Board elects Impellizeri, wishes farewell to Read, McCaw

At its fall meeting in Boston, the East Coast Greenway Alliance Board of Trustees elected its newest member, Joe Impellizeri, as recommended by the Nominating Committee. He begins his three-year term on January 1, 2019.

Impellizeri is a financial industry professional with more than 30 years of experience. He is a principal at Richwood Associates in Boston, where he provides financial leadership and oversight for a variety of companies. He earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and has served as CFO and vice president of finance for a number of organizations. In recent years he has volunteered on the Alliance's Audit and Finance Committees. 

In 2016, Impellizeri joined the Greenway's Week a Year Tour, an annual ride of donors who have been biking their way south along the route since 2010. He was looking for a way to get back to long-distance biking and back in shape, he says, after years of work and family filling most of his time. As a young teen, he first savored the freedom of taking long rides out of his suburban neighborhood and into the country, and at 17 he planned and biked a 150-mile ride with friends to Cape May, NJ, including some dangerous roads. 

"After three years of riding the WAY Tour and volunteering on committees, getting an inside look at the commitment and dedication of the ECGA staff and of the many diverse volunteers involved in the project, I was honored and happy to be asked to join the Board of Trustees and will do my best to help the organization achieve its vision," Impellizeri says. "With people looking for more environmentally friendly ways to get around, efforts to get more people to exercise, and municipalities trying to ease car traffic burdens due to congestion and costs, it seems obvious to me that the East Coast Greenway and efforts like it need to be encouraged, pursued and completed."

"While the Greenway is an ambitious coastal vision with a grand purpose to connect Calais, Maine, to Key West, Florida, at its heart it really is a collection of connected, well thought-out local trails, paths, and bike lanes which must serve local needs and local populations," he adds. "Almost as important, it is a model of what can and should be done both in its ambitious goal and through its approach to how to get things like this done.  The East Coast Greenway Alliance helps define the framework and delivers a practical and pragmatic example of how to work effectively with committed cyclists, local communities, municipal and state governments while of course leveraging funding through federal and state programs, private grants, sponsorships and its own creative fundraising." 

The trustees also said goodbye to two members who are wrapping up their service: Catherine McCaw, of New York City, and David Read, of Topsfield, Massachusetts.

Current and former trustees and other friends of the East Coast Greenway gathered in Boston on November 30 to honor David Read for his 12 years with the trustees, including two terms as chair. One of his initiatives as chair was to create the Week a Year Tour, which has grown in numbers and support to 40 cyclists raising more than $60,000 as they make their way south annually.

"The East Coast Greenway is about future generations," Read told gathered friends in Boston. Read will continue to volunteer with the Greenway, including serving as chair of our Massachusetts State Committee.  "There are Greenway projects starting construction every week, projects being designed every week," Read said. "This is about building a trail for future generations — including for my kids, Brandon and Stephanie."

"The Greenway vision becomes reality when we have outstanding people like Dave and Catherine stepping up to give their time, talent, and support. They oversaw dramatic growth these last several years, and we'll miss their tireless dedication, humor, and critical eye," says Dennis Markatos-Soriano, executive director. "Joe comes tested as a WAY rider and expert volunteer, so we're excited to work with him to continue the momentum that Dave and Catherine helped build."

Read more of December 2018 On the Greenway newsletter