Board of Directors
Donna S. Breaux, Executive Director
Donna accepted the position of Executive Director of St. Andrew's Village in October 2008 after serving as a board member for several years. Most recently Donna served as Director of Pro-Life Services for Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans. In 2008, Ms. Breaux was appointed by Governor Bobby Jindal to Chair the Governor's Advisory Council on Disability Affairs. She also serves as the Vice Chair for the LA Developmental Disabilities Council. Donna's oldest daughter, Kayla passed away in 2007 at the age of 16 due to complications of her developmental disability. Kayla lived at home with her family and was an active member in her community and school. She and her family received the 2007 Governor's Disability Community Action & Leadership Family of the Year award. Donna lives in Kenner, is married to Greg and together they raise Kacey, a freshman at Dominican High School.
Gary N. Solomon, Sr., Chair
Gary has been an active venture capitalist for the past 20 years and is currently involved with companies that employ approximately 1,200 employees. He graduated from the University of New Orleans with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. Mr. Solomon is the Chairman of the Board/CEO of Crescent Bank & Trust. Gary’s philanthropic involvement includes St. Martin’s Episcopal School, the Louisiana Children’s Museum, the UNO Foundation, the UNO School of Business, Baptist Community Ministries and the New Orleans City Park Improvement Association.
Gary has also been actively involved with many special needs groups including St. Michael’s Special School, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of La, the Fore Kid’s Foundation and the Greater New Orleans Foundation. Gary has been instrumental in the recovery of New Orleans including the work he has done with GNO, Inc., the Bring New Orleans Back Commission and as a board member of the Unified New Orleans Plan group.
Gary was recently honored by the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Disability Affairs as the 2008 Volunteer of the Year. His previous awards include the American Red Cross Humanitarian of the Year, the NSFRE Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year, the St. Elizabeth’s Guild Volunteer Activist, the UNO Alumni of the Year – Homer Hitt Award, the Young Leadership Council Role Model and the Cystic Fibrosis Volunteer of the Year. Gary is married and has 3 children.
Honorable Judge Jay C. Zainey, President
Judge Zainey was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Judge Zainey is a guest lecturer throughout the country to Judges, attorneys and law students on Ethics, Professionalism and providing Pro Bono Legal Services. As the past president of the La State Bar Association he created and developed the Committee to Provide Legal Services for the Disabled. He is past president of the Jefferson Bar Association and the Judge John C. Boutall American Inn of Court. His numerous awards include the 2008 Homines Pro Aliis Award by the Jesuit Provence, the Distinguished Jurist Award from both the Louisiana Bar Foundation and the Pro Bono Project, the Humanitarian Award for Distinguished Leadership on Behalf of the Homeless by Unity of Greater New Orleans and the St. Elizabeth’s Guild Community Activist Award.
Judge Zainey founded the Homeless Experience Legal Protection (H.E.L.P.) Program, is co-founder of SOLACE – a La State Bar Association sponsored program to provide assistance to lawyers and legal support and legal staff during times of tragedy. He helped found the Tulane Law School Disability Law Society and acts as its advisor. He has served as a member of the President’s Task Force on Mental Retardation and as president of the Extra Mile program with the Jefferson Parish Human Services Authority.
Judge Zainey is the founder of God’s Special Children. He and his family received the 2006 Governor’s Disability Community Action and Leadership Family of the Year award. He was recently honored as the 2008 Jesuit High School Alumnus of the Year. Judge Zainey is married with 3 children.
Mark C. Surprenant, Treasurer
Mark is the Senior Partner in charge of the New Orleans office for Adams and Reese and is the Agricultural Chemicals Practice Team Leader. He is a member of the Louisiana, Texas and American Bar Associations.
Since the beginning of his career, Mark has been dedicated to community service. In 1988, he created HUGS, Adams and Reese’s corporate philanthropy program, and in 2000, he created CARE, the firm’s official pro bono program. He is also the co-founder of SOLACE, Inc. Mark’s most recent honors include receiving the Camille F. Gravel, Jr. Pro Bono Award from the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal bar Association (2008); the Leah Hipple McKay Memorial Award for Outstanding Volunteerism from the Louisiana State Bar Association (2008); a “Role Model of the Year” by the Young Leadership Council of New Orleans (2007) and “Great Gentleman for 2007” by the East Jefferson General Hospital Auxiliary. Also notable is that Mark has received the Louisiana Bar Association President’s Award for Professionalism. Mark is married with 3 children.
