Board Officers

President: Steve Schiffman
VP: Patricia Spaght
Treasurer: Chris Daley
Secretary: Susan Bonner

To be elected for a term of 3 years – Class of 2027
Ellen Gould
Joyce Hergenhan
Patricia Spaght
Gerald Torres
Laura Wilson
William Winget

To be elected for a term of 1 year – Class of 2025
Jason Mudd

Nominee Bios

Susan Bonner, Secretary
Susan graduated with a BA from Vassar College and worked for Redbook Magazine and J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency early in her career. She was also Editor in Chief and Publisher of a monthly magazine she started in 1978 called Profiles Magazine. Susan sits on the Board of The Near & Far Aid Association and served as its President from 2007-2009. She has served on the Annual Giving Committees for Greens Farms Academy, Deerfield Academy, Williams College and Trinity College, and was a past Board member of the Nature Center in Westport (Earthplace). Susan has lived in Fairfield County her whole life. She is married to Larry Erdmann and they reside in Easton.

Chris Daley, Treasurer
Chris and his family have lived in Fairfield since 1992. He is co-founder of a Fairfield-based private equity investment firm and has been in banking and investing for more than 30 years. Chris serves on numerous corporate Boards, as well and the Boards of the Fairfield Beach Club and Fairfield American Little League. He received a BA in Economics from Cornell and an MBA from The Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania).

Ellen Gould, Class of 2027
As a BFA graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, Ellen moved to NYC from Cleveland, Ohio to pursue work in the graphic design field. After working at a scientific book publisher, she became the Art Director of New York Magazine and then Art Director at Money Magazine for many years, followed by Memories Magazine, and lastly David Lauren’s Swing Magazine. Among her freelance projects, she did design work for the education department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and volunteer design work for The Museum of American Folk Art. In Southport, Ellen’s love of historic architecture and design led her to become a member of The Fairfield Historic District Commission, where she served for 12 years and was its Chairman for 10. As an active member of The Fairfield Garden Club since 2005, Ellen served on its Board for over 10 years. She is currently on the Board of Trustees for Preservation Connecticut (formerly The Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation).

Joyce Hergenhan, Class of 2027
Joyce is the retired vice president for communications at GE, and the retired president of the GE Foundation. She serves on the Board of Trustees at Southport Congregational Church and serves on (or has served on) the boards of Syracuse University, Connecticut Audubon, Westport Country Playhouse, the Inner City Foundation for Education and Charity, the Jackie Robinson Foundation, the Civilian Advisory Board at USMA (West Point).

Jason H. Mudd, Class of 2027
Jason is currently a Managing Partner of Cindy Raney & Team, a luxury real estate advisory firm that he founded with his wife in 2020. Prior to advising clients on real estate, Jason worked for nearly 20 years in private and consumer banking for Bank of America and J.P. Morgan. From 2015-2017 Jason served on the Fairfield Museum’s Finance Committee. He is currently the Vice Chair of the Yale New Haven Bridgeport Hospital Foundation. A graduate of Washington University (St. Louis), Jason and his wife Cindy, share 5 children and have lived together in Fairfield since 2018.

Steven F. Schiffman, President
Steve is recently retired as the CFO of Devonshire Investors (the private investment arm of Fidelity Investments) and as President of Eight Roads (the international venture capital group of Fidelity). He has over 35 years of corporate experience, including roles at Starwood Hotels, PepsiCo and Ford Motor Co. Steve has served on multiple corporate Boards and chaired a number of Audit & Risk Committees. He is currently on the Board of Advisors of the Int’l Business School at Brandeis University. Steve, his wife D’vorah and son Izzy have lived in Fairfield since 1998, after relocating here from Hong Kong. They own a prominent historic home in the heart of town which they’ve lovingly restored to period.

Patricia (Patti) Spaght, Vice President
After graduating with a BA from Stanford, Patti joined IBM as a systems engineer working in the San Francisco Bay area and later in Boston. With the advent of children, she began a career of volunteering for non-profit organizations. Moving to Southport in 1982, she immediately volunteered at the Fairfield Historical Society as its first Coordinator of Education. She was Board President from 1996-1999 and chaired the Capital Campaign Committee for the new Fairfield Museum and History Center from 1999-2008. During these past 40 years, she has assumed many roles in her continuing involvement with the organization. She has also been actively involved with the Fairfield Garden Club and The Garden Club of America. She has chaired three GCA National Committees including Nominating, participated in Strategic Planning and served as a Director. Locally she served on the RTM for 12 years and has been a past Moderator and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Southport Congregational Church.

Gerald Torres, Class of 2027
Gerald is a Professor of Environmental Justice at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Professor at the Yale Law School. He is former President of the Association of American Law Schools and has taught at Stanford Law School and at Harvard Law School, where he served as the Oneida Nation Visiting Professor of Law. Professor Torres served as Counsel to the Attorney General on environmental matters and Indian affairs at the U.S. Department of Justice. He has served on the Board of the Environmental Law Institute, the EPA’s National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, as well as the National Petroleum Council. He is board chair of Earth Day Network and founding Chairman of the Advancement Project, the leading Civil Rights advocacy organization in the country. He is a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council. He has served as a consultant to the United Nations on environmental matters and is a life member of the American Law Institute and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Laura Wilson, Class of 2027
Laura is a Senior Executive Producer at Penguin Random House Audio. Before joining PRH Audio, she was the Executive Director of Production at Macmillan Audio, and she has worked in the audiobook industry for the past 20 years. During that time, she’s produced numerous Grammy-nominated and Audie Award-winning programs. Laura worked as a talk-show radio producer at WNYC in New York for a number of years before discovering audiobooks. She served on the board of Music Haven in New Haven from 2012-2017. Laura and her family have lived in Fairfield since 1998.

William Winget, Class of 2027
Bill has had a 30+ year domestic and international career in oil and gas production and development, beginning with ExxonMobil and physical/financial trading of the associated commodities ending with Sempra Energy/JPMorgan. He sits on the board of several companies in the green power generation/electric transmission space, and started a new green technology water treatment business in Europe. Bill and his family live in Fairfield.