Biographies of Commission Members
Leander A. Dolphin, Chair
Leander A. Dolphin is managing partner at Shipman and Goodwin.
Leander is a partner in the School Law Practice Group. In private practice and as former vice president of human resources and general counsel for the Girl Scouts of Connecticut, Leander has dedicated her career to advising educational institutions and organizations that foster the development of children, youth and young adults. An effective litigator and counselor, she draws on her dispute-resolution experience to help clients identify shared goals and find common ground with staff, parents, students and community stakeholders.
Leander advises universities, colleges, public school districts, independent schools, and other public- and private-sector clients on the full range of education and employment matters. Schools are often at the forefront of legal, regulatory and societal concerns; in this regard, she provides guidance on fast-developing issues involving sexual harassment (Title IX) and workplace health and safety standards in the COVID-19 era, as well as a range of equity, discrimination and reverse-discrimination considerations.
She also works with clients to develop and implement effective policies on Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations and to address teacher, staff and student discipline concerns, confidentiality and privacy issues in education, and special education disputes, among other areas.
When disputes arise, Leander represents clients in all phases of investigations, negotiations, pre-trial discovery, trials and appeals. She has successfully defended and pursued claims in state and federal courts, before administrative agencies, and in alternative-dispute resolution forums across the state. Leander understands the unique challenges facing parties in education-related litigation, not the least of which is that administrators, teachers, parents and students involved in a dispute will often continue to work together for years after the issue has been resolved. With this in mind, Leander is both focused and forthright, giving clients the answers and information they need (and not always what they want), with a focus on achieving results that foster ongoing collaboration.
A skilled educator in her own right, Leander has been an adjunct professor of education law at Quinnipiac University School of Law. She also conducts a wide range of workshops for public- and private-sector clients on topics such as sexual harassment, bullying, special education, disability and other forms of discrimination, and confidentiality.
Leander is a trusted advisor to many of her clients and is regularly sought out for her guidance and access to resources in areas beyond education and employment law. Her executive experience at the Girl Scouts of Connecticut imbues her advice with practicality that her clients appreciate.
Steven M. Greenspan, Vice Chair
Steven M. Greenspan retired as of January 1, 2024, from his role as Corporate Vice President and Chief Litigation Counsel for Raytheon Technologies Corporation, the same role he played from 2011 through 2020 for United Technologies Corporation. In his role, he actively managed worldwide litigation for the company and each of its operating business units. He also oversaw the legal team that supports the company’s environmental health and safety, real estate and risk management functions.
Attorney Greenspan was a trial lawyer in private practice from 1986 – 2010 with the Hartford-based law firm of Day Pitney, LLP (formerly Day Berry & Howard) and was elected a Partner of the firm in 1993. While in private practice, he tried cases to jury verdicts and court judgments in numerous federal and state courts across the country.
Attorney Greenspan graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1982 with an Economics degree and from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1985, from which he graduated with maximum honors. While in law school, he was the managing editor of the Connecticut Law Review. After law school, he served as a judicial law clerk for Associate Justice David M. Shea, Connecticut Supreme Court.
Attorney Greenspan also served as an adjunct professor at University of Connecticut School of Law from 2004 – 2010, teaching courses involving commercial law.
Attorney Greenspan’s current professional affiliations include his service on the boards of directors of the Horace Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Mandell Jewish Community Center, and the University of Connecticut Foundation. In addition, Attorney Greenspan is a past President of the Hartford County Bar Association and a former member of the House of Delegates of the Connecticut Bar Association.
Attorney Greenspan grew up in West Hartford, attending public schools through graduation from Hall High School in 1978. He still lives with his family in West Hartford.
Ashley T. Foreman
Ashley T. Foreman, Esq. currently practices in the areas of criminal defense and habeas corpus law with Kirschbaum Law Group, LLC. Previously, she served as Assistant Counsel and Deputy Communications Director to the Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut and as Policy Counsel to the House Majority Leader. Attorney Foreman began her tenure at the Connecticut General Assembly as Sessional Legal Counsel to the Majority Leader of the House. In her roles at the CGA, Ashley has contributed to a diverse range of legislation covering topics such as housing, cannabis, and planning and development. Prior to joining the Connecticut General Assembly, she served as a Public Defender in the Meriden G.A.
In addition to her role with the Commission, she was recently elected Vice President of the George W. Crawford Black Bar Association and is an active member of St. Catherine of Siena in West Simsbury. Ashley graduated summa cum laude from Quinnipiac University, earning her B.A. in Criminal Justice. She then pursued her J.D. from Quinnipiac University School of Law.
Attorney Foreman is admitted to practice law in Connecticut and the District of Columbia. She is a lifelong Connecticut resident and currently resides in West Simsbury with her family and dog.
Brandon Hayden
Brandon began his career in government and advocacy working in the CT General Assembly for the Senate Democrats Office as a legislative aide where he assisted with constituent issues and legislative research and advocacy. He subsequently served as Policy Director for a non-profit Coalition advocating for youth and families across the state.
Brandon currently works for a government consulting firm based out of Hartford, advocating for clients across multiple sectors including healthcare and education. He resides in Norwalk with his dog and cat.
