Board of Directors

Stephen E. Hessler

Chairman

Steve is a partner in the Restructuring Group of Kirkland & Ellis LLP.  His practice involves representing debtors (including public, portfolio, and privately-held companies), creditors, and investors in complex corporate chapter 11 cases, out-of-court restructurings, acquisitions, and related trial and appellate litigation. Member of the New York City Bar Committee on Bankruptcy and Corporate Reorganization.

Kristine Kern

Vice-Chairman

Kristine is general manager of Mansueto Ventures, one of the nation's leading media companies and publisher of the award-winning media brands Inc. (www.inc.com) and Fast Company (www.fastcompany.com). Kristine manages the shared services departments, including production, IT, human resources, facilities, research, and legal. She joined Mansueto Ventures in January, 2006.  Kristine moved to New York three and a half years ago from her native Bay Area, where she worked for seven years at Wired magazine.  Previously, she worked at a variety of daily and weekly newspapers.  She earned an MBA from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree from California State University, Fullerton.

Richard T. Kennedy

Treasurer

Janet Mannheimer

Secretary

Janet is Founder and President of Publishing Experts. Since starting Publishing Experts 17 years ago, Janet has helped some of America's publishers prosper with complete management services in production, and manufacturing. For blue-chip clients like Hallmark Magazine, Metropolis, Hearst, Booz Allen Hamilton, Bloomberg, Inc., Fast Company and Primedia, Publishing Experts develop and analyze print bids; and negotiates print contracts and operational assessments and implementations. Janet saves established clients time and money with comprehensive audits of personnel, processes and vendors. As an independent contractor before launching Publishing Experts, Janet
earned a stellar reputation for achieving high-quality, cost-effective results for clients like Tiffany, Neiman Marcus, Leaders, Science, the IEEE Communications Society, and the American Journal of Nursing Company. Prior to that Janet helped lead IEEE Spectrum to win three consecutive National Magazine Awards as director of art and production.

Janet has served on the board of directors of the Society for the National Association Publications, and is a sought-after speaker on publication production and manufacturing. She is a graduate of Parsons School of Design, New York City.

Directors

Sameer Ahuja

Sameer is the Chief Operating Officer of GATE Technologies LLC, an emerging leader in developing technologies for alternative trading and impact investing markets.  Prior to GATE Technologies, Inc., Mr. Ahuja was the COO/CFO & Co-Founder of National Sports Attraction LLC, the developer of the $100 million Sports Museum of America (the nation's first interactive attraction celebrating all of sports).  Prior to this role, Mr. Ahuja worked within the investment banking division of JPMorganChase & Co. as well as the bank's early-stage venture capital division.  Earlier in his career, Mr. Ahuja was a senior consultant with Capco, Inc. one of the first e-business consulting firms focused on capital markets.  Mr. Ahuja began his career with management consultants, A.T. Kearney, Inc., where he advised emerging and established financial services firms on all aspects of business strategy and deployment.  He received a B.A. in economics from Columbia University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.  Mr. Ahuja resides in New York City with his wife and daughter.

Carol L. Bassin

Anne Benedict

Anne is the Senior Vice President of Talent Management at Mediabrands. She has global responsibility for ensuring that Mediabrands, Interpublic Group's network of media agencies, is able to attract, select and manage the people required for the business and its clients.  She designs and implements global talent management programs to promote performance management, succession planning, leadership and high potential development.   Her experience includes 10 years of international HR consulting at Mercer HR Consulting, organizational and leadership development work at Disney ABC Television Group, and now over a year at Interpublic Group (IPG).

Anne has worked across a broad range of industries but most recently focuses on media, entertainment and advertising. Her international experience and global role have given her insights into how to operate effectively on a global scale. Her breadth of experience across HR disciplines, such as operations and compensation, brings a holistic approach to managing talent.

Anne holds a Bachelor's Degree in Science from McGill University and a Master's Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from University of Waterloo.

William Bernstein

Chief Operating Officer Alliance for Downtown New York; Consultant for strategic planning and finance; Past president and board member of the Midwood Park Property Owners Association; Past Chairman and current board member of Futures and Options.

Cathy Callender

Ephraim Fields

Ephraim manages Echo Lake Capital and Clarus Capital which invest in and consult with companies that are publicly traded in the U.S. He is especially active with Chinese companies that are publicly traded in the U.S. Previously, Ephraim was an investment banker at CSFB, DLJ and Wasserstein Perella where he worked on a variety of private equity, M&A, high yield debt and equity transactions. Ephraim received his MBA from The Wharton School at the U. of Pennsylvania and his undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis. 

Jamaal Glenn

Robert Gromadzki

Robert is a senior trader in the Morgan Stanley Municipal Money Market Group, focusing on tax-free money market products.  He joined Morgan Stanley in 2005 and has ten years of investment experience.  Prior to joining the firm, Robert was a junior portfolio manager at Prudential Investment Management, and mutual fund analyst at Lipper Analytical Services. He received a B.A. in economics from Rutgers University. Robert is a member of The Security Traders Association of New York and Save the Children.

Ketan Kapadia

James Liu

Cynthia A. Marian

Cynthia A. Marian is an attorney in the Tax department of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, based in the firm's New York office.  She has worked on a variety of transactions, including public and private mergers and acquisitions, domestic and cross-border joint ventures, LLC and partnership formations, bankruptcies, debt restructurings, debt and equity offerings, and other securitizations.  Cynthia has also advised tax-exempt organizations on topics ranging from formation to dissolution and has authored an article discussing mergers of not-for-profit organizations and issues related to their conversion into for-profit entities.  Prior to becoming an attorney, while working as an investment banker, and later as a consultant, Cynthia gained experience with a wide array of corporate transactions, assisting clients with the strategic decisions and financial analysis germane thereto.

