GrowNYC's Board of Directors

 

Charlene Balfour, Co-Chair

Charlene Balfour is Head of Enterprise Client Onboarding Transformation at Wells Fargo. She is responsible for developing the enterprise client onboarding product strategy and a multi-year roadmap. In this capacity, Charlene and her team govern the front to back onboarding plan and strategic priorities. Charlene is focused on enhancing client experiences by leveraging technology, data analytics, process optimization and procedure rationalization to drive the enterprise onboarding business outcomes. 

Charlene partners across the firm’s lines of business leaders to share best practices, consult, and inform client onboarding client and customer experience programs. 

Charlene joined Wells Fargo from BNY Mellon where she was Global Head of Enterprise Utilities, responsible for driving the transformation and delivery of key enterprise-wide utilities (Tax, KYC, Client Activation, Contracts, Billing and Reconciliations). Prior to her role at BNY Mellon, she was Managing Director of Wholesale Client Onboarding for Digital Platform Services at J.P. Morgan Chase, where she led the strategic vision to provide onboarding and back-office utility services to clients across the franchise. 

Charlene earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from Howard University. She holds a US patent for client onboarding technology related to Natural Language Processing. 

Charlene serves as Co-Chair of the Board of Director’s for GrowNYC, New York City’s largest environmental non-profit. She was recognized as a 2018 Harlem YMCA Black Achievers in Industry award winner and as a 2023 Council of Urban Professional Technology Catalyst.

 

Nick Scharlatt, Co-Chair

Nick is an executive consultant who works with startups and small businesses in a variety of sectors to help build and strengthen operations, sales, and marketing.

He co-founded Foothold Technology, a software company that works with nonprofit human service agencies.  Foothold provides an electronic health record that helps organizations keep track of the people they are providing services to and then report back to different funding streams.  From the founding to the sale of the company, Nick spent two decades running the sales and marketing teams and shared operational duties. His work helped expand the business to over 1000 agencies across more than 25 states in all areas of human services, from mental health and homelessness to substance use, developmental disabilities and more.

Prior to Foothold, Nick worked in the sports media and business sector with stints in sales and marketing at The Sporting News magazine.  He has also spent time at ESPN Classic, Major League Baseball, CBS Sports during the Albertville Olympics, and working as a sous chef at the Boonville Hotel in Northern California.  Nick graduated from Vassar College with a BA in English.

 

Jordan Barowitz, Secretary

Jordan Barowitz is a Vice President and the Director of External Affairs for The Durst Organization.

Mr. Barowitz oversees the government and media relations and corporate giving for the New York real estate builder, owner and manager. He oversaw the public affairs of the construction and opening of the 2.1 million square foot One Bryant Park, the first LEED Platinum skyscraper ever built. He helped win the RFP for One World Trade Center and manages the company’s government affairs and public relations for the Western Hemisphere’s tallest building. 

In 2013, with the project team, he successfully won the zoning changes for a 709-unit residential rental tower on West 57th Street. He is the former First Deputy Press Secretary for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York City, served as press secretary on the Mayor’s re-election campaign in 2005 and was the Communications Director for the New York City Council.  He is a native of New York City and a graduate of Friends Seminary High School and Vassar College. 

Mr. Barowitz is an Executive Board Member of GrowNYC, a Vice Chair of the Brooklyn Public Library, a Steering Committee Member of the Association for A Better New York (ABNY) and The Durst Organization’s representative to the Grand Central Partnership, Times Square Alliance and Bryant Park Corporation and a member of the CLS BID. 

 

Lea Savoji, Treasurer

Born in Paris, and raised in Washington, DC, Lea graduated with a Bachelor in Economics from the George Washington University, where her thesis was focused on the impact of agricultural subsidies on farmers. During her time in DC, Lea worked at the World Bank until pursuing a Masters in Economics, with a focus on development, from Boston University.

Lea’s professional expertise is Risk Management in the Financial Sector. She is currently Director of Scenario Analysis at TIAA.

Lea has a strong passion for concepts of social equity, equal availability of resources, and sustainability through innovation.

 

Arline Bronzaft

Arline L. Bronzaft, Ph.D. is a Professor Emerita of Lehman College, City University of New York and an Expert Witness on noise impacts. Dr. Bronzaft conducts research, writes and lectures on the adverse effects of noise on mental and physical health.

