Board of Advisors

The Columbia Mailman School of Public Health Board of Advisors is a leadership body that provides knowledge and experience from the business, government, media, and nonprofit sectors to help expand the School’s reach. Advisors provide counsel and support to the Dean, serve as ambassadors among friends, associates, and colleagues, and assist in the acquisition of essential resources for advancing teaching, research, and service.

For questions about the Board of Advisors, please contact Laura Sobel at ls3875@cumc.columbia.edu.

Members

  • Richard Barasch

    • Chairman of AdaptHealth (AHCO)
    • Executive Chairman of The Oncology Institute
    • Founder of RAB Ventures, LLC

    Richard A. Barasch is chairman of AdaptHealth (AHCO), a leading HME and medical supplies provider; executive chairman of CareMax(CMAX), a value-based primary care provider; and executive chairman of The Oncology Institute, a value-based oncology provider. He is also the founder of RAB Ventures, LLC, which invests in growth health care companies. Portfolio companies include HouseWorks, LLC (private pay home health care), as chairman; and ELMC Risk Management (MGU for employer medical stop-loss) as cochairman. Richard was chairman and CEO of Universal American until its sale to WellCare Health Plans in April 2017. Universal American worked collaboratively with health care professionals, especially primary care physicians, to improve the health and well-being of Medicare beneficiaries and reduce unnecessary health care costs. Richard is chair of the Advisory Board of the Health Policy and Management program at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and board member of Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. Richard is a graduate of Swarthmore College (1976) and Columbia University Law School (1979) where he was an editor of the Columbia Law Review.

    Richard Barasch
  • Chelsea Clinton

    • Vice-Chair of the Clinton Foundation
    • Board Member of the Clinton Health Access Initiative
    • Board Member of Partners in Health

    As vice-chair of the Clinton Foundation, Dr. Chelsea Clinton works alongside the Foundation’s leadership and partners to help create economic opportunity, improve public health, and inspire civic engagement and service across the United States and around the world.  In particular, Chelsea focuses on promoting early brain and language development through the Too Small to Fail initiative, and uplifting/empowering female entrepreneurs and women-led businesses around the world through initiatives like the Caribbean-focused Women in Renewable Energy (WIRE) Network. She also serves on the boards of the Clinton Health Access Initiative and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. In addition to her Foundation work, Chelsea also teaches at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and has written several books for young readers, including the #1 New York Times–bestselling She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World, as well as She Persisted Around the World, She Persisted in Sports, Start Now! You Can Make a DifferenceDon’t Let Them Disappear, and It’s Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & Get Going. She is also the co-author of The Book of Gutsy Women and Grandma’s Gardens with her mom Hillary Clinton and of Governing Global Health: Who Runs the World and Why? with Devi Sridhar. Chelsea holds a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University, a Master of Public Health from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and both a Master of Philosophy and a Doctorate in international relations from Oxford University. She lives with her husband Marc; their children Charlotte, Aidan, and Jasper; and dog, Soren, in New York City.

  • Dr. Dvora Joseph Davey

    • Associate Professor (Adjunct), Division of Infectious Diseases, UCLA
    • Honorary Associate Professor in Infectious Diseases Medicine, University of Cape Town Cape Town, South Africa

    Dr. Dvora Joseph Davey is an infectious disease epidemiologist who has been leading research and programs to improve HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention and treatment in Sub-Saharan Africa for over 20 years. Dr. Joseph Davey is an Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology at the University of California Los Angeles. In addition, she holds an Honorary Associate Professor position in the Division of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the School of Public Health at the University of Cape Town where she is based. Her research focuses on how best to prevent HIV among pregnant and lactating people, including use of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and improving diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.
    At UCLA and UCT she taught quantitative research methods and mentors MPH, PhD and postdoctoral students. She is the Principal Investigator on several R-level NIH funded studies of HIV and STIs in pregnant and lactating women in Cape Town. Prior to academia, she was Program and Country Director of NGO run HIV prevention and treatment programs in Rwanda and Mozambique. Dr. Joseph Davey received her Masters in Public Health from Columbia Mailman School of Public Health with a focus on Population and Family Health and a PhD from UCLA focusing on infectious disease epidemiology and global health.

  • Jean Drouin

    • Founder and CEO of Clarify Health Solutions

    Jean Drouin, MD, is the founder and CEO of Clarify Health Solutions, which enables health systems, payers, and life sciences organizations to deliver more satisfying and efficient care through advanced analytics, machine learning, and digital care optimization solutions. Prior to Clarify, Jean was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, where his roles included leading the global Healthcare IT and Digital Practice, setting up the UK and Australian Healthcare Practices, and serving as the founding Head of McKinsey Advanced Healthcare Analytics (MAHA). He also served as Head of Strategy for NHS London, which oversaw London’s $15 billion hospital and primary care system. In these roles, he served over 20 countries and 100 health systems and payers on engagements that generated over $1 billion in efficiency and quality improvements. Jean is passionate about transforming health care delivery across the continuum of care. He has written and spoken extensively on value-based care, population health, new payment models, and the role of big data and analytics in delivering better outcomes. Jean holds MD and MBA degrees from Stanford and an AB in Molecular Biology from Princeton. He is the former vice-chair of Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific.

  • Dina Dublon, Chair

    • Corporate Director at PepsiCo and T Rowe Price
    • Former CFO of JPMorgan Chase

    Ms. Dina Dublon is a board member of PepsiCo and TRowe Price Group and is a member of IAQC at EY U.S. She is cochair of Columbia University Herbert Irving Cancer Center Advisory Council, and chair of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health’s Board of Advisors. She served on the supervisory board of Deutsche Bank 2013–2018, on the boards of Accenture 2002–2017 and Microsoft 2005–2014, and on the faculty of Harvard Business School 2011–2012. She was cochair of the Women’s Refugee Commission and on the board of Global Fund for Women. Ms. Dublon was, until the end of 2004, EVP and CFO of JPMorgan Chase, responsible for global financial management and related operations, strategy and acquisitions, corporate treasury, tax, and investor relations. She played a key role in negotiations and merger integration of Chemical Bank with Manufacturers Hanover, Chase, JPMorgan, and Bank One.

