The Town is pleased to announce the hiring of Barbara Perino, of Westerly, Rhode Island, as the Interim Town Director of Finance.
Ms. Perino will start her new role on Monday, July 24, 2017.
Barbara has an extensive Financial background. Starting her career with KPMG as a Senior Auditor and moving to the Women & Infant’s Hospital as the Assistant Controller. Barbara recently retired from the Washington Trust where she worked for over 28 years in a variety of positions working her way up to the Vice President and Controller and the Executive Vice President of Operations. She also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accountancy from the University of Illinois, Urbana, and currently serves as the Chair of the Rhode Island Society of Certified Public Accountants.
“We’re very impressed with Ms. Perino’s background,” said Town Manager Derrik Kennedy. “We happy that Barbara will be joining our team and working with everyone during this transition period.”
As the Interim Director of Finance, she will be responsible for the assessment, documentation and transition of Town financial practices.
The Town is also pleased to announce the hiring of Heather Couture.
Heather Couture from South Kingstown, Rhode Island, has been selected as Westerly’s next Grants Coordinator.
Ms. Couture will start her new role on August 7, 2017.
Heather has extensive grants coordination experience having worked for the U.S. Government as a grant reviewer and working in both higher education and non-profit sectors as a grant writer. In her previous position as a grant writer with Easter Seals of Central Illinois, Heather was responsible for public and private grant research which included proposal preparation, budget development, and institutional, regional and national data analysis. Prior to Easter Seals, Ms. Couture worked with Cazenovia College as the Director of Corporate, Foundation, and Government Relations and Grants Management where she identified, cultivated and solicited corporate and foundation relations in support of college initiatives. She was also responsible for federal and state grant proposal research, coordination, budgeting, writing and contract management. Heather holds a Bachelor’s Degree with a double major in Political Science and Cultural Anthropology form Duke University. She also holds a Master’s of Public Administration from Binghamton University.
“Having a dedicated person to this important position is great for the Town,” said Town Manager Derrik Kennedy. “Ms. Courture’s background and experience will bring us to the next level in grants management.”
As the Grants Coordinator, she will be responsible for the coordination of Town grants from inception to completion and for various activities, coordination, and implementation of the financial and operational performance of grants.