Credit Where Credit Is Due
Board of Directors Bios
Benjamin S. Appen, CFA (Chair) is a founding partner at Magnitude Capital, a $2 billion fund of hedge funds based in New York. He was previously a Senior Vice President at D. E. Shaw & Co. During his seven-year tenure at the firm, he co-founded and managed the firm's fund of funds business, which grew to approximately $600 million in hedge fund investments. Ben also managed D. E. Shaw & Co.'s venture capital investments, and served on the board of directors of Schrödinger, Inc.
Ben has served as a guest lecturer at Columbia Business School and New York University. He is the chairman of the board of directors of CWCID and is a member of the board of directors of the Harlem Success Academy Charter School 3. In 1992, Ben graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Political Science from Columbia University; he was awarded the CFA designation in 1999. back to Board of Director's list
Diane Minunni Callan has worked in the TD Bank Financial Group for almost 20 years and is currently Vice President Corporate Compliance at TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank and Senior Vice President at TD Bank USA, N.A. Diane's responsibilities include oversight of the regulatory implementation process which has been overseeing the implementation of the most complex regulatory changes. Diane previously served as a Senior Vice President at TD Waterhouse Bank, N.A and Vice President at TD Bank USA, FSB where she had responsibility for oversight of the Compliance Management function, Community Reinvestment Act compliance and the Anti-Money Laundering program. Diane was also part of a management team that chartered TD Bank USA, FSB and oversaw the development and implementation of the strategic compliance direction for the de novo bank. Prior to this, Diane was the Risk Manager for First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Rochester where she was responsible for both Compliance Management and Insurance Risk Management. Diane spent four years as an examiner with the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) in Jersey City, New Jersey. Diane is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist. In addition, she serves as a board member for Credit Where Credit is Due Inc and is an Advisory Committee member for Greater Newark and Jersey City Local Initiatives Support Corporation. back to Board of Director's list
Sebastián Ceria is one of the world's foremost authorities on optimization. Before founding Axioma, Ceria was an Associate Professor of Decision, Risk and Operations at Columbia Business School from 1993 to 1998. He was honored with the prestigious Career Award for Operations Research from the National Science Foundation, which is given annually to the two best researchers and teachers in the area. While at Columbia he was also recognized as the "best core teacher" by his students and the school. Additionally, Ceria has served as administrator for the Computational Optimization Research Center and as co-principal investigator in two National Science Foundation research projects.
Ceria is the author of many articles and has been featured regularly in a variety of publications including Management Science, Mathematical Programming, Optima and Operations Research. He has also been an editor for Optima, and a regular referee for a number of publications in the area. Past speaking engagements include international corporate and academic conferences. Ceria completed his PhD in Operations Research at Carnegie Mellon University's Graduate School of Industrial Administration. back to Board of Director's list
Kirsten Frivold is currently Vice President for the State and Local Tax Group in the Finance Division for Goldman Sachs. She oversees and manages all aspects of domestic state tax return processes for thousands of legal entities and her responsibilities include new deal due diligence, state tax research, advising on planning opportunities, audit guidance and review of the FASB 109 calculation. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs 15 years ago, she worked in the Personal Tax and Financial Planning group at Ernst & Young.
Kirsten received her B.A. from SUNY Albany, her M.B.A. from Fordham University and her M.P.A. from Columbia University. back to Board of Director's list
Benjamin S. Levin (Treasurer and Secretary) is a founder and Partner of Level Equity, an investment firm that makes growth equity investments. Ben has over 15 years of advisory and investment experience and has been an investor in and board member of numerous rapidly growing private businesses. Prior to founding Level Equity, Ben was a Managing Director with Insight Venture Partners, a New York-based private equity firm with more than $3 billion in assets under management. Early in his career, Ben was a Vice President at Mentmore Holdings, a New York-based private equity firm, and a Financial Analyst in Solomon Brothers' Mergers and Acquisitions department.
In addition to being a member of the board of directors and the Treasurer of CWCID, he is an active alumnus of the Taft School where he is a class agent, active fundraiser and the chair of his 20th reunion. Ben graduated from Harvard with an A.B. in Government in 1994. back to Board of Director's list
Matthew Rhodes-Kropf is an associate professor at Harvard Business School. As part of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit he specializes in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, hedge funds, and corporate governance. He has published in leading finance and economic journals including The Journal of Finance, The Journal of Business, Journal of Financial Economics, and The RAND Journal of Economics.
Matt is founder of RK Ventures, an early-stage venture capital company with a focus on finance, technology, and biotech companies. He previously served as acting CFO of Avid Radiopharmaceuticals and has been a member of its board of directors since its founding. In addition to being a member of the board of directors of CWCID, he is on the boards of Duke University’s Graduate School, Ada Investment Management, a process driven hedge fund that uses long-run economic signals, and Correlation Ventures, a quantitatively-based venture fund.
Matt was formerly the Daniel W. Stanton Associate Professor of Business at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, where he received the Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence. A graduate of Duke University, he holds a B.A. in computer science and economics and an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics. back to Board of Director's list
Todd Savage is a Managing Director at Savage Partners. Prior to founding the firm in 2005, Todd worked for leading executive search firms Heidrick & Struggles and Ramsey Beirne Associates as well as the world’s largest media company, Time Warner. Todd has successfully completed hundreds of executive searches, with experience ranging from early-stage, venture backed companies to work within Time Warner. Over the last four years, Todd's sole focus has been working with profitable, growing, middle-market software and new media companies where he has completed over thirty senior executive searches for middle market, Private Equity backed technology firms. Over a third of those placements were at the CEO level.
When he is not involved in executive search, Todd is an avid golfer and tennis player. He completed a half ironman in Panama City Beach, FL in 2004. In addition to being a member of the board of directors of CWCID, he is actively involved in the Hospice of Palm Beach County. Todd received a B.A. from The University of Vermont and currently resides in West Palm Beach, FL with his wife and two children. back to Board of Director's list
Justine Zinkin is CEO of CWCID and Neighborhood Trust and has overseen both organizations dramatic growth since 2002. She has more than 15 years of experience in nonprofit and community development work. She previously served as Director of Economic Independence Programs at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and as Director of Workforce Development at Common Ground Community HDFC.
Justine holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, an M.S. in Population Studies from Harvard University's School of Public Health, and a B.A. from Brown University. back to Board of Director's list
Advisory Board Bios
Russell L. Carson
is a Founder and General Partner at Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, one of the country's largest private investment firms. From 1967 to 1978 he was employed by the Citicorp Venture Capital subsidiary of Citicorp and served as its Chairman and CEO from 1974 to 1978. Active in community affairs, Mr. Carson is Chair of The Rockefeller University Board of Trustees, Chairman Emeritus of Columbia Business School, a Trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a Co-Chairman of the New York City Investment Fund, Chairman of The Partnership for Inner-City Education, Director of The Partnership for New York City, and a Trustee of the National 9/11 Memorial Foundation. He also serves as Chairman of The Carson Family Charitable Trust. back to Board of Director's list
Alan Fishman
is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ladder Capital and Beech Street Capital. Mr. Fishman has had an extensive career in the financial services industry; most recently serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Washington Mutual Inc. He also served as the Chairman of Meridian Capital Group and, from June 2006 to December 2006, as President of Sovereign Bancorp. Mr. Fishman serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Chairman of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, Co-Chairman of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, a Board Member of the Partnership for New York City, and on the Boards of several other not-for-profit and civic organizations.back to Board of Director's list
Dean Karlan
is a Professor of Economics at Yale University. He is also President of Innovations for Poverty Action, a non-profit organization that creates and evaluates solutions to social and development problems, and works to scale-up successful ideas through implementation and dissemination to policymakers, practitioners, investors and donors. Mr. Karlan is on the Board of Directors of the M.I.T. Jameel Poverty Action Lab. As a social entrepreneur, he is Founder and President of stickK.com, a website that uses lessons from behavioral economics to help people reach personal goals, such as weight loss and smoking cessation, through commitment contracts. In 2011, Mr. Karlan co-authored "More Than Good Intentions: How a New Economics is Helping to Solve Global Poverty." He received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and was named an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. His research focuses on microeconomic issues of financial decision-making, specifically employing experimental methodologies to examine what works, what does not, and why in interventions in microfinance, health, behavioral economics and charitable giving. In microfinance, he has studied credit impact, interest rate policy, savings product design, credit scoring policies, entrepreneurship training, and group versus individual liability. Mr. Karlan received a Ph.D. in Economics from M.I.T., an M.B.A. and an M.P.P. from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. in International Affairs from the University of Virginia. He can be followed on twitter @deankarlan, and blogs regularly on Freakonomics. back to Board of Director's list
Nancy Zimmerman is co-founder and managing partner of Bracebridge Capital, LLC, located in Boston, Massachusetts. Bracebridge is an investment manager for a number of private funds, with over $5 billion under management and 65 employees. The Bracebridge funds are primarily focused on pursuing an absolute return strategy by exploiting pricing inefficiencies in the global fixed income markets. In addition, Ms. Zimmerman is a trustee of the Corporation of Brown University, serves on the scholar selection committee of the Institute for International Education's Scholar Rescue Fund and is involved in a number of philanthropic causes, focused on a range of topics from medical science to education reform. Before founding Bracebridge in 1994, Ms. Zimmerman managed the interest rate option group worldwide for Goldman, Sachs & Co. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in 1988, she headed the interest rate option group at O'Connor and Associates in Chicago, Illinois, where she also traded currency and equity index options. Ms. Zimmerman joined O'Connor and Associates in 1985 upon her graduation from Brown University.back to Board of Director's list
Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union
Board of Directors Bios
Michelle Bologna has worked for the United Nations and the Aspen Institute and currently manages the Women Leaders Intercultural forum at an international nonprofit Realizing Rights. She joined Neighborhood Trust's Board in 2008. She holds a Masters of International Affairs degree from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and a BA from the UCLA. back to Board of Director's list
Bob Green has been a Board member since 1998 and is also the Chair of the Supervisory Committee. Bob has 25 years of IT and management consulting experience working with corporations, nonprofits and international governments with an emphasis on finance and economic development. He holds an MBA from Columbia University's Business School and a BA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. back to Board of Director's list
Emmanuel Martinez (Secretary) joined Neighborhood Trust's Board in 2008. Emmanuel serves as President of Dominicans on Wall Street which focuses on bringing together Dominicans working in finance in the U.S. and internationally. He brings both his financial expertise and community perspective to our Board as a community resident living in Inwood. He holds a MA in Global Political Economy and a BBA from Baruch College. back to Board of Director's list
René Paula (Treasurer) is a corporate attorney with the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, LLP. He began his undergraduate education at the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan, PR before completing a BS in finance and accounting at New York University's Stern Business School. He also holds a JD from Columbia Law School. René is a certified public accountant and licensed attorney in the State of New York. back to Board of Director's list
Cristy Travaglino (President) is an Associate in Credit Risk Management and Advisory at Goldman Sachs. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in 2007, Cristy spent 4 years at Accenture where she work as a Consultant focusing on operational efficiency. Cristy holds an MBA in Finance and Social Enterprise from Columbia Business School and a BS in Computer Information Systems from Clemson University. back to Board of Director's list
Evelyn Vasquez currently works as an Associate Finance Manager at Unilever. Evelyn holds a BA in business and government from Skidmore College and an MBA in finance from Columbia University's Business School.back to Board of Director's list
Justine Zinkin is CEO of CWCID and Neighborhood Trust and has overseen both organizations dramatic growth since 2002. She has more than 15 years of experience in nonprofit and community development work. She previously served as Director of Economic Independence Programs at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and as Director of Workforce Development at Common Ground Community HDFC.
Justine holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, an M.S. in Population Studies from Harvard University's School of Public Health, and a B.A. from Brown University. back to Board of Director's list |
