Board Biographies and Contact Information 2010-2011

Lawrence Bascom was most recently the Chief Financial Officer at 21st Century Insurance Company.  Prior to that, he was a partner at Deloitte & Touche and a member of the Firm’s Financial Service Industry practice.  Mr. Bascom began his career with Deloitte & Touche in 1984.  He attained his undergraduate degree in Business from the University of Miami and his MBA from Wharton.  He is an active member of numerous professional, civic, and charitable boards.

Carlton Charles is Vice-President and Treasurer of Hearst Corporation. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Operational Risk Officer of Moody’s Corporation (bond ratings). Prior to joining Moody’s, he served as Assistant Treasurer and Director, Enterprise Risk Management for International Paper (forest products). He began his professional career in institutional sales at Dean Witter Capital Markets (financial services). Carlton has an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business. He also holds a BS in Quantitative Economics and an MS in Public Policy, both from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is an active member of the Executive Leadership Council, NY Treasurers Group, and the National Association of Corporate Treasurers.

Kavita Dolan graduated from Fordham University School of Law and from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.  From 2006 to 2011, Ms. Dolan was Vice President and Counsel in the General Counsel’s Office of Deutsche Bank AG, New York Branch, where she focused on capital markets transactions and mergers and acquisitions. From 1999 to 2006, Ms. Dolan worked as a corporate associate at Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP focusing on securities law and mergers and acquisitions.

Deborah Evangelakos graduated from New York University School of Law and Harvard College. She served on the board of Sanctuary for Families and the board of The New 42nd Street. She is a past chair of the Parents Association at The Brearley School and in that capacity was a board member. She was an associate attorney at Simpson, Thacher and Bartlett and a bank associate at The Bank of New York.

Lilieth Ferguson is the president of the Bronx Preparatory Charter School’s Parent Association. She currently works for the New York City Fire Department – Bureau of Legal Affairs. She appears at the Environmental Control Board as a Court Representative. Ms. Ferguson holds Paralegal and Public Administration certificates and is an undergraduate at CUNY’s Joseph Murphy Institute for Worker Education. She is working toward her Teacher’s Assistant Certification for grades K-12.

Lee Flanagan graduated from Georgetown University in 1990 with a BA in Economics.  From 1992-1998 she was president of B.G. Sulzle, Inc., a family business that manufactured surgical needles.  She earned a Masters in Public Administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in 2005.  She is on the Rye Country Day School’s Board of Trustees, a sponsor for Student/Sponsor Partners, and a host parent for The Fresh Air Fund.

Nancy Garvey is on the Board of Trustees of Barnard College, and formerly served on the boards of The Brearley School, and The New School University. Ms. Garvey is also on the Advisory Board of the Museum of Natural History. She worked for AlliedSignal for eleven years as Staff Vice President – Investor Relations, Vice President and Treasurer, and until she retired, as Vice President and Controller. Ms. Garvey also worked for General Motors Corporation in various financial roles and at the Institute for Demographic and Economic Studies as a Senior Research Associate. She earned a Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University and while writing her dissertation, Ms. Garvey was an Economics Instructor at Columbia University and Rutgers College.

Philip Gelston is a partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP Corporate Department and the Chairman of its Mergers & Acquisitions Practice.  He has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and general corporate counseling.  Mr. Gelston received an A.B. cum laude from Harvard, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was the Supreme Court Note editor of the Law Review and awarded the Sears Prize. After a one-year clerkship with Hon. John M. Wisdom, he joined Cravath, Swaine & Moore in 1978 and became a partner in 1984.