Tony Lopez
Tony graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in Industrial Management. After graduation he served for two years in the U.S. Army before joining IBM. Tony has held various sales/management positions with IBM and is currently the Sales Executive for General Business in Louisiana. As the parent of a 23 year old with developmental disabilities, Tony has spent the past fifteen years working on the creation of his dream to create a community like St. Andrew’s Village. He is a former board member of the 5p-Society, a support group for parents of children with Cri-du-Chat syndrome. He also spent 8 years as a volunteer coach for special populations in Mandeville. Tony is married with 3 children.
Donald Kearns
Donald is an Assistant District Attorney for St. Tammany Parish and General Counsel for Slidell Memorial Hospital. Donald has a Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University and a Juris Doctorate from LSU School of Law. He is a U.S. Army veteran. Donald is past president of the Louisiana Society of Hospital Attorneys and an instructor in the MBA program at Southeastern Louisiana University. He is the Chancellor of the Anglican Catholic Church, Diocese of New Orleans. Donald and his wife Sandy have three children, Elizabeth, Patrick and Andrew.
Dr. John Wales
Dr. Wales is the Medical Director of the Emergency Department at East Jefferson General Hospital. He received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and obtained his M.D. from Albany Medical College in Albany, New York. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from Tulane University. John served as a Major in the USAF Medical Corps. He has been active at EJGH, having served as Chairman of the EJGH Foundation Board. In 1999, he was named the EJGH Foundation "Volunteer of the Year". He was named EJGH Physician of the Year for 2008. He is a member of the Jefferson Parish Medical Society, the LA State Medical Society, the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American Medical Association. He enjoys tennis, photography, and playing the piano. John and his wife, Peggy, have 4 daughters.
Peter R. Quirk
Peter holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from LSU and served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Currently Peter is the Executive Director of the Department of Development and the Catholic Foundation. He previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer for Walk, Haydel & Associates, Inc. Peter is very involved in the local community and serves on numerous non-profit boards including Our Lady of Holy Cross College, Xavier University Board of Visitors, the University of New Orleans Foundation, Christopher Homes, Xavier Prep, the Will Woods Community, Closer Walk Ministries and the Archbishop’s Community Appeal Executive Committee. Peter was recently named the 2008 Outstanding Fundraising Professional by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater New Orleans Chapter. Other recognitions include being named the Young Leadership Council’s 2007 Outstanding Role Model, University of New Orleans Business/Education Leader Award, Jesuit High School Outstanding Alumnus, and the Order of St. Louis Award. Peter and his wife have 6 children.
August J. Kuntz
Mr. Kuntz is a graduate of De La Salle High School and earned BA and Master of Education Degrees from Southeastern Louisiana University. He is the Owner/Managing Partner of Pump Systems, LLC. He is also the Managing Partner of Aug-Jan Properties, LLC. August is a Chapter Officer of Legatus New Orleans Northshore and a graduate of the St. Tammany Leadership Program 2009. He is a member of Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Church, a past member of the MQP Pastoral Council, a CCD teacher, and a board member of the Youth Service Bureau. August and his wife have 2 daughters.
Richard M. Wilson
Richard graduated from LSU Baton Rouge with a degree in Finance. For the past 23 years he has been providing solutions to clients concerning their wealth and financial planning needs. He is a Vice President/Investment Management Consultant with the Wilson/McGuinness Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Mandeville, LA. Richard also received his Chartered Financial Consultant designation in 1994 from the American College.
Richard has been active with the St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce, having served as Chairman of the Board and as a Director. He has also served as an Advisory Board Member for the Chamber. In 1997, Richard graduated from the Leadership St. Tammany West Program, which identifies and orients future leaders within St. Tammany Parish. For several years he was also a volunteer coach for Recreation District 1 (Pelican Park), and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Friends of Pelican Park, as Treasurer. Richard and his wife, Hope, have 3 children.
