Board of Directors

Alexa Smith is the Chief of Staff in the Office of the President at Manhattan School of Music. After receiving her from Master’s Degree from MSM in Voice, she pursued a career in opera before becoming the Marketing Director at New York City Opera. There she led […]

Art Gianelli is the current President of Mount Sinai St. Luke’s. Prior to joining St. Luke’s, Gianelli worked at the Nassau Health Care Corporation, a publicly run healthcare delivery system that provides high-quality care to Nassau County’s most vulnerable populations, first as Executive Vice President and Chief […]

Since 2015, Brian Simpson has served in a variety of director-level communication and information technology roles at The Riverside Church in the City of New York, playing a key role in Riverside’s branding efforts and new website launch. He came to Riverside from Arizona, where he served as director of communications at the Association of […]

As JTS’s vice chancellor for communications and external affairs, Elise Dowell guides the institution’s strategic communications, oversees external relations, and serves as an ambassador for JTS to the public. Elise, who joined JTS in 2002, was named chief communications officer in 2008. She has implemented a major […]

Rev. Daniel O’Reilly is pastor of Corpus Christi parish and also the Catholic chaplain at Columbia University. Fr. O’Reilly was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx. He attended Regis High School in New York City and majored in philosophy at Princeton University before entering the […]

Dr. James Gandre, an educator and musician with a deep commitment to students and the development of American conservatory learning, returned to Manhattan School of Music to assume the presidency in May 2013. He had previously served the School for fifteen years. In 2000, Gandre became Dean of […]

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Loftin Flowers is the Associate Vice President for Government Relations and leads the University’s engagement and advocacy efforts with federal, state and city government. Loftin holds a B.A. in History from Haverford College and an M.P.A. from Columbia University. Prior to his role at Columbia, Loftin worked […]

Driven by a strong work ethic impressed upon her by her parents and grandparents, Marian Scott earned her bachelor’s in Human Resource Management from the New School in 1993 and has since dedicated her career to giving back to the community. Her belief that everyone has a right to health care – regardless of ethnicity, […]

Matthew Camp is a government relations expert with 15 years of experience in politics, public policy, and advocacy and is currently the Director of Government Relations for Teachers College, Columbia University, where he cultivates relationships with government officials, develops innovative education programs, and secures funding for the […]

Dr. Monica Coen Christensen currently serves as Dean of Students at Manhattan School of Music and also holds an appointment as Adjunct Associate Professor of Higher & Post-secondary education at Teachers College, Columbia University. She previously served full-time as Lecturer in the Higher and Post-secondary Education Department […]

Paula Mayo is the President and Executive Director of The Interchurch Center, a position she has held since 2008. Ms. Mayo has over thirty years’ experience in the non-profit sector as a senior executive professional. Ms. Mayo has held prominent positions at United Way of New York […]

A proud Harlem native, Phoebe-Sade Arnold is a Project Coordinator for Planning & Community Affairs. Phoebe’s responsibilities include project tracking, constituency outreach, and oversight of special projects and programs that relate to matters of urban planning, land use, and community affairs. Working in conjunction with the Associate […]

The Rev. Michael Livingston is the Executive Minister at the Riverside Church in Manhattan. He is the former Interfaith Worker Justice National Policy Director and served as the Director of IWJ’s Washington, D.C. office from 2012 until 2014. He served as IWJ’s voice in the halls of […]

With over 40 years of experience as a bishop and church leader prior to becoming the Dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Right Reverend Clifton Daniel III has been to be a steward of the Cathedral’s growth. Rev. Daniel holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel […]

The Rev. Dr. Serene Jones is the 16th President of the Union Theological Seminary. The first woman to head the 182-year-old institution, Jones occupies the Johnston Family Chair for Religion and Democracy. She is a Past President of the American Academy of Religion, which annually hosts the […]

Shailagh Murray is currently the Executive Vice President for Public Affairs at Columbia University. She earned her BA from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and her MS in Journalism from Northwestern University. She began her career in journalism, spending more than two decades covering local, national, and international […]

As Associate Vice President for Planning and Community Affairs , Victoria Mason-Ailey is responsible for interfacing with area residents and stakeholders on matters of urban planning, land use, and community affairs. Victoria is the liaison to civic groups that include the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, the […]

Appointed in 1993, Virginia Connor is the longest serving female head of an ongoing school in New York City through her role as Head of School at St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s. Virginia has taught every elementary grade and has been a director of lower school, a […]

Virginia Ryan has worked in the Barnard College’s Office of the General Counsel since June 2014. Prior to that, she practiced at Fordham Law School for 6 years doing Public Finance transactions. She switched her focus to Higher Education Law and worked at Fordham University Office of […]