Our Team

Mary Beth Jerry – Program Director
Mary Beth is Director of Non-credit Computer and Technology Programs for the Professional Development Center and also oversees our non-credit online courses and the Project Management programs offered through our training partner. She holds a master’s degree in Computer Science from Pace University and previously was an adjunct instructor and director of the academic computing center at several colleges. You can reach Mary Beth at marybeth.jerry@sunywcc.edu or at(914) 606-7904.

Dr. Stephen J. Leone – Program Director
Steve is director of the credit certificate programs run by PDC. His certification programs include Paralegal, Medical Billing and Coding, Computer Aided Design (CAD), Telecommunications Technology, and the Cisco Networking Academy. Steve also oversees the Next Step program on campus.

Steve holds a Bachelor’s degree from LaSalle University in Education with a minor in English. He also holds a Master’s degree from Villanova University in English and a Doctor of Arts degree from St. John’s University. He has been an adjunct professor in English here on campus and at Rockland Community College.
You can reach Steve at steve.leone@sunywcc.edu or at (914) 606-6658.

Paulette Pellani – Program Administrator
Paulette is responsible for working with clients to design programs to meet their training needs and for identifying facilitators to lead program sessions. She is also responsible for reaching out to the community to discover training and training-related services that organizations may need to help them develop their employees and grow their businesses.

Paulette holds an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business, an MA in Developmental Psychology from the New School University, and a BA in Social Sciences from Montclair State University. She is also a certified Career Coach. Her areas of expertise include the design and facilitation of employee development programs. She specializes in talent management, managerial styles, coaching and professional communication skills. Prior to joining Westchester Community College, she spent most of her career at Philips Electronics where she ran the Learning Shared Service Organization for North America. She has also worked in professional development for the City University of New York.

You can reach Paulette at paulette.pellani@sunywcc.edu or at (914) 606-6669

Joe DiRago – Program Administrator
Joe is responsible for Program Administration for the Professional Development Center and for continued targeting and enhancements of the Center’s offerings and services to the corporate community. His responsibilities include proactively reaching out to the community and managing custom training programs to ensure they meet the needs of our rapidly changing business environment.

Joe holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA from Johns Hopkins University. He has participated in additional training programs in strategy and leadership development at Northwestern University and Harvard Business School. His areas of expertise include business generation, customer retention, and customer and market research. Prior to joining Westchester Community College, he was Corporate Marketing Manager at IBM’s world headquarters in Armonk, NY. He has been an Adjunct Professor in ESL and also tutors math students at WCC’s Academic Support Center.

You can reach Joe at joseph.dirago@sunywcc.edu or at (914) 606-6669.

Ann Rubenzahl - Assistant Dean of Continuing Education
Ann is responsible for several departments at Westchester Community College including the Professional Development Center - the College's arm that provides training and related services to employers as well as educational programs to entrepreneurs. In addition Ann is Westchester Community College’s liaison to the local One Stop Employment Centers.

Previously Ann was Director of Quality/Human Resources Development for a New York City hotel, Director of Training and Organization Development for a commercial bank and Director of Continuing Education for Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, NY. In addition she is a co-author of a chapter in Malcolm Knowles' Andragogy in Action: Applying Modern Principles of Adult Learning.

Ann earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington Square College of New York University and her Master of Arts in Teaching from Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY. You can reach Ann at 914-606-6618 or at ann.rubenzahl@sunywcc.edu.