Chairperson

Yean has been involved with RYLA since participating as a RYLArian during his sophomore year of high school in 2014. He was fortunate enough to serve on the committee of 2015-16 as a Senior Leader. He gratefully served as Alumni Chair for the RYLA 7255 Organizational Committee from 2020-23. During his time in the role of Alumni Co-Chair, Yean helped jumpstart many new initiatives. His focus was primarily administrative tasks, curriculum development, applications systems, and mentorship. Investing in the students he mentors is his number one priority. Yean has a B.S in Media/Communications, and a M.A in Higher Education/Student Affairs from New York University. Now he works full time with students as an Administrator at SUNY Fashion Institute of Technology. His dedication to RYLA has existed since day 1, not missing a single major event since 2014. He has come back to volunteer every year since graduating high school. Although he has always been an outgoing leader, Yean credits RYLA with helping him hone in on the kind of leader he wants to be. He truly credits RYLA, and his work with the Senior Leader Committee, for inspiring his career path. Yean hopes to continue to grow in RYLA as he steps into the District Chairperson role. Within this role, he hopes to reimagine a lot of what RYLA 7255 does, and wants to continue improving/modernizing the program. More importantly he can't wait to help all future generations of RYLA get the transformative experience he received!

Treasurer

Diane Pacifico Marmann is a four-time President of the Mineola-Garden City Rotary Club and the longtime Treasurer of the RYLA District 7255 Committee, having been involved with RYLA for over a decade. Diane has served as the Youth Protection Officer for District 7250 YEP, and a Youth Exchange host Mom twice. She was Committee Chair of the District Conference in 2020-21 and Co-Chair in 2011-12.  She has also served on the Installation Committee for incoming District Governors. Diane loves interacting with the students who attend RYLA and hearing their stories about how the efforts made by the RYLA Committee has truly changed the lives of many young individuals. Diane is an attorney in Hicksville specializing in Real Estate and Wills, Trusts and Estates, and in her "spare" time is involved as a director, stage manager and actor with the Cultural Arts Playhouse and The Kings of the Coast Pirate Show.

Immediate-Past Chairperson

Lydia has been part of the RYLA family since 2002most recently serving as the RYLA District 7255 chairperson. Lydia was recently named the District Governor Nominee and will serve as District Governor in the 2025-2026 Rotary year. Her educational background includes a BS in Elementary Education and a MS plus in Guidance and Counseling. She spent 30 years as a Guidance Counselor in the Greenport School district and before that was a elementary teacher for the Department of Defense. Lyds has been a Rotarian for 22 years. She has served three terms as president of the Rotary Club of Greenport. She has held several Rotary District positions and has been blessed to travel with Rotary on humanitarian trips to Cambodia, and Nepal. Lyds has several passions. She loves to travel and she loves being part of the RYLA family. She has watched the program grow from a one afternoon program run by adults to a year round program run by students. She is extremely proud to have had the opportunity to to share our wonderful RYLA program by participating in several international and zone panels for Rotarians worldwide. Lydia feels blessed to help guide so many young people in their leadership journey and loves that so many of our Rylarians stay involved with the
program as they become adult leaders. She can’t wait to see how the program continues to grow with
all our leaders!!!

Summer RYLA Director

Thud actively serves as the past-President of the Riverhead Rotary Club and past Chairperson of the RYLA Committee and has devoted extensive time and effort to community-minded organizations of various avenues. He is the Executive Director of Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch, located in Riverhead, New York. This is a not-for-profit agency that provides residential and group care for adolescents; he has held various positions within the childcare field including, administrative, clinical and direct  care. Previously, Thud has served as President for Long Island Family & Youth Services (LIFY), Chairman of the Riverhead Youth Committee and a Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies (COFCCA) Board Member along with many other positions in his community including the Riverhead High School Varsity Football Team assistant coach from 1997-2005. Mr. Hill is an avid fan of both physical and mental fitness and is actively involved in the RYLA District 7255 Committee.

Alumni Chairperson

Jesse has been involved with RYLA since his sophomore year of High School back in 2017. He was blessed with the opportunity to serve on the Senior Leader Committee of 2018-2019 during his senior year of High School as he now serves as the new Alumni Chair & Alumni Association Director of RYLA 7255. Jesse has a B.S Communications, Media Production from Eastern Connecticut State University as he is now the Director of Athletic Media at Eastern Connecticut. His passion and love for RYLA has carried him through all of his academic, athletic and professional journeys as he credits most of his success to the program and how it shaped him into the young man he is today. With his new role in RYLA, Jesse hopes to give back to the students of RYLA with the comradery of his fellow Alumni of the program to expand their horizons in the acts of leadership and service. Jesse calls this program home and being able to serve this community is what makes him hold his role so close to his heart!

