Patricia Scussel 

Patti served as co-chair of New Haven's All-America City committee beginning December 2000, entering the All-America City competition in 2002 and 2003. The City was selected as one of 30 finalists both years, and won the coveted All-America City Award in 2003. Patti currently serves on several boards and committees in the region, including Advisory board for Albertus Magnus College's Masters of Arts in Leadership program, the Nominating Committee for the Girl Scouts of Connecticut, and the Awards Breakfast Committee for the Association of Volunteer Administrators of Greater New Haven. Patti is involved with a lot of educational initiatives in this region, including as a member of the Connecticut State Scholars' Business Support Committee, a member of the New Haven Public School Constituency Engagement Committee, and as a judge in the New Haven Science Fair Program and New Haven History Day. She is secretary for The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven's Community Fund for Women and Girls executive committee, as well as a member of the Advisory, Grants Review and Nominating Committees. Patti is also a volunteer member of the United Way of Greater New Haven's Community Investment Process and a member of The Community Foundation's Education sub-committee.

Patti received her undergraduate degree in Communications from Albertus Magnus College in New Haven. While at Albertus, she completed her internship on the Sally Jessy Raphael Show, filmed at the News Channel 8 studios in New Haven. She has several credits towards a Masters in Education at the University of New Haven in West Haven, Connecticut, and received her MBA from UNH in May 2005. Since fall 2007, she has served as an adjunct professor for Albertus Magnus College's graduate and undergraduate programs. She is a 2001 recipient of New Haven Business Times' annual "Forty under 40" award, 2005 recipient of the magazine's "Twenty Noteworthy Women" award, and one of the guest speakers for the magazine's 2003 Awards breakfast. She has also been a guest speaker for the Rotary Club of New Haven. In September 2004 she was named a "Rising Star" by Business New Haven. She also completed the Community Leadership Program offered by The Non-Profit Forum at the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund. She was inducted into the East Haven High School (CT) "Hall of Fame" in November 2007 and received the Albertus Magnus College Alumni of the Year Award in June 2008.

Prior to joining the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce in October 2000, Patti was a project manager for Thornton Medical Communications in Guilford, Connecticut. In this role, her main responsibility was management and development of scientific presentations at symposia held individually or in conjunction with major medical conferences.

Patti started her professional career with Catalog Age magazine in Stamford, Connecticut (now Multichannel Merchant). While at Catalog Age, she rose through the ranks from editorial assistant, to assistant editor, to special projects coordinator, to special projects manager. As special projects manager, Patti was responsible for the development, management and production of the Annual Catalog Awards, as well as managing the magazine's annual Benchmarking Reports. While at Catalog Age, she took on the additional responsibilities of editorial director of the annual Catalog Age/Direct Sourcebook, as well as management of the annual Ozzie Awards, honoring design excellence, and the Cowles Awards for Database Management. After six-years on the magazine side, Patti was promoted to the position of marketing manager for the company's conference division, Cowles Event Management. In this role she was responsible for all marketing aspects of five direct marketing industry conferences and expositions.

Patti has written numerous articles on the catalog and direct marketing industry during her tenure at Catalog Age magazine. Additionally, she has written Forum pieces for the New Haven Register. Patti also wrote an article, "City celebrates national honor," which appeared in a special September 26, 2003 New Haven Register supplement focusing on New Haven's designation as an All-America City, and "A Community Working Together," for the April 2004 issue of Connecticut Business Journal focusing on the State's leadership programs. She has also written several articles for the Chamber's former newspaper, Chamber Forum, and the Chamber's former Profile magazine.

A life-long resident of East Haven, Patti is an active volunteer in the greater New Haven area. She is a member of the Junior League of Greater New Haven, and currently serves on the leadership team. She has served as a Read-Aloud Volunteer with School Volunteers of New Haven since May 2000. She had served as CCD teacher and lector for Our Lady of Pompeii Church in East Haven for nearly 20 years. She continues to work with the Church on its Family Faith Festivals and with its First Communion classes. In 2007, was selected to serve the Parish as a Eucharist Minister. During the spring and summer months, Patti is an assistant coach for the Foxon Recreation League. She is also a former board member for the Foxon Recreation League. Patti is a trained literacy volunteer and former member of the board of Literacy Volunteers for Greater New Haven.  She has volunteered on numerous committees focusing on issues including education and homelessness. She also has volunteered for ALSO-Cornerstone's annual Pizza Fest and for the United Way's Day of Caring.