Simply Smiles Inc. is a not-for-profit organization, and therefore relies heavily on its volunteer Board of Directors. We have been lucky enough to recruit real pillars of the community to serve on the Board. Their dedication, experience, and expertise is invaluable. We invite you to learn a little about each of them.

Mr. DiPrato is a two-time graduate of the University of Connecticut. He holds a B.S. in Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration. Mr. DiPrato began his professional career as a Mechanical Engineer for United Technologies, however he soon made the change to holding various positions for Fortune 500 companies such as W.R. Grace, Bristol Myers-Squibb, and Unilever. He currently works as an independent marketing consultant where he is affiliated with Impact Planning Group. He teaches and consults with Fortune 1000 companies facilitating the development of marketing strategies.

Mr. DiPrato was a volunteer for the American Red Cross where he served in Louisiana in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He was also active in his local community as a Little League coach in the 90′s and has served on the board of directors for the Connecticut Traumatic Brain Injury Association. Mr. Diprato lives and manages his business in Norwalk, CT.

Mrs. Doocy holds a B.S. in Special Education from Southern Connecticut State University and a Masters of Education in Supervision from Texas Woman’s University. Mrs. Doocy worked as a Special Education teacher in Dallas, TX before moving to Connecticut. In 1996 she began her tenure with The Kennedy Center in Trumbull, CT where she has held positions as a Special Education Teacher, an Early Intervention Coordinator, and currently as a Birth to Three Specialist.

Mrs. Doocy’s extensive charity work includes raising funds to fight Autism and as a committee member and Sunday School teacher at the Southport Congregational Church. Mrs. Doocy lives with her husband Paul in Southport, CT.

Ms. Merriam Feinberg holds a B.A. from The University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a Masters of Education from The University of Hawaii at Manoa, and a J.D. from The University of Connecticut School of Law. Her professional career began with sixteen years of teaching elementary school. Later Mrs. Feinberg worked as an estate planning, elder law, and tax lawyer.

Since 1993, Ms. Feinberg has dedicated her talents to the not-for-profit world.  She was director of planned giving at Wesleyan University, director of development at the University of Connecticut School of Law and director of advancement at St. Margaret’s-McTernan (now Chase Collegiate) School. She is currently the director of outreach and development for the Connecticut Community Foundation.  She also serves on the Board of Directors for Naugatuck Savings Bank.  Ms. Feinberg resides with her husband Michael in Middlebury, CT.

Mr. Nurnberger received a B.A. in History from the University of Colorado in 1999. Before founding Simply Smiles Inc., Mr. Nurnberger worked as a History and Special Education teacher. He has also worked as a rock and ice climbing guide for Eastern Mountain Sports throughout New England. He is an Eagle Scout who has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, lived with monks in Greece, and worked with sugar-cane cutters in The Dominican Republic. Mr. Nurnberger lives with his wife Kristen in Southport, CT.

Mr. Nurnberger received his Masters of Public Administration from Golden Gate University and his Bachelor of Science in Education from Western Connecticut State University. He worked for the United Way for fourteen years, ten of which as President of the United Way of Northern Fairfield County. Mr. Nurnberger retired as Senior Vice President, Human Resources for Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in 2011 where he was responsible for Human Resource policy and practices for 9,000 employees throughout the United States.

Mr. Nurnberger is active in the community as a Board member for the Western Connecticut State University Foundation and Ann’s Place – The Home of I CAN, an organization providing services to cancer patients and their families. Mr. Nurnberger previously served on the boards of the Fairfield County Community Foundation and the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce where he served as Chairman. He was also a founding board member of the Greater Danbury Fund. Mr. Nurnberger lives with his wife Nancy in Woodbury, CT.

Dr. Pierce holds a B.A., an M.D., and a Ph.D all from Northwestern University. His professional career began at Harvard University with an appointment as a Clinical and Research Fellow in Medicine, an Instructor in Medicine, and as an Assistant Professor of Medicine. Dr. Pierce has applied his considerable talents as a physician and researcher at esteemed companies such as New England Nuclear Corporation, Enzymatics, Abbot Laboratories, The Warner-Lambert Company, and Pfizer. At Pfizer Dr. Pierce served as a Senior Vice President for Global Research and Development as well as The Director of Worldwide Clinical Research.

Dr. Pierce has served on the boards of directors for Phytomedics Inc. as well as Phylogica in Australia. His professional writings have been extensively published in journals and publications relating to his fields of research. Dr. Pierce is extremely active in his community including the Essex Congregational Church. He lives with his wife Kristen in Essex, CT.

Mr. Lucuk holds a B.A. from Bowdoin College.  He has spent his professional career working for Bridgewater Associates, a privately owned global macroeconomic hedge fund that manages portfolios mainly for institutional clients including corporate pension funds, endowments, state pension plans, and sovereign wealth funds. Mr. Lucuk began at Bridgewater as an Operations Associate, quickly being promoted to the Head of Foreign Exchange Operations, and is currently an Account Management Associate with a focus on client services.

Mr. Lucuk is as dedicated to his work with Simply Smiles as he is to his professional career.  He even took a six-month sabbatical in 2007 in order to help Simply Smiles expand our projects and infrastructure.  Mr. Lucuk lives in Norwalk, CT.

Mrs. Jones holds a B.A. in Mathematics and a Masters in Computer Science from Northern Illinois University – both degrees were earned summa cum laude.  Mrs. Jones spent her professional career working for IBM.  Beginning as a Systems Engineer and finally as the Manager for Marketing Intelligence and IBM Sales and Distribution.  She is an active supporter of many causes including serving on the Advisory Boards for the University of Connecticut Health Center and for the College of Education.  Mrs. Jones is also involved with the “Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship”, “Shepherds” where she is a mentor for students, and with the Southport Congregational Church.

A long time supporter of Simply Smiles she brings her experience volunteering in Mexico and as a fundraiser to our Board of Directors.  Mrs. Jones lives with her husband Bob in Westport, CT.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens
can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.”
- Margaret Mead