FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, New York
Novmeber 8, 2007

press release (PDF 128K)

Partnership for New York City Announces
2007-2008 Class of David Rockefeller Fellows

The Partnership for New York City today announced the selection of 18 senior business executives as David Rockefeller Fellows. Over the course of 2008, these future city leaders will learn about the City and how to become great corporate citizens of New York, following the model of the Partnership’s founder, David Rockefeller.

Since the Fellows Program was established in 1989, nearly 190 executives have completed a rigorous year of meetings with New York’s top corporate, non-profit and government leaders as well as site visits to key public institutions.  Last year’s class of Rockefeller Fellows held intimate sessions with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, News Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch and Time Warner Chairman and CEO Richard Parsons, visited Rikers Island, and toured the Third Water Tunnel in Manhattan.

The Fellows explore major issues facing the City and learn how they and their companies can work in partnership with the public and non-profit sectors to support the City. They also form a leadership network across industries and disciplines that strengthens the fabric of the City’s business community.

“We are delighted at the quality of people who have committed to give up significant time from their day jobs to learn how to be more effective civic leaders,” said Kathryn Wylde, President & CEO of the Partnership. “The Fellows are part of the next generation of leadership in the City, and they demonstrate the diversity, talent and civic commitment of the New York City business community.”

2007 – 2008 David Rockefeller Fellows Bios

Faith Frank is President of The AXA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of AXA Equitable. She is responsible for the overall management of AXA Equitable’s philanthropic, corporate citizenship and volunteer strategies and programs. This includes the major component of the AXA Foundation’s giving – the development and implementation of AXA’s national philanthropic program – AXA Achievements. Ms. Frank serves as the international liaison for the AXA Foundation with the AXA Group on all philanthropic and corporate citizenship issues and annually participates in international forums to help maintain AXA’s role in charitable world issues. Prior to AXA, Ms. Frank was Vice President of Development and Vice President of Education for Junior Achievement of New York, Inc. She is currently a member of the Council on Foundation’s Corporate Grantmaking Committee, an advisory committee that supports corporate grantmakers’ efforts to achieve and maintain program excellence in their philanthropy so they effectively serve the business and community. She has also served for the past four years as the President of the Board of Trustees of the Alpha Epsilon Phi Foundation. Ms. Frank graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.A. in communications. 

Erik W. Kahn is a Partner at Bryan Cave LLP in the Intellectual Property and Technology practice groups. In this capacity, he advises companies in a variety of industries on all aspects of intellectual property protection, development and acquisition. He is a regular speaker and writer on intellectual property matters and an active member of the Copyright Society of the USA, the International Trademark Association, and the American Bar Association Section on Intellectual Property Law. His pro bono activities include representation of The Pilobolus Dance Company and Double-O-Film Productions. Mr. Kahn graduated from Hobart College with honors and went on to pursue his J.D. at Cardozo School of Law.

Joel Kirsch is the Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer for Siemens Corporation. In this capacity, he is responsible for ethics and compliance for all Siemens entities in the United States. Before this appointment, Mr. Kirsch was Chief of Litigation for Siemens in the United States. He has also served as primary Legal Counsel to the Siemens Foundation and Siemens Caring Hands, which are non-profit organizations. Prior to his position at Siemens, Mr. Kirsch was an associate at Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler. Mr. Kirsch has been actively involved in various charitable programs throughout New York City. Mr. Kirsch received a B.A. from Pennsylvania State University and his J.D. from Temple University School of Law.

Barry Langer is a Development Associate at Vornado Realty Trust, where he is Project Manager running the firm’s proposed office development at 125th Street and Park Avenue, which will be the first new office building in Harlem in 40 years. Mr. Langer is also involved in numerous public/private project development initiatives including the proposed redevelopment of the Hudson Yards as well as the Moynihan Station redevelopment in Penn Plaza. Prior to his position at Vornado, he worked as a Development Associate at Boston Properties. Mr. Langer is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York, the Urban Land Institute and the Columbia School of Architecture Alumni Association. A native of Miami, Mr. Langer graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in architecture and holds a M.S. in real estate development from Columbia University.

