Our board members feel a deep, personal commitment to the region. They lead Fairfield County’s Community Foundation through their expertise, community knowledge, and conviction that philanthropy and the power of many change lives.
Lizanne Galbreath, Chair
Lizanne Galbreath joined the board in 2009 & serves as Board Chair and Chair of the Executive Committee. She also serves on the Governance, Finance, Audit and Investment Committees
Ms. Galbreath is the Managing Director of Galbreath & Company with real estate investments and private equity holdings in the US.
Prior to Galbreath & Co., Ms. Galbreath served on Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL) Board of Directors and was Chairman of LaSalle Partners Management Services Group, which provided strategic management direction for the firm’s largest business entity. LaSalle Partners Management Services included Property Leasing & Management, Facility Management and LaSalle Development business unit capabilities.
Before LaSalle Partners, Ms. Galbreath served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Galbreath Company, a privately-owned, full-service real estate company that merged operations with LaSalle Partners in 1997. The Galbreath Company had 14 offices throughout the US, over 2000 employees and 100 million square feet under management. The Company founded in 1920 by her Grandfather, John Galbreath, was a development firm of Class A, institutional quality commercial buildings in major downtown markets in the United States. Developments included headquarter projects for Mobil Oil, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Bank One, Union Bank, Swiss Bank, US Steel and Nationwide Insurance. During her tenure with Galbreath, she held operating responsibilities for the New York office from 1989 to 1993, during which time she played an instrumental role in evolving the company’s full-service capabilities. Ms. Galbreath’s real estate career began in 1979 with Chemical Bank in New York as a financial analyst in their real estate division.
Ms. Galbreath received a Masters of Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College. She currently serves on the boards of Interval Leisure Group (NASDAQ: IILG), Paramount Group (NYSE: PGRE), the Urban Land Institute and the Fairfield County Community Foundation, where she chairs the Board. Ms. Galbreath formally served on the boards of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT), Grosvenor, North America (The Duke of Westminster’s North American real estate investment company), Stew Leonard’s (a regional food and wine company in third generation of ownership) and was the past chair of The Wharton School’s Real Estate Advisory Board.
Martha Olson, Vice Chair
Martha Olson began working with the Community Foundation’s rebranding efforts in 2013 and joined the board in 2014. Martha serves as Vice chair of the Executive Committee, and a member of the Governance Committee and the Marketing Council.
Martha has a 30+ year career spanning the consumer packaged goods and apparel industries. She is known as a consumer-focused strategist and has a track record of growing global, iconic brands and delivering top-line sales growth and superior shareholder returns. Following a transition role in the merger of Warnaco, Inc. into the PVH, Inc. organization, Martha is now focused on board and advisory work. In addition to FCCF, Martha serves as a member of the Lawrence University Board of Trustees, Chair of the Marketing Advisory Council, Recruitment & Retention, Academic Affairs and Buildings & Grounds committees and the Underfashion Club board, Strategic Planning, Membership, Finance and Nominating committees. Martha is also a Visiting Professor in Fashion and Fashion Business at the NYU Gallatin School.
Martha holds a BA from Lawrence University and an MBA in marketing and finance from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. She lives in Darien.
Bob Eydt, Treasurer
Bob Eydt joined the board in 2014 and currently serves as Chair of the Finance Committee. He is also a member of the Executive Committee.
He is a seasoned partner from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) with over 30 years of experience serving and advising large Global Fortune 500 multinational companies, mutual funds and Private Equity Firms on complex business transactions and accounting matters.
Bob currently advises Fortune 500 and private companies upon retiring from PwC in July 2012. Bob has been a resident of Norwalk since 1980 and an active leader in local community organizations for the past 30 years.
Jacqueline R. Millan, Secretary
Jacqueline Millan joined the board in 2012 and currently serves as Chair of the Development Committee. She also serves on the Executive, Governance and the Education-Economic Opportunity Program Committees and the Thrive by 25 initiative Most recently, Jackie was Vice President, PepsiCo Foundation, and Senior Director, Corporate Contributions from 2000-2012. She oversaw PepsiCo Foundation’s development of and investment in groundbreaking multi-million dollar strategic initiatives in health, environment and education.
