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New to the board are Scott Bates, a resident of Stonington, and New Canaan residents Peter Krieger and Brian Lavigne.
“Through this expanded board, VOICES will continue to address the long-term needs of those impacted by 9/11, while helping communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from other acts of mass violence and disasters,” said Mary Fetchet, founding director.
“VOICES has been able to call on the counsel of experienced business leaders and public policy experts and leading mental health professionals to guide the current and future direction of our work,” said Board Chairman Kurt Wolfgruber. “Our expert advisers also include 9/11 family members and survivors who provide a unique perspective.”
The new board members have all been supportive of the organization in the past.
Bates has extensive experience on Capitol Hill, having served in leadership capacities for a number of senators and congressmen. After the September 11th attacks, Bates served as the first senior policy adviser to the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee. He helped lead the team that produced a dozen reports on homeland security issues ranging from border security to bioterrorism.
Bates holds a juris doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law, a master's in International Relations from the London School of Economics and graduated magna cum laude in History and Political Science from the University of Dayton. He lives in Stonington with his wife and son. He is Chairman of the Connecticut Port Authority Board of Directors and Executive Director of the Connecticut Institute for the 21st Century.
Krieger is a Regional Leadership Gifts Officer for the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. He spent his career in advertising and media, working in every facet of media, including print, TV, digital, video-on- demand, digital out-of- home, online video, mobile and in-store satellite radio. He is a graduate of Bucknell University and is married to Anne Krieger, a Realtor with William Pitt Sotheby’s in New Canaan. They have three sons.
Lavigne is a financial adviser and member of the Bermont/Carlin Group at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management servicing high net worth individuals and families, institutions, corporate entities and not-for-profit corporations. Lavigne has 16 years of experience in financial services, 13 of which have been at Morgan Stanley.
On Sept. 11, 2001, Lavigne escaped the 60th Floor of Tower Two along with 2,700 Morgan Stanley colleagues. Most recently he served as an executive director in the Capital Markets Division of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.
He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame in Marketing and Computer Applications. Lavigne resides in New Canaan with his wife and three children.
VOICES was co-founded in 2001 by Mary Fetchet, a licensed clinical social worker whose 24 year old son Brad perished on 9/11, and Beverly Eckert, whose husband Sean Rooney died in the attacks. The organization provides a wide range of support services to all those impacted by 9/11, commemorates the lives lost and promotes national preparedness.
More recently, the organization launched VOICES Center of Excellence for Community Resilience, to assist communities in preparing for and responding to acts of terrorism, mass violence and natural disasters.
For more information on VOICES work, visit www.voicesofseptember11.org.
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