OF NOTE

HISPANIC BAR ASSOCIATION TO RECEIVE NATIONAL HONOR

The Connecticut Hispanic Bar Association will be honored Aug. 31 by the Hispanic National Bar Association with its Affiliate Organization of the Year Award. The award recognizes the Connecticut association’s achievements as an affiliate organization and its contributions to the bar and to the Hispanic community.

The Hispanic Bar focuses on enhancing professional opportunities for Hispanic attorneys, and it does so in part through events where members can meet each other and others in the legal profession.

The Hispanic Bar has championed the issue of diversity in the federal and state judiciary. In the past year, one member, Carmen Espinosa, has been named to the Connecticut Appellate Court, and another member, Edgardo Ramos, has been nominated to be a federal district judge, awaiting Senate confirmation. 

Accepting the award during the national group’s 36th annual convention in Dallas will be Virginia McGarrity; Connecticut chapter president; Sara Bronin, immediate past president; Erick Díaz, vice president and René Ortega, board member and past president.

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ST. JOSEPH HONORS TRIO

Three alumnae who have worked to improve their community and

St. Joseph College will honor three alumnae on Sept. 17 with presentation of the Distinguished Alumna Award. They are Margaret Steeves-Laffin, vice president for marketing at Masonicare in Wallingford; Molly Rees Gavin, president of Connecticut Community Care Inc. in Bristol; and Roselee Barbagallo Fanelli, agency services manager at Raynard & Peirce Insurance and Real Estate.

Steeves-Laffin, Class of ’76, is responsible for marketing, public relations and communications at Masonicare, Connecticut’s largest non-profit provider of senior healthcare services and retirement communities. She has held increasingly responsible positions in the College’s Alumnae/i Association and has been an unofficial advisor for several recent presidents. Most recently she helped the college define a new marketing image for its admissions materials.

Gavin, Class of ’71, has three decades of experience leading Connecticut Community Care of Bristol, the largest nonprofit provider of care management in Connecticut. She was named Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers, Connecticut Chapter, and in May, Hartford Business Journal named her one of the Remarkable Women in Business

Fanelli, Class of ‘61, has been agency services manager of Raynard & Peirce Insurance and Real Estate for than 20 years. She has been named Realtor of the Year by the Litchfield County Board of Realtors and was awarded the St. Joseph Medal of Appreciation by Archbishop Daniel Cronin.

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IN BRIEF

John P. Leigh, director of operations and compliance at NorthStar Wealth Partners in West Hartford, was recently elected vice president for the Harvard Club of Northern Connecticut…. Matthew Ranelli, counsel in the Hartford office of Shipman & Goodwin LLP, has been selected to serve a four-year term on the board of the newly established Connecticut Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority. Ranelli practices environmental, energy and land use law…

Christopher M. Dadlez, president and chief executive officer of St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, has been elected to the board of trustees of the American Hospital Association for a three-year term, beginning Jan. 1, 2012.

Please Note: All electronic submissions for Accolades should be sent to news@HartfordBusiness.com. Items can also be mailed to: Accolades, Hartford Business Journal, 15 Lewis St., Suite 200, Hartford, CT 06103. For more information about the Hartford Business Journal’s Accolades Page, please visit www.HartfordBusiness.com.