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
