Board of directors / OPERATIONS
Roger Leider
President and Founder
Roger is the driving force behind Martha’s Kayak, Inc. Roger and Martha were married for almost 26 years, when Martha lost her battle with Breast Cancer. Through Martha’s Kayak, Inc., Roger hopes to bring Martha’s passion and joy of kayaking to women who are battling breast cancer or who are survivors.
Roger is a Corporate Governance Manager for Wells Fargo Banks’s Strategy, Digital and Innovation (SDI) Group.
Roger is skilled in project management and global technology initiatives including technology development, business analysis, requirements gathering, data integration and process improvements. Roger’s career has been focused on the Financial Services and Commercial Real Estate industries. Roger has run Process Improvement projects and is Lean Six Sigma certified. He has spent a good portion of his career in Business Risk Management and Control with a focus on process , reporting and audit management.
Roger started his career with Arthur Andersen & Co. and has previously held major roles at Salomon Brothers, Credit Suisse, Nomura Securities International and Citibank. Roger is the past President of the Oracle Financial Services Industry User Group (FSIUG) and actively participates in technology and real estate events.
Mr. Leider holds an MBA Finance and BBA Accounting from Adelphi University in Garden City, NY as well as a Certificate in Computer Science from Columbia University in the City of New York.
David Kessler
Vice President
David is a property manager for Kingsbridge Associates, LLC at the River Plaza Shopping Center, Bronx, NY. David has 35 years’ experience in the real estate management industry. Since River Plaza’ construction in 2002 he has been involved with the center and currently manages the day to day operations. He recently acted as owner’s representative and oversaw the construction of a 20,000 sq. ft. office building as an addition to the center. David has previously managed 2 office buildings in New York City, oversaw the cleaning operation at Metro Tech Center in Brooklyn, NY and was the operations manager of the 155,000 sq. ft. Gallery at Metro Tech Mall.
David works tirelessly to cultivate his relationships with his employee’s tenants and contractors and makes himself available 24/7 so that the operation can run as smoothly as possible at all times. David lives in Lynbrook, NY with his wife and two sons, in his spare time he enjoys attending concerts, collecting vinyl records and is very passionate about music. David also enjoys traveling, the craft beer industry and spending time with his family and friends laughing and enjoying life.
Bob Palm
Treasurer
Bob has over 45 years’ experience working as an actuary, an insurance organization senior executive and a consultant. Bob has held the positions of CEO, CFO, Chief Underwriting Officer, Chief Actuary, Executive Vice President and Division President for insurance organizations and Managing Partner for a major accounting firm’s Actuarial, Claims and Risk Management consulting practice. As a consultant Bob has provided financial, analytical and management consulting services to Property and Casualty insurance companies, self-insureds, law firms and others. Bob is currently volunteer as the Treasurer of the homeowners’ association for his Long Island rental property.
John Farrell
Secretary
John’s career has been spent in audit/finance/accounting for over 20 years and he previously owned and operated a carpentry business for 13 years. He is currently an Associate Director at the Bank of Montreal where he is responsible for Product Accounting for Equity Products for three entities. John has a BBA from Adelphi University with a concentration in Accounting and a Masters from Hofstra University in Business information systems.
John has been a friend (and fraternity brother) of Roger for over 30 years and met Martha when she and Roger first started dating. They both had significant impacts on his and his wife’s lives at key turning points of their journey through careers and parenting.
John and his wife Yvonne have been happily married for 21 years and have two sons. John’s wife Yvonne is a CPA and a Director of Finance at Neopost USA. She has been a treasurer for several organizations, most recently for their boys Boy Scout Troop. As they will soon be empty nesters they look forward to taking part in this endeavor to continue Martha’s mission with Roger and to leave a positive impact on the world themselves. They are interested in participating with Martha’s Kayak to help keep Martha’s spirit alive in continuing the positive impact she had on other’s while she was with us.