  • Elizabeth Duggal

    • Principal, Duggal Advisory

    Elizabeth Duggal is the Principal of Duggal Advisory, a consulting firm that focuses on an array of strategic, fundraising, and operational initiatives for business leaders and nonprofits. 

    Until 2022, she served as the chief operating officer at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation. 

    Ms. Duggal came to the Guggenheim from an 18-year career with the Smithsonian, holding a number of senior positions within the Institution including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, National Museum of Natural History, National Museum of the American Indian, and International Museum Professional Education Programs.

    She began her nonprofit career at the British Museum starting as the inaugural chair of the American Friends of the British Museum in the UK. Previously, she worked in London at Salomon Brothers, Fidelity Investment Services, and American Express Europe.

    Ms. Duggal was chair of the board of directors of Goldbug, Inc. Privately held, Goldbug is one of the largest distributors of infant and children’s apparel and accessories in the US.

    Active in community affairs, she is currently the chair of Meridian International’s Center for Cultural Diplomacy and a member of the Strategic Planning Committee for the International Council of Museums.  Ms. Duggal also serves on the Board of Advisors at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the honorary board of the Halcyon Organization. She is a trustee of Turquoise Mountain (US) and the Jordan River Foundation (US) and is also trustee emeritus of Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC.

    Ms. Duggal earned an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in International Relations from Tufts University.

  • Dina Said Dwyer

    • Managing Director of Eden Capital

    Dina Said Dwyer is the managing director of Eden Capital, a private equity firm focused in the professional and business services, education and training, and health care services sectors. Ms. Said has spent over 20 years in the private equity industry. She has served as a managing director at Unifund SA and an Analyst at the Blackstone Group in New York, and trained at the Carlyle Group in London. She also currently leads Brighter Vision, her family foundation dedicated to providing education and economic empowerment to women in Egypt through partnerships with Ashoka, Education for Employment, and other prominent groups. She sits on the Advisory Board of the Children’s Rights Division for Human Rights Watch. Ms. Said completed her MBA at Columbia Business School and her undergraduate degree at the Wharton School of Business.

  • Xue Fang

    • Member of the President’s Advisory Council of Princeton University
    • Director of the Beijing Lead Future Foundation

    Dr. Xue Fang is currently a member of the President’s Advisory Council and a member of the Graduate School Dean’s Leadership Council of Princeton University. She also serves as a director in Teach for China, Inc. Born in Beijing, China, Xue studied Biology at Beijing University before attending the Graduate School of Princeton University in 1988 to study Neuroscience. She received a PhD in Neuroscience and Psychology in 1995 from Princeton University and an MS in Biostatistics from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in 1998. She has participated in medical research projects and has worked as a biostatistician in Schering-Plough, a pharmaceutical company in New Jersey. Xue has a special interest in education and enjoys reading extensively.

  • Peter Grubstein

    • Founder and Managing Member, N*GEN

    Mr. Peter Grubstein has deep operating and investing experience in manufacturing and in the environmental sectors. He is the founder and Managing Member of N*GEN, a venture capital and growth equity investment firm investing in healthy and sustainable living. He has been investing in sustainable businesses with innovative solutions to impact the world’s biggest problems. Mr. Grubstein has 40 years of experience as an entrepreneur, operating executive, and venture capital investor and has grown N*GEN from one of the earliest to invest in sustainable technologies. Prior to founding N*GEN, Mr. Grubstein made diverse private investments ranging from leveraged buyouts and leveraged recapitalizations to early venture investments in materials science enterprises.

    Earlier in his career, he was CEO of American Tanning, a manufacturing business owned by his family, from 1982 to 1983. Subsequently, at KD/P Equities, J.B. Poindexter & Co., and Grubstein Holdings, Ltd., he worked on investments such as Carolina Steel Corporation and focused on supply chain and logistics efficiencies to drive profitability, including selecting acquisitions to improve overall operations for businesses that reach a certain scale.

    Mr. Grubstein is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Ripley Conservancy and of Enzymedica, a provider of digestive enzyme supplements. Mr. Grubstein is a graduate of Yale University.  At the Board level, he has served on Governance, Sustainability, Audit and Compensation committees over a 40 year period and a number of different business cycles.

  • Debra Fraser-Howze

    • Founder of Choose Healthy Life
    • Founder of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS
    • Principal of D. Fraser Associates

    Debra Fraser-Howze is the Founder of Choose Healthy Life, a sustainable, scalable, and transferable approach to address public health disparities through the Black Church, and the founder of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. Debra is also Principal of D. Fraser Associates. This consulting firm works with clients to establish successful partnerships that result in improved health outcomes for underserved populations while driving corporate value and revenue growth. Before launching D. Fraser Associates, Ms. Fraser-Howze was the senior vice president, government and external affairs, at OraSure Technologies, a leader in the development, manufacturing, and distribution of oral fluid diagnostic and collection devices and other technologies designed to detect or diagnose critical medical conditions. While at OraSure Technologies, Ms. Fraser-Howze played a critical role in launching the company’s OraQuick Rapid Ebola Test (2015), OraQuick In-Home HIV Test (2012), and the OraQuick Rapid HCV Test (2010). Before joining OraSure, Ms. Fraser-Howze served for 21 years as the president/CEO of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS (NBLCA), an organization she founded in 1987. Ms. Fraser-Howze has been widely recognized for more than three decades of global leadership to communities of color regarding teenage pregnancy, social welfare, and HIV and AIDS. She advised two U.S. presidents while serving on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS from 1995–2001. In 2009, she was the recipient of the National Medical Association’s (NMA) highest honor, the Scroll of Merit, and in 2010 she was inducted into the Hunter College Hall of Fame for distinguished achievement. Ms. Fraser-Howze is currently a member of the board of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. 

