Margarita K. Dilley, Chair
Former Telecommunications Executive

Ms. Dilley is a consultant, prior to which she was the Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and a Director of ASTROLINK International LLC from 1998 to 2004, a Director of Strategy & Corporate Development and Treasurer of INTELSAT from 1992 to 1998 and Treasurer, COMSAT Corporation, from 1987 to 1992. 

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University, a Master of Arts from Columbia University, and a Master of Business Administration from Wharton Graduate School, University of Pennsylvania.

Ms. Dilley is the Chair of the Board of Directors of CH Energy Group, Inc. and of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation; she serves on the Audit & Risk Committee and the Governance & Human Resources Committee.  She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Fortis Inc. 

Ms. Dilley has been a Director since 2004.

Geoffrey L. Brackett
Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Marist College

Mr. Brackett is the Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Marist College, serving as executive vice president since 2010 where he oversees many of the key operating areas of the college, including information technology, human resources, student affairs, institutional research and planning, buildings and grounds, and safety and security.

He also oversees the strategic planning and annual operations for the college, and he serves as the key point of contact for local government officials.

Mr. Brackett earned a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Oxford.

Mr. Brackett has been a Director since 2020; he serves on the Audit & Risk Committee.

Heather Briccetti Mulligan, Esq.
President and Chief Executive Officer, The Business Council of New York State, Inc.

Ms. Mulligan is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Business Council of New York State, Inc., the statewide association advocating for New York’s business community.

Ms. Mulligan joined The Business Council in 2007, as Vice President of Government Affairs, overseeing the organization’s legislative and pro-growth agendas. She holds a Juris Doctor from Albany Law School.  Prior to The Business Council, she was a consultant and lobbyist for Powers and Company, where she advised clients on a range of issues including high-profile economic development projects such as the Javits Center expansion and the new Yankee Stadium in New York City.

She has also served as assistant counsel to the New York State Senate majority, as a legislative aide and counsel to the New York State Assembly majority committee on Racing and Wagering, and special counsel in the New York State Attorney General’s Office.  She also founded a private law practice, Sweeney & Wollowitz, and she served as the chief public defender for Rensselaer County, earlier in her career.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the State University of New York at Binghamton and a J.D. from Albany Law School.

Ms. Mulligan has been a Director since 2014; she serves on the Governance & Human Resources Committee.

Christopher M. Capone
Chief Executive Officer, Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp.

Christopher M. Capone is the CEO of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp where he oversees all aspects of the regulated utility’s business operations. He has held this position since 2023. Capone is also a member of the Board of Directors.

He began his career with Central Hudson in 2000 as the Assistant Treasurer-Investor Relations and prior to becoming CEO, served as the company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Capone earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certification, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from Marist College.

He has served on boards and committees for various community organizations including the United Way, Mid-Hudson Workshop for the Disabled, Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie, and was on the grants Committee at the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley. Capone is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley and a member of the Marist School of Management Advisory Board.

Kevin Cleary
Former Vice President, Sales Transaction Support and Senior Location Executive, IBM

Mr. Cleary served as the Vice President of Sales Transactions Support of IBM from January 2011 to 2017, and he also served as the Senior Location Executive at IBM’s manufacturing and development site in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., from 2012 to 2017.  In these roles, Mr. Cleary managed an organization of more than 2,500 professionals. Mr. Cleary served as the Vice President, Hardware Sales North America of IBM, overseeing a $7 billion hardware sales business, from January 2010 to 2011, and, prior to that, served from January 2008 to January 2010 as General Manager Asset Recovery Services of IBM, where he was responsible for worldwide used equipment sales, generating annual revenue of approximately $2 billion.

He is a member of the boards of directors of Vassar Brothers Medical Center, Poughkeepsie Alliance and the United Way of Dutchess and Orange Region. 

Mr. Cleary earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Syracuse University.

Mr. Cleary has been a Director since 2016; he serves as the Chair of the Governance & Human Resources Committee.

Patricia Cosgel
Former Senior Vice President and CFO, Avangrid, Inc.

Ms. Cosgel is a retired senior vice president and CFO at Avangrid, Inc. She brings extensive utility and renewable energy experience to Central Hudson's board of directors. Throughout her 34-year career, Cosgel held vice president positions in investor relations and treasury. She started her career as a bank analyst at the Federal Reserve.

Cosgel earned a bachelor’s degree from Dickinson College and a master’s degree in arts economics from the University of Iowa.

