Frank DiLella is the Emmy Award winning host of “On Stage” on Spectrum News NY1, the news channel’s weekly half-hour theater program.

DiLella’s celebrity interviews, along with his in-depth reporting of the theatrical scene, have helped make him a trusted friend and confidant within the theater and entertainment communities in New York City and around the globe.

Since joining NY1 in 2004, DiLella has interviewed many legendary artists including Tom Hanks, Vanessa Redgrave, Bono, Nathan Lane, Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Patti LuPone, Bette Midler, Bernadette Peters, Hugh Jackman, Tom Stoppard, Lin-Manuel Miranda, James Earl Jones, Chita Rivera, Jane Fonda, Ben Vereen, Angela Lansbury, Lady Gaga, Tony Kushner and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

In the spring of 2018, DiLella was honored with an Emmy Award for best News Magazine Program for his Special on the Broadway musical “Come From Away.”

In 2019, DiLella received a New York Press Club Award in the category—Entertainment/TV for his special on the Broadway revival of “Angels in America”.

In addition to filing reports on the Broadway and off-Broadway scenes, DiLella has traveled internationally to cover theater in the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany and Canada.

Over the years, DiLella has acted as a contributing correspondent for the Tony Awards, the Olivier Awards at Royal Albert Hall, Playbill, MANHATTAN Magazine and Broadway Direct, and has given lectures on theater and journalism at Hofstra University and The American Theatre Wing. He has also appeared as a theater correspondent for the BBC, Sirius XM, “The Early Show” on CBS, CTV, and Al Jazeera TV. In 2013, he appeared on NBC’s “Smash,” portraying himself.

In October of 2019, Frank launched the entertainment podcast—“Show and Tell with Frank DiLella” on iHeart Radio.

A strong advocate of theater arts education, DiLella currently serves on the board of The Roger Rees Awards and is a part of the selection committee for the annual Clive Barnes Award and Foundation–which honors talented young professionals in the artistic fields of dance and theater.

DiLella received a degree from Fordham University at Lincoln Center and has since returned to his alma mater as an adjunct professor teaching theater journalism.

Martin Dunn is a social entrepreneur and human rights activist based in New York City. He is a leader in the fields of housing and community development and over the last 27 years has been involved in the development of more than 4,000 units of affordable housing. Since 1998, Martin has been President of Dunn Development Corp., a socially conscious, award-winning real estate developer with expertise in affordable and supportive housing. In addition to being an advocate on housing and homelessness issues in New York City and New York State, Martin is active in human rights campaigns around the world.

Dunn Development Corp.’s mission is to build the highest quality housing for low and middle-income New Yorkers, including those with disabilities and other special needs. Dunn Development Corp. has created innovative financing and program models that are highly regarded in the affordable and supportive housing fields. In addition to general affordable and mixed income housing, Dunn Development Corp. has developed new initiatives to serve the homeless, people with psychiatric disabilities, people living with HIV/AIDS and people with developmental disabilities. Dunn Development has also been at the forefront of incorporating healthy, active and sustainable design and green building into affordable housing and developed the first two ENERGY STAR rated mid or high-rise buildings in the United States.

From 1993 to 1997, Martin was the Executive Director of the East New York Urban Youth Corps, which at the time was one of New York City’s most dynamic and successful non-profit community development corporations. From 1989 to 1992, Martin held senior program and management positions at the Association to Benefit Children.

Martin has a B.A. in Political Science from Cornell University. He received the prestigious Reebok Human Rights Award in 1990 for his work with the Association to Benefit Children. Martin has served on the board of directors or advisory boards for numerous non-profit organizations and continues to be an active volunteer.

More information on non-profit board membership

Martin serves on the Boards of OutRight Action International, the Fund for Global Human Rights, the New York State Association for Affordable Housing and the Citizen’s Housing and Planning Council; he also serves on the advisory boards of the Furman Center at New York University and the New York Housing Conference. He previously was a long-term member of the Boards of Directors of Hour Children, Supportive Housing Network of New York, the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, Forefront Activists: a Global Network of Human Rights Defenders, Neighbors Against Garbage and Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES).

Chris Gallin, along with his wife Nancy, has supported Mercy Center for more than a decade. An active civic and parish member, Chris is also the president of John Gallin & Son, a 134-year-old general construction company focused on commercial interiors. Giving back to the community is a longtime family tradition and one which Chris honors. He is the chair of the board of directors at Iona Preparatory School in New Rochelle, his alma mater. His father, uncles, four brothers, and three sons all attended Iona Prep. Chris is also a board member for Cardinal McCloskey Community Services, a nonprofit serving children in foster care and preschoolers from low income families since 1946.

An active parishioner in the Annunciation-Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Chris is a past president of the Annunciation Men’s Club. He is also Minister of the Work of the Annunciation Parish.