  • Linda P. Fried

    • Dean and DeLamar Professor of Public Health at the Columbia Mailman School
    • Professor of Medicine at Columbia’s College of Physicians & Surgeons
    • Senior Vice President at Columbia University Medical Center

    (Ex-Officio Member): Linda P. Fried, MD, MPH, is Dean and DeLamar Professor of Public Health at the Columbia Mailman School, professor of Medicine at Columbia’s College of Physicians & Surgeons, and senior vice president at Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Fried is a geriatrician, epidemiologist, and internationally renowned scientist who has propelled our understanding of how to create healthy aging and set the basis for a transition to an aging world that benefits all ages. She has led the scientific work to define the medical syndrome of frailty and its causes and prevention as keys to optimizing health and is the codesigner and founder of Experience Corps. Prior to becoming dean in 2008, Dr. Fried served as director of the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology and of the Center on Aging and Health at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Fried is also the recipient of numerous awards including the French National INSERM International Prize in Medical Research and was named a “Living Legend in Medicine” by the U.S. Congress. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and past president of the Association of American Physicians. Dr. Fried was named, in 2014, one of the most influential scientific minds of the past decade by Thompson Reuters, and the New York Times has called her one of the 15 world leaders in science. 

  • Jennifer Gates Nassar

    • Medical Student, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

    Jennifer Gates Nassar, a Seattle native, began her medical journey at Stanford University with a degree in Human Biology, specializing in Child and Adolescent Development. In 2019, she moved to New York to begin her Medical Degree (MD) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

    Jennifer is committed to contributing to the field of pediatrics, both clinically as a physician and through broader children’s health equity and philanthropic initiatives. During a scholarly year from her MD program, she received her Masters of Public Health Degree in 2023 from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. After matriculation from her MD program in 2024, Jennifer plans to utilize the education and knowledge garnered at the Mailman School to enhance her clinical practice during and beyond medical residency

  • Andrew Heffernan

    • Founder & CEO, Heff Holding BV

    Andrew Heffernan is an investor, advisor, and entrepreneur with a focus on retail and consumer companies that are pioneering the next era of digital commerce. With a well-rounded and diverse career that spans medicine, investment banking, strategy consulting, and entrepreneurship, he knows that building transformative businesses requires an outsider’s perspective and a drive to continuously learn and change. Since 2009, Andrew has been an active investor, partnering with some of the most storied next-generation brands, including Bonobos, Everlane, Refinery29, and Stance. In 2014 he launched Beltology, a digital native, vertical brand (DNVB) focused on innovation within the dormant belt category. Andrew holds an MD from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and is a graduate of the Fashion Marketing program at Parsons School of Design in New York. He currently teaches finance and strategic brand management at the acclaimed Polimoda in Florence and has been a guest lecturer at Parsons and the Amsterdam Fashion Institute. 

  • Ellen Hukkelhoven

    • Managing Director at Perceptive Advisors
    • Board Member of MeiraGTx, Kindbody, and Partner Therapeutics

    Ellen Hukkelhoven is a managing director at Perceptive Advisors, a leading health care investment firm. She focuses on public and private development–stage therapeutic companies. Ellen serves on the boards of MeiraGTx, Kindbody, and Partner Therapeutics. Prior to Perceptive, Ellen received her PhD in Cancer Biology from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. During her tenure at MSKCC, she founded and built the life sciences division of InSITE, a top graduate fellowship program that helps early-stage companies with their most pressing needs. This program includes students across various Columbia University graduate programs.  Ellen graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University with degrees in molecular biology and finance.

  • Abigail Levy

    • Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Primetime Partners

    Abby Levy is Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Primetime Partners, an early-stage venture capital fund focused on improving the quality of living of older adults. Abby has spent her career helping businesses and consumer brands grow as an operator, entrepreneur and advisor, most notably in the wellness sector. Prior to Primetime Partners, Abby was a senior executive at SoulCycle, where she oversaw business development and new digital products. Abby has also been a Founder herself, teaming with Arianna Huffington as the Founding President of Thrive Global, a behavior change technology company focused on employee productivity and wellness. Abby began her career at McKinsey & Company then led product development at OXO International. She is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School.

  • Igor Kirman

    • Partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

    Igor Kirman is a partner in the Corporate Department at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, where he focuses on mergers and acquisitions, activism and takeover defense, corporate governance, private equity, shareholder activism, and general corporate matters. Mr. Kirman is a frequent speaker at professional conferences and has written articles in numerous professional publications on topics relating to mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance.  He has been frequently recognized for achievement by professional organizations such as Chambers USA, New York Superlawyers, Who’s Who Legal, and Best Lawyers in America. He was twice named as Dealmaker of the Year by American Lawyer (2006 and 2015). Mr. Kirman is the author of a book, M&A and Private Equity Confidentiality Agreements (Thomson Reuters). He is the chair of the Practising Law Institute’s annual “Doing Deals” program in New York and teaches a course on M&A as an adjunct at Columbia Law School. Mr. Kirman received a BA in ethics, politics, and economics, magna cum laude, from Yale University in 1993 and a JD from Columbia Law School in 1996. He is involved in a number of civic institutions, including as a member of the Advisory Board of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, a trustee of the Trinity School, and a director of Renew Democracy Initiatives (RDI). 

  • Kyle MacDonald

    • Chief Science & Program Officer at the Alliance for a Healthier Generation
    • Alumni Board President for Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health

    (Ex-Officio Member): Dr. Kyle MacDonald is chief science & program officer at the Alliance for a Healthier Generation leading program innovation and evaluative strategy to advance equitable whole child health. A licensed physician with training in pediatrics and public health, Dr. MacDonald has held positions at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and KPMG, where he advised government clients on proven strategies for treating opioid addiction and other population health crises. Dr. MacDonald serves as Alumni Board President of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and as a member of the Dean’s Board of Advisors. He is also a mentor to graduate students in Columbia Mailman’s General Public Health program and previously served as a member of Healthier Generation’s Board of Directors.

    Dr. MacDonald grew up in Prince Edward Island, Canada and holds a Bachelor of Science from Queen’s University, a Doctor of Medicine from Memorial University, trained in pediatrics at the University of Ottawa, and holds a Master of Public Health from the Mailman School. He lives in New York City and is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community.