Director of Operations & Administration

Tim is a proud RYLA alumni who served in a variety of capacities from his participation as a Rylarian, Facilitator, Senior Leader, and Administrative Intern. He credits his brother Chris, another RYLA alum, for involving him with the program and helping him to find a home within RYLA 7255. His favorite part of the program is seeing ways in which students develop their leadership skills which otherwise would've remained dormant within them. Tim is currently studying at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College of Education and Human Development where he studies the relationship between schooling, society and education. At RYLA he oversees the expansion and development of program initiatives and is always looing for ways to innovate a program rooted in the tradition of capitalizing on the endless potential of our youth. Outside of RYLA, Tim is an avid country music fan and enjoys time spent by the water!

Committee Member

Jean Mahoney has been a member of the Southold Rotary Club since 2012, and credits RYLA for piquing her interest in Rotary. An English teacher at Mattituck High School for 30 years, Jean was the advisor to the Mattituck Interact Club, the 10th grade advisor, and coached Junior High cross country, and Junior high track. A lover of dogs, Jean is often walking or spending time with her Bernese mountain dog, Morgan, and her rescue dog, Dobby. Otherwise, Jean can be found reading mysteries, or working in her garden.

Committee Member

Barbara Ackermann has been a member of the Southold Rotary for over 3 decades, having become the first woman rotarian of her district upon taking her oath!  A retired Guidance Director and School Counselor of the Southold School District, Barbara began her professional career as a child protective caseworker and a medical social worker. She continues to serve her community not only through Rotary but on the Board of East End Counselors Association, and the North Fork School Advisory Committee, as well. She is a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, and was involved in HUGS from its inception, serving on the Board of Directors for several years. She has served two terms as President of Southold Rotary, in addition to her plethora of other roles within the club. Barbara has served in a number of roles in Rotary including, but not limited to, a multiple time Assistant Governor, the District Scholarship Chairperson and a member of the Youth Exchange Committee. Barbara's valiant efforts to embed the mission of RYLA, "Service Before Self," in all corners of her life has garnered recognition from the Southold Rotary honoring her with the establishment of the "Barbara Ackermann Award for Most Improved Student" and, likewise, from the East End Counselors Association in the establishment of "The Barbara Ackermann Counselor of The Year Award." Barbara is grateful to the experience RYLA has gifted her with as she continues to grow alongside the young people who attend. She passionately believes that RYLA is a life changing experience for all who are involved. 

Committee Member

Rich has been part of the RYLA family along with his wife Lydia since 2002. Rich is retired from the
government and also from his second career as a healthcare provider. Rich has been a Rotarian for six
years and he is a past president of the Rotary Club of Greenport and is currently serving as program
chairperson of his club. Rich enjoys traveling and has been part of several Rotary Humanitarian trips to
Cambodia and Nepal. With Rotary, the world is very small and he has had the opportunity to meet many
Rotarians at International conferences. Rich can be seen at RYLA either parking cars or being the “cut-up” guy. At summer, Rich gets up early each morning to fix fresh strawberries for the Rylarians. Rich enjoys watching the young rylarians grow and develop into confident leaders. Rich and Lydia have been married for 48 years and have two adult children and four grandchildren.

Committee Member

Joanne Maiorana-Davis has been a Rotarian since 2004 and has been Past President of two clubs, and  currently serves as President of Commack-Kings Park and Past Chairperson of a Group Study Exchange program.  Joanne is currently works with First National Bank of Long Island in East Setauket as a Branch Manager.  There are several reasons why she joined Rotary, it was an interest not only about “service above self” and doing for others but also about helping each other through business networking and having fun while doing both!  There are so many great projects and programs to participate in Rotary but RYLA is one of Joanne’s favorites because we are helping our youths develop leadership skills and come out of their shell or as they phrase it “come out of their comfort zone.”  Seeing the kids create new friendships, be non judgmental and learn from others is a very rewarding experience.  Watching them grow into young mature adults is amazing. Apart from volunteering Joanne enjoys reading, cooking, traveling and sharing good times with family and friends!

Committee Member

Stephanie joined Rotary in 2019.  She is the Past President of the Commack-Kings Park Rotary Club.  She is currently the Chair of RMB District 7255 and on the marketing committee for the LGBT Fellowship.  She has BAs in pure mathematics and psychology, and MBA in supply chain management, and Graduate Certificates in business analytics and industrial organizational psychology.  She has 14 years of experience teaching at the K-12 level and is currently a college professor and business owner.  Stephanie loves to travel and attend Islander games. Stephanie became involved with RYLA to further pursue her passion of working with students and helping to shape them to shape the future while becoming strong leaders.