She has written broadly on noise including Why Noise Matters 2011 of which she is a co-author, chapters in environmental books and encyclopedias, published articles in academic journals and has writings in the popular press.

She is frequently quoted in the media in the U.S. and abroad and in 2007 assisted in the updating of the 2007 New York City Noise Code.

 

Wellington Chen

Wellington Z. Chen is the Executive Director of the Chinatown Partnership. The Partnership is currently working with NYC Department of Transportation to design a wayfinding pilot project which is expected to have the first trial test prototype installed in the ground within 12 months.

As the Executive Director, he aims to create transformative projects while creating an infrastructure that can sustain and thrive to deliver meaningful results for the Partnership. Wellington has a long record of community service and civic engagement.

As a young volunteer and student studying architecture and environmental studies, he began to see his neighborhood worsening – inspiring a lifelong interest and pursuit in community resuscitation and rejuvenation. In the process Wellington became the first Chinese American to serve on a community board and local development corporation in Queens and was eventually recruited to serve on the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals.

He led numerous initiatives and co-founded a number of organizations, including a firm to offer strategic advice and insights to help shape and guide public/private policies. His work as Landmark Committee Chair helped to preserve and restore Flushing Town Hall and he designed the structure that now houses the Tonga Mission to the United Nations.

Aileen Chu

Aileen Chu is senior control executive with 20 years of experience leading global teams at JPMorgan with a focus on managing regulatory, compliance, and operational risk. She currently leads firm-wide strategic and regulatory programs which includes solving complex problems and collaborating across large organizations to build strong, consistent, and sustainable operating models and governance frameworks.

Aileen is a native New Yorker, graduate of Bronx HS of Science and Carnegie Mellon University. She resides in the city with her husband, twins, and two cats.

 

 

Victoria Contino

Vicky Contino was a partner at Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman, & Dicker LLP, led the firm’s Government Relations practice in New York City for 16 years and was actively involved in matters in Albany, NY and at the federal level. She represented more than two dozen of the firm’s high-profile clients, from associations in the tourism, banking and real estate industries to individual Fortune 500 companies and non-profit organizations.

Several times each year Vicky spoke at conferences of the New York Bankers Association, New York Hotel Board, New York Association of Realtors, Broadway League and other firm clients on pending government issues and their impact on membership.

Currently retired, Vicky now enjoying traveling the world with her husband.

 

Bret Csencsitz

Bret Csencsitz is the Managing Partner of Gotham Bar and Grill and long-time friend of GrowNYC. 

At Gotham, he ensures that the restaurant lives up to its legacy while continuing to push boundaries and elevate itself among New York’s best and most beloved restaurants. Prior to working at Gotham, Mr. Csencsitz was a leader for seven years in Daniel Boulud’s restaurant group. Before entering the restaurant industry, he worked in the performing and cinematic arts as an actor, director and producer.  

Mr. Csencsitz has demonstrated his commitment to New York and fresh local food through his work with GrowNYC since 2009. He began by supporting GrowNYC’s educational programming, believing younger generations could greatly benefit from understanding where their food comes from and how to eat better. However, he has consistently supported GrowNYC’s mission throughout his tenure by highlighting fresh local produce from the Greenmarket on the Gotham menu, celebrating Gotham’s 30th Anniversary with a stylish GrowNYC fundraiser and donating proceeds from various Gotham campaigns to support Project Farmhouse.  GrowNYC looks forward to having Mr. Csencsitz and Gotham  Bar & Grill as a neighbor in 2016.

 

Samara Daly

Samara is a partner at Bolton St. Johns, where she brings her expertise in stakeholder partnerships and community engagement along with extensive work with affordable housing developers and non-profit capital projects.

Samara is also co-founder of DalyGonzalez an M/WBE boutique government and community affairs firm where she has helps to navigate and nurture public-private partnerships for their diverse range of clients. Samara has extensive experience in city government and working with non-profits and developers ranging from cultural, education institutions to mix-use developers and high-tech companies.

