Key Leadership Profiles
Sr. Paulette LoMonaco
Executive Director
Sr. Paulette LoMonaco is Executive Director of Good Shepherd Services and has overall responsibility for the management and oversight of the agency’s programs, finances, and funding and for working with the Board of Directors and senior staff to provide leadership in the development of policies and strategic plans. During her tenure, the agency’s budget has increased from $3.5M to $60M. Sr. Paulette led several programs at GSS prior to her becoming Executive Director in 1980. She has a MA in Family and Community Relations from Teachers College of Columbia University and a BA in History/Education from American International College. She completed Columbia University’s Institute for Not-For-Profit Management in 1984, and has an honorary doctorate from St Francis College. Sr. LoMonaco is an active participant in many New York civic and nonprofit institutions, serving on the Boards of The Human Services Council, the COFCCA Steering Committee, the Advisory Board of the Commissioner of ACS, Covenant House International, and a number of local youth service programs. She has won the Robin Hood Hero Award as well as the Lewis Hine Award for her work with youth. Under her leadership Good Shepherd Services was the recipient of the inaugural New York Times Company Nonprofit Excellence Award.
Laurie Williams
Associate Executive Director
Ms. Williams oversees Good Shepherd's organizational and leadership development initiatives as well as its strategic planning and accreditation processes. She also has overall responsibility for Program Evaluation, Risk Management and the Staff and Administrative Resources areas.
Prior to her appointment as Associate Executive Director, Ms. Williams was a Program Director for our Crossroads Program from 1996-2000, Outcomes Management Director from 2000-2001, and Director of Quality Improvement from 2001-2002. Before coming to Good Shepherd Services, Ms. Williams was the Director for Steinway Child & Family Services in Long Island City, where she was responsible for Steinway's Community-Based Outpatient Mental Health Clinic and On-Site School Based Mental Health Program. Previous to working at Steinway, Ms. Williams spent 6 years administering successful fundraising campaigns for several non-profit organizations including The Metropolitan Opera, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, New York University, and The United Way. Ms. Williams holds a BA in English Literature from NYU, an MA in Psychology from NYU's Graduate School of Arts & Science, and an MSW from The Hunter College School of Social Work. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has completed Columbia University's Institute for Not-for-Profit Management's Executive Leadership Program.
John Best
Assistant Executive Director for Staff and Administrative Resources
As Assistant Executive Director for Staff and Administrative Resources, Mr. Best oversees Good Shepherd's Human Resources, Technology, Training and Facilities functions as well as agency insurance matters. Before joining Good Shepherd as Director of Human Resources in 2000, Mr. Best held positions at Gay Men's Health Crisis, the Association of Junior Leagues International and the Fund for the City of New York. An HR professional for over twenty years, Mr. Best began his career in the private sector and has also held management positions in corporate credit and customer service. He is a founding board member of Start Your Engine, a health and fitness education program for women aimed at preventing obesity. Mr. Best graduated from Fordham University with a BA in Communications and obtained his Master in Public Administration from Baruch College. He is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) by the Society for Human Resource Management.
Kathy Gordon
Assistant Executive Director for Brooklyn Community-Based Programs
Dr. Gordon has overall responsibility for the leadership, administration, development, and supervision of the agency's network of community‑based programs in Brooklyn. Prior to her appointment as Assistant Executive Director in December 2004, Dr. Gordon worked for 20 years in a variety of positions at the Hudson Guild, most recently as the Deputy Executive Director, where she was responsible for their youth development programs as well as their mental health and social services work. Prior to her work at Hudson Guild, Dr. Gordon worked at Herbert Birch School for Exceptional Children, as a Clinical Director at Regent Hospital and as Director of Social Work Services at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine's Division of Substance Abuse. She has taught at the graduate level and published and presented on a range of topics. A graduate of Tufts University, Dr. Gordon received an MSW from NYU School of Social Work, a DSW from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work, has a certificate in Psychoanalysis and completed the CORO Leadership NY program.
Denise Hinds
Assistant Executive Director for Residential Programs
As Assistant Executive Director for Residential Programs, Ms. Hinds oversees all of Good Shepherd's ACS-funded residential programs as well as our three non-secure detention residences. A seasonsed human service professional, she has assisted in the development and implementation of a number of innovative service models. In 2004, she oversaw the opening of the Chelsea Foyer--one of the first programs of its kind in the country--which provides transitional supportive housing for young adults who are aging out of care, homeless, or at-risk of homelessness. In 2006, she spearheaded the opening of the Manhattan Acces GED program, which assists under-credited, older adolescents in their efforts to earn their GED, while providing them with intensive support services. In 2008 she collaborated with the Department of Juvenile Justice to develop an aftercare program for youth in secure detention. Ms. Hinds has worked for Good Shepherd Services for more than 25 years, beginning as a caseworker and assuming progressively more responsible positions including Child Care Director, Program Director of the Pelletier School for Emotionally Disturbed Youth, and Director of Training for Good Shepherd Services. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Maryville College and a Masters degree in Social Work from the Hunter College School of Social Work. She is a certified as a New York State Licensed Master Social Worker as well as a Clinical Field Instructor. She presently serves as a Faculty Advisor for the Hunter College School of Social Work.
James Marley
Assistant Executive Director for Bronx Community-Based Programs
Mr. Marley commenced his career as a leader in the field of social services and youth development in 1971 when he began working for Pius XII Youth and Family Services. At Pius, he served as the Project Director for North Bronx Service Center where he was promoted to Program Director in 1985. In 1994, he became Pius' Director of Community Services, where he was responsible for overseeing the full spectrum of school and community-based services including a YABC program, multiple after-school initiatives, a Beacon program, and preventive care programs. When GSS assumed the contracts for these services in 2005, Mr. Marley joined the agency as the Assistant Executive Director of Bronx Community Programs, where he continues to lead these and many other Bronx programs. Mr. Marley holds an MSW from Fordham University. In addition to his role within Good Shepherd Services, he provides leadership and facilitation to the Neighborhood Family Services Coalition, of which he was a founding member, and is President of the Board of Geel Community Services, an organization that provides housing and support services to over 300 Bronx residents with mental illness.
Candace Tinagero
Assistant Executive Director for Family Foster Care and Adoption Services
Prior to joining Good Shepherd in July 2011, Ms. Tinagero had a long and successful career at Jewish Child Care Association (JCCA), where she most recently worked as Senior Vice President of Foster Home, Residential Services and Bridges to Health. Prior to this, she had been Director of their Foster Home and Adoption Services, and began her career with JCCA as a social worker and then supervisor in their Pleasantville Diagnostic Center. Ms. Tinagero has also worked as the Director of Social Services at Green Chimney's Children's Services and Family and Children's Aid in Danbury, CT and is a Sanctuary trainer.