Dan DeBarba
Dan DeBarba is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Nuvance Health, a health and hospital system serving communities in both Connecticut and New York. He previously served in the same role with Catholic Health, a health and hospital system serving the Long Island community.
Prior to his role at Catholic Health, Dan served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Norwalk Hospital and later President of Danbury Hospital and New Milford Hospital as part of Nuvance Health’s predecessor, Western Connecticut Health Network. He spent the first decade of his career in accounting and consulting roles with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Ernst & Young (EY).
Dan is a certified public accountant and holds a B.A. degree in English from the University of Connecticut and an M.S. degree in Accounting from the University of Hartford. He is a life-long Connecticut resident and lives in Orange, Connecticut with his wife Lynn.
Gary J. DeFilippo
Gary DeFilippo is from Shelton and is an active member of the community. He is a graduate from the University of New Haven and holds a degree in Finance. Gary is the owner of GJD Development LLC.
He has received many awards including Shelton's John Davis Lodge award, Connecticut Republicans Futtner award, the Legislative Italian American Person of the Year award, and the Malcom Baldridge Innovation in Government award.
Gary is the former Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles. He is also a former member of the Judicial Grievance Committee and the city of Shelton Charter Revision Commission.
Gary is married to his wife Charlene with whom he shares two children and one grandchild.
JoAnne Jones
JoAnne is a leader at UnitedHealthcare who is currently a Regional Vice President, managing the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions for National Accounts. JoAnne has had a successful and long career at UnitedHealthcare and has led multiple strategies and teams across the country as an effective leader. JoAnne currently leads a team of 15 individuals who collectively have responsibility for over 40 large national accounts. Her team leads the sales strategy, renewal, and ongoing management of their assigned clients to help support their healthcare goals for their consumers and stake holders.
JoAnne’s career encompasses her participation in a management enhancement program that was designed for top talent. That program launched her career in healthcare - she relocated to Chicago to help open and lead the Naperville office, she also had rotational assignments in various businesses at UnitedHealthcare.
JoAnne is a graduate of Northeastern University with a degree in journalism and communications.
Lawrence C. Sgrignari
Lawrence C. Sgrignari has been engaged in civil litigation and municipal law for over 35 years. He has successfully tried, arbitrated and mediated numerous jury and court cases, involving serious personal injury, business and commercial disputes and contested probate matters, including will challenges and appeals to the superior court. Mr. Sgrignari has represented individuals in administrative agency hearings before the Workers’ Compensation Commission, the Compensation Review Board and many state licensing agencies. He has appeared and argued before the State Appellate and Supreme Courts.
In addition to his civil trial practice, Mr. Sgrignari has extensive municipal experience, having served as Assistant Town Attorney for the Town of East Haven from 1985 to 1987 and as Town Attorney from 1987 through 1991 and again from 1997 through 2007. In connection with his municipal law practice, Mr. Sgrignari has represented East Haven and other municipalities in administrative proceedings, including matters before the State Board of Labor Relations, the Board of Mediation and Arbitration, the Freedom of Information Commission and other state agencies. He has negotiated and arbitrated collective bargaining agreements and grievances and has handled disciplinary hearings before local agencies and state mediators and arbitrators. Mr. Sgrignari has successfully litigated and resolved many high profile disputes on behalf of his municipal clients; most recently, he was instrumental in negotiating a settlement agreement between the Town of East Haven and the United States Department of Justice relating to effective and constitutional policing.
Mr. Sgrignari received his undergraduate degree from the University of New Haven, magna cum laude, in 1981 and his law degree, cum laude, from Temple University School of Law in 1984. After graduating law school, Mr. Sgrignari served as a judicial clerk for the State of Connecticut Superior Court, conducting legal research on a variety of matters. After concluding the judicial clerkship in 1985, Mr. Sgrignari began employment with the firm of Gesmonde, Pietrosimone and Sgrignari, L.L.C. where he currently serves as the managing member. In addition to his private and municipal law practice, Mr. Sgrignari also served as a member of the State of Connecticut Judicial Selection Commission from 2003 through 2006, a Hearing Officer for the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles from 2008 through 2011, and as a Special Master for Tax Appeals at the New Haven Superior Court.
Mr. Sgrignari is listed as a Top 100 Trial Lawyer by The National Trial Lawyers and recognized as a Connecticut Super Lawyer. He was admitted to the Connecticut Bar in 1984, and to the U. S. District Court, District of Connecticut in 1985. He is a member of the New Haven County Bar Association, Connecticut Bar Association, American Bar Association, American Association for Justice, a Fellow of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation and a member of the Board of Governors of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association.
Marjorie Shansky
Attorney Marjorie Shansky has been a solo practitioner in New Haven, Connecticut, for more than thirty years practicing in the areas of land use, zoning, and real estate development throughout the State of Connecticut. Services provided by her office extend from due diligence for property acquisition, contract review and negotiation, commercial finance, and all manner of regulatory approvals including regulation text amendments and planning and zoning, inland wetlands and watercourses, and coastal area management permits. She also litigates administrative appeals in the Superior and Appellate Courts, including the Connecticut Supreme Court. Attorney Shansky’s clients include individual, environmental, institutional, municipal, construction and industrial concerns.
