Pelham Chamber of Commerce to elect new board on Wednesday

Editor’s note: This press release was provided by the Pelham Chamber of Commerce. The Pelham Examiner publishes press releases in the form received as a service to the community.

Meet our proposed Pelham Chamber of Commerce board of directors for 2022. Voting will be at the Rail House at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

Cristina Chianese, President and Marketing Lead

Cristina Chianese is a seasoned Marketing Executive with 20 years of experience managing key facets of business including marketing, sales, digital and distribution. Cristina has worked at high-profile companies including NBCUniversal, Discovery Communications, Sundance Channel and AMC Networks. As a consultant running her own company, Three Bean Marketing Inc., she has worked on projects across several verticals including Media, Healthcare, Automotive, Beauty, Technology, Consumer Goods, etc. Clients have included American Airlines, Dell, Discovery Communications, Land Rover, Marriott, Northwell, Univision, and many more through marketing agencies. Scope of projects included B2B strategy, creative ideation, branding, digital, naming, promotional ideation, responses to RFPs and sales strategy.

During the beginning of the pandemic, Cristina shifted her focus to her local community and began volunteering to support local businesses in need. During a time where businesses were unable to allow customers into their stores and had to find new ways of generating revenue, Cristina used her creativity and marketing skills to support local business owners. As a result, Cristina was asked to take over the Pelham Chamber of Commerce where she now holds the title of President. Additionally, Cristina works for an enterprise-level e-commerce business leading marketing and strategy. Cristina lives in Pelham Manor, NY with her husband, John, son, Nicholas, and daughter Mackenzie. When she is not working or sending local businesses promotional ideas, Cristina can be found working out, trying a new recipe in the kitchen or shopping at one of her favorite Pelham businesses.

Robert Kirk, Treasurer

Living in Pelham since 2016 with his wife and two kids, Rob has worked the last 19 years in the energy industry, primarily in gasoline trading. As learned in his experience in commodities, he believes that there is nothing more challenging but also more satisfying then building robust businesses that not only earn consistent profit but add value. Rob looks forward to forming lasting relationships with the people and small businesses that the Chamber represents and supports.

Michael C. Paradis, Vice President

Michael has worked in the Financial Services business for 30 years. Twenty five years on the institution side with Prudential and Genworth and 5 years on the retail side as a financial advisor.

Michael has been a resident of Pelham since 2013 and has served on the board of Pelham Little League (coaching his daughter in softball and son in baseball for 8 years).

He’s a member of the Pelham Civics as the chair for the annual raffle drive and is very committed to the community. Michael looks forward to serving the Pelham Chamber.

Prior to moving to Pelham, Michael held the following roles in Maplewood NJ over 20 years:

Chairman of Maplewood Rec Committee
President of Maplewood Tennis Club
Board Member of Maplewood Baseball Committee Treasurer of PTA for Jefferson Elementary

Michael has a BS from Cornell and an MBA from Columbia.

Frank Scappaticci, Head of Fundraising

Frank Scappaticci is a full time real-estate professional and owner of Gray Line Investments. He has two young daughters and a beautiful wife. Frank enjoys golf and is native of Bethpage, NY.

He is a West Point graduate and former Army Football Team Captain. Upon graduating from West Point, Frank completed both the US Army Ranger and Airborne school and deployed to Afghanistan and then Kuwait. As a Captain, he served as the Brigade Fire Support Officer for 2-4 IN division.

He transitioned to financial services in 2014 and had successful tenures at Ernst & Young and JP Morgan. In 2018 Frank discovered an interest in real estate and started buying single family rentals. In 2020, he founded Gray Line Investments with his partner, John Plumstead, and bought, sold, and brokered over 150 homes.

In 2021, Frank and John decided to quit their W-2 jobs and make self-storage Gray Line’s primary asset class. They lead an amazing team of professionals focused on finding, funding, and finishing great real estate deals.

Frank is passionate about family, leading others, and real estate!

Maureen Fallon, Head of Memberships

Originally from Queens, NY, Maureen raised her family of four with her husband, Malachy, in Southlake, TX, before making the move to Westchester. She has resided in Pelham for the past ten years.

After many years of volunteering and working in administration, she started her own business as a home organizer – Living Simple, LLC. This is where she enjoys her passion for organizing and design. Armed with style, function, and a knack for turning any space into a home, Maureen uses her skills to help clients declutter and rearrange spaces to reduce the chaos of everyday life.

She brings Living Simple customers functionality with a practical plan that is easy to maintain. With empathy and calm, she assists families by simplifying their living habits to enjoy what they have, not what they need.

Deanna Zammit, Local Government & Nonprofit Liaison

Deanna Zammit is a professional writer and founder of Industrious Content, a content marketing agency that helps technology companies tell their stories in simple, relatable ways. She began her career as a local news reporter covering small- town government in Central Massachusetts, then returned to New York to write for well-known publications like Adweek, Newsday, and Digiday.

She moved to Pelham just over a year ago with her husband, John Miller, and two sons, William, a sophomore at PMHS, and Leo, a fourth-grader at Hutchinson Elementary School.
Before moving to Pelham, she lived in Brooklyn, N.Y., for 19 years.

Rich Heller MSW, CPC, ELI MP Secretary

Rich is a Relationship Fitness Coach and mediator. Rich helps parents to transform a negative relationship with conflict into one in which they resolve differences creatively. He helps them learn the tools and techniques that they need to increase joy and resilience for themselves and their children.

Additionally Rich helps organizations and businesses transform destructive conflict into a vehicle for change and innovation.

Amy Platt, Head of Chamber Events

Originally from Kansas, Amy grew up in small town with a similar feel to Pelham. Amy graduated from Bethel College in 2007 with a degree in Health Management and Coaching, and excelled as a collegiate tennis player. After graduation, Amy began working at a Recreation Center planning kids and adult sports leagues, adult and senior fitness events and activities, and community events. For six years, she also coached her local high school tennis team. In 2014, NYC beckoned. Moving to the UES, she began working for NYC Parks and Rec, running a recreation center, and later Asphalt Green in the triathlon and camp spaces. In 2014 she also joined the NYC Chapter of Junior League where she participated in a committee committed to serving middle school youth interested in theater, directing four musicals during her tenure.

Amy and her family moved to Pelham in 2019 and she immediately jumped into local life. Joining the Pelham Junior League, Amy dove into service in Pelham. Currently, serving as President Elect, she intends to lead next year as President.

Amy has been married to her husband, Justin for eight years and currently she stays home with their three beautiful children, Evie, 5, Izzie, 3, and Harry, 8 mos. Don’t be surprised if she shows up with a baby on her hip, or a toddler in tow. She’s excited to work with the Chamber of Commerce.