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Member Profiles 2009
These profiles first appeared in SkyLines in 2009. All profiles were written by Arnhild Buckhurst.
A native New Yorker, born in Queens, Maria now lives on Long Island. In addition to her demanding position at ads, she has recently become a docent at the Tribute Center/WTC Visitor Center, located across for the World Trade Center site; and she has also consulted with several architects, advising them on business practices and accounting issues. For fun she enjoys movies, reading, listening to music and spending time with family and friends.
Maria joined the SDA in 1997 to be part of what she continues to perceive as an excellent organization which enables her to both learn and keep abreast of trends in the design industry as well as promote her firm. She has been an active member of the CANstruction Committee for many years and two years ago she created the slideshow of past entries which has been shown at the gala and during the exhibition last year, and which is used widely in promoting CANstruction.
Maria enjoys the opportunity to continuously learn and exchange ideas with other SDA members and is looking forward to expanding her relationship with the organization and its members now that she is elected Treasurer for the 2010-2012 term.
Meet our members from Robert Silman Associates
The office of Robert Silman Associates is thrice blessed we think – no less than three people on the firm’s administrative staff are active
members of the SDA. A structural engineering firm with offices in New York, Washington and Boston and a staff numbering about 75 people in the NY office, RSA has a great culture. The office is serious, we learn, but everyone there knows how to have fun through Final Friday parties and a host of other events.
First to join was ELLEN BLUMENTHAL, who joined SDA the same year that she hired on at RSA 15 years ago. In describing her career with RSA, Ellen says: “My humble beginning as a billing and accounts receivable coordinator was followed by positions as marketing director and office manager. Years of hard work and dedication to the firm and its members, along with barrels of support from friends at SDA paid off; today I am an Associate of the firm, in charge of administration.”
Ellen is a New York native who grew up on Long Island. Since her marriage to her true love, Skip, more than a quarter century ago, they have lived on the Upper West Side with their two children, David and Emily. The kids are now grown-up and married leaving Ellen and Skip and a number of lucky cats in a happy empty nest. In her spare time she is a dedicated and gifted potter working with a studio on Amsterdam Avenue, and many of us have been the beneficiary of her lovely pieces, which she always generously bestows whenever a special gift is needed or visited her at various crafts fairs.
While at RSA Ellen has, as detailed above, worn many hats. So it has been with the SDA, she has always been an active participant serving on the Board and on numerous committees, and she was the President during the 2002 to 2003, tough post 9-11 years where our 2001 Eastern Regional Conference had to be postponed for a year due to the fact that our venue was in the World Trade Center. Through her association with SDA, both she and her firm benefited through the networking and educational programs; and it was through her work with the NY Chapter that she honed her leadership and administrative skills.
LYN SAN PEDRO has been with RSA off and on since she was 13! Thanks to her stepfather who was the vice president of the firm, Lyn and her sisters were able to work part time in the office during summer vacations, helping out with phones, filing, errands, etc., so that she literally grew up as part of the firm. After spending two years at Lehman College in the Bronx, and not knowing what she wanted to be when she grew up, she took a year off in 1999 to work for RSA full time, and she’s been there since. Starting out as an Administrative Assistant she is now the Personal Assistant to the Principals, a job that she loves. Her job involves a lot of coordinating, including managing their CEU/PDH units and license renewals and lots and lots of client interaction. One of her favorite tasks is as the person in charge of the staff events as described in the introduction.
Lyn is also the Assistant Office Manager and follows Ellen around learning everything she can so that she can fill in whenever necessary. Lyn joined the SDA at the suggestion of the principals, who are all great supporters of our organization. She has met a lot of nice, knowledgeable and fun people, and enjoys attending informative seminars, holiday parties and roundtable meeting.
She is an active person who works out in the gym with strength training and cardio; recently she added spin and kickboxing to her repertoire. She also gets a workout every morning chasing her golden retriever, Angel, in the park – it is said that Lyn and Angel are a match made in heaven.
MICHAEL JONES is a Bronx native and father of two. He has been with the firm since May 2000, where he currently works as Assistant Controller. He has 19 years of accounting experience, with emphasis of payables management. His professional accounting experiences range from corporate retail management to the television industry. A part of his accounting experience also includes working in law enforcement and bounty recovery as a dual professional.
Michael went to school at Thomas Edison State College and SCS Business Institute and earned a certificate in Business Management and a BS in Business Administration. He is currently taking online courses at the University of Phoenix, studying criminal justice as an additional interest.
Michael’s primary interest in the SDA is to gain an in-depth knowledge of the industry and to ultimately join one of the many committees so that he can play a more active role in the organization. In his spare time, Michaels enjoys motorcycle riding, playing the bass guitar and organ as well as fishing, shooting pool and spending time at the beach.
The SDA is lucky to have such a dedicated and knowledgeable trio among its members!
Gale Rothstein
Gale’s path to the SDA is unusual and somewhat different from that of most of our other members. She originally designed and manufactured
high end jewelry which sold nationally and internationally in a variety of venues, ranging from fine arts galleries and department stores to independent jewelry and clothing stores. She was lucky enough to have a studio way west on 14th Street back in the days when you had to dodge cows swinging on hooks while walking along the pavement; and from this location she employed artisans and student interns who produced the collections. The designs were regularly featured not only in fashion jewelry trade magazines but also in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour and WWD, and worn on popular soap operas such as All My Children and Dynasty.
Though no longer involved in producing collections for the marketplace, Gale has amassed a wealth of experience in running a business, product development, project management, design, sales, marketing and trend forecasting – experience which has been enormously important in her new role as the Assistant VP Design Review at New York City’s Economic Development Corporation and its liaison to the Public Design Commission (PDC — formerly the Art Commission) – a role she took on in January 2008.
The EDC is the City’s primary vehicle for promoting economic growth in each of the five boroughs, using real estate and financing tools to help companies and organizations that are expanding or relocating within the City; and it also oversees transportation, infrastructure and new development projects in the Tri-State Region. All these projects – including architecture, bridges, streetscapes, parks and signage, etc. — are subject to PDC review. Gale manages the flow of all information communication and negotiation relating to EDC’s capital project submissions to the NYC-PDC. In that role she interfaces with project managers, designers, architects and engineers to provide guidance for creating comprehensive submission packages and she oversees the coordination efforts with other government agencies such as the departments of Parks and Recreation, Transportation, Cultural Affairs and others on projects for which they are co-applicants.
Between her present position and working in the jewelry industry, Gale was a stay at home mom while raising her young sons, and she became very involved in the school community. She was first the president of the Board of Directors at her younger son’s preschool; and at her older son’s school she became a one woman force and advocate for diversity awareness. Acting under the auspices of the PTA, she elevated a small diversity club into a formal committee and developed a program called Diversity Week where she established a comprehensive program of classroom training, theatre and art projects, parent lectures, photography exhibits and a food festival, to name a few activities.
Her work in this area helped her recognize that she had skills beyond those she had formerly employed in the marketplace, and she also realized that she had the ability to thrive in a collaborative environment. When the time came to look for outside employment, she went on an all-out campaign of personal networking, broadcasting her interest in a new career opportunity and that she was open to exploring different industries. Through this process she was made aware of the position that she now holds at the EDC – a position which the company had determined required a designated full time person who would revamp and create new protocol and procedures for managing its review process. Although Gale had no government experience, she knew that the position was tailor-made for her skills and interests, and after five interviews, the EDC decided that she was indeed the one to fill this new position.
Gale is a firm believer in the power of networking and has looked for ways to expand her personal sphere in her new arena. She hit upon the SDA by chance through a Google search and decided that, although not personally involved in a design firm, her close working relationships with members of the various design firms working on her projects would benefit from her becoming a member. So far she has attended a round table luncheon and a networking program and tells us that she finds the members to be open and engaging and that membership provides her with another venue to explore in the interest of expanding both her knowledge and contacts in the field.
Anne Fidje
Anne studied civil and environmental engineering at Clarkson University and then worked as an environmental engineer for an A/E firm on Long Island – The H2M Group — where she designed wastewater treatment facilities. She quickly realized that she was more interested in the people and the operation of the firm than design and cons
truction, however, and therefore decided to take some time away to figure out what she really wanted to do with her career.
Moving to Boston, Anne worked on a variety of odd jobs until she found a position with an engineering and environmental recruiting firm. There, she decided that although third party recruiting was not for in her future, she had come to discover that in-house HR might be. When she was offered an opportunity to return to H2M Group as an HR Assistant and also encouraged to pursue a graduate degree in HR., she enthusiastically accepted and returned to Long Island to work at H2M while studying HR at SUNY Stony Brook.
After another three years with H2M, Anne decided she needed more room to grow and moved on to Hazen and Sawyer, an environmental engineering firm headquartered in midtown Manhattan. There she held the position of the Payroll Manager for one year and really enjoyed the work but after only a year in the firm she received a very interesting offer to become the HR Manager for Circle Line – Statue of Liberty Ferry. Initially she had no intention of leaving the A/E/C industry and almost dismissed the opportunity, but eventually realized that it would be great experience to work in a unionized environment where she could learn to grow her abilities. At the time Circle Line – Statue of Liberty Ferry was bidding to continue their ferry contract with the National Park Service and was up against fierce competition, so they wanted to improve their employee services by introducing an HR department. It was really an exciting time for the company, but unfortunately they did not retain the contract which went to a California firm. Anne still misses those employees; they were incredible people and such hard workers.
After the loss of the ferry contract Anne looked to the A/E industry again for her next position, and almost immediately found an HR position with Ehrenkrantz Eckstut and Kuhn Architects, where she was instantly attracted to the entrepreneurial instincts of the team who interviewed her. Jim Greenberg, the managing principal of EE&K, encouraged her to join the SDA. Although initially she wasn’t really interested she luckily thought it would behoove her to give it a shot and was immediately hooked.
Anne enjoys the collaboration and communication with the SDA which plays such an important part of the role she plays within her organization. Because there are no other HR professionals within her firm with whom she may discuss the various questions that arise, she at times feels alone in her role. The SDA offers an opportunity for members of businesses in the A & E community to discuss a wide range of issues of interest to the industry as a whole, and this is particularly helpful for administrative staff in the smaller firms who often work alone. In today’s environment, we can no longer afford to operate independently as that will not provide us with progress and advancement as individuals, as companies or as a community as a whole. Information sharing, collaboration and advice are important for our present and future.
The path to where Anne finds herself on today has certainly not been direct, but it has been and continues to be filled with great experiences and wonderful people. She is happy to be able to be a part of an organization like the SDA which adds depth and breadth to her career.
Anne has two main areas of interest in her spare time (which, like all of us, she wishes there was more of): The first is outdoor activities – she likes to run, bike and rock climb, and in the winter loves to snowboard and will also be trying ice climbing in a matter of weeks. In addition, she also enjoys the more serene indoor hobbies of knitting and crafting. She is always trying to improve and enjoy both of her spare time activities, particularly when there are other people she can share them with.