COLLEEN KERNAN, of Camillus, has been promoted to VP of corporate communications, at Pinckney Hugo Group. She is responsible for strategic communications marketing messaging and planning, internal and external communications, and public-relations strategy. Kernan has been with the agency for more than 15 years and was previously director of public relations. She has a master’s degree in public relations from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of California Berkeley.

JUSTIN EARL has been promoted to commercial-banking relationship manager at Tompkins Trust Company. He has worked at Tompkins Trust as AVP, small-business lending manager since 2017. In his new role, Earl will be responsible for business development and portfolio-management efforts in the commercial-lending arena, which will entail managing a book of business and working directly with existing and prospective clients. His duties will also include generating commercial loans and uncovering referral opportunities to Tompkins Insurance and Tompkins Financial Advisors business partners, along with deposits and consumer and residential loans at the branch level. Before joining Tompkins Trust, he worked at General Motors Financial. Earl, a resident of Whitney Point, earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at SUNY Oswego. 

SARA SMITH has joined Five Star Bank as senior commercial & industrial portfolio manager. In this role, she is responsible for assisting commercial & industrial relationship managers in servicing and managing client loans and relationships across the bank’s operating footprint. Smith most recently worked as a business-service officer at KeyBank. She also previously worked as a portfolio administrator and in retail-branch management at First Niagara Bank. Smith is a graduate of SUNY Oswego and the Leadership Greater Syracuse civic-leadership training program.

KIEL KINKADE has been hired by CenterState CEO as a research and policy analyst within the organization’s research, policy and planning division. He is responsible for conducting primary research, compiling economic data and insight, and performing public-policy analysis to help CenterState CEO develop strategies for regional growth and community sustainability, advance business development opportunities, and provide information to businesses. Kinkade most recently worked as an analyst at Kore Development Advisors, where he wrote project proposals for economic-development projects. He has a bachelor’s degree in public administration from California State University and a master’s degree in public policy from the College of William and Mary.

BRENNA SHERMAN has joined CenterState CEO as engagement and operations coordinator for the Greater Oswego-Fulton Chamber of Commerce (GOFCC). She is responsible for the recruitment and retention of members, and she aids in the coordination and operations of various events hosted by GOFCC and CenterState CEO. Sherman also assists in communications between chamber members, elected officials, and the community to support the outreach of the organization. Most recently, she served as member-solutions representative at Oswego County Federal Credit Union, and as a contractor for Exelon. Sherman holds a bachelor’s degree in sustainability with minors in business management and ethics from St. John Fisher College.

BROOKE COLEMAN has joined HighPoint Advisors, LLC as a client-service associate. She will work with current clients and the financial advisors of the firm to service existing accounts as well as process new accounts. Coleman previously held a position as a loan processor serving clients in CNY. Coleman received her bachelor’s degree in business management from Niagara University.

KATHLEEN MONDAY has joined HighPoint Advisors as office manager. She will work to help the firm’s advisors provide services to clients. She was previously the senior revenue cycle manager at a local nonprofit organization. Monday received an associate degree in human-resource management from Bryant & Stratton College. 

JENNIFER FASSANO was recently promoted to director of the emergency department at Oswego Health. Fassano, a registered nurse (RN), earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2012 from SUNY Oswego. She started her career in health care as an EMT at Oswego County Ambulance. Fassano transitioned from the ambulance to the emergency department. In 2014, she joined Oswego Health as an emergency-department tech while pursuing her associate degree in nursing at Cayuga Community College. After graduation, she jumped right in as a graduate nurse in the Oswego Health emergency department until she became fully licensed as a registered nurse in 2016. In May 2021 Fassano was promoted to Senior RN.

ALISON FLUMAN has been promoted to director of community health at Oswego Health. In this new role, she will be responsible for the management of occupational health, health education, employee health services, and health education. Fluman earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degree in nursing from SUNY Upstate Medical University and has been a registered nurse since 2013. Before joining Oswego Health, she worked for Hill Haven Transitional Care Center in Rochester and Crouse Hospital. 

ROBERT COOPER, has joined the Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) as a certified family nurse practitioner (FNP) at the MVHS Medical Group’s New Hartford Crossroads Medical Office, where he will provide care to patients of all ages. Cooper earned his FNP degree as well as his master’s degree in nursing education from the SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Utica. He completed a student-teaching internship at St. Elizabeth College of Nursing in Utica. Cooper’s teaching experience brought him to pursue a career as a family nurse practitioner, where he continues to teach graduating nurses and new staff. 

SYEISHA BYRD was appointed director of family engagement at the Early Childhood Alliance (ECA), a coalition of community stakeholders with a shared vision for a more coordinated and strategic early childhood system. In her new role, Byrd will be responsible for the ECA’s outreach and engagement with families and will help create pathways for parents and caregivers to be partners and leaders in the work of the ECA. She most recently served as the director of the Office of Engagement Programs at Syracuse University’s Hendricks Chapel. There, Byrd worked to create, build, and sustain relationships between students, faculty, and staff, and the Syracuse community. Prior to her service at Syracuse University, Byrd worked as a program and site director for Boys and Girls Club of Syracuse. A lifelong Syracuse resident, Byrd earned her associate degree in human services at Onondaga Community College, her bachelor’s degree in social work at Keuka College, and her master’s degree in social work at Syracuse University.