Board

Mary Bernard is an accomplished lawyer whose career focused on corporate finance and investment banking. Mary spent five years as Global General Counsel of CS First Boston’s investment bank before retiring in 2008. Mary began her legal career in 1988 at King & Spalding in Atlanta, became a partner in 1996, and moved to New York to lead the Firm’s corporate finance practice. Since retiring in 2008, Mary has run a family investment and real estate office.  Mary’s charitable activities focus on children and education. In addition to serving on our Board, she is a former director of Student Sponsor Partners and has sponsored high school students through the SSP program for more than 20 years.

Mr. Cannon is a Managing Director at HPS Investment Partners. Prior to joining HPS in 2017, Mr. Cannon was a Partner and Director of Research at Wingspan Investment Management, a distressed credit investment firm launched in 2013. Prior to Wingspan, Mr. Cannon was a Managing Director at Glenview Capital, where he led the Credit Investment effort from 2009 to 2012. Prior to joining Glenview, Mr. Cannon was a Principal at Audax Group, a Boston-based Private Equity firm. Mr. Cannon began his career in Mergers and Acquisitions Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs. Mr. Cannon holds an AB in Social Studies from Harvard College.

Harrison DiGia is a Vice President at General Atlantic, a global growth equity firm, where he focuses on investments in the consumer sector. Before joining General Atlantic in 2017, he worked at J.P. Morgan. He received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BS in Commerce from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia. He lives in Manhattan with his fiancé, Diana.

Chloe Drew is the Chief People Officer at Redox, the healthtech company building scalable infrastructure to support empathetic healthcare. Chloe has over 20 years of experience designing, scaling and leading strategies in human resources, corporate social impact, and DEI.

Before Redox, Chloe was Chief People Officer at digital health company Eden, and Interim Chief People Officer at real estate tech firm Compass where she supported a team of 2,500 employees nationally. Previously she was Chief of Staff at the Markle Foundation leading HR, strategy and fundraising. From 2013 – 2015 Chloe was Director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Appointments where she ran the Administration’s effort to recruit Commissioners and senior staff for over 60 city agencies and 200 municipal boards.

Chloe has served on nonprofit boards including Wellesley College Centers for Women, Latino Justice, Dance Theater of Harlem, Emerge America and Oakland Vote.  She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two young children.

Victoria Dunning is the BUILD Director at the Ford Foundation. The 10-year, $2 billion BUILD initiative builds institutions and networks through multiyear flexible funding and institutional strengthening. Victoria also leads BUILD’s efforts in learning and evaluation and develops partnerships for grantee learning and technical assistance. She has more than 20 years of philanthropy, global health, and organizational development experience with nonprofits and NGOs in the US, Europe, and the Global South.

Prior to joining Ford, Victoria was executive vice president of The Global Fund for Children, where she oversaw a grants and capacity-building program for community-based organizations around the world. She previously served as senior program officer for women and population at the United Nations Foundation, overseeing a program portfolio on reproductive and sexual health and youth development UN and international NGO partners.

Victoria is a frequent speaker and writer on philanthropy practice, capacity building, and learning and evaluation at universities, conferences, and philanthropy and social sector publications. She has a Master’s in Public Health degree from Columbia University, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and International Affairs from Mount Holyoke College, as well as a certification in co-active leadership coaching, CPCC.

Jim Head currently serves as a Strategic Advisor to Multiplan Corporation, where he was the Chief Financial Officer from 2021 to 2024. He was a Partner at BDT & Company from 2016 to 2021, and prior to that, worked at Morgan Stanley for 22 years where he held various executive leadership roles.  Jim has been on the ESYNYC Board of Directors since 2017 and became the ESYNYC Board Chair in 2022.  He lives in New York City with his wife Courtney and two sons.

Samantha Leff is a Managing Director at Sculptor Capital Management, where she focuses on investments in industrial real estate. Prior to joining Sculptor in 2015, she previously held roles with The Blackstone Group and Barclays. Samantha received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in New York City with her husband Palmer and two sons.

John Lyons is a film and TV producer. He began his career as a casting director at Playwrights Horizons where he cast many shows for the leading playwrights of the time, including Stephen Sondheim’s and James Lapine’s SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, the Pulitzer Prize winner.  

In 1984 he began a long association with Joel and Ethan Coen that included many of their films beginning with RAISING ARIZONA, FARGO, MILLER’S CROSSING, BARTON FINK, and concluding with THE BIG LEBOWSKI. His career as a casting director led to a long association with the Sundance Institute as the casting director and that led to a career as a Producer of film and television.   

His producing credits include HARD EIGHT (Paul Thomas Anderson), PIECES OF APRIL (Peter Hedges), BOOGIE NIGHTS (Paul Thomas Anderson), AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME (Jay Roach), AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER (Jay Roach) and Paolo Sorrentino’s THE YOUNG POPE.

From 2003 to 2011, John served as President of Production at Focus Features, where he oversaw an acclaimed slate of films made by Ang Lee, Joel and Ethan Coen, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Noah Baumbach, Jim Jarmusch, Cary Fukunaga, Martin McDonagh, Michel Gondry, Walter Salles, and Mira Nair among many others.

He lives in New York City, where he founded the New York outpost of Alice Waters’ Edible Schoolyard program and is a member of the Museum of Modern Art Film Committee.

David Maupin was born in California and studied art history at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Pennsylvania. He started his professional career abroad in Italy, where he met Lehmann Maupin Gallery co-founder Rachel Lehmann. In 1996, the Lehmann Maupin Gallery was established in New York City. For nearly three decades, Lehmann Maupin has fostered the careers of a diverse group of internationally renowned artists, both emerging and established, working in multiple disciplines and across varied media. Today, the gallery has multiple locations around the world including spaces in New York, London, Seoul, and Hong Kong. Maupin is also a member of the selection committee for Art Basel Hong Kong.

Raph Osnoss is a Partner at General Atlantic, a growth equity firm, where he focuses on investments in financial services and technology. He previously held roles at Goldman Sachs and private equity firm, Berkshire Partners. He received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Manhattan and Washington, CT with his wife, Kimberly, and two sons.

Brett Williams is the Executive Vice President of External Affairs & Public Policy at CreativeFuture, a nonprofit coalition of over 560 companies and organizations and over 250,000 members who advocate for the value of creativity in the digital age. Brett began his career in New York, and spent over a decade in independent film production. He has a lifelong passion for food, cooking, and education. Brett grew up in Texas and Singapore, and currently lives in Los Angeles with his partner and two pugs, Beverly and Frances.

Cynthia Wood is Assistant Director for Columbia Alumni Association and University Relations at Columbia University where she oversees a variety of volunteer initiatives.

Cynthia has diverse experience within the culinary arts. She founded a food production company and has worked with a list of clients that includes: the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society, Habitat for Humanity, and Central Park’s 200th Anniversary. Her products have been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine.

Cynthia is a native New Yorker with a love for food, travel, and the arts.