For twenty-four years, Shansky was a member of the State Codes and Standards Committee that adopts and administers the State Building Code and Fire Safety Code. During her tenure, she held leadership positions including Chair of the Committee. Shansky has been an adjunct faculty member at the Yale School of the Environment from 2006 to the present teaching Local Environmental Law and Land Use Practice. Since 2018, she is also adjunct faculty at Quinnipiac Law School teaching Land Use Planning and the Land Use Law Practicum. Ms. Shansky is a frequent speaker on substantive and procedural land use issues. Since 2005, Attorney Shansky has been the Law Trainer for the Connecticut Land Use Leadership Alliance (“LULA”), a four-day law, planning tools and collaborative process program initially developed at the Pace University Law School Land Use Law Center. With Michael W. Klemens, PhD and Hank Gruner, Marjorie Shansky co-authored “From Planning to Action, Biodiversity Conservation in Connecticut.”
Attorney Shansky has a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University in music education and a master’s degree in flute performance from the Yale School of Music. She earned her J.D. with honors at the University of Connecticut School of Law. Between her master’s work at Yale and law school, Ms. Shansky was a Fulbright Scholar studying in Germany. In 2023, Ms. Shansky celebrated her 50th year as the Assistant Principal Flute with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra with which she continues to perform. Ms. Shansky has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America from 2006 to the present (including designation as “Lawyer of the Year” in 2022) and among Connecticut Super Lawyers from 2008 to the present. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Planning and Zoning Section of the Connecticut Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Connecticut Chapter of the American Planning Association.
Melissa Ozols
Melissa Ozols has over twenty years of experience working within Connecticut’s State House, campaigns and news outlets. Presently, she writes for the morning coffee and political email CTNews Junkie. Melissa compiles this daily publication every Monday through Thursday, synthesizing news from around the state to update constituents. She also now serves as the Registrar of Voters for the Town of Essex.
Melissa is an avid volunteer within her community on the shoreline of Connecticut. She dedicates her time to the Ivoryton Library Board of Directors, Essex Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization, Shoreline Soup Kitchen & Pantries, and the Valley-Shore YMCA Board of Directors.
Melissa was the Director of Scheduling for Richard Blumenthal’s successful campaign for U.S. Senate. Prior, she spent six years working at the Connecticut State House. Melissa worked first for the Speaker of the House of Representatives as a policy analyst with a primary focus on energy, environment, insurance, and the planning and development committees. She was then a press aide within the Communications Department for the House Democratic Caucus. Melissa handled the delivery of the caucus’ messages to media outlets on behalf of legislators.
Melissa and her husband, Lon, live with their two daughters in Ivoryton. Having both grown up in the neighboring town of Westbrook, they spend their summers with their families there on the beach.
Rowena Track
Rowena Track, Board Director and former CEO, is a global innovation, transformation and turnaround executive of Fortune 100 companies, with expertise in business strategy, financial transformation, audit, cyber security, digital innovation, technology transformation and strategic marketing. She has over 30 years of global and domestic experience in diverse industries such as Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, Banking, Financial Services, Technology and Health Services. Her employers include Cigna Corporation, CitiBank, TIAA-CREF Financial Services, Bayer Healthcare/Pharmaceutical and the Yale University School of Medicine. Rowena’s career had been at the intersection of corporate strategy, digital innovation and technology transformation and held responsibilities in the US, Europe and Asia.
Most recently, Ms. Track was the Chief Executive Officer of the Boys & Girls Club of Stamford. Currently, Ms. Track serves on the Board of Governors of the University of New Haven in CT, is the Vice Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Nominations and Governance Committee. She is also a member of the Cybersecurity Advisory Board. Ms. Track is the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Stamford Partnership, a non-profit in Stamford, CT, focusing on the region’s economic development. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Board, is a member of the Finance and Audit Committee, and is a member of the Nominations and Governance Committee.
Ms. Track holds a Board certification in Cyber Security Governance from the Directors Chief Risk Officers (DCRO) Institute.
Ms. Track became a Board Leadership Fellow and Governance Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) in 2018. She is a member of IEEE’s (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Women in Engineering chapter. She is also a member of Women Corporate Directors (WCD) for which she has moderated panels on innovation including a panel on digital currency. Rowena is a Board Coach for 50/50 Women on Boards.
Ms. Track attended the Harvard Business School programs for corporate boards including: Making Corporate Boards More Effective, Audit Committees in a new Era of Governance, and, Compensation Committees: New Challenges, New Solutions. In addition, she attended Stanford’s 21st Annual Director’s College program.
Ms. Track holds a BS in Physics and an MS in Computer Science.
Ms. Track is married to Dr. Elie Track and lives in Stamford, CT and has two grown children. Both are natives of Beirut, Lebanon, and immigrated to the United States to pursue advanced education. She and her family enjoy skiing, soccer and swimming. Ms. Track speaks English, Arabic and some French.