Board of Directors
Paul Bolles-Beaven, Secretary
Paul is the former Chief People Officer of Union Square Hospitality Group, which comprises such iconic restaurants as Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, and The Modern. In this capacity, he was responsible for recruiting, training, and motivating a renowned hospitality team, numbering 1,500 people. One of the very first employees of Danny Meyer's Union Square Cafe, Paul worked his way up through the ranks of the restaurant industry, from waiter to manager to managing partner. He shares his knowledge of the hospitality industry with students at the French Culinary Institute, where he teaches classes in managing service staff and human resources for restaurants.
Marcia Brumit Kropf, Ph.D.
Marcia currently consults on interesting and challenging opportunities that build on the skills and expertise developed in her career in the non-profit sector, as an educator, researcher, and senior executive, especially those that involve changing the world for women and girls. From 2015 to 2019, Marcia served as President of the Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College, an independent nonprofit serving over 37,000 alumnae of the women’s college, founded in 1837. Marcia served for eight years as the Chief Operating Officer of Girls Inc.®, the nonprofit organization that inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold. Previously, Marcia spent 12 years at Catalyst, the premier nonprofit research and advisory organization working to advance women in business, as Vice President of Research & Information Services. Prior to her work at Catalyst, Marcia spent over 20 years working in public education in a variety of positions, from classroom teaching to software design, focusing primarily on curriculum design and evaluation.
Glynna Christian, Chair
Glynna is Co-Head Global Technology Transactions and Partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. She advises FTSE 100, Fortune 100 and other public and private companies on international corporate and commercial transactions, including cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and financial arrangements with an emphasis on technology, media and telecommunications.
Prior to joining Orrick, Glynna served as an original member of the Technical Advisory Committee to the Joint Commission on Technology and Science of the Virginia General Assembly. She also served as Senior Counsel and Chief Investigator to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and as Counsel-Special Investigation to the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs during its campaign finance investigation.
Amy Comer
Amy is a corporate partner at Faegre Baker Daniels. An internationally recognized practitioner, Amy represents global and U.S. clients in multiple industries, including pharmaceuticals and life sciences, TMT, insurance and financial services, and oil & gas, oilfield services, and renewables. Amy advises clients on cross-border and U.S. domestic investment and financial matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic partnerships, restructurings, corporate and project finance transactions, and general corporate and commercial matters.
Amy is a Committee Member of the Marie Curie London Brain Games, an annual black tie fundraising event in the city of London, which raises funds to support Marie Curie UK, a charity that provides nursing care and support to people living with any terminal illness and their families, helping them to stay at home until the end of their lives and providing local independent hospices and services.
Tess Frazier
Tess is Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer at Class Technologies, Inc., an education technology company in Washington, D.C. providing a synchronous online teaching and learning platform built for use with Zoom. After acquiring her interest in education technology with roles at PeopleSoft and SAP, Tess joined then fledgling startup Blackboard, Inc. in 1999, where she was responsible for building and managing the contracting function in an aggressively sales driven environment that saw revenues increase to over $600M annually prior to her departure in 2016. Upon leaving Blackboard, Tess joined education technology company Full Measure Education as SVP of Strategy & Operations. She is also Managing Director of Frazier Consulting Group, which provides strategic guidance to education technology companies.
Tess received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Loyola University in Baltimore. She is an avid kayaker and lives in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. with her son Michael, a member of DeMatha Catholic High School’s Class of 2022.
Michael Fullwood, Treasurer
Michael is Partner and Co-Lead of Business Advisory Services with ISG, a leading global technology research and advisory firm. He works with Fortune 500 and other global public and private companies to transform and optimize their business operations and align with business objectives. His focus has been in advising clients on sourcing transactions, automation enablement, distributed ledger technology, business process operational excellence and has provided clients with guidance on numerous initiatives covering North America, LATAM, Asia and Europe to maximize efficiency of support services.
