Featured Fall Seminar Speakers!

The NYSAC Fall Seminar brings you training from experts in the public policy areas impacting our counties. 

There's still time to register! Click here to register - online registration closes Monday, Sept 9. 

Here are some of our featured speakers: 

Douglas Schwartz, PhD, Director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute – Keynote Speaker
Doug has a unique 25-year perspective and insight into the opinions and attitudes of our nation's voters. He is responsible for the trusted Quinnipiac Poll's methodology and all aspects of the survey process, directing each project from conception through analysis.

View his full bio by clicking here.

The presentation will walk you through the process so that you have a clear idea of what Doug and the staff at Quinnipiac does, and how they do it.
 
NYS Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins – Monday lunch speaker
Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins represents NY's 35^th state senate district. She was born and raised in New York to parents that encouraged a life grounded in education and service. Since the very beginning of her tenure in government, Andrea Stewart-Cousins has espoused the values of empathy, empowerment and civic engagement. These values, along with her strong belief in advocating for the underserved and championing the needs of working families, has distinguished her as a trailblazer in local and State government.

The Senator also has a first-hand understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing New York's counties. Prior to assuming her seat in the NYS Senate, Stewart-Cousins served on the Legislation Committee for the Westchester County Legislature as Majority Whip. She served in the Westchester County Legislature from 1996 to 2006.

Sheriff Errol Toulon – Deconstructing the Prison Pipeline workshop
Sheriff Toulon launched the Sandy Hook Promise School Safety Initiative.  Since then, more than 9,000 students have been taught to recognize the signs of a peer in distress, especially on social media, and how to report concerning information to a trusted adult.  He has also made it a priority to get to the root causes of youthful delinquency and inter-generational crime.  In October 2018, Sheriff Toulon launched Deconstructing the Prison Pipeline to reform the justice system, and impact public policy. Sheriff Toulon has more than 30 years of criminal-justice experience, heavily centered upon corrections intelligence and combating gang violence. Prior to serving as Suffolk County Sheriff, Errol worked for 22 years as a Uniformed Member of Service with the New York City Department of Correction.  In July of 2014, he was named Deputy Commissioner of Operations for the New York City Department of Correction.

Listen to a preview of Sheriff Toulon's workshop here.
 
NYS Assemblymember Aileen Gunther and NYS Senator Jennifer Metzger – Women's Leadership Council workshop
NYS Senator Jen Metzger and NYS Assemblymember Aileen Gunther will provide their perspective on what's changing for women in government, what's ahead, and the importance of women in elected office at every level.  Sullivan County Treasurer Nancy Buck will moderate this session.
 
David Cook – FirstNet Workshop
David is the primary federal liaison with the U.S. Department of Commerce for the First Responder Network Authority for all of NY, NJ and PA. In this capacity he interacts with emergency responders of all disciplines, discussing and advocating for new technology as well as broadband opportunities for today and the future. David has decades of experience in emergency management, previously serving as the Director of Public Safety for Rensselaer County and the Director of Outreach for NYS Statewide Wireless Network.
 
Dr. Jerald Brotzge and Dr. Christopher Thorncroft - Intercounty Breakfast: An Overview of NY Mesonet
Dr. Thorncroft and Dr. Brotzge are international experts in atmospheric sciences. Dr. Brotzge currently serves as Chair of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) National Network of Networks (NNON) Committee and he serves as the Program Manager of the New York State (NYS) Mesonet. Dr. Thorncroft is the Director of the NYS Mesonet as well as the  Center of Excellence in Weather and Climate Analytics. He was recently made a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Thorncroft was Chair of the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences for more than 10 years. Dr. Brotzge and Dr. Thorncroft will be discussing New York State Mesonet, a system of 125 interconnected surface
weather stations deployed throughout NYS designed to observe, record, and disseminate weather data, with as many as 17 super sites equipped with profiler technology to gather above-ground meteorological observation to support more accurate forecasting.