Adam Brufsky, MD, PhD
Director
Professor of Medicine Associate Chief, Division of Hematology/Oncology Director, Comprehensive Breast Cancer Center University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Adam M. Brufsky, MD, PhD, is Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He serves as Co-Director, Comprehensive Breast Cancer Center and Medical Director, Women’s Cancer Center at the Magee-Womens Hospital/UPCI, Pittsburgh, PA. He also serves as the Associate Division Chief for the Division of Hematology/Oncology within the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine. Additionally, Dr. Brufsky is the Associate Director for Clinical Investigation for the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. Dr. Brufsky received an BS degree in Chemistry (Cum Laude) from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. He earned his MD and his PhD in Developmental Biology at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington, CT. He was an Intern and Resident in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. He then completed a Fellowship in Medical Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, where his appointments included Associate Physician and Instructor in Medicine at Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. Dr. Brufsky is board certified in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He is an active member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Association for Cancer Research. He has numerous abstracts and research articles in leading journals, including the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Lancet. Dr. Brufsky is Principal Investigator on a number of research grants funded by the National Institutes of Health, Susan G. Komen Foundation, and US Army Breast Cancer Research Program.
Peter Catalano, CPA – CFO
Director
Peter Catalano has been with Kohn Pedersen Fox since 1989. In this capacity, first as Controller and currently as CFO, he oversees all financial and accounting functions; participates in decisions concerning office management, operations and administration, staffing requirements, and other employment issues.
Mr. Catalano is involved with negotiating and reviewing contracts with government agencies and commercial clients, development and implementation of KPF’s corporate transition plan, corporate lease negotiations in the United States and abroad. He has played a key role in establishing and supporting the management of the London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi and Seoul satellite offices.
Additionally, he is involved with Risk Management issues including any Claims Management and resolution, ongoing analysis of business insurance coverage and employee benefit plans.
Prior to joining KPF, Mr. Catalano was an Audit Manager for BDO Seidman in New York City from 1988 through 1989, and an Audit Senior with that firm from 1985 through 1989. He was a Senior Accountant for Alan J. Kreitzman in Commack, New York, from 1982 through 1985, and a Junior Accountant at Lawson Holland and Company from 1981 through 1982.
In addition, Mr. Catalano was involved with the formation and continued management of the KPF Foundation and served on the Board of New Canaan Baseball/Softball Inc. for five years in the role of Treasurer. Both are 501(c) (3) charities.
Mr. Catalano is a founding member and elected officer of the Kappa Rho Chapter of Delta Sigma Pi Fraternity, the national organization for men and women pursuing careers in business. He is an active member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA), and Financial Executives International (FEI) and an Associate Member of the AIA. Mr. Catalano lives in New Canaan, Connecticut with his wife Carol and their children Lauren and Gregory.
Susan Cohen, Ph.D.
Director
Susan Cohen is a clinical psychologist who has spent her career helping children and families. She is the director of Early Childhood and Psychological Services at the Right from the Start 0-3+ Center of North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center. Dr. Cohen has been with North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center for more than 26 years. Dr. Cohen has also worked for Kids First Evaluation and Advocacy Center as an evaluator for preschool and school-aged children for more than five year. She earned a graduate degree from St. Johns University with a concentration in Clinical Child Psychology and an undergraduate degree from SUNY Albany. Dr. Cohen and her husband have two daughters. She enjoys travel, orchid growing and loved exploring local waters while kayaking with Martha.
Donna L. Gaffney
Director
Donna is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and American University's Washington College of Law, is Associate Counsel for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in Washington, D.C.
Ms. Gaffney was fortunate to count Martha Leider as a dear friend for more than 50 years. Herself a survivor of breast cancer, she remains awed and humbled by Martha's grace, strength and optimism.
Bill King
Director
BIO IN PROGRESS
David Lobel
Director
BIO IN PROGRESS
Erin Nau
Director
Erin is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker currently providing individual and group counseling to breast cancer patients, at the Adelphi University NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline and Support Program. Empowering women and girls is her passion and has led to her to providing counseling for women and girls, and to engaging them in discovery through research. She is inspired by the resilience of Breast Cancer Survivors/Warriors and their families. Erin is a member of the Council on the Role and Status of Women in Social Work Education, a committee of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). She is also a member of the New York Road Runners and Hellgate Road Runners.
JEREMY LEIDER / SYDNEY LEIDER
Operations / Fund Raising / Event Planning / Social Media
Jeremy and Sydney work tirelessly to promote Martha's Kayak in memory of their mom. They were instrumental in working with their dad to create the organization in 2018. They continue to spend significant time working on the operation of the organization and are fully involved with fund raising activities, social media and event planning in order to grow the organization nationally.