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.
James Stone
Vice-Chairman
Vanessa Wilson
Treasurer
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.
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.
Directors
Julie Cantor
Julie Cantor attended Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, where she learned the value of hard work in theory. Then, she taught 7th and 8th grade pre-algebra in a low-income community in Washington, DC with Teach For America, and became familiar with hard work in practice. Currently, she is in her second year at Columbia Law School. She feels very strongly that youth empowerment can have an extraordinary impact on an individual student's life, and she looks forward to more work with Futures and Options.
Frank Colon
William H. Ernest
Bill Ernest is a Director in Wells Fargo's Financial Sponsor Group and is based in New York. He is responsible for investment banking coverage of private equity firms providing such clients and their portfolio companies with debt financing, equity market transactions and M&A advice. Prior to joining Wells Fargo, Bill worked in the Financial Sponsors Group at Credit Suisse.
Bill received a Bachelor of Science degree from Miami University and a Masters of Business Administration degree from the Yale University School of Management.
Jerry Faust
Jerry Faust holds the position of Vice President – Print for Time Inc. In this role, Jerry is responsible for overseeing Time Inc. Production's central print purchasing and field operations (magazine distribution and manufacturing support) processes. He manages a combined staff of eleven and an annual budget of ~$3MM. Initiatives led by the Print department returned annualized cost savings in excess of $5MM in 2010.
Jerry joined Time Inc. in August 2004 as Director of Quality with responsibility for directing all aspects of Time Inc. Production's materials quality program, including paper quality assurance, grade evaluations and new product developments with supplier partners, as well as, Production's internal quality process improvement initiative. He was promoted to his current position in September 2007.
Prior to Time Inc., Jerry had a 22 year career in the paper industry. His last position was with International Paper managing the marketing and product development initiatives of their coated papers business. Jerry received his B.S. degree in Paper Science and Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point in 1982.
Jerry is an active member of IDEAlliance, a not for profit print industry organization, and a former board member and 2008/2009 education committee co-chair of P3, Partnership in Print Production, (P3 became a division of IDEAlliance in September 2009). Jerry co-chaired the IDEAlliance Print Predictability Task Force in 2006/2007, co-chaired the 2009 IDEAlliance Primex Summit and served on the 2010 Technology and Trends committee.
Heather K. Godsmark
Heather is a Director in the Office of the Chairman and CEO at KPMG LLP. She works with the Chairman and CEO and a diverse leadership team to deliver his vision and strategy to grow the business throughout the Americas region. Heather has significant experience in the climate change, sustainability and infrastructure consulting sectors, including responsibility for building new global businesses for KPMG. Throughout her career, Heather has had significant multinational experience including living in and working for KPMG in Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the U.S. She is a co-founder of the Women's Infrastructure Network and a member of the Alumni Executive Committee for St. Mark's School (Southborough, MA) and serves as the Chair of the St. Mark's New York Area Alumni Chapter.
Heather holds a Bachelor of Business Administration, Magna cum Laude, from the University of Miami and an Executive Master of Business Administration from the University of Edinburgh and ENPC (Paris). Heather was also a Fulbright Fellow at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Zach Goodman
Zach Goodman is an Associate at Silver Lake Partners, a large-cap, global private equity firm focused on the technology and technology-enabled sectors. In his current role, he is responsible for evaluating and executing investment opportunities for the firm as well overseeing the firm's existing portfolio companies. Prior to Silver Lake, he worked as an Analyst in the Media & Communications Investment Banking Group at Morgan Stanley. Zach is currently a member of Duke University's New York City Development Council, a young alumni leadership committee that helps to coordinate fundraising events for recent graduates, and serves as an alumni interviewer for Duke. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Economics and an A.B. in History from Duke University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Colin Hannaway
Colin Hannaway is a Managing Director in the Capital Markets Group at Cortview Capital, a portfolio company of Warburg Pincus. Previously, Mr. Hannaway was a Managing Director in the Global Investment Banking Division at HSBC Securities, where he headed the US Media Investment Banking Group and executed M&A, financing and private equity transactions for Media-sector clients worldwide. Mr. Hannaway also oversaw the formation of HSBC's US Financial Sponsors Group, and managed the bank's relationships with more than 30 large financial sponsors and middle-market private equity firms. While at HSBC, Mr. Hannaway advised on financing, M&A and direct investment transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $45 billion. Prior to HSBC, Mr. Hannaway oversaw all private equity investing for Sterling Grace LLC, a family investment office from the W.R. Grace & Co. lineage, where he completed private equity investments in the financial services, shipping and communications sectors. Mr. Hannaway served as a member of the firm's Investment Committee, and held several public and private company Board directorships. Previously, Mr. Hannaway worked in the Investment Banking Division at JP Morgan, where he focused on the broadcasting, publishing, entertainment, data services and cable television sectors. Mr. Hannaway earned an MBA from Georgetown University and a BA from Tulane University.
