Matthew K. Dupee - Chair of the Board
Nazareth, PA
A member of LCBA since 1975 and a director since 2011, Mr. Dupee is currently the Governance Committee Chair. He also works as a Senior Supply Chain Manager for PepsiCo where he began his career in 1997 following his graduation from Niagara University with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing. Mr. Dupee started with PepsiCo working as a warehouse employee and has gone on to hold many leadership positions around the country in manufacturing, sales, and distribution. Matt, his wife Julie, and their two boys Ryan and Aidan reside in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
Karen Balaban, Esq.
Harrisburg, PA
Ms. Balaban is one of thirteen children and the oldest of 6 girls and has been a member of LCBA since 1979. A lawyer with her own firm in Harrisburg, PA, she concentrates her practice in administrative law, insurance transactions and regulation, election law, and zoning. Karen is a graduate of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the Duquesne University School of Law (Pittsburgh). She also has a certificate in Spanish studies from the Universidad de Valladolid in Spain. She is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and before the United States Supreme Court. Karen has served as a governor on the twelve-member Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. She is the past president of the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation. Karen has held the offices of president and treasurer of the Dauphin County Bar Association as well as president of the Dauphin County Bar Foundation. Active in her community, Karen is a board member of the St. Thomas More Society and volunteers with the annual homeless shelter at her Cathedral Parish of St. Patrick.
Michael Courtad
Pittsburgh, PA
Courtad has been with Liberty Insurance Agency since 1998 originally as an employee benefits consultant and now serves as Vice-President of Employee Benefits. Courtad has served on the advisory boards for UPMC Health Plan and other regional insurance companies. His department specializes in alternate funding and aggressively managing the quality and cost of their employee benefit programs for the firm’s clients.
Pat DiCesare
Burnt Hills, NY | Port St. Lucie, FL
DiCesare is a consultant on insurance related matters to several municipalities in NY and holds an insurance license in both NY & Florida. DiCesare has 50 years of experience in the insurance industry, having worked as an underwriter for the Insurance Company of North America, and as an account manager for a large insurance agency before forming his own successful agency. He has served on the advisory boards of several major insurance companies and was elected to the board of directors of a mutual fund where he was appointed to the SEC compliance committee. He is a graduate of Siena College and holds the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation. Mr. DiCesare has authored numerous articles in the insurance industry periodicals. He has been a member of LCBA for over 35 years.
Paul Kenny
Bradenton, FL
Mr. Kenny is a member of Branch 1556 and brings over 20 years of successful experience in managing financial, operational, and business development initiatives. A business degree graduate of St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, his particular expertise includes the development and application of key business indicators to evaluate financial operations and guide revenue growth. Paul served as President for McManis & Monsalve Associates in Erie, PA, a company devoted to helping businesses large and small identify corporate risks and opportunities for informed decision making. He has also held executive positions at Coca-Cola Enterprises and Seagram Distillers, both domestically and internationally.
Karen LeVert
Durham, NC
Venture Partner of Pappas Capital & CEO of Southeast TechInventures, an innovation lab focused on identifying and further developing promising university technologies from research labs that can improve the human condition.
Ms. LeVert has the Information Technology and Accounting skill set to serve LCBA. She spent her career in technology and financial arenas starting at a Fortune-500 insurance company in positions of increasing responsibility from computer programmer, to controller, to general manager of a 500-person Property & Casualty service center. Her entrepreneurial ventures include a franchise bioremediation company and a Silicon Valley venture-funded software company.
Her current board positions include: NCIDEA Foundation (Governance and Audit committee); Council for Entrepreneurial Development; and North Carolina School of Science and Math (Chair).
Ms. LeVert holds an MBA from the University of Dayton and an Information Technology undergraduate degree from Eastern Michigan University.
Robert Muth
Conneaut Lake, PA
Mr. Muth is the Director of Investments and Manager of Treasury Operations for Meadville Medical Center in Meadville, PA, where he utilizes investment techniques and strategies to maximize returns for four pension plans and three reserve portfolios. He is a Certified Financial Planner and holds a MBA from Gannon University. He also serves as a Board Member and Treasurer for the Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County. Mr. Muth served as President and CEO of the Meadville Medical Center Foundation from 1998-2008 where he received the 2002 Outstanding Fund Raiser of the Year Award from the Association of Fund Raising Professionals (AFP) of Northwestern Pennsylvania. Mr. Muth is currently Vice President of the Meadville Noontime Kiwanis Club where he has been a member since 1989. His past distinctions include the 1983 NCAA Division III National Heavyweight Wrestling Champion title.
Richard Suchan
Buffalo, NY
After a successful 30 year career in banking, Rick migrated his professional focus to nonprofit foundation management and currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo. At the Diocese he proactively works on expanding financial support and underwriting for various programs and ministries associated with evangelization and propagation of the Catholic faith. In his current capacity managing a $100 million capital campaign and a $30 million endowment for the Diocese, he uses his investment, trust and insurance expertise daily and finds that he is increasingly working with individuals who see the value in using life insurance and charitable gift annuities as tax efficient means to leave a legacy. As a banker, Rick managed the Private Bank, Investment and Trust departments at Key Bank in Western New York as well as for the former First Niagara Bank. Rick believes his aptitude and experience would bring added insight and leverage to the LCBA, an organization to which he has been proudly associated for more than 55 years, when his parents purchased an infant policy on his life.
Rick and his wife Donna are lifelong residents of Buffalo and are the proud parents of three young adult children, all of whom are also LCBA policy holders and who have been beneficiaries of LCBA’s elementary, high school and camping scholarships.
Anne Sweigart
Bluffton, OH
A member of LCBA since 1968 and a member of Branch 1155, Ms. Sweigart is a Registered Nurse serving as Emergency Department Shift Coordinator at St. Rita’s Medical Center in Lima, OH. An Applied Science, Nursing Major graduate of Owens Community College and the Rhodes State College EMT certification program, she also serves as House Supervisor at Van Wert City Hospital in Van Wert, OH. A past Fraternalist of the Year award recipient, Anne was once a special representative insurance saleswoman; has held offices in her local branch; served as a National Marshall under LCBA’s pre-2008 delegate-based governance structure; and is s 20-year Advisor for the 4-H program, with experience serving as county-wide 4-H Treasurer. Other professional affiliations include: Ohio State University Extension – 4-H Program; American Heart Association and American Academy of Pediatrics.