Brooklyn Community Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of six new members to its Board of Directors: Deborah Archer, Genevieve Kahr, Harsha Marti, Gabriel Schwartz, Sarah Williams and John Wright. Each has been elected to serve a three-year term.
"As a community foundation committed to supporting local leaders, developing our own leadership is critical to our long-term success. We are thrilled to have such accomplished and passionate Brooklynites dedicate themselves to our mission and the future of our borough," said Brooklyn Community Foundation Chair Alan Fishman. "At the same time, we want to honor the outstanding service of three retiring members—Don Elliot, Malcolm MacKay, and Maria Fiorini Ramirez—who have been critical in the establishment and growth of this institution, as they transition to our Emeritus Board."
Launched in 2009 as the first and still only foundation for New York City's largest borough, Brooklyn Community Foundation mobilizes people, capital, and expertise to achieve its vision of a fair and just Brooklyn. The Foundation's now 14-member Board of Directors stewards its strategic grantmaking and special initiatives as well as the growth of its philanthropic assets to benefit Brooklyn communities.
About the New Board Members
Deborah Archer is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at New York Law School where she is also Director of the Racial Justice Project and the Civil Rights Clinic. She was previously an assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. and a Marvin H. Karpatkin Fellow with the American Civil Liberties Union. Prior to joining New York Law School, Dean Archer was an associate at Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett LLP. She lives in Park Slope with her husband, Deputy Mayor Richard Buery, and their children.
Genevieve Kahr is a Partner at Jericho Capital, a hedge fund focused on the global technology, media and telecom sectors. Genevieve joined Jericho at the fund's founding in 2009 and currently directs the firm's research efforts. Previously, she was an Associate at TPG-Axon Capital, a global investment firm. She is also a founding member of the Foundation's young leadership group, Brooklyn Now. She and her husband, Daniel Freedberg, a gastroenterologist, live in Brooklyn Heights.
Harsha Marti is a Managing Director and Assistant General Counsel of Warburg Pincus LLC. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus, he was at the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP in New York where he was an attorney focused on private equity transactions. Harsha was born and raised in New York City and lives in Fort Greene with his wife, Meera, also an attorney, and three children.
Gabriel Schwartz is a Managing Member of Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP, a global institutional investment management firm, which he joined in 2009. Prior to that, he was a Managing Director in the Special Situations Group at Goldman, Sachs & Co. He lives in Brooklyn Heights with his wife, Jolie Curtsinger, an actress, and their two children.
Sarah Williams works with family foundations, individual donors, social investors, and corporations to help them give and invest smartly and strategically. Sarah is a co-founder of the Advective Capital, an impact investment fund that supports and invests in social entrepreneurs, and a founder of the ImpactAssets 50 guide. She lives in Park Slope with her husband, Andrew Kimball, chief executive at Industry City, and their two sons.
John Wright is Principal of The Wright Group, a governmental relations consulting firm he established in 2010. Prior to starting his firm, John served as Assistant Executive Director for the Center for Children and Families/Safespace, Inc. He was also the Assistant Executive Director of New York City's oldest African-American-run child welfare agency, the Harlem Dowling-Westside Center. He is originally from Sierra Leone and lives in Bedford Stuyvesant.
