Founded in 2018, the mission of the Foundation for Abilities First NY is to garner the financial resources necessary to meet the programmatic interests and to assure the sustainability of the mission of Abilities First, Inc. FAFNY will establish a stable commitment of philanthropic support, to assure the programs, services, and quality of life opportunities remain strong and available, as well as ensure the organization’s fiscal resiliency during unexpected changes.
FAFNY is a 501(c)(3) nonprofict organization that provides services to enrich the lives of children and adults in our communities. Our Federal ID number is 83-3116304.
All required state and federal forms, documents and financial statements are available upon request. Please contact 845-485-9805.
Jeffery Fox joined Abilities First as Chief Executive Officer in July 2013. As the Chief Executive Officer of Abilities First, Jeff now has the privilege of overseeing programs and services that touch the lives of many children and adults across our region. He is proud to say that the mission of Abilities First overlaps heavily with his own personal mission.
Jeffery has been working with people with intellectual and developmental challenges since he began volunteering at the Newark Developmental Center in the 1980’s. Since then, he has held many different paid and unpaid positions in the Finger Lakes Region, Western New York and now in the Hudson Valley. He received all of his degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo, including his doctorate in Educational Psychology in 2008. He has co-authored numerous articles and research papers that were published in peer-reviewed academic journals, such as Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Child Psychiatry and Development and Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities.
Jeff’s community service is also related to his personal mission. He is on the Board of the Child Care Council of Dutchess and Putnam and the Advisory Board for the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum. He is also the Vice Chair of Hudson Valley Service Providers (HVSP), which is a coalition of 22 organizations across the Hudson Valley that collaborate to meet the challenges of New York State’s Medicaid Redesign. As part of his role in HVSP, he is a member of the Board of Directors of LIFEPlan Care Coordination Organization (CCO), which is one of seven CCOs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities that are authorized by the NYS Department of Health. He was selected in 2016 by the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce as an Athena Honoree for empowering women in leadership.
With over 18 years of experience in fundraising and development leadership, JoAnn combines passion and strategic expertise to help get results – and ultimately make the world a better place.
JoAnn serves as the Director of Development and stewards current and prospective donors and is responsible for overseeing, planning, and implementing a fundraising program for the Foundation for Abilities First NY (FAFNY). Working closely with the CAO and the FAFNY Board of Directors to secure financial resources from individuals, foundations, corporations, and others to support the mission of Abilities First.
JoAnn is an Orange County native with a strong background in development and event planning. She worked at the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association and owned her own Event Business before joining the staff at Abilities First, Inc. She is a graduate of Lynn University and the Fashion Institute of Technology with an Associated Degree in Fashion Buying and a B.A. in Business Management.
JoAnn is a 2016 graduate of Leadership Orange and Hudson Valley Patterns for Progress (2020). She is a Mid-Hudson Valley- NYC Association Chapter of Fundraising Professionals member and has held committee chair positions in Youth in Philanthropy, Membership, and Philanthropy Day. Currently, she serves as the Chair of the Ethics Committee and sits on the Orange County Chamber of Commerce Non-profit Committee. In 2024 she received the Joan Gambeski Award for Outstanding Fundraising Professional. She volunteers as a Wish Granter with Make-A-Wish, Hudson Valley Chapter, for over fifteen years. JoAnn resides in Mahwah, NJ, with her husband, Douglas, and has three children: Joseph, Christopher, and Julia.
Marcy Handler, MBA, the first Director of Grants at Abilities First, brings a wealth of professional experience in strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, organizational development and program design to support the philanthropy focus at FAFNY. Educated at Cornell University, San Francisco Art Institute and Marist College, her grant writing has resulted in excess of $29 million in awards to Hudson Valley organizations to strengthen their human services and economic development programs. With the ability to develop creative, long-term strategies to add new resources and fill gaps in funding, Handler works to enhance programming at Abilities First to better serve the community.