Buffalo Center for Arts & Technology Announces Appointment of Four New Board Members

Buffalo Center for Arts & Technology Announces Appointment

of Four New Board Members

The Buffalo Center for Arts & Technology (BCAT) is pleased to announce the appointment of four new members to its Board of Directors. At the organization’s annual meeting in June, Melissa Archer, Dr. Ian Barrett, Mark Gaulin, and Elizabeth Gurney were elected to serve an initial three-year term on the nonprofit’s governing board.

BCAT delivers innovative arts and workforce development programs that equip high school and adult students with the tools necessary to achieve financial security and build positive futures. The organization offers a comprehensive arts and technology afterschool program for high school students, along with workforce training in Allied Health, Information Technology, and Landscaping for adults.

With the addition of these four new members, BCAT’s Board of Directors now comprises 14 members. The Board is chaired by Dr. Michael Cropp, President and CEO of Independent Health.

“We are delighted to welcome Mark, Ian, Melissa, and Elizabeth to the BCAT Board,” said Dr. Cropp. “Adding new perspectives, skills, and experiences to BCAT’s leadership only makes us stronger and better able to serve our community. We are especially pleased to include local employers as we continue to strengthen partnerships that support student internships, shadow days, and meaningful career opportunities. Each of these individuals has demonstrated support for BCAT in unique ways, and we are honored to welcome them in this new capacity.”

The newly appointed board members bring a diverse range of professional experience and community leadership to BCAT, further enhancing the organization’s mission to bridge opportunity gaps through education, creativity, and workforce readiness.

New Board members include: 

Melissa Archer, PMHNP-BC, MSN, BSN is a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner with SENSES Medical Wellness, a behavioral health organization committed to providing compassionate and personalized care to individuals, couples, and families seeking support for their mental well-being.

Dr. Ian C. Barrett is Executive Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer at Kaleida Health, the largest healthcare provider and largest private employer in the region with 11,176 employees and 1,527 providers.

Mark P. Gaulin is a distinguished business and civic leader who serves as President & CEO of PCI, a Buffalo-based Managed Service Provider (MSP) supporting client systems, cloud and networks. 

Elizabeth Gurney, now retired, served as Director of Corporate Philanthropy at

KeyBank and Executive Director of the First Niagara Foundation. At KeyBank she directed KeyBank’s strategic philanthropic investments across the nationwide enterprise with a focus on education, neighborhood prosperity, workforce development and community service. 

Located on Buffalo’s East Side in the historic Pratt-Willert Park neighborhood, Buffalo Center for Arts & Technology (BCAT), provides pathways for its students to create positive futures. The organization offers cost-free adult workforce training programs in Allied Health, Landscape  and IT fields that lead to meaningful employment with family-sustaining wages, and a cost-free high school arts and technology afterschool program that motivates students to stay in school and graduate with an actionable pathway into college and fulfilling careers. Both programs are offered in a welcoming, supportive, and inspiring environment. 

For more information, please visit www.buffaloartstechcenter.org

M&T Charitable Foundation Sees BCAT as Key to Strengthening Community  

When Buffalo Center for Arts & Technology was still in the idea stage more than a decade ago, M&T Bank was part of the founding group of funders that helped bring the arts and technology nonprofit to Buffalo after learning about its success in Pittsburgh.  Along with First Niagara Foundation, The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, and The John R. Oishei Foundation, M&T believed that the model could help build brighter futures for both high school and adult students. 

“M&T Bank’s mission is to strengthen the communities where we operate,” says Don Elick, Senior Vice President, Regional Manager for the M&T Charitable Foundation, “and BCAT does just that by providing a practical pathway to strong futures and jobs that offer family sustaining wages.” 

BCAT’s high school afterschool program, with its focus on the arts also aligns with M&T Bank, according to Elick, sharing that the bank has a long history of supporting arts and cultural institutions. He adds that the arts play a transformative role for young people in building confidence and helping them choose their future pathways. 

Elick notes that BCAT continues to adapt to the needs of the community by expanding their offerings. While first focusing on Allied Health training, BCAT has more recently added technology training for adult students. “There are not enough trained professionals for tech jobs in the area. BCAT’s focus on this training is something that can benefit M&T directly, and more importantly, benefit our region by building a pipeline of future employees for in-demand jobs. 

