Child and Family Services (C+FS) is excited to welcome Lizarelis Ali, Ellen Burkhardt and Neil Pawlowski to the Agency’s Board of Directors. They join 19 other individuals from various backgrounds including legal, insurance, not-for-profit management, health care, finance, education, compliance, real estate, architecture and more. Our new members join the Board of Directors during a milestone year when Child and Family Services celebrates its 150th anniversary.
Lizarelis Ali is currently a full-time, master’s level, intern of Psychology within Buffalo Public Schools. She is a counselor and provides assessments on cognitive ability, behavior and academic achievement. Lizarelis focuses on helping bilingual students, with her other position as a Spanish One on One Support and Outreach Specialist with the Parent Network of WNY. Her volunteer work is extensive and includes the University at Buffalo Home Again Initiative, World Refugee Day of WNY, and the Puerto Rico Hurricane & Earthquake Relief Fund. Lizarelis has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from SUNY Empire State College and is currently pursuing her master’s in school psychology at the University at Buffalo. She currently resides in Cheektowaga, NY.
Ellen Burkhardt is a Vice President of Administration at Harmac Medical Products, Inc in Buffalo, NY. She is a proactive, results oriented senior finance and management professional who manages initiatives across accounting, human resources, and IT. Ellen has been with Harmac Medical Products since 1996 and has been a VP since 2021. She has managed operations at both Harmac’s Buffalo and Tijuana, Mexico locations. She holds an M.B.A. from the University at Buffalo (UB) and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Medaille College. Ellen resides in Buffalo, NY.
Neil Pawlowski is a founding partner with the law firm of Duggan & Pawlowski LLP and a Real Estate Attorney who represents clients in both residential and commercial real estate transactions. He has been selected to the Super Lawyers Rising Star List, Real Estate Law, from 2015 – 2021. Prior to his law career, Neil was a former middle school social studies teacher and Teach for America Corps member in Brooklyn, NY. He received his master’s degree in teaching from Pace University and a bachelor’s in political science from the University of Rochester. Neil resides in Tonawanda, NY.