    Kyle MacDonald
  • David Magstadt

    • Senior Managing Director at Guggenheim Securities

    Dave Magstadt is a senior managing director and founding member of the Medical Device practice at Guggenheim Securities, the investment banking and capital markets business of Guggenheim Partners. Guggenheim is a leading, independent, and global investment banking firm focused in providing advisory, capital markets, sales, and trading and research to institutional clients. Mr. Magstadt joined the firm in July 2015 to lead the medical device mergers and acquisitions execution effort with the group. Prior to joining Guggenheim, Dave spent 12 years at Citigroup Global Markets Inc. working in the global mergers and acquisitions group in New York focused on health care. Over the course of his career, Mr. Magstadt has advised on a broad range of public and private corporate transactions in the hundreds of billions of deal value. Dave earned a Masters of Business Administration with honors at Columbia in 2003 and spent three years prior to business school as a consultant at Accenture both in the U.S. and Europe. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Oklahoma, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was honored as one of the 10 most outstanding students at the university. He has served on the Junior Board of the New York chapter of Covenant House and is an alumnus of Haymakers for Hope.

  • Joshua Mailman

    • Managing Director of Serious Change L.P.
    • Co-Founder of Social Venture Network

    Josh Mailman is an active investor in the most game-changing for-profit and nonprofit enterprises he can find. He believes we must assist in advancing a reimagining of how finance can advance positive societal change. Currently, Mr. Mailman is Managing Director of Serious Change L.P., a $70 million impact investment vehicle started in 2006. Serious Change invests in early-stage companies committed to environmental sustainability, diversity, advancing social justice, and meeting human needs. He also founded Social Venture Network with Wayne Silby of Calvert Group in 1987 as well as the Threshold Foundation (1981) and Business for Social Responsibility (1992). Mr. Mailman’s other nonprofit board activities include Echoing Green, the Fund for Global Human Rights, and the Calvert Foundation.

    Joshua Mailman
  • Phyllis Mailman

    • Vice President of the Mailman Foundation
    • Vice President of the Joshua Mailman Foundation

    Phyllis Mailman attended Radcliffe College and is vice president of the Mailman Foundation and the Joshua Mailman Foundation. She and her late husband, Joseph L. Mailman, were principal donors to the Mailman Research Center at the McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, and to the Mailman Center for Child Development at the University of Miami. In 1998, the Mailman Foundation made a generous gift to name the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. In addition to sitting on the Board of Advisors for the Mailman School, Mrs. Mailman is also on the board of Lincoln Center Theatre.

    Phyllis Mailman
  • Stacey Matlen

    • Senior Vice President, Innovation, Partnership Fund for New York City

    As senior vice president of innovation at the Partnership for NYC, Stacey Matlen partners with New York governmental agencies to understand their challenges and recruits innovative solutions to solve these challenges. Of note, she oversees three programs with missions to make New York the global leader in transportation, water, and buildings: the Transit Tech Lab, Environmental Tech Lab, and Buildings Tech Lab, respectively. Through the Transit Tech Lab, Stacey works with the four of the largest transit agencies in North America to make their systems more accessible, responsive, efficient, and resilient. Through the Environmental Tech Lab, launched in May 2023, in partnership with New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Stacey works to enable the largest municipal water/wastewater utility in the country to source, pilot, and evaluate new technologies to better prepare and respond to the impacts of climate change. In July 2024, Stacey led the launch of the Buildings Tech Lab, a public-private innovation lab to help New York City Department of Buildings quickly identify and test new technologies to help the largest building regulator in the country keep construction costs and times low, while prioritizing building safety and sustainability across the 1.1 million New York City buildings.

    Stacey has a public sector, startup, and public health background: She led multiple initiatives with the City of Detroit’s Office of Mobility Innovation and founded an award-winning startup that increased healthy food access for low-income residents. Stacey holds a master’s in public health and a bachelor’s degree with high distinction from the University of Michigan.

    Stacey has been recognized by Crain’s New York 40 under 40, City & State New York Power Transportation 100, and Crain’s Detroit 20 in their 20s.

    Stacey Matlen
  • Cora Neumann

    • Founder of the Global First Ladies Alliance
    • Chief Community Health Officer at Native American Development Corporation

    Dr. Cora Neumann is a public health expert and recently founded We Are Montana to support public health leadership across rural and Native Montana. Over the past 20 years, she has collaborated with local and national leaders to bring quality, accessible care to rural and Native communities—including during the current COVID outbreak. In 2009, Cora launched the Global First Ladies Alliance in partnership with the offices of First Ladies Laura Bush and Michelle Obama, over time working with more than 40 first ladies around the world to help bring critical health care and social services to their populations. Cora has served at the U.S. State Department and worked for the RAND Corporation, Bush Institute, Care.com, and more. She has a master’s in public health from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and a doctorate in international development from the University of Oxford. She most recently ran for U.S. Senate in her home state of Montana, currently serves on the board of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, is a member of the Montana Public Health Association, and serves as an advisor to COVID Local and the Montana Democratic Party Native Vote Program. Cora grew up and is based in Bozeman, surrounded by four generations of family, from her grandmother to her two teenage children.

  • Lila Preston

    • Partner at Generation Investment Management

    Lila Preston is a partner at Generation Investment Management, a global investment management firm focused on long-term sustainable investing (www.generationim.com), where she joined in 2004. At Generation, she coheads the firm’s growth equity strategy, helping to scale sustainable solutions businesses. Prior to joining Generation, Lila was a director of finance and development at VolunteerMatch in San Francisco, and also a consultant for clients such as Save the Children (YouthNoise). Prior to joining VolunteerMatch, she was a Fulbright Fellow in Southern Chile, where she worked on community-based forestry and conservation projects. Lila graduated with honors from Stanford University with a BA in English and Latin American Studies. She also received an MBA from the London Business School. Lila is also a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. Lila speaks fluent Spanish. Lila serves as a Board Director for CiBO Technologies, Recyclebank, and Seventh Generation’s Social Mission Board, as well as Board Observer for Optoro and Toast.

