and fell in love with the area and bought a house in Southold where they now live and enjoy all that the beautiful North Fork of Long Island has to offer.
Matilde had her own Marketing, Public Relations and Advertising agency until she moved to the US. She also held a voluntary position for several years as Area Coordinator for a New South Wales government subsidized community care program to support older people with cultural, identifiable and particular health conditions to empower and promote independence to remain active members of their community.
In New York Matilde held a voluntary position as Coordinator for the Friendly Visitor Program for over 3 years at SAGE (Strategy and Advocacy for Gay Elders).
Matilde is excited to be on the Board and is looking forward to working with the other interesting and talented members, using her past experience to contribute in the future growth of the North Fork Women for Women Fund.
Patricia Feeley
I was born and raised in NYC and currently reside on Roosevelt Island. I retired as a Lieutenant from the NYC Police Department in June 2019 after 38 years of service.
I fell in love with the NorthFork in 1979 when my sister and her husband moved to Greenport. I’ve been coming to the North Fork for 40 years and have been a part-time resident in Greenport for the past six years. Now that I am retired I plan to make the North Fork my home.
I’m a college sport enthusiast — especially women’s basketball and have recently been introduced to pilates and loving it. I am honored and excited to sit on the board of NFWFWF and look forward to working with this interesting and talented group of women.
Patricia Feeley
Bernie Hoban
Bernadette D. Hoban is a Corporate Vice President with New York Life Insurance Company where she recently celebrated her 40th anniversary. In her spare time, Bernie enjoys spending time with her lovely wife Marianne Kristoff and travels between her hometown of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and Greenport, Long Island. They enjoy with their wonderful dog Nellie, gardening and sailing the east end waters of Long Island.
Bernie is an active member of her Brooklyn and Greenport communities and recently was voted President of the Peconic Bay Estates Homeowners Association in Greenport. She is also the past president of the Friends and Neighbors of Owl’s Head Park Community Group in Brooklyn and is an active member and past board member of the Knickerbocker Gay Sailing Association in NYC.
She has been a NFWFWF supporter for many years and now living in Greenport allows her to be more active with the group. She looks forward to helping advance its mission by being the president-elect of the organization.
Bernie Hoban
Chris P'Simer
Chris worked for over 35 years in education, starting her career as a middle school math teacher and retiring as a superintendent of schools in a Nassau County school district.
After retirement Chris and her spouse, Clare Cooper, moved to Northampton, Massachusetts where Chris was an active supporter of The Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts. The Fund provided leadership development opportunities for women, enabling them to move into prominent roles in public and private organizations.
Chris was also involved with Grow Food Northampton, an organization that owns a 120-acre community farm and manages a large community garden. Chris was on the Board of the Giving Garden that was planted, tended and harvested by volunteers. Each summer the Giving Garden donated hundreds of pounds of vegetables to soup kitchens and food banks in the Northampton area.
Chris, Clare and their wonderful black lab Lily returned to Long Island this summer and purchased a home in Cutchogue. Chris enjoys traveling, cooking, golfing, swimming and is looking forward to buying a kayak in the spring.
Chris is delighted to serve the North Fork lesbian community as a member of the NFWFWF Board.
Marj Snyder
Marj and her wife Annie have had a home in Greenport since 1999 and have become full-time residents. They feel a close connection to NFWFWF since it was Jan Swanson who encouraged them to move here and actually found them their home.
Marj is currently a consultant in nonprofit management, research and education. She serves as the Research Director for the Women’s Sports Foundation, which she has been passionate about for almost 30 years. Otherwise she can be found playing golf, swimming, biking, skiing, etc.
Marj enjoys working with the rest of the talented board and engaging with supporters to make sure NFWFWF continues to enhance the health and well-being of the community it serves. Marj holds the position of the President of NFWFWF.
Marj Snyder
Eleanor Thomas
Elly is a native of Long Island and grew up on the Sound. In recent years, she and her partner Rama have fallen in love with Orient and the rediscovery of the north fork spending summers enjoying the community , the sun, beaches and numerous outdoor activities.
Over the prior ten years, Elly and her colleagues work with investment businesses providing outsourced finance and compliance services. Her career has been in financial services in both large and small settings principally holding accounting and operational roles. Elly holds her MBA in Accounting from Bernard Baruch College. She earned her BA at Long Island University and is a CPA.
She has held various Board roles over her career span, often in the role of Treasurer. She has been a supporter of NFWFWF since discovering Orient and looks forward to working with a fabulous team of women and community in continuing the good works of the Foundation. Elly is the current Treasurer for NFWFWF.
Eleanor Thomas
Mary Trier
I lived in Merrick as a child but was lucky enough to spend my summers at my grandmother’s summer house in Cutchogue. I was in the navy for four years and was stationed in Orlando where I worked in the legal office.
After the navy I worked for UPS as a full-time driver. At UPS I was promoted to management which included preload, on-road, twilight and midnight supervisory positions. I also worked in the industrial engineering department and was the district coordinator for new technology of Internal Package Level Detail — which was the start of package tracking.
Finally I made a decision to move home to be closer to my family. I started a business contracting painting and handiwork. Simultaneously I became a caretaker and property manager which now includes 17 homes, Kimogenor Point in New Suffolk and Breezy Shores in Greenport,.
I am a proud member of the Narrow River Singers and now am a proud member of the NFWFWF board.
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Mary Trier
Kikka Harrison
Kikka grew up in Geneva, Switzerland and graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a BBA in International Business, a BA in French Literature and Special Honors.
Her career as a banker was split between Geneva and New York working for banks such as BNP- PARIBAS, Credit Lyonnais and UBS in their commodities department.
Back in Geneva in 2010, Kikka leveraged her experience to become the Chief Risk Officer at an oil trading company and risk manager at another before choosing in late 2018 to live full time in Cutchogue where she’s owned a house since 2001 with her then partner.
She currently works at Sannino Vineyard in Cutchogue.
Kikka has been involved with NFWFWF since 2001 and looks forward to working with the Board to give back to the community what she considers a unique “safety net” that assists women of the North Fork socially and financially when in need.
Kikka Harrison
Lori Panarello
Lori was born and raised in Brooklyn. She splits her time between Park Slope and Mattituck where she, her wife Catherine, and their dogs Paolo and Tutti, and their cat Julian, bought a home 2012 after falling quickly in love with the North Fork. Shortly thereafter they discovered NFWFWF.
Lori was a marketing major in college after working in the NYC garment district for several years. She owns Id Salon, a hair salon located in Woodbury, which she has owned for 17 years. Over that time period she has also worked as a global stylist and educator for Sebastian and KMS. Marketing, including video production, and production and research development was one of her favorite parts of the job.
In 2017 Lori founded Beauty United Against Bullying, an international organization dedicated to raising money and awareness to prevent bullying against the LGBTQ community. Id Salon and more than 150 salons worldwide have become Safe Spaces through this work. Funds go to each city’s local anti bullying organization – on Long Island to the Long Island Coalition against Bullying.
Over the last few years Lori has become an avid golfer and she enjoys golfing with many of the NFWFWF board members. She is excited to join such a talented group of women doing such tremendous work.
Lori Panarello