Cynthia holds a B.S. in Commerce and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia, a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School and is currently pursuing an L.L.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law.

Ozias A. Moore

Ozias is an executive at Pfizer Inc.'s headquarters based in New York.  He has 16 years of diverse, multi-functional experience, inclusive of key positions at American Express, IBM Corporation and Westinghouse Electric Corporation.  As the Director of US Commercial Operations (USCO) within Pfizer's Primary Care Division, Ozias manages USCO's project vendor spend.  He advises on transactions valued at more than $250 million, including rate reductions, contract negotiations and vendor consolidation, and develops policies and processes for vendor selection, engagement and evaluation.  The initiatives that Ozias has implemented at Pfizer have received numerous accolades for their innovation and practical application, most notably the Vice President's Cabinet Award in 2009, the highest award granted to Pfizer managers on an annual basis.

Ozias serves on the board of Futures and Options, Inc. and the advisory board of "I Have a Dream" Foundation New York Metro Area.  He is a member of the Executive Leadership Council's Next Generation Network as well as the Faculty Advisory Board at Monroe College.  He is also a volunteer with Junior Achievement and a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Ozias holds a Master of Science in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Pittsburgh.  He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI) and a certified Six Sigma Green Belt from IBM.

He currently resides in northern New Jersey with his wife, Heather.

Stephen P. Musante

Stephen is a Senior Manager in the Special Acquisition Services group of Deloitte Tax LLP were he specializes in mergers and acquisitions for one of the world's leading private equity firms.  In this role, Stephen has worked on numerous acquisition, disposition and restructuring transactions, including the largest leveraged buyout on record. 

During his 8 years at Deloitte, Stephen has served in numerous functions within the firm including two years in Deloitte's Washington National Tax office where he specialized in corporate taxation.  Stephen has a B.S. in Accounting from Fairfield University and an M.S. in Taxation from Bentley College.  Stephen is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts.  Stephen and his fiancée, Maria, live in New York City.

Stephanie L. Perry

Howard M. Rogatnick

Arthur H. Sobel

Arthur was employed by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., from 1989 to 2001,  as First Vice President and Assistant General Counsel. In that capacity, he represented Merrill Lynch and/or its employees in over 250 arbitration and mediation proceedings, both in New York, around the country and internationally. Arthur retired from his employment in December 2001 and since March 2002 he has served as a consultant to the Office of General Counsel.

Prior to his 18 year Merrill Lynch association, from 1969 to 1989, Arthur was a partner in the law firm of Kimmelman, Sexter & Sobel, where he specialized in securities related litigation, representing both claimants and respondents. Arthur served as a law clerk to Hon. Irving Ben Cooper of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in 1964 and 1965. He currently serves on the Member Committee on Legal Services for People of Moderate Means, Association of the Bar of the City of New York.

Arthur received a BA from the University of North Carolina in 1958, and a JD from Columbia University in 1961. 

Steven Sperber

Steve joined the Board of Futures and Options in January, 2010. His primary focus is increasing the number of internship sites that employ, and benefit  from, Futures and Options students.

Steve is a commercial real estate broker with CB Richard Ellis, the largest commercial real estate services firm in the world and only real estate firm in the Fortune 500. Based in New York City, Steve represents tenants in all facets of commercial real estate in New York City and markets globally. 

Steve currently serves on the Board of Trustees of The Stevens Cooperative School and The United Synagogue of Hoboken where he heads the real estate committees for both organizations. Steve lived in Hong Kong from 1994 to 2007 and was a member of the Board of the United Jewish Congregation and also served a term as the Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce's Real Estate Committee in Hong Kong.

Steve, his wife, and teenage son reside in Hoboken, New Jersey. His son represents the sixth generation of their family to live in Hoboken and his wife cooks the best Thai food in Hoboken.  Steve graduated from The School of Public Affairs of The American University in Washington, D.C. in 1993. 

 James Stone

Christian Sullivan

Vanessa Wilson

Vanessa is a finance professional with 25 years of experience on Wall Street and in the insurance industry, with particular expertise in investments, the public markets, and corporate finance. Vanessa retired in 2007 from Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc., where she had been a Managing Director and equity research analyst with primary responsibility for the U.S. life insurance industry.  She had previously held senior positions in equity research at Credit Suisse First Boston and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. Vanessa was ranked on the Institutional Investor "All-American Research Team" for 10 years and in The Wall Street Journal's "All Star Analysts' Survey" for 7 years.  She is also past-president of the Association of Insurance and Financial Analysts.  Vanessa also spent three years in the insurance industry practice of the Investment Banking Division of Credit Suisse.  Prior to Credit Suisse, Vanessa worked in the insurance industry with Marsh & McLennan, initially as an insurance broker and then as a property-casualty credit analyst.

Vanessa currently serves on the Board of Directors of Protective Life Corporation, a publicly traded company based in Birmingham, Alabama. In the nonprofit arena, she sits on the advisory board and created an after-school program for St. James School, an inner city parochial school located on Manhattan's lower eastside.  As a former trustee of The Ethel Walker School, an all girls' secondary school in Connecticut, Vanessa served on the Finance and Audit Committees and was the Chair of the Investment Committee for the endowment. Vanessa also invests in early stage companies as a Managing Director of Golden Seeds, an angel investor group that provides private equity capital across all sectors to women entrepreneurs. Vanessa sits on the advisory boards of privately held Oyster Digital Media, Inergy Group, and Renovata.

Vanessa graduated cum laude from Amherst College with a B.A. in economics and biology in 1981. She received her MBA in finance from New York University's Stern School of Business in 1987.