Our Board

Kat is a Licensed Social Worker with a passion for dementia care. Kat earned her Bachelor's degree in Social Work from SUNY Brockport in 2016 and her Master's degree in Social Work in 2017 from a collaborative program with SUNY Brockport and Nazareth College.

Kat has worked at Lifespan of Greater Rochester, Inc. since 2017. In her role as Lead Care Manager, Kat supports her team in their work bettering the quality of life of people living with dementia and their caregivers whilst preparing them for conversations around end of life planning. Additionally, she facilitates a bereavement group for caregivers who have lost a loved one living with dementia.

Through her involvement as a board member with Shepherd Home, Kat hopes to increase public awareness of end-of-life care options and empower the community to make peace with our own mortality.

Kat is originally from Dunkirk, NY. She visits often to spend time quality time with her parents and sister. Kat and her boyfriend, Adam, live in Henrietta with their cat, River.

Mary has lived in Rochester since 1967 and considers it home.  She joined the Board in 2016, after her father spent the last few days of his time at Shepherd Home in 2015.   This was her first exposure to end-of-life care and she knew she had found something special and important and wanted to give back.  In addition to being a member of the board, she is also a hands-on volunteer.

Mary has worked for Wegmans Food Markets for 25 years, and is currently an eCommerce Technology  Product Director.   She lives in Brighton, where she raised her now grown daughters.  In addition to Shepherd Home, Mary has been on the Board of Directors at The Society for Care and Protection of Children and a member of The Rochester Women’s Giving Circle.

Ms. Rutherford is a mission-driven leader with over 20 years of experience in domestic and international community engagement. Her experience includes program growth and development within the healthcare, higher education, and not-for-profit sectors. She is currently the Sustainability Manager at Cornell University. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Clarkson University and a Graduate certificate in Creativity and Change Management. Meredith is a lifelong volunteer including two years with the U.S. Peace Corps. She began her hospice volunteer service at Isaiah House and is currently a personal care volunteer at Shepherd Home.  

Dan has been serving on the Shepherd Home board of directors since January 2020. Dan is a two-time RIT graduate (IT, ’05, Executive MBA, ’17) and currently works as the Chief Experience Officer for Flynn, a marketing agency in Pittsford, NY.

Dan is grateful to be involved with Shepherd Home and help give back to a truly wonderful organization that cared for his wife’s aunt Mary Beth in the final weeks of her life.

Dan lives in Penfield with his wife Erin, and their three boys who are always on the go riding bikes and scooters, playing sports, or hiking.

Ruth began her career in 1974. Her passion has been to work with and advocate for those with Intellectual Developmental disabilities, their families and for support staff, and work related to caring for people at the end of their life journey. She dedicated 33 years to fulfill this passion at Heritage Christian Services, as the Director of Health Management and Research and one additional year as Aging and End of Life Care planner before retiring from this role in April of 2023. As Director of Health Management and Research, Ruth provided leadership to both the Nursing Team and the Dieticians, as well as medical oversight with the nursing team for four hundred individuals with Intellectual Disabilities. Ruth continues to advocate for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities with medical complexities and their families on a consulting basis.She has been honored with several awards for her excellence in caring for people with intellectual and developmentaldisabilities. Ruth is the founder and president of the Finger Lakes Nurse Honor Guard which recognizes and honors nurses at the end of their life journey. She maintains her certification as a Certified Developmental and Disability Nurse, Rehabilitative Nurse. She is board certified in Geriatrics, certified as a Hospice and Palliative Care Nurse, Advanced Steps ACP Facilitator, and most recently obtained a certificate as an End-of-Life Doula.She is also a Public Officer for the Surrogate Decision-Making Panel as part of the Justice Center for the Protection of People with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In January of 2022, Ruth began serving as a board member of the DDNA. She has also served as a member of the Advisory Board for the Complex Care Center. Another aspect of Ruth’s professional contribution includes the continued participation in the development of I/DD curriculum and instruction for nursing students at St. John Fisher College. Ruth will soon begin servingas a member of the board of directors for the Shephard Homeand offer support for the home’s continued success. Ruth enjoys family, travel, teaching, and is always in pursuit of new knowledge.

Peter joined the Shepherd Home board in November 2023 and currently serves on the Finance Committee. This is the first Board he’s been a member of, and one he’s grown passionate to be involved with given the integral and compassionate part The Shepherd Home plays for members of the local community. Away from the board, Peter is employed as a Loan Officer by First American Equipment Finance, based in Victor, NY where he has been for 3 years. He resides in Irondequoit, NY with his wife Caitlin and two children, Christian (4) and Emily (2).

Previously, Peter lived several years in New York City where he held various leadership, credit and broker management roles while employed by two global credit insurers, Allianz SE and Zurich North America. He is a 2010 graduate of St. Bonaventure University where he received an MBA in Accountancy.

I currently work at Fusion Digital, a family owned organization that focuses on solving and servicing all business' AV and IT needs. Prior to Fusion, I spent 8 years of my career focusing on Human Resources. I have a passion for helping others and giving back. I enjoy skiing, jet skiing, traveling and trying new restaurants in my free time! I come from a large, amazing family; I am one of 9 children (7 of them are girls)! I was born and raised in Rochester and love everything about it other than the frozen winters (except when I'm skiing!). 

Tyler currently serves on the Hospitality Board at Monroe Community College where he also serves as an adjunct professor is Business.

My name is Gretchen Kozlowski and I recently became a board member back in June. I lost my husband, Tom back in 2019 to Brain Cancer and he was fortunate enough to be a resident at Shepard Home before he passed.

I decided to become a board member so that I could give back to Shepard Home in honor of my husband Tom. I am also a board member for the Greece Historical Society and with my background. I hope to make a great contribution to Shepard Home.

Steve has served on the board of the Shepherd Home since January 2018.  He is an attorney practicing locally in Rochester.  Steve is a 2010 graduate of St. Bonaventure University, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in finance and an MBA.  He earned his law degree from Cleveland State University.

Outside of work, Steve loves being outside and spending time with his family.  He enjoys talking St. Bonaventure basketball and anything Bonas with anyone who will listen to him. 

Steve and his wife, Merritt, currently reside with their son, Frankie, and daughter, Thea, in Steve’s hometown of LeRoy. 

Jennifer first became connected with Shepherd Home during her time as a Social Work Intern and continued that connection as a volunteer.  During that experience, Jennifer discovered her heart for comfort care and was drawn to return to Shepherd Home where she served as Executive Director until July of 2022. Jennifer lives in Gates and is a mother to two daughters who she loves to spend time with.  She is an animal lover and also enjoys traveling whenever possible.  Jennifer is always interested in learning opportunities and ways to give back to the community through volunteerism.  One role Jennifer is particularly proud of is her work as a Supported Decision-Making Facilitator with SDMNY.  Jennifer has had a long career in Caregiving, Habilitation Services and Case Management.  She spent more than 22 years working in a variety of OPWDD services, many in leadership roles.  Jennifer graduated from Keuka College with a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work, and then from Nazareth College with a Master's Degree in Social Work.  She is a NYS Licensed Social Worker who continues to bring that experience and education to Shepherd Home now as a board member.

Martin Williams joined the board of Shepherd Home in 2023 after hearing about the valuable end-of-life support and care the home provides. He has over 30 years of experience in human services, most of which has been spent working with older adults and their family members. He currently works as a senior human services planner for the Monroe County Department of Human Services but has also held positions with UR Medicine Home Care and Wayne County.

Martin lives in Webster and has two daughters and a son. In his spare time, he enjoys walking and hiking as well as serving on the board of the Webster Community Chest.