She spent over 12 years as a senior aide in the Speakers Office in the City Council where she oversaw the Scheduling and Advance Department and public-private partnerships for the Speaker. After working in the Speaker’s Office, Samara was the Director of Strategic Partnerships for Macro-Sea, a local developer working on innovative projects that included the creation of New Lab at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the restoration of the iconic Chelsea Hotel and oversaw the Public Affairs for St. Ann’s Warehouse redevelopment of the Tobacco Warehouse at Brooklyn Bridge Park. She continues to work with St. Ann’s to date. Samara works in New York City and in the Mid-Hudson Valley Region. Samara sits on the Board of Directors of All in Bklyn, Chairs Council of BRIC and the Service Learning Project NYC.

Samara resides in Carroll Gardens with her husband, 11-year-old son and their dog, Morris.

 

Nancy Elder

Nancy Elder is the Chief Communications Officer for the New York Mets. She previously was the Vice President and Chief Communications Officer for JetBlue Airways from 2014-2017.  She oversaw all internal and external communications as well reputation and crisis management programs.

Ms. Elder co-founded Matter Unlimited and served as its Chief Operating Officer and then Chief Strategy Officer from 2011-2014. Prior to this, Ms. Elder was the Chief Marketing Officer for Marsh. While at Marsh, she led a comprehensive restructuring of its global marketing function while simultaneously repositioning the brand and launching the award winning "Find the Upside" advertising campaign.

Ms. Elder has spent her career shaping strategies and redefining brands for some of the world's leading companies, including General Electric, MasterCard and Time Warner. Nancy started her career in PR and advertising at several of the world's largest agencies on behalf of clients including American Express, IBM, General Motors, and Hasbro. Over the course of her career, she has worked on a number of transformative communication strategies including the MasterCard "Priceless" campaign and GE's "Imagination at Work."

Nancy serves on Governor Cuomo's New York State Tourism Advisory Council and is a David Rockefeller Fellow.  She is also a board member of the JetBlue Foundation, JetBlue Technology Ventures, Matter Unlimited, and the Montauk Playhouse Community Center Foundation. She graduated from University of Georgia with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

 

Everard Findlay

Everard Findlay is the founder and CEO of Everard Findlay LLC (EFLLC), specializing in International Brand and Development Strategy.

EFLLC involves a broad network of world leaders and innovators that come from an array of industries. Findlay’s work emphasizes intersections between urban planning and its impact on branding, designing sustainable environmental and social programs to reconcile public, private and NGOs, and in strengthening alliances through cultural exchange.

Recent projects include the development of a brand strategy and identity for the country the Republic of Suriname. Findlay is also currently a consultant to Ram Real Estate Development Company/The Platform, a major stakeholder in the re-development of the City of Detroit.

In addition to GrowNYC, Findlay is a member of the advisory boards for Columbia University’s National Center for Children in Poverty at the Mailman School of Public Health, The Center for Cosmic Origins at Dartmouth College, The Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement at Dartmouth, Neuehouse, and UNDP's Turning Tables Project.

 

Vasanth Ganesan

Vasanth Ganesan is a Partner in McKinsey & Company’s Digital & Analytics practice based in New York. He partners with large organizations and early-stage companies across the agriculture and food value chain to drive top-line growth through customer-centricity, technology, and business building. He co-leads McKinsey’s Agriculture Technology (Agtech) practice, dedicated to serving companies innovating and building technological solutions addressing some of the biggest challenges in agriculture and food. Vasanth also co-founded McKinsey’s Internet of Things (IoT) practice, helping launch & scale up the practice globally to serve 100+ clients. Before McKinsey, Vasanth was an investor at multiple venture capital firms investing in Enterprise software companies and a Product Manager at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

 

 

 

Mark Izeman

Mark IzemanMark Izeman is the New York Regional Director and a Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Over his 30-year career with NRDC, he has spearheaded numerous environmental campaigns, litigation efforts, and strategic initiatives on issues such as regional food, fossil fuels, recycling, brownfields, drinking water, transportation, and parks and open space. Mark also spent three years in Moscow, Russia working on climate change and energy efficiency issues.

Izeman is the author or co-author of numerous publications, including The New York Environment Book. He served as law clerk to a U.S. federal district judge in his home state of Rhode Island, and is Chairman of the Board of the Catskill Mountainkeeper.

He is a graduate of Brown University and New York University School of Law, where he was a Root Tilden Scholar.