Kristin Kearns Jordan is the founder of the Bronx Preparatory Charter School, and from 1999-2007 served as the School’s Executive Director. She currently serves as the Executive Director for the Tortora Silcox Family Foundation. Prior to founding Bronx Prep, she was the founding executive director of the School Choice Scholarships Foundation, a private scholarships program for low-income elementary schoolchildren in New York City. Ms. Jordan began her career at Student/Sponsor Partners, a financial aid and mentoring program for at-risk high school students in New York City, serving as associate director for three years. She then worked as a special projects director at the Center for Educational Outreach and Innovation at Teachers College, Columbia University. Kristin served on the S/SP board. During this time she also joined several S/SP board members to found the Reading Excellence and Discovery Program (READ), an early reading intervention program for children in public and parochial schools. She now serves on the board of the Cathedral School of St. John the Divine. In 2009-2010 she served as a fellow with Boston Rising, a new poverty-fighting effort in the Roxbury section of Boston. She is focused on developing an education/school reform strategy within this neighborhood renewal effort. She earned an A.B. from Brown University and did graduate work at in History and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Yuliana Kim-Grant is a writer and volunteer in New York City. Her novel, “A Shred of Hope,” was published in April 2011. She has won several prizes for her non-fiction work, and taught writing at the college level. Ms. Kim-Grant has served as co-chair of the Outreach Committee at The Mandell School, helping to oversee programs at the Jewish Home and the Goddard Preschool. Prior to relocating to New York in 2007, Ms. Kim-Grant was the vice-president and president-elect of the Boys and Girls Club of Hollywood, served on the board of the Women’s Care Cottage, and in 2006, was a founding parent at the Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts in Los Angeles, CA. Ms. Kim-Grant earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College and her BA from The George Washington University.

Scott Nelson is the Chair of The Bronx Preparatory Charter School’s Board of Trustees. He has been the Headmaster of Rye Country Day School since 1993. Prior to being appointed headmaster, he served as the Upper School Director at the Marlborough School in Los Angeles, CA. Mr. Nelson graduated from Brown University and earned his MS in Education from Fordham University. He began his teaching and administrative career at his high school alma mater, the Hackley School, where he spent twelve years teaching history and English, coaching a variety of sports, and supervising the boarding program. He spent his last five years at Hackley as the Upper School Director.

Andrew Paul is a Managing Director and General Counsel at Tudor Investment Corporation.  He is also a member of the Tudor Investment Corporation Board of Directors and the President of the Tudor Foundation.  Prior to his tenure at the Tudor Investment Corporation, Mr. Paul was a Senior Vice President at Kidder, Peabody & Co. Inc. and Co-Manager of the Mortgage Finance Department.  He began his legal career as an attorney at Davidson, Dawson & Clark and at Brown, Wood, Ivey, Mitchell & Petty.

Richard D. Schubart is the Bates-Russell Distinguished Faculty Professor and the former chair of the history department and dean of admissions and financial aid at Phillips Exeter Academy. He was appointed to the Exeter faculty in 1973 after earning his Ph.D. in history at the State University of New York at Binghamton. He is a noted speaker and author on the teaching and learning of history, curriculum development, and independent schools. Rick was recently appointed to the new position of Associate Director of the Phillips Exeter Academy Summer School. He has also served as the executive director of the Association of Boarding Schools and as the chairman of the Federation of American and International Schools.

Sharon Simpson is the owner and principal of SJS Projects, a production company based in New York City. For over 15 years, she has worked nationally for leading museums, cultural institutions, and film production companies as writer, developer, producer, and consultant on exhibitions. She also assembles and oversees creative teams to develop award-winning interpretative products in various media for a range of audiences. Clients include the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Arts and Exhibitions International in Los Angeles, the National Geographic Society in Washington, DC,  the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and Partners Healthcare in Boston. Ms Simpson received a BA in English and American Literature from the University of Warwick, England and an M.A. in Early Childhood Literacy from the University of London. 

Ravi Suria is the Managing Partner at Valmiki Capital Management. Prior to Valmiki, he was a Portfolio Manager at Moore Capital Management and Duquesne Capital Management LLC, and Head of Convertibles Research at Lehman Brothers. Mr. Suria received his MBA from the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University, where he is currently an adjunct professor.

Philip Wharton is Vice President for Development at Avalon Bay Communities, Inc. Prior to his time at Avalon Bay Communities, he was a Senior Vice President of LCOR Incorporated and was responsible for new business development and project execution in the Metropolitan New York region. After graduating from Harvard College, Mr. Wharton became a Project Manager and later Development Partner at Lincoln Property Company, in its Northern California office.  Mr. Wharton earned his M.B.A. in Finance from Wharton.  Upon graduation, Mr. Wharton joined the Yarmouth Group (later acquired by Lend Lease) and then worked for an Internet start-up.