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 and served as a member of the PBA House of Delegates for 27 years. After serving 3 years as president of the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation, she remains active on the scholarship committee. Karen has been recognized by 3 Pennsylvania Bar Association presidents for her distinguished service and achievements. 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 member of the St. Thomas More Society and volunteers with the annual homeless shelter at her Cathedral Parish of St. Patrick.
Mr. Courtad has been with Liberty Insurance Agency since 1998 originally as an employee benefits consultant and now serves as Vice-President of Employee Benefits. Mr. 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.
Mr. DiCesare is a consultant on insurance related matters to several municipalities in New York State and holds an insurance license in both New York and Florida. Mr. 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. Mr. DiCesare 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 insurance industry periodicals. He has been a member of LCBA for over 30 years and is Vice President of Branch 1556 (National Chapter).
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.
Mr. Kenny is a member of Branch 1556 and has served on the LCBA Board for the past five years as well as the Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee. He 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 serves as President for McManis & Monsalve Associates in Erie, PA, a management consulting company devoted to helping businesses large and small identify corporate risks and opportunities for informed decision making. Mr. Kenny has also held executive positions at Coca-Cola Enterprises and Seagram Distillers, both domestically and internationally.
Ms. LeVert is 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.
Mr. Muth currently serves as the chairman of the board of directors for LCBA. Mr. Muth is employed as the Executive Director of the Meadville Housing Corporation, a for profit real estate rental company with nearly 300 rental units. He is a Certified Financial Planner and holds a MBA from Gannon University. Mr. Muth is Vice President of the Board of Active Aging, Inc., which is Crawford County's designated agency for senior citizens services. Mr. Muth served as Director of Investments for Meadville Medical Center from 1999-2014 and he brings 15 years of financial leadership experience to the LCBA Board. Mr. Muth also 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. Bob has been a member of the Meadville Noontime Kiwanis since 1989 and served as the Club's President in 2011. His past distinctions include the 1983 NCAA Division III National Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. He resides in Conneaut Lake, PA with his wife, Cheryl, and daughter, Abby.
After a successful 30 year career in banking, Mr. Suchan migrated his professional focus to nonprofit foundation management and is the Executive Director for the Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo. As a banker, Mr. Suchan managed the Private Bank, Investment and Trust departments at Key Bank in Western New York as well as for the former First Niagara Bank. Mr. Suchan 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.
Mr. Suchan 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.
A member of LCBA since 1968 and a member of Branch 1155, Ms. Sweigart currently serves on the Governance Committee for LCBA. She 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.