Meet the Republican: Terry Lombardi

"Meet the Candidates" is a feature on Southington Patch designed to help you get to know your local candidates before you take to the polls this November. Each profile was submitted directly by the candidate. 

Take a moment to review each profile so you can be informed and prepared when you go to the polls on Nov. 5, 2013.

This week, we are looking at the Southington Board of Education candidates.

Name: Terry G. Lombardi
Age: 58
Party, Board Seeking: Republican, Board of Education
Family information: My husband, Bill, and I settled in Southington 35 years ago and raised our sons, Tony and Tom here. Both graduated from SHS, graduated college and returned to their hometown to start their careers. Tom is running as a Republican candidate for Town Council this election.
Occupation, if applicable:
Leadership/Performance Improvement Internal Consultant - Hospital of Central Connecticut - Hartford Health Care, Former Director with 31 years experience leading Corporate, Training/Development, Marketing, Operations and Customer Service organizations (AT&T and Northeast Utilities), Former Adjunct Professor - Central Connecticut State University
Political Experience: Southington Board of Education 2011- Present
Other Experience:

• Southington Board of Education -2011 to Present
• Southington-Cheshire YMCA – Former President of Board of Directors, Vice-President, Secretary and Member-2002-2012
• Southington BOE Finance Committee-2011 to Present
• Southington School System Vision 2020 Committee-2013
• Southington Education Foundation: Virtual STEM University Committee-2013
• Town of Southington Self Insurance Committee Member -2011- Present
• Women and Girls Fund-Main Street Foundation- Distribution Committee Member-2010
• Southington High School Basketball and Soccer Boosters-1998-2004
• St. Thomas Capital Campaign

Why did you run for office?
I am running to:

• Prepare our children with the knowledge and skills required for college and a career.
• Apply my business, education, and community leadership knowledge and experience.  My experiences as a parent, corporate executive, adjunct college professor, tutor, and community leader lead to a diverse and qualified candidate.  I have over thirty years of business experience where I led large organizations in marketing, operations, strategic planning and human resources.
• Give Back.  Education opened doors for me and now it’s my turn to return the rewards to the next generation.  After being covertly airlifted out of  Cuba without my parents, teachers and guidance counselors played a significant role in my life.  As a refugee I learned to work hard, to be self-sufficient, value education, and give back along the way.

I am running again to do just that.

If elected, what would be your primary areas of focus?
As a Board of Education member, the two areas of focus will be safety and technology.

SAFETY: Ensuring ALL schools provide a safe learning environment especially during the middle school construction projects.

TECHNOLOGY: Preparing our students with 21st Century skills by integrating technology into learning, teaching, testing, communications and office operations. Since joining the BOE in 2011, developing a technology upgrading/expansion plan has been a personal top priority that needed attention and resources. With this now in place, my focus will be on its implementation and participation on the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) virtual on-line university committee sponsored by the SEF.

What do you feel is the biggest issue facing Southington today?
In the area of education, our biggest issue is the growing number of unfunded federal and state mandates.  

What skills do you have that you could bring to the community?
My educational, career and community leadership experiences make me a qualified incumbent to continue serving our BOE and our town of Southington.

My education includes: 

• Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Science-Business Management, Renssellear Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York
• Bachelors of Science-Secondary Education, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT

My community experiences are:

• Southington Board of Education -2011 to Present
• Southington-Cheshire YMCA – Former President of Board of Directors, Vice-President, Secretary and Member-2002-2012
• Southington BOE Finance Committee-2011 to Present
• Southington School System Vision 2020 Committee-2013
• Town of Southington Self Insurance Committee Member -2011- Present
• Southington Education Foundation: Virtual STEM University Committee-2013
• Women and Girls Fund-Main Street Foundation- Distribution Committee Member-2010
• Southington High School Soccer and BasketballBoosters-1997-2004

(Optional) Anything else you would like to share?
It is an honor to live in this country and serve Southington. Thank you Veterans for fighting for our freedom. God Bless America.

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