It’s a cycle that can be mentally taxing, Jose Antonio Rodriguez acknowledges. Chief legal officer and executive vice president of New York’s largest Hispanic-led nonprofit, Acacia Network Inc., he’s aided some of the most underserved communities statewide and beyond. “At least we know we’re making a dent,” he tells Vanguard in April from Acacia’s headquarters […]
Features Region: Northeast
Jim Jenkins – Transcat
With this much effort put into closing a Transcat acquisition, Jim Jenkins could have been mistaken for a postal carrier. Indeed, “neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night,” deterred Jenkins that night in December 2020, as he drove home through a blizzard from Richmond, Virginia, to Rochester, New York. As general counsel […]
Jessica Hodkinson – Panasonic Corporation of North America
Agility, efficiency, greater use of technology and increased communications—how the past year has accelerated these trends. But it was in 2018 when Jessica Hodkinson made the business case for all that as she centralized legal operations at Panasonic Corp. of North America. At the time, it just made sense to Hodkinson, a member of the […]
Jason Pollack – Christie’s
Evening sales at Christie’s in New York City are not to be missed, a highlight of the social calendar where billionaires are ready to raise their paddles and bid on rare and obscure objects—art by DaVinci or Picasso, jewelry, and recently, an artifact from the Jurassic period. But all that changed in 2020 when the […]
Jack Garfinkle – PECO Energy
Sure, there are plenty of people who say Corbin Bernsen’s best role was playing Roger Dorn in the “Major League” trilogy. Or when he was Henry Spencer for 120 episodes of “Psych.” But for most people, Bernsen’s most recognizable and most acclaimed part was when he portrayed Arnie Becker for all eight seasons of the […]
Joe Ferguson – DBi Services LLC
Whether it’s hurricane cleanup in Florida or repairs on a tough stretch of Texas highway, the work goes on. It’s an attitude that Joe Ferguson, general counsel for Pennsylvania-based DBi Services, has taken to heart. Only instead of clearing debris, he’s removing roadblocks to success. An asset management and infrastructure services company working with entities […]
Jennifer Weidner – Canandaigua National Bank & Trust
There’s plenty to like about Canandaigua, New York, a small city of around 10,000 residents happily ensconced in a sea of green forest adjacent to 16-mile-long Canandaigua Lake. And it’s not just residents who like the place. Enough tourists visit each year to pump an extra $30 million or so into the local economy annually. […]
Jessica Norman – Independence Realty Trust Inc.
When Jessica Norman joined Independence Realty Trust in 2013, her early days were focused on supporting the company’s growth—specifically representing the 2-year-old public company in transactional deals to acquire multifamily apartment properties. Now, as IRT’s executive vice president, general counsel and secretary, Norman’s work benefits the public real estate investment trust across the board: culturally, […]
Julia Hanft – Transit Wireless
Being among the countless New York City subway riders who wants to make the most of her time getting from point A to point B, Julia Hanft had taken advantage of Transit Wireless’ offerings long before becoming its first in-house general counsel this past June. A veteran telecommunications lawyer who ran her own firm for […]
Jonathan Truppman – Casper
Perhaps it’s a business investment proposition everyone can bank on—because every person requires sleep. Armed with the premise of a no-fail argument, award-winning products and an attorney who made the list of “up-and-coming lawyers to watch in 2018,” New York-based Casper went public in February. After six years of work, it became the first publicly-owned […]
