Biographies of Commission Members
Perry Rowthorn
Perry Rowthorn is the founder and principal of Rowthorn Law LLC. Perry represents clients in a wide range of investigations, litigation and settlements resulting from government enforcement actions. Perry’s clients include major international, national and regional businesses in insurance, telecommunications, healthcare, energy, technology, financial services and other sectors.
Drawing upon considerable experience as the former Connecticut Chief Deputy Attorney General, Perry is regularly called upon to assist clients in navigating single and multi-state attorney general matters, including several of the most significant and complex recent multi-state matters.
During his nearly six years as Chief Deputy Attorney General, Perry oversaw day-to-day operations of the Office of the Attorney General and personally handled complex consumer protection, antitrust, privacy, securities, environmental enforcement, charities regulation and false claims act investigations, litigation and settlements. He played a key role in several national attorney general investigations and settlements. He also served as liaison to the Office of the Governor and leaders of executive branch agencies as well as state and federal elected and judicial officials. Perry previously served as Connecticut’s Associate Attorney General for Litigation, managing the office’s full portfolio of litigation and investigations.
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.
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.
Inez Diaz-Galloza
As a longtime public servant and litigator, Attorney Inez Diaz-Galloza currently serves as the Deputy Associate Attorney General and Chief of the Consumer Advocacy Section for the Office of the Attorney General. Having served as an Assistant Attorney General for 19 years, she also practiced in the Employment Rights Section where she defended State agencies in an array of employment matters in federal and state court as well as the Child Protection Section. At the Office, she also leads the Office’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee and Internship Program which propels her passion for mentoring college and law students. Prior to working at the Office of the Attorney General, she was an associate at Wiggin & Dana. She also served on numerous non-profit boards and is currently on the Board of Directors for The Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity, The Fund for Greater Hartford as well as Five Frogs. She is a lifelong resident and fan of Connecticut.
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.
Steven Hernandez
Steven Hernández, Esq. is the Executive Director for the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN), a leading advocacy organization that ensures each child in Connecticut has equitable access to a high-quality public education. Prior to serving as Executive Director, he served the CT state legislature as Executive Director of the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity & Opportunity, and as Director of Public Policy and Research for the Connecticut Commission on Children. Mr. Hernandez served seven years as legislative and budget director in the office of Washington, D.C., Council member Jim Graham.
He served as a clerk to two judges in the District’s Court of Appeals and as a consultant to the Washington law firm Baker & Miller, PLLC. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Bennington College in Vermont in 1995 and a Juris Doctor Degree from the Washington College of Law at American University.
He is an experienced attorney, leader, and collaborator in public policy and advises on cutting-edge policy through a bicameral, bipartisan, research and best-practice driven lens. He is most comfortable collaborating cross-culturally, with youth, family, state, local, and national stakeholders, with the public and private sector, business, and philanthropy.
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.
Themis Klarides
Former State Representative Themis Klarides was elected to her 11th term representing the 114th House District which includes Woodbridge, Orange and Derby on November 8, 2018. Following the statewide elections, Klarides was unanimously chosen for the third time as Leader by her House Republican colleagues – the first woman to hold the position. Klarides held the title of Deputy Republican Leader from 2007 through 2014. As the House Republican Leader, Klarides was a member of the legislature’s committee on Legislative Management.
She continues to be an outspoken leader on issues regarding the state’s finances, job creation, education, taxes and many others. She has been active in her community serving on numerous boards and civic organizations.
Since 2006, Klarides has served on Griffin Hospital’s Board of Directors, presently serving as Vice Chair. She is an outspoken advocate for first responders and public safety personnel including firefighters, police, and emergency medical technicians.
Over the years Klarides has worked closely with The Umbrella Center for Domestic Violence Services, a program of BHcare. Her commitment to advocacy is demonstrated through her work to assist victims of domestic violence and providing volunteer legal assistant to women and children at the shelter.
As a constant advocate for women’s health, Klarides was recognized in 2018 by the Radiological Society of Connecticut. In that same year she was honored by the Jewish Federation Association of Connecticut for her work concerning holocaust and genocide education.
Klarides was awarded the 2018 Prescott Bush Award, recognizing her political leadership and contribution to the development of politics in Connecticut. The first ever woman to hold the title of House Republican Leader, Klarides has blazed a trail in her own right for generations to come.
A native of Seymour, Themis Klarides was raised around a family supermarket business that taught her the value of hard work and the rewards of community involvement. Her commitment to these values is exemplified through her years of community service with various municipal, state and regional groups. She is a former member of the Planning and Zoning Commission in Derby, and a former member of the Board of Finance in Seymour.
A graduate of Trinity College, Klarides earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science, and later earned her Juris Doctorate from Quinnipiac University School of Law. Currently practicing law in the State of Connecticut and in the United States District Court of Connecticut.
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.