Meet Our Team
Peter DiNatale - Co-Founder
Peter DiNatale is the Co-Founder of Building with Grace, Inc., and President of the Board of Directors. He is the Owner and President of Peter DiNatale & Associates, Inc., a builder and construction manager of fine residences, unique commercial interiors, and medical facilities in the New York City area. Peter brings extensive construction management, sales, estimating, marketing, and people skills to our Building with Grace team.
Peter has a passion for being of service to others and has managed or participated in numerous volunteer projects including, Habitat for Humanity, Big Brother Big Sister, Archdiocese of New York, NYC Board of Education, NYC Parks Department, The Ossining Children’s Center, Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club, Capuchin Youth and Family Ministries, and Green Chimneys. Peter and his wife Janice are the parents of USMC Lance Corporal Alex J. Dengler who served in combat in Iraq. Alex, while on active duty, was diagnosed with cancer and after bravely fighting multiple cancers for eleven years passed away in 2017. Two weeks before passing away, Alex requested that Building with Grace focus on helping Veterans with cancer.
Born and raised in New York, Peter is a graduate of Rutgers University in New Jersey where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering. He is a lifetime member of Chi Epsilon Honor Society.
Peter and his wife Janice live in Cold Spring, New York and are blessed with six children and seven grandchildren.
Carl Rohde - Candidate Selection and Vetting
Carl is a U.S. Army Veteran. He served in the Infantry and in the Cavalry as a chaplain with “The Old Reliables,” the 9th Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Tacoma, WA.
He is the Managing Partner of Problem Solver Technologies, LLC. Before this, Carl was the Executive Vice President of British Communico, Ltd. (Communico, Ltd.) of Greenwich, CT with corporate clients throughout North America.
Carl has a long history of working with non-profit organizations. These non-profits include Haiti Works!, Pegasus Therapeutic Riding, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Green Chimneys, and Habitat for Humanity.
Carl views it as a great honor to work with such a devoted team of volunteers as the team and donors strive to build debt-free homes for the Veterans (and their families) with advanced cancer diagnoses.
Carl is the father of five children and four grandchildren. He is married to his “True Love,” Nora.
Meghan Mariman - Executive Assistant - Board Member
Meghan Mariman currently serves as the Building with Grace (BwG) Executive Assistant and is honored to be a member of the BwG Board of Directors. After hearing Alex’s story and the BwG mission, “To provide homes to Veterans with cancer,” she eagerly joined the team.
A Navy Veteran, Meghan currently leads a Data Analytics team for the Food and Drug Administration. She brings extensive experience in Program Management, Strategic Communications, Financial Management, Marketing, and Media Relations to the BwG Team and its mission. Before joining the FDA, Meghan served as an Army Civilian. She has also held strategic communications positions with Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, working with large government organizations, including the Department of Defense and NASA. Her Naval service includes tours as a Surface Warfare Officer, a Protocol Officer, and a Public Affairs Officer.
A California native, Meghan is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. Meghan and her husband Jim, A U.S. Army Veteran, have three adult daughters, Jessica, Grace, and Laura, and reside in Alexandria, VA.
Paul S. Wronski - Field Operations
Paul Wronski has spent his entire career in horticulture. He started out as a manager trainee with a national retail nursery chain store in Lansing, Michigan and quickly worked his way up to store manager. He moved to Grand Haven, MI and worked as an internal territory sales specialist for one of the largest wholesale growers in the nation. He then moved to Chicago to manage the Nursery and Tropical Foliage department for a multimillion-dollar brokerage company. Paul spent the next 30 years as a territory sales representative for another national wholesale grower covering sales in Michigan and Indiana. He has worked with retail garden centers, landscapers and wholesale growers and hopes to help Building with Grace by overseeing the landscaping and exterior design of the houses that are gifted to our recipients.
Paul’s father was a professor at Michigan State University and proudly served during WWII, retiring from the Navy after 20 years as a Commander.
Paul is semi-retired in Redding, CT at home with his wife, dog, and cat.
Bob Austin - System Administrator
Bob Austin, a former submarine officer, and then computer guru, now has a private massage practice in Norwalk, CT. Bob is a member of the American Massage Therapy Association® (AMTA®) and the Connecticut Massage Emergency Response Team. He has volunteered in many community service events, from refurbishing a NYC school, sending a school bus to Haiti, building livestock enclosures at a facility for wayward young adults, and most recently coordinating the technology aspects of this new not-for-profit, Building with Grace. He is an avid bicycle rider and is still planning to SCUBA dive in warm waters whenever possible.
Thomas O’Brien – Board Member
Mr. O’Brien has run O’Brien Architecture-LLC for over three decades. Focused on residential architecture, he brings a deep knowledge of design and construction to the team.
Other Community Service activities have included:
- Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester, NY
Board member for fifteen years, he chaired many committees and acted as Board President for two years. - Boys and Girls Club of Harlem, NY
Board member for five years, chaired the Resource Development Committee, and sat on the Buildings Committee which developed and constructed a new club in an abandoned schoolhouse in Harlem. - Lagond Music School – Elmsford, NY
Board President for three years and helped build the Board for this not-for-profit music school. - Habitat-For-Humanity, Westchester, NY
Job Captain for two houses in Bedford, NY gifted to civil servants. - Historic District Commission, Bedford, NY
Commission member to oversee renovations and restorations in a National Trust designated Historic District.
Mr. O’Brien’s commitment to Building With Grace started with his years of collaboration, respect, and friendship with Peter DiNatale. But it is inspired by the memory of one night he spent with the courageous fighting veteran Alex DiNatale, just talking about music and electric guitars.
Support Our Cause
Help us make a difference in the lives of Veterans battling cancer. Your donation can provide a home, support accessibility projects, and offer interior modifications to their current home to those who have bravely served our country. Click below to donate now and join us in building brighter futures for our Veterans and their families.