M&T Bank has furthered its support by contributing the BCAT’s Capital Campaign to provide funding for the recent move to its new East Side location at 368 Sycamore Street.  “We are so excited about the new location that provides room for BCAT to expand. They have demonstrated proven impact and we are very happy to help them increase capacity to train more students and provide opportunities for strong futures that benefit individuals and the entire community,” added Elick.

Partnership Addresses Healthcare Worker Shortage

Kaleida Site Visit

When Dr. Ian Barrett, Executive Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer with Kaleida Health, describes the urgent need for healthcare workers, he points to the pandemic as a key turning point. “While we had gaps in our healthcare workforce before COVID, we now have craters,” he says, noting that retirements and those seeking new careers increased, leaving healthcare institutions looking for new ways to recruit and train talent. 

That need for workers led to a new partnership with Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology (BCAT) and its Certified Medical Administrative Assistance training program, bringing greater connection between those seeking jobs and a key local healthcare employer. 

Kaleida and BCAT began discussion about a partnership in mid-2024 and the first cohort of adult students are now enrolled in the class that is designed with significant input from Kaleida. The curriculum aligns with Kaleida’s specific needs, meaning BCAT students will graduate with the critical training required by the healthcare institution. 

As part of the partnership, Kaleida will provide guest speakers to the class, providing more clarity to students about specific job opportunities once they graduate. In addition, Kaleida will give students opportunities for site visits so that students can meet professionals in their field and experience jobs firsthand in preparation for seeking and accepting positions after completing BCAT’s training.  

“Our goal is to hire 100 percent of BCAT students who successfully complete the class and demonstrate they have the necessary skills,” adds Barrett, “BCAT has been so flexible in designing the class that we know these students will have the training necessary to step into jobs.” He adds that the partnership and the relationships that will develop will make it easier to connect students to opportunities and the job interviews that will likely lead to employment. 

With nearly 85 percent of BCAT’s adult students graduating and gaining the appropriate certification in their field, BCAT is confident that their students are well prepared for jobs.  Now, by partnering with Kaleida, students will have direct access to job openings and can begin building great careers, benefiting both BCAT students and our local healthcare sector. 

Erie County Awards BCAT Cultural Grant

County Exec

BUFFALO CENTER FOR ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY POWERS UP WITH ERIE COUNTY CULTURAL CAPITAL GRANT

 

ERIE COUNTY, NY, December 11, 2024 — The Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology, at home in their new East Side facility on Sycamore Street in Buffalo, will be helping more students and adults seeking career advancement thanks to a $189,350 Erie County cultural capital grant that funded information technology equipment at the site. The Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology (“BCAT”) offers two cost-free programs designed to provide tools, support, and opportunities for students to realize their potential and create positive futures. Today, Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz joined BCAT Board Chair Dr. Michael Cropp, BCAT President and CEO Gina Burkhardt, and Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Environment and Planning Thomas Baines to discuss the grant and how it will assist BCAT in helping students realize their career goals.

“The Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology provides the education and environment that students need to succeed and to build a future for themselves, whether they are adults needing workforce training and upskilling to move into a new job or high school students who want to stay in school and explore pathways into careers that interest them,” said Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz. “Using a cultural capital grant to invest in IT here is not only an investment in BCAT, but also an investment in Erie County residents. We are building a stronger community with these investments.”

The cultural capital grant funded the purchase of three servers with firewall and switches, seventy PC workstations, and twenty Mac workstations; the procurement of interactive boards, smart displays, teleconferencing, document cameras, and Audiovisual equipment is in progress.

Offered in a welcoming, supportive, and inspiring environment, BCAT’s cost-free programs are designed to provide tools, support, and opportunities for our students to realize their potential and create positive futures:

  • BCAT’s adult workforce training programs lead to nationally recognized certifications and meaningful employment with family-sustaining wages.
  • BCAT’s high school arts and technology afterschool program motivates students to stay in school and graduate with an actionable pathway into college and fulfilling careers.

“BCAT students bring tenacity, creativity, and ambition but often face significant barriers including limited resources and tools,” said Gina Burkhardt, President and CEO of the Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology. “Thanks to Erie County’s Cultural Capital Grant, our new East Side facility is now fully equipped with essential technology—from computers and networks to security and networking systems. This investment not only supports free, high-quality programs but also sends a powerful message to our students: they are valued, and their futures matter. We deeply appreciate Erie County’s support for our students in their efforts to create successful futures for themselves and their families.”

For more information from Erie County visit on the Department of Environment and Planning, visit https://www3.erie.gov/environment/