 

Robert J. Kafin

Robert J. Kafin is an environmental lawyer at Proskauer Rose LLP. He is the founder and a member of the firm’s Environmental Group and has a long history of involvement in non-profit conservation and civic matters.

From 1991 to 2009, Bob was a member of the senior management of the Proskauer firm, serving as its Chief Operating Partner for 15 years and also as its General Counsel.

In his legal career Bob has handled complex problems covering the entire spectrum of environmental issues including  air and water quality, solid and hazardous waste management, environmental impact, analysis, toxic substances, agricultural and forestry practices, public park protection, navigable waterways, land use and development regulation, wetlands, and conservation easements.

In addition to his position at GrowNYC, Bob is also Chair of the Times Square Alliance and the Adirondack Council.  He is a Director of Parks and Trails New York and a member of the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association’s Environmental Law Section, both of which he previously chaired.  Bob has served on many other boards and other entities including The Broadway Association, the Preservation League of New York State, the Carl Schurz Park Association, Manhattan Community Board No. 8, Citizens for Clean Air, the Solid Waste Advisory Board of the Manhattan Borough President, and Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.

 

Anita Kawatra

Anita Kawatra is a communications and public affairs executive in New York. She is currently executive vice president at Edelman, where she oversees a global portfolio in life sciences. She previously held leadership roles at Prothena Biosciences Inc., Elan Pharmaceuticals and Merck & Co. Anita wrote speeches for New York City Mayor David Dinkins and New York State Governor Mario Cuomo during their administrations, and she served as Mayor Dinkins’ chief of staff and media advisor following his tenure in office.

Anita holds a BA from Yale University and an MA from Columbia University.  She is an adjunct instructor in the MS program in Public Relations and Corporate Communications at New York University. She serves on the President’s Council of Sanctuary for Families and the benefit committee of the Association to Benefit Children and works with other nonprofit human services groups including Mothers2Mothers and Generation Citizen. Anita is a 2015 recipient of the Indian American Forum Achievement Award. She has presented on women’s history at academic conferences, curated a contemporary women’s art exhibition, and published short stories in collected volumes and magazines.

 

Liz Neumark

Liz Neumark is the Founder and CEO of Great Performances, New York City’s leading catering and creative events company with a commitment to local and seasonal food, environmental stewardship and social responsibility.

Liz transformed the company from a part-time staffing agency for women in the arts in 1979 to one of the country’s foremost catering companies. Great Performances serves many of the top organizations in the tri-state area and is the exclusive caterer for distinguished NYC institutions including, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Museum, BAM, Apollo Theater and The Plaza Hotel. In 2006, she established Katchkie Farm in Kinderhook, NY, making Great Performances the first catering company to own and operate an organic farm. The same year she also helped launch The Sylvia Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing issues in children’s health with hands-on experiences growing and cooking healthy food.

In addition to the GrowNYC board, Liz sits on several food- and community-related boards such as the New York State Council on Food Policy, West Side Campaign Against Hunger, and the Food and Finance High School. She is the Board Chair of the Hudson Square Connection and The Sylvia Center. She is also author of Sylvia’s Table, a highly acclaimed seasonal cookbook for the family, and writes a blog on the Huffington Post. 

 

Charles Ramat

Charles S. Ramat is presently the President and CEO of Neurotrope, Inc (NTRP), a biotech company with a lead compound in clinical trials exploring disease reversal in Alzheimer's Disease  as well as pre-clinical investigation in other neurodegenerative  diseases affecting children and young adults. He is also an investor in and consultant to various industries, among them real estate, mortgage banking, wireless communications and medical devices, and the founder and owner of Bethel Farms Communities, an environmentally friendly series of gated communities on aprox. 1000 acres in the Catskills, where he also owns Wagging Tail Farm, a 200 acre organic farm producing hay, organic fruits, vegetables, eggs and maple syrup.

Mr. Ramat also served for several years as a Director of The City Parks Foundation, and as the CEO of various public and private companies engaged in real estate, apparel design and manufacturing, and restaurant operations and franchising.

He presently resides at Wagging Tail Farm in Bethel,N.Y. as well as in Manhattan, and is married for forty years to Ora Ramat, a prominent yoga instructor and the owner of Wagging Tail Yoga. Together they have three children.