Glenn D. Markman is an Executive Director at Cushman & Wakefield where he specializes in strategic real estate planning and implementation, lease negotiations and tenant representation. Active in real estate for over 20 years, he has represented a cross section of international business tenants including entertainment, corporate, institutional, financial, insurance, publishing, law, media, government and not-for-profit organizations. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Trevor Day School, The Brain Tumor Foundation, the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Industrial Park and is also a member of the Real Estate Board of New York. Mr. Markman is a graduate of Bernard Baruch College.     

Richard J. Mast is the Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Bloomingdale’s New York City flagship store. In this capacity, he is responsible for 150 Executives and 2,500 selling and sales support associates. A 27-year veteran of the company, Mr. Mast has held various operating, financial and merchandising positions both in the flagship and in branch stores. Prior to his time at Bloomingdale’s, he spent ten years working in finance. Mr. Mast holds a B.A. from Syracuse University and an M.A. and MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Anish Melwani is a Principal at McKinsey & Company. In this capacity, he leads the Corporate Finance Practice hub in the Northeast and serves clients across sectors on issues around M&A, valuation and corporate strategy. Beginning last fall, Mr. Melwani led the McKinsey team that helped articulate the goals for Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC and worked to develop a tactical plan to meet the unprecedented carbon reduction targets. For the past four years, he has lead the Strategic Planning 101 program at McKinsey, a collaborative effort with the Robin Hood Organization that provides strategy advice to non-profits in New York City. Since joining McKinsey in 1999, Mr. Melwani has worked in Singapore and Hong Kong, where he focused primarily on M&A and corporate strategy for financial institutions and telecom clients across Asia. Mr. Melwani is a graduate of Harvard University where he received an A.B. with honors.        

Colin Mitchell serves as the Chief Strategic Officer for Ogilvy North America. He joined Ogilvy in 1999 and since then has worked on the IBM brand transformation, the BP brand relaunch and the Cisco Systems business. He started his advertising career as an account planner for BMP DDB in London, the agency generally recognized as the birthplace of the discipline. Mr. Mitchell is a published writer, with works appearing in the Harvard Business Review and the book Brand New Brand Thinking, published in 2002; he also speaks at conferences on the subject of international branding. Raised in Scotland, Mr. Mitchell studied English literature at Birmingham University. 

Sanjay Mody is the Senior Advisor to the Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In this role, he develops executive-level policy and helps to implement the agency’s Capital and Strategic Plans, communicates the Chairman’s objectives and priorities to the agency’s executive staff and advises the Chairman on matters relating to the agency’s core business areas, including aviation, port commerce, rail transit, tunnels and bridges, and World Trade Center redevelopment. Prior to his position at the Port Authority, Mr. Mody worked as a litigation and corporate associate at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. He is a board member and Secretary for Network 20/20, a foreign policy association, and a board member of the DUMBO Business Improvement District. Mr. Mody holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School, an M.Phil. in International Relations from Oxford University, and a B.S. from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.

Colbert G. Narcisse is the Chief Operating Officer of Americas Investment Banking and the Chief Administrative Officer of Global Investment Banking at Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. His primary responsibilities include leading efforts to assess market opportunities and enhance Merrill Lynch’s competitive position. In addition, he assists in developing appropriate strategies to increase market share, improve banker productivity and develop comprehensive planning and performance reports. Mr. Narcisse is also leading the coordination of Merrill Lynch’s environmental initiatives. He previously served as the Chief Operating Officer of Global Wealth Management where he was responsible for managing the business risk management, diversity, finance, real estate, business continuity management, operations and technology functions. Prior to that, he was a Managing Director in the Financial Institutions Group within the Investment Banking Division where he advised specialty finance companies on equity and debt transactions and mergers and acquisitions. He joined Merrill Lynch in 1992 in the Municipal Finance Group where he ultimately managed the firm’s municipal investment banking activities in the eastern region of the United States. Mr. Narcisse holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Finance from New York University.  

