Good Shepherd Services government expert to become new executive director

Good Shepherd Services announced its new executive director. Michelle Yanche – who has served as the nonprofit’s associate executive director for government and external relations – is taking over for longtime leader Sister Paulette LoMonaco, who announced her retirement in March. As the organization’s first-ever director of policy, Yanche advocated for funding local early-childhood and after-school programming. She was picked after a months-long search led by Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, a board member and former deputy mayor of New York City, and an executive search firm. 

Breakthrough New York has two new board members. William Clark is vice chairman of global corporate banking at J.P. Morgan Chase. Real estate expert David Sherman is also joining the board. Sherman is currently the senior adviser and chairman of the investment committee at Metropolitan Real Estate, which he co-founded 17 years ago. Both are long-time supporters of the education nonprofit – in fact, Sherman’s wife, Liz, once served as its board chair and together, the couple funds a scholarship program for the organization’s students. 

South Asian Youth Action raised $900,000 at its annual gala. Now in its 23rd year, the youth development nonprofit honored two South Asian academics and New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. 

Six New York state organizations are receiving more than $500,000 in federal funding. The state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance announced the awards, which will support supervised child visitation services for parents without custody. That also includes programs to improve parenting skills for separated or divorced families via meditation, counseling, and education. The following organizations are receiving the funding:

• The Society for the Protection and Care of Children – $115,387 
• Catholic Charities of Buffalo –  $87,601 
• Child Care Coordinating Council of the North Country –  $87,291 
• EAC Network – $87,291 
• New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children – $87,291 
• Family Services, Inc. – $44,395

New York state ranks third in income inequality nationwide, behind Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. New data released from the U.S. Census Bureau shows mixed results on poverty for the state, which has also been experiencing consistent declines in poverty for four consecutive years. In addition, it was one of only three states last year to see a decline in its uninsured population. 

“Any reduction in the number of people living in poverty is heartening, yet a cursory look at the data reveals that we are only at the beginning of the journey to economic equity for all New Yorkers,” said Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO and executive director of FPWA in a statement that also highlighted racial gaps in household income.