The Team

Principal

Karen Lika

Karen and her husband are caring for a homeless little boy, whom they welcomed into their home when he was 3 weeks old.  While providing him with lots of love and needed care, they are also enjoying watching him grow and learn new things.  Not surprisingly, one of Karen’s most endearing traits is compassion.

Principal

Jenny Paik, LEED AP

Looking for a therapeutic activity?  Jenny highly recommends weeding! Yes, really… weeding! She appreciates the quiet, thoughtful time – but she is also hoping to find a four leaf clover! Jenny has excelled at juggling her roles as a mother, a manager, and the on-call chef for her family, and she is proud of being able to balance her life at home with her work-family responsibilities.

Principal/CFO

Susan Wall

Sue and her family are big Disney World travelers, having visited there over 30 times in the past 40 years.  Given the opportunity, Sue would like to return to the Virgin Islands for another sailing vacation to enjoy the beautiful waters while visiting both American and British Islands. Her favorite pastimes include sewing and crafting (often using discontinued fabric samples from the CPG library), and Sue is most proud of her three adult children, their spouses and her two granddaughters.

Project Designer

Adrienne Allen, LEED AP

Adrienne’s most remarkable and memorable travel was to Sicily to meet her family, and on the trip, she enjoyed the best cuisine she can remember – fresh and well prepared with amazing views – at Taormina Sicily.   Someday, if she works up the nerve, Adrienne would like to try skydiving.  For all times, she is the proud mom of her amazing son.

Project Designer

Albina Dobruskin

I love horseback riding! I find it to be very therapeutic. Riding is the perfect way to get in sync with nature and yourself. When you ride, the outside world slows down and fades away. One of my life-long dreams is to live in the country keeping horses, growing a big garden and enjoying a more natural lifestyle.

Senior Project Director

Amy Lanteri, LEED AP

Hiking and gardening are among Amy’s favorite pastimes.  Her trip to the Mediterranean, specifically to Greece, was her most memorable vacation.  Amy is the proud mom of two adult children.

Project Architect

Ana Koleva, AIA

Given the opportunity, Ana’s life-long dream is to travel to outer space and design a building to be built on another planet.  For now, for CPG, her architectural design work for our clients is out-of-this world!   Like Leonardo Da Vinci, Ana has the envious skill of being able to write regularly with her right hand (from left to right) and to mirror write with her left hand (from right to left).  Wow!

Senior Project Designer

Anita Conway, LEED AP

Anita would someday like to travel the world and spend time on all of the continents. She has made some progress (this photo was taken in Uruguay). The most interesting place so far was going to Svalbard (one of the most northern places in the world) and buying a balalaika from the Russians. This proved to be a very cold barren place at 27 degrees in July!

Senior Project Architect

Anthony Nicoletti, RA

Anthony’s top bucket list item is to buy a travel trailer and visit all the National Parks – and of course to catch a couple fish along the way!   Getting ready for this quest, his best Park visit to date is the West Glacier National Park in Montana, where he climbed a mountain and saw the whites of a moose’s eyes.  He dreams of going back as it is here that Mother Nature opens her arms and invites you in and that you can truly understand and respect the power that she has.

Director of Workplace

Anthony Younes

Every year, Anthony visits the tiny restaurant called Piccola Roma in Rome.  Their amazing cuisine keeps him coming back – making him one of their best “long distance” customers.  When asked for one of his most endearing traits, Anthony boldly states TENACITY!

VP of Technology

Arnold Trauth

The most interesting place to which Arnold has traveled is Russia.  An avid skier, Arnold has tackled the slopes at Zermatt in the Swiss Alps, and he hopes to one day return for another run (or two!).

Senior Project Designer

Barbara Varacchi

With an international flair, Barbara has lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina; the most interesting place to which she has travelled is Iguazu Falls in Brazil; and she would one day like to ride a bicycle on the Great Wall of China.  Her life-long dream is that her children will grow up to be happy men that follow their hearts and accomplish all they dream of.

Betty Liu

Betty’s unique pastime is fencing. The weapons she has used are foil and epee, but not saber. It came about because her daughter fenced, and after watching the tournaments for years (and seeing many middle-aged and senior people competing), Betty decided to try it and “walk in her daughter’s shoes.” It is way harder than it looks! You sweat a lot because you are completely covered and wearing at least 3 layers under your jacket. Betty had to stop recently because fencing gets in the way of her hip hop classes! In addition to all this activity, Betty has the “quiet” skill of beautifully decorated cakes and cookies. Yum!

Brendan Roche

One of the best experiences of Brendan’s life was when he spent a college semester living in Florence, Italy. There were opportunities to not only explore the City but also to travel to many other locations in Europe. For his life-long dream, Brendan would like to spend summers living on a beach and winters skiing and exploring the mountains. So, it seems, that while Brendan loves to explore the cities, he is truly a nature lover at heart!

