Board and Staff
Board of Directors
Beth Gilmartin Neumann
CHAIRPERSON
Vice President & Marketing & Branding
The Worth Collection LTD
Joan D. Rosenthal, CPA
VICE-CHAIRPERSON
Financial and Fundraising Consultant
Managing Director (Retired)
JPMorgan Chase
Bettina Benson
SECRETARY
Assistant Director (retired)
Federal Compliance
Pfizer Inc
Philippe Liautaud, Jr., CPA, MBA
TREASURER
Vice President CFO
Coleman Research Group
Robert L. Houck, Ph.D
Executive Director
Friends of the Children New York
Berna Barshay
Principal
LaGrange Capital Partners
Belinda Chan
Executive Assistant to CEO
General Atlantic, LLC
Kenneth R. Epstein, Esq.
Associate Director, Structured Finance Ratings
Standard & Poors
Julie Hallowell
Managing Director
Wachovia Securities
Marguerite Koch
Director
UBS Financial Services
Daniel G. Patyk, Jr.
Managing Director Human Resources Division
Morgan Stanley
Lindsay B. Regan
Teacher
Bank Street School for Children
Hon. Kathleen A. Roberts
Mediator and Arbitrator
JAMS
U.S. Magistrate Judge (S.D.N.Y.) (retired)
Kip David Schaefer
Managing Director-Principal
Bear Stearns
Advisory Council
Jane E. Booth
Associate General Counsel
Office of the General Counsel
Columbia University
Kimberly Cambridge
Director, Beacons Technical Assistance
Youth Development Institute
Fund for the City of New York
Howard Clyman
Founder
Friends of the Children,New York
Hon. Milton Mollen
Of Counsel
Herrick, Feinstein LLP
Presiding Justice (retired)
N.Y. State Supreme Court Appellate Division
Regina Rodwell-Bell
Director of Development
China Institute
Charles D. Ruttan
Lawyer
Ruttan and Associates
Margot Tenenbaum
Director of Social Work
Ethical Culture Fieldston School
Key Staff
Robert L. Houck, Ph.D., Executive Director
Dr. Houck is a licensed psychologist who has worked extensively with children and families in
crisis for the past 15 years. He moved from North Carolina to assume the leadership role in 2007. He
brings a rich background of both clinical and organizational expertise. After a successful career in
leadership positions in for-profit organizations Bob devoted the last fifteen years in the management of
child serving agencies in the not-for-profit sector. Bob believes the unique preventative approach of
Friends of the Children NYis significantly more cost effective in terms of wasted lives and
dollars than the recovery programs required once the damage has occurred.
Kareem L. Wright, Program Manager
Kareem L. Wright became a Friend in the fall of 2002 after professional experiences as a
youth leader with the Brooklyn Cultural Adventures Program, an Activity Specialist at the Brooklyn Bureau
of Community Service and a Public School teacher. Kareem is proud to be a product of inspirational teachers
in the NYC public schools and a graduate of Brooklyn College. He is committed to being a catalyst for
positive change in his community through the lives of its children. In 2006 Kareem assumed the role of
Program Manager, reluctantly facilitating transfer of his eight boys to a new Friend so that he could
devote his time to program management and support of the other Friends. He has completed the Columbia
University Business School's Institute for Not-for-Profit Management course on youth services programs.
Alicia L. Brizzi, Social Worker Intern
Alicia L. Brizzi began as a Friend in the Fall 2004. She earned her BA in Psychology from Reed
College, where for her yearlong senior thesis project she examined the effects of both positive and negative
stereotypes on the academic performance of 4th grade African-American children. During her undergraduate work,
Alicia helped coordinate mentors for 6th and 7th graders, she volunteered with a 6th grade language arts class and
was a research evaluator for the Reed College Mentoring Program. In New York, she was a Senior Therapist for the
Center for Autism and Related Disorders, where she provided direct services with autistic children. Alicia is
currently completing a Masters Degree in Social Work and will be transitioning to the role of in-house Social
Worker assisting Friends in their work with the Families of Children in the program.