ACR Health names new leaders for board of directors

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Suzanne Kondra-DeFuria has been elected chair of the board of directors of ACR Health. She is president of Potter Heating & Air Conditioning, and Perrone Plumbing Services, a commercial and residential business founded in 1944.

ACR Health says it is a Syracuse–based not-for-profit, community-based organization providing a range of support services to individuals with chronic diseases, including HIV/AIDS, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, asthma, substance-use disorders, and serious mental illnesses.

Kondra-DeFuria is one of two women in Central New York with her heating license and is the only woman-owned business in New York that is 8A certified in heating and air conditioning with the federal government, according to an ACR Health news release. She was appointed as the first female to the City of Syracuse Board of Mechanical Examiners by Mayor Stephanie Miner and was also elected the first female president of the Syracuse Heating and Air Conditioning Contractors Association, re-elected for four terms.

Andrew London has been elected vice chair of the ACR Health board of directors. He is a professor of sociology at Syracuse University (SU), a faculty affiliate in the university’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Program, a faculty associate in the Aging Studies Institute, a senior faculty affiliate in the Center for Policy Research, and a senior fellow in the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at SU. London specializes in teaching and researching the health, care, and well-being of stigmatized and vulnerable populations. 

Gina Tonello is secretary of the ACR board of directors. She is owner of Gina Tonello Designs and specializes in personalized hand-stamped jewelry. She has been on the ACR board since 2011 and has served as board secretary two years. Prior to starting her own business, Tonello was community relations manager for KeyBank. She has 13 years experience working in public relations, communications, advertising, and marketing.

Other ACR board members include: Kim J. Rieppel, treasurer; Anthony Adornato; Jerena Barkins; M. Paul Mahalick; David Reed; and Patrick Quigley, according to the ACR Health news release.

ACR Health says it has nine offices providing services in nine counties: Cayuga, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, and St. Lawrence.