Chappaqua School Foundation - DirectorBiographies

Hidenao Abe
A graduate of Cornell University School of Architecture and an alumnus of several prestigious New York architecture firms, Hide had been a stay-at-home father for six years, caring full-time for his daughter and has been involved with his daughter’s education from day one. He was Board Vice President of her cooperative nursery school in Ossining for two years, and was then elected as a trustee. During his term, he took a leading role in committee assignment, facility maintenance, event preparation and other projects. Hide has been an active parent at Roaring Brook, participating in school events that utilize his professional skills. Among his interests is watching as well as playing soccer and Hide enjoys coaching AYSO soccer. Having been educated in Japan, the UK and the United States, Hide believes that regardless of the school system, successful and meaningful education comes from teachers, students and families committing deeply to promote the love of learning and that community involvement is of the utmost importance in supporting and enriching the schools. Using his English/Japanese bilingual skills, he is currently working part time at the IBM Research Center in Yorktown Heights and his daughter is attending Roaring Brook School.

Marjorie Becker
An alumnus of the Chappaqua schools, Marjorie has been actively involved in the schools since moving back here in 1994. She has co-chaired Westorchard’s cultural enrichment committee and Seven Bridges’ cultural enrichment committee, volunteered in the publishing center, and served as class parent numerous times. Currently, Marjorie serves as a parent member of the Westorchard and the Seven Bridges Building Planning Teams. Marjorie’s volunteer work extends beyond our community. She served as a Board member of the Food Bank for Westchester for 14 years and chairs their annual fundraiser, “An Evening in Good Taste” that attracts over 600 guests.
Professionally, Marjorie worked for seven years as an investment banker at PaineWebber Inc. in their Muncipal Investment Banking department. There she worked primarily with nonprofit institutions seeking financing through municipal bonds. Marjorie’s three children include a daughter in 10th grade at Greeley, a daughter in 7th grade at Seven Bridges and a son in 2nd grade at Westorchard.

Rhea Finkelstein
Rhea has been actively involved in a number of community related projects in Chappaqua. . Since moving to Chappaqua in 1996, she has been involved in a myriad of committees. She brought the Parents as Reading Partners (PARP) program to the Roaring Brook School when her family moved here, and she has served on or ran committees such as Learning to Look, The Roaring Brook Directory, The Roaring Brook Yearbook and Parent Networking at Seven Bridges. She has been a class parent and grade coordinator many times. Rhea has also served on the Citizen’s Nonpartisan Nominating Committee for the Chappaqua School Board. In addition, she has done volunteer work at her Temple in various capacities including the annual Blood Drive, Midnight Run and multiple Sisterhood positions. Rhea has also worked with The Jacob Burns Film Center in the See, Hear, Feel, Film program for several years. Rhea currently has daughter in 10th grader at HGHS, a son who is a sophomore at SUNY Binghamton and a daughter who has graduated from University of Michigan.

Fran Flamino
Fran works tirelessly for a variety of organizations, school-related and beyond, including numerous PTA committees at RBS and Bell. As co-chair of RBS’s After School Enrichment program, Fran led a team that successfully managed the program to record-breaking profits. In addition, Fran has led a number of successful silent auctions for local fundraisers, including A Cure in Our Lifetime (breast cancer charity) and Mount Kisco Day Care. She also served on the planning committee for the recent Race for Relief fundraiser for Haiti. As a Girl Scout troop leader for the past six years, Fran has focused the girls’ activities on charitable events, from baking cookies for local veterans to adopting less fortunate families during the holiday season.
Prior to moving to Chappaqua, Fran worked at Dean Witter as a Vice President responsible for managing the executive compensation and compensation department.
Fran has three children, a 7th grade daughter at Bell, and two sons at RBS, one in grade 4 and the other in kindergarten. Fran strongly believes that in these difficult economic times, CSF’s role is “even more critical and its grants are essential in the ongoing success of our schools.”

David Gefsky
David is committed to enhancing the quality and experiences Chappaqua schools can offer our children.   Having worked in investment banking for eight years (and now in his own business), David understands the financial constraints our schools face and the necessary “public-private” partnership required to ensure that the excellence in our schools continues. He recognizes that “vision, effort, and commitment are necessary for any mission to succeed – business or philanthropic.”
David is one of two principals of a private real estate investment company focusing on multifamily and commercial real estate investments.
David has two children at RBS, in grade 2 and kindergarten.

