Meet Our Team
NYDI is a nonprofit powered by volunteers.
There’s a lot that goes into running a statewide Affiliate of DI, especially in a state as large and diverse as New York. Our Board of Trustees is made up of volunteers who dedicate many hours to running this program every year because we have experienced firsthand how DI changes lives. Meet our team!
Josh Diamond
Affiliate Director + Eastern Regional DirectorJosh has been involved in Destination Imagination since 2006, when his son, Max, started in the program as a 5th grader. He saw huge breakthroughs for Max in his confidence, in how he interacted with his peers, and in what he could achieve. Both Max and Josh’s other son, N'yoma, have competed at Global Finals (Max 4 times, N'yoma 5 times). Josh has managed four teams through to Global Finals, has been a Coordinator for Croton DI, and an Appraiser at Regional, Affiliate, and Global Finals levels. In addition to being the Affiliate Director, Josh serves on the Board of Trustees, as Eastern Regional Director, and is New York’s Affiliate Tournament Director.
Josh attended the University of Rochester, where he earned a B.A. in Math and Computer Science (with an additional concentration in Theater Arts). Upon graduation, he moved to New York City, where he developed software at various financial institutions. Since 2016, he has been working at Google Inc. as a Technical Program Manager.
Jon Brennan
Co-Chair, Board of Trustees + Western Regional DirectorJon has been involved with Destination Imagination since 2006 when his 3rd grade daughter asked him to attend a meeting about DI. He was so impressed that he became a Team Manager for her team and had his other two daughters get involved. Since then, Jon has managed teams at the Elementary, Middle, and High School levels, appraised at Regional, Affiliate, and Global tournaments, attended Global Finals with several of his teams, and has served as the Regional Director for Western New York since 2016. He joined the Board of Trustees in 2014 where he currently serves as Co-Chair.
Outside of DI, Jon is on two other boards; Amherst Bel Canto Children's Choir and Hawk Creek Wildlife Center. He received his MBA from Canisius College and is a lifetime member of the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society.
Dawn DiCicco
Co-Chair, Board of TrusteesDawn joined her first Destination Imagination team in 2000 and spent nine years participating in Massachusetts DI. Since becoming an alumna of the program, Dawn has served in a variety of volunteer positions for both Massachusetts and New York DI. In addition to being a member of the New York Board of Trustees, Dawn is a founding member and Chair Emeritus of Destination Imagination's international Alumni Council, where she worked with DI headquarters on global alumni engagement and retention.
Outside of DI, Dawn puts her Instant Challenge skills to work as an Emmy-nominated television professional in New York City. Dawn received a B.A. in Studio Television Production from Emerson College in 2013 and works in daytime talk and news.
Rick Rand
Board of Trustees + Founding Member, Destination ImaginationRick has been involved with Creative Problem Solving since 1988, when his twin sons, Darren and Barry, joined Odyssey of the Mind, the predecessor of Destination Imagination. Rick and his wife Lucille eventually became team coaches, watching the team progress to two World Finals, with a first place in 1993. When the boys retired from the program, Rick became involved in the official side of things, including Regional Tournament Director and judging at Regional, Affiliate and World Finals. When the program became stalled in legal issues, he was asked to be one of a small handful of people to save the program as a member of Project Rumpelstiltskin. This project consisted of creating a new Challenge (technical of course), answering all of the clarifications, and running the Challenge at World Finals 1999. From that group, the new program of Destination Imagination, Inc. was formed. Rick has had many roles at DII, leading to being a member of the International Board of Trustees from 2010 to his retirement in 2020.
Rick's formal engineering education took place at The Cooper Union, New York City, and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. However it can readily be considered he was an engineer from birth, always curious, analytical, wondering how things work... and trying to make them "better." Rick is now retired from IBM Research where he held the position of Senior Engineer.
Beth Brothman
Board of TrusteesBeth has been involved with Creative Problem Solving and Destination Imagination for over 20 years. She has been a Team Manager (sometimes juggling up to 11 teams at a time!), District Coordinator, Challenge Master, Appraiser, and Board of Trustees member.
Beth has a master’s degree in Gifted and Talented Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and a BS in Elementary Education and a BA in Sociology from Buffalo State College. Beth taught at Frontier Central School District for 28 years in the S.A.I.L Program as a Gifted and Talented teacher and 3 years as an elementary teacher. She retired from teaching in 2016.
Dan Leone
Board of TrusteesDan Leone’s first experience with Destination Imagination happened in 2012 when his sons came home with a flyer about the program. The Leone family went to an open house event where his sons, Dalton and Cameron, spent the evening doing a variety of Instant Challenges. When a structure they built out of paper towel tubes held all of the available weight without breaking, the boys were in. There wasn’t room on a middle school team that year for Dalton, but Cameron’s elementary team advanced to Global Finals and the Leones became a full-blown DI Family.
The following year Dan signed on as the Vice President of Clarence DI Boosters. In 2014 he started managing his son’s team--and he hasn’t looked back since. He never forgot that first year when Dalton missed out and decided that if there was a kid who wanted to do DI he would find a way. As a result, there were many years when Dan managed multiple teams-- whether his kids were on it or not. In 2015 Dan took over as President of Clarence DI Booster and in 2019 joined the Board of Trustees.
Donna Halperin
Board of TrusteesDonna Halperin is an entrepreneur/founder, startup advisor, corporate intrapreneur and Board Member. She is a strategic leader who is focused on innovation, commercialization, and sustainability. Donna is a design thinker with a history of taking D2C and B2B businesses to greater levels of competitive success. Her professional endeavors across health, lifestyle, retail and SaaS technology sectors emphasize the need for STEM/STEAM educational initiatives. Her passion for education and business building are also fulfilled by Coaching/Mentoring at Innovation Labs.
Donna holds an MBA from Pace University and BS in Education from Southern Connecticut State University, both of which provide a strong alignment of Donna’s interests and the NYDI mission. She is delighted to support the organization’s growth.
Jonathan Fabian
Secretary, Board of TrusteesJonathan has been involved with Destination Imagination since 2001. He was introduced to DI by fellow board member Beth Brothman and competed on a number of DI teams throughout both middle and high school. After becoming a DI alumnus, he continued as a volunteer in NYDI, first as an Appraiser, then transitioning to a Challenge Master before joining the Board of Trustees.
Outside of Destination Imagination, Jonathan works as an Electrical Engineer and is involved in many projects throughout both New York State and the United States as a whole. He enjoys kayaking in the Spring, Summer, and Fall, and skiing in the Winter, as time and weather permits.
Noel Allen
Board of TrusteesWhen Noel’s son was in fourth grade in 1994, she started managing a team and has been involved with Destination Imagination ever since. She has served as a Team Manager, School Coordinator, Appraiser, and Challenge Master. Noel says that most of her best friends today are people who are involved with DI. They're her kind of people!
Tracy Taylor
Board of TrusteesTracy is the principal of BMP Ridge Street School in Blind Brook-Rye UFSD, coordinated the DI program there, and has been a long-serving volunteer with our program. She is often the first face that teams, spectators and guests see at our tournaments, given her role leading Tournament Registration.
Tracy joined the board effective February 12, 2024.
Linda Swift
Board of TrusteesLinda started in DI as a team manager, and later served as district coordinator in Lakeland CSD, one of our largest participating school districts. Recently, Linda has been serving assisting the regional and affiliate Tournament Directors, and has invented (and starred) in the emerging role of Director of Operations, taking responsibilities for supplies acquisition, tournament setup, and many other aspects of our organization.
Shane Sawicki
Board of TrusteesShane has been involved with Destination Imagination since 2003 and competed on a number of teams throughout middle and high school, finishing as high as 13th place at Global Finals. Upon graduating and becoming an alumnus, he began volunteering as an appraiser — a role he has fulfilled now for over a decade. He serves as Regional Challenge Master (Western Region), and as Affiliate Challenge Master, for Instant Challenge, and joined the NYDI board of trustees effective February 12, 2024.
Shane graduated from SUNY University at Buffalo in 2014 and works as an environmental consultant specializing in air emissions, wastewater, and stormwater compliance for a variety of industries throughout New York State.
Patrice Davidson
Board of TrusteesPatrice got started in DI as a team manager for her three kids (Max, Becky and Sam), and served for several years as coordinator in Croton-Harmon UFSD. She has been an appraiser in the Fine Arts challenge for several years, and is a valued volunteer.
Patrice joined the board effective February 12, 2024.
Kate Quesada
Board of TrusteesKate joined a DI team in 2013 at her friends' suggestion and, as a shy high-schooler, was reluctant but willing to give it a chance. It only took one meeting for her to realize this organization was something incredible that she needed to be a part of, and the rest is history. Attending Global Finals all three years of competing, she was astounded to see the impact the program had not only on herself, but on kids all over the world. Kate is now a proud alumna and happily volunteers at the Regional, Affiliate, and Global levels as an Appraiser, NYDI Marketing Team member, and NYDI Board member as of February 2024. She is thrilled to be able to give back to a program that continues to change her life.
Kate graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2020 with a BFA in Film & Animation and concentrations in both 2D and Stop-Motion Animation. She is a passionate crazy plant lady who loves to crochet, swim, and play a little too much Minecraft in her spare... TIME!
Sue Brailey
Affiliate Director - EmeritusSue Brailey was drawn into Destination Imagination when her 4th grade daughter, Abby, joined a team in 2000. She started as a team Mom helping Team Managers and assisting with fundraising. Feeling strongly about paying it forward she became an Appraiser when Abby’s team disbanded. Sue has been an Appraiser at all Regional and Affiliate tournaments since 2006, and has been an Appraiser at Global Finals four times. In 2014, Sue was appointed Affiliate Director for NYDI.
Outside of DI, Sue is an attorney. She was a prosecutor in Westchester County for 31 years and spent the last half of her career conducting environmental criminal investigations and prosecutions.