Board of Directors Nominations

My name is Ed Chavanne and I am running for President of Lysander Youth Hockey Association. As a current LYHA board member serving as the apparel coordinator and living in Baldwinsville, I’ve attended monthly board meetings for the last three years.  

I feel a responsibility to the families within this rink, as my own family is deeply committed to Lysander. Tessa (10U), Thomas (12U) and Lily (14U) have played at Lysander for the last five years. I’ve coached and assisted yearly at each level ranging from mini-mite to bantam, plus spring Selects teams and the Lysander 10U girls team. I coached the Queen Bees girls high school hockey clinics this past summer.  My wife, Nicole is a B’ville alum and has taken on the role of team manager at the 10U, 12U, and 14U levels. I also regularly play Men's League at TRAC. Lysander is our home away from home.  We love this organization and we want to see it continue to thrive.

As a coach, I passionately advocate for the development of all athletes. Hockey has the unique ability to teach valuable life skills that extend beyond any rink: discipline, responding to critique, teamwork, resilience, decision-making, and leadership.  My coaching motto has always been simple—good humans, good players.  I find ways to connect with each individual player, helping them reach their highest potentials. I would carry these same beliefs into the role as President, leading with self-discipline, open-mindedness, collaboration, respect, and listening.

Although it sounds like hockey could be my full-time job, it doesn’t pay the bills.  I am an FAA Air Traffic Controller which means I am adept at making informed (sometimes very quick) decisions, big and small, while considering various contexts, potential outcomes, and stakeholder needs.  I work daily as part of a coordinated team requiring clear communication and tight systems. As a part of the Syracuse facility’s training team, I help others to learn the key components of the job. I have served on several advisory boards within the FAA and recognize the power of distributed leadership. Multiple voices are needed to lend their knowledge, skills and assets for an organization’s success. If elected, I’d bring this experience and knowledge to the position of President.

When I am not at work or at the rink, you can find me camping with my family.  We love spending time in our camper and exploring New York State Parks. We appreciate travel to expand our comfort zone and disconnect from our regular schedules and priorities.  

As President of LYHA, I will be a strong, accessible, and dedicated leader who considers the needs of players, coaches, and the broader Lysander Hockey community. I will seek innovative solutions and a transparent, collaborative approach. The outgoing leadership team has done a tremendous job of rallying Lysander back to a place of pride and excellence. To build on this success, we need systems for both growth and sustainability, and I hope to coordinate a team of stakeholders who will serve on committees to ensure a clear vision and future for LYHA while continuing to address key issues like financial sustainability, player safety, and youth development. LYHA’s future is bright! I hope to guide us forward to realize our organization’s potential. 

My name is Brian Janz and my family has called Lysander home for the past 10 years. During this time we have met many wonderful families and developed many friendships along the way. I've been fortunate enough to coach for the past 9 years both as a head coach and assistant coach at all levels ranging from Mini Mites to 12U, 10/12U girls team, Syracuse Salties, and our 2016/2017 Syracuse Selects team this past summer. I'm also Mite Supervisor for the organization. 

Aside from coaching I've spent countless hours at our facility over the years helping to get the rink to where it's at today, not only for Lysander Youth Hockey but also the community. While there is still a long road ahead, I want to see our organization and facility continue to grow for years to come.

My name is Melissa Janz. I am a mother of three. My daughter plays at the 14u level and my son plays at the 8u level. I have a 2.5 year old who I’m sure will be on the ice in the future as well! 

We have been a part of the LYHA family since 2015. My husband Brian has been coaching at Lysander since 2016. I am always here to help wherever I can and enjoy all of the volunteer roles I have been lucky to be a part of. I love being involved in helping to create fun positive life experiences for kids and helping to make their adolescent years ones to remember!

Dan Wears is Onondaga County’s commissioner of emergency management, a position he was appointed to in June 2015. Wears heads the Department of emergency management and is responsible for the county's emergency management program as well as overseeing the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Bureaus

Before joining Onondaga County, Wears served as manager of emergency management and business continuity planning at Syracuse University. He was responsible for leading campus wide planning initiatives, including large special event planning for the Carrier Dome.

Prior to that role, he served as senior consultant for Booz Allen in Washington, D.C. where he supported the Department of Homeland Security Office of Interoperable Communications and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA.) His work included the development of federal interagency response plans, standard operating guidelines for the National Response Coordination Center and strategic planning for all FEMA regions.

Wears is also on the executive boards of the NYS Emergency Management Association and Beaver Meadows Golf Club.

