An Evening with FRIENDS gala

The event is at 6:30 pm on Thursday, April 16th at the Edison Ballroom  located at 240 W. 47th Street.

MISSION

Our mission is to change  the destiny of New York City’s most vulnerable children, one child at a time.... Friends of the Children New York is an early intervention program that breaks the cycle of generational poverty for children most  at-risk.  We provide them with a consistent, caring advocate who guides them for 12 years so they become productive members of their communities.     
We screen and select children in kindergarten who demonstrate the greatest risk  of school failure, juvenile delinquency, and early parenting. We invest early by pairing  them  with a full-time youth advocate, called a “Friend,” who exposes them to  the local community to foster positive social, emotional, and academic  development.   Empowering the Achievers with the skills to overcome inherent risk and build character,  our team  develops a personalized path to success.   The goal of our 12-year intervention  is for 100% of our Achievers to graduate from high school with a plan for their future, having avoided the juvenile delinquency and parenting until adulthood.   The Achievers  become agents of social change with a generational impact.

HISTORY AND VISION

Established in 2001, we have expanded the program from employing three Friends serving 24  Achievers in  Harlem  to employing  nineteen Friends serving over 150 Achievers in Harlem and the South Bronx.   Having grown six fold since we began, our  vision is to have a Friends Place in all five of our city’s boroughs serving almost 1,000 children.   To achieve this, we thoughtfully collaborate with  investors who  believe in our  mission and share our values.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Joan Rosenthal - Chairperson
Independent Financial Management Consultant
Managing Director (Retired)
JPMorgan Chase
Kenneth Epstein, Esq. - Vice Chairperson
Managing Director, Insured Portfolio Management
Special Situations Group
MBIA
Paul M. Lewis, CIMA - Treasurer
Senior VP – Wealth Management
Senior Portfolio Manager, The Wittenstein Adelman Group
UBS Financial Services, Inc.
Bettina Benson - Secretary
Assistant Director, Federal Compliance
Pfizer Inc (retired)
Erica Baird
Consultant
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Berna Barshay
Managing Director
Metropolitan Capital
James  Iselin
Managing Director
Neuberger Berman  
Geoff Isenman
VP, Corporate & Business Development
The New York Times
Peter Kolp
Attorney
Kagan Lubic Lepper Finkelstein & Gold, LLP
Matt Landy
Portfolio Manager
Lazard Asset Management
Lawrence Larose
Partner
Chadbourne & Park, LLP
Howard Lorsch
Human Resources Executive; Chief Human Resources Officer
Consultant
​Kathy Maurella
Brand and Strategy Marketing Consultant 
Sheila N. McGillicuddy
Executive Director – U.S. Debt Capital Group
CIBC World Markets
Christine Moog
Art Director, Little Spoons Inc.
Professor, Parsons School of Design
Aaron Peyton
Managing Director
Goldman Sachs
Hon. Kathleen Roberts
U.S. Magistrate Judge (SDNY, retired)
Mediator and Arbitrator
JAMS
Chris Rollins
Managing Director
Goldman Sachs
Partheev Shah
Senior Portfolio Associate 
Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
Elisabeth Wadsworth
Vice President
Esopus Creek Advisors, LLC
    
Ex-Officio
Howard Clyman - Founder
Beth Neumann - Former Chairperson
CEO and President
Starboard Cruise Services
Executive Director
Robert L. Houck, Ph.D.

© 2015 Friends Of The Children New York | 212-865-6942 | 204A West 115th Street, New York, NY 10026-1649