Senior Project Director

Bruce Avandi

Already at 43 countries and counting, Bruce’s life-long dream is to visit every country in the world.  So far, the best cuisine has been at La Flamme D’or Restaurant in Tokyo by Phillipe Starck – although he admits that the spaces themselves were the true feast.  Bruce is most proud of his 3 precocious teenagers, but a close second was his very first creation: his first house that he designed and built by his own hand.

Project Designer

Carolina Cortina

One of Carolina’s favorite pastimes is watching romantic movies, and she is an accomplished salsa dancer!  Carolina boldly states that there is nothing like Colombian food – the best cuisine of all!  She is the proud mother of two children.

Project Designer

Christina Pagano

In September of 2015, at the Marmalade Restaurant & Wine Bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Christina had the best meal ever – hands down!   (The cuisine is described as a fusion of Spanish/ Caribbean/ International.)  Christina and her husband are the proud owners of their own home to which they are doing all the renovations on their own (with some help from family and friends).  They expect this to be their lifelong home and look forward to one day saying “we did this”!

Senior Project Director

Christopher Carlson

Chris is a lifelong resident of Connecticut and hopes to one day travel the USA by car, with a visit to each state – including driving thru Canada to get to Alaska! He’s already been to Hawaii (thank goodness he won’t try to drive there!) which is in a tie with Greece for his most interesting vacation.  His most unforgettable memory was being on the pit crew of a NASCAR championship team.  Cool!

Senior Project Director

Claudia Lubin

As a child, Claudia enjoyed going on camping trips with her family, and as an adult, found her travel to Israel the most interesting.  She feels one of her greatest accomplishments was graduating from RISD, and if she could, she would do it again, to “stop and enjoy” it more.  She is the mother of two young women of whom she is quite proud.

Project Director

Elisabeth deLuca

If she could do it again, Elisabeth would scuba dive off the coast of Cozumel.  She found it to be an amazing experience to be thrust into the world below – so beautiful and powerful – and we are so small!  Elisabeth was born in Australia but moved back to the States as a baby.  Her parents speak most fondly of their time there, and she hopes to one day return and explore this incredible place.  Elisabeth is most proud of the two young adult children she is grateful to call her own.

Project Designer

Emily Cobbs

Emily’s favorite trip was to Italy with her family when she was in college. They traveled by train to 4 different cities and experienced the culture, sights and the food and wine. Back in her homeland, Emily has traveled to 19 of the 50 states, and looks forward to driving thru and exploring the remaining 31.  Would love to read her travel journal!

Senior Project Director

Eric Hamilton, LEED AP

Appreciating the environment, specifically “water”, has always been integral to Eric’s enjoyment of life – whether snowflakes or warm waters of the oceans.  Each provides incentive to play with gravity, whether mountains or reefs, and the abundant color, textures, and creatures that exhibit unfathomable diversity.  The most unforgettable experience for Eric was visiting Barcelona Spain and recognizing Antonio Gaudi’s massive effect on architecture and the cityscape, which observes and respects nature. Truly uplifting!

Exhibit & Graphic Designer

Gilda Scorza

Among Gilda’s top bucket list items is to live in Paris for a year. But nothing will top the unforgettable moments of looking into her daughters’ faces for the first time.

Senior Project Architect

Harry Gittlitz, RA

In Harry’s opinion, in terms of the most interesting place he has traveled, Montecatini Alto, Italy is the Jewel of Tuscany. As a unique skill, Harry is perfecting Hebrew calligraphy. He created and executed the Ketubah (marriage contract) for his daughters’ weddings, and he continues to pursue creating graphic items utilizing Hebrew calligraphy.

VP Director of Design

Jim Sackett, AIA

Jim loves being an architect, and if he could choose again, he would again select this profession! The most interesting place that Jim has traveled to is Switzerland.

Senior Technical Associate

Jane Greene

How would you feel about hiking in (and out!) of the Grand Canyon? Jane would be up for this physical challenge, especially to enjoy the unique beauty of the site. A most alluring adventure opportunity! Jane values a warm and patient personality, and works to make herself approachable for those whose lives cross paths with hers.

Executive Assistant/Marketing Coordinator

Janice Genetti

While London is one of the most interesting places that Janice has travelled, more unforgettable is that she missed her flight out while she was walking Hyde Park!  She can talk to most anyone, about most anything, so likely talked her way on to the next plane!  If she could, she would swim again with the turtles in Barbados, or maybe fulflil her dream of snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Janice is the proud mother of two amazing young adult children.

Receptionist / Administrative Assistant

Janine Logue

Janine fills her spare hours making whimsical creations, which turned into a business called Enchanted Wishes Designs. Her artistic talents are inspired and supported by her family. Many children enjoy Janine’s “creatures” and her themed parties. Janine brings to CPG her talent for making people happy.  Lucky us!

