Regina calcaterra biography

Regina’s memoir, ETCHED IN SAND, appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers lists for 16 weeks during 2013-14 rising to #2 on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal’s Non-Fiction E-Books Best Sellers list and #6 on the New York Times Non-Fiction Combined Print & E-Books list.

Now married, Brezan and her husband have two beautiful children of which Regina is their Gigi. She is also author of the #1 international best seller and the New York Times best seller Etched in Sand, which tells how she and her siblings survived an abusive childhood, the foster-care system, and intermittent homelessness. Throughout her youth there were several weeks and months at a time where she was the sole caregiver of her younger siblings.

It has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning - the Science of Survival segment, Inside Edition, the New York Post, People magazine, Newsday, and other media outlets. At the onset of the Covid pandemic, she founded a woman-owned boutique law firm. Regina is often asked to speak to international, national, and local organizations on the need to change policy towards preparing older foster children for potential adoption.

Calcaterra was the plaintiff in the case In Re Parentage Regina M.

Calcaterra, the first case of its kind in the United States that allowed an adult child to determine their true parentage via DNA paternity testing.

Calcaterra received a bachelor's degree in political science from SUNY New Paltz. The commission released two published reports, the Interim Report in January 2013 and the Final Report in June 2013.

Shortly after that,, Regina became her forever mom. Girl Unbroken has also been integrated into college curricula alongside Etched in Sand.

Both books have resulted in readers, and those who have heard Regina speak across the U.S., adopting older foster youth and becoming first time foster parents. During her tenure she managed the county’s fiscal crisis and oversaw the county’s day-to-day operations and its immediate response and recovery to Superstorm Sandy.

The majority of Regina’s private sector experience was as a partner to Barrack, Rodos & Bacine, an internationally recognized securities litigation firm where she represented defrauded public and labor pension funds from those who committed corporate fraud on Wall Street.

She proudly serves as board vice president to You Gotta Believe, an organization that works towards finding older foster children forever homes.

Books by Regina Calcaterra

Early life and education

Calcaterra was born and raised in Suffolk County, N.Y. with her four siblings, she grew up largely in and out of homelessness and foster care when abandoned by their single mother. The commission, authorized by the Moreland Act of the early 20th century, was constituted to investigate emergency management and preparedness following the controversial performance of all six publicly traded power companies and the one quasi-governmental power company during several recent severe weather events, including Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Sandy.

The commission issued a report of their findings that included recommendations to create an independent enforcement unit at the NYS Board of Elections, strengthen public corruption laws and address campaign finance reform. She shares her story and the plight of older foster children in her #1 international best selling memoir Etched in Sand, A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island (HarperCollins Publishing, 2013).

in 1988 and graduated from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1996.

Public policy and governmental experience

Calcaterra served as Chief Deputy to the Suffolk County Executive where she managed a county of over 1.6 million residents, a $2.7 billion annual budget and a 9500 employee workforce. The commission was disbanded by the governor in March 2014, after the state legislature passed some of the Commissions recommendations in the annual budget.

During her tenure she managed the county’s fiscal crisis and oversaw the county’s day-to-day operations and its immediate response and recovery to Superstorm Sandy.

In November 2012, Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed Calcaterra executive director of the newly convened Moreland Commission on Utility Storm Preparation and Response. Since then, her daughter who moved in with Regina at the age of 21, graduated college, obtained her Masters of Social Work, is working full time assisting older foster youth aging out of the system, and is building a healthy family of her own– all with the security of a parent who is wholly supportive of her.

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Regina Calcaterra’s memoir Etched in Sand, A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood on Long Island (HarperCollins Publishing, 2013) is a #1 international best-seller and a New York Times best-seller. As a result of Etched in Sand’s messages of resilience, optimism, the plight of foster children, that no child is a lost cause and how we can all positively impact the life of a child in need, it has been integrated into college and high school curriculum throughout the U.S.

She is also co-author of Etched in Sand’s sequel which she wrote with her younger sister Rosie Maloney, Girl Unbroken, A Sister’s Harrowing Journey from the Streets of Long Island to the Farms of Idaho (HarperCollins Publishing, 2016).

Professional: Overcoming a childhood of abuse, neglect and abandonment, Regina rose to serve in several high-profile public-sector roles including being appointed the first woman Chief Deputy County Executive of Suffolk County where she led the County through a fiscal crisis and the impact of Superstorm Sandy.

She campaigned actively on several issues, including ethics reform in New York State government, fair share of state services for Long Island, and changes to the state's school aid formula that would also bring property tax relief to Suffolk County.

Regina’s affiliation with You Gotta Believe began in 2005 after she learned that there was actually a group of committed individuals who truly believed that older foster children deserve families.

As a result of Etched in Sand’s messages of resilience, optimism, the plight of foster children, that no child is a lost cause it has been integrated into college and high school curricula throughout the U.S. and been selected for community reads.