Board of Directors

Robert L. Friedman, President is a Senior Managing Director and Chief Legal Officer of The Blackstone Group LP. He currently serves as a director of Axis Capital Holdings Limited, TRW Automotive Holdings Inc., Financial Guaranty Insurance Corporation, and The India Fund, and is also a member of several charity boards.

John R. Cannell, Esq,
Vice President, is a retired partner of the law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. He is a Board member (formerly Chairman) of the Kessler Foundation which is devoted to improving the lives of persons with disabilities through rehabilitation research and grantmaking.

Vivan Farah, Vice President is retired from Saks Fifth Avenue where she was the Vice President, DMM.  She has served on several boards and fundraising committees including the Rye Country Day School, Harmonie Club, Trinity School (Atlanta, Georgia), and Young Audiences of Atlanta.

Jonathan A. Knee, Vice President, is a Senior Managing Director of Evercore Partners, a boutique investment bank, and Director of the Media Program at Columbia Business School. Mr. Knee also serves on the Boards of the National Women's Law Center and the Citizens' Committee for Children of New York.

Patricia S. Levinson, Vice President, is one of the founding Board Members of NAC. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of Mount Sinai Hospital, and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine; and a Trustee of The United Hospital Fund and Senior Health Partners.  She also serves on the Board of Directors of Linkage House.

Andrew P. Mezey, MD, MS,
Vice President, is one of the founding Board Members of NAC. He is currently the Vice Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics and Director of the Division of General Pediatrics at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. He is the former Medical Director at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, and a former Associate Dean at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Barbara R. Rauch, LCSW, Secretary, is a practicing psychotherapist with prior experience in education and medical social work. She has extensive community service activities, and is a member of the National Society for Clinical Social Work Psychotherapists, NASW and APSP.

Lou Lipschitz, Treasurer, is the retired Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Toys “R” Us. He serves on the boards of Forward Industries, Majesco Entertainment Company, New York & Company, and The Children’s Place Retail Stores.

Elizabeth S. Pforzheimer,
President Emerita, is one of the founding Board Members of NAC and served as Board President from 1982 -2008. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of Blythedale Children's Hospital and former Chair of the Bank Street College of Education. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of Wellesley College.

Virginia Aaron, has been on the NAC Board since 1991.  She is a long-time volunteer and advocate for children’s rights, having served on several boards in Scarsdale, NY including the United Way and Youth Employment Service. She also served as VP of the Scarsdale School District Parent Teacher Council. Ms. Aaron served as NAC’s Board President from 2009 to 2011.

Diane Abbey served as a teacher for eleven years at Theodore Roosevelt High School, as well as served as a volunteer with the Brotherhood Synagogue Services in which she was a provider in the Synagogue's shelter program for the homeless.

Terri D. Austin, Esq is Vice President, Diversity & Inclusion of The McGraw-Hill Companies. She is a graduate of Columbia University School of Law and has a Masters of Science degree from Columbia University School of Journalism.

Bryan R. Beller is a Managing Director within Citigroup's Global Investment Bank.  He focuses on the media and entertainment sectors.  Mr. Beller also serves on the Board of the Partnership for a Drug Free America.

Pascal Desroches  is the Senior VP and Controller of Time Warner Inc. Prior to joining Time Warner, he was a partner in KPMG LLP’s Department of Professional Practice-Assurance & Advisory Services in New York. Mr. Desroches received an MBA from Columbia.

Alan Fleischman, MD is the Senior Vice President and Medical Director of the March of Dimes.  He formerly served as the President of the New York Academy of Medicine and was a Clinical Professor of Epidemiology and Social Medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Fleischman is a nationally recognized expert on chronically ill children.

Jill Sabin Garner, RN, was a volunteer with NAC for almost ten years prior to joining the Board. She developed residential real estate in Manhattan, Long Island, and Putnam County, before beginning a second career in nursing.

Susan Gevertz is a health care consultant with over 20 years of experience in senior positions in hospital administration.  She serves as a director for the Westchester County Health Care Corporation and is a member of the Advisory Board for Citizen’s Committee for Children (CCC).

Carol Gutman was a senior corporate legal assistant at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, and is retired from Rockefeller & Co., Inc. She has been an integral NAC volunteer through her fundraising, media and public relations work.

Peter R. Haje, Esq is an independent legal and business consultant.  Formerly he served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary at Time Warner Inc. and earlier was a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.  He is a Director of Time Warner Cable Inc., Crème de la Crème Inc., the Devereux Foundation and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Michael A. Hollander is a partner with Ernst & Young LLP serving clients in technology and media and entertainment for over twenty years. He holds an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis and a BA from the University of Illinois. Michael serves on the Board of Directors at the Bronx Charter School for the Arts and has served in similar capacities for various other youth charities and non-profit organizations.

Joseph R. Ianniello is the Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of CBS Corporation. Prior to CBS, he served as Vice President of Corporate Development at Viacom, Inc. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Ronald J. Iervolino is Managing Director of Guggenheim Capital Markets, LLC.  He is Chairman of the H.G.I. Foundation, and the former president of the Cooley’s Anemia Foundation, an organization serving the Thalassemia community worldwide.

Thomas A. Jarecki is Director of Business Development at Psychogenics, Inc. - a drug discovery firm.  As a management consultant, Tom developed a Gold Buying business, a Tax Lien investment planning tool, re-engineered a hair products company and developed and ran a custom home development firm. Before its sale to AOL, Tom also co-founded and ran operations for Moviefone, Inc. He holds an MBA from Columbia University and he serves as a pilot of corporate jet aircraft.

Mark N. Kaplan, Esq is one of the founding Board Members of NAC.  He is of counsel to the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Mr. Kaplan is a member of the Board of Visitors of Columbia Law School, Trustee of Bard College and Simon's Rock College, and Trustee of Channel Thirteen/WNET.

Meryl R. Kaynard, Esq is an experienced employment lawyer who served as Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel heading the employment law group for 20 years.  She was Director of Diversity & Special Counsel at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, and currently serves as Special Counsel to the National Council for Research on Women. Meryl was a visiting professor at Hofstra University School of Law teaching Advanced Issues in Labor and Employment Law, and was inducted into the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers in Industry.

Fern June Khan, MSW is Dean of the Division of Continuing Education at Bank Street College of Education.  She received the Herbert H. Lehman Award in Administration from the New York League for the Hard of Hearing and the La Guardia College Service Award.

Robert D. Marcus is Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Time Warner Cable Inc. He received a J.D. from Columbia Law School and a B.A. from Brown University.

Adam L. Miller is President of the New York Office of The Abernathy MacGregor Group. He heads the Group’s media communications and entertainment practice and has counseled numerous domestic and international clients on a wide array of communications matters, including reputation management and investor and public relations.

Tom Newman is a media executive focused on the digital space. He is the President of Interactive One, the digital division of Radio One, where he oversees the product, sales, and programming. Most recently, he served as AOL's Senior Vice President of Network Development. Mr. Newman graduated from Harvard College and earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is involved in several not-for-profit organizations, including serving as a Board Member and Treasurer for Asphalt Green.

Eugene A. Pinover is a Partner and Chair of the Real Estate Department of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP in New York. He serves as Director of Trinity School, Steep Rock Land Trust, and Disability Rights Advocates and was recently elected a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.

Sanford B. Prater is the Founder and Managing General Partner of Ridgecrest Partners, a New York based investment firm. Prior to founding Ridgecrest, Mr. Prater was a Senior Partner of Ardsley Partners. He currently serves on the board of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation.

Eric J. Rosen is a Partner of MSD Capital and is responsible for the firm's private equity investments. Prior to joining MSD, he was a Partner and Managing Director of Onex Corporation. Mr. Rosen received a BS degree from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA degree from Stanford University.

David S. Ross, Esq. is a Senior Mediator and Arbitrator with Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services. Mr. Ross is a graduate of New York University Law School and received his LL.M. in Alternative Dispute Resolution from Columbia University Law School and holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia. Mr. Ross has served as a trustee on several not-for-profit Boards, including Search for Common Ground based in Washington DC and The Cathedral School of St. John the Divine, in New York City.

 

Glenn J. Rufrano is Chief Executive Officer of Cushman Wakefield. Prior to joining Cushman Wakefield, he served as CEO of Centro Properties and he spent 17 years as a partner at The O’Connor Group, a diversified real estate investment firm. Mr. Rufrano serves on the board of New York University’s Real Estate Institute.

Meryl Sherman is an active volunteer and fundraiser for NAC. She served as co-chair of NAC’s Benefit Committee and has been involved with fundraising efforts for the March of Dimes and the Dalton School.

Susan Slater, MSW holds a J.D. degree from New York Law School and Master of Social Work degree from New York University. Prior to raising her family, she was on-air talent for the Crosswalks Television Network and a producer for Court TV Network.

Alma T. Young, MSW, EdD is one of the founding Board Members of NAC and served as Board President from 1981-1982. She is a former Practitioner/Administrator of social work and education in the Department of Social Work Services at Mount Sinai Medical Center. She maintains her faculty position as Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.