Jason Hamilton is a seasoned financial executive with over 15 years of experience in financial leadership, strategic planning, and operational management. He holds both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the State University of New York at Oswego. As a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA), Jason has a proven track record in overseeing financial operations, leading acquisition integrations, and driving revenue growth. His background includes roles as a Controller at ITT Inc., where he played a key part in increasing revenue from $900 million to nearly $1.3 billion through strategic M&A initiatives. Before his time at ITT, Jason gained extensive public accounting experience at KPMG, where he led audits of some of the firm's largest clients in New York State, including the New York State Department of Education. His expertise in financial reporting and compliance has been instrumental in managing complex audit engagements and ensuring adherence to regulatory standards. In addition to his corporate experience, Jason brings valuable non-profit expertise. He has served as Treasurer and Vice Chair of the Board for On Point for College which has an annual operating budget of $3.5 million.

EDUCATION AND CREDENTIALS

• BS Accounting and Master of Business Administration in from State University of New York at Oswego.

•Certified Public Accountant, 110157

•Charted Global Management Accountant

During his tenure, Jason helped the organization navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis while successfully increasing the operating budget by 20%. His leadership in financial oversight and strategic planning has contributed to the organization's ongoing growth and stability.

Jason's dedication to his community and the sport of hockey is evident through his involvement at the local ice rink. Married for 11 years to Alexandra Hamilton, who serves as the team manager for their son Logan's hockey team, Jason is a proud hockey parent. Their son Logan, age 9, plays for the 10U white team, while their 6-year-old daughter, Piper, can often be found cheering from the sidelines or enjoying a slushy from the rink’s bar.

With a strong background in corporate and non-profit financial management, as well as a solid educational foundation, Jason is eager to apply his expertise as Treasurer to support the continued growth and success of the ice hockey community.

I have been a member of Lysander Youth Hockey for the past 7 years starting with Mini-Mites for my now 14U son, Ashton. My family and I have been members of the Baldwinsville community since 2012.

I have been an Actuary at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield for the past 23 years. I am a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. Over my 23 years with Excellus, I have worked in the Finance department on reserve setting, valuation, quarterly statements, regulatory filings, trend analysis and financial planning and analysis. I feel my experience will be an asset to Lysander Youth Hockey.

Thanks for your consideration for Treasurer. 

I have been involved with LYHA since our son Ryan began skating here in 2017 as a Rink Rat. He’s now skating with Lysander at the 12U level. I’ve practiced law as a corporate attorney for 20 years and provided legal counsel to not-for-profit and for-profit companies. I’ve served on the boards of several not-for-profit organizations, including Baldwinsville Meal on Wheels, and I’ve volunteered as a coach with Baldwinsville Little League and Baldwinsville Sting. I‘ve volunteered with LYHA over the past several years, sweeping off the roofs of the locker rooms and working on our liquor license application. My goal is to build on the work that others have done and help grow LYHA into a strong community institution. I’d like to see us update our bylaws to encourage more engagement by our members and create more committees to assist the board with running the rink facility and the hockey organization.

Chris McKenzie is an Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Manager at Stickley Furniture in Manlius, NY. With 300 hourly and 100 salary employees onsite, Chris is responsible for overseeing the safe manufacturing of collector-quality fine furniture along with compliance to numerous state and federal environmental regulations . Chris is very excited to be part of Stickley, a local family-owned company, that will celebrate 125 years in operation next spring.

Prior to his role at Stickley, Chris worked at Novelis Aluminum in Oswego, NY for twelve years, where he rose through the ranks of various health and safety positions, closing the last two years of his tenure as the EHS Manager.

Chris has a passion for his field of expertise, focusing on employee engagement and ownership with respect to worker safety, collaborative problem-resolution, and outside the box thinking when it comes to continuous improvement projects.

Chris lives in Baldwinsville with his wife Jenna, daughter Annabelle, and sons River and Liam. Chris’ family is by definition, a bunch of rink rats through and through: In addition to coaching his son’s team, Chris plays Men’s league hockey at Lysander; his daughter Annabelle is a nationally ranked figure skater; and Jenna, also a high-ranking competitive figure skater, has coached figure skating for the last twenty years. Liam has dabbled with skating but feels more at home cheering on his sister and brother from the bleachers with the other Lysander fans.

Chris has been involved with coaching youth hockey over the years, starting when his son River, enrolled in the Initiation Program at Midstate. During that program, he coached alongside Brian Devennie. Chris then was the assistant coach for River’s 2012 Squirt AAA Nats team alongside Nick Clarke.

River joined Coach Farley & Heindorf’s 2012 LYHA Squirt team two years ago, and the McKenzie family was thrilled to join the organization. Chris went on to be the assistant coach to Jason Daigle’s 2012 Peewee AA team last year, and is very excited to be back behind the bench this year with Coach Daigle, Devennie, Wears, Heindorf and Farley.

Chris is proud to be a member of the LYHA, and truly enjoys the energy and involvement from the other LYHA parents and coaches. He feels fortunate to be able to coach his son as well as so many other kids he’s watched progress over the years through the various teams he’s helped to coach. 

