Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rhode Island Announces New Executive Board Officers.
Cranston, RI Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rhode Island (BBBSRI) announces the election the 2020 Executive Officers of the Board of Directors. The newly-elected officers are C. Paul Oberg, Joseph (Joe) Manera Jr, David Fontes and Yomayra Reyes. BBBSRI Executive Director, Katje Afonseca, “I am pleased to announce our four new officers for our Board of Directors. They each have a unique background, with diverse experiences that make them an asset to BBBSRI’s Board of Directors and to the organization as a whole.”
Yomayra Reyes, Secretary, Board of Directors. Providence resident, Born in Brooklyn, NY, raised in Providence to Dominican parents. Graduate of Classical High School, Providence RI (Class of 2002). Graduate of Providence College with a Bachelors in Marketing (Class of 2006), and Masters in Business Administration with concentration in Management/Minor in International Business (Class of 2016). Currently a Sr. Property and Casualty Product expert at MetLife Auto and Home based out of Warwick, RI, where she has worked for the past 15 years. Responsible for support group sales growth for Northeast Regional Market comprised of $82.6 million in in-force premium and over 650 group account clients. Yomayra has volunteered for BBBSRI organization for over 10 years helping to coordinate and raise funding and has been an active Board member since October of 2018, serving on multiple committees including the Finance and Business Development committees.
David Fontes, Treasurer, Board of Directors. Cumberland resident and partner at Blume Shapiro in Cranston, David has over 14 years of public accounting experience providing tax, assurance and advisory services to clients in a wide variety of industries, including manufacturing, distribution, gaming/lottery, financial and other services, real estate, jewelry and precious metals, many with international operations. He is also a member of Blum’s Diversity & Inclusion committee, which is dedicated to recognizing and celebrating differences among our employees—as well as recruiting a talented and varied cross-cultural workforce that adds to our dynamic understanding of collaboration and unification. In 2019, David was named Top 40 Under 40 by the Providence Business News. In 2015, David was named as one of the Top 10 Public Accounting Professional Rising Stars by The National Academy of Public Accounting Professionals.
Joseph (Joe) Manera Jr., Vice President of Board of Directors., graduated from the University of Rhode Island and the University Of Maine School Of Law. He has practiced law in Cranston, Rhode Island for over four decades and is a past Probate Judge for the City of Cranston. A Vietnam Veteran, he received the Army Commendation Medal. Having joined Big Brothers as mentor of a Little Brother, he became President of Big Brothers of Rhode Island from 2011-2014 after which he joined the Board of Directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ocean State in 2015. He and his wife, Marie, reside in Cranston and are the parents of two children and twin grandchildren.
Paul Oberg, President, Board of Directors. East Greenwich resident, C. Paul Oberg is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Copley Consulting Group, Inc., a leading developer of EAM /CMMS Maintenance Management Systems. A Certified Management Consultant, Mr. Oberg has significant experience in maintenance management, operations improvement, productivity improvement, manufacturing/distribution management, Total Quality Management, TPM and the design and implementation of manufacturing systems. Mr. Oberg holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering as well as a Masters in Business Administration.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rhode Island is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to pairing adult mentors with children between the ages of 7 and 15 years of age. BBBSRI’s Mission is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. To learn more about Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rhode Island, how to join our board or volunteer as a Big visit BigsRI.org or call 401.921.2434.