Michael Kaminer
Michael Kaminer is a writer and editor whose work appears in the Forward, the Washington Post, Vegetarian Times, Where, IN New York, the Jewish Week, and others.
He is also the originator and curator of Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women, an exhibit of cartoon art touring North America.
In 1992, Michael founded the public-relations agency MKPR. By the late '90s, MKPR represented clients like Bloomberg, Time Warner, and A & E, as well as many cause-related organizations. To focus on writing full-time, Michael sold the firm in 2006.
Michael is vice-chair of the board of AIDS Service Center NYC and advises Jewish social-justice advocates The Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring.
Michael lives in Manhattan's Union Square neighborhood.
Ketan Kapadia
Ketan Kapadia has served as a Futures and Options board member since 2009 - continuously inspired by the mission and young people we serve.
Ketan is a partner in PwC's global management consulting group. His current focus is on developing robust growth and commercial strategies for leading pharmaceutical and life sciences organizations. Over his career, Ketan has served over 30 clients, including premier early stage ventures as well as the Fortune 500. Examples of his leadership and experience spans corporate strategic planning, new market entry, partnership development, product launch, and innovative business model design. Ketan joined PwC from the Monitor Group, and was also previously a Partner in a boutique consulting firm - serving management teams across diverse sectors in nonprofit, CPG, education and technology. He started his professional career upon earning a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University.
As a first generation American, Ketan became connected to F&O upon recognizing their quality and dedication to changing the livelihood and direction of underserved teens. His own childhood participation in a HS internship serves as a reminder about the compelling need to provide access for our next generation youth. He has a passion for the philanthropic community, having served as a hands-on contributor to a number of charities, tackling wide-reaching challenges of fundraising, direction, and organizational effectiveness.
Richard T. Kennedy
Richard T. Kennedy serves as a Senior Director of Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., a global provider of real estate services. The firm represents corporations and institutions of all sizes, in the United States and in more than 40 countries around the world. Cushman & Wakefield, Inc.'s core services include the following: Asset Services, including property and facilities management and agency leasing; Brokerage Services, including landlord and tenant representation and sales and financing of institutional properties; Research Services; Strategic Advisory Services; Corporate Services; and Valuation Services.
As an office leasing specialist, Mr. Kennedy has over 25 years of experience in representing the interests of both owners and tenants of commercial office space and has been involved with some of the most significant transactions in the Downtown market, while being actively involved in the Lower Manhattan community.
His commitment to Downtown Manhattan includes serving on the Boards of the Alliance for Downtown New York, Inc., New York Downtown Hospital, The Battery Conservancy and the South Street Seaport Museum.
Jon Lamphier
Jon is a tax attorney in the M&A Transaction Services practice at Deloitte. Working with both private equity and corporate clients, Jon has advised on due diligence and transaction structuring matters for a variety of strategic and leveraged buyout transactions. He also has experience in both domestic and international acquisitions, dispositions, reorganizations, mergers, and spinoffs. Jon has served as an advisor on several multi-billion dollar acquisitions and joint ventures in the financial, industrial, and media and entertainment industries.
Prior to joining Deloitte, Jon worked in the Transaction Advisory Services practice of Ernst & Young; Jon has also worked as a business process consultant, and served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Jon received his Bachelor of Science (B.S.) from Hamilton College in 2003, and his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Fordham University School of Law in 2006, where he won the Whitmore Gray prize for achievement in the field of international law. Jon received his Masters of Law (LL.M.) in Taxation from New York University School of Law in 2009. Jon is an active member of the tax sections of the New York State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
Courtney Hall Leimkuhler
Courtney Hall Leimkuhler is a Senior Vice President and co-head of Corporate Strategy at NYSE Euronext, where she partners with senior leadership across business lines to develop and execute the company's strategy. Ms. Leimkuhler has helped to launch various organic growth initiatives for NYSE Euronext and also evaluates and executes all M&A and other investment opportunities. She is a member of the company's U.S. operating committee, investment committee, and steering group for college recruiting. She also serves on the boards of three NYSE Euronext joint-ventures in the futures, options and environmental markets. Ms. Leimkuhler reports to the company's Chief Executive Officer.