Julie Gerstein
A longtime supporter of CSF,Julie has lived in Chappaqua for 9 years and has been actively involved in PTA committees at Roaring Brook. In her experiences as a class parent and volunteer, Julie witnesses firsthand the many benefits of projects supported by CSF. “I recognize that there is always room for improvement which involves securing additional funds and participation from the community. I have supported CSF for many years by attending their functions and in the past, I have been one of the few participants at the gala with preschool aged children.”
Julie has been instrumental in organizing a variety of charitable events, the most recent one benefiting a school in Tanzania for underprivileged students whose goal was to raise enough money to install a clean water system. Today, that water is used for drinking, bathing and sustaining vegetation grown by the students and teachers.
Professionally, Julie worked at Price Waterhouse Management Consulting Services and Citibank where she has analyzed and advised on business issues and implemented solutions to improve the efficiency of clients.
Her children will be entering 5th and 7th grade at Seven Bridges.

Jackie Glassman
Jackie’s interest in serving on the CSF Board is rooted in both personal and professional interests. As an educational writer and consultant, she has been keyed in to the needs and interests of students and teachers for close to 20 years. Jackie has witnessed how schools and teachers have grown from being overwhelmed by technology to recognizing its value and embracing ever-growing number of tools wholeheartedly to help students grow and learn in new and exciting ways.
Jackie believes that “all schools can benefit from finding new and innovative ways to help different types of learners. Back when I was a student, there was an assumption that all children learn in the same way. Today we know this is not the case. Research reveals there are all kinds of learners - visual, aural, kinesthetic, etc. Yet, even in our excellent school district, I see that in an effort to get through the very packed curriculum, the time, energy and materials required to meet varying types of learners, falls by the wayside.” Jackie has a daughter at Roaring Brook Elementary School and a son at Seven Bridges Middle School.

Ingrid Hershman
Ingrid and her husband Jack have been long-time supporters of CSF, participating on the Gala Dinner Committee since its inception. Ingrid has enjoyed the challenge of serving as Gala Co-Chair for the past two years, determined to meet our community’s strong interest in providing top quality education. Ingrid brings many important assets to CSF, not the least of which is her infectious enthusiasm. She also serves on the committee and has chaired the Phelps Memorial Hospital Center’s Annual Champagne Ball for more than a dozen years, granting her familiarity with all of the facets of planning a large event, including fundraising and marketing. Professionally, Ingrid works as an Office Manager for her husband’s local medical practice. A Chappaqua resident for over 20 years, Ingrid has three children, two of whom having already completed the Chappaqua school system of which she has also been actively involved in. Her oldest daughter just graduated from University of Pennsylvania with degrees in Nursing and Global Healthcare and began medical school this August. Her younger daughter enjoyed academics and sports in Chappaqua and is now a sophomore at Syracuse University studying Physical Education, maintaining Dean’s List and captaining the club co-ed Field Hockey team. Ingrid’s son, a sophomore at Greeley, will enjoy the robotics class that CSF helped fund and jumps at the opportunity to DJ or volunteer to also give back to CSF. The Hershman family is “very proud of the Chappaqua school system and the many opportunities that CSF provides.”

Michael Kaufman
Michael is currently serving as President of CSF. He is co-president and an owner of Enovo Restaurant Ventures LLC, a joint venture with Centerplate, Inc. Enovo owns the contemporary American restaurant brand Harry’s Tap Room, which has four locations and features contemporary American cuisine, using organic and natural ingredients drawn seasonally from local farms. Michael previously established Pond Hill Ventures LLC to advise and invest in hospitality ventures. Until 2003, he served for over a decade as president of the then $1.3 billion (system sales) Dallas-based Metromedia Restaurant Group. Prior to joining the restaurant group, Michael served as a managing director of the acquisition arm of Metromedia Company and as a corporate and securities lawyer with Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton and Garrison in New York City. He is Immediate Past Chairman of the Board of the National Restaurant Association and a Trustee emeritus of its Educational Foundation as well as a member of the Board of the Culinary Institute of America. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Michael is married to Barbara Alpert MD and has two sons currently in district schools and a stepdaughter graduate.

Leslie Pechman Koch
Leslie was the previous President of CSF. She joined the CSF Board in August 2006, after chairing the CSF Gala in May, which was held at Crabtree’s Kittle House and recognized the Honorable Hilary Rodham Clinton.   Leslie has worked in the non-profit sector for over fifteen years, most recently as the Director of Development for the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), a position she held for seven years. Leslie continues to work for NFTE on a part-time basis, where she manages the Annual Awards Dinner, the organization’s major fundraiser, which raises over $1 million annually. Leslie is also a consultant to the New York City-based Bound for College, for which she does grants management. Leslie and her husband have two children, the older of which is a first grader at Westorchard. As education has always been an interest of hers, Leslie is thrilled to be involved in an organization which views educational innovation as one of its main priorities, and is clearly having a direct impact on our community’s wonderful schools.