  • Paula Price

    • Board Member at Accenture, Bristol Myers Squibb, Western Digital and DaVita

    Paula A. Price was EVP and chief financial officer of Macy’s Inc. from July 2018 to May 2020 and currently serves as advisor to the renowned retailer. Price has been a visiting executive with Harvard Business School since July 2018, and was a full-time senior lecturer of business administration in the Accounting and Management Unit, having joined the faculty in July 2014. Until January 2014, Price was executive vice president and chief financial officer of Ahold USA, which she joined in 2009. At Ahold, Price was responsible for finance, accounting, and shared services; strategy and planning; real estate development and construction; and information technology. Price transformed the finance function; delivered a $1 billion cost-savings program to fund strategic growth initiatives; and led a team of over 1,000. Prior to joining Ahold, Price was senior vice president, controller, and chief accounting officer for CVS Caremark Corporation, and a key player in the $26 billion CVS/Caremark merger transaction. Previously, Price worked in the financial services industry at JP Morgan Chase and Prudential Insurance Co. of America; and in the consumer packaged goods industry at Diageo and Kraft Foods. Price began her career as an intern in public accounting at Arthur Andersen & Co. before joining full-time with clients that spanned financial services, consumer packaged goods, and health care. Price currently serves as an independent director for public, private, and not-for-profit companies. Today, she serves on the boards of the following publicly traded companies: Accenture, chairing its Audit Committee; Bristol Myers Squibb; Western Digital; and DaVita. Prior to her role as CFO of Macy’s, Inc., she also served on the boards of Dollar General, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, and Metropolitan College of New York. Price was previously board chair of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts. She is a qualified audit committee financial expert as defined by the SEC and a certified public accountant. Price’s career includes senior-level finance, general management, and strategy roles based in New York, Boston, London, and Chicago in the retail, financial services, health care, and consumer packaged goods industries.  Price earned her MBA in Finance and Strategy from the University of Chicago and her BSc in Accountancy from DePaul University. 

  • Carlos Sanchez

    • Director of Pediatric Skull Base Surgery at Children’s National Hospital
    • Principal Investigator in the Center for Cancer and Immunology Research at George Washington University

    Carlos E. Sanchez, MD, is the director of pediatric skull base surgery at Children’s National Hospital and a principal investigator in the Center for Cancer and Immunology Research at George Washington University. As a neurosurgeon-scientist, Dr. Sanchez has dedicated his career to improving the health of children and adults with brain tumors. He is a consultant for the Cellular Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee of the FDA. Dr. Sanchez serves as a CEO for Insurgiac Corporation, a health tech company focusing on bridging the health equity gap between academic medical centers and community hospitals. He was nominated as a cross-disciplinary fellow at Harvard Business School by Clayton Christensen, completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and completed his neurosurgical training at UCSD and the University of New Mexico. Dr. Sanchez is married to Christina Rosenberger and lives in Bethesda, MD with their three children.

  • Peggy Shepard

    • Founder and Executive Director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice
    • Member of the National Black Environmental Justice Network

    Peggy Shepard is cofounder and executive director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice and has a long history of organizing and engaging Northern Manhattan residents in community-based planning and campaigns to address environmental protection and environmental health policy locally and nationally. She has successfully combined grassroots organizing, environmental advocacy, and environmental health community-based participatory research to become a national leader in advancing environmental policy and the perspective of environmental justice in urban communities—to ensure that the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment extends to all. She serves on the Executive Committee of the National Black Environmental Justice Network and the Board of Advisors of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and was the first female chair of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Her work has received broad recognition: the Jane Jacobs Medal from the Rockefeller Foundation for Lifetime Achievement, the 10th Annual Heinz Award For the Environment, the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and honorary doctorates from Smith College and Lawrence University.

  • Rajiv Singh

    • Chairperson for FoodShot Global

    Rajiv Singh is an investor and strategic advisor in the food and agribusiness sector, serving corporations, funds, entrepreneurs, and professionals with a focus on innovation, value creation, and corporate finance. He serves as the cochairperson for FoodShot Global, a moonshot-style challenge program he helped found, designed to address key problems in the food sector to make it more healthy, sustainable, and equitable. He formerly served as CEO of Rabobank North America, where he established deep relationships with leaders, owners, and management at companies in the food, agribusiness, commodities, and energy sectors, collaborating with them in investments, financing, capital markets, and corporate transformation transactions. As CEO, Rajiv was responsible for corporate banking, private equity and venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, specialized products, food and agribusiness research, and capital markets activities, as well as all operational and support functions. He launched a number of innovation platforms while at the bank, focused on addressing challenges in the food sector. He has been the chair or member of principal risk committees focused on equity, credit, compliance, and reputation. As a special focus on food sector innovation, he led the launch of platforms like Foodbytes and MIT Food Prize (pitch competitions in the food and agribusiness sectors), and Terra (a science and technology–focused accelerator program for food/ag entrepreneurs with large corporates as sector partners). Prior to Rabobank, Rajiv had a career in investment banking and special situations investing at Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse and in corporate strategy and project operations at United Technologies and Nestle, Rajiv is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology and Harvard Business School.

  • Ashwin Vasan

    • Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

    (Ex-Officio Member): Dr. Ashwin Vasan is the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Dr. Vasan is a primary care physician, epidemiologist, and public health expert with nearly 20 years of experience working to improve physical and mental health, social welfare, and public policy for marginalized populations in New York City, nationally and globally. Since 2014 he has served on the faculty at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and he continues to see patients as a primary care internist in the Division of General Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Dr. Vasan most recently served as the president and CEO of Fountain House, a national nonprofit fighting to improve health, increase opportunity, and end social and economic isolation for people most impacted by mental illness. Early in his career, Dr. Vasan spent nearly a decade at the intersection of global health, HIV, and primary care, working with the nonprofit Partners In Health (PIH) in Rwanda, Lesotho, and Boston, and at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Uganda and Geneva. From 2016 to 2019, Dr. Vasan served as the founding executive director of the Health Access Equity Unit at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which focused on the intersection of clinical and social services for the care of people involved in the criminal legal system and other vulnerable populations. He is a proud husband and father of three school-aged children who fill up every free moment of his time.

