POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (January 27, 2022) – Hudson Valley Economic Development Corp. (HVEDC) today announced that Pari Forood, Executive Director of Miles of Hope Breast Cancer Foundation has joined its Advisory Board of Directors.
“Miles of Hope is a tremendous organization here in the Hudson Valley and we are thrilled to partner with Pari and her team to help shine the light on this important mission,” said Mike Oates, President & CEO of HVEDC.
“I am excited and honored to join the Board of the HVEDC. Since we share the same service area at Miles of Hope, our clients, business partners, and grantees will benefit from our association and collaboration with the HVEDC,” said Pari Forood.
Pari Forood is the author of the true-life novel, The Gates of Light, published in May 2015. After graduating from Vassar College, she was the Press Secretary to Congressman Hamilton Fish, Jr. in Washington, D.C. where she was inspired to write this true-live novel about the issue of immigration, both as a policy statement and a personal account, relating her family’s story.
Ms. Forood has been the Executive Director of the Miles of Hope Breast Cancer Foundation since its inception in 2004. In 18 years the Foundation has given away almost $3 million dollars to support services and outreach for people affected by breast cancer within the 9 counties of the Hudson Valley, NY. Ms. Forood oversees all foundation activities, events and publicity and she has written articles for magazines, newspapers, and hospital publications. She has a BA from Vassar and a Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in Non-profit Management.
About Miles of Hope:
The Miles of Hope Breast Cancer Foundation is a non-profit, 501(c) (3) public charity established in March of 2004.The mission of the Foundation is to fund support services, education, and outreach for people affected by breast cancer within the nine counties of the Hudson Valley, New York (Columbia, Dutchess, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, and Orange, Sullivan, Ulster and Greene counties)
Miles of Hope was started by Dana Effron and Cathy Varunok, two community activists who saw a need for increased services for people with breast cancer. For years, Dana and Cathy raised money for national breast cancer organizations but in 2004, they decided to focus their fundraising efforts on helping their friends and neighbors in the nine counties of the Hudson Valley. To date, Miles of Hope has granted over $2.6 million to programs and services for people affected by breast cancer.
About Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation (HVEDC):
HVEDC is the leading economic development agency for the seven-county region of Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties. The public-private partnership markets the region as a prime business location to corporate executives, site selection consultants and real estate brokers. HVEDC helped start the organizational, branding and promotional effort for NY BioHud Valley, Hudson Valley 3D Printing and the Hudson Valley Food & Beverage Alliance. To learn more, call 845-220-2244 or visit hvedc.com.
