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Gifford and Allyn Foundations Jointly Announce Recipient of 2014 Leadership Award

 Kerry Quaglia of Home HeadQuarters honored with “The Kathy”

(Syracuse NY) At a ceremony this evening at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park, Allyn Foundation executive director Meg O’Connell announced the recipient of the 2014 Kathy Goldfarb-Findling Leadership Award, jointly awarded by the Allyn and Gifford Foundations. Kerry Quaglia, executive director of Home HeadQuarters, is the 2014 recipient of “The Kathy,” which is awarded to nonprofit leaders who are creative, collaborative and embrace change. Named in honor of the late executive director of Gifford, who also served as director of strategic initiatives at the Allyn Foundation, the award provides a $3,000 honorarium for each recipient’s personal use – whether for professional development or personal growth opportunities.

“One of the unusual, and nationally lauded, elements of this award is our restriction that the money be used for personal use, and not be given to the recipient’s nonprofit,” noted O’Connell. “Since we realized that this is the first instinct of any good leader, this year the two Foundations will also provide a $2,000 grant to Home HeadQuarters. By doing so we celebrate not only Kathy’s leadership spirit, but her philanthropic drive.”

Kerry Quaglia_1
Kerry Quaglia

In a letter read at the announcement, former Congressman James T. Walsh expressed his congratulations to Mr. Quaglia: “I will be forever grateful to you for your willingness to try new ideas, for your dedication to improving our hometown and for bringing in so many bright young people to carry on the work so necessary for our collective future.”

The Kathy Award this year received 18 nominations from Central New York and an additional seven from locations as far away as Texas and Newfoundland. A committee, made up of Gifford and Allyn staff, board and a former recipient, selected Mr. Quaglia unanimously.

The Kathy award was created in 2011 at the time of Ms. Goldfarb-Findling’s retirement to recognize her special approach to leadership: to be nimble and creative; to encourage lifelong learning; to embrace leaps of faith and not fear failure; to work “with” not do “for”; to fully engage in collaborative approaches and to at all times believe passionately in the power of change and personal growth.

Previous recipients of “The Kathy” are Catholic Charities executive director Michael Melara (2011), Mary Ellen Clausen, founding director of Ophelia’s Place (2012), Randi Bregman of Vera House and Mary Beth Frey of Samaritan Center (both 2013).

“Kerry’s nomination was full of examples of his willingness to take risks, learn from mistakes, and encourage his staff,” said Dirk Sonneborn, executive director of the Gifford Foundation. “We were especially struck with how many people in leadership positions around our community, from Sharon Owens at Southwest Community Center to Paul Driscoll, Commissioner of Neighborhood and Business Development at the city, were mentored by Kerry. This resonated with us, since Kathy Goldfarb-Findling was noted for her encouragement and support of numerous community leaders.”

Kerry Quaglia is the Executive Director of Home HeadQuarters, Inc., a private not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting sustainable homeownership in Central New York. As Director of Home HeadQuarters, Kerry works with private, public, non-profit and government partners to leverage funds for a variety of programs and services including the FlexFund Home Improvement Loan Program, a unique loan fund formed through a collaboration of private lenders and the first residential LEED-certified construction in Syracuse for affordable homebuyers.

Because of Kerry’s extensive residential housing knowledge, he is a regular consultant, speaker and facilitator for public and private, local and national neighborhood revitalization efforts, events and initiatives. His experience in the housing field took root in the more ten years Kerry worked in the City of Syracuse’s community development office at which he quickly became the Director of Housing. Kerry is active in the local community and has served on many boards and committees including Syracuse Model Neighborhood Corporation, Syracuse Neighborhood Housing Services, the Northeast Hawley Development Association and the prestigious Fannie Mae Regional Housing and Community Development Advisory Board, and he has served on the Central and Western New York Advisory Council to Fannie Mae. Kerry was selected to participate in the inaugural class of Achieving Excellence in Community Development at Harvard University in 2003. Currently, Kerry is serving on the CNY Fair Housing Board, the Federal Home Loan Bank Advisory Board, the Near Westside Initiative Board and the New York State Habitat for Humanity Board.

Kerry holds a B.A. with honors from Syracuse University, has studied within the Masters of City Planning Curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania and received a JD from the College of Law at Syracuse University. He is a member of the Bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is a licensed real estate broker in New York State.

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