Prior to joining ISG, Michael worked in the equity capital markets as a series 7 & 24 investment banker; and with the U.S. Department of Treasury, as a tax law specialist.
Michael has a passion for the welfare of children and volunteers time as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA).
Maryanna McConnell Johnson
Maryanna works with the Blue Rider Group in Morgan Stanley’s Private Wealth Management. Her clients are primarily collectors, artists and art-related institutions.
Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Maryanna was a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group, where she worked with public and private institutions, guiding them through operational and strategic challenges. Maryanna started her career at Christie’s Auction House, providing appraisals and collection advice to collectors of decorative arts.
Maryanna earned her BA from Williams College and MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management, where she was co-President of MIT Sloan Women in Management. She is a member of the Clark Museum Contemporaries and of Friends of the MIT List Center.
Allison Keiley
Allison has worked as a creative producer and business manager at the intersection of design, technology, marketing, and advertising for almost two decades. She has spent her career partnering with designers, writers, and engineers to bring innovative work to life. As a creative producer, has led award-winning experiential and interactive work for brands and organizations representing a wide variety of industries such as tech, media, fashion, museums, and cultural institutions. As a co-founder and partner at Rare Volume, a design and technology studio, she leads the teams responsible for project and client management, business affairs, and financial operations. Outside of the creative industry, her work extends to domestic violence advocacy, food equity and access, and youth services.
When not working, Allison is likely to be found swimming, skiing, or cooking.
Michael Kessler
Michael is a Counsel in the Capital Markets group of Clifford Chance's New York office. He focuses on domestic and international capital markets offerings for private equity firms, hedge fund managers, clean energy companies, real estate businesses and casinos. Michael's experience includes a secondment to the Singapore office of Clifford Chance where he worked on a number of significant matters for the firm's India practice.
Michael received a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Florida and a Juris Doctorate from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Michael has a passion for public service and he has made considerable pro bono service contributions in each of the last few years. He has served on a committee of the board of Keigwin + Company, a modern dance company. Michael also serves on the board of directors of Oliver Scholars Program, Inc., a nonprofit that identifies low-income, high-achieving students and helps place them in independent high schools.
Michael lives in the West Village neighborhood of New York City with his wife, Katherine, and their two young sons, Daniel and James.
Alexander Kopelman, Co-founder, President & CEO
Ashley Stewart
Ashley is Director at Gagosian, a global gallery specializing in modern and contemporary art with eighteen exhibition spaces across the United States, Europe, and Asia. She was previously the Director of Sales at Salon 94, where she oversaw the sales team and worked directly with a number of the gallery's artists. Prior to joining Salon 94, Ashley worked with the sales and exhibitions teams at David Zwirner gallery, most closely with a number of artists' estates, including Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Fred Sandback, and Al Taylor. Ashley received her Bachelor of Arts in Art History at Marymount Manhattan College and went on to receive her Master's in Fine and Decorative Art at Sotheby's Institute of Art in New York.
Amy Weiss-Meyer
Amy is an editor at The Atlantic, where she works on both the monthly print magazine and online features. Her book reviews and other articles have appeared in The Atlantic and The New Republic. She graduated from Harvard University, where she took courses in studio art and art history and majored in History and Literature. Her senior thesis covered the founding of New York magazine and its relationship to the city of New York between 1968 and 1977. A native New Yorker, Amy currently lives in Washington, DC. In her free time she enjoys cooking and eating, traveling, reading, and visiting museums.
Jim Gaines, Co-founder and Emeritus Board Member
Jim has enjoyed a distinguished twenty-five-year career in education, starting with ten years in the classroom, after receiving his BA Degree from Vassar College and California Multiple Subject Clear Teaching Credential. His last twelve years in education were in school leadership roles, including heading the Resurrection Episcopal Day School (REDS) in New York City, the Terra Linda Montessori School in Marin Country, and serving as Lower School Division Head and Admissions Director at a variety of schools. Jim currently serves as Director of Outreach at Garden School in New York City.