Queensborough Community College Fund, Inc.

Johnson Chen is Chief Operating Officer and General Manager of Tempco Glass Fabrication and Gamco Corporation, based in Flushing, New York. Gamco is a Top 40 Architectural Metal Company in North America that specializes in custom fenestration, façade, and architectural metals. In addition to curtain walls, storefronts, entranceway systems, and commercial windows, it offers custom structural skylights, folding window/wall systems, railings, sun-control products, architectural metals, frameless shower enclosures, and sliding shower doors.

Johnson is the youngest son of Thomas Chen, who owns Crystal Window and Door System, the leading window manufacturer in North America, with annual sales exceeding $70 million. In addition to New York, the company has also established manufacturing operations in Chicago, St Louis, and Riverside, with aggregate sales revenues for the Crystal family of companies exceeding $100 million.

A strong advocate for education and the arts, the Chen family has been a long-time supporter of the College’s Art Gallery and Port of Entry program. During the pandemic, Johnson donated much-needed Plexiglas to the College and has recently pledged a significant gift to support the Engineering Technology department.

Johnson holds a B.B.A. degree in Business Administration and Management from Carnegie Mellon University and a JD from St. John's University School of Law. Johnson was elected to the Board of Directors of the QCC Fund, Inc. in 2020.

Shirley Chen is an astute businessperson and a licensed realtor who runs her own, highly successful real estate business. She currently sells homes in the Queens and Nassau counties, including commercial and residential homes. Of the one million plus Homesnap Pro agents nationwide, she won the Top 5% Agent Award for the first half of 2022. Her vast network within the Queens community would be a great asset to the Fund Board’s outreach.

Shirley spent over twenty years at Queensborough working in the Office of Finance and Administration until her recent retirement. It was during this time that she established the Chinese Academy in the Office of Continuing Education and Workforce Development (CEWD). The program offers Chinese language classes for students born in the U.S. of Chinese origin and is one of the largest and most lucrative programs housed within CEWD.

A loyal and generous supporter of the QCC Fund since 2004, Shirley is a regular at our annual Partners for Progress Galas. She has donated to the #CUNYTuesday campaign, the Salzburg Study Abroad Program, and recently established the Shirley Chen Merit Scholarship .

“I am proud to be a part of the Queensborough community for the last 20 years – it is a wonderful place to work, and I consider the campus community as my extended family. Queensborough is a critical gateway to higher education for many of New York City’s newest immigrants and I feel strongly about helping them succeed.”
Shirley December 2019

Some of our Board members may have already met Shirley at recent on-campus events including the Donor Reception, the Celebration of Service, and the unveiling of the Jackson and Muriel Lum Nursing Resource Lab.

Shirley earned her Baccalaureate degree in Finance and Accounting from Queens College, CUNY. She and her husband live in Roslyn Heights, New York, and have three children and two grandchildren.

Alan T. Frankel is a 1981 graduate of QCC and is a founding partner of Frankel Loughran Starr and Vallone LLP (FLSV), a leading advisory firm for high-net-worth individuals, businesses, and entrepreneurs looking for sound accounting, tax, and advisory solutions. Alan co-manages its Business Tax Services Group, which advises clients on numerous aspects of business, including corporate mergers, acquisitions, corporate financing, cash management, etc. Alan’s clients include several leading private equity funds and hedge funds and their respective principals.

Alan is the recipient of the New York State Society of CPA's Outstanding Discussion Leader Award. He has written numerous articles, has chaired, and lectured many conferences on tax, accounting, and financial planning issues for investment partnerships, entrepreneurial companies, and their business owners. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA) and is the former chair of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants Closely-Held Business and S Corporation Tax Committee. He has also chaired conferences for the New York State Society of CPA's Partnership and Flow-Through Entities conference.

In addition to his associate degree in accounting he earned at Queensborough, Alan holds a B.B.A. degree in accounting from Queens College and an M.S. in taxation from Fordham University. He has taught tax courses at the associate level at QCC and the graduate level at Baruch College.

Alan was elected to the QCC Fund Board of Directors in 2016.

