Executive School Board

Executive School Board

Howard Balley: is a member of the Board of Directors of The ELIJA Foundation as well as a member of the Board of the ELIJA School. He received his BS/BA in business management at the University of Hartford. Since 1988 Mr. Balley has been a Managing Director of Taylor & Ives a Corporate Communications firm where he specializes in communicating with Newspapers, Lawyers, Shareholders, and Board of Directors during Corporate crisis, such as Mergers Acquisitions, Corporate Restructuring & Crisis situations. Mr. Balley is a former board Member of the American Committe of the Weitzman Institution one of the leading Institutions in science and medical research; and an advisor to the Bowery Residence Committee and organization that helps homeless people regain their lives. Mr. Balley has turned his energy and attention to bringing Autism Awareness to the community

Michael Giangregorio

is a Vice President with JP Morgan Chase in the Worldwide Treasury Service Division.  He is responsible for finance trading on behalf of Institutional and High Net worth clients and has over twenty years experience in the Financial Industry.   Mr. Giangregorio also serves on the Elija School Board as Treasurer and is an active member of the autism community.  Mr. Giangregorio has been Chair of the Long Island walk program for NAAR/Autism Speaks for the past 4 years and takes great pride knowing that through his leadership, Long Island has consistently had the largest fundraising walk for autism in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.  Mr. Giangregorio is the father of two sons, one who has autism.   Since his son's diagnosis, he along with his wife, Alison, have become advocates for their son as well as those touched by autism.  Having been one of the founding board members of The ELIJA School, Mr. Giangregorio believes that researched based intervention along with a sound individualized education plan that focuses on functional daily living, will truly help individuals living with autism reach their fullest potential. 

Stella Spanakos
is a member or the Board of Directors of the ELIJA School.She received her  B.A. in History/Secondary Education from Hartwick College, and M.A, from Adelphi  University.  Ms. Spanakos was an  adjunct lector at the University of Bari, Italy, Faculta di Economia e Commercia  where she taught English as a Second Language and History of Economics. Ms.  Spanakos also contributed to the publication of a university text book in Commercial Writing.  After returning to  the United States Ms. Spanakos taught High School History and Economics for ten  years and coached three Varsity High School Sports. Ms. Spanakos’ journey  with autism began in 1992  with the birth of her son Nicholas. There was very little out there as far as  information,conflicting  methodology, and insufficient support services. My husband and I decided  that the best thing for our son was for me to stop teaching and work with  Nicholas twenty-four seven. Since then  Ms. Spanakos has been the driving force  in developing the self contained program for autistic children at Manhasset  Public Schools. She is
currently President of the Manhasset Parent Association  for Special Education, Manhasset Public Schools, Manhasset, New  York. Ms. Spanakos has  also served on the Hartwick College Alumni Board of Directors, and the AHRC  Manhasset Auxiliary Board of Directors. 

Janet Barsky                                                                                                                                                    is a member of the Board of Directors of the ELIJA  Foundation. She received a B.S. degree in Industrial and Labor  Relations from Cornell University and holds a law degree from Yeshiva  University, Cardozo School of Law. She also serves on the Board of  Trustees of the East Meadow Public Library and recently completed a
two year tenure as President of the Council of East Meadow PTA's.    Ms. Barsky and her family are very connected to the Autism community. Her two children (ages 14 and 17) have happily given of their time over the past four years to be peer models for two beautiful boys with autism, practicing socialization skills and going  out into the community. Spending virtually every Friday afternoon into evening with these children has never been a chore, but rather, they would tell you, a privilege. Ms. Barsky's son has spent his highschool years researching how video modeling can be an effective tool in teaching skills to children with autism. He has shared his results at 
conventions, like NYSABA and LIAC.   The ELIJA School proves wrong those who say "it cannot be done". It
can absolutely be done with energetic educators, committed direction,  engaged parents, and a will to provide the before the young autism population.

 Allison Roberts M.A

 

Founders & Executive Directors 

Debora Harris BCaBA & Nicole Dibra: Our Founders & Executive Directors,  have completed their coursework in Applied Behavior Analysis for Special Education through Penn State’s Coursework Certificate Program. They also received their certificate in Professional Development in Autism through Penn State University. They are Founders of the ELIJA Foundation, Long Island’s largest educational organization specializing in the treatment of children with Autism. They are Executive Directors, of Effective Interventions, a behaviorally based clinic for children with autistic spectrum disorders in Nassau County.  Mrs. Harris is a Board Certified Associate Behavior Analyst and an active member of the  New York State Association for Behavior Analysts. She is also a consultant for local public school programs which service children with Autism. Mrs. Dibra has been an ABA instructor over the past 4 years. She currently provides hands on training of staff as well as conducts workshops in teaching procedures for those working with children with Autism. Both Mrs. Harris & Mrs. Dibra are  parents of children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and offer ongoing seminars in a variety of topics pertaining to intervention, advocacy and parenting children with ASD.

Emails: dharris@elijaschool.org

            ndibra@elijaschool.org