Don Drinkard was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama. He received bachelors and masters degrees in engineering from Auburn University. After serving in Korea as an officer in the U.S. Army, he completed an MBA from the University of Alabama. He then began a career in the oil and gas industry, spanning 27 years, during which he managed drilling, production and construction projects in Louisiana, Texas, Alaska and California in the U.S, and overseas in the Republic of Yemen, Colombia, Malaysia and Africa. Since retiring to Vero Beach, Florida in 2004, Don has enjoyed precious time with his wife, three children and five grandchildren. He loves First United Methodist of Vero Beach where he is involved in education and outreach.  He is a committed supporter of United Against Poverty where he serves on the Board of Directors. He also enjoys golf, art and reading.

In 2008 David moved from New York to Vero Beach and started a human resource consulting business, HR Dynamics Inc. Focused on temporary staffing, management recruiting and employee training, HR Dynamics serves more than 50 companies and organizations in Indian River County. Today David is Chairman and owner of HR Dynamics having turned over day to day operations to the employees. Prior to moving to Vero, David had a 20 year career in executive search based in Manhattan. He worked with small to mid-size industrial and business service companies to recruit senior operating and financial executives. From 1999 to 2008 he was the human resource operating partner with the private equity firm, Hampshire Equity Partners.

Barbara Lowry serves on the local Board of Directors for Indian River County and the Regional Board of Directors of United Against Poverty. She graduated from American University with a BS in Business Administration in Industrial Relations and Manpower Management. Her professional career included running a subsidiary company for a large Washington, DC metropolitan construction company and was responsible for the management and leasing of commercial and residential properties. Barbara enjoys boating, golf, bridge, and, of course, her wonderful family and friends.

After the birth of her daughter Katie, she decided to pay the community that had provided such a good life for her family. Barbara knew the best way to become part of a community was through service. When Barbara learned of United Against Poverty she decided to join their efforts. Barbara embraces UP’s mission of lifting people out of poverty.

Peter Bijur serves as Vice Chairman of the United Against Poverty Corporate Board and as a director of the United Against Poverty of Indian River County Community Board. He was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Texaco Inc. until his retirement in 2001, following a 36 year career. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh. Peter and his wife Kjestine live most of the year in Vero Beach and spend the summers in Greenwich CT.

Barbara’s roots are in Northern New York, where she grew up and was an elementary school teacher before her retirement. She also taught at The Meadow’s Infant School in Sydney, Australia for a number of years. Barbara spends winters in Vero Beach, Florida at the Mooring, and summers at her island cottage in The Thousand Islands on The St. Lawrence River. She graduated with a B.A. in Elementary Education from Ohio Wesleyan University, and has one grown son, Daniel, who lives in Portland, Oregon. She is the past President of The Thousand Island Association, which is a non-profit made up of American and Canadians whose concern is the health and safety of “The River” and its summer residents. She is presently the Vice President of the Friends of The Minna Anthony Common Nature Center, located in the Wellesley Island State Park on the St. Lawrence River, which is home to over eight miles of year-round hiking trails, an environmental teaching museum, and hosts educational school and recreational programs.

Susie Calender comes to us as an experienced and well-traveled CPA. After receiving her B.S. in Accounting from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, she has taken her accounting expertise to Germany, Los Angeles, Connecticut, and now Vero Beach. Susie also brings her background in fundraising to UAP having helped with fundraising activities for Neurofibromatosis Foundation in Los Angeles and Ben Bronz Academy in Hartford, Connecticut. She has also used her knowledge to serve as a Financial Advisor for Impact 100 Panel.

Cindy Galant is a community volunteer and philanthropist. She and her husband Mark have been residents of Vero Beach for over a decade, spending the summers in NJ and NYC where their 2 children reside. Cindy holds a BA from the University of Virginia. She is a former board member of the UVA Curry School of Education Foundation, and currently serves on the Curry School Advisory board. In addition to the UP board, locally Cindy serves on the boards of Impact 100 of IRC and the UVA Club of the Treasure Coast.

Pam has served on the UP Indian River Board of Directors since 2012. She and her husband Tim have been residents of Vero Beach for a decade, continuing to spend summers in Washington, D.C. Pam’s career includes founding, with three partners, the largest independent financial planning firm in Northern Virginia, where she was a CFP and member of the Registry of Financial Planning Practitioners.

