Geneva NAACP president to join Board of Trustees

Lucile Mallard has been recognized by multiple local, county and state organizations for her advocacy on behalf of racial equality and for those struggling with addiction and mental health issues.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has appointed Lucile Mallard, longtime president of the Geneva NAACP, to the Finger Lakes Community College Board of Trustees.

Mallard will be sworn in at the next board meeting at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, at the main campus. Meeting information is available on the college’s events calendar.

“I feel very honored to be asked to serve on the Board of Trustees of Finger Lakes Community College,” Mallard said. “It’s something I never expected in my life. I am very glad.”

“We look forward to Dr. Mallard joining our board and sharing the insight and wisdom from her decades of experience with social justice issues,” said Donald Cass, chair of the board.

Mallard has served as president of the Geneva branch of the NAACP for several decades. She worked at the Canandaigua VA Medical Center for 30 years, employed as an addiction therapist, before serving as coordinator of the Finger Lakes Misdemeanor Drug Treatment Court. The program provides treatment and intensive supervision to people with addictions as an alternative to jail.

In 2019, a traveling community art troupe led FLCC students in creating a mosaic of Mallard to honor her work with the court system. The mural hangs in the FLCC Student Center. Mallard has also served on the FLCC Geneva Campus Center Advisory Board for seven years.

She has been recognized by multiple local, county and state organizations for her advocacy on behalf of racial equality and for those struggling with addiction and mental health issues. In 1995, she received Catholic Charities’ Finger Lakes Sharing the Light Award. In 2002, the Geneva Boys & Girls Club presented her with its Outstanding Role Model Award. Three years later, she received the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee Community Service Heritage Award. In 2007, she received the Geneva ATHENA Award. In 2013, she received a merit performance award from the state of New York Unified Court System Office of Court Administration for community service and humanitarian pursuits.

Hobart and William Smith Colleges presented Mallard with an honorary doctorate in 2015, and more than 100 people gathered in August 2024 to mark her retirement from the county court system. As a licensed evangelist with the Church of God in Christ, Mallard’s ministry work has been a central focus of her life for several decades.

FLCC’s 10-member board includes five members appointed by the Ontario County Board of Supervisors and four by the governor, all serving seven-year terms. Students elect a representative annually.