  • Jody Wolfe

    • President of the Mailman Foundation

    Jody Mailman Wolfe is the president of the Mailman Foundation. Retired after nearly 25 years in professional law enforcement, Ms. Wolfe has served on a number of nonprofit boards in New York and Miami with a range of interests, including child welfare, foster care, substance abuse prevention, independent school education, and the arts. Ms. Wolfe has long been involved in higher education and currently serves on the Board of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni based in Washington, DC. In addition to Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the Mailman Foundation has also been an important benefactor to institutions such as the Mailman Research Center in Psychobiology at Harvard’s McLean Hospital in Massachusetts, the Mailman Center for Child Development at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

    Jody Wolfe
  • Ian Woo

    • President & CFO of Everest Medicines
    • Managing Director at C-Bridge Capital

    Ian Woo is a managing director at C-Bridge Capital, a health care–dedicated private equity firm focused on growth and late-stage investment opportunities with $1.7 billion under management. Ian is also the president and CFO of Everest Medicines, a biopharma platform started by C-Bridge Capital that is focused on bringing innovative medicines to Greater China and Asia emerging markets across four therapeutic areas: oncology, infectious disease, renal & immunology, and CNS. Previously, Ian was a managing director in the global health care group at Lazard, one of the world's premier financial advisory and asset management firms. He worked with numerous global biopharma companies and led Lazard’s healthcare efforts in Greater China. Ian joined Lazard in 2005 and was based in New York, other than from 2012 to 2016, when he worked in the firm’s Hong Kong office. Ian holds a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School, a master’s degree in molecular and cellular biology from Columbia University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Tufts University. Ian was also a student at Harvard University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and conducted research at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he was an author on multiple published papers.

  • Felicity Yost

    • Founder and CEO, Tia

    Felicity Yost is Co-Founder and CEO of Tia, a clinical services business reimagining the way women find, access, and experience primary and preventive care.

    Prio to Tia, Felicity held roles in finance and tech start ups. She's committed to a better vision of our future using data and technology.

Chairs Emeriti

  • Alan Batkin

    • Chairman Emeritus of the International Rescue Committee
    • Chair of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health

    Alan R. Batkin was vice chairman of Eton Park Capital Management, L.P., a global, multidisciplinary investment firm from 2007 to 2012. Prior to joining Eton Park, he was, from 1990 to 2007, vice chairman of Kissinger Associates, a geopolitical consulting company. He is chairman emeritus of the International Rescue Committee; chair of Airbel, IRC’s Innovation Lab; a trustee and member of the Executive Committee of the New York City Police Foundation; a member of the Board and Executive Committee of the MD Anderson Cancer Center; and Chair of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health. He is a member of the Columbia Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute’s “Brain Trust.” Mr. Batkin is a trustee of the Brookings Institution and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a former member of the Trilateral Commission and the Inter-American Dialogue. He received a BS from the University of Rochester and an MBA from New York University.

  • James Harden

    • Founder, National Advisory Board for Health Policy and Management

    James (Jim) Harden served for over 15 years as the founding chairman of the Board of Advisors for the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and is now chair emeritus. He also created two doctoral fellowship funds for the history of medicine and public health. As a 1983 alumnus of the School’s Health Policy and Management Program, Jim was a leader in the creation of the National Advisory Board for Health Policy and Management. He is also a 1978 graduate of Columbia Business School.

    Having served the maximum term of twelve years as a trustee of Columbia University, Jim is now trustee emeritus. He served as chair of the Board’s Nominating and Governance Committee, as well as a member of the Finance Committee and the Health Sciences Committee. A retired health care executive, Jim served a total of 30 years at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. For nine years until his retirement, Jim was the CEO of Catholic Health Services on Long Island, the second largest nongovernmental employer in the region.

  • John Rowe

    • Julius B. Richmond Professor of Health Policy and Aging at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

    Dr. John Rowe is Julius B. Richmond Professor of Health Policy and Aging in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Previously he served as chairman and CEO of Aetna, Inc., president and chief executive officer of Mount Sinai NYU Health, the Mount Sinai Hospital, and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. Before joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Rowe was a professor of medicine and the founding director of the Division on Aging at Harvard Medical School. He led the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Aging and currently leads the Foundation’s Network on An Aging Society. Dr. Rowe is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation.

  • Diana Taylor

    • Board Member of Citigroup and Brookfield Asset Management

    Diana Taylor began her career as an investment banker in the 1980s. In the mid-1990s, she joined George Pataki, governor of the State of New York, on his staff, held several positions over 15 years, including State Banking Superintendent. She then moved on to private equity, working at Wolfensohn and then as an advisor to Solera. Ms. Taylor now serves on the Boards of two public companies, Citigroup and Brookfield Asset Management, and one privately held company, Ampere Computing. She also serves as the chair of the board of several nonprofit groups, including Accion, the New York City Ballet, Hudson River Park Friends, and Hot Bread Kitchen. She is the former chair of the New York City Women’s Foundation and the YMCA of Greater New York, and she has served on the Boards of Dartmouth College and the Mayo Clinic. She is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Economic Club of New York. She earned her AB from Dartmouth College, her MBA from Columbia Business School, and her MPH from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

    Diana Taylor

Senior Advisors

  • Thomas Campbell Jackson

    • Venture Partner at Easton Capital Investment Group

    Thomas Campbell Jackson is a Venture Partner at Easton Capital Investment Group. He has over 25 years of experience in health policy and health economics, including as Director of New York City’s Employee Health Benefits Program, which arranges health coverage for over a million city employees and retirees. He has worked in think tanks and consulted on health policy and insurance matters. Mr. Jackson has served on the Board of Directors of Nanotronics Imaging; Cell Machines, Inc.; and other tech startups, and is also an active producer of works in film and theatre. He serves on the Board of Governors of the New York Academy of Sciences, the Board of Directors of the Galen Institute, and the boards of numerous arts and sciences organizations, including Imaginal Disc Productions and the Bellevue Literary Press. He is also President of the Brandt Jackson Foundation. Mr. Jackson received his MPH from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health; studied at the Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany; and earned a BA from Tufts University.

