Board of Directors
Steven Kohn
President
Cushman & Wakefield, Chairman – Equity, Debt & Structured Finance
Ed Adler
Vice President
Lubert Adler Real Estate Funds, Managing Partner
Greta Guggenheim
Vice President & Secretary
TPG, Former Chief Executive Officer
Robert Lapidus
Vice President
L&L Holding Company, LLC President and Chief Investment Officer
Matt Lazar
Treasurer
TPG Angelo Gordon, Director, U.S. Real Estate
Daniel Berman
Kramer Levin, Partner
Kyle Bolden
EY, US-East Region Market Segment Leader – Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction Sector
Marty Burger
Infinite Global Real Estate Partners, CEO
Gisele Castro
Exalt, Executive Director
Anar Chudgar
Artemis Real Estate, Co-President
Kevin Faxon
Shadow Hill Partners, Principal
Baaba Halm
Enterprise Community Partners, Vice President, New York Market
Ally Heyburn
Centerbridge, Managing Director
Suzy Myers Jackson
SparkYouth NYC, Executive Director
Sonny Kalsi
BGO, Co-Chief Executive Officer
Richard Kessler
Benenson Capital Partners, Chief Operating Officer
Cia Buckley Marakovits
Dune Real Estate Partners, President
John P. McCarthy
Primrose Hill Advisors LLC, Managing Member
Rich Monopoli
BXP, Senior Vice President, Development
Eric Mulkowsky
Robin Hood Foundation, Senior Management Consultant
Michael Nash
Blackstone, Senior Managing Director (Retired)
James Nelson
Avison Young, Principal Head of Tri-State Investment Sales
Peter C. Olsen
Paul Hastings, Partner – Real Estate Department
Evin Floyd Robinson
America on Tech, President
Neha Santiago
Cerberus Capital Management, Head of Real Estate Private Credit and Managing Director
Adam Schwartz
TPG Angelo Gordon, Co-Managing Partner & Head of Global Real Estate
Shiva Viswanathan
Northwood Investors, Co-Head of U.S. Acquisitions & Senior Managing Director
Rhea Wong
Nonprofit Consultant
Board Member Emeriti
Kenneth Horn
Alchemy Properties Inc., President
David Schulman
Bear Wagner Specialists, LLC (Retired)
Legacy Members
Sally Berg
Co-Founder
Barbara Kohn Welsh
Barbara Kronman
Co-Founder
SparkYouth Staff
Suzy Myers Jackson
Executive Director
Suzy’s 20+ years of nonprofit experience includes working directly with young people in NYC public high schools, investing in mission-driven teams, building effective nonprofit Boards, and serving as a strategic thought partner to visionary leaders.
Her “Yes And” leadership style developed during her time as Executive Director of Opening Act (a former SparkYouth grantee), where she grew the program’s reach from 3 to 57 schools, led the organization to become a national leader in Social Emotional Learning outcomes, and increased revenue by 80 fold.
Suzy loves to “dive into the mess,” whether that’s getting her hands dirty in her Brooklyn garden, or helping an Executive Director weed through challenges to create a more sustainable organization.
Suzy received her BFA from NYU.
Kelley Cunningham
Deputy Director
Kelley joined SparkYouth NYC in 2014. Before SparkYouth, Kelley served in a variety of fundraising and operations roles at a number of nonprofit organizations including Oceana, Waterfront Alliance, National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), and Reading Partners NY. During her time in these roles Kelley garnered extensive experience in event planning; corporate and foundation fundraising; and the management and administration of major gift programs. Kelley earned her A.B. from Mount Holyoke College.
Rachael Abbick
Associate Director of Operations and Development
Rachael has spent the last five years working in direct service non-profits, most recently as Opening Act’s Manager of External Communications and previously as Opening Act’s Executive Assistant as well as the Summer Camp and Marketing Coordinator at Kids Creative. Rachael is delighted to join the SparkYouth NYC team, and she looks forward to using her fundraising, board development, communications, and operations skills to help provide resources and opportunities for thousands of young people to find their spark and ignite their confidence.
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