Under Ms. Millan’s 30+ years of leadership and working with five different CEO’s, PepsiCo Foundation’s annual disbursements increased from under $1 million to $30 million, and international giving increased to over one-third of the total Foundation portfolio.
She is a Smith College graduate and earned an MBA with honors from Pace University. She is Smith College Class President and chair of the Hospitality and Newcomers Committee at St. Stephen’s Church in Ridgefield, where she has lived for 39 years with her husband, Doug.
Vincencia Adusei
Vincencia Adusei was born in Ghana and fluent in the Akan/Twi language. She joined the board in 2016 and is a member of the Education-Economic Opportunity Program Committee. Self-motivated and transformative leader who founded and manages highly successful, diverse small business enterprise that provides an array of services ranging from construction management and general contracting services to consulting services, and designing/ providing a web-based bid portal for agencies and construction businesses. Successfully coordinated or participated in almost 100 developments or construction projects totaling over $75 million. Provided invaluable consulting services to more than 500 small or startup businesses. Her leadership, organizational, background, and project management capabilities give her a unique combination of skills that will enable her to transform an organization or community as well as develop and implement a long-term, sustainable and strategic plan.
John Bailey
John Bailey joined the board in 2013 and currently serves as Chair of the Investment Committee. As the Founder and CEO of Spruce Investment Advisors, LLC, Mr. Bailey manages Spruce on a day-to-day basis and leads the firm’s investment process with particular emphasis on global alternative investments. John is a member of Spruce’s board and investment committee, and is quoted in Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and the Financial Times.
Prior to founding Spruce, Mr. Bailey was CEO of investments for a private family office, advised wealthy families and institutional clients at Columbus Circle, then owned by PIMCO, and was an equity research analyst at Oppenheimer & Company. John also serves on the advisory board of the Family Office Association.
Mr. Bailey earned an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business and is an avid sailor.
Annie Burleigh
Annie Burleigh joined the board in 2014 and serves as Co-Chair of the Fund for Women and Girls Steering Committee and Advisory Council as well as a member of the Governance Committee. Annie graduated from St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire, Middlebury College, received a Masters in Teaching from Columbia University and taught in New York City and Cambridge, MA.
She is on the boards of At Home in Darien, Horizons Student Enrichment Program, and is a Founding member of a new initiative, Culture of Respect, that creates solutions and brings awareness to issues surrounding sexual assaults on college campuses. She was the co-founder of the St. Thomas Moore Parish Women’s Circle and the Children’s Tag Sale. She is a former board member of Nativity Schools in New York City, The New Canaan Winter Club and was involved on many levels at the New Canaan Country School, St. Paul’s School, Williams College and Middlebury College.
Annie is the Executive Director of her family’s small private foundation. She and her family live in Darien.
Brandon L. Cardwell
Brandon Cardwell joined the board in 2014 and serves as a Co-Chair of the Marketing Council and a member of the Thrive by 25 initiative. He is currently a Business Consultant for the Stamford-based company, Indeed.com, a comprehensive internet search engine for jobs.
Prior to working at indeed.com, he was a Search Engine Marketing Analyst at the digital advertising agency, Publicis Modem. Brandon attended both the University of Connecticut’s Stamford branch and the main campus located in Storrs, CT. While at UCONN, Brandon served in various leadership roles for student organizations. He was both a Founding Member and President/CEO of a student-run record label (Husky Entertainment), Assistant Production Manager at the University’s radio station (WHUS), and Director of the University’s student-run television station’s (UCTV) Advertising Department.
Brandon’s true passion in life is coaching both youth basketball and little league baseball in his free time and he hopes to pursue coaching as a full-time career in the future.