Owner/Director of Operations of Sober Development Recovery Residence

Lynn Miller was formerly Corporate Events Manager for Mellon Bank, Pittsburgh, PA. She holds a B.S. degree from the University of Rhode Island. Lynn has a history of helping those in need sometimes feeling like a ‘life coach.’ She has travelled extensively and loves experiencing different cultures.

David currently serves on the board of the Planned Giving Council of Indian River and has been actively involved with Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital where he served on the IRMC Foundation Advisory Council. He is also involved with the Boy Scouts of America Gulfstream Council where he served as District Chairman, and is past-president of the Rotary Club of Vero Beach.
David is a native of Jacksonville, FL. He and his wife Susan moved to Vero Beach, FL in 2002, and have three children.
Prior to his current role at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, David was a Private Client Advisor for U.S. Trust where he led a local team of professional specialists to provide comprehensive advice and integrated solutions including investment management, trust/estate planning and settlement, banking, credit and wealth structuring services to a select group of institutions, individuals and families. He also launched and managed the UST / Merrill Edge partnership for senior leadership and client facing teams across multiple divisions. Prior to joining U.S. Trust, David was a senior banker with J.P. Morgan Private Bank in Florida; President of FNB Brokerage Services, Inc. and the Wealth Management Group at Seacoast National Bank; founding partner and Managing Director of AssetMark Investment Services. He began his career with Smith Barney in New York and Atlanta.

Amy C. Patterson has served on the UP IRC Board since the fall of 2013. She has previously chaired its IRC Development Committee and has been active with the UP Gala Committee since its inception. She served as a past Gala co-chair and has served as the business sponsorship chair for the last four years. After retiring as Executive Director of the (WCBA) Westchester County Bar Association and Foundation (Westchester County, NY), Amy and her husband moved down to Vero in 2008. As Executive Director of the WCBA, Amy had a successful track record of leadership, staff and board relations, effective budgeting, program development and policy implementation. During her tenure with the WCBA, Amy received the New York State Senate Liberty Award for special achievement working on behalf of New York family members who were 9/11 victims.  This medal was awarded by Senator Nick Spano on May 9, 2002.  Since settling in Vero, Amy has focused on volunteer non-profit work and in addition to her UP service, she has served on the Hibiscus Children’s Center Regional and Corporate Boards and the Youth Sailing Foundation of IRC until 2016. Amy met her husband Don Reeser while racing at a sailing regatta in NY. They share a passion for sailing, their family and their two black labs.

Isabelle Richard serves on the Community Board of Directors for United Against Poverty. She holds a BA in Marketing and a BA in French Writing and Communication for Sherbrooke University, Quebec. Isabelle owns an online marketing agency and works for Lowes Canada and Botanix Garden Centres. Her husband and 4 children moved to Vero Beach almost 15 years ago. She enjoys a quiet life, spending time with friends and family, and traveling.

Mary Ryan is a longtime resident of Vero Beach during the winter. She spends her summers residing in her hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. Mary is no newcomer to non-profit. She has served as Chairman of the Humane Society prior to joining our Board at United Against Poverty. Mary is a strong supporter of our mission and displays her support through major donations and serving as the Chairman of the 2020 Valentine Ball.

Richard has been a Vero Beach for 68 years and his family has been part of the Vero Beach community for over 100 years.

Richard has been working in youth ministry since 1975; primarily at St Helens Catholic Church, Holy Cross Catholic church, Covenant House-New York City and St. Augustine Church in Gainesville. He works with Children Home Society and spends most of my time working with Kiwanis, their school clubs, going on week long service trips with Youth on a Mission and their local service projects with Youth in Action.

His family’s entrepreneurial spirit was always a part of him, leading him to own, and paint with, Schlitt Brothers for 50 years until 2020.

When Richard is not working or giving back to his community he enjoys spending time with his family; including his three sons and nine grandchildren.

Emma is a successful, results-oriented human resources professional with 20+ years experience. She has achieved significant accomplishments in the areas of recruitment; wage, compensation, and benefits administration; training and development and employee engagement; cost reduction programs, policy design and implementation, and employee and labor relations. She has strong experience in Corporate, Academia, Manufacturing, Retail, and Health environments by building employee development teams through positive coaching and mentoring, ensuring practical approaches to policy development, implementation and maintenance of successfully branding of HR Departments and Company-wide Organizations.