    Thomas Campbell Jackson
  • Julie Fisher Cummings

    • Presidential Appointee, Corporation for National and Community Service
    • Chairman and Co-Founder of Lovelight Foundation

    Julie Fisher Cummings, MSSW, presently serves as chair of the Board for the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties. Ms. Cummings’ work bridges academia, public service, and policy reform. She has dedicated over 40 years to civic leadership locally and nationally through her positions, amongst them: Corporation for National and Community Service (presidential appointee), Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health (Board), The Promise Fund (cofounder with Nancy Brinker), The Lord’s Place (Board), Jewish Federation for the Palm Beaches (former campaign chair, women’s philanthropy), Jewish Women’s Foundation for the Palm Beaches (founding trustee), Center for High Impact Philanthropy, UPENN (Advisory Board), and the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation. She is the cofounder of Lovelight Fund and the Florida Women’s Funding Alliance.

    Julie Fisher Cummings
  • Charles Diker

    • Managing Partner of Diker Management LLC

    Charles M. Diker is the managing partner of Diker Management LLC, founded in 2002, where he is a registered investment advisor managing various small and micro-cap funds. He is the chairman of the board of Cantel Medical Corp., an NYSE-listed company that markets and manufactures infection control products, and a director of the Loews Corporation. Currently, Mr. Diker is the founding chairman of the National Museum of the American Indian–New York and the George Gustav Heye Center, and is a trustee of New York Public Radio, Poly Prep Country Day School, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. He is the former president of the American Friends of the Israel Museum. After graduating with honors from Harvard College, Mr. Diker received his MBA from Harvard Business School. He and his wife, Valerie, reside in Manhattan.

    Charles Diker
  • Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr.

    • Senior Minister Emeritus of The Riverside Church
    • President of the Healing of the Nations Foundation

    The Rev. Dr. James Alexander Forbes, Jr., is senior minister emeritus of The Riverside Church and president of the Healing of the Nations Foundation. Forbes, who was installed as the fifth senior minister of Riverside on June 1, 1989, and retired on June 1, 2007, was the first African-American to serve as senior minister of this multicultural congregation. He is an ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches and the Original United Holy Church of America. He earned a doctor of ministry degree from Colgate-Rochester Divinity School, a master of divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary, and a BA from Howard University, and has received numerous honorary degrees.

    James F. Forbes
  • Adrian Gore

    • Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Discovery

    South African Adrian Gore is the founder and chief executive officer of Discovery, a multinational financial services group. Discovery is a global thought leader in consumer-driven insurance and the integration of behavioral change with health and life and short-term insurance. It serves over six million customers worldwide. Mr. Gore chairs the South African chapter of Endeavor, a global nonprofit organization that identifies and assists high-growth entrepreneurs. He sits on the World Economic Forum Global Health Advisory Board, which is committed to improving global health care; the Brookings Advisory Board; and the Massachusetts General Hospital Global Health Advisory Board. Mr. Gore graduated from Wits University in 1986.

    Adrian Gore
  • David Harris

    • Member, New York State Boards of Medicine and Professional Medical Conduct

    Dr. David Harris has had a long-standing career in the medical field. He was the vice president of medical affairs for the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, the commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Health, the associate director of Mount Sinai Hospital, and deputy commissioner of NYC Department of Health. He attended Cornell University, where he was selected to Phi Beta Kappa, and received his MD from New York University. Dr. Harris is a 1965 alumnus of the Columbia Mailman School and a recipient of Columbia’s Alumni Federation Medal for Conspicuous Service. In addition to his 40 years on the board of Public Health Solutions, Dr. Harris serves on the boards of several organizations that address issues of medicine, health, home health and hospice care, disposal of low-level radioactive waste, and protection of community water supplies. As a member of the New York State Board for Medicine and the New York State Board of Professional Medical Conduct, Dr. Harris now focuses his professional interests on physician licensure and discipline.

  • Frank R. Jimenez

    • General Counsel of Raytheon Technologies

    Frank R. Jimenez leads the Office of General Counsel of Raytheon Technologies, where he oversees a variety of legal and regulatory affairs, including corporate governance and transactions, ethics and compliance, litigation, contracts, and intellectual property. His career includes legal leadership positions in military agencies, civil government, and public companies in the private sector. Most recently he was vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary of Raytheon Company prior to its merger with United Technologies Corporation in 2020. Jimenez previously served as general counsel of three S&P 500 Companies: ITT Corp., Xylem Inc., and Bunge Ltd. Before that, he served as the 21st General Counsel of the Navy, where he was one of seven U.S. Senate–confirmed Pentagon civilians of four-star equivalent rank overseeing the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. He was also the deputy general counsel for the U.S. Department of Defense, chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and deputy chief of staff and acting general counsel to the governor of Florida. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami, a juris doctorate degree from Yale Law School, an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree in national security and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College. 

    Frank Jimenez
  • Cyrus Massoumi

    • Founder and CEO of Dr. B
    • Managing Partner and Founder of Humbition

    Cyrus Massoumi is managing partner and founder of humbition, an early-stage venture firm focused on NYC startups. Prior to humbition, Cyrus founded Zocdoc, where he led the company for 8 years as CEO. Earlier in his career, he worked at the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, where he gained extensive experience in health care technology and new product development. Cyrus is a graduate of Columbia Business School, where he earned an MBA with honors and received the Heffernan Award for Outstanding Service and the Exemplary Leadership Award, and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Science with honors. Cyrus has been recognized by both Fortune and Crain’s on their 40 under 40 lists and by Fast Company as one of the Most Creative People in Business.

    Dr. Cyrus Massoumi
  • Martin Oppenheimer

    • Board Member of the 92nd Street YMHA, the N.Y. Road Runners, and the Emelin Theatre

    Martin Oppenheimer practiced law for more than 50 years at the Proskauer firm. He specialized in labor and employment law representing Fortune 500 companies, served as chair of the labor and employment department of the firm and lectured and wrote extensively in his field. Most of his time is now spent in the not-for-profit arena, including serving as Board Member of the 92nd Street YMHA, the N.Y. Road Runners, and the Emelin Theatre, and as emeritus chairman of City Center of Music and Drama and director emeritus of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Mr. Oppenheimer graduated from Yale Law School and attended Goethe University in Germany as a Fulbright Scholar.