Pearl Halegua has been involved in the field of education for decades and is a strong supporter of academia. She earned a B.A. degree from CUNY’s Queens College and an M.S. degree in Math Science Technology from Hofstra University. Pearl worked for the New York City Board of Education for numerous years. In 2004, and was nominated by the principal of P.S 196 in Queens, for the Education Update’s Outstanding Teacher Award.

After retiring from the New York City Board of Education, Pearl continued to show her support and interest in volunteering by chairing numerous events at Temple Beth Shalom in Roslyn Heights. She held many positions on the Executive Board, including Vice President of Education. She is currently President of her temple.

She and her husband Nathan are members of the Board for the Center of Jewish Studies at Queens College. Pearl is one of the eco-chairpersons of this board.

At Queensborough Community College, Pearl is Chair of the annual Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center and Archives fundraiser to develop new constituencies. She was also the point person of the inaugural Barnes & Noble Student Impact Team, where she coached students on their communication skills for QCC events and fundraisers.

Pearl was elected to the QCC Fund Board of Directors in 2010.

Eleanor M. Imperato is a published author, whose professional career includes positions in public relations, fundraising, and writing. Doors of Memory, Porte Della Memoria, a memoir in prose, poetry, and photography of her early years in Italy, written in both English and Italian, it was published in 2015.

Eleanor's extensive travels include trekking all over Europe, and exploring far-flung parts of the world including Timbuktu, Macau, Beirut, Tehran, and Nairobi…. not to mention Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Nome, Alaska, where she ran in a dog sled race!

Possessing an avid interest in African Art, Eleanor and her husband, Pascal have been faithful supporters and contributors to the QCC Art Gallery for over ten years. In 2012, the couple sponsored the QCC Art Gallery exhibit BUNDU, Headpieces of the Sande Society of West Africa with an accompanying scholarly book written by Pascal and their son Gavin H. Imperato. In 2014, they again sponsored an exhibit entitled Victor Forestier Sow: A Pioneer Malian Painter later enhanced by a book by the same title authored by her husband and their younger son, Austin C. Imperato.

A graduate of Marymount Manhattan College (1968), Eleanor has previously served as the College’s Major Gifts Officer and she currently serves on the Board of the College's Dance Department. Eleanor earned her M.A. degree at New York University (1978).

Eleanor was elected to the QCC Fund Board of Directors in 2010 and has previously served as Chair of the QCC Art Gallery Advisory Council.

Stephen Levine is Executive Vice President of Digital Solutions, Inc, (DSI Inc.) a Human Resource Management Company with assets of 70 million dollars founded in 1969 as a payroll service bureau, which focused on the construction industry. Using its proprietary software, it competed in the New Jersey marketplace against large nationwide payroll service bureaus. DSI functions as the personnel department for small to mid-sized companies, which fully utilize DSI’s services. Stephen is involved in all aspects of production, servicing, and sales of DSI, Inc., including planning, developing, and coordinating business strategies during DSI’s initial growth phase, ensuring adherence to business plans as they unfolded.

Stephen’s wife, Cheryle Levine ’75, was on the QCC Alumni Board of Directors and the two are generous donors to the Queensborough Community Fund, Inc. They have established several endowments for Queensborough students including the Abbey Passariello Music Scholarship Endowment, the Levine Internship at the Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center, the Doris Werner Scholarship Endowment for nursing students, and the Arthur Werner Memorial Scholarship Endowment for business students participating in the Mock Trial competition, and the Federal Reserve Challenge. In addition, they have the naming rights for the Survivor Interview Collection at the Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center.

Stephen has a B.B.A. degree from the University of Northern Michigan.

Stephen was elected to the QCC Fund Board of Directors in 2004.

Dr. Christine Mangino, 2019 became the sixth president of Queensborough Community College. Before this, she served as the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York.

Dr. Mangino is an alumna of the Aspen Presidential Fellow for Community College Excellence, a leadership program that prepares community college presidents to transform institutions to achieve high and equitable levels of student success.

She began her tenure at Hostos as an Assistant Professor for Early Childhood Education in 2004 and soon after served as Coordinator, Chairperson, and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and Interim Provost. Before Hostos, Dr. Mangino taught in both an early childhood center, as an elementary school teacher, and later on as an adjunct professor at St. John's University. She served on nine doctoral dissertation committees, chairing four of them. Dr. Mangino began her education earning an Associate's degree from Nassau Community College, a Bachelor's and Master's degree in education from Hofstra University, and a doctoral degree in Instructional Leadership from St. John's University. Like many community college students, Dr. Mangino was the first in her family to attend college.

Dr. Mangino presents at national and international conferences on topics such as differentiated instruction, learning styles, and leadership. She was an invited keynote speaker for faculty at Oregon State University, the 21st Century Principals Forum in Beijing and Shanghai, China, and an international Learning Styles conference in Denmark. Dr. Magino has served her community as the co-president of the North Merrick Special Education Parent Teacher Association, a Girl Scout leader, and a volunteer counselor for a suicide hotline.

Judy Ng is Senior Vice President and Director of Asian Market Segments at Flushing Bank, where she develops and manages the bank’s relationships with the Asian communities. She was the Community Partner of the Year at Queensborough’s Partners for Progress Gala in 2017.

Judy Ng immigrated to the United States with her husband and young son in April 1989 and, as a new immigrant, attended Queensborough’s English as a Second Language (ESL) Program.

“Queensborough gave me the confidence to challenge myself. The faculty was patient and encouraged us to study English, speak English, writing in English and practice, practice, practice.”

Her vast and distinguished banking appointments include HSBC Bank, Hong Kong, and Chase, NY, where she was First Vice-President of the Metro NY Personal Financial Services Learning & Development Team, Premier Segment Leader, and District Sales Leader for the Queens and Bronx Districts.

Judy is actively involved in community and charitable organizations. She serves on the boards of the Queens Botanical Garden, the Chinatown Business Improvement District (BID), the Chinatown Partnership, Treasurer of the Queens Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and a member of the Flushing Chinese Business Association & Asian Advisory Council.

Judy graduated from Hong Kong Polytechnic in December 1978 and is fluent in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. She is dedicated to helping new Asian immigrants assimilate into the United States and overcome the barriers she too faced as a new immigrant, and to help them to realize their dreams.

A few years ago, she hired two (2) Queensborough students to work as tellers. These students have since graduated from Queensborough Community College and have obtained their bachelor’s degrees from Baruch College and Queens College. They both now have successful careers in Finance.

Judy’s husband passed away a few years ago. She lives in Whitestone with her son.

Tim Noble manages the Northeast Government Banking business for The City of New York and the States of Connecticut, Rhode Island & Providence Plantations. Tim specializes in large government banking which includes the bank’s business with large cities and states. He has over 34 years of banking experience with JPMorgan Chase and its predecessor organizations, Chase and Chemical Banks.

Tim started his career with Chemical Bank and went on to hold various leadership roles in middle market banking, textile, apparel & retail, technology banking, and ultimately as Executive Director/Relationship Executive in the Middle Market Specialized Industries Government Banking Group. Additional internal leadership positions include being the current Vice-Chair of the Government Council and a member of the NE Government Risk Management Council.

Tim has served on numerous civic and charitable boards during his banking career. He currently is a member of the Rhode Island Bankers Association, Chairman of ITAC, board member of Queensborough Community College Fund, and the immediate Past-Chairman of Hostos Community College Foundation. He was formerly a Chairman of the Alumni Fund at Portsmouth Abbey School. Tim holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Hobart College. He is also a graduate of the Chemical Bank Management Training Program.

Tim was elected to the QCC Fund Board of Directors in 2008. He also serves on the Fund Board's Audit and Finance Committees.

Jason is a Queens native. He graduated from Cardozo High School in 2009 and earned an A.S. in Business Administration from Queensborough Community College in 2012.

In 2020, at the start of the pandemic, Jason launched Rockstar Construction Corp. , a Minority Owned Business that provides interior construction services to corporate clients in New York City and Long Island, including renovation, painting, asphalt maintenance, commercial cleaning, trucking and warehouse storage, and flooring.