When he is not at church or a board meeting, you can catch Chris on stage with the Park Hill Players Group and with the Annunciation—Our Lady of Fatima Players. His inner thespian has been evident in his past roles in shows such as Play On, Lend me a Tenor and Angels in Paris.  He looks forward to taking the stage once community theater re-opens.

As president of John Gallin & Son, Chris is committed to exceptional customer service. The company was started by his great-great-grandfather, John Gallin, an Irish immigrant and mason, in 1886. John Gallin was committed to a multi-generation company from the very beginning, naming the company John Gallin & Son well before his one and only son was born. Chris’s middle son Patrick has joined the family business along with three of his first cousins— making them the fifth generation of Gallins to work in the family business.

Chris is most proud of his close-knit family. He feels lucky he was able to lure wife Nancy away from her own close family in Ohio. He threw her a surprise party when her years in New York exceeded the number of years she had lived in Ohio. Chris is a longtime resident of the Crestwood community of Yonkers. His commitments to tradition and giving back are most noteworthy.

Nancy Gallin, a community leader, businesswoman, and educator, has spent most of her life making other people’s lives better. Nancy and her husband Chris have been supporters of Mercy Center for more than a decade. With a BA in social work from the University of Dayton, Nancy began her career as an elementary school teacher in the Bronx. A resident of the Crestwood community in Yonkers, New York, for 25+ years, Nancy is a civic leader and active member of the Annunciation-Our Lady of Fatima Parish.

As a civic leader, Nancy does not take “no” for an answer. When the City of Yonkers was unable to replace outdated playground equipment for the Richard W. Schultze Park, Nancy organized a group of local residents who raised funds. Her efforts with the Playground Improvement Committee contributed to the park redesign and new equipment for the Ann Maher Freddolino Memorial Playground at Schultze Field. Similarly, when she approached the City about bringing back the tradition of holiday lights for the Christmas tree near the Crestwood train station, undeterred by the initial“no” she received, she convinced the head of the Yonkers Parks Department to have the tree decorated with Christmas lights, and it has been lit every year since.

Nancy is an active member of the Annunciation Ladies Guild, spearheading more fundraising efforts than can be listed—all supporting the church’s charitable work. She conceived of Crestwood Blanket Project, helping to design the decorative throws depicting historic community scenes, with proceeds helping the church accomplish its mission of community service.

Nancy’s philanthropy reaches beyond her immediate community. After suffering a major brain aneurysm, requiring over eight hours of neurosurgery, she bounced back to become an active fundraiser for stroke research. Her efforts included training for a marathon, which she completed on the island of Jamaica, with all of her fundraising proceeds designated for the Westchester Stroke Research Fund.

Originally from Bay Village, Ohio, Nancy met Chris during college at the University of Dayton. They have three grown sons: Kevin will soon complete his PhD in English at Duke University, Patrick is married and has joined the family business, and Connor is on track to finish his PhD in Chemistry at Boston College.

Eugene R. Sullivan focused his 32-year career at Norton Rose Fulbright (formerly Chadbourne & Parke) on securities and corporate law, structured finance, project finance, and international financial transactions.

Since his retirement in 2000, Gene has provided pro bono legal assistance through Mercy Center in the Bronx where his practice covered a broad range of issues including immigration and family law.

He has continued his international interest by serving in 2000–2001 as head of the Budapest Office of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law. For several months in 2007 he assisted Public Interest Law Institute to establish a pro bono clearinghouse in Moscow. In 2011 he became coordinator of the Arms Trade Treaty Legal Response Network, a group of 70 lawyers from around the world providing real time legal advice to UN delegates negotiating an arms trade treaty which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on April 2, 2013.

Mary Anne Sullivan served as ESL (English as a Second Language) Coordinator
at Mercy Center 2004–2006 as well as helping with the Mercy Center Garden. She taught ESL for 10 years in the New York area, Russia, and Budapest. A founder of Larchmont-Mamaroneck Community Television, Mary Anne currently stays busy speaking about the importance of voting, training others to run voter registration drives, and registering voters.

Sister Patricia Vetrano currently serves as the elected leader of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Mid-Atlantic. She has served in this position for the past nine years. Prior to that, she was the vice-president of the Mid-Atlantic for four years and of the New York regional community for seven years. Prior to being elected to leadership, Sister Pat served in the New York area in elementary education, formation ministry, secondary counseling and as a high school principal.  Sister Patricia holds bachelor degrees in education and psychology from Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, New York, a master’s degree in education from City College, New York, and a master’s degree in counseling from Manhattan College, New York.  She is a certified secondary school administrator as well as a spiritual director. Sister Pat has served on a variety of boards including Catholic health systems, foundations and social service and educational ministries. In her free time, Sister Pat relishes leisure time with her family and friends, reading or listening to a good book as well as fun in the sun.