The Rev. Dr. Peter R. Powell has served as President/CEO of IHA since 1988. Prior to this position, Pete served as a parish priest in Episcopal Churches in CT, MD and NJ. A Chemical Engineering graduate of N.C. State University, BS Pete also holds degrees from VA Theological Seminary, MDiv, cum laude; Princeton Theological Seminary, ThM and a DMin from the University of the South. Pete and his wife, Barbara, live in Westport.

Audrey Sparre is IHA’s Vice President of Operations and she holds a master’s degree in family therapy. Before accepting this position in June of 1999, she served as the director of a juvenile detention facility at the Vitam Center in Norwalk. She also worked for a number of years as a family therapist, caseworker and substance abuse counselor. Her first career was in advertising and public relations, including five years working for Outward Bound USA. Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, Audrey moved to Connecticut when she was eight years old. She lives in Westport with her 17-year-old daughter Else, one dog and two cats.

Karen Mahar is IHA’s Director of Resource Development and is responsible for the grant process, organization’s communications and is an active participant in the development of the agency’s permanent affordable supportive housing projects. She holds a BS from Springfield College in Massachusetts and has been with IHA since March of 2004. Karen comes from the corporate sector having held positions in Marketing, Operations and Sales. She grew up in Westport until going off to college returning in 1996. She currently lives in Westport with her two Labrador Retrievers.

Bill Lerchen is IHA’s Director of Development. A liberal arts graduate of Kenyon College, he comes to IHA after serving as a campaign consultant and major gifts officer with a consulting firm. He began his career in banking, serving as a Trust Officer with Detroit Bank and Trust Company (now Comerica) and then holding Trust, Lending and Private Banking positions with Connecticut National Bank. He began his development work at Salisbury School before he moved to Yale University. He and his wife, Meg, live in Fairfield and have three grown sons.

Tom Reech has served as Comptroller of IHA since 2001. He came to IHA after a career in financial services with GTE. Tom’s responsibilities include oversight of all financial areas of IHA. He reports to the Board Treasurer and is responsible for all financial reports. In addition Tom works with our auditor to prepare the annual audit and our 990 submissions.