Board of Trustees Meet our team
Think of us (CSDF) as your devoted, reliable friend, here to support and love. Not here to judge, and ready to come forward with good intentions through the good and bad times.- Dr. Joseph Picone


Dr. Donna Balaski President & Director of Board
After a life transforming event, Dr. Balaski made her mark as the spokesman for the State of Connecticut Board of Education and Services for the Blind. She was a featured speaker for many organizations and delivered many inspirational messages of encouragement and actively promoted advocacy. Her engagements earned her the position of Executive Director for the agency. In 2004, she took on the position as the Healthcare Management Administrator for the Medicaid Program in Connecticut at the Department of Social Services. Dr. Balaski currently shares her passion and vision of improving access to oral healthcare and the balance of ethics in dental medicine with a wide variety of audiences ranging from delivering keynote speeches at public forums, to delivering presentations to the Connecticut legislature and various dental venues.
In her professional career, Dr. Balaski has served in various top management capacities. She is an energetic and progressive thinker, utilizing analytical processes to evaluate situations to produce effective solutions to problems. Many assignments in her managerial career have been to evaluate and salvage programs with known functional and fiscal issues and impart changes which produce measurable results that are acceptable to all interested stakeholders. Dr. Balaski has been able to accomplish these assignments through bringing diverse populations together and uniting them towards one goal.
Her greatest strength is her ability to navigate the political landscape while integrating clinical, regulatory, fiscal and bio-ethical considerations to ensure optimum standards of care are delivered to the constituency which she serves that is through the Connecticut Dental Health Partnership.

Dr. Maria Smith Vice President

Dr. Maria Smith Vice President
She has also been involved in many levels of the Connecticut State Dental Association (CSDA) and as chair of the American Dental Association’s Membership Council. She enjoys sharing her expertise while encouraging dentists through her mentoring to assume new leadership positions not only for advancement of dentistry but also for their own personal growth and development.

Dr. Thomas M. Ohlson Secretary

Dr. Thomas M. Ohlson Secretary
Outside of dentistry he has a long time involvement with Kiwanis International and the Greenwich Council B.S.A.

Marcia P. Johnson Treasurer

Marcia P. Johnson Treasurer

Dr. Susan Berey Board Member

Dr. Susan Berey Board Member
Dr. Berey lives in West Hartford with her husband and two teenage children, and she is an active volunteer in the community and school systems.

Dr. Anuj Camanocha Board Member

Dr. Anuj Camanocha Board Member
Dr. Anuj Camanocha practices as an Orthodontist in Southington, CT. He currently serves as secretary for the Dental Society of Greater Southington, the local component of the Connecticut State Dental Association. Dr. Camanocha lives in Southington, CT with his wife, Megan, and his three children. In his spare time he enjoys running and watching football.

Dr. Renate Saunders DDS FAGD

Dr. Renate Saunders DDS FAGD
Dr.Saunders has been an active member of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) since 2009 and received her Fellowship in 2015. She is an active member of the Connecticut State Dental Association and has served as President of the Naugatuck Valley Dental Society from 2014 – 2019. She was also inducted in 2021 as a Fellow to the American College of Dentists.
Dr. Saunders loves being a mother to her four children and enjoys dancing the samba and capoeira when not chasing after them.

Dr. Joseph A. Picone Board Member

Dr. Joseph A. Picone Board Member
Dr. Picone is currently also serving as the Regional Director of Region One for the Academy of General Dentistry. Among his many responsibilities, he served as the Chair of the highly successful CSDA Continuing Education Council for 14 years. Dr. Picone continues to be a
strong supporter of treating the underserved as he participated in many
CT Missions of Mercy. He also accompanied the dental students from the University of CT Dental School on a Mission trip as a preceptor to Paraguay in 2011.
Dr. Picone and his lovely wife, Carmelina, live in Cheshire , CT.

Ms. Karen Wright Staff Support

Ms. Karen Wright Staff Support
Board of Trustees
- Office Address
- Connecticut State Dental Foundation
835 West Queen Street Southington, CT 06489 - Phone:
- 860-378-1800
- Fax:
- 860-378-1807
