Founded in 2012, the CSF Young Leaders Board is a network of young professionals that supports CSF’s mission and seeks to maximize educational opportunities for New York City children through fundraising, volunteering, and raising awareness about CSF among their friends, families, and colleagues. To learn more about joining the Young Leaders Board, contact Kurt Faulhammer by email or by phone at (212) 515-7106 or click here.

The following individuals currently serve on the Young Leaders Board:

Katie Allen, J.P. Morgan
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Michael Berezny, Mindset University
Kean University

Annie Brockett, Junto Capital Management
Davidson College

Hugo Buist Rodrigues, Court Square Capital Partners
New York University

Andrew Callister, Centerbridge Partners
BYU

Donald Castle, Data Axle
Colgate University

Erica Leffler-Castle, Lexington Partners
Colgate University

Reco Charity, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Virginia Tech; Georgetown Law School

Sylvie Chen, UBS
Georgetown University

Megan Clyne, Fulbright
Dartmouth

Francis J. Connolly Jr., Practising Law Institute
SUNY at Old Westbury

Antoine Crépin-Héroux, AON
Princeton University

Conor Cunnane, Axial
Loyola University Maryland

Hilal Dahleh, Axel Johnson, Inc.
Middlebury College

Hayden Edelson, JP Morgan Chase & Co
New York University

Josh Farkas, Delmare Capital
University of Michigan

Abigail Fossaceca, JP Morgan
Villanova University

Christian Garrett, 137 Ventures
University of Kansas

Priscilla Habeeb Sankar, Morgan Stanley
Pace University

Nick Harker, Nautic Partners
University of Kentucky

Kevin Heller, Point72 Asset Management
Amherst College

Shirley Hu, Audax Group
University of Pittsburgh

Nick Johnson, AIM13
Vassar College

Eli Joyner, Citibank,
Baruch College

Madison Kadis, Givaudan
Savannah College of Art & Design

Tim Kim, HIG Capital
Cornell University

Alessandra LaRocca Dowling, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP
Bucknell University

Ryan LaRue, Barings
Binghamton University

Esther Lawson-John, Oliver Wyman
Columbia University

Jane Lee, Easy Resume
Ithaca College

Francesca Marini Fichera, Goldman Sachs
Columbia University

Maxwell Masur, McKinsey & Company
NYU Stern School of Business

Jacqueline Palma, Northleaf Capital
Vassar College

Daren Palmer, Fortress Investment Group
SUNY Cobleskill

Rhea Pathak, Bank of America
Northeastern University

Bennett Reid, CrossCountry Consulting
University of Georgia

Bobby Ritter, Ari Fleischer Communications
Middlebury College

Nicole Serrato, CSF
City College of New York

Isabel Sessions, The Riverside Company
Middlebury College

Brandon Sumner, Morgan Stanley
SUNY Oswego

Stephan Thevalingam, KPMG
The University of Texas at Austin

Josu Trevejo, PwC
SUNY Albany

Katelyn Weber, Tongal
Pepperdine

Jason Weber, OpenInfluence
Pepperdine University

Olivea Woo, Hofstra University
CUNY Hunter & Adelphi University

Dan Yu, Sterling Investment Partners
Wake Forest University

Samantha Zeiss Heller, Nielsen Sports & Entertainment
Dartmouth College


Spotlight on Young Leaders Board Member Sylvie Chen!

LinkedIn and/or Website

Hometown: Atlanta, GA

Alma Mater: Georgetown University

Industry: Finance

Hobbies: Piano, tennis, reading, writing, painting

Fun Fact! Growing up, I’ve lived in seven cities.

How did you get involved with Children’s Scholarship Fund and the Young Leaders Board? 

I want to make a positive impact on children of low-income families by providing them with better access to quality education and be a resource to them at any stage of their lives. I am currently serving as a mentor to a high school student, and although I greatly enjoy the mentorship experience, I wanted to do something that can bring impact on a community. I became interested in the Young Leaders Board because I wanted to foster the fund’s growth by assisting with fundraising and outreach. I also would love to learn and growth with a network of young professionals that are passionate about education.

Why is education important to you? 

As a child of an immigrant and a first-generation student, I attended multiple public and private schools. I had to navigate the college admission process on my own. Once I got into Georgetown, I realized how important education was to me, so I dedicated my time in research on education equality. I strongly believe that education is a valuable gateway to social mobility and all children should have equal access to education opportunities. However, the education system perpetuates unequal distribution of resources. My goal is to uplift the disadvantaged children and give them opportunities and support to great education resources.


Get Involved

Connect with the Young Leaders on Facebook and Instagram!