Elise M. Cusack

Elise M. Cusack has been a trustee of the New York Power Authority since June 2005. She was nominated by Governor George E. Pataki and approved by the state Senate for a term extending through May 2009.

Cusack is a member of the Erie County Legislature, representing the 14th District, which includes parts of the Towns of Amherst, Cheektowaga and Tonawanda.  She serves on the legislature's Community Services Committee. She announced in 2005 that she will not run for another term in the county legislature.

Cusack is also a member of the Erie Niagara Regional Partnership and the Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau Board.

In 2003, she served as chair of the Local Organizing Committee for the Empire State Games, the first woman and first former competitor (gymnastics 1985 and 1986) to serve in that capacity. The five-day event pumped $8 million into the Buffalo Niagara economy.

After graduating from Hamilton College with honors in history, Cusack started her career as a legislative assistant to Congressman Bill Paxon, working on issues that included senior citizens, health and education.

As a senior project manager at Cogan Communications in Buffalo, Cusack created and implemented marketing and public relations strategies for clients that included the National Football League, ESPN and Motorola.

Cusack worked as the alternate venues coordinator at the 1996 Republican National Convention in San Diego. She then moved to New York City, where she served as finance director for the campaign of former New York State Attorney General Dennis Vacco.

Prior to her election to the county legislature, Cusack was a senior associate at Greener and Hook, a communications consulting firm in Washington, D.C, where she worked on the development of the official program for the 2000 Republican National Convention and produced television commercials for a number of clients.

Cusack lives in Eggertsville with her husband, Martin, and their three children.