Our Trustees

Brian Kathenes | President
President, Progressive Business Concepts, Inc.

Brian Kathenes is a consultant, writer, and speaker, specializing in team development and organizational performance. Brian served as Senior Associate of High Impact Training, the corporate training division of Project U.S.E.

Brian appears frequently on television and radio and has been quoted in the New York Times, Successful Meetings, and USA Today. He is the host of the weekly radio show: “Value This!! with Brian and Leon.” and is a science fiction and technology appraisal expert on The Discovery Channel’s: POP NATION: America’s Coolest Stuff. Brian was honored by the Mayor of Hope New Jersey with Hope Township’s Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award.

Anthony Capone | Vice President
Co-Owner, Alma Restaurant

Anthony began his association with Project U.S.E. in 1993 as an Instructor with the Wildcat Mountain Wilderness Center. Shortly thereafter he took over the reigns of TREK, a 30-day expeditionary program for incarcerated male teens. The TREK program, a partnership between Project U.S.E. and New Jersey’s Juvenile Justice Commission, operated for 11 years and had the lowest recidivism rate of any program in the state. In 2004 Anthony left Project U.S.E. to create Alma Restaurant, now widely known as one of the finest Mexican restaurants in New York. An accomplished salsa dancer, Anthony resides in Brooklyn with his Shihtzu, Barney, and three cats.

Walter Czarnecki | Treasurer
Strategy Associate, Ener1, Inc.

Walter Czarnecki is honored to serve on the board of Project U.S.E. and support the mission of experiential education in Newark. Walter serves as Strategy Associate for Ener1, Inc., a maker of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and grid storage applications. Prior to Ener1, Walter lived and worked in Beijing, China, for four years as the University of Maryland’s first employee in Asia and later led the clean energy team for China Renaissance Partners, a Chinese investment bank catering to entrepreneurs. Walter began his career at Lehman Brothers investment banking in New York.

Walter holds an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School, an MA in International Studies with a focus on Mandarin and East Asian Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA in Economics and English from Bucknell University.

Lou DeMarco | Secretary

Lou has been associated with several boards in the past, including the American Institute of Banking, AIB (in both Central Jersey and Long Island) and Youth Education in the Arts (YEA!). A Human Resources professional for better than 23 years in retail as well as the financial services, Lou is excited about his involvement with Project U.S.E.

A Philadelphia native, Lou and his wife Loraine currently live in Hightstown, NJ.

Andrew Brereton, Ph.D. | Trustee
Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs, Seton Hall University

Andy Brereton took his first course with Project U.S.E. in 1983 and has been enriched by his relationship with the institution ever since. He is excited to have this opportunity to serve an organization that does so much good.

Andy is currently the Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs at Seton Hall University where he oversees educational assessment, helps to coordinate retention efforts, and works on a variety of professional development and training initiatives for his colleagues. He also teaches freshmen in the University’s Core Curriculum. His undergraduate degree is in anthropology and his graduate degrees are in theology. Before moving into higher education, Andy worked for a number of years as a carpenter and cabinetmaker. He is happy to say that he knows how to do scholarly research and build a house. He is most proud of the fact that he has had the privilege of raising three wonderful children, who are now successful adults. He loves travel and the outdoors and anything with the word “adventure” in it.

Pam Faccone | Trustee
Health and Wellness, Prudential

Pam first met the Project U.S.E. team in 1994 when she trained a contingent from Prudential in the finer points of corporate team building. Struck with her experience, she sought more involvement with the organization and became a board member in 1995. Pam holds a B.S. degree from Slippery Rock University in Health and Physical Education and a M.S. degree from the University of Oklahoma in Exercise Physiology. She has worked at Prudential for 18 years in their Health and Wellness Department overseeing fitness and dependent care programs along with other wellness initiatives. Pam resides in Eatontown, NJ with her husband Dennis and two sons. Her hobbies include cycling, camping, rafting, and most outdoor adventure activities.