Abelardo S. Curdumi
Abelardo S. Curdumi, CFP® joined the board in 2012 and serves as Vice-Chair of the Finance Committee and is a member of the Education-Economic Opportunity Program Committee. He is a partner and co-founder of 5th Street Advisors, LLC. Abelardo has over 25 years of experience in commercial and investment banking and held senior management positions at First Chicago Corporation, Republic National Bank of New York and HSBC Banks, USA. At 5th Street, his primary responsibility is risk management and mitigation.
Originally from Cuba, Abelardo received a bachelor’s degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in international management from the American Graduate School of International Management. He is currently a commissioner of the Housing Authority of Greenwich and has served on the town’s Representative Town Meeting.
Abelardo lives in Old Greenwich with his wife and two children.
Amy C. Downer
Amy C. Downer joined the board in 2011 and serves as Chair of the Governance Committee. She is also a member of the Executive Committee, Audit Committee and the Fund for Women & Girls Steering Committee and CNE Advisory Council. Amy has been involved with the Foundation for many years as the former Co-Chair of the Fund for Women and Girls.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Amy is a graduate of the Horizons Student Enrichment Program in New Canaan, New Canaan Country School, Phillips Exeter Academy and Princeton University. Amy began her career in commercial banking, where she was an officer of Chase Manhattan Bank and the Bank of New England. Amy is a member of the Board’s Executive Committee for Horizons National, where she was formerly board chairperson.
Amy has served as a board member of the Stamford Health System (Stamford Hospital), a trustee of New Canaan Country School. Amy lives in Stamford with her husband.
Edwin L. Ford
Mr. Ford joined the board in 2016 and serves on the Audit Committee and the Finance Committees. He is a retired senior financial services professional with over thirty years of capital markets, derivative products, structured investments, risk management and regulatory experience. He served with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission monitoring large banks and broker dealers. Previously, Mr. Ford co-founded Harvest Global Partners (HGP), an advisory firm that provided risk management, portfolio and capital markets valuations to financial services and institutional clients.
Prior to HGP, Mr. Ford was a Director in the U.S. Capital Markets group at the Citi Private Bank, responsible for developing structured investments and portfolio strategies for high net worth clients. Prior to Citi, he was a Managing Director with Swiss Re Financial Services, responsible for structure and execution of asset-backed, credit enhanced, residual value and derivative linked transactions. Mr. Ford has held senior positions with TMG Financial Products, Merrill Lynch & Co., Sakura Global Capital, Chemical Bank and Citicorp Investment Bank. In various roles with these firms, he headed several marketing units, ran the Treasury Group and was responsible for the structure and execution of a variety of fixed income, equity, commodity, municipal and foreign currency derivative linked transactions.
He was a past Trustee of the New Canaan Country School and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Stamford Hospital System.
Mr. Ford earned a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin and a M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Chicago. In addition, he held Series 7, 24, 53 and 63 licenses.
Children: Two sons – Brian Ford and Philip Ford
Spouse: Veronica Ford
Clayton Fowler
Clayton Fowler joined the board in 2015 and serves as a member on the Finance Committee. He is a Founding partner of Spinnaker Real Estate Partners.
Mr. Fowler has over 30 years of experience in acquisition, development, construction, and management of commercial and residential projects. He is also the managing development partner of several projects in Portland, OR, among them Hoyt Street Properties, a 3,000-unit urban development with 2,300 units completed, and Spinnaker St. Louis.
Mr. Fowler is a leading advocate of affordable housing and has served on affordable housing committees and study groups throughout Fairfield County. He has been the Chairman of the Planning Board for the Town of Pound Ridge, NY for almost 20 years. He currently serves on the Boards of the Housing Development Fund of Lower Fairfield County, the Norwalk Chamber of Commerce, and the Maritime Aquarium. Mr. Fowler is a Founding Board Member of the Fairfield/Westchester Real Estate Finance Association and is a Member of the Urban Land Institute.