Ellen Miller
“Working with fellow Chappaqua parents to publicize/promote the great work of CSF, assist with fund-raising and help to allot grants enabling these innovative programs to enrich our children's education will be an honor,” says Ellen Miller. “To contribute and participate in programs that make an impact on a district-wide level will be an extremely rewarding experience.” Ellen has been in the field of public relations for 20+ years where her primary focus has been to develop strategic and creative plans to help clients accomplish their marketing goals. During her career, she has worked with various non-profit organizations to create unique programs to distinguish them for other, similar organizations. Ellen currently manages Biosector 2, a full-service medical communications company that specializes in biotechnology, biologic and specialty pharmaceutical products. Ellen not only employs her strong verbal and communication skills in her professional life, but she has put them to work in her PTA/school involvement. She is the current Nutrition Committee Chair for Bell and the current Co-Chair for the Health and Nutrition Committee at Grafflin. She has served as an editor for the Grafflin Griffin and the Grafflin Grapevine and has volunteered to assist with other school fund-raisers, publishing committee, book pack committee, etc.

James Edward Nottingham III
Jim’s commitment to community is evidenced by his many volunteer roles, including serving as Westorchard’s PTA Chair (2003 -2004) and on the district’s PTA Executive Committee. Still active in the PTA, Jim now also writes for the community e-newspaper NewCastleNOW.org, and has coached youth soccer, basketball, and football.
A collegiate athlete, Jim was signed by the San Francisco Forty-Niners after graduating from Yale in 1973. After being released from the New York Giants, Jim attended Columbia Law School, where his faculty advisor was Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Jim started his own marketing consultancy in January 2006.
Jim has one son entering his sophomore year at Greeley.

Rachel Rader
Rachel Rader has lived in Chappaqua since 1997. She has been actively involved in the schools, co-chairing Westorchard’s and Seven Bridges’ Cultural Enrichment Committees, serving on Westorchard’s Building Planning Team, volunteering in their publishing center, and serving as a class parent. Prior to moving to Chappaqua, Rachel had a decade-long career in publicity and marketing for a number of top book publishers, including Little, Brown & Company and Simon & Schuster. She has also worked as a freelance writer and editor, creating press and marketing materials for the publishing industry. Rachel has done alumni interviewing as a member of the Yale Alumni Schools Committee since she graduated in 1987, and has been a Yale Class Agent since 2003. She was also invited to be a member of her 20th Reunion Gift Committee. More locally, she has been a board member, fundraiser and volunteer for several non-profit agencies that service underprivileged, at-risk children, including the Pleasantville Cottage School, and for the Food Allergy Initiative and the New York chapter of the National Arthritis Foundation. Rachel's three children attend Greeley and Seven Bridges.

Morgan Rutman
J. Morgan Rutman is currently President of Willoughby Capital Management, a Single Family Office (SFO) private investment company, which was established in January of 2009.
In 1993, Mr. Rutman co-founded Harvest Management LLC, a multi-strategy hedge fund focused on merger arbitrage, long/short investing and event driven situations. Mr. Rutman was a Managing Member of Harvest until his retirement in 2008.
Prior to establishing Harvest, Mr. Rutman was one of the four founding General Partners of Farallon Partners, a hedge fund specializing in merger arbitrage and distressed securities/bankruptcy investing. Previously, he had co-managed Steinhardt Partners' merger arbitrage portfolio. Mr. Rutman began his investment career at Dillon Read as an analyst in its merger arbitrage department.
Mr. Rutman graduated with honors from the Whittamore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire. He currently serves on the Board of the University of New Hampshire’s Foundation, and is head of its Investment Committee.   He is married with three children and resides in Chappaqua, NY.

Susan Schwartz
Susan is currently the Director of Communications for MOUSE, a nonprofit organization that empowers underserved students to provide technology support and leadership in their schools. A member of the Chappaqua School Foundation board since 2004, Susan participates on the Grants and Communications committees. She especially enjoys seeing first hand the grants CSF has funded in action in our schools! Susan also served as Chair and Vice Chair of the Grafflin Elementary School PTA and has participated on several district and school PTA committees. Previously, Susan worked at IBM for 16 years in Marketing, Sales and Information Systems. Susan has been a Chappaqua resident since 1991 and has two sons currently attending Horace Greeley High School. Susan graduated from University of Michigan with an honors degree in Computer and Communication Sciences.

