The Authority is governed by a board of seven directors, each appointed by the
Governor, one each upon the recommendation of the Majority Leader of the State
Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly and the State Comptroller. Four directors
constitute a quorum for meetings of the directors of the Authority. The Governor
also designates the chairperson and vice-chairperson from among the directors.
Adam L. Barsky - Chairman & Director
Mr. Barsky is an accomplished senior executive who brings more than 25 years of
dedicated experience in management and public policy.
Mr. Barsky currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer for the New York State Power Authority. Prior to that he served as Chief
of Staff and a Special Counselor for The Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey. Mr. Barsky also served as Executive Vice President and Chief Risk
Officer of IDB bank NY from 2006 to the 2017. In that senior role, he oversaw
all aspects of risk management for the bank including credit, market and
operational risk, and strategic and reputation risk.
Mr. Barsky currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the New
York State Job Development Authority.
Mr. Barsky has held numerous positions in state and local government including
Deputy Secretary to the Governor for Public Authorities, Financing and Housing
and New York City Issues under Governor George Pataki. Before that, Mr. Barsky
served as Budget Director and Chief Financial Officer of the City of New York
under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and as Director of the Mayor’s Office of
Operations. Mr. Barsky also worked as Chairman of the New York City Employees
Retirement System, Chairman of the New York City Transitional Finance Authority,
Chairman of the NYC Municipal Water Finance Authority, Acting Commissioner of
the New York City Department of Finance, and Chief Financial Officer of the New
York City Economic Development Corporation.
Mr. Barsky graduated cum laude from the State University of New York, Albany
with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He is also a certified
public accountant and has also completed Columbia Business School’s Risk
Management Executive Education Program. Mr. Barsky was appointed as Chairman and
a Director of the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority by Governor Andrew
Cuomo on March 1, 2016.
His term expired on December 31, 2016 and he currently serves as a holdover.
Charo Ezdrin - Director
Charo Ezdrin opened her own law firm in 2010. As a former prosecutor for the
Nassau County Attorney’s Office, Charo litigated abuse and neglect cases in
Nassau County Family Court representing the Department of Social Services. As
Assistant Director of the Legal Department, Charo was responsible for providing
legal counsel to Child Protective Services; Services to Children and Families;
Juvenile Detention Center and to the Office of the Commissioner. Charo
represented the Department in Family Court, at fair hearings, including:
expungement; childcare applications; foster care removal and adoption. Charo was
a member of the Multi-Disciplinary Team at the Coalition of Child Abuse and
Neglect.
Currently, Charo is the Principal attorney of her firm; which includes 3
associate attorney’s and 2 paralegals. Her area of expertise is family,
matrimonial, and criminal law. Prior to opening her firm, she was the director
of Government Relations of Nassau County. She was promoted to this position by
Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi. Charo was the liaison between the
County Executive and Nassau County Legislature on many key matters such as
Nassau County's budget and finances, legislation and local laws. Today, through
tireless efforts she tenaciously defends her clients with vigor and
determination.
Ms. Ezdrin received her J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law and was a
recipient of the Geraldine A. Ferraro Award for Courage and Grace. She is a
member of the Nassau County Bar Association, previously a Commissioner on the
Nassau County Bridge Authority, Director and Past President of the Syosset
Woodbury Chamber of Commerce and an active member of the Nassau County Bar
Association Matrimonial, Family, and Criminal Law Committees. Charo Is the proud
mother of two girls Jacqui and Alexi and grandmother to Penelope.
Charo Ezdrin was appointed to the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority by
Governor Kathy Hochul on the recommendation of Speaker of the Assembly Carl
Heastie on March 10, 2022. Her term will expire on December 31, 2025.
Moshin Y. Meghji - Director
Mo Meghji is a nationally recognized turnaround professional whose 30+ year
career has focused primarily on reviving companies experiencing financial,
operational or strategic transitions to maximize value.
