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The Darien YMCA is well-known in Darien for being dedicated to making a positive impact on our community through a variety of initiatives, including sports programs, educational programs and community-driven projects. It has almost 1,700 local adults over 55 years old who are members, many of whom participate in health and wellness programs that promote a healthy longevity by giving them opportunities to stay in shape, create new friendships and stay connected with the community.

The “Y” also engages: 1,300 children who learn life-saving swimming skills that are essential in our coastal region; 1,800 children in pre-school, after-school and summer camp programs; and 3,000 children and teens participating sports programs. The “Y” also provides $600,000 of financial assistance for individuals and families in need in Darien and its surrounding communities.

Jennifer M. Carcieri serves as CEO of the Darien YMCA, where she has led transformational growth and community impact since 2018. Under her leadership, the organization increased revenues by 34% and transitioned from a major operating loss to a $2 million surplus, while significantly expanding financial assistance and strengthening mission-driven programs. She has guided the Y through strategic planning initiatives and major capital renovations, and successfully achieved Praesidium Accreditation for child abuse prevention.

Previously, Jennifer spent a decade with the Metropolitan YMCA of the Oranges in New Jersey, where she led fundraising, facility expansion and community wellness initiatives. A recognized leader in the YMCA movement, she serves as vice president of the CT/RI Alliance of YMCAs and chairs the Northeast Region CEO Conference.

Jennifer holds a B.S. in financial management from Clemson University and is known for her collaborative leadership style, a commitment to community well-being and a belief that the Y is a place where everyone belongs.

Arranged by Ray Duggins.

Motivated by an extraordinary vision and much generosity, Norwalk native Austin McChord and his wife Allison are turning a decommissioned power plant and its magnificent 125-acre waterfront peninsula on Norwalk Harbor into a world-class public park, community hub and nature retreat. Now taking shape, the full transformation is being overseen by Manresa Island Corp., a non-profit established and funded by the McChords in 2024. The park, called “Manresa Wilds,” will be fully funded by private philanthropy, anchored by a landmark foundational gift from the couple with no public funding involved. Multiple elected officials have voiced their support for the project — no wonder, the McChords aren’t asking for a dime. They’re looking to fund the entire $410 million preparation cost themselves and plan to open the park in stages starting in 2027 and continuing from 2032 through 2035. Once fully realized, the park will be one of the most ambitious privately funded public park projects in the nation.

Manresa Wilds will be a publicly accessible park that reconnects the community to a large waterfront property for the first time in nearly 75 years. At twice the size of Darien’s Great Island, and only four miles from the DMA’s meeting location, the park’s sprawling natural spaces will be anchored by the decommissioned plant, which will be revitalized into a vibrant community hub.

Though the property’s new ownership and stewardship is unorthodox, state officials, environmental experts and the McChords themselves say that Manresa Wilds offers lessons that extend beyond the property’s dramatic two miles of waterfront views, rusted machinery and dense birch forest. Many states have been trying for years to shutter some of their filthiest power plants. As part of a group formerly known as the “Sooty Six,” the dirtiest plants in Connecticut, these old gas-fired plants cost taxpayers and corporate owners a king’s ransom to operate. Now they mostly sit idle, and those operating are notorious polluters. Connecticut has almost 900 “brownfield” sites, many of which are relics of the state’s rich manufacturing history. While outmoded power facilities, like all technologies, eventually need to be replaced or repurposed, Manresa Wilds shows that obsolescence is sometimes an opportunity for reinvention. Some observers believe it is a model for how private capital can be used to reimagine coastal resources for the public’s benefit.

Austin McChord, founder and former CEO of Datto, Inc., the first and only “unicorn” company in Connecticut, and his architect wife Allison have a different idea. After purchasing Manresa Island in 2024, the couple hired world-class architects and planners to imagine an unprecedented civic asset in Norwalk. To that end, they will design exciting interior spaces — one as large as Grand Central Station — and acres of wild habitats, beaches and spaces for community gathering, education, and research.

Austin founded the locally based Datto, Inc. in 2007 in his father’s house in Newtown, Conn., when he was still a student at Rochester Institute of Technology. His product provided back-up computer storage capability to the business community in data centers, pairing it with business continuity and disaster recovery to keep businesses up-and-running. Datto provided its customers with an affordable all-in-one hybrid cloud platform with continuity and resilience. In 2013, Austin turned down an enormous buyout offer, but as Datto’s sole stockholder at that time, he disliked the buyer’s plan to dismantle Datto and lay off employees. Instead, he re-capitalized the firm and later sold it for a significantly higher amount.

Arranged by Robin Hogen

[Editor’s Note: “Brownfield” is legally defined as real property where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. A “unicorn company” is defined as a privately held startup company with a current valuation of 1 billion or more.]

McChord Pictures

Brian Rolapp will join the DMA in conversation with DMA member Frank Gallagher to discuss the current state of the PGA TOUR and significant changes coming in the years ahead.  Few executives have played a larger role in shaping the modern sports landscape than Brian, whose career has been defined by consistent leadership and long-term value creation across several major sports and entertainment institutions. A member of Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40: Hall of Fame, Brian was named chief executive officer of the PGA TOUR in June 2025.