Jane Shepardson
A Chappaqua resident for over 12 years, Jane has been an active member of the school community. Her volunteer activities include chairing After School Enrichment at RBS, acting as PTA recording secretary at Seven Bridges for three years. participating on the PTA and serving as a class parent. Professionally, Jane worked as an attorney both in private practice and as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York in Manhattan. These experiences have strengthened her skills in the areas of research, organization and critical thinking, all of which will be beneficial to our work at CSF. Jane is also an actress and has appeared in national TV commercials, soap operas, plays, and corporate videos, which have provided her with a unique perspective on evaluating creative endeavors that may best benefit our children. Jane has three children, a daughter who is a high school sophomore, a seventh grade son at Seven Bridges, and a third grade daughter at Roaring Brook.

LaVerne Srinivasan
As President and Board member of New Leaders for New Schools (an educational policy organization), LaVerne works at the federal, state, and district levels to design educational reform and instructional strategies that support student development and high achievement. In her role, LaVerne develops critical relationships with foundation, corporate, and individual partners to help fill gaps that school systems are not able to fund. Previously, LaVerne served under Joel Klein as the Deputy Chancellor for Operations for the New York City Public Schools. And, prior to joining the education sector, LaVerne was the Senior Vice President of Legal and Business Affairs and General Counsel for BMG Entertainment.
With her educational and management background and experience, LaVerne brings an ability to inform the strategic and targeted decision-making of CSF regarding investments for Chappaqua students; recognizing the importance of striking a critical balance of aligning the priorities of the Chappaqua School Board with the goals and expectations of Chappaqua families.
LaVerne has three children: a freshman daughter at Greeley in the fall, a 5th grade son at Bell, and a daughter in 4th grade at Grafflin.

Debbie Potash-Turner
Debbie has gone through the entire K-12 Chappaqua school system with her 2 oldest and now her youngest is entering Greeley this year. The very reason her and her husband were drawn to make Chappaqua their home was the excellent quality of the public schools and that is the same reason she became involved in CSF. “As CSF serves to further enrich the educational experience of our children, what better way to show gratitude and support of our community and its quality educational system than to be involved.”
Debbie joined the CSF Board in 2005 and served as Treasurer for the first 4 years.Debbie brings almost 30 yrs. of financial experience to the organization. She is currently the Chief Financial Officer of the Beacon-Andover Group, a group of Fund of Funds. She previously spent over 24 years at AIG SunAmerica with one of the Broker –Dealers and Investment Advisor subsidiaries. As CFO, SVP of AIG SunAmerica Asset Management Corp. Debbie was responsible for the finance, accounting and regulatory areas. Debbie holds a B.S in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Debbie is a C.P.A.
Prior to joining the CSF Board, Debbie was active on various Grafflin PTA committees over many years and served as Treasurer of one of the local pool clubs. For the past 6 years, Debbie has been doing alumni interviewing within the community through the Secondary School Committee of the University of Pennsylvania.

Lenny Stern
A founding partner of the pioneering strategic communications firm SS+K, Lenny has more than twenty years of business experience, crafting marketing communications solutions that drive clients through times of dramatic change and competitive challenges. Lenny counsels clients in highly competitive categories, such as technology, media, transportation and hospitality, and creates strategies to inject brands into American popular entertainment culture. Among the clients for whom Lenny has lent his talents are the Delta Air Lines, ExxonMobil, CitiGroup, Coca-Cola, Harley-Davidson, Time Warner, Viacom, The Lance Armstrong Foundation, Starwood, TiVo, Polo Ralph Lauren and the Obama for America campaign [SS+K was a member of the campaign’s media team] among several others. Previously, Lenny worked for the Sawyer/Miller group, a political consulting firm, where he established its corporate advertising division. Lenny also worked at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, where he was a practicing attorney. Additionally, Lenny has been a Visiting Professor at Yale School of Management for the past fifteen years, teaching competitive strategy and non-traditional marketing. Lenny currently sits on the National Board of Communities In Schools, the nation’s largest and most effective drop-out prevention program. Consequently, he spends a fair amount of time thinking about education issues, and evaluating which practices, approaches, and resources are most effective. As an owner of a creatively driven marketing communications agency, Lenny has tremendous experience in helping raise awareness for organizations and brands�an issue he is looking forward to helping CSF tackle.
Lenny’s three daughters are entering grades 5 and 8 at Bell, and kindergarten at Grafflin.