Mo has served as Chief Restructuring Officer in some of the most significant
recent financial restructurings including Sears Holdings Corporation, Sanchez
Energy Corporation and Capmark Financial Group. He has also served as a director
on many corporate boards and he is currently a director of Equity Group
International Foundation, which provides funding for underprivileged high
potential students in Kenya. In 2021, Mo was appointed to the board of directors
of the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority (NIFA) by New York State Governor
Andrew Cuomo at the recommendation of Senate Majority Leader Andrea
Stewart-Cousins.
Earlier in his career, Mo served as EVP & Head of Strategy at Springleaf Holdings
and prior to that he co-founded advisory firm Loughlin Meghji + Company. During
his tenure at Arthur Andersen & Co., Mo rose to Partner in the Global Corporate
Finance group.
Mo is a graduate of the Schulich School of Business and he has previously
qualified as a U.K. and Canadian Chartered Accountant and a U.S. Certified
Turnaround Professional.
Mr. Meghji was appointed to the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority by
Governor Andrew Cuomo on February 8, 2021 and his term will expire on December
31, 2021.
Lester Petracca - Director
Lester Petracca founded Triangle Equities in 1986 and serves as President of the
New York based real estate company. With over 35 years of industry experience
and demonstrated expertise operating at the intersection of public and private
enterprise, Mr. Petracca focuses his business, public and charitable work on
creating positive changes in the New York metropolitan area. He has created a
thriving, full-service real estate company by coupling the building and
management experience he first gained as a partner at a family operated
construction firm, with the innovative, results-oriented and community-centric
approach that has come to define Triangle’s work.
Under Mr. Petracca’s leadership, Triangle is focused on creating value in
communities by embracing the complexities inherent to responsible urban
development and takes pride in working closely with the communities it develops
in. Mr. Petracca has fostered a development strategy that joins the creativity,
determination and skill of the first-rate team he has assembled, with the
resources and amenities needed by each of the communities in which Triangle
invests.
Mr. Petracca also devotes considerable time to public service and charitable
work. Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed him to both the Battery Park City
Authority and Nassau County Interim Finance Authority and he currently sits on
both, serving as Chairman of the Battery Park City Investment Committee and
Chairman of the Employment and Compensation Committee for the Nassau County
Interim Finance Authority. He was also a member of the General Contractors
Association of New York.
Mr. Petracca graduated from the University of Dayton in 1977 with a B.S. in
Finance and Management.
Mr. Petracca was appointed to the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority by
Governor Andrew Cuomo on September 18, 2013. His term expired on December 31,
2016 and currently serves as a holdover.
Christopher P. Wright - Director
Chris Wright is the firm-wide Managing Director of the Business Performance
Improvement solution for Protiviti Consulting, and the leader of the
firm’s Public Company Transformation and Financial Reporting Remediation
and Compliance groups. He has over thirty years of experience serving clients as
an external auditor, including 6 years as a partner at two global accounting
firms (Arthur Andersen and KPMG), and as an internal auditor and risk
consultant.
Chris has provided significant assistance to companies engaged in public
offerings and M&A, and those experiencing restatements, regulatory
inquiries, financial investigations and difficulties in implementing new
accounting pronouncements. Chris earned his Bachelor of Science degree with a
major in Accounting from Franciscan University, a Master of Science degree in
Organizational Leadership from Quinnipiac University and a doctorate in
Interdisciplinary Leadership from Creighton University.
Chris serves on the boards of several charitable, civic, educational and business
organizations, and is regularly engaged in public speaking and the development
and delivery of internal and external training sessions and programs.
Dr. Wright was appointed to the NIFA Board by Governor Spitzer upon the
recommendation from NYS Comptroller DiNapoli on September 24, 2007. He was
re-appointed, again on the recommendation of Comptroller DiNapoli, by Governor
Paterson on June 15, 2010, and Governor Cuomo on January 29, 2015 and August 3,
2018. Mr. Wright was reappointed on the recommendation of Comptroller DiNapoli
and Governor Hochul on March 10, 2022, his term of office will expire on
December 31, 2025.