Gerald M. Fox, III
Gerald M. Fox, III joined the board in 2015 and serves on the Thrive by 25 initiative and CNE Advisory Council. He has practiced law for over twenty years as a partner with the law firm Fox & Fox and is the newly elected Stamford Probate Judge.
Gerald served on the Connecticut General Assembly House of Representatives from 2005-2015, including four years as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Formerly, Gerald was elected Chairman of the Stamford Board of Finance and served on Stamford’s Board of Representatives. He currently serves on the Boards for the Stamford Museum and Nature Center and St. Josephs Parenting Center.
Gerald is a 2012 recipient of the Stamford Hands for Life Outstanding Community Service Award and was recognized by the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence. He has been repeatedly honored by Mothers Against Drunk Driving for his work in passing legislation strengthening Connecticut’s drunk driving law. In 2010, he was recognized by the Connecticut Police Chiefs’ Association for his support of anti-crime measures.
Michelle K. Garvey
Michelle K. Garvey joined the board in 2015 and currently serves on the Audit Committee.
Ms. Garvey is currently the EVP/CIO of J Crew has held CIO positions with Ann Inc., Warnaco, Brooks Brothers, Memberworks, and Sportmart. She has previous experience at retailers such as Crate and Barrel, the Registry Stores, and Ames Department Stores, after starting her career in consulting with Arthur Andersen.
Ms. Garvey holds a BS in Civil Engineering and an MBA in Finance from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Steven Goldstein
Steven Goldstein joined the board in 2014 and serves as Chair of CNE Advisory Council. He is also a member of the Marketing Council. He is CEO of Amplifi Media, a company focused on digital audio strategies for corporations which he founded in 2015. Steven previously served as Executive VP of Saga Communications, a public broadcasting company. He is also the creator of Fastblast, LLC, a company that pioneered the field of local internet advertising.
Steven serves as a committee member for Autism Speaks of Westchester/Fairfield. He has also served as chairman of the Arbitron Advisory Council, and in various positions for the National Association of Broadcasters.
Steven earned his bachelor’s degree in television and radio from The Ithaca College School of Communications. He lives in Westport with his wife, Jennifer, and three children.
Joel Z.Green
Joel Green joined the board in 2016 and currently serves on the Governance and the Education & Economic Opportunity Program Committees.
For more than thirty years Joel has practiced law in Bridgeport concentrating on civil litigation and land use matters successfully representing countless individuals, neighborhood and community groups in an effort to promote responsible development throughout Fairfield County and New Haven County.
He has been a member of the Board of Directors of Sullivan McKinney Elder Housing in Fairfield and a member and Chair of the Board of Operation Hope of Fairfield where he currently remains on the Advisory Board. Joel presently serves on the Board of Commissioners of the Bridgeport Downtown Special Services District and the Board of Directors of the Bridgeport Field of Dreams Foundation. Additionally, he served as a five-term member of the Fairfield Representative Town Meeting including six years during which he was elected and served as the Moderator.
Joel received his bachelor’s degree from Clark University and J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He lives in Fairfield with his wife Erica and two daughters.
Greg Hartch
Greg Joined the Board in 2013.He is the former Treasurer and serves on Finance and Investment Committees. Greg is a Senior Managing Director, Integration Leader & Stamford Business Location Head at State Street Global Advisors. He is a member of SSGA’s Executive Management Group as well as the Fiduciary and Risk Committees. Greg joined SSGA in July 2016 through its acquisition of GE Asset Management (GEAM). He began his career at GEAM in 2002 as a portfolio manager for Alternative Assets on behalf of GE’s insurance clients and held a number of different roles including Chief Risk Officer & Chief Operating Officer, Director of Fixed Income Research, Head of Tactical Asset Allocation, and Trustee of GE Pension Trust. Prior to joining GEAM, Greg spent four years at Deutsche Bank in Global Markets and previously worked for two years at Goldman Sachs in Real Estate Investment Banking. Greg serves on the board of Brunswick School and Fairfield County’s Community Foundation. Greg has an AB in Politics from Princeton University and a JD from the University of Virginia. He earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Institute. Greg resides in Greenwich, CT with his wife Christa and three children.
