About TOUCH

Miguel A. Ortíz-Crane

President

Miguel joined the Board of TOUCH in summer 2019. He is a higher education administration professional at NYU School of Professional Studies, where he focuses on developing professional development and continuing education programs and public events in partnership with local industries.  He has extensive experience in project management; process and workflow improvement; and data management and analysis both in higher education and publishing. Miguel is an advocate for creating inclusive climates grounded in community service. He has volunteered extensively in service to the homeless and underserved youth, and currently serves on the Planning Board of the Village of Nyack, NY. Miguel has a B.A. in Social Sciences and an M.S. in Global Affairs from New York University. Miguel lives in Nyack with his husband, Benny, and their young daughters Candis and Valentina.

Angel Cuadrado

Board Secretary

Angel Cuadrado joined the TOUCH Board in Spring 2022. He has spent his career working as a paralegal specializing in disability advocacy. While serving in this role, he realized a passion for working in this area of law to help those in need secure the services and benefits to which they are entitled. Joining the Board of TOUCH was an opportunity to continue giving back to others in a new way. In January 2023, Angel earned his Juris Doctor degree from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, and he is committed to finding new ways to continue serving different communities upon earning admission to practice law in New York. Angel lives in Nyack, NY with his wife and two young sons.

Karin Baere

Treasurer

Karin joined the Board of TOUCH in summer 2021.    She retired as CFO of Comunilife and also served as CFO of The Bridge;  both are NYC not-for-profit agencies which provide services and housing for the homeless and those living with mental illness and/or HIV/AIDS.   In Rockland County, she has also been employed by St. Dominic’s Home and Rockland ARC in the same capacity.   She volunteers in the county as Treasurer and Board member of the Nyack Center and Treasurer of Grace Church, Nyack.   Her passion is gardening, which she indulges in at her church, at her home in Upper Nyack, and at the Children’s Garden at Marydell Faith and Life Center.

Rachel A. Adler

Rachel A. Adler (She, Her, Hers) is Commissioner Roberta Reardon’s Mid-Hudson (Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester Counties) Representative for the New York State Department of Labor. She joined The New York State Department of Labor in May 2022 after more than 12+ years of experience planning, developing, and executing practical and pragmatic marketing campaigns and strategies for state economic development programs and government policy initiatives across the country. She volunteers her time with various organizations that help food security, sustainability, economic development, housing, and human rights. Rachel is a graduate of SUNY Fashion Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Direct and Interactive Marketing and olds many other certifications.  When not working or volunteering she enjoys gardening, cooking, being active in the Jewish community and hiking with her partner, Eric, and her little dog, Cabbage.

Elizabeth Lorde-Rollins, M.D., M.Sc.

Elizabeth Lorde-Rollins, M.D., M.Sc. was born and raised in New York City.  She has been a baker, a bike messenger, and an elementary school teacher, but her greatest love is practicing medicine. While practicing and teaching Adolescent Gynecology at the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center (2004-2012), Dr. Lorde-Rollins also conducted clinical research on projects studying the vaginal microbiome and human papillomavirus. Dr. Lorde-Rollins has taught Health and Human Rights at Mount Sinai Medical School and Creative Writing at Hunter College. Since completing her residency at Columbia-Presbyterian’s Sloane Hospital for Women in 1997, she has also seen patients in private practice, concentrating on Adolescence, Menopause, Sexual Health for Women, and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.  Currently, Dr. Lorde-Rollins is completing a Masters Degree in Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine at New York’s Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, and practices Obstetrics and Gynecology on a locum tenens basis in New York and New Jersey.  She lives in Staatsburg, NY with her partner Judy Boals and their son, Matthew Boals.

Eric Jimenez

Eric Jimenez joined the board of TOUCH in February 2023.  He is a private Spanish tutor for adolescents and adults.  He has taught at independent schools in Connecticut and Pennsylvania.  One of Eric’s passions is addressing the problem of food insecurity.  Since 2016, Eric has volunteered at Soup Angels, the soup kitchen based in Nyack, NY, and was invited to join its Steering Committee in 2020.  Eric also serves as the clerk of Rockland Friends Meeting, the Quaker congregation located in Blauvelt, NY, where he has secured over $10,000 in grants to support the Meeting’s capital projects and charitable giving.  He has a B.A. in Spanish from Haverford College and an M.A. in Spanish from Middlebury College.  Eric resides in Norwood, NJ.

Melanie Hopkins

Melanie Hopkins’s career began in the finance departments of nonprofits, but while employing her skills to help an entrepreneurial friend open her business, she discovered a passion for helping business owners become empowered in their financial management. She founded Finance Friend (www.financefriendi.ninja) in 2008 and since then has worked with over 200 companies, ranging from human rights nonprofits to artisanal cheese makers to tech startups. She has been featured in Forbes, CNBC, Katie Couric’s Wake-Up Call, the New York Post, and US News & World Report. Melanie has taught “Artistpreneur” workshops at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts to recent graduates, and has been featured as a guest speaker with Emerging Leaders in New York Arts. Melanie is a one-time but still proud triathlete, a voracious reader who is always looking for new book recommendations, and a self-proclaimed scholar of the Shondaverse.