Sheila Appel
Director, Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs, IBM
Sheila Appel is the manager of corporate citizenship and corporate affairs at IBM, where she began her career in 1977 as a programmer. In this capacity, she leads the company’s initiatives in the areas of public school reform, using technology to bring art to the community, easing the digital divide, and workforce development, among others. Ms. Appel leads IBM’s Transition to Teaching Program in New York State.
Ms. Appel is active in business, community, and educational organizations, including the Business Council of New York State, the Mid-Hudson Technology Council, and the Mid-Hudson Teachers Council. She sits on the board of directors of several organizations: Greater Southern Dutchess Chamber of Commerce, Dutchess Community College Foundation, United Way of Dutchess County, Dutchess County Workforce Investment Board, Family First NY, and the Institute for Business Innovation. She is a member of the Education Task Force for the Business Council of New York State. Ms. Appel has received various awards for her work, including the Future Business Leaders of America’s “Business Person of the Year” award in 2000, the Mill Street Loft Friends of Art Award, the YWCA Salute to Women Award, and the Pillars of the Community Award from the Greater Southern Dutchess Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Appel was honored by Senator Saland as one of the Women of Distinction in 2005 and was named one of the Top 100 IBM Women Leaders in the Mid-Hudson Valley.
Ms. Appel has an A.A.S. in Business Management from Dutchess Community College and a B.S. in Organizational Leadership and Communication from Marist College.
Michael Furdyk
Co-founder and Director of Technology for TakingITGlobal.org
Michael Furdyk is the Co-founder and Director of Technology for TakingITGlobal.org global online community for young people, engaging hundreds of thousands of youth in over 200 countries and territories. Along with managing the technology team at TakingITGlobal, Michael is involved with the TIGed education program, and has spoken to over 50,000 educators about the importance of engaging students and integrating technology and global perspectives into the classroom.
In the past, he has turned his interest in technology into a series of successful online companies, co-founding MyDesktop.com (later sold to Internet.com) and BuyBuddy.com (which raised $4.5-million of venture capital). Over the last few years, Michael has consulted for many Fortune 500 companies, including a 6-month engagement developing youth strategy with Microsoft in Seattle, Washington.
As one of Teen People's "20 teens that will change the world", Michael has shared his opinions about Youth Engagement and experiences as a member of the Net Generation by speaking at dozens of events, including the World Congress on IT, the US Government's National Youth Summit, Microsoft's Anytime, Anywhere Learning Summits, The Business Council, and TED. He has made numerous media appearances including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Time Magazine, Fast Company, Business Week, CNN, MSNBC, and USA Today. He is a board member and advisor to numerous groups including Microsoft, Pollution Probe, the Anytime, Anywhere Learning Foundation, and several other national and global organizations.
Fred Thiele, Jr.
Member, New York State Assembly
- 1979–82: Counsel to Assemblyman John Behan
- 1982–87: Southampton Town Attorney
- 1982–86: East Hampton Town Planning Board Attorney
- 1985: Counsel to East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals
- 1987–91: Suffolk County Legislator, 16th District. Sponsored Omnibus Budget Plan
- 1991–95: Southampton Town Supervisor. Town taxes and spending decreased for first time.
- 1995–Present: New York State Assembly, 2nd District. Ranking Republican of Assembly Education Committee, member of Assembly Ways and Means, Environmental Conservation, Election Law and Transportation Committees. Member of Subcommittee on Oversight of Department of Environmental Conservation. Vice Chairman of Assembly Minority Joint Conference Committee.
- 2007–Present: Counsel to the Village of Sag Harbor
Roger Tilles
Roger B. Tilles, Regent, New York State
Roger Tilles graduated in 1968 from Amherst College with a Bachelor of Arts degree, received New York City Professional Certification through C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University and graduated from the University of Michigan College of Law in 1971. He became Director of Law and Legislation for the Michigan Department of Education, was elected to the Michigan State Board of Education, and in 1975, he became the Executive Secretary to the Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives. During this time in Michigan he taught education and the law at University of Michigan, Michigan State, Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan Universities’ Schools of Education. He was also the counsel to the Michigan Teacher Tenure Commission as well as a Special Education Hearing Officer. After being a candidate for U.S. Congress, he opened his own law practice in Washington, D.C. in 1978, until his return to Long Island in 1983 where he is a Director of Tilles Investment Companies. He is a member of the New York, D.C. and Michigan Bar Association.
He was Chair and a founding member of the Association for a Better Long Island, is the former Chair of the Long Island Regional Planning Board, served as Chair of the Long Island University Board of Trustees, served on the Boards of WNET/Channel 13 and WLIW/Channel 21 and has been Executive Vice Chairman of the Tilles Center For The Performing Arts, in addition to serving on the Board and Executive Board of the Long Island Association. In April 2005, he was elected the Regent representing Long Island on the New York State Board of Regents. He has also worked to form the Long Island Arts Alliance, bringing together the cultural institutions of Long Island. He has been a vocal advocate for arts education on Long Island and across America.
He is also involved with significant interfaith activities: two of the most prominent being Project Understanding, which he formed with Monsignor Tom Hartman in 1987, bringing Catholic and Jewish teenagers together annually on a mission to Israel; and as the producer of the first Vatican commemoration of the Holocaust under the auspices of Pope John Paul II in Rome in 1994.
He is a member and past President of Temple Beth-El of Great Neck, is on the Board of The Jewish Outreach Institute and has been a member of the National Young Leadership Cabinet of the UJA as well as on the Executive Board of the Union for Reform Judaism.
Roger Tilles was born and educated in Great Neck in their public schools. He and his wife, Jerry, and their daughters, Eliana (17) and Hanaleah (14), still reside in Great Neck where the children attend the Great Neck public schools.