    Martin Oppenheimer
  • Mary Lake Polan

    • Clinical Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology Reproductive Medicine at Yale University
    • Managing Director of Golden Seeds
    • Founder of The Eritrean Women's Project

    Mary Lake Polan served as the chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Stanford’s School of Medicine and is currently a Clinical Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology Reproductive Medicine at Yale University. Dr. Polan served on the board of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and currently serves on the boards of Quidel Corp and several privately held life sciences companies. She chairs the Scientific Advisory Board on Women’s Health and Hygiene for Proctor & Gamble and several other advisory boards of private life sciences companies. She is a managing director of Golden Seeds, an angel investing group which invests in women-led companies. A member of the Institute of Medicine, Dr. Polan has a long-standing interest in women’s health research and international public health. She founded The Eritrean Women’s Project to repair fistulas resulting from traumatic births. She received her BA from Connecticut College, her PhD in molecular physics and chemistry and MD from Yale, and her MPH from the University of California, Berkeley.

  • Perri Peltz

    • Documentary Filmmaker
    • Journalist

    Perri Peltz is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, and public health advocate who most recently directed the HBO documentary Warning: This Drug May Kill You, about the opioid addiction epidemic. She also coproduced and codirected the HBO documentary Risky Drinking, a no-holds-barred look at alcohol use. She codirected “A Conversation About Growing Up Black” as part of the “Conversation on Race” series for The New York Times op-docs. Other films include HBO’s Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro, Sr., The Education of Dee Dee Ricks, Prison Dogs, and A Journey of a Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers. Perri hosts The Perri Peltz Show and Doctor Radio Reports  for the SiriusXM satellite network. Before working in documentary films, Perri was an award-winning broadcast journalist for NBC, ABC, and CNN. She is currently a doctoral candidate at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and attended Brown University.

    Perri Peltz
  • Jonathan Smidt

    • Founding Partner of Equable Capital
    • Member of the Council of Foreign Relations

    Jonathan Smidt is the founding partner of Equable Capital, a New York–based private investment firm. Until May 2018, Jonathan was a Partner in KKR’s private equity practice in both London and New York, where he spent the previous 18 years.  Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Smidt was at Goldman Sachs in New York and Ernst and Young in Cape Town, South Africa. Mr. Smidt holds a B. Bus. Sci. and GDA from the University of Cape Town. He is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and serves on the board of Team Rubicon.

  • Eric Tokat

    • Partner at Centerview Partners
    • Board Member of the International Rescue Committee (IRC)

    E. Eric Tokat is a partner and a founding member of the Healthcare Practice at Centerview Partners, a leading independent investment banking firm specializing in general advisory, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, and principal investing, with offices in New York, London, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Mr. Tokat has advised numerous clients on a broad range of strategic advisory assignments and transactions exceeding $200 billion in value across developed and emerging markets. He serves on the Board of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and is a member of the Global Leadership Council at The Brookings Institution. Mr. Tokat is also a vice chair of the Child Health Initiative under the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Financing the Health Millennium Development Goals. Mr. Tokat received his BA from Bogazici University and MA from Columbia.

    E. Eric Tokat
  • Leonard Tow

    • Founder and Chairman of The Tow Foundation

    Leonard Tow is the founder and chairman of The Tow Foundation and chief executive officer of New Century Holdings, LLC. Dr. Tow was previously chairman and chief executive officer of Citizens Utilities Company and founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Century Communications Corp., a cable television company. Dr. Tow was also the founder and director of Centennial Cellular Corp. He graduated from Brooklyn College and holds doctoral and master’s degrees from Columbia University, and has taught economics and economics geography at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, Brooklyn College, and Hunter College. Dr. Tow also served for several years as distinguished adjunct professor at New York University’s School of Business. Brooklyn College, City University of New York, and the University of New Haven have awarded Dr. Tow Doctorates of Humane Letters. Dr. Tow serves on the boards of several organizations, including Lincoln Center Theater, Educational Broadcasting Corp., and The Tow Foundation. He is a trustee of Brooklyn College Foundation, a senior advisor of the Board of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and is also a director of AMC Networks.

  • Betsy Helen Williams

    • Founder and Co-Chair of Emerging Public Leaders

    Betsy Williams is the founder and cochair of Emerging Public Leaders (EPL), which is building a new generation of civil service leaders in Africa to help accelerate Africa’s development and economic growth. EPL builds on the success of the President’s Young Professionals Program in Liberia, which Ms. Williams founded while working with then–Minister of Health Dr. Walter Winkle, seeing the country’s urgent need for a stronger civil service following two civil wars, and recognizing the potential of youth to drive that progress. Ms. Williams’ work has focused on the intersection of social development, foreign policy, and global health, having launched and supported innovative programs at USAID, JSI, Asia Society, and Physicians for Human Rights. She graduated cum laude from Princeton University and received her MPH from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, where she currently serves on the Board of Advisors. She is married to Tom Moore and lives in Washington, DC, with their two daughters.

    Betsy Williams
  • William Zabel

    • Founding Partner of Schulte Roth & Zabel

    Mr. William Zabel is a founding partner of Schulte Roth & Zabel and head of its Individual Client Services Group. He has received numerous recognitions, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from The American Lawyer, the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Human Rights Award, Brandeis’ Distinguished Community Service Award, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights Extraordinary Leader Award, and the Robert F. Kennedy Justice Prize. Mr. Zabel is a member of the American Law Institute and the Council on Foreign Relations, a Fellow of Brandeis University, American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel, and the American Bar Foundation. His civic and philanthropic activities have included chair of Human Rights First, life trustee of NYU, The New School, Princeton University Planned Giving Committee, Lincoln Center Theatre, American Academy of Poets, and the Sakharov Archives. Mr. Zabel is recognized as one of the country’s most outstanding Trust & Estates lawyers. He graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University and cum laude from Harvard Law School.

    William Zabel

In Memoriam

  • Susan Lasker Brody

  • Sherwin Z. Goodblatt

  • Ann Kaplan

  • Sid Lerner

  • Susan Patricof