Craig Henrich
Mr. Henrich joined the board in 2016 and serves as Vice Chair of the Investment Committee. Henrich is a partner at KSL Capital Partners LLC. Previously, Craig was a Senior Managing Director of CW Capital
Investments, LLC, where he led their single asset group specializing in the acquisition and management of debt investments, including high yield and mortgage backed securities, and over saw a portfolio in excess of $4.6 billion.
Prior to joining CW Capital in 2006, Craig was an eleven-year veteran of Deutsche Bank/RREEF and its predecessor Bankers Trust serving as Managing Director and Partner in charge of Mezzanine Investments. His primary responsibilities included his role as Fund Manager of two high yield real estate funds investing over $2.5 billion in distressed debt, mezzanine and other high yielding investments. Craig serves on the Board of Trustees of the Rumsey Hall School. Craig began his real estate career in 1988 as an Acquisition Analyst for a real estate investment company based in San Francisco. Craig has a B.S. from the University of Pacific and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.
Don Kendall, Jr
Don Kendall joined the board in 2015 and serves on the Executive Committee. For most of his adult professional life, Don has been a serial entrepreneur with a passion for creating startups as well as turnaround companies operating in new, or rapidly evolving market spaces. Following his tenure at McKinsey & Company, Don co-founded American Restaurants, which today has over $1 billion in sales and employs more than 20,000 people across seven Central and East European markets. An early pioneer in the e-commerce field, Don co-founded or was Founding Board member of six other companies including hotwire.com, now part of Expedia.
More recently, Don has devoted a significant portion of his time to philanthropy and socially-minded enterprise creation in the arena some people refer to as “Education 2.0”. Don was a catalyst and driving force in the creation of Social Venture Partners Connecticut, a Field of Interest Fund at the Community Foundation. SVP Connecticut is part of a global network of 3500+ partners in 39 cities. Under the SVP model of engaged venture philanthropy, members pool annual contributions and leverage their time, expertise, and resources to make strategic investments in nonprofits in their local community with proven potential for social change. SVP Connecticut helps nonprofits in our region strengthen their capacity and increase their impact.
Don currently serves on the boards of SVP Connecticut and the National Outdoor Leadership School. For 10 years, he was also an active member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO). A graduate of Stanford University, Don lives with his wife and three children in Weston where he is a volunteer EMT and coach.
David L. Levinson, Ph.D
David Levinson joined the board in 2014 and serves on the Governance Committee and Thrive by 25. He has been President of Norwalk Community College (NCC) in Norwalk, Connecticut since August 2004. During his presidency, NCC completed a successful capital campaign for a new Science, Health and Wellness Center, became an Achieving the Dream Leader College, and was selected by MDC, Inc. as one of fifteen community colleges nationwide to receive funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for a developmental education project. NCC is a recipient of Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s 2010 Community Engagement Classification. Dr. Levinson was appointed Vice President for the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (ConnSCU) at the Board of Regents for Higher Education.
Dr. Levinson currently serves as an elected commissioner on the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc. (NEASC) Commission on Institutions of Higher Education and co-chairs the American Sociological Association’s Task Force on Community College Faculty. Dr. Levinson serves on the Board of Directors of Connecticut Campus Compact; Greater Norwalk Chamber of Commerce; Norwalk Maritime Aquarium; Norwalk Children’s Foundation; U Thant Institute; and the Workplace, Inc., He serves on advisory boards to the Family and Children’s Agency of Great Norwalk and Norwalk Maritime Aquarium. Dr. Levinson is the recipient of many awards including the Shirley Gordon Award of Distinction from Phi Theta Kappa in 2013 and a Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Dr. Levinson holds a BA in Sociology from the State University of New York at New Paltz, and an MA and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Jonathan Moffly
Jonathan Moffly joined the board in 2012 and serves as Co-Chair of the Marketing Council.