Cosgel was part of the Avangrid Management Committee, the Iberdrola global Finance Committee and the executive sponsor for Avangrid's WomEnergy (Women in Energy) diversity business resource group and the ESG/Sustainability Committee.

Leecia Roberta Eve
Partner, Ichor Strategies

Ms. Eve is a Partner with Ichor Strategies, a management consulting firm that is now the largest Black-owned professional services firm in the nation.

Previous roles include positions with Verizon as both Vice President of Public Policy and Vice President of Government Affairs for the Tri-State region. Her extensive experience in government includes serving as Judiciary Counsel to then-Senator Joe Biden; Counsel and Homeland Security Advisor to then-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks; General Counsel of Empire State Development; and Deputy Secretary for Economic Development for New York State under Governor Andrew Cuomo, where she oversaw 11 state agencies and billions in public-private capital investment.

A native of Buffalo, Eve resides in New York City. She earned an AB degree from Smith College, an MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a law degree from Harvard Law School.

Other affiliations include Chair of the Board of Directors of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and board member of Educational Housing Services.

Susan Gray
Chief Executive Officer,  UNS Energy Corporation

Ms. Gray is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Tucson Electric Power and UniSource Energy Services, and their parent company, UNS Energy Corporation. She joined Tucson Electric as an engineering student in 1994.

Ms. Gray is a founding member of Women in Energy, a group that seeks to develop, mentor and inspire women in the energy industry. She serves on the boards of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council, Sun Corridor and the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management and College of Engineering. She also serves on advisory boards for Edison Electric Institute and Western Energy Institute.

Ms. Gray earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Arizona.

Ms. Gray has been a director since 2021. She serves as a member of the Governance and Human Resources Committee. 

Mark Kastner, P.E.
Former President, LaBella Associates

Mr. Kastner served as the President of The Chazen Companies (now known as LaBella Associates), a professional engineering, land surveying, environmental, planning and landscape architecture-services firm based in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Mr. Kastner’s volunteer involvement includes service on behalf of the Hudson Valley County Economic Development Corporation, the Council of Industry of Southeastern New York, and he has served on the board of the Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress and the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries/Clarkson University. 

He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Clarkson University and a Master of Business Administration from Union College.  He is a licensed professional engineer in the state of New York.

Mr. Kastner has been a Director since 2013; he serves on the Audit & Risk Committee.

Mary D. Madden
Former President and Chief Executive Officer, Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union

Ms. Madden served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hudson Valley Credit Union.

She serves on the board of directors of Nuvance Health and the Mid-Hudson Pattern for Progress.  In the past, she has played a leadership role with several groups including the American Heart Association of Dutchess/Ulster, the Filene Research Council, the Dutchess County Economic Development Corporation, and the advisory council for Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh.

From 2011 to 2016, she served the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on its local advisory panel reporting to the national Community Deposit Institutions Advisory Council. Ms. Madden was named 2011 Business Person of the Year by the Poughkeepsie Journal and 2013 Woman of the Year by the Junior League of Poughkeepsie.  She also received the 2010 Commitment to Community award from Greater Southern Dutchess County Chamber of Commerce.

She earned a Bachelor's degree from Indiana University and her Master of Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts.

Ms. Madden serves as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Board of Directors of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation.

Ms. Madden has been a Director since 2013.

James R. Reid
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, Fortis Inc.

Mr. Reid is the Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Fortis Inc.

Mr. Reid was previously a partner with Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP in Toronto where he practiced for 20 years. Prior to joining Fortis, Mr. Reid had a 15-year relationship with Fortis Inc., having advised on corporate governance matters, large capital market transactions, regulatory applications and mergers and acquisitions in both Canada and the United States.

He earned a Bachelor of Laws from the Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia, and Bachelor of Arts (Political Science) from McGill University in Montreal.

Mr. Reid was an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto for 10 years, teaching the Advanced Business Law Workshop in corporate finance. He was also an original member of the Dean’s Advisory Committee for the Centre for Business Law at the University of British Columbia, serving until 2020.

Mr. Reid serves on the Boards of Directors of UNS Energy, FortisAlberta, Central Hudson and FortisOntario, all Fortis utilities. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Wataynikaneyap Power PM, a Fortis subsidiary acting as the project manager for the Wataynikaneyap Power Transmission Project, a partnership with 24 First Nations that is building a transmission line to connect 17 First Nations communities in Northwestern Ontario to the power grid.

Mr. Reid has been a Director since 2022, and serves as a member of the Governance and Human Resources Committee.