
On September 14, Family Centers presented the 2025 Janet Hennessey Dilenschneider Excellence in Leadership Awards to Chief Financial Officer Marion Beale and Early Care and Education Director Cathy Hogan. The ceremony took place at the Darien home of Jan Dilenschneider and her husband, Bob.
Named in honor of Dilenschneider, a longtime Family Centers Board member and past Board Chair, the award recognizes the achievements, innovation, and contributions of Family Centers’ management team.
Beale has 40 years of experience in accounting and financial planning. After decades in Fortune 500 settings, she segued to the non-profit world where she could make a difference at the local level. Since joining Family Centers in 2009, she has utlized her expertise to support government and foundation grants and various service agreements that provide a 75% the agency's annual funding. She develops the agency operating budget and participates in general accounting, payroll and benefit processing.
Over the years, Beale willingly stepped into the interim CFO role during to provide much-needed stability during times of transition. She was officially named permanent CFO during the spring of 2025.
As the Director of Early Care and Education, Hogan oversees the operational and educational aspects of a program that provides quality preschool and early education services to more than 200 children each year. Her years of experience include roles as a preschool and elementary school teacher, preschool Assistant Director, and most recently, ECE Site Manager at Family Centers. She is a certified CLASS observer and a trained Parenting Journey facilitator.
Under Hogan's leadership, the Family Centers' ECE program greatly reduced staff turnover and achieved the prestigious NAEYC accrediation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Past winners of the award include Family Centers’ Chief Operations Officer Jim Vivier; Senior Director of Quality, Compliance and Analytics Melissa Schreff; Chief Advancement Officer Bill Brucker; Chief Program Officer Leslie Sexer; Chief Health Officer Dennis Torres; and Vice President Yenny Toone.
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