Dawn 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 including Team Manager, School Coordinator, Appraiser and Challenge Master for both Massachusetts and New York DI. In addition to being a member of our Board of Trustees, Dawn is also a member of Destination Imagination’s Alumni Ambassador Council where she works with DI headquarters on international alumni engagement and retention. Outside of DI, Dawn puts her Instant Challenge skills to work every day as a 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.

Jon Brennan was first exposed to Destination Imagination when his 3rd grade daughter asked him to attend a meeting about DI. He was so impressed with the potential of the program, he became a Team Manager for her team and had his other two daughters get involved. That was in 2006. Since then he’s managed teams at the Elementary, Middle and High School levels, appraised at State Competition and attended Global Finals with three of his teams. He has served as President of the Clarence DI Boosters organization since 2009, and in addition to being a NYDI trustee, is now assisting us on technology matters. Outside of DI, Jon is a board member of the Amherst Bel Canto Children’s Choir, board member of the nationally …

Sue Brailey was drawn in the vortex that is DI when her daughter Abby joined a team in 2000 when she was in 4th grade, starting as a team mom helping team managers and assisting with fundraising. As an attorney, she was drawn to Rules of the Road and became quite well versed in the nuances of the competition. Abby competed for six years, going to the state tournament each year and Global Finals three times. Feeling strongly about “paying it forward” she became an appraiser when Abby’s team disbanded. Abby became a runner as she was too young to appraise. As soon as she was eligible Abby became an appraiser as well, and is now our Regional Challenge Master for instant challenge. Sue has …

Drew and his wife, Julie, who reside in Dobbs Ferry, became smitten with DI through years of traipsing after their kids to DI tournaments. “Like many ‘newbies’, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what drew me to these spectacles, at first. But eventually I saw, it’s not the extraordinary power DI kids develop to create and innovate, it’s who they become as human beings en route to becoming problem-solvers.” Drew regularly uses DI ‘Instant Challenges’ in his volunteer work with middle and high schools to engage students in deeper conversation about the dynamics of teamwork, college preparation and career. It works like a charm to engage the gifted, children with special needs and every other child in between. Separately, Drew’s used his professional marketing skills in recent …

Julia Kumpf has been in love with Destination Imagination, Science, and Engineering since joining her first Challenge A team in middle school. She was lucky enough to compete at Global Finals during her senior year in high school, and then promptly entered college at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for a degree in chemistry and physics. She found she couldn’t live on science alone and became an appraiser for DI, and shortly thereafter a challenge master. After graduating, Julia spent two years teaching high school chemistry and physics, where she designed two workshop-style curricula using many of DI’s best-practices. While studying biophysics at Cornell University, Julia became an important part of NYDI, taking on the role of Regional Director for the Central Region, and co-Chair …

Abby Goldman joined her first Destination Imagination team in 6th grade, and has been hooked on DI ever since! She competed in Maryland DI all throughout middle and high school, usually opting for the scientific or engineering themed challenges. Her team competed at Global finals all four years of high school, and she and several teammates joined forces with other university students to compete in DI eXtreme for two years during college. While studying physics at Mount Holyoke College in Western MA, Abby wanted to continue her involvement in DI. She co-team managed an elementary school team for one year, served as a regional challenge master and appraiser another year, taught a three week January term course in creative problem solving for other Mount Holyoke …

Michael Huvane is Vice President of Marketing at the New York Power Authority (NYPA). In his position, Michael is responsible for the Business and Municipal markets as well as the statewide economic development activities of NYPA. Michael has over 30 years of experience in the utility industry in various positions with a strong focus on the customer. Michael is a Member of the Board of Trustees of New York Destination Imagination, a competitive international program for school aged children that promotes and encourages divergent thinking and creative problem solving. Over his many years of volunteering with DI, Michael has been a Parent/Team Manager/Coach, regional appraiser and Challenge Master at both the regional and state levels. In addition, Michael is a Director of the New York …

Seth Davis began working with DI when his son was in middle school, and has served as appraiser, team manager, challenge master and appraiser at Global Finals. He served as the Eastern Regional Director for 10 years, from 2004 to 2014. Outside of NYDI, Seth is one of the nation’s most highly-regarded environmental attorneys, having practiced in that area for over 30 years. He is currently the vice-chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy and Resources Law; previously he was the Section’s Publications Officer, supervising editing and production of a wide variety of books and periodicals. He teaches as an Adjunct Professor in Pace Law School’s highly ranked environmental law program, and is chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals in the …

Molly was exposed to creative problem solving competitions at the tender age of 8 when her school held a showcase of teams for 3rd graders in 1990. By 1991, I had joined a team and started what would be a life-long love affair with creative problem solving programs. During my 20+ years of participation I managed to rope my entire family into participating – with both sisters competing on their own teams, often with one or both of my parents managing the teams. Destination Imagination fostered my love of science, technology and problem solving, which steered me to a degree in Chemical Engineering at Michigan State University and subsequently a career in design engineering with Moog and Honeywell. My continued involvement in New York State …

When Noel’s son was in fourth grade in 1994, she started managing a team and has been involved ever since. She has served as coach, team manager, school coordinator, appraiser, challenge master, state board member and Global Finals appraiser. Noel says that most of her best friends today are people who are involved with DI. They’re her kind of people!

Beth has been teaching at Frontier Central School District for 28 years in the SAIL Program. She has been involved in Creative Problem Solving Competitions as a Team Manager for over 20 years. Over the years she has managed anywhere from 1 team to 11 Teams at a time!

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Josh attended the Beth Tfiloh Day School, and later, Pikesville High School. He 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 worked doing software development at various financial firms. Most recently he joined Google, where he is a Technical Program Manager in Site Reliability Engineering. In 1993 Josh married Zhanna Glazenburg. They have two boys: Maxim and N’yoma. The family moved to the Croton-on-Hudson area in 2001, where Josh serves as a trustee on the Croton-Harmon Board of Education, and Zhanna teaches Physics at Croton-Harmon High School. Josh has been involved in DI since 2006, when Max …

Dan Boniello is an appraiser, school coordinator and alumnus who has been involved with Creative Problem Solving in many different ways for over 15 years. He is currently a Middle and High School music teacher and finds that many tools he learned as a participant in DI have helped him to succeed in school, work and the “real world”. He is always excited to help pass these skills along to new generations of participants through the many different roles he currently plays in the program

Dee has been a Team Manager, Appraiser, pin and tee shirt designer and trainer since becoming involved with our program in 1984.  A founder of Destination Imagination, Inc (DI), Dee served on the first International DI Board of Trustees, serving as its Vice Chair.  She has served as a Challenge writer, the first “Ask DI” consultant, the first New York Affiliate Director (for twelve years), the Western NY Regional Director from 1994-2012, the NYDI webmaster from 1996-2012, the NYDI Training Director from 1999-2013. She is a founder of VOMBO (now DISC), the scholarship fundraising arm of DI. There is no volunteer job that Dee has not taken on in service to DI and NYDI!

Cheryl was introduced to DI at PTA meeting in 1999. Since that time, she has team managed more than 20 teams, from Rising Stars through to Secondary level. She has served as appraiser, Challenge Master and member of the Board of Trustees for NYDI. Recently, she had the privilege to appraise at Global Finals. She has recently retired from the position of Affiliate Director of NYDI. Cheryl retired from a career in process engineering and project management to be a full-time mother (and DI team manager) for her three children. Cheryl knows how DI influenced her children; they developed skills and confidence through their DI experiences that will benefit them throughout the rest of their lives. Cheryl wants to ensure that students throughout New York …