CMC Board Members
Vivian Mandala
Vivian has been involved in the Construction industry for over twenty years in various ways. Most recently, she has worked directly with Contractors to iron out the operational and business roadblocks that are holding them back from scaling.
She sits on the Board of NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners), is the Advocacy Chair of NAWBO NYC, is a SCORE SME (Subject Matter Expert), NYWIB (NY Women in Business) Board Member on an industry-specific project to help those who identify as Female Contractors grow their business.
She is the Founder and COO of CMC Construction, a carpentry construction company, and CMC Coaching, which focuses on training MBE (Minority Based Enterprise) and WBE (Women Based Enterprise) Contractors who want to scale their businesses.
Maggie Poxon
Maggie Poxon is a principal of Fish Plate Development LLC, a New York City-based developer of affordable and supportive housing. Maggie has been Senior Project Manager at Dunn Development Corp since 2004, overseeing numerous large and high-profile projects, including the four-building Livonia Commons in East New York, Brooklyn, and the adaptive reuse of a former tuberculosis hospital in Jamaica, Queens. Prior to joining Dunn Development Corp., she spent ten years as Director of Operations at an innovative homeless service provider in New York City, helping to design and implement work and training programs for homeless individuals and starting the agency’s forays into supportive permanent housing development. Maggie earned a B.A. from Columbia College of Columbia University.
Rafiq Diab
Rafiq is a business sustainability consultant with over 25 years of international experience. At CMC Workforce, as part of the work team, he is developing green and resilient services in the areas of Community Outreach, Workforce Database Management, Workforce Mentoring & Career Development, Construction Curriculum Content Development, Training & Coaching, and Innovation and Application Development.
Neena Dutta
NEENA DUTTA is the CEO of CMC Construction NY Corporation, principal of the Dutta Law Firm in NYC and Special Counsel to McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney and Carpenter, LLP. CMC Construction has a commercial and residential arm, with a focus on rough carpentry. The Dutta Law Firm is primarily corporate business immigration, with a concentration in construction and engineering firms, along with naturalization and family-based cases. She has experience with the intersection of immigration and employment law, including I-9 audits, Department of Labor issues and employee handbooks. She is currently a member of the Executive Committee for NAWBO NYC, the National Association of Women Business Owners, and an Advocacy Ambassador for 10KSB, 10,000 Small Businesses for Goldman Sachs.
She was an Elected Director for the Board of Governors as well as a number of committees for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, AILA. She has appeared on numerous international news reports as an expert in immigration on channels such as NPR, AP, WNYC, NY1, CGTN and I-24 News. She has previously been recognized as an attorney in the New York Metro Rising Stars, Super Lawyers and Top Women Attorneys, SABANY Pro Bono Attorney of the Year and a recipient of the AILA President’s Award for 2022 and the New York Chapter Mentor of the Year for 2023.
Donna Smith
Donna Smith is the Operations Manager for the Brownsville Partnership and manages the 519 Rockaway Avenue location. She maintains this community space that allows partner agencies, community partners, and the community to use the space to share information, run learning sessions, host workforce development, connect with financial growth, free tax preparation, food distribution, and connective services with the senior population. Through her learning and work experience, she uses data to determine services that can benefit residents of Brownsville. With over ten years in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, she has worked with the Greater New York Hospital Association and United Way of New York City. While there, she was instrumental in developing the Women United in Philanthropy initiative and Young Leaders Program, which aimed to encourage the next generation of philanthropists. She has a Bachelor’s Arts in Pre-Law Political Science, an Associate in Business, and has multi-computer certifications: A+, N+ CCNA. She is a member of “WIT” Women In Technology. She received a Master's in Information Systems and Security from the University of Phoenix in 2024.
Safiy Abdur-Rahman
Safiy has practiced in the design and construction market as a Senior Technical Architect, Sr. Project Manager, Sr. Project Controls Manager, and technology integrator for over 18 years, successfully adopting and implementing Project Management Information systems and Building Information Modeling at various architectural, engineering, and construction management firms. Safiy has managed BIM development and workflows on projects of many scopes and sizes with varying levels of complexities, implementing standards, protocols, and best practices, while facilitating aspects of Integrated Project Delivery on numerous project teams, bringing technology to bear on project controls, cost, schedule, and risk, helping projects to remain on time and on budget. Safiy provides Rom Group Inc. clients with strategic planning, business transformation, and project controls expertise and utilizes his experience and understanding of the New York City, US, and global design and construction industry. Safiy focuses on using all aspects of his strategic project management experience to advise owners in the building process.
Samantha Terline
As the founder and president of Cedar Park Group - a leading healthcare and construction staffing agency, Samantha Terline's leadership, strategic vision, commitment to employee well-being, and dedication to professional development make her a valuable addition to CMC Workforce’s board. She invests her exceptional skills in supporting both her key personnel and the employees they place while maintaining the vision and strategic planning that has built CPG from a dream into a multimillion-dollar company.
With a background in restaurant management and catering, Samantha possesses a compassionate understanding of employee pressures. This insight informs her approach to fostering effective communication and supportive work environments within Cedar Park Group.
Beyond her professional responsibilities, Samantha actively engages with local and national organizations, fostering valuable business relationships and participating in community employment events. Her dedication to industry events further enhances professional development opportunities for both construction and healthcare professionals