Brian joined the PGA TOUR after a 22-year career with the National Football League (NFL), where he most recently served as chief media and business officer. In that role, he was responsible for the league’s commercial businesses, including broadcasting and media rights, NFL Media, sponsorship, advertising sales and consumer products, with NFL contract revenues exceeding an astounding $125 billion during his tenure. He spearheaded some of the largest and most comprehensive arrangements with major corporations in NFL history and led 32 Equity, the entity that makes investments on behalf of the league and its 32 owners.

While at the NFL, Brian oversaw long-term agreements with media partners CBS, ESPN/ABC, NBC, FOX and Amazon for the distribution of NFL games over television and digital platforms. Additionally, he helped devise and implement the next phase of the premium product NFL Sunday Ticket with YouTube after almost 25 years on a satellite service. Rolapp also oversaw other media and licensing negotiations, including contracts with Apple, DraftKings, Electronic Arts, Fanatics, Netflix, Nike, Snapchat, Sony, X and more.

The NFL’s owned and operated businesses, NFL Media and NFL Films, also flourished under Brian’s leadership. Brian drove NFL Network and NFL RedZone distribution deals with the country’s largest television providers and more recently launched NFL+, the NFL’s new direct-to- consumer digital product. He helped NFL Films expand its programming relationships with Netflix, HBO/Max, Amazon and others. He also oversaw the formation of a new joint venture, Skydance Sports, announced in 2022 between Skydance Media, the NFL and NFL Films to create a premier global multi-sports production studio.

As chief executive officer of PGA TOUR, Brian is applying his experience to a sport steeped in history, with an emphasis on creating the best version of the PGA TOUR that reflects the best of sports competition while retaining the elite competitive environment golf fans expect. The PGA TOUR is undergoing a thoughtful evolution under Brian’s direction, honoring the game’s traditions without being overly bound by them.

A key initiative during Brian’s early tenure is the formation of the Future Competition Committee, chaired by 82-time PGA TOUR winner Tiger Woods, which is conducting a comprehensive review of the TOUR’s competitive model with a focus on new business concepts such as parity, scarcity and simplicity. No decisions have been made or finalized, but the committee has reached a consensus on several key topics, including: the importance of predictable, promotable fields that create appointment viewing; opening the season with an iconic event; exploring more opportunities in major metropolitan markets; and heightening competitive consequence by enhancing the meritocratic structure.

In January 2026, Brian also announced the launch of the Returning Member Program, designed to provide an alternative path back to PGA TOUR competition for past members who have achieved the highest accomplishments in the game. The program — which recently welcomed nine-time PGA TOUR winner Brooks Koepka — mandates heavy and appropriate limitations to both tournament access and potential earnings, including a five-year forfeiture of potential equity in the PGA TOUR’s Equity Program.

Before joining the NFL in 2003, Brian served as director of business development for NBC Universal in New York, in which role he was instrumental in NBC’s cable and new media strategies, including NBC’s acquisition of Vivendi Universal Entertainment’s cable assets USA Network, Sci-Fi and Trio. Brian was a member of the media investment banking team at CIBC World Markets prior to joining NBC Universal.

Brian is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Harvard Business School. He and his wife Cindy have been married for nearly 30 years and have four children.

U.S. aircraft carriers are often called “The Tip of the Spear” because they enhance America’s ability to project military power anywhere across the globe.  The key to the carriers are their fighter planes.

Despite threats from hypersonic missiles and drones, a carrier task force can maneuver on the open ocean, move fast and carry massive firepower. The ability to project military power from aircraft carriers in whatever theater is necessary is critical to projecting U.S. global power. It also has a number of other advantgages, such as not having to rely on foreign nation approval, not requiring foreign host bases and permitting independent U.S. military strategy, all of which may be invaluable during a crisis. Carriers are essential for a U.S. global presence, deterrence and rapid response.

Fighter jets on U.S. aircraft carriers are specialized, state-of-the art planes flown by highly trained Naval aviators.  Navy pilots don’t have the luxury of landing on JFK’s 13,000-foot-long runway; the carrier deck is  only 300 feet.  Our speaker, Gunnar Edelstein, has exciting videos so DMA members can experience what it’s like to land on a carrier at 150 knots on a constantly moving centerline with the carrier sailing at 15 knots, navigating a nine degree landing angle-of-attack with possibly heaving decks and/or crosswinds due to rough seas, while undergoing a crushing G-force when landing and then stopping on a dime.

Gunnar graduated from the Wilbraham & Monson Academy in Wilbraham, Mass., and received a B.S. degree in biology and chemistry from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1972.  He then joined the U.S. Navy officer flight training program in Pensacola, Fla., and later served as a fighter/attack pilot for eight years.  Gunnar graduated first in his class while earning Distinguished Naval Graduate honors and went on to complete two WestPac carrier cruises aboard the USS Kitty Hawk and the USS Constellation, in addition to a tour as an instructor in the Navy’s Advanced Jet Training Command.

Gunnar was hired by American Airlines in 1979 and then laid off a year later.  He then worked as a sales engineer for Air Products & Chemicals, while also serving in the Massachusetts Air National Guard, flying the brand new A-10 Thunderbolt. He rejoined American Airlines in 1984 and had a 27-year flying career there, principally flying B-727s until he retired from flying in 2011.

Gunnar is currently in residential sales with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services in Darien.  He was president of the Darien Board of Realtors, served on the board of Noroton Yacht Club, was past Commander of the Darien Sail & Power Squadron and is a member of Silvermine Golf Club.  Gunnar and his wife Sarah have lived in Darien for 39 years and have a son, Jeff, who is a U.S. Army combat infantryman.