NEW YORK, NY, October 28, 2021 -- The New York Women’s Foundation welcomes four new and one returning member to its Board of Directors. These Board members will provide strategic direction for continued growth around The Foundation’s mission to create an equitable and just future for women and families by uniting a cross-cultural alliance that ignites action and invests in bold, community-led solutions.
“We are extremely grateful to welcome our new board members,” says Ana L. Oliveira, President and CEO of The New York Women’s Foundation. “Their deep expertise in the fields of law, arts, culture, education, and the nonprofit sector will continue to push us forward in our mission to better the lives of women, girls and families in New York City and beyond.”
The new Board members are:
- Maria Cilenti, Senior Policy Counsel at the New York City Bar Association, past member and chair of the City Bar's Sex and Law Committee, and a current member of its Task Force on Civil Right to Counsel.
- Marielle Villar Martiney, an organizational strategist, community advocate, and equitable environmental policy enthusiast who currently serves as the Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Good Old Lower East Side, Inc. (GOLES).
- Susan Sawyers, founding donor of The 19th News, an advisor to The Hechinger Report, an active supporter of For Freedoms, a member of Solidaire, and serves on the Center for Curatorial Leadership board.
- Ellen Schall, Senior Presidential Fellow (since 2013) and Dean Emeritus of NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Her portfolio includes leading NYU's affordability initiative, managing the President's Office relationship with the Board of Trustees, and representing the President on Executive-level searches.
- Jean Shafiroff, a returning board member, is known for her leadership in raising money for Southampton Hospital and for organizing and underwriting several charity luncheons for various causes.
The new members join Board Chairs Grainne McNamara and Yvonne Moore, Vice Chair & Treasurer Helene Banks, Secretary Margarita Rosa, and members Mary Baglivo, Hyatt Bass, Elizabeth de Léon Bhargava, Mary Caracappa, Karen Choi, Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez, Anne Delaney, Mignon Espy Edwards, Tiloma Jayasinghe, Eileen Kelly, Noorain Khan, Carolyn Rossip Malcolm, Haydee Morales, Margaret Morrison, Danielle Moss, Jeanne Mullgrav, Priscilla Painton, Merble Reagon, Ayo Roach, Tomasita Sherer, Elizabeth Wang, and Lola C. West.