Chris is looking forward to the opportunity to continue his engagement with LYHA as a board member amd Director of Coaches for the organization.

Hello, my name is Kate FitzGibbons Budosh. My journey at this rink started in the 90’s, enjoying the open skates and starting my first job at the snack shack. My two older children learned to skate here with the YMCA program and later attended the weekly teen nights. Currently my youngest is part of LYHA proudly serving as one of the goalies for 10U Gold.

I am a self motivated, local small business owner in addition to my full time corporate position in accounting and finance with a focus on customer service. Owning my own business I am also a content creator, social media manager and wear many hats that will serve the rink well. Assisting the current Direct of Communication I understand the responsibility of the position. I feel I could be a valuable asset to the club with the organizational, creative and leadership skills I possess. I am committed to fostering ongoing improvements, promoting transparency and introducing innovative ideas to see our organization succeed. I appreciate your time and consideration for this position.

Hello, my name is Wil Clement and I am running for the Director of Communications position. I have been a part of LYHA for four years, have coached, and have participated in several rink improvement and maintenance events. My family is very well vested in this rink, and we have had three kids play for the organization. We love the rink and want it to become an even larger part of our CNY community. For the rink to do this, I believe continual engagement with its members and the broader community is key.

We need to find a balanced approach to increasing messaging about what is going on at the organization via social media, the website, and with email. I believe that we should be sending out updates regularly about significant news, facility improvements, achievements of our kids’ hockey teams (like winning tournaments or going to States), figure skating accomplishments, and every fundraiser going on. I also believe we should be engaged with our sponsors so they can feel included in what our facility is doing. I want people to be proud of this place and see our progress. I hope that the rink will be more than just a place our kids or us play at; I hope it becomes a place where people bond, grow, and thrive. I even want people to look forward to the next notification they get about the rink!

I work for Upstate as a System Administrator and programmer where I oversee technical projects and come up with solutions for our medical systems, and I am in my seventh year there. My whole career has consisted of a lot of technical troubleshooting and project management, including understanding the needs of my organization and finding ways to achieve what is needed. Everyday I oversee technical implementation projects and am in communication with many parties including end users and technical personnel. Aside from my main job, I have launched professional and recreational websites and understand how to engage with the outer community.

I am eager to run for this position to serve our organization, to help improve community interaction, and maintain our IT infrastructure so that our kids and adults will have a place to come to for years to come. I think with effective, clear communication, and technical upkeep, we will be able to continue to make this place a home and will allow it to grow.

Mrs. McKenzie is Vice President of Marketing, Customer Experience, Insights & Intelligence of Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. Mrs. McKenzie earned a Bachelor of Mathematics Degree from St. Lawrence University and a Master of Business Administration from Clarkson University. Serving the Syracuse community, Jenna is a board member for the Everson Museum and volunteers at CNY Food Bank.

Jenna is a seasoned professional with over 20+ years’ experience in brand strategy, integrated marketing, market research and customer experience design. Jenna’s strengths include strategic planning, budget oversight, communication, advertising, acquisition and retention campaigns and social media management. She currently oversees four brands and is accountable to manage over $10M. Jenna is excited to support the LYHA Board through enhanced communications and promotion of the facilities and its programs. She believes through transparent conversations and creative thinking we can collectively grow the financial position of the rink and its service to its community ensuring its stability and success for years to come.

Jenna is also a figure skating coach in the local Syracuse area training competitive skaters to compete at a national level. She has been an approved coach with United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) for over 20 years and holds SafeSport and Team USA coaching clearance. Jenna’s students have included 5-time USFSA Gold Medalists, Empire State Games medalists, Excel National Festival Competitors, Disney on Ice Talent, Eastern Sectional Competitors and National Development Team Member (Olympic pipeline). Her passion for skating is to ensure that CNY skaters are reaching high levels of performance and ability through expert technique and training. Jenna trains students at local rinks during figure skating club hours and through private ice rental. She also routinely travels each year to Lake Placid, Boston and New Jersey to train her students.

Mrs. McKenzie and her husband Chris McKenzie reside in Baldwinsville, NY and have three children. Chris McKenzie is a USA Hockey coach supporting the Lysander 12U team. Their daughter Annabelle is a nationally ranked figure skater, their son River plays for the Lysander 12U travel team and their son Liam is a loud and proud supporter for both.

My name is Aaron LaDuke. I’m the current ACE and ADM Director. I currently have one child in the organization. I’m an assistant coach for the 10U Red team.

I have been involved in USA hockey for over 37years. The majority of the time as a player and I have been privileged to coach the last 5yrs. It’s been an honor to coach in the game I love so much. I love sharing my knowledge for the game with the kids. The Lysander organization has become a 2nd family to me. I enjoy spending time at the rink and helping out. I’m really looking forward to see this organization to continue to grow.