Prior to joining NYSE Euronext, Ms. Leimkuhler worked for Goldman Sachs in the Equities Division, focused on the firm's electronic trading business and investments, and then in the Principal Investments Area.
Ms. Leimkuhler graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College with a degree in Government, where she was also inducted to Phi Beta Kappa and was an Academic All-American on the women's lacrosse team. She received her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School where she was a Baker Scholar. For her professional accomplishments she has been honored by the Women's Bond Club of New York and the YWCA of New York City. Ms. Leimkuhler joined the Futures and Options board in July 2011. She has also been a volunteer mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters for nearly ten years, and she serves on the Board of the Friends of Harvard Lacrosse. She and her husband live in Manhattan.
James T. Liu
James T. Liu is an associate of WL Ross & Co. LLC. Mr. Liu is primarily responsible for evaluating and analyzing distressed private equity opportunities. Prior to joining WL Ross & Co. LLC, Mr. Liu worked at The Blackstone Group where he focused on private equity transactions. Previously, he was in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at JPMorgan Securities Inc.
Mr. Liu holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. from New York University's Stern School of Business.
Cynthia A. Marian
Cynthia A. Marian is an attorney, currently employed as Tax Counsel in Morgan Stanley's finance division, where she works with many of the firm's business units to maximize the tax efficiency of a broad range of financial products. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Ms. Marian was an associate in the Tax department of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, where she 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, in addition to advising tax-exempt and not-for-profit organizations on topics ranging from formation to dissolution. Before she became an attorney, Ms. Marian worked as an investment banker at Banc of America Securities, and later as a consultant at Deloitte, thereby gaining experience with a wide array of corporate transactions and assisting clients with the strategic decisions and financial analysis germane thereto.
Ms. Marian graduated with honors from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Commerce and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. Thereafter, Ms. Marian earned a Doctor of Law from the University of Chicago Law School, where she was a Baker Scholar, and an L.L.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law.
Katherine McDonald Finn
Katherine recently joined the World Economic Forum USA as Associate Director, Head of Financial Planning. World Economic Forum USA is the US entity of the independent international organization that is committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Prior to this, Katherine spent 14 years with Unilever, the global consumer products company, in progressive finance positions in both the US and UK. Her last position was as finance partner to Unilever's Chief Customer Officer.
Katherine holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Russian Studies from Boston College and she earned an MBA from Thunderbird Global School of Management in Arizona. Katherine lives with her husband Jim in Manhattan.
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
Stephanie Perry is a Managing Director in Deutsche Bank's Leveraged Finance Group based in New York. Stephanie focuses on the media and financial services sectors as well as middle market sponsors. Previously Ms. Perry worked in Deutsche Bank's Financial Sponsors Group in New York. In her current and former capacities, Stephanie has advised clients on debt financings including public and private bond issues, non-investment grade syndicated loans and equity-linked securities.
Stephanie received a Bachelor of Science degree, Magna Cum Laude, in Accounting and Finance from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business.
Poonam Shah
Poonam is a Vice President in the Operations Division at Goldman Sachs and Co. She is responsible for managing a team in New York focusing on reducing operational risk in Credit Derivatives. She currently spearheads several industry initiatives, specifically related to Dodd Frank regulatory reform legislation. Previously in her career, she has been involved in helping launch new credit and mortgage derivative products, worked on mortgage securitizations, and participated in working on Credit Derivative industry standardization.
Poonam joined the Futures and Options board in July 2012. She also volunteers with Imentor, a non-profit organization working with mentoring high schools kids in New York City. She is also a member of Youth, I.N.C., an organization focused on developing non-profits' sustainability by volunteering with their affiliated non-profits. Poonam holds a B.S in Business and Technology with a minor in Economics from Stevens Institute of Technology.
Richard X. Simon
Mr. Richard Simon is a Senior Manager at Accenture LLP aligned to the Advanced Systems and Technology arm of Accenture's consulting practice. He focuses on driving transformational growth by leading large $100M+ technology programs at fortune 500 Financial Services companies. Over the last few years, Rich has focused his management and technical expertise in the Banking and Insurance sector focusing on delivering higher quality solutions, innovative technology trends, and lowering cost to serve while increasing productivity. Mr. Simon has long been involved in volunteerism and the Non Profit sector. Over the last few years, he's been involved as a coach and mentor working with Managing Executives to streamline their internal organizational structure, improve their back office processes, and identify additional fundraising opportunities. Being a 'born and bred' New Yorker, he is passionate about working with local Non Profits and using his passion and motivational skills to better the communities he grew up in. Richard graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from New York Institute of Technology.
Stev
en 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.
