Dr. Dawn Columbare joins TRC’s Board of Directors

Dr. Dawn Columbare was elected to The Resource Center’s Board of Directors at the agency’s annual membership meeting.

Dr. Columbare will serve a two-year term. She replaced Richard Koerner, who stepped down after serving on the Board for three years.

Currently working as a nursing education consultant, Dr. Columbare retired from Jamestown Community College in 2015 after a 22-year career at JCC in which she served as the Director of Nursing and as a Nursing Professor. She has a long affiliation with The Resource Center through her position at JCC.

“I first became involved with The Resource Center when I was a clinical instructor for JCC teaching mental health more than 20 years ago,” she said.” “The Resource Center was a clinical site for JCC students at the time and remained a JCC clinical agency affiliation during the years that I was associated with the nursing program. Many of the registered nurses employed by TRC are graduates of the JCC nursing program.”

Dr. Columbare has served on TRC’s Diagnostic and Treatment Services board advisory committee since 2013. TRC officials have valued her professional insight as a committee member and are pleased that she has joined the Board.

“We are grateful to be able to benefit from Dawn’s extensive medical and educational experience,” said Denise Jones, TRC’s Executive Director.

Dr. Columbare obtained her bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University, her master’s from the State University of New York at Buffalo and her doctorate of nursing practice from Case Western Reserve.

A registered nurse, she is a member of Sigma Theta Tau National Honor Society of Nursing and the National League for Nursing, and she serves as a peer reviewer for the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) Peer Reviewer.

Dr. Columbare is active in the community. She has been a member of Crèche since 1991 and currently serves as its Board Vice President and Finance Committee Chair. She is a longtime member of Zion Covenant Church, where she serves on the Leadership Team and the Missions Committee.  She serves on the Community Service and Program committees of Zonta International. And she sits on the Grants and Scholarship committees for the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation.

She and her husband, Stephen, live in Lakewood. They have four children and three grandchildren.

Dr. Columbare lists her hobbies as visiting her grandchildren, gardening, skiing, biking and sailing.

The Resource Center has been supporting people with disabilities and their families since 1958. TRC operates a variety of health and counseling services that are available to anyone, regardless of whether they have a disability. The Resource Center also provides subcontracting work to local industry and the federal government at manufacturing facilities in Jamestown and Dunkirk.