Board of Directors
Annmarie McLaughlin, Chairman, is Associate Professor of Writing and Research and Associate Professor of Scripture at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, NY. She holds an M.A. in Theology from Fordham University and a Post-Master’s Certificate in Scripture from St. Joseph’s Seminary. She obtained a B.A. in English and Spanish from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. Mrs. McLaughlin has worked as an adjunct instructor of theology at St. John’s University and a Catholic high school teacher in the Bronx. She has served on a variety of councils in the Diocese of Brooklyn and acted as the executive chairman of the Diocesan Pastoral Council (2015-2018) and the chairman of the Bilingual Women’s Conference Committee (2013-2016). She has been a member of Sacred Heart Parish since 2000 and has served as a lector, parish council member, brick garden project manager, Girl Scout leader, and coordinator of altar servers. She lives in Floral Park with her husband, Dan, and the youngest of their three children, all of whom attended Sacred Heart School. [email protected]
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Robert Mehran, Jr., Vice-Chairman, is a graduate of Fairfield University and received his law degree from Touro Law School. He is admitted to practice law in the States of New York and Connecticut and is a member of the American Bar Association and Nassau County Bar Association. After graduating from Fairfield in 2002, Mr. Mehran spent two years working for the United States House of Representatives on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C. Mr. Mehran then attended law school in the evening while working in the Legal Bureau for the Nassau County Police Department. While continuing in public service, Mr. Mehran also served as Chief Counsel for both the Nassau County Offices of Housing and Community Development and for the Nassau County Department of Assessment. As the founding member of Mehran Law, PLLC, he represents small businesses and individuals with their commercial and civil litigation needs. Despite his success in the field of law and public service, he considers his greatest success in life to be his family: his lovely wife, Lauren, and their handsome son, Robert.
Catherine Tempesta, Secretary, is a retired NYC public school teacher who taught for twenty years, spending fifteen years teaching second grade, and five years as an AIS (Academic Intervention Specialist). As an AIS, she worked primarily with fifth-grade children who were struggling with math. Mrs. Tempesta has been a member of Sacred Heart Parish since 1984 and serves as a lector at Mass. Her three children graduated from Sacred Heart School, where she is proud to say they received an excellent education. She is honored to hold a seat on the Board of Directors of SHCA and pledges to do her best to help ensure a successful year at SHCA. Mrs. Tempesta is the board contact for the Development Committee.
John Paglia, Treasurer, is proud to be a product of Catholic education, having attended Catholic school from pre-k through college. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from St. John’s University summa cum laude. John has worked in the banking industry for twenty years. He started his career working for Citibank; during his eight years there he was responsible for running several of the largest financial centers they have on Long Island. For the past twelve years, he has run a private client banking group at Signature Bank, where he and his team serve both for-profit and non-profit corporate clients. In 2018 Mr. Paglia began working as a Board Mentor for the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens as a way to give back and help further Catholic education within the Diocese, and now he is happy to serve on the board of trustees at Sacred Heart Catholic Academy. Mr. Paglia is the board contact for financial matters.
Douglas E. Libby, Former Chairman, served as counsel for the Sewanhaka Central High School District from 1980 through 2012. He is a certified impartial hearing officer who hears cases arising from special education disputes within the City of New York. Mr. Libby is a past President of the New York State Association of School Attorneys. He has served as Chair of the Nassau County Bar Association’s Education Law Committee and as Program Chair for the New York State Association of School Attorneys and the Nassau-Suffolk Academies of Law. Mr. Libby has lectured at seminars sponsored by the New York State School Boards Association, the Mid-Hudson School Study Council and the Nassau and Suffolk Bar Associations. He has lectured at the Continuing Legal Education Program sponsored by Hofstra University School of Law and has served as adjunct professor at C.W. Post’s Graduate Department. Though he currently lives in Westchester, he previously served as president of the parish council for Sacred Heart Parish and as chairman of the school board. Mr. Libby is the board contact for the Facilities Committee.
Ann DeBenedittis is a former Human Resources professional who has held many roles in Training and Development. While with Chase Manhattan Bank, she was responsible for designing, developing, facilitating, and evaluating training programs for Regional Bank employees. She also assisted in conducting Needs Assessment analysis to determine necessary training interventions and helped to market training programs. Mrs. DeBenedittis has been a member of Sacred Heart Parish for over twenty-five years. Her four children attended Sacred Heart School/Catholic Academy, where they received excellent educations. During her years at Sacred Heart, Mrs. DeBenedittis has assisted with the Parish Meals on Wheels program, managed the school’s annual Scholastic Book Fair, and helped in the school library. She graduated from Hofstra University with a BA in English. She also completed some graduate work in Human Resource Management at NYU. She and her family live in Bayside. Mrs. DeBenedittis is the board contact for the Marketing and Strategic Planning Committees.
Rose Meza teaches as an Adjunct Professor of History at Nassau Community College. She has worked in education for many years and continues to see teaching as a gift and vocation from God to help others and create life-long learners. She is currently researching and writing the topic of Great War Medicine. She and her beloved late husband, Pedro, have served Sacred Heart Parish in a variety of roles over the course of their many years as faithful parishioners.