Mr. Ramat graduated cum laude from Yeshiva College and from the Columbia School of Law.

Eugene Schneur

Eugene is the co-Managing Director and co-founder of Omni New York LLC. Since Omni’s inception in 2004, Eugene has overseen the day to day operations of the organization that has grown into a full service real estate organization (development, construction and management) employing over 600 full time employees. During this period, Omni has acquired and rehabilitated (or is in the process of rehabilitating) 64 properties totaling over 12,700 units of affordable housing with an aggregate transaction amount of approximately $1.5 Billion dollars.

 
Prior to becoming a principal with Omni New York LLC, Eugene was a Mergers and Acquisitions attorney with Olshan Grundman Frome Rosenzweig & Wolosky LLP in New York.
 
Eugene holds a degree from Cornell University in Industrial and Labor Relations, a J. D. from Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, and is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School in New York City.
 

Johan Segergren

Johan Segergren is a Top Account Manager at Google Inc. 
 

Marianne Spraggins

Marianne Spraggins is an investment banker, attorney and marketing executive with extensive experience in municipal and mortgage finance, private equity and asset management.  She began her Wall Street career at Salomon Brothers where she was part of the team that created residential mortgage securities and marketed this new product to institutional and public pension fund investors. Later, while at Smith Barney, she became the first African American female Managing Director on Wall Street. She also served as Senior Counsel to the Congressional Oversight Panel, a body created by Congress to oversee the U.S. Treasury’s implementation of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

She is now part of several entrepreneurial ventures that are developing new products including BondFactor, a company that is developing a disruptive approach to municipal bond insurance and app.ology, a custom voice messaging app for enterprises.

Ms. Spraggins is a former director of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation ( S.I.P.C.), where she was appointed by President Bill Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to the agency that protects investors in the event of broker/dealer failure.

She formerly served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee, co-chair of its Credentials Committee and as a super delegate to several Democratic National Conventions.

A native New Yorker, Ms. Spraggins received an LL.M. in International Law from Harvard Law School, a J.D. from the New York Law School and a B.A. in English Literature from Boston University. She is a member of the Bar of the State of New York and is a member of the federal bar in the Southern District of New York.  

 

Lys McLaughlin Pike, Emeritus

Born and raised in New York City, Lys McLaughlin Pike graduated with a degree in Classical Civilizations at NYU. She served as Executive Director of the Council on the Environment of NYC (now GrowNYC) from 1978-2005.

Lys is married to Thomas F. Pike and lives in Maine and NYC.

 

Jacqueline Dryfoos, Emeritus

Ms. Jacqueline D. Dryfoos is a psychotherapist in private practice in New York City.

She has a lifelong interest in environmental issues and has been on the GrowNYC board for more than 20 years.

She strongly feels that maintenance of our natural resources is critical for our mental health.

 

Commissioner Susan M. Donoghue, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation

Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala, NYC Department of Environmental Protection 

Commissioner Jessica Tisch, NYC Department of Sanitation 

Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Kate MacKenzie, Mayor's Office of Food Policy 

Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, NYC Department of Transportation 

 

In Memoriam: Marian S. Heiskell

Marian S. Heiskell, among many accomplishments, was a former newspaper executive, lifelong conservationist, and a leader in numerous public and philanthropic activities. She was a member of the Board of Directors of The New York Times Company from 1963-1997, and also served as its director of special activities from 1963 to 1977.

In 1970, Mayor John Lindsay created The Mayor's Council on the Environment of New York City - which we now know as GrowNYC - and persuaded Ms. Heiskell to lead it.

Mrs. Heiskell and her late husband, Andrew Heiskell, a former chairman of Time Inc., held many honors, including being recognized in November of 1999 as "Living Landmarks" by The New York Landmarks Conservancy for their efforts towards preserving New York City.

In recognition of her years of service to the city and her efforts to make its neighborhoods green, vital and more humane, the Marian S. Heiskell Garden was opened in September 1997.

We miss you Marian. Thank you for everything.

Every year, GrowNYC holds our Annual Spring Plant Sale in order to provide community groups with affordable perennial and annual flowering plants, herbs, ground covers, and vegetables grown by Greenmarket farmers and sold in wholesale quantities.