Ken Goldman | Trustee
President, The Goldman Group

Ken became an outdoor enthusiast in his youth attending the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, Wyoming.  Those early experiences influenced him to focus his volunteer and philanthropic efforts toward getting quality backcountry experiential educational opportunities to children in Newark and surrounding areas.  Ken still applies the skills gained from his education in wilderness first aid, outdoor education and leadership at Project U.S.E., where he has worked as staff on multi-day backcountry camping trips at the Wildcat Mountain Wilderness Center since 2008.

Ken is President of The Goldman Group, a real estate management and construction company.  He holds a B.A. from Macalester College and served on its Board of Trustees for 4 years.  He lives in Short Hills, NJ.

L. Jose Gonzales | Founding Member
Retired Educator & Former Member of the Governor’s Youth Council

Jose joined forces with Phil Costello in the late 1960’s, and together they created Action Bound, the predecessor of what would become Project U.S.E.  Over the years Jose helped steer Project U.S.E. to become the innovative education leader it is today.  Jose served as a member of the Governor’s Youth Council, is a veteran of WWII, and in his youth worked on a crew that created the Appalachian Trail.

Jose lives in Langhorne, PA with his wife Betty.

John S. Majeski | Personnel Committee Chair

John is Vice President, Training Manager for a major global financial institution. Previously, he was a Program Director at Project U.S.E. for over ten years. It was during that time period that John made the commitment to “always be involved” in the achievement of the Vision and Mission of Project U.S.E.

Born and raised on Long Island, NY, John lives in Tampa, FL with his wife Edy. They have been blessed with two wonderful children, John and Danielle.

Mike McMahon | Trustee
Attorney, Cohen, Placitella & Roth, P.C.

Michael McMahon, a former lead instructor with both the Wildcat and TREK programs, now works as an attorney in the law firm of Cohen, Placitella & Roth, P.C., based in Red Bank, NJ. Mike graduated Saint Mary’s College of Maryland in 1998 and two weeks later set out from his parents’ front porch in Rumson with an old donated backpack and nothing else for a penniless adventure from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It was on this trip that Mike fell in love with both the grandeur of the wilderness and the overwhelming generosity of those less fortunate than himself – two loves that would eventually lead him to Project U.S.E. Mike lives in Red Bank with his wife Tracey and their son Michael.

Maria Paradiso | Trustee
Head of School, Link Community School

Maria is currently the Head of School at Link Community School in Newark having served at the school in other capacities since 2002. Prior to joining Link Community School, Maria practiced family law with the Middlesex County Legal Services Corporation and consumer law with the Passaic County Legal Aid Office. She had previously clerked for United States Magistrate Judge John J. Hughes. Maria began her fund raising experience with the campaign office of former United States Senator Bill Bradley, where she successfully managed major events for the Senator’s 1990 Re-election Campaign. She then served as Coordinator of Educational Programming and Coordinator of Corporate and Foundation Relations for the New Jersey State Museum. While at the State Museum, she helped launch and secure funding for after-school programming for Trenton youngsters and weekend family programming. Maria holds a J.D. from Rutgers Law School-Newark and a B.A. in Political Science from Montclair State University. She lives with her husband and four children in Cranford, New Jersey. She is a native of Argentina and is fluent in Spanish.

Dominic Skerritt | Trustee
MBA Candidate, Wharton Business School

Dominic joins the Board of Trustees as a participant in the Wharton Business School Board Fellow Program. The Board Fellow Program connects second year MBA candidates with nonprofit organizations to provide a learning opportunity for the student and to enable the nonprofit to access the resources of Wharton.  Dominic is the first Board Fellow from this prestigious program to join Project U.S.E.

Dominic was born and raised in Australia.  He studied at the Australian Defence Force Academy and served as an infantry officer for nearly a decade.  Dominic is a dual degree candidate, and will graduate with a MBA and a MA in International Studies.