Tori has a passion for bringing people together and creating meaningful community connections. She’s thrilled to pursue this passion at Saratoga Joinery while combining her love for artistry with her experience in nonprofit management.
Tori has worked on communications and program development for multiple nonprofit organizations over the years, most notably for the Lake Champlain Chamber in Burlington, Vermont, where she directed the area’s long-standing community leadership program, Leadership Champlain. She has a degree in Political Science from the University at Albany, where she has also taken graduate classes in Public Administration. She also completed the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives’ Economic Recovery Fellowship helping businesses recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. She spends her free time hiking, gardening, and playground-hopping with her husband and their two young children.
Executive Director
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Ben has a deep passion for making, particularly with wood. He’s a self-taught woodworker with over 10 years of experience and is extremely excited to share his knowledge with the Saratoga Joinery community. Ben thinks of himself as a hybrid woodworker, choosing the best tool for the job, enjoying the process of making using both hand and power tools. He’s excited by new technologies becoming more widely available to the craft community.
Ben has worked in education technology for the last 17 years and is looking forward to using that knowledge to help shape the Joinery’s class offerings. Before that, he worked on creating online safety courses for General Electric. Ben graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a degree in Electronic Media Arts & Communications with a concentration in design. When he’s not making sawdust, Ben enjoys spending time outdoors mountain biking and hiking in the High Peaks region of New York.
Director, Shop Operations
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Although Shaina grew up “helping” her dad with home renovations and watching him painstakingly carve Celtic walking sticks, it wasn’t until the 2020 pandemic lockdown that she got into woodworking herself. Her first projects were all sawn and sanded by hand (hello tennis elbow) so it was a huge relief to discover the Joinery and give her own joints and tendons a break! Outside of the shop she works as an RN, coaches kids’ mountain biking, and volunteers at a community farm. You can find her once a week volunteering as a Safety Coordinator, soaking up all the knowledge she can from our many friendly and capable members, and experimenting with the machines or carving tools.
You can find Shaina at the shop on alternating Fridays and Saturdays from 1pm-5pm.
Safety Coordinator
Mariah Day is a sculptor, and wood-working artist who explores the interconnectedness of the world around us. How even the most minor interactions with strangers can have a lasting impact on ourselves for years to come. She is a mixed media artist with a focus toward the usage of wood, often harvesting raw material from naturally fallen trees in the local environment. She has shown her work at The Teaching Gallery of HVCC, Art Omi in Ghent, NY, and The Dorsky Museum of SUNY New Paltz. She was born and raised along the Hudson River, growing up in Mechanicville, NY, and now based out of Schenectady.
You can find Mariah in the shop on Saturdays from 1pm-5pm.
Safety Coordinator
In 8th grade woodshop, Reg built an octagonal table, loved it, but didn’t have a chance to do much woodworking until he bought a house and did many DIY projects. That led him back to courses in fine woodworking, a pastime he’s been pursuing for over 25 years. He especially enjoys working with hand tools (when they’re sharp!), trying challenging joinery and new woodworking methods and processes, such as steam bending and bent laminations. However, unwilling to try to make a living making furniture, he’s keeping his day job teaching at Skidmore College.
You can find Reg at the shop on Wednesdays from 4pm-8pm.
Safety Coordinator
Craig knew that he would need another hobby in retirement. So in 1999 he took the leap and created a workshop in a small one car garage. It was centered around a Shopsmith, which at that time could be converted into 5 different power tools. He also acquired a Shopsmith bandsaw and dust collector and progressed from there. He was quite happy with his little shop until 2011 when Tropical Storm Irene dropped a very large tree on it. Craig responded by doubling the size of his shop and acquiring more tools. He is largely self taught, with the exception of a few short classes taken locally. His main interest is in making furniture. Now that Craig is fully retired, he has time to volunteer at the Joinery.
You can find Craig at the shop on Wednesdays from 12pm-4pm.
Safety Coordinator
Preston is a middle school engineering/technical trades teacher at Maple Avenue Middle School. He is grateful to be a part of the Saratoga Joinery team and excited for the opportunities the organization will offer people to gain experience in the world of woodworking. Preston has a true passion for all things woodworking as well as collecting vintage tools. Though not willing to call himself an expert, Preston would be happy to assist with guidance for members and future members with project planning, construction techniques, tools and machines operations and usage.
