Richard M. Kessel, Chairman & Director
Richard M. Kessel began his career in public service as Executive Director of the State Consumer Protection Board from 1984 to 1995. He was a professor of Consumer Studies at Five Towns College from 1995 to 1997, served on the Board of Trustees for Nassau Community College from 1981 to 2000, and was previously appointed as a Director of the Authority from 2000 to 2007.
Mr. Kessel served two terms as Chairman of the Long Island Power Authority (“LIPA”) Board of Trustees. During his first term from 1989 to 1995, he was responsible for the decommissioning of the Shoreham Nuclear Power Station. He finished his tenure at LIPA in 2007 as its President and Chief Executive Officer where he led an unprecedented effort to implement clean energy and energy efficiency strategies that helped increase Long Island’s renewable energy resources while helping residential and commercial customers lower their energy use and bills.
Mr. Kessel, an expert in New York energy issues, served nearly three years as President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York Power Authority, the nation’s largest state-owned electric utility. He also served as Chairman of the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency from 2018 to 2022.
Mr. Kessel attended Colgate University, received a bachelor’s degree from New York University and his master’s degree from Columbia University.
Mr. Kessel was appointed as a Director and Chairperson of the Authority by Governor Kathy Hochul on October 13, 2023. His term expires on December 31, 2024.
Rory Lancman - Vice Chairman & Director
Rory Lancman previously served in the New York State Assembly and the New York City Council, representing districts in eastern Queens. In the City Council, Mr. Lancman served on the Finance Committee and the Budget Negotiating Team. He is a member of the Village of Great Neck Planning Board and was elected to the Great Neck Library Board of Trustees, where he serves as president.
Mr. Lancman served two governors as statewide special counsel for ratepayer protection, helping to oversee New York's regulated electric, gas, water, and telecom companies. Mr. Lancman also ran the bipartisan Legislative Commission on the Future of the Long Island Power Authority as its executive director, and developed the plan presented to the legislature for LIPA to directly provide electric service to its customers without contracting out that responsibility to an investor-owned, for-profit utility. Mr. Lancman served in the army as an Infantry officer in New York’s own 42nd Infantry Division, and has held numerous other civic and professional leadership positions.
Mr. Lancman is a graduate of Queens College and Columbia Law School. He began his career in the litigation department of a prominent international law firm and later focused on representing employees experiencing discriminatory or unsafe workplaces. Currently, Mr. Lancman is the Director of Corporate Initiatives and Senior Counsel at the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, one of the nation’s leading civil rights organizations combating antisemitism on college campuses and in the workplace.
Mr. Lancman was appointed as a Director of the Authority by Governor Kathy Hochul on June 21, 2024 and as Vice Chairman of the Authority by Governor Hochul on June 24, 2024. His term expires on December 31, 2026.
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 three associate attorneys and two 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.
Mohsin 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. His term expired on December 31, 2021 and he currently serves as a holdover.
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 he 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 expired on December 31, 2022 and he currently serves as holdover.