John Zaso - Director
John R. Zaso, D.O., F.A.A.P., F.A.E.M.S.
Dr. Zaso is a locally raised, pediatrician who has been dedicated to the health
and development of Nassau County’s pediatric population for over 30 years. He is
board certified in Pediatrics and Emergency Medical Service. He serves as
Medical Director for two local Fire Departments, sits on the board of Nassau
County’s Regional Emergency Medical Advisory Committee (REMAC) and Medical
Reserve Corps. (MRC). He serves as NUMC’s Sixth Battalion EMS liaison and is the
East Meadow School District Physician.
Dr. Zaso is an appointed Board Member for the Nassau County Department of Health,
where he has served the County for the past five years.
He also holds the seat of Vice Chairman of the Board for EMPRO, a medical
malpractice insurance firm, formerly known as PRI. During his time on the Board,
he has assisted in the transformation of PRI to what is now known as EMPRO.
Dr. Zaso enjoys teaching the next generation of medical professionals, especially
in the fields of pediatrics and EMS. To this end, he is a Clinical Assistant
Professor of Pediatrics at the Hofstra-Donald & Barbara Zucker School of
Medicine, NYIT-COM, and serves as the Pediatric Clerkship Director for
Touro-COM. He is also an Instructor in Pediatric Advanced Life Support, Advanced
Cardiac Life Support, Advanced Trauma Life Support, and Basic Life Support
through the American Heart Association.
Dr. Zaso is an appointed Honorary Police Surgeon for the New York City Police
Department and a PBA Surgeon for the New York State Troopers.
His private practice is affiliated with Northshore-Long Island Jewish Manhasset
Hospital, Long Island Jewish/Cohen’s Children’s Hospital, NYU Langone Winthrop
Hospital and Nassau University Medical Center.
Dr. Zaso is an alumnus of Chaminade High School, SUNY Stony Brook University and
NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine. His private practice is located in East
Meadow and is affiliated with The Independent Physician Association of New York,
where he also serves as a Board Member.
Dr. Zaso was appointed to the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority by Governor
Kathy Hochul on March 10, 2022. His term will expire on December 31, 2022.
NIFA STAFF
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Evan Cohen - Executive Director
Evan Cohen serves as Executive Director. Mr. Cohen has approximately 30 years of
financial management experience dealing with governments. He has worked for the
Authority since 2000 and previously worked for the New York State Financial
Control Board for the City of New York. Mr. Cohen earned a BE in Electrical
Engineering and an MBA in Finance.
Conal Denion – Deputy General Counsel
Conal Denion serves as Deputy General Counsel. Mr. Denion has been admitted to
the practice of law in New York State since 1990. He has worked for the majority
of his legal career in the public sector.
Carl A. Dreyer - Treasurer
Carl Dreyer serves as Treasurer at NIFA. Carl has a Master's Degree in Finance
and has been a Certified Public Accountant in New York State since 1982. He is a
member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the New York
State Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Chartered Global
Managerial Accountants.
Kathleen Stella - Corporate Secretary & Chief Administrator
Kathleen Stella serves as Corporate Secretary and Chief Administrator. Ms.
Stella's responsibilities include the organization of all meetings of the
Directors as well as the preparation of numerous filings to fulfill State
requirements. Prior to NIFA, Ms. Stella had 18 years' experience with the Long
Island Power Authority as their Human Resources Coordinator and served as Board
Secretary.
Jeremy Wise - General Counsel
Jeremy Wise serves as General Counsel and Chief Borrowing Officer. Mr. Wise has
been admitted to the practice of law in New York State since 1978. The majority
of his legal career has been spent working in the area of public finance.
Martha B. Worsham – Deputy Director
Martha Worsham serves as Deputy Director at NIFA. She has approximately 30 years
of financial analysis experience in the private sector and government. Prior to
joining NIFA, Mrs. Worsham worked for Nassau County as a Deputy Budget Director.
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