Sandra Feeney-Charles – Executive Director 

Sandra, our executive director, is a native of County Galway. She has worked in the non profit sector with international humanitarian relief organization Concern Worldwide for several years. She is a volunteer yoga teacher and has been happily living in New York for over 20 years.

Paola Kennedy – Officer Manager

Paola hails from Co. Westmeath, Ireland and works as the Office Manager at Aisling center. Paola is the main contact for any questions regarding the Aisling Center building or room rentals. Paola is also a confirmed killer of desktop plants, sarcasm connoisseur and enjoys talks to oneself! Paola is also an extreme lover of all creatures great and small and her favorite saying “You’re just jealous because the voices are talking to me.”

Theresa C. Reilly – Community Outreach Coordinator

Theresa was born and raised in Yonkers NY. She received a bachelor’s of social work from Concordia and is currently enrolled in a masters of school counseling at Lehman College. She worked as a supervisor at an assisted living home for residents 70 – 110. At this she gained hands on experiences creating daily schedules for patients, teaching technology and independent living skills, and conducting daily wellness checks. These skills are put to good use every day with the seniors at the Aisling Center and she creates socially robust schedules and activities for our seniors.  

Ailísh Conneely – Cultural Development Officer

Ailísh Conneely was born in New York but grew up in Mooncoin, Co. Kilkenny. She is a musician and multi-instrumentalist, specialising mostly in piano accordion, piano, flute and tin whistle. She is also a fluent Irish speaker. When she was growing up, she competed in the Fleadh Cheoil at provincial and All-Ireland level, winning the Leinster Fleadh U18 and O18 Piano Accordion and receiving 2nd place in Leinster U18 Tin Whistle. She also has a Diploma from the London College of Music (Dip LCM) in traditional flute performance and a Grade 6 in classical piano with the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM). She studied Music and Irish in University College Cork (UCC) until 2018, and completed a Professional Masters in Education (PME) with Hibernia College Dublin in 2020, qualifying as a secondary school teacher. She then taught Irish in a school in Waterford for 2 years, while also being involved with two local Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann branches (CCÉ).

Naomi Hanson – Social Media and Development Officer 

Naomi works as our Social Media and Development Officer. She has her bachelors degree in history with a focus on the Atlantic world. Naomi spent several years as a Career Counselor and run the Career Series program at the Aisling Center. In addition to holding previous nonprofit positions as Executive Director and operations Manager, she spent many years and first mate and captain for a boating company.