Dan Del Bene, CSW , has recently joined the NY Work Exchange as Program Manager of the division of Research and Program Development. For the past several years Dan worked as the Associate Executive Director for Information Systems and Quality Assurance for The Bridge, Inc. a psychosocial rehabilitation agency located in Manhattan. Under his direction, Mr. Del Bene brought the Bridge, Inc to its present status of a paperless clinical charting environment -- one of the only mental health agencies in NY to have accomplished this tremendous feat.
Prior to The Bridge, Dan obtained experience in the clinical and research forum at the New York State Psychiatric Institute on a team of Columbia University researchers. He researched new therapies for affective disorders and worked on genetic epidemology studies.
Dan has been adjunct faculty at New York University Shirley M. Ehrenkranz School of Social Work for the last 5 years. He teaches courses in the area of research design & methods in Social Work.
Holly Kempner, M.A., C.R.C., joins our team as the Coordinator of Education and Training. Most recently in her role as Coordinator of Supported Employment Services for the Mental Health Association of Essex County, New Jersey, Ms. Kempner managed a community-based job placement program for approximately 60 adults with serious mental illness. Prior to her work in our neighboring state, she worked in several of this city's community-based rehabilitation programs, servicing individuals with varying disabilities and needs.
Shaleigh Tice, B.A, joins the NY Work Exchange as Coordinator of Information and Dissemination. She brings a variety of experience around employment to this project gained from her former position as Employment Unit Leader at Venture House. We are fortunate that her expertise will now be extended to the mental health community city-wide.
Richard Chimelis, B.S., serves as a Research Associate/Cultural Diversity Specialist. As Director of the Division of Services for the Disabled for the town of Islip, New York, Mr. Chimelis honed his skills in service coordination and systems development. These skills should serve us well as we assist programs in implementing their own employment services.
Debbi Talbott, Research Associate/Peer-Program Liaison, originally from California comes to us by way of the intensive job readiness training at the Community Access Peer Specialist Center. Now a true New Yorker, she brings to the program extensive experience in the areas of consumer support and advocacy.