LYNN K. NEUNER is a Partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP working in the litigation department. Her trial and litigation experience covers several areas including insurance coverage, securities, false advertising and complex commercial matters. Ms. Neuner is a member of the Departmental Disciplinary Committee for the First Judicial Department, The Lawyers’ Committee for the Archdiocese of New York, the Yale Law School Alumni Fund Board of Directors, the American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. In January 2007, she was named one of the nation’s top litigation “rising stars” in an article entitled “The Young Litigators Fab Fifty” in The American Lawyer. A member of both the New York and Connecticut Bars, Ms. Neuner received her J.D. from Yale Law School and her B.A. summa cum laude from Williams College.
 
Joseph A. Pollicino is a Senior Vice President at Wachovia Bank, N.A. In this capacity, he provides leadership to Wachovia’s commercial banking business in New York City, Westchester County and Southern Connecticut, serving companies with sales of $25 million to $1 billion. Prior to joining Wachovia in 2005, Mr. Pollicino worked at JPMorgan Chase for 24 years where he held several leadership positions in its commercial bank, servicing a diversified portfolio of medium and large companies in the tri-state area. He is a past president and a current executive committee member of Catholic Big Brothers and Big Sisters of New York, and also serves as a member of Georgetown University’s Wall Street Alliance. Recently, he received an ORT Outstanding Community Achievement Awards honor from The Accountants and Bankers Chapter of ORT America. Mr. Pollicino received his B.S. in finance from Georgetown University.

James E. Raved is a Senior Vice President of Tishman Construction Corporation where he serves on the firm’s management committee and has oversight responsibility for monitoring the “at-risk” efforts of the company. Prior to joining Tishman in 2007, Mr. Raved was a Managing Director at Bear Stearns where he served for eight years as senior counsel for real estate and construction matters. He serves on the Advisory Board for the Urban Land Institute’s Young Leaders Group. From 2000 to 2003, Mr. Raved served as Chairman of the Construction Law Committee at The Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Mr. Raved holds a J.D. from the Cardozo School of Law and a B.A. from Hartwick College.

James H. Singer is a Partner and the New York Office Leader for A.T. Kearney, Inc. His responsibilities include managing 100 professionals as well as leading the firm’s Advertising and Marketing efforts in North America. In 2007, Mr. Singer led a major pro bono project for the Empire State Development Corporation to develop a plan for statewide economic growth and revitalization. Prior to working at A.T. Kearney, Mr. Singer worked at Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc., where he was the Senior Vice President of Marketing, and before that spent three years at Warner-Lambert Company, where he Managed Asia-Pacific Business Development and Japanese sales for a start-up polymers business. After graduating college, Mr. Singer spent two years working at Rockefeller University as the primary research assistant to Professor Bruce Merrifield, a Nobel laureate in Chemistry. Mr. Singer holds a B.A. from Williams College and an MBA from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College.

R. Keith Solomon serves as the Director of Corporate Citizenship/Community Affairs, East Region for Microsoft Corporation. In this role, he is responsible for business leadership, and heads up Microsoft’s Community/Non Profit and Diversity initiatives for the region. Mr. Solomon joined Microsoft in 2000 in the Communications Industry Vertical Group and was instrumental in helping that team win the award as the Top Selling Sales Team in the US at Microsoft in the 2000-2001 Fiscal Year. He also spent time as the Regional Business Development Manager in the Microsoft Latin America Group prior to joining the Mid-Atlantic District. In this role he was responsible for leading all Go-To–Market programs within the Microsoft Latin America and Caribbean subsidiary offices. Mr. Solomon currently serves as the Microsoft representative on the Board of Directors for the Henry Street Settlement in New York City and the Harlem Youth Tennis & Education Association. Mr. Solomon holds a B.S. in finance from Hampton University. 

Karyn L. Twaronite is a Partner at Ernst & Young LLP and currently leads Human Resources for their Northeast region. In this capacity, Ms. Twaronite leads all aspects of HR for a region encompassing over 7,500 people and is focused on developing HR strategies, including the advancement of women and minorities in the eight state region. She is the co-chair and founder of the Tri-State Professional Women’s Network and sits on the Advisory Board of the Ethnicity Advisory Council, the EY Cares giving committee, the Black Professionals Advisory Council and the Firm’s National HR Steering Committee. Ms. Twaronite joined Ernst & Young as a client serving tax practitioner in 1990 and is a licensed CPA in the state of New York. Ms. Twaronite received her B.S. in accounting from Miami of Ohio and a Masters in taