The American Red Cross has named Rosie Taravella as regional chief executive officer of the organization’s New Jersey region.
The American Red Cross has named Rosie Taravella, former chief executive officer of the American Red Cross of Western and Central New York, as regional chief executive officer of the organization’s New Jersey region. Taravella will oversee all Red Cross service delivery, fundraising and external relations throughout the state beginning on June 25.
“I am proud and humbled to have been selected for this promotion by senior leaders of our national organization,” said Taravella. “The work of the Red Cross has a positive, meaningful impact on the communities it serves. I will do my best to lead the group of dedicated and talented people who carry out the mission of the Red Cross in New Jersey.”
Taravella succeeds Ana Montero, who has assumed new responsibilities as chief of the Red Cross Hurricane Maria Recovery Program in Puerto Rico.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Rosie to New Jersey,” said Mathieu Nelessen, northeast division vice president, American Red Cross. “Her leadership skills, management philosophy and experience will enable her to build upon the region’s existing strengths and lead the Red Cross to provide even better service to communities in the Garden State.”
Taravella became the regional chief executive officer of the American Red Cross of Central New York in early 2012, overseeing the organization’s operations throughout 16 Central New York counties. In late 2014, the region was expanded to include Western New York, with Taravella providing oversight for 26 counties. During her tenure, Taravella developed a vision and strategy to increase the teamwork of employees reporting across the region, executed a plan to reduce the number of facilities in the region to better utilize donor dollars, and partnered with emergency management officials to develop community resilience and improve readiness for large-scale disasters.
After Hurricane Harvey devastated parts of Texas last year, Taravella was deployed by the Red Cross to work as a liaison with elected officials in Texas. She also served as interim CEO of the Red Cross Greater New York Region while leadership there was deployed to help with hurricane relief efforts.
Prior to her work with the Red Cross, Taravella was vice president of corporate advancement at WCNY Public Broadcasting in Syracuse, N.Y. At WCNY, she provided oversight for membership, major giving, grant support, auctions, volunteer services, and special events. Taravella worked to instigate a more interactive relationship with the station’s viewers and listeners. In 2011, she kicked off the public phase of “The Campaign for WCNY,” a capital fundraising effort for the renovation and construction of WCNY’s new headquarters.
Taravella was invited to participate in the Health Foundation Leadership Fellows Program of Western and Central New York from 2013–2015, and was awarded “Nonprofit Executive of the Year” by the Central New York Business Journal in 2014.
