Bios

Lynn Krogh - President

Born in the City of Troy in upstate New York, Lynn grew up the oldest of 5 children in a solidly Republican household. She attended public and private school throughout her primary and secondary education.

Lynn became involved in the Young Republicans at the age of 19 in Rensselaer County after her father lost a very close City Council Race in Troy -- determined that he would not lose again.  She quickly rose to the positions of Secretary and then Vice Chairman of the Rensselaer County YRs, growing their membership from 20 to over 100.  She began attending meetings state- and nation-wide. After Lynn was appointed in 2001 to the position of Capitol Region Vice-Chair for the New York State Young Republicans, a position where she would focus on growing organizations within NY's Capital Region, politics quickly became an important part of her life. In June of 2002, Lynn was asked to work on the re-election campaign of the longest serving Republican Governor in the country at the time, George E. Pataki, and soon thereafter moved to New York City, where she became a member of the New York Young Republican Club, Inc. She continued to work for Governor Pataki as a Deputy Press Secretary in his New York City Office. 

Under the Weingartner Administration, Lynn held the position of Membership Chair, during which time the Club grew to over 400 members. Lynn went on to serve as Secretary under the Cariello Administration, where she handled all non-fiscal record keeping.  She also held the position of Vice President in the Brownell Admminstration, where she handled a wide array of matters, including aiding the President with day-to-day duties.  Lynn was elected to the position of President, unanimously, on April 19, 2007. She is also the Vice Chair for the New York State Young Republicans. By day, Lynn is the Public Relations Director for World Renowned Architect Daniel Libeskind.

Kendal Elliott - Vice President

As the Campaign Chair, Kendal acts as a liaison between the NYYRC and Republican campaigns for public office within New York City and surrounding areas.

Kendal has extensive experience managing political campaigns on both the national and local levels and consulting local candidates. She has spent the last several years conducting sophisticated research on key issues in both the private and public sectors, and continues to be active in local grassroots politics.

Prior to campaign management and issue research, Kendal worked as a corporate trainer for a premier financial institution. Kendal holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a Graduate Degree in Politics from New York University.

Nicholas Vertucci - Treasurer

Nicholas J Vertucci, a resident of New York for the past 30 years, was elected Treasurer of the New York Young Republican Club in April 2005. Prior to his election he served as Chairman of the Finance Committee where he represented the Club in discussing the overhaul of Social Security on CNN and on issues involving Wal-Mart's attempts to come to Queens and school vouchers in the New York Sun. As Chairman of the Finance Committee he also designed and initiated the Club's membership tier program and has been a contributor to the Club's publication, the New York Young Republican Record.

Nicholas has spent the last ten years as a wealth management consultant on Wall Street, specializing in Modern Portfolio Theory and asset allocation strategies for companies and individuals. He has a degree in International Finance and Business Management from Berkeley College where he graduated with honors, is the former President of the Queens Borough Hill Athletic Association, has been asked to speak to students at his former high school (Holy Cross) to help them prepare for the difficult road ahead. Nicholas currently lives in Queens, New York with his wife and son.

Sharlene A. Santercole - Board of Advisors

Sharlene A. Santercole is the New York Young Republican Club, Inc. Membership Co-Chair for retaining members. Her role is to maintain contact with the current membership, encourage them to be active and participate in the both NYYRC- and Republican-sponsored events.

Sharlene grew up in Buffalo, New York and was raised with conservative catholic values. Upon turning 18 she followed in her father's footsteps and registered as a Republican. Sharlene became involved in politics during college when elected Class Secretary of Student Government her junior and senior year. In 1990, she graduated from Niagara University, earning a BS in Commerce with a Concentration in Marketing and minor in Informational Sciences. Sharlene served two years on the Niagara University Alumni Council and is currently the Tri-State Alumni Chapter Chair.

In January 1991 Sharlene moved to New York City to work in finance. She joined the NYYRC in October 2003. She was a member of the Annual Dinner Committee and the Events Committee prior to becoming Membership Co-Chair. Sharlene volunteered for the NYC Host Committee and was assigned a COA Volunteer in Site Operations during the Republican National Convention. She also worked on Club member Anton Srdanovic's 2004 congressional campaign as a Volunteer Coordinator. In 2004 Sharlene became a Life Member of the Republican National Committee.

Campaigns

College Chapter Liaison

Sean White - Community Outreach

Sean has been a Republican since he read Newt Gingrich's "Contract With America" as a freshman in high school. Since then he has held a number of leadership positions in Republican organizations and campaigns. Through the Community Outreach Committee, Sean hopes to combine his passion for politics with his passion to perform community volunteer work. It is his belief that change begins locally and that local volunteer work is an essential duty for all citizens.

Sean went to Boston College and works at CB Richard Ellis, a commercial real estate firm in New York City.

Gail Allen - Events

Gail joined the New York Young Republican Club in January 2003 upon her return to New York after living overseas. Determined to become involved in politics again after a 5-year hiatus, she quickly became an active member, joining the Events and Dinner Committees, and becoming a contributing reporter for both the New York Young Republican Record and the first season of YR-TV.

In May 2004 she was appointed Vice Chairperson of the Events Committee and helped to transform the social aspect of the Club into its present day format of routine, theme-based monthly socials at some of New York City's hottest and trendiest spots. Gail officially assumed the role of Chairperson of the Events Committee in mid-March 2005. Thanks to the outstanding support from members of the Events Committee, they successfully launched their first social in April 2005, which boasted the highest attendance numbers to date.

In the coming year, Gail looks forward to continuing to provide a fun and entertaining social outlet for the city's young Republicans in an effort to support Club President Dennis Cariello's goals of increasing Club membership as well as our local and national presence.

Gail holds a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University, where she was the only female of the 5 members of the College Republicans. She currently works for a Japanese investment bank in midtown on the Capital Markets desk. In her limited spare time, she enjoys traveling, skiing, summer weekend mornings on the sunny roof of her building listening to Café del Mar, and reading books on the late, great Ronald Reagan.

Sandra Innocenzi - Events

Sandra Innocenzi first joined the NYYRC just prior to the last Presidential election and was proud to volunteer during New York City's 2004 Republican National Convention.

Shortly thereafter she joined the Events Committee and began planning the first of many successful social functions. She was elected Vice Chair of the committee in 2005, continued in 2006 and is now a Co-Chair with Gail Allen. Together they look forward to another successful year of fun for Republicans in Manhattan.

Accomplished equestrian, art enthusiast, and passionate real estate broker, Sandra Innocenzi is a Vice President and an award winning broker at Prudential Douglas Elliman.

As a New York City resident, Sandra is active in community events and is involved with several volunteer and charitable organizations. She is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Skidmore College, with a degree in Fine Arts. Her interests run the gamut from horses to art and taking advantage of everything this wonderful city has to offer.

Finance

Craig Schwartz - Membership

Jennifer Saunders - Public Relations

As Public Relations Chair, Jen coordinates press release distribution and media pitching to increase media coverage of the Club. Prior to being appointed to PR, Jen also served as a co-chair on the Community Outreach Committee. She first joined the New York Young Republican Club in Fall 2003.

Jen grew up in rural Connecticut in a family of Republicans. She attended UC Berkeley, where she was a member of the Berkeley College Republicans. During the 2001-2002 election season, Jen worked with a San Francisco fundraising firm raising money for Republican candidates. After 5 years on the left coast, she moved back east and has been living in New York since January 2003.

Jen earned a BA in History from the University of California in 2002 and now works in the financial services industry. In her spare time, she enjoys yoga, cycling, and swimming.

Kellen Giuda - Publications

Kellen grew up in rural New Hampshire where the values of integrity, education, hard work, accountability, and responsibility were deeply ingrained in him by his family. These traditional values along with the Republican values of limited government and defense of the United States Constitution have driven him to hold his family and the United States of America's democracy as the two most important issues in his life.

Inspired by his family's extensive military and intelligence experience, Kellen became politically conscious while attending the University of Miami's School of Architecture and Urban Planning. After getting a taste of New York City while attending New York University for a summer program in 2004, he promptly moved back upon graduating from college in 2005. Joining the New York Young Republican Club in 2005 and becoming Co-Chair of the Publications Committee later that year, he and Valentine Ding are determined to utilize the resources of both the Club and of New York City to help the Committee realize its full potential.

Kellen is also actively involved in four other non-political national organizations. He is currently a junior architect at an architecture and design firm in the Tribeca district of New York City. In his spare time, Kellen is an outdoor enthusiast and some activities he enjoys are running, swimming, boxing, opera, snowmobiling, and cooking.

Kerry Picket - Speakers

Eric Heindel - General Counsel

Eric Heindel moved to New York in 2000 after graduating from Georgetown University. He worked as an Analyst in the Investment Banking division of Merrill Lynch before attending law school at St. John's University. Eric is a licensed attorney in New York and Connecticut, having passed the bar exams and been admitted in both states. He is currently employed at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, and lives in the Kips Bay area of Manhattan. As the NYYRC's general counsel, Eric handles all legal matters for the Club.