Jenn Tracz Grace, Executive Director

Jenn has over ten combined years of strategic marketing experience and nearly 5 years working with social media. Her background expands several industries including retail, travel, insurance and the business-to-business sectors. Her more specific and well known work is within the niche area of gay and lesbian marketing, as well as strategic marketing and planning for small to medium sized businesses. Jenn owns and operates a CT based marketing and business consulting firm that focuses on organization branding, marketing plan development, social media initiatives, website design and search engine optimization and implementation. She is also a Marketing Consultant & Social Media Strategist with eVision of Branford, CT. In addition to being a business owner and consultant, she is the first Executive Director for CABO. In this role as Executive Director, she is responsible for maintaining and growing membership, developing strategic business partnerships and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the organization. Jenn resides in northern Connecticut with her wife Andrea.

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Dena Castricone, President

Dena Castricone, President of the Board and founder of CABO, is an attorney at the law firm of Murtha Cullina LLP (CABO’s Pioneer Sponsor) where she works primarily in the areas of construction and business litigation. Prior to joining Murtha, she served as a law clerk to the Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Dena also serves on the Board of Directors for the Connecticut chapter of Professional Women in Construction. Currently, Dena lives in New Haven with her partner, Jennifer.

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Beth McCabe, Treasurer

Beth McCabe has over 20 years of experience working with non-profit organizations. Currently she is Career TEAM’s National Training Director and Project Director for North Central CT. Beth specializes in employment, team building and motivational training. Since 2007 Beth has served on the Board working to help grow the Board to truly represent our membership and provide statewide voice in Connecticut’s only GLBT Chamber of Commerce. Besides her work with CABO she has served on the Board of Director of the Susan B. Anthony Project and is currently an Advisory Board member. She lives in Canton with her partner Morgan.

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Dan Weaver, Secretary

Dan Weaver’s lifelong mission has been to help others tell their stories; and his own tale is quite telling as well. From the small town of Meadville, PA with no media contacts, Dan got a ticket into television with an internship on a Cleveland morning talk show, and his amazing thirty year career in broadcasting began.

Whether it’s been to the 10,000 team members at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, where he served as the Director of Communications, or a national audience of 10 million viewers on “The Phil Donahue Show”, where he produced an eclectic range of social issue topics, Dan’s successful storytelling recipe is a simple one: entertain, inform, and inspire, one person at a time. An Emmy award winning producer in the TV trenches of all of the big four networks, as well as cable channels like the Food Network and HGTV; he has produced for such diverse talents as Geraldo Rivera, Wolfgang Puck and Tammy Faye Messner.

He and his business and life partner, Lee Moore, Jr. a television veteran of shows like “The Price is Right” and the CBS soap, “The Bold and the Beautiful”, are thrilled to continue their storytelling with Barmont Productions, their full service video production company in Ledyard, Connecticut.

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Jennifer Polla, Board Member & Membership Committee Chair

Jennifer Polla is a Financial Advisor with Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management with over 18 years of industry experience. She offers many financial solutions to the GLBT community to help guide them towards financial security. Her particular area of expertise lies in using life insurance to protect the assets of couples in same-sex relationships until marriage becomes federally recognized. She joined CABO with the hopes of not only sharing this knowledge with her community, but to foster the growth of all GLBT businesses statewide. She resides in Orange with her partner, Nadine.
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Tracy Casey, Board Member

Tracy Casey joined Aetna, one of the leading diversified health care benefits companies in the U.S. and around the world, as Director of Diversity in July 2011, with over 15 years of progressive human resources and diversity experience. In this role, she is responsible for driving and executing Aetna's Diversity strategy, providing diversity business consulting and ensuring business results are obtained. Further, she manages on-going client relationships, as well as complex, large-scale business initiatives.

Tracy graduated Cum Laude from Northwestern University with a B.S. in Organization Behavior. She completed Cornell University's Diversity Management program, achieved Cornell's Certified Diversity Professional/Advanced Practitioner (CCDP/AP) credential and is currently pursuing her MBA at the University of Connecticut School of Business. She is an elected Board of Education member in the City of Milford, Connecticut, serving her second term, and is on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Alliance for Business Opportunities (CABO). She has served on the Board of Directors of the Equal Employment Advisory Council in Washington DC, its Executive Committee and Capital Workforce Partners in Hartford, Connecticut. Tracy, her husband and four children reside in Milford, Connecticut.

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Rob D'Errico, Board Member & Events Committee Chair

Rob D'Errico has been in the commercial printing industry for over 15 years. Working with clients in New York City, Boston, Richmond, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic, his dedication to helping his clients find that perfect balance of cost and quality is what makes him a valuable asset working for long time clients General Cigar, Malibu-Kahlua and Badgley Mischka. Before entering the printing industry Rob was active in politics, working on the campaigns of former State Treasurer Chris Burnham, former State Senator Kevin Rennie, The Connecticut House Republican Office and in 1995, Lamar Alexander for President.

Rob is someone that is always looking to help other people. Whether it's at work or friends and family he's right there to offer advice or a hand. Rob lives in Hamden Connecticut with his partner Wil Nelson and their two basset hounds Dudley and Gracie along with Philbert the cat.

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Stacy Tierney , Board Member

Stacy is the Hotel Manager at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods.  With more than 17 years of experience in the Luxury Hotel industry, Stacy's addition to the Foxwoods family has enriched service standards, profitability, and employee retention.  Stacy was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, and has been a part of such prestigious luxury destinations as The Venetian Resort Hotel & Casino, The historic Brown Palace in Denver, Colorado, and most recently, the Mandarin Oriental, Boston.

Her professional motto is "The answer is yes, what is the question?"

Stacy is thrilled to be a part of the nations ONLY resort casino that has recognized the LGBT designation and officially incorporated it into the Employment Equality Policy.  Ensuring that diversity and inclusion are embraced in both the Front of the House and the Back of the House is of particular importance to her.

Stacy, her partner, and their three children (along with a diverse menagerie of animals) live on a 1760 farm in picturesque Ledyard, Connecticut.

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Jessie Read, Board Member

Jessie Read has been in service and market research as well as sales for most of her career. She works with We Care Computers LLC in West Hartford. She has a B.S. in Psychology from Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, MA and she was President of Psi Chi (the Fitchburg Chapter of the Psychology Honor Society). She takes great pride in her membership in Alpha Sigma Tau, a National Sorority and working with the women of that organization afforded her her greatest education. She has an active passion for connecting people and helping business people see how and who they could be connected to improve their networking prospects. She looks forward to helping CABO in the same way and many more.
 
Jessie is always willing to lend a hand in any way she can, whether it’s a friendly ear, or an advocate, or someone to bounce ideas off of. Jessie lives in New Britain with her fiance, Tim Bouclier, their 3 cats (Precious, Artemis, and Thor) and their 4.5lb Choodle (chihuahua-mini french poodle), Johnny 5.

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