Brooklyn Community Foundation Adds Four Members to Board of Directors
Brooklyn Community Foundation is pleased to announce the election of four new members to its Board of Directors, effective April 29, 2017. The new members are Brooklyn philanthropist Diane Steinberg, National Grid Executive Rudolph Wynter, retired New York Times Co. Executive Katharine Darrow, and Debevois & Plimpton partner Michael Gillespie.
“The addition of these new members is another fantastic milestone for the growth of our institution,” said Brooklyn Community Foundation Board Chairman Alan Fishman. “Each brings incredible value, leadership, and experience, as well as a deep commitment to strengthening Brooklyn’s communities and increasing local giving across the borough. I am proud to welcome them to the Foundation’s team at this pivotal moment and look forward to all that we’ll accomplish together for Brooklyn.”
Katharine Darrow is a retired Senior Vice President of The New York Times Company. She started her 30 year career at The Times as a summer intern in the legal department and joined the department upon graduation from Columbia Law School. After serving 8 years as General Counsel, she was appointed president of the company’s Broadcasting Group. In the following years she held various additional corporate positions, including 5 years as president of the International Herald Tribune. She has been a trustee of several nonprofit organizations, including the University of Chicago, the Brooklyn Museum, Resources for Children With Special Needs (now Includenyc), and was a founding board member and co-chair of Community Roots Charter School in Brooklyn.
Michael Gillespie is a corporate partner at Debevoise & Plimpton and a member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Governance and Family Enterprise Groups. Mr. Gillespie regularly advises senior management and boards throughout the world, including the United States, Latin America, India, Russia and various other jurisdictions, on a range of strategic transactions and related matters, including critical governance, compliance and risk management issues. He is a leader of the firm’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications and Latin America Groups.
Diane Steinberg is a passionate champion of Brooklyn and has been on the vanguard of the borough’s remarkable revitalization and transformation through her civic leadership. She has worked at the New York Federal Reserve Bank in both the Domestic Research Department and as a Securities Analyst on the Open Market Trading Desk, and was a Vice President and Senior Equity Securities Analyst at Drexel Burnham Lambert. She serves on Brooklyn Community Foundation’s Spark Prize Committee and is a Trustee at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. She previously served on the boards of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Packer Collegiate, Center for Arts Education, Scripps Institution of Oceanography (Directors Council), and Sheridan Arts Foundation.
Rudolph Wynter is President and COO of National Grid’s FERC-regulated businesses, overseeing one of the largest electric transmission systems in the northeast and directing the identification, evaluation, development and deployment of new technologies and innovations for National Grid’s regulated electricity businesses. During his more than 25-year tenure at National Grid and its legacy companies, he has held positions of responsibility in Customer Operations, Strategic Planning, Engineering and Operations. He serves on the boards of the United Way of New York City, the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, and the American Association of Blacks in Energy.
Launched in 2009 as the first and still only foundation for New York City’s largest borough, Brooklyn Community Foundation is actively building its now 17-member Board of Directors to strengthen its service to the borough’s communities, including stewardship of strategic grantmaking and special initiatives as well as the growth of philanthropic assets to benefit Brooklyn for generations to come.