Administrative Assistant

Julia Chen

Exploring the world is the common denominator of Julia’s most interesting travels and the best cuisine she has experienced.  Circa 2000, she and her husband skirted the rules and visited Havana, Cuba – when no US citizens were supposed to do so!  The rule-bending added an extra thrill to exploring Cuba’s historically fascinating and frozen-in-time quality.  As for cuisine, she highly recommends ordering Char Kway Teow (sautéed seafood and rice noodles) if you are ever in Penang, Malaysia.  As for a lifelong dream, she would open a series of free public roller disco rinks using lottery winnings (well, maybe she’s got 2 dreams rolled into one!).

Senior Project Director

Karen Richey, LEED AP

Some of us go to the movies to see a good flick. Karen goes to the movies to eat the popcorn! It’s her favorite food – at any theater and at any time, day or night!    When asked if she has lived anywhere interesting, Karen shares that she lived for a time in Egypt – certainly not many of us can say that!

Project Architect

Lee Williams, RA, LEED AP

While on any trip, Lee enjoys stopping to visit national landmarks and looking for quirky roadside attractions. Lee’s life-long dream is to design amusement parks.  Hopefully the “ins and outs” and “ups and downs” of CPG’s innovative, fun, and functional corporate interior design work will help with this amusing endeavor!

Project Director

Lorenzo Leone

Lorenzo is an avid gamer and self-proclaimed nerd/geek. He started gaming when he was 5 with his first PONG console, which led to his interest in how computers work. He now builds his own computers (and one or two for CPG!) and gaming machines. Also now engrained in Lorenzo’s DNA is all things Star Wars. He knows all of us remember the first time we heard Darth Vader tell Luke he was his father… Come to the Dark Side, we have cookies. |-o-| (-O-) |-o-|

Senior Project Designer

Meili Lin

We all know how challenging it can be to learn a new language. Meili considers it one of her greatest accomplishments that she learned English and was able to study in an American high school, and then attend college and graduate school in the US. A seasoned traveler, Meili hopes to one day have visited each of the 7 continents.

VP of Architecture

Mickey Mallardi, AIA

During college, Mickey lived and studied in the historic center of Rome for 9 months. Every step, every day revealed something exotic and exciting – history, art, architecture, food. After all, it changed his perception of life in the good old US of A. Mickey hopes to one day build a modest house that is low-maintenance, self-sufficient, capable of being off the grid, and feels like being on vacation every day. Just needs a place for his wife to sew and for him to write and record music – and also, of course, a place for family and friends to gather.

Senior Project Director

Paul Johnson

Paul’s most interesting travel was going on Safari in South Africa. Paul enjoys a good baseball game and his favorite hobby is sailing. His family is most important to him, so quite naturally, he is most proud of his son and daughter.

Senior Project Architect

Philip Weiner, AIA, LEED AP

Given the time and opportunity, Philip would like to write a novel. When asked what he would do again if he could, Philip announces that he would have joined CPG sooner. Will he use his CPG family for any of the characters in the book?!?

VP of Interiors

Phillip Meyers

Phillip is most proud of his art collection. He has been collecting for nearly 30 years and now has far more of a collection than display walls! While not committing to one best cuisine, Phillip shares that one of the best places he has eaten in recent years was at a “speakeasy” restaurant in Panama. Extremely hard to get in, impossible to find, but worth the adventure. The cuisine was contemporary Latin American at its finest – he recalls each course with fond memories!

Project Architect

Timothy Wetmore, RA

After graduating from college, at a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Sienna Italy, Tim remembers enjoying an incredible Veal Osso Buco.  There was no sign and no menu – only the offering presented by the waiter – who then brought out several large bottles of some great homemade wine. Tim is now thinking that maybe it was the wine that made the veal so incredible! Tim also traveled to Murmansk, Russia, which is 2 degrees within the Arctic Circle – better known as the North Pole (although he didn’t meet Santa…). He hopes one day to get to Brussels to eat a Belgian waffle!  Amazing travels for a man who grew up in Port Chester NY, where his family has lived since 1635.

Project Director

Tricia Bailey

Realizing that many of her family recipes were handed down thru the generations by teaching them in the kitchen and with an oral history, Tricia and her mom began to organize a written family cookbook. This exercise has helped them to appreciate how a recipe that is passed down is modified based on available ingredients and how it can truly tell a story of times past. For the future, Tricia is hopeful to one day visit Katsura Tea House in Kyoto on the island of Honshu, Japan.

Office Manager

Yvette Gaynor

Although growing up in England is unforgettable unto itself, one of Yvette’s fondest memories while living there was her first trip to the movies, to see The Sound of Music. Both at work and in her personal life, Yvette has developed the keen ability to help others turn their problems into a positive situation. Quite an endearing quality to have!