Jonathan is President and owner of Moffly Media, a publisher of six regional magazines focused on Fairfield County living. He is a past board member of Kids In Crisis; The United Way of Greenwich; The Greenwich Chamber of Commerce, and the Westport-Weston Chamber of Commerce.
He has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech and an International MBA from the University of Sydney, Australia. Jonathan lives in Weston with his wife Elena and their five children.
Liz Morten
Elisabeth Morten joined the board in 2013 and serves as Chair of the Arts Program Committee. She also serves as a member on the Development Committee.
She is a Tony-nominated theatrical producer and Broadway League Tony voter. After earning an MBA from UCLA, she became a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and investment analyst and portfolio manager with Citibank and US Steel Pension Fund in New York. She chaired the State Public Affairs Committee for the New Jersey Junior Leagues, advocating on behalf of women, children and families at both the state and national level. As President and Chair of the Board of Trustees, she oversaw the $31 million revitalization and renovation of the Westport Country Playhouse.
Past and current volunteer and fundraising affiliations include ThinkQuest, the Connecticut Dance School, Choate Rosemary Hall, Columbia University, Skidmore College, the New Jersey Junior Leagues, the Broadway League Education Fundraising Committee, Theatre Communications Group, and the National Council for the American Theatre. She also served as Board President for the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County. Liz is currently writing a series of Young Adult novels.
Jennifer M. Pagnillo, Esq.
Jennifer Pagnillo joined the board in 2016 and serves as Vice Chair on the Development Committee and chair of the Professional Advisory Council. She is the co-chair of the firm’s Tax-Exempt Organizations and Charitable Giving practice group, helps families and individuals in Connecticut and New York with tax and estate planning and estate and trust administration with an emphasis on charitable giving and the creation and operation of nonprofit organizations, including family foundations. She advises clients on: income, estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax planning, estate planning, including the preparation of wills and trusts, closely-held business planning and related issues to preserve and transmit wealth within families, and administration of trusts and estates, including probate proceedings, accounting and tax-related disputes.
Jennifer has represented nonprofit organizations from inception through attainment of tax-exempt status and has facilitated the development of charitable fund-raising programs. She was one of the New York City attorneys who volunteered in the citywide pro bono effort to aid families of the victims of the World Trade center attack.
Suzette Recinos, Esq.
Suzette Recinos joined the board in 2012 and serves on the Finance Committee. She is a Legal Senior Director with the $25+ billion Global Procurement Group at PepsiCo in Purchase, New York. PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $66 billion, serving customers in more than 200 countries and territories and employs approximately 271,000 people worldwide. Ms. Recinos joined PepsiCo from Daymon Worldwide Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut where she led Daymon’s global legal team as Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary and was a member of the executive leadership team. Prior to Daymon, Ms. Recinos was Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Pitney Bowes Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut where she served as the lead attorney for several of its business units globally, as well as supporting numerous other areas of the corporate legal practice, including software licensing, transnational transactions and advising senior management on securities law matters. Ms. Recinos’ law firm experience was as an Associate at two different law firms: Edwards, Angell, Palmer & Dodge LLP (now Locke Lord) in Palm Beach, Florida and Stamford, Connecticut and Kutak Rock LLP in Kansas City, Missouri. Ms. Recinos was named a “Top Lawyer Under 40” by the Hispanic National Bar Association in 2009, and is a regular speaker at both ABA and Hispanic National Bar Association events. She is a Corporator of First County Bank in Stamford, and serves on the board of directors of the Fairfield County Community Foundation and NAWL. She earned her J.D. degree from the University of Iowa College of Law, and her B.M. in Music from the University of Iowa.
Eileen L. Swerdlick
Eileen Swerdlick joined the board in 2011 and serves as Chair of the Education-Economic Opportunity Program Committee. She is also a member of the Executive, Governance, Thrive by 25 initiative and Fund for Women & Girls Advisory Council.
A former assistant superintendent in the Stamford Public Schools, Eileen began her career as a reading coordinator in the New York City Public Schools and spent several years in corporate training and management before returning to the field of education. In Stamford, she has served as a teacher of the gifted program, an assistant principal and principal, before being appointed assistant superintendent. Eileen is a board member of New Beginnings Family Academy and an advisor to the Connecticut After School Network. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from City University of New York and graduate degrees from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is program officer for First United Methodist Church Women and an active member of her church community. Eileen resides in Stamford with her husband Steven.
Maya Tichio
Maya Tichio joined the board in 2015 and serves as Co-Chair of the Fund for Women & Girls Steering Committee.
Maya has extensive banking industry experience and was previously a Vice President of Global Principal Investments at Deutsche Bank Asset Management. She also held positions at AEW Capital Management and JPMorgan Chase.
Maya holds a Masters in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BA from Bowdoin College.
Briggs Tobin
Briggs Tobin joined the board in 2015 and serves as Chair of the Audit Committee. Briggs has 25 years of global M&A legal practice experience, including 15 years in a large, multi-national corporation.
Briggs is the Chief Financial Officer for Ridgefield Academy. His prior positions include Senior Counsel at GE Company and Partner at McKenna, Long & Aldridge. Briggs’s charitable activities include serving on the Yale Alumni Schools Committee, Emory School of Law Public Interest Committee and he is a guest lecturer at UPenn and Emory Law Schools.
He also serves on the Ridgefield Historic District Commission, works with Pro Bono Partnership, Habitat for Humanity and is a former Board member of the City of Atlanta Board of Zoning. Briggs holds a JD with distinction from Emory Law School and a BA from Yale University.
Richard Wenning
Richard Wenning joined the Board in 2016 and serves as Vice Chair of the Arts Committee. And serves on the Development Committee. A national expert on education policy design and implementation, Richard Wenning is executive director of BeFoundation, a family foundation devoted to dramatic improvement in the education of underserved children in Connecticut and the vitality of their communities.
Richard also leads SpreadMusicNow, a fund that supports music education for underserved youth, helping to shape their futures and build lifelong success. Richard has worked with federal, state, and local agencies and nonprofits for more than 25 years and serves on the boards of Hartford Performs, a community arts organization, and Social Venture Partners-Connecticut, which is a member of Social Venture Partners International.
Richard’s role at BeFoundation fostered his return to his home state of Connecticut after stints in Washington, D.C. and Colorado focusing on education policy. These included positions with the Colorado Department of Education as Associate Commissioner, the Denver Public Schools as executive on loan, and the Colorado League of Charter Schools as vice president.
In Washington, D.C., Richard served as a senior advisor to the DC Public Schools and as professional staff to the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations.
Rich has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Ithaca College and an MPA from American University. He resides in Redding. In addition to serving on the SVP-CT Board, Rich is the Lead Partner of the CPEP engagement project.
Philanthropic areas of interest: Arts Education, K-12 Education, Youth Development
Bruce Winningham
Bruce Winningham joined the board in 2015 and serves on the Education-Economic Opportunity Program Committee. As a Co-Founding consultant and current partner at NorthStar Partners Inc., Bruce leads initiatives that are focused on the convergence of business model innovation, rapid technology discovery, disruptive demand creation and profitable path-to-market solutions.
Bruce has 35 years of experience in solving consumer-driven business challenges and introducing innovative new products. His prior experience spans marketing management positions in Sara Lee, Kraft and Tambrands, and includes executive positions as Division President and Vice President of Acquisitions.
Bruce holds an MBA and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University. He received community awards for his role as Co-Founder and President of a nonprofit corporation that provides support to families of soldiers deployed to the Iraq/Afghanistan war zone.
Emeritus Directors
Edwin A. Bescherer Jr.
Wilmot L. Harris Jr., Esq.
W. Michael Funck
Ann S. Mandel
Sheila A. Perrin