Scott Stuart
As Donlin, Recano & Company, Inc.'s Executive Director, Scott heads the business development and strategic marketing team. In addition, Scott is an American of Bankruptcy Institute trained mediator, well versed and experienced in all aspects of bankruptcy mediation. Scott's previous experience includes the Office of the United States Trustee for the Eastern District of New York, department chair of Rivkin Radler's insolvency department, and general counsel to TruFoods Systems, Inc.
He is a frequent contributor to law and bankruptcy trades like the Daily Bankruptcy Review and is an Associate Editor for the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal.
Scott has a B.A. from the State University of New York at Binghamton and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, and is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey.
Christian Sullivan
Paul Teske
Paul Teske is a Vice President at MidOcean Partners, a private equity firm specializing in middle market investments in the U.S. Paul is responsible for sourcing, evaluating, and executing investments in the industrial services sector. Prior to joining MidOcean in 2008, he was an investment banking analyst in the Industrials & Transportation group at Deutsche Bank, where he worked on numerous advisory and capital raising assignments.
Paul joined the board of Futures and Options in April 2013. He is also a member of the Young Professional Committee of Youth, I.N.C., a non-profit focused on improving the lives of New York City youth through venture philanthropy. Paul received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, double majoring in Economics and Political Science.
Meena Thever Wojcik
Meena Thever is currently a Principal at Atlas Placement Advisors, a boutique placement agent focusing on private equity capital raising. Prior to joining Atlas, Meena worked at Mercury Capital Advisors, the former Merrill Lynch Private Funds Group, where she focused on private equity capital raising and advisory. She worked in Financial Sponsors investment banking at both JPMorgan as well as Bank of America Merrill Lynch and also spent time on the buyside in Credit Suisse's private equity fund of funds group, the Customized Fund Investment Group.
Meena received her BA in Economics from Tufts University, her Masters in Public Policy (MPP) from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and her MBA from The Wharton School. Additionally, Meena is a Fulbright Scholar and has authored and published a book entitled Health Care For All: Is Canada's System a Model for America?
Paul Wasinger
Paul is a Managing Director in Morgan Stanley's Investment Banking Division and is responsible for coverage on a global basis of companies in the payments, processing and data/analytics services spaces. In his current capacity, Paul advises clients across a broad range of corporate finance, including mergers & acquisitions, equity and debt financings.
Paul joined Morgan Stanley in 2006. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Wasinger was a Vice President with JPMorgan in the Technology, Media and Telecom group. Before joining JPMorgan, Mr. Wasinger worked for EDS, a global IT Services firm, in consulting and business development both in the U.S. and in Europe.
Paul graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.A. in History and graduated with honors from the University of Michigan Business School with a Masters in Management.
Paul, his wife, and their son live in Manhattan.
Kate Weingarten
Kate Weingarten has been active in non profit boards since the 1980's. She was the chair of the after school child care program in Mamaroneck, New York, for twenty years. She served on the board of the Westchester Children's Association, a child advocacy group, for ten years, and was on the Finance Committee there. She was Treasurer of Women's Housing and Economic Corp. for five years.
Kate has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.S. in Public Policy from The Robert Wagner School of New York University.
Justin Wroe
Justin is VP, Group Media Director for UM. Justin knows what it takes to meet the needs of clients that demand the best and expect the Yes &. He is constantly challenging the status quo to move beyond what is expected to achieve creative solutions to marketing challenges. Whether in the realm of financial institutions, pharmaceuticals and consumer products, or luxury automotive, Justin understands how to forge connections between brands and consumers and has been an integral part of UM's growth in recent years.
Justin's extensive background in media planning and communications strategy was key to one of UM's critical U.S. new business wins in 2009, helping to secure the BMW account. After playing a pivotal role on the pitch team, Justin transitioned into a full time position on the account, where he currently manages all of the planning, strategic oversight, and media communications for BMW.
Earlier in his tenure at UM, Justin was part of the team that constructed a new model for Johnson & Johnson, leading to the creation of the J3 stand-alone unit. While serving as a VP Associate Strategy Director for J&J, Justin spearheaded the company's switch of the Zyrtec brand from prescription to over the counter (OTC), one of the largest moves in J&J history. Justin often breaks new ground with digital partners to create content solutions delivering on unmet consumer needs. He also is constantly looking to drive innovation through media partner relations.
Prior to arriving at UM, Justin spent time at MGP, where he worked on accounts for Children's Hospital Boston and Citizen's Bank. He was part of the team that led the media surrounding Citizen's acquisition of Charter One Bank. Justin began his career at Hill Holiday.
