Our Leadership
Michelle Demetillo
Director of Outreach & Operations
With a diverse skill set spanning non-profit development, marketing, and DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging), Michelle (they/she) is dedicated to implementing impactful initiatives and experiences that cater to the community's needs.
Having contributed to organizations such as Creative Ministries, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Options for Community Living, The Safe Center, and Speak Life End Bullying, Michelle's leadership philosophy revolves around empowering clients, volunteers, and donors. They enjoy cultivating relationships and partnerships while ensuring that every voice is valued and respected.
Outside of ODE, Michelle actively manages Queerli, a volunteer-led organization focused on creating safer spaces for the LGBTQIA+ community across eastern Long Island. In her spare time, Michelle loves to weightlift, explore the North Fork with her fiancée Anjelica, and grace the stage with a song or through theatre.
Excited to bring their nurturing and creative spirit to the community and clients of ODE, Michelle looks forward to making a positive impact in their new role.
Jennibeth Lopez
Office Administrator
Jennibeth (she/her) is a seasoned office administrator and customer service specialist who has been in the field for over 8 years. She currently serves as the Office Administrator for Open Door Exchange, where she is dedicated to ensuring that the donation process is carried out responsibly from the moment it is acquired until it is given away. She values creating and supporting meaningful partnerships with the community and its donors.
Since joining Open Door Exchange, Jennibeth has been part of a unique experience: being part of a movement that uses the donation process to bridge the gap between those who need help and those who are able to provide it.
Being at ODE has provided Jennibeth with an eye-opening experience. Jennibeth is excited to be part of the team and looks forward to seeing the positive change it continues to bring to the community.
In her free time, she enjoys watching movies, going on nature walks with her partner and dog, and spending time with her family.
Kathy Coen
Steering Committee
Kathy has been involved with ODE since Pastor Kate Calone's 2015 sermon describing a youth trip to a furniture mission in Washington DC. From that sermon to a taco meeting at Kate's house, a group began to help those in need furnish a home. The start-up was volunteers willing to donate time and energy as they collected donations in pick-up trucks (such as Kathy's). At first, they stored these items in members' garages, then in a donated storage unit, and now our own warehouse with a dedicated box truck. Kathy learned to have fundraisers, how to reach clients, and to schedule volunteers for all the different aspects of running a successful charity. She helped identify mattresses as a top need and spent time asking for donations to supply mattresses first to children and the elderly.
With this charity, every dollar and donation is spent on those in need. Kathy is proud to be a member of the Open Door Exchange Mission at SPC and looks forward to helping others furnish their homes.
Susan Imperato
Steering Committee
Susan has been a volunteer at ODE since 2016 and joined the Steering Committee in 2020. Volunteering at ODE allows her to make a meaningful contribution to those in need in our local community, while at the same time support responsible environmental practices. On a more personal note, it helps to address her “sentimental inability” to throw anything away by providing an ideal outlet for her family’s and friends’ unneeded but cherished household treasures.
Susan enjoys the everyday hands-on work of the warehouse — serving our clients, organizing and repairing furniture, and seeing much needed items find new homes. It was especially gratifying for her to be a part of the effort to address and deal with the unique logistical challenges of the past year. Susan looks forward to working with the Steering Committee, our volunteers, and the dedicated and talented ODE staff as we continue to chart the course for the future of ODE.
Barbara Curtis
Steering Committee
Barbara is a retired Social Worker and has been an active member of the Setauket Presbyterian Church for 28 years. In 1996, she led the church in participating with a local group to operate a soup kitchen. The group serves weekly and Barbara acted as president of that group from 1998 to 2015, and continued in the role as soup kitchen coordinator until the pandemic shut it down in March 2020. She has been on the board of ODE from its inception and has recently begun volunteering at the warehouse.
Linda Obernaur
Steering Committee
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Tom Kavazanjian
Steering Committee
Tom, a long-time resident of Setauket, was born in Long Beach, NY and moved to Garden City, NY in seventh grade. He is a 1975 graduate of Brown University, where he was a member of an Ivy League championship and nationally ranked lacrosse team. Tom’s working/professional life included two years as a mate on a Mississippi River towboat-- flat bowed “pushers”, that transport groups of grain laden barges (the “tow”) southbound to the Gulf of Mexico for export. The majority of his professional life was spent in financial services, concentrating in managing fee-based equity growth portfolios and co-managing a futures fund. Tom is an avid sailor, kayaker and bike rider (and pre-hip replacements, tennis player), and enjoys reading (especially the New York Times), music (primarily mainstream jazz and classical) and all the arts.
Growing up, Tom’s wife, Jan, and daughters, Kim (a Presbyterian minister in Miami, Fl), and Laura (deceased), were active members of Setauket Presbyterian Church (SPC). After the sudden loss of his daughter in a car accident in 2011, Tom was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and unconditional love extended to his family from both the SPC congregation and the surrounding community. This led Tom to become a more active member of SPC. At this point, Tom had retired and was looking to get involved with some altruistic cause, and to give back to the community that was so supportive to him. When Tom learned Pastor Kate Jones Calone, who he has the highest regard for, intended to start Open Door Exchange (ODE), Tom was “all in” and was among the group of founding members. The rest, as they say, is history!