Donna R. St. Cyr
Donna spent many years in the public and Catholic school system working first as a chemistry and physics teacher and later as a librarian. She holds a BS in zoology and a MS in library and information science from LSU. She is married to Steve and they make their home in Baton Rouge with their 3 children and two black labs. Donna has been an active volunteer for St. Jude the Apostle church and school, St. Joseph’s Academy, and Catholic High School. When not volunteering on behalf of St. Andrew’s Village, she enjoys writing for children.
Peggy Wales, Friends of St. Andrew's Village
Peggy is President of the Friends of St. Andrew’s Village volunteer group. She is actively involved with increasing community awareness of SAV through planning a variety of friend raisers and fundraisers.
Peggy earned her MSN/Gerontological Nurse Practitioner degree from Boston University where she was a Robert Wood Johnson scholarship recipient. She practiced in Maryland, Virginia, and Colorado before moving to Louisiana 16 years ago from Albany, New York. Peggy and her husband, John, have four daughters. Their youngest daughter, Erin, is a sophomore in the special education program in high school.
Peggy is on the Special Education Advisory Council for the LA Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), and is past secretary of the Northshore Families Helping Families. She is also a CASA volunteer. She has recently been appointed to a task force with St Tammany Parish Schools to increase vocational opportunities for special high school students. She is involved with the Best Buddies Program, Rouquette Lodge Grandfriend Program, and the PTSA. She enjoys tennis, bridge and book club discussions.
Advisory Board:
James B. Barkate
James is President/CEO and founder of Southern Abstracts, Inc. a real estate research firm that represents more than 400 lawyers and law firms in the title industry. He serves on the boards of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Legatus International, and the Bureau of Governmental Research. He is also a member of the Executive Board of the Jefferson Business Council. James is a previous board member of the Academy of the Sacred Heart, Lakeside Country Club and the New Orleans Pro-Bono Project. He was honored by St. Elizabeth’s Guild as Activist of the Year 2007. James is married with two children and is an active member of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Metairie.
Mark C. Romig, APR
Mark is Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations for Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) – Delta Division. HCA is one of the nation’s largest healthcare providers, operating hospitals in 20 states and England. Locally HCA is partnered with Tulane University at Tulane Medical Center and Tulane-Lakeside Hospital in Metairie and owns Lakeview Regional Medical Center in Covington. Prior to joining HCA, Mark served as President of Peter A. Mayer Advertising’s Public Relations Division. Mark graduated from Brother Martin High School and holds a Bachelor of Science in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism from the University of New Orleans. He is a member of the Board of Trustees for Xavier University of Louisiana, on the boards of the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, Brothers of the Sacred Heart Foundation, Longue Vue House and Gardens, and is a member of the Sugar Bowl Executive Committee, serving as president 2005-2006. Mark also serves as a member of the City Park Board of Commissioners. Mark is a member of St. Rita Parish in New Orleans.
Professional Consultants:
Mary M. Gilliam MBA, CFRE – Marketing & Fundraising Consultant
Mary Gilliam is a free-lance development and nonprofit management consultant. Her clients represent a variety of industries including education, healthcare, faith-based endeavors, and community development. Since 2001, she has raised over 20 million dollars for her clients. Mary is a founding Board Member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) – Greater Northshore Chapter. She has been an AFP- New Orleans Chapter member since 2002. She also holds a membership in the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations (LANO). Mary earned an MBA degree from The Executive MBA Program at Tulane University in 1989, is a Certified Fundraising Executive and has won numerous local awards.
Roselle M. Ungar, CFRE
Roselle Middleberg Ungar, a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE), is currently employed as Director of Community and Philanthropic Affairs for Crescent Bank & Trust. She directs the execution of existing as well as new community and philanthropic initiatives by serving as a liaison and/or consultant.
During her professional career she has also served as the Assistant Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, as a Registered Nurse and as the Director of Special Projects and Volunteer Supervisor for the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation. In that position, Roselle recruited and supervised 6,000 volunteers for the activities related to Super Bowl XXXI. Roselle serves on the Executive Committee and is a former National Vice President of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America.