Mayor Cognetti was sworn in as Mayor of Scranton on January 6, 2020. She won re-election to a full term in November 2021.

Prior to becoming Mayor, she advised the Pennsylvania Auditor General on oversight of public school districts and care for older adults. Mayor Cognetti previously served as a director on the Scranton School Board.

She served in the Obama administration as a senior advisor to the Under Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Treasury Department. She was a fundraiser and project director on numerous political campaigns. She also worked as an investment advisor in New York City.

Mayor Cognetti holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and graduated summa cum laude from University of Oregon Clark Honors College with a BA in English Literature.

Mayor Cognetti grew up in Beaverton, Oregon. She lives in Scranton with her husband and their two daughters.

John Yudichak is the eighth President of Luzerne County Community College, the largest and most accessible institution of higher education in northeastern Pennsylvania. He began his tenure on July 1, 2024.

As a former state lawmaker who represented northeastern Pennsylvania, he has extensive leadership, business and educational experience which, along with his knowledge of the needs of the area, will help LCCC continue its mission of providing a high-quality education to the community.

Prior to his service at LCCC, President Yudichak served as a Senior Advisor to GSL Public Strategies Group, a government consulting and communications firm that serves corporate and non-profit clients throughout the United States.

President Yudichak also devoted 24 years to the public sector serving as a Pennsylvania lawmaker. He served for 12 years as the State Senator for the 14th Senate District in Carbon and Luzerne Counties. As a State Senator, President Yudichak earned a reputation as an effective consensus builder who accomplished notable community and economic development projects that propelled northeastern Pennsylvania to be named the number one region for job creation and private business investment by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. He was Chairman of the Senate Community and Economic Development Committee, Vice Chairman of the Aging and Youth Committee, and minority Chairman of the Senate Environmental and Energy Resource Committee. 

Prior to his election to the Senate, President Yudichak served the 119th District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for 12 years. He worked on many notable projects for Luzerne County Community College, including the Public Safety Training Institute, the LCCC Walk of Honor, the Joseph A. Paginate Culinary Institute, and the Francis S. & Mary Gill Carrozza, R.N. Health Science Center. 

Over the course of his 24-year public service career, he advanced major legislative efforts to improve the quality of life and economic competitiveness of the state. President Yudichak forged coalitions with organized labor groups, such as the Pennsylvania State Building and Construction Trades Council, and business groups, including the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association and the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce, to advance the Local Resource Manufacturing Tax Credit, the Pennsylvania EDGE Tax Credit, and the Sales and Use Tax Exemption for Computer Data Centers.

President Yudichak worked with local organizations like the Earth Conservancy to reclaim thousands of acres of mine-scarred lands. He also advocated for the construction of the $90 million South Valley Parkway that set the stage for national developers like NorthPoint Development to invest $1 billion in private capital and create 10,000 new jobs in the South Valley of Luzerne County.

Throughout his public service career, President Yudichak sought to build bipartisan partnerships that helped him shape new laws to support veterans with the Sargent Sherwood Baker Act, to protect senior citizens with the Senior Citizens Full Benefits Act, to support law enforcement with the Officer John Wilding Law, to improve the environment with the Coal Refuse Energy and Reclamation Tax Credit, and to expand educational opportunities for children with the SHINE Afterschool Program.

President Yudichak is a former board member of the Luzerne Foundation, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. Currently, he serves on the Board of Directors for the Earth Conservancy, the Wyoming Seminary Board of Trustees, and is a member of the Pennsylvania Treasury Tuition Account Program Advisory Board.

He has been recognized for his public service and philanthropy with the following honors: Wyoming Seminary’s Joseph Donchess Distinguished Service Award, Pennsylvania Citizens for Better Libraries Elected State Official of the Year, Children’s Service Center Commitment to Children Award, North Branch Land Trust Community Stewardship Award, and the Pennsylvania Health Care Association Legislative Champion.

President Yudichak is the founder of the Yudichak Family Fund of the Luzerne Foundation, a charitable fund that has supported public libraries, college scholarships, and youth programs throughout northeastern Pennsylvania for the past 25 years.

A graduate of Greater Nanticoke Area High School and Wyoming Seminary Preparatory School, President Yudichak earned a master's degree in American Studies and a bachelor's degree in English from Penn State University. 

He is the proud father of four daughters: Sarah, Anna, Evelyn, and Grace.

Michael Lombardo is the Business Development Director at Quad 3 Architectural and Engineering Services. He is a 1986 and 1988 graduate of Bucknell University where he received an undergraduate Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and a Master in Education Degree in School Psychology and Clinical Counseling. Upon graduation Lombardo worked for 20 years in public education serving in various capacities including school psychologist and special education director.

In 1996 Lombardo; feeling frustrated with the condition of his hometown, entered the race for mayor of the City of Pittston. In November of 1997 he was elected the youngest mayor in the history of the city. He was sworn into office in January of 1998 and served for two terms, until January of 2006. Upon leaving office, he was appointed to the board of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Pittston where he served until December of 2017. He is also serving a third term as a member of the Housing Authority Board of the City of Pittston.

Lombardo’s experience as mayor, resulted in a passion for economic and community development and in mid-2005 he left a career in education to serve as Chief Operational Officer of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry and subsequently served as acting Chief Executive Officer for One Year. In December of 2007 Lombardo was appointed as Director of Governor Rendell’s Northeast Office a position he held until Governor Rendell left office in 2011. In 2017 Lombardo decided to run again for the position of mayor in the City of Pittston. He was elected in November of 2017 and sworn into office in January of 2018 to begin a third term as mayor. In November of 2021, Lombardo was elected to a fourth term, commencing January of 2022.

Lombardo lives in Pittston with his wife Susan Donovan Lombardo and has twin daughters, Catherine and Kristen, both graduates of the Universi- ty of Notre Dame. He enjoys running, art, travel and interacting with people. Lombardo has served as a member of several non-profit boards and has served as vice chair/chair of the Pittston Festival Association for 24 years.