BCW Announces Election of Three Members to Board of Directors
The Business Council of Westchester has announced the election of a slate of three new board members that bring a diverse range of experience and talents to the county’s largest and most influential business organization.
Elected to three-year terms were three new board members: Christina Armentano, Executive Vice President Paraco, Rye Brook; Russel Yankwitt, Partner, Yankwitt LLP, White Plains and Maria Trusa, Chief Executive Officer of Formé Medical Center & Urgent Care, White Plains.
Armentano is the third generation of family leadership with Paraco Gas, one of the largest privately held propane marketers in the United States, and the company’s first female executive leader. As Executive Vice President, her focus is on strategic growth initiatives, providing leadership, direction, and resource stewardship to the organization’s sales, marketing, customer service, and business development functions. Prior to joining Paraco, Armentano spent nearly a decade in leadership positions outside the family business. She has led Paraco Gas – and the propane industry – in innovation, technology, employee development, community engagement, and safety.
She is widely recognized for her achievements within the industry, including being named an LP Gas Rising Leader and Business Council of Westchester New York Rising Star. She serves on several boards, including the National Propane Gas Association, New York Propane Gas Association, and Lakes Gas – a Minnesota Energy company. Christina also serves on the New York Propane Educational Research Council as a Committee Chair for the Propane Gas Association of New England.
Yankwitt founded Yankwitt LLP in 2009, after honing his litigation skills at the premier New York City law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom LLP, serving as Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, and serving as a federal law clerk to Thomas C. Platt of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. He litigates commercial matters of all kinds, including contract and partnership disputes, employment and shareholder lawsuits, insurance coverage disputes, ADA litigations, and premises liability cases.
He is recognized as Westchester’s go-to litigator and trial attorney, having accrued an enviable track record of trial victories over the past two decades. As a result, Yankwitt is regularly retained by Westchester and New York City law firms to collaborate on their high-stakes trials throughout the state of New York. Well respected by the bar and judiciary, Yankwitt is known to be a fair, effective, and zealous advocate for his clients.
Trusa is recognized as an innovative leader in healthcare. Since joining Formé in 2015, she has focused on creative and entrepreneurial solutions to bring quality healthcare and services, in a medical membership model, to the vulnerable Latino community, as well as other uninsured individuals and families in need. Prior to joining Formé, Trusa was the Executive Director of the Scarsdale Medical Group, a multi-specialty medical practice in Westchester. She served in a number of leadership positions during her 26-year tenure with the organization.
Trusa recently founded the nonprofit organization Yo Digo No Más (I Say No More), which focuses on raising awareness of the prevalence of sexual assault and abuse of children, women, and men in Latino communities, helps break the cycle of abuse, and provides mental health and trauma-informed services for survivors and their families. She served on the boards of United Way of Westchester and Putnam, Westchester Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Westchester Hispanic Advisory Board to the County Executive and YMCA of Central & Northern Westchester.
“We are very honored to have such a distinguished group of business leaders joining our board of directors. They bring many years of experience in the fields of healthcare, energy and law. We are fortunate to have these proven leaders join our board as we move forward with major initiatives in 2022,” said BCW President and CEO Marsha Gordon
The Business Council of Westchester is the county’s only business membership organization focusing on economic development and advocacy. It is the county’s largest and most prestigious business membership organization representing more than 1,000 members, including multinational corporations, hospitals, universities, biotech pioneers, not-for-profits, entrepreneurs, and companies of all sizes.
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