Brooks-Rolling appointed to M&T Bank CNY Region Directors Advisory Council

SYRACUSE — M&T Bank announced it has appointed Me’Shae Brooks-Rolling to its Directors Advisory Council for the Central New York region. 

The 11-member council meets regularly throughout the year to provide M&T management with insight on a wide range of business, client, and community issues. 

Brooks-Rolling has been owner of the local franchise of EventPrep, Inc. since 2018. The national firm specializes in hotel and vendor contracting and meeting and event planning. She is the first owner/operator of the EventPrep brand in New York state and the Northeast territory. Brooks-Rolling is also a certified educator in personal finance and author of two books on financial literacy. In 2021, she will merge her passions of financial literacy and conference planning by producing the first-ever Financial Empowerment Summit. 

Brooks-Rolling was awarded an Alfred P. Sloan fellowship to pursue her Master of Public Administration degree from the Maxwell School of Public Administration (MPA) at Syracuse University, earning her MPA degree in 1990. She obtained a certificate in meeting and conference management at New York University and worked as a senior events coordinator in the City of New York Mayor’s office. Brooks-Rolling currently serves as executive director for the Upstate Minority Economic Alliance (UMEA), as well as an advisory board member of the WISE Women’s Business Center (Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship) and steering committee member of the CA$H Coalition of Onondaga County. 

“M&T’s Central New York Directors Advisory Council consists of local business leaders who advocate for our region and are actively involved in the community. This group provides a variety of perspectives and solutions for how we can grow, strengthen and improve our community,” Allen Naples, M&T Bank regional president for Central New York, said in a release.

“Me’Shae is an excellent addition to our advisory council. She is passionate about our region and brings a wealth of knowledge on entrepreneurship and financial literacy. With her experience in special events and hospitality, she will help deepen our understanding and inform our advocacy to support an industry that has been severely impacted by the pandemic,” Naples added. 

In addition to Brooks-Rolling, M&T Bank’s Directors Advisory Council for the Central New York region is comprised of: Andy Breuer, Hueber-Breuer Construction; Mara Charlamb, United Radio; James (Jim) Fox, O’Brien & Gere; Karyn Korteling, Pastabilities; Robert (Luke) Lewis, Lewis Custom Homes; Robert H. Linn, formerly with Ernst & Young; Joseph Mancuso, Hancock & Estabrook; Scott Shatraw, Utica First Insurance; Meg Tidd, VIP Structures; and Melissa Zell, The Pioneer Companies. 

M&T Bank’s Central New York regional headquarters manages operations for its 45 local offices, with nearly 500 employees across eight counties (Cayuga, Herkimer, Jefferson, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, and Seneca).