Commons Board of Directors
- Robert Mangiafico, Board President
Rob is an owner of LexiConn Internet Services, Inc., a local web hosting company. He is a long-time Hebron resident, who has served on the RHAM Youth baseball board, and has coached local youth sports for over 10 years. Rob has also worked with various Hebron organizations such as HIHS and AHM. Rob previously served as a US Navy submarine officer.
- Rev. Ron Kolanowski, Board Vice President
Ron is the rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on Hebron, CT. Prior to ordination in 2007, Ron was a Vice President with the National Association for Home Care for 29 years. During that tenure Ron was the owner representative in building a 24,000 sq.ft. office building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Ron also designed, oversaw and restored Frederick Douglass’s first home in Washington, DC, which was previously the Smithsonian Museum for African Art. This project created the Frederick Douglass Museum and Hall of Fame for Caring Americans also on Capitol Hill. In those roles he worked with various agencies in the DC municipal government and professionals to complete both projects.
- Betty Close, Board Treasurer
Betty is a retired Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) senior officer and administrator of the multi-family rental housing division, and was a member of Hebron Housing Authority and one of the lead people in developing the Stonecroft Village senior housing project in Hebron.
- Donna Jolly, Board Secretary
Donna is communications professional (formerly with CT Department of Children & Families, CT Department of Social Services, and The Village for Families & Children). She is also co-founder of the Coalition on Diversity & Equity (CoDE), which serves the towns of Hebron, Andover, Columbia, East Hampton and Marlborough. Donna was recently recognized by the Greater Hartford Gives Foundation as one of “100 Influencers in Greater Hartford.”
Church Street Commons Architects:
Kathleen A Dorgan, FAIA, LEED-AP, LFA
Kathy serves as lead architect and Development Consultant for Church Street Commons. Kathy is a principal of Dorgan Architecture & Planning in Storrs, CT and an experienced architect of multi-family housing developments with a focus on sustainability. Kathy has served as development consultant for 315 units of affordable housing, predominantly in CT, Rhode Island and New York. Her latest completed project is Eagleville Green in Mansfield, CT, which includes 41 units and townhomes, 34 of which are designated as affordable—all built with a focus on health, comfort, energy efficiency, and resiliency. Eagleville Green was named the Grand Winner in Green Builder Media’s Green Home of the Year Awards.
Kathy has also provided long-term technical assistance to community developers through contracts with the Connecticut Green Bank, NYS Housing and Community Renewal, and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Her work has been exhibited in the National Building Museum and other museums and galleries.
Paul Selnau, CEO, Selnau Schadler Associates
Prior to joining Henry Schadler Associates in 1989, Paul served as a project architect for commercial, institutional and municipal facilities in Boston, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Since joining the firm in 1989, Paul has been the project architect for numerous residential facilities. He is a Certified Passive House Consultant.
Other partners, advisors and collaborators:
- Grow America – Development Partner
Grow America (formerly National Development Corporation) has been a driving force in affordable housing development for over three decades. Since its first project in 1994 (the transformative restoration of the Windsor Hotel in downtown Abilene, Texas, creating 80 units of senior housing and helping revitalize the heart of Abilene’s historic district), Grow America has continued to champion community-focused development.
Grow America provides capacity-building technical assistance to developers across the country, including Connecticut, where they launched a development academy aimed at empowering small nonprofit organizations and strengthening the local development ecosystem.
From historic preservation to strategic partnerships, Grow America is deeply invested in building vibrant, inclusive communities.
- Attorney Barbara McGrath – Legal Advisor
As director of the Connecticut Urban Legal Initiative, located at the University of Connecticut Law School, Barbara advised and represented community developers of hundreds of affordable housing developments. She has and continues to serve on many boards, including the Northeast Community Development Corporation that recently completed redevelopment of affordable housing in Willimantic, the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, and the board of the Connecticut Housing and Finance Authority.
- Stephen Winters Associates – Sustainability Consultant
For over five decades, Stephen Winters Associates has been at the forefront of transforming the built environment to be more energy efficient, accessible, healthy, and resilient. They pride themselves on elevating industry standards and pioneering best practices that result in buildings that are not just structures, but living, breathing assets to their communities. They assist developers and builders plan for and achieve high levels of sustainability, energy-efficiency and resiliency in their projects.
Other consultants include: