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Meet the UWCC Staff
Kristina Thelen, MPA
President and CEO
Kristina Thelen, MPA, is a dynamic economic and business development leader who brings over two decades of experience in public affairs, non-profit leadership, and local economic development to her role as President and CEO of United Way for Cortland County. Dedicating her career to advancing equitable resource allocation, fiscal responsibility, and sustainable growth, Kristina bridges the gap between administrative governance, resource acquisition, and community-driven social progress.
Prior to her leadership at United Way, Kristina served as a Grant Writer Consultant with Choice Words LLC, where she secured over half a million dollars in applied funding for non-profit and municipal clients—including historic first-time awards. As the former Business Development Director for the Downtown Ithaca Alliance, she spearheaded major initiatives focused on business attraction, small business resilience, and local economic ecosystems. Her efforts secured over half a million dollars in essential grant funding and earmarks for COVID-19 small business relief, collaborative retail programs, e-commerce initiatives, and food-and-beverage entrepreneurship pipelines. Kristina also brings real-world enterprise experience as a former small business owner and retail manager for over a decade.
At United Way for Cortland County, Kristina leads strategic planning, fundraising, marketing, and operations in close partnership with community stakeholders, local government agencies, and the Board of Directors. Under her guidance, the organization's annual campaign has raised crucial community funding, which she strategically refocused into competitive grant initiatives targeting the needs of Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) populations.
Kristina holds an Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude, from California State University Stanislaus. She is an Entrepreneurship Development Professional (EDP) and candidate for the Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) designation through the International Economic Development Council.
Active in regional governance and civic progress, Kristina serves across numerous leadership initiatives, including the Micron/Cortland Development Steering Committee, the Community Foundation of Central New York Cortland County Advisory Board, the United Way of New York State Policy Committee, the Charter Revision Commission for the City of Ithaca Legislative Working Group Chair, the Cortland Collective Impact Initiatives Advisory Board, Cortland ReUse Vice President and Grants Committee member, Access to Independence, Board and Finance Committee member, and Shared Kitchen Ithaca Board and Grants Committee member.
Timothy Haskell, M.A.
Community Relations and Marketing Manager
Cortland, NY native Tim Haskell began working at 13 as a church musician. Tim earned an A.A. from TC3 and a B.A. and M.A. in English Literature from SUNY Cortland where he also held a graduate fellowship as an English and study skills tutor through SUNY Cortland’s Academic Support and Achievement Program (Cortland ASAP). He then became an adjunct English professor at TC3, SUNY Cortland, and Colorado Technical University.
From 2007 to 2016, Tim held a full-time position at Northwestern Connecticut Community College, earning tenure (2011), leading the Faculty Senate (2012-2014), and serving as a SEBAC union delegate (2012-2016). Returning to Cortland in 2017, he became a tenured Professor (2018) and Coordinator of the Teaching Center at Onondaga Community College. There, he managed grants, oversaw professional development, guided the shift to virtual learning and professional development opportunities during COVID-19, and rebranded the center as the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation (CTLI). He is also a published author.
Leaving higher education in 2022, Tim became a librarian at the Cortland Free Library. While working at the Cortland Free Library, Tim volunteered with the Friends of the Cortland Free Library group, and he also was a regular volunteer at the Cortland Pumpkinfest. He has volunteered for Cortland Loaves and Fishes, and he served as a member of the Board of Directors for Catholic Charities of Cortland County from 2022-2024. Tim left the Cortland Free Library in April 2024, and he became an interim Librarian for the Racker Center in Cortland, where he worked at the Cortland branch of the Racker’s Autism and Sensory Lending Library. After his time at Racker, Tim then served as an AmeriCorps member with Grace Space for a six-month appointment (Nov 2024-Apr 2025). Tim officially joined the United Way for Cortland County in late April of 2025.
Tim is a member of the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). He is proud to call Cortland County home, and he is an active part of the community he loves. Tim is serving a four year term on Cortland County Board of Ethics, he is a member of the Cortland County Historical Society, he regularly substitutes as organist for several local churches, and he remains actively involved in the local recovery community. When he isn’t working, spending time with his spouse and pets, or volunteering, Tim is usually lost in a book—and wondering why writing one is considerably harder than reading one!
Meet the UWCC Board of Directors
CHAIR
Greg Richards, CAPCO
BIO
VICE CHAIR
E. Angela Herrera Canfield, Cornell University
Angela has been a resident of Cortland County for 9 years and has worked at Cornell for over 20. The United Way is important to Angela because of how similar Cortland is to her hometown in Texas - a place where community involvement is important to families’ success. One of her favorite parts of being on the Board are all the in-person community activities where we are making an immediate impact and meeting members of our region.
SECRETARY
Nicole Cottone, Beginnings Credit Union
BIO
TREASURER
Rachel Bearup, M&T Bank
With more than 20 years of banking experience, Rachel currently serves as a Strategy & Activation Specialist for M&T Bank, supporting the Branch Network across the Regions of Syracuse and the Mohawk Valley. "My connection to United Way began in childhood through my mother's service on the United Way Board in Cayuga County, which inspired my own involvement with United Way in Cortland County. After supporting annual campaigns, I joined the Board and now proudly serve as Treasurer, with Day of Caring events being among my favorite volunteer opportunities. I live in Cortland County with my husband and two children where we enjoy spending time together camping and attending concerts."
BOARD MEMBERS
Evan Ramiza, Sciarabba Walker
BIO
Julia Porter, Family Health Network
BIO
Nikki Thomas, Tompkins Bank and Trust
BIO
Gina Cusano-McLaughlin, Cortland County Family YMCA
Gina Cusano-McLaughlin is the Branch Manager at the Cortland County Family YMCA and has been involved with YMCAs around the country in different capacities on and off since 1998. She has a strong background in non-profit and community focused work, which makes sitting on the United Way of Cortland County's board a perfect spot for her. While she's been in the Central New York Region since 2007, she's only been working in Cortland since 2023 and has loved getting to know the community, its members and all that Cortland County has to offer. When she's not at work, she can be found volunteering with her daughter's Girl Scout Troop, son's Scouting America Troop, hiking with her husband, snuggling the cats, crafting and trying to stay awake.
Karen D’Eredita, NBT Bank
BIO
John Suarez, Retired SUNY Cortland
John Suarez has been participating in Cortland County community projects for over twenty-five years. Through most of that time, he helped SUNY Cortland students develop their career- and civic-readiness through experiential learning. For example; as a SUNY Cortland English Composition instructor, he worked with local agencies (beginning in fall 1999) to have his students contribute to our community’s well-being through service-learning. He then served as Director of SUNY Cortland’s Galpin Institute for Civic Engagement from fall 2017 to spring 2026. One of his programs involved recruiting and training faculty to incorporate experiential learning into their syllabi so that their students strengthen their career- and civic-readiness.
He continues this work as a member of the Community Connections team at the Cortland Enlarged City School District. The team is designing an experiential learning program in which high school and college students will partner on community-oriented projects. From about 2013-2016, he served as a member of the Boards of Directors of CAPCO and Access to Independence. Since 2023, he has been a Cortland County Board of Elections poll worker.
Kelly Tobin, TC3 Foundation
Kelly Tobin is the Chief Advancement Officer and Executive Director of the Foundation at Tompkins Cortland Community College. Prior to joining TC3, she served as Executive Director of YWCA Cortland, where she led a multifaceted nonprofit organization focused on strengthening women, families, and the broader community.
