On Monday, June 27, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra (NHSO) elected two new members to its Board of Directors: Michael Jacobs and Cristi Stroud. They join the Board following this season’s new appointment of Board Directors Jennifer Morgan DelMonico, Dr. Byron Kennedy, and Fay Sheppard, as well as the renewal of Directors Richard Cella, Paul Hermes, Robert Santy, and Robert Eck.

Michael Jacobs is Senior Vice President and the Branch Director for the New Haven offices of RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) Wealth Management. He is a member of RBC’s Wealth Management’s President Council. He is a past member of the Board of Trustees of the Security Industry Institute in conjunction with The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania. He has served on the Board of the Masonic Charity Foundation, as well as its Endowment division. He is a past member of the FINRA Board of Arbitrators, the Board of Trustees of the Internatio nal Institute of Boston, a non-profit resettlement organization, and the Allocations Committee of the Greater Hartford Jewish Federation.

Cristi Stroud, CLU, ChFC, CASL, CLF, is a Managing Director for Northwestern Mutual Life in New Haven, where she previously served as Chief Development Officer from 2011-2015. She holds an MBA from Florida International University’s College of Business Administration and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business/Corporate Communications from Old Dominion University. In addition to her service for the NHSO, she serves as Secretary for the Deep River Elementary School PTO and on the Board of the Deep River Parks and Recreation Department.

Jennifer Morgan DelMonico is the Managing Partner of Murtha Cullina LLP. She has been a trial lawyer for parties in complex commercial litigation disputes and defendants in tort and product liability actions for nearly 20 years. Jen received a Bachelor of Music degree in Oboe Performance from Northwestern University in 1994, and graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1997. From 1997 to 2000, Jen was an attorney in the Product Liability department at King & Spalding in her hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, is the Vice Chair of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, and is the Immediate Past Chair of Easter Seals Goodwill Industries. She is the former Chair of the Cultural Affairs Commission for the City of New Haven. Jen has received numerous honors and awards, including the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce’s Alumnus of the Leadership Center Award and the MS Corporate Achiever Award. She also has been named one of the Connecticut Law Tribune’s “Women in the Law High Achievers” and one of the New Haven Business Times’ “Forty Under 40.”

Dr. Byron Kennedy is the Director of Public Health for the City of New Haven and previously served as the Commissioner/Director of Public Health for Monroe County in New York. He is Board Certified in Preventive Medicine and has broad expertise in community-based approaches aimed at improving the health of vulnerable patient populations. Dr. Kennedy holds a MD, PhD, and Masters Degree in Public Health from Yale University. He has given a number of lectures/presentations to students, medical professionals, community groups, and policy makers. In addition, he has practiced in urgent care, occupational medicine, and general practice clinics, including both pediatric and adult patients. Finally, Dr. Kennedy has published papers in the areas of chronic and communicable diseases, health disparities, tobacco control, and repetitive-use injury.

Fay Sheppard is a Vice President of Investments for Wells Fargo Advisors, where she has developed a series of programs for both individuals and businesses. A former Senior Vice President at the Connecticut Bank and Trust Co., she was a senior commercial/corporate lender and Manager of New Haven Corporate for the New England Bank & Trust Co. Her previous work includes time at Fleet Bank, where she managed the Health Care and Not-for-Profit division. Best known for her successful series entitled “Women in Focus: Smart Women and Money”, her clients include individuals, businesses, and Not-for-Profits and their Foundations. A graduate of Merrimack College’s Program for Certified Financial Planners, she is also a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor. Fay has served on a number of boards, including the Greater New Haven Jewish Federation, Society for Human Resource Managers, United Way, Strides for Cancer, Juvenile Diabetes, and the Anti-Defamation League of Connecticut. She has been a special honoree as the Outstanding Woman of the Year by the New Haven YWCA, as well as being named a Leslie Wexner Heritage Foundation Scholar.