You can find Preston in the shop on Saturdays from 9am-1pm.
Safety Coordinator
Jody is a native Saratogian, retired French Teacher (turned Instructional Technologist 12 years before her retirement from Saratoga Springs High School) and aspiring woodworker. She owns a home in town that was built in 1885 which was probably the inspiration for her to learn woodworking skills. She fell in love with woodworking and never looked back!
She was thrilled when she heard about the Joinery where she would have access to amazing tools, be part of a community with people who share the same interests, and where she could always be learning new things. She doesn’t (at this point) lay claim to any specific skills, but she especially likes making simple, functional pieces of furniture, or just designing things that she needs for her house or gardens.
You can find Jody in the shop on Fridays from 1pm-5pm.
Safety Coordinator
Dave started volunteering at the Joinery before it opened in the fall of 2023 on the painting crew. Then, after the Joinery opened in March of 2024, he became a Safety Coordinator and Class Instructor. He has led a number of introductory woodworking classes, making use of numerous machines in the spacious 1st floor Machine Room, including; The 18inch planer, 13inch jointer, the 2 Sawstop Table Saws and the table router. Working with the power tools is a current focus for Dave. But, he looks forward to learning more about hand tools and detailed woodworking skills.
Dave is a retired 1st grade teacher, living on the Great Sacandaga Lake. Since retiring in 2020, he has dedicated more of his free time to woodworking, from chainsawing and gathering hardwood trees on his property to creating various woodworking projects and completing a long list of construction projects around the house. He has found the Joinery to be a bastion of knowledge, enabling him to complete more projects at home. There is always learning taking place at the Joinery, and ideas being shared. The Joinery makes for an ideal setting to play around with new ideas, create unique woodworking pieces and problem solve.
You can find Dave in the shop on Tuesdays from 12pm-4pm and Fridays from 9am-1pm.
Safety Coordinator
John, the founder of the Joinery, became passionate about woodworking after purchasing and renovating an old home in Saratoga. In 2021, he lived and fully immersed himself in a 3-month furniture intensive at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine. He says he is now “officially hooked.”
Professionally, John worked as a software entrepreneur. He founded SportsSignup in 2003 for youth sports organizations, and co-founded NearMe in 1999, a company delivering location based services to wireless devices. John is also the co-founder of MapInfo (now Precisely MapInfo) building the new desktop mapping industry. He is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he majored in Mathematics. He currently serves on the Board of the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation. When not at the shop and woodworking, he enjoys sailing on Lake George and hiking and traveling with his wife Michelle.
Founder & Board President
Chris Bennett is a long time resident in a historic home in Saratoga Springs. He has spent much of his career as a carpenter meticulously restoring the porches and exteriors of the city’s historic district to their original grandeur. He is an obvious asset to the Board of the Joinery.
Chris is the founder of Chris Bennett Construction and has received local recognition for his work - most specifically his hand-crafted moldings, columns and brackets. He is a graduate of the North Bennett School in Boston; a long-time member of the Saratoga Springs Design Review Board and actively volunteers for the Giving Circle on their local home rebuilding projects. When not trying to finish his wooden sailboat, Chris enjoys gardening, cooking, and hosting neighborhood parties with his wife Ellen and spending time with his three children.
Founding Board Member & Vice President
As a founding member of the Board of the Joinery, Ken combines a generational interest in entrepreneurship, community volunteering, and the arts. His grandparents (a woodworker and a ceramicist) started and ran a Music camp in the Catskills, employing his father and uncles who, in turn, started businesses and not for profit entities.
Ken is the CEO and Cofounder of Location Analytics, Inc., a consultancy focused on sales optimization through leveraging location based data and analysis. His software leadership history also includes CMO of MapAnything, President of TerrAlign and an early role with MapInfo. He is a graduate of Bryant College with an MBA at RPI, where he has also been an adjunct professor. Ken, and his wife Leslie, settled in Saratoga 20 years ago, to raise their child Elliot and a multitude of pets. He enjoys golfing, boating, cooking and has recently become addicted to snowmobiling. While working on DYI projects, he has often complained that experts have both the knowledge and right tools - he’s now trying to overcome those personal shortcomings, and help others do the same.
Founding Board Member & Board Treasurer
Mary is enthusiastic about helping to found the Joinery because it combines a life-long love of artistry with her background in nonprofit management and fundraising. She remains a very amateur woodworker, although her foray began in the 1980s building stretchers for canvases as a painting student.
Prior to moving to Saratoga in 2010, Mary worked for 25 years for national and regional nonprofits as both an Executive Director and a Development Director, including the Student Conservation Association and the American Cancer Society. She has also consulted with businesses to help them initiate first time giving/grants programs. Mary graduated from UVM, received her Masters in Policy from Tufts and took graduate classes at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. She continues to paint locally and in Deer Isle, Maine and volunteers for several nonprofits in both locales. She and her husband Mike spend their free time visiting their four grown daughters and skiing and kayaking whenever possible.
Founding Board Member & Board Secretary
Angelo has always had an interest in building and carpentry, although he still considers himself a novice woodworker. His interest began years ago when he first helped his family renovate and take care of family-owned apartments as a young boy.
After completing his graduate studies at George Washington University, Angelo began a career in healthcare leadership that lasted almost 40-years and included CEO positions in western New York and Ohio. He and his wife Kate then moved to Saratoga where he served in the role of CEO of Saratoga Hospital for sixteen years.
Recently retired, Angelo and his wife have committed to Saratoga as their forever home. He has volunteered for several organizations over the years and continues to serve on several local Boards. He enjoys cars, music, gardening, cooking and spending time with his family which now includes four grandchildren.
Board Member
Karen is excited to join the board of the Joinery. Her interest in woodworking originated with her grandfather but it grew immensely when she became a middle school technology education teacher. She was enthusiastic to elevate her own woodworking skills by learning from her colleagues and in turn, to introduce the enjoyment of woodworking to her students.
Karen’s first career path was in architecture. She graduated with her Bachelor of Architecture degree from Syracuse University in 1992 and worked for various local firms as an architectural designer for the next 12 years. In 2006 she received her Masters Degree in Technology Education from the College of St. Rose. She currently teaches engineering and architecture classes at Saratoga High School where she seeks to inspire and educate her students about the rich architectural fabric of the wonderful city we live in. She is also a long-time member of the Saratoga Springs Design Review Board. When not teaching, volunteering, or building projects, Karen spends time with her husband playing golf, pickleball, or with their three children in their adult journeys.
Board Member
Eric Diem has been swinging a hammer for one reason or another since his teens. He has been an amateur woodworker for the past twenty years but claims he still has much to learn. Eric has taken on projects large and small, including building his entire kitchen, dining table, bathroom vanities, and multiple smaller keepsakes.
Eric is a Project Manager at Saratoga Hospital where he leads a variety of organizational initiatives from real estate development to program analysis. Previously, he was a manager within the hospital in the physical therapy department for 20 years where he helped to grow multiple clinical programs. He received his Master’s in PT from Ithaca College. In addition to the Joinery, Eric has served on the board of a local PTA and was a house captain with Rebuilding Together-Saratoga.
In his free time he enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters, playing golf, cooking, hiking and of course, woodworking.
Board Member
Ben is always working on projects in and around his house in Saratoga Springs and looks forward to the Joinery being a place for all members of the community to develop new skills that improve their homes.In his free time, he enjoys hiking, playing golf, and making the most of time with his wife, daughter, friends and family.
Ben is the President and founder of Fosterra® LLC, which delivers green energy and clean transportation leadership to the commercial, government, education, and utility sectors. Prior to Fosterra, Ben was Senior Vice President for Optony Inc., where he created their international renewable energy project management services division. He was also the Senior Director at the S&P energy and construction information services divisions.
Ben has a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting from the University of Colorado, Boulder and an MBA in International Business from Old Dominion University. He has earned the designations of Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR) Assessment, his CMA and CFM. He has served on boards and committees both nationally and locally and is a current member of the Climate Smart Task Force for the City of Saratoga.
Board Member
Saratoga Joinery is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and relies upon the support of the community to keep our blades spinning.