Bruce Weinreb
Bruce, and his wife, Andrea, moved to Chappaqua in April 1985 shortly before the birth of their first child. Twenty five years later, they are proud parents of three daughters all of whom are graduates of Chappaqua Schools (Westorchard, Bell, Seven Bridges and Greeley.)
In 1991, Bruce and Andrea founded Weinreb Partners and continue to operate their advertising firm today. Clients of Weinreb Partners have included Liz Claiborne, Juicy Couture, Giorgio Armani, Visiting Nurse Services of New York, Worksman Cycles and many other companies ranging from multi-national corporations to local retailers.
Prior to starting his own firm, Bruce worked at several leading ad agencies including Ogilvy & Mather, Scali McCabe Sloves and Levine, Huntley Schmidt & Beaver working on the accounts of Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Seagram's, Subaru and many others.
Working in town allowed Bruce to be deeply involved in youth sports. He has coached over 35 girl's softball and basketball teams. His philosophy of instilling self confidence, team building and having fun served him well. Although now longer involved, he is still greeted with "Hi Coach" by parents and their daughters throughout town.
In addition to serving on the CSF Board, Bruce also serves on the the New York Advisory Board of the International Rescue Committee and the Marketing & Communications Committee of the Lymphedema Research Foundation.

Jan Wells
Jan co-founded the Chappaqua School Foundation in 1993 following a 12-year tenure on the Board of Education (1981-1993) where she was vice-president, then president for an unprecedented four terms. She served as CSF president for nine years, until 2002. “Seeing the growth of CSF and the impact on children’s learning is one of the most rewarding parts of my life,” says Jan. After serving on the school board, Jan served three years of her five –year term as president of the Board of Putnam/Westchester BOCES, and at the same time turned to local government. Currently, Jan is in her third year as Supervisor of the Town of New Castle, after fulfilling 10 years of service on the Town Board.
In 1991, Jan was designated New Castle’s “Citizen of the Year.” She also received honorary life membership in the New York State Parent Teacher’s Association (1993). In 2003, The Chappaqua Rotary honored Jan in recognition of founding CSF, and bestowed both the Annual Community Service Award and the Paul Harris Fellow. Jan has lived in the community for 36 years and raised two children who went through the Chappaqua Schools K-12. A graduate of Grinnell College, she pursued a career in education as a teacher and administrator prior to her election to the Board of Education.

Diane Wendel
Diane and her family take great pride in living in Chappaqua, and are involved in many community organizations and programs since moving here in 2002. Diane is currently serving as PTA Chair for Roaring Brook School, where she has introduced numerous new initiatives including:
School Supplies fundraiser (now being offered by Bell and Seven Bridges PTA)
Playground Cubs�structured playgroup for incoming kindergarten families to meet current kindergarten families. This program has been highly successful in making new families feel part of the community and has raised new volunteers into our PTA programs.
Reading, Writing & RecipeCookbook fundraiser�favorite recipes from Roaring Brook families, friends, teachers, staff and local restaurants
Created and worked in conjunction with NCCTV to develop Grade Level Music Performance DVDs that are chaptered with lyrics, actual music performance, montage of photographs, etc.
Initiated Principal/Parent grade level coffees
Designed Roaring Brook’s new web page
As a breast cancer survivor, Diane is actively involved in a variety of fundraising efforts and has personally raised over $100,000 to find a cure for breast cancer in the last five years.
Professionally, Diane has worked in all aspects of real estate, specializing in marketing, development and facilities management, and later as an asset manager.
Diane has a daughter in Roaring Brook School and a son in Seven Bridges.

Allison Wintner
Allison is currently completing her term as Chappaqua PTA President. Previously, she served as Chappaqua PTA Vice President for one year, and one year each as Chair and Vice Chair of the Westorchard PTA. During her service, Allison has learned about the operation of the school system, from both an educational and a budgetary viewpoint. She also worked closely with teachers at all grade levels, as well as district administrators, school board members and building administrators.
During her almost full-time work in PTA executive positions, Allison’s time and energy has been focused primarily on school policy, budget issues and projects within the schools. Prior to her work on the PTA, Allison was chair and co-chair of the Beginning Years Parent Association. Allison feels that serving on the Board of CSF will provide an opportunity to continue to work on improving and enhancing our schools.
Professionally, Allison was a corporate tax attorney and worked on a variety of large transactions. She explains that her work experiences enables her to look at issues from a legal perspective, and that during her year as Chappaqua PTA President, she was able to use her legal expertise to formulate policy, and expects that this perspective will be helpful to the CSF Board as well.
Allison has two daughters, one entering sixth grade at Seven Bridges and the other will be a freshman at Greeley.