Joan with husband Greg, daughters and their boxers
Before entering the podcast world, Joan Cergol served for six years as a Councilwoman in one of Long Island's premier towns, the place she grew up and still calls home, Huntington, New York.
During her elective service, Joan was described as "The Voice of Reason" - even by her colleagues on the opposite side of the political aisle.
As the only woman on the five member Town Board and sole member of the Democratic minority Joan had her work cut out for her.
But she held her own, with Joan's experienced voice, hard work and heart speaking loudly- evidenced when town residents of all political registrations got solidly behind her as the top vote-getter in two general elections, and in two third-party primaries. She never let politics or partisan divisions cloud her thinking when arriving at the best decision for the greater good of her hometown and its 200,000+ residents.
After devoting a total of 21 years in both appointed and elective service in Huntington government, in 2023 Joan decided it was time to return to her creative roots, announcing she would not seek re-election for a new term in 2024.
Those roots, all of which exercised Joan's skill and love of writing, included work as an executive in the marketing and public relations fields for various companies, including a prominent Long Island law firm, and eventually, her own public relations business.
In 2000, Joan’s stand out work as a practitioner of law firm and professional services marketing was recognized by the Washington DC-based Citizens Democracy Corps (CDC). CDC deploys expert American volunteer advisors to predominantly eastern bloc nations to help strengthen their economy, democratic structure and relations with the United States. CDC tapped Joan to serve for a month-long assignment in Moscow and in the south of Russia to teach lawyers and other business people how to market themselves in their then new and fledgling capitalism and democracy. Unfortunately, democracy would be short-lived in Russia.
However, the 2000 Russia assignment was a historic and small window of opportunity for Joan to see the potential of a democratic structure in Russia before it deteriorated under Putin. But, she will never forget the incredible warmth and hospitality demonstrated from the deeply thoughtful and intelligent people she met and worked with who were so optimistic for a better future.
Joan's forty year career- with roughly half of it in the public sector and the other in the private sector- leveraged her communications expertise, government knowledge and diplomacy skills to bring a wide range of people and groups together in consensus, often those with competing interests.
Joan attended the Huntington School District, graduating from Huntington High School. After high school Joan continued her studies at Loyola University of Chicago to pursue her interest in writing and communications, later transferring to Long Island to earn her B.A. degree, cum laude, from Long Island University, with a major in public relations and a minor in broadcast journalism. She is a partner of the Energeia Partnership, Class of 2016.
Joan has served as an adjunct professor of public relations at St. Joseph’s College and also at Long Island University. Both institutions invited Joan to develop her own course curricula based upon the contemporary practice of public relations in her daytime private and public sector experiences.
She has co-authored two books chronicling the history of the second largest home in America and largest in New York, Huntington’s OHEKA Castle. She has hosted a blog with colorful stories about her family, friends, work and other subjects that inspire her. Joan is married for 38 years to Greg Cergol, Long Island Reporter for WNBC-TV New York. They have two grown daughters and two boxer dogs.
And, now, Joan's added podcaster to all of the above.