Rockstar Construction Corp. sub-contracts with an impressive portfolio of clients that include Amazon, H&M, Shake Shack, Zara, and Yves Saint Laurent. After a slow start, due to the pandemic, business has finally picked up and Jason anticipates annual sales to grow significantly this year. He resides in Flushing, Queens, which is also his business address.

Johnson and Diana Chen met Jason at a recent Chase networking event for the bank’s high-net-worth clients, and, on Johnson’s recommendation, Ron Appel,’81, Chair of the Nominating Committee, reached out to Jason. He has since visited campus, met with President Mangino, Vice President Di Dio, and Vice Chair Ron Appel. The Chair of the QCC Fund Board, Charlene Prounis,’76, also had a phone meeting with him. All these meetings have been favorable.

Jason is an astute businessperson who is looking to build his network and eager to learn about investment management. He shared that his interest in joining the QCC Fund Board is to help students, which is commendable. He understands the Fund Board’s give or get policy, that he needs to be engaged in Fund Board activities, committee assignments and the annual Partners for Progress Gala.

Georgiana Reese-Benatti is the Community Relations Consultant for Queens County Savings Bank, a division of New York Community Bank. For the past three decades, she has devoted her time both professionally and personally to enhancing Queens’ communities by supporting arts and cultural initiatives, furthering the development of neighborhoods, and sponsoring education and mental health programs.

Georgiana currently serves on the Board of Directors for Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts, Queens Theatre in the Park, School of Language and Community, and New York Community Bank Foundation. She supports a variety of projects for non-profit groups including Holy Cross High School, Transitional Services of New York, American Heart Association, Queens Botanical Gardens, Child Center of New York, Great Neck Coral Society, Flushing Willets Point, Corona LDC, The Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival, The John Browne House, The Voelker Orth Museum and the Queens Chamber of Commerce.

Georgiana has received numerous awards in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the community. She has received the Transitional Services of New York Community Service Award, inducted into the Holy Cross High School Hall of Fame, and was named the Woman of the Year at the Little Neck Douglaston Memorial Day Parade. She also received the Excellence in the Community Award by the New York Families for Autistic Children and the Woman of the Year Award by the Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts.

Georgiana was born and raised in the borough of Queens and continues to devote her energies to the enrichment of the borough which will always remain most dear to her heart.

Georgiana earned her bachelor's degree in Business Administration from St. John’s University.

She was elected to the QCC Fund Board of Directors in 2003 and has previously served as the Fund Board Secretary.

Anthony Simeone, is Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer, at Ridgewood Savings Bank, and manages and oversees all lending functions including the bank’s comprehensive portfolio of residential, commercial, and consumer loans. Anthony has over thirty years of experience in the banking industry. Ridgewood Savings has been a loyal supporter of the College since 1995.

Anthony is currently a Board Member and Treasurer of Mercy Home for Children, and a Board Member of Gateway Youth Outreach and The Real Estate Institute. In addition to these Board seats, Anthony is also a member of the Community Bankers Mortgage Forum, the Mortgage Bankers Association, and the Metropolitan Mortgage Officers Society.

In April 2014, Anthony was honored as Institutional Member of the Year at the 90th Annual Banquet of the Bronx-Manhattan North Association of Realtors, and in 2016, he was honored as Community Partner of the Year at Queensborough’s Partner for Progress Gala.

Anthony graduated from Chaminade High School in 1986 and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Hofstra University in 1990 where he majored in Banking and Finance. Anthony received his Master of Science in Accounting from Long Island University at C.W. Post in 1993. Mr. Simeone attended the Positive Leadership Program at the Ross School of Business, the University of Michigan in 2014.

Anthony was elected to the QCC Fund Board in 2020.

Dr. Beth Counihan (Ex Officio), Chair, Faculty Executive Committee; Beth serves as an ex-officio member of the QCC Fund Board.

Stephen Di Dio (Ex-Officio), Vice President and Chief Communication & Marketing Officer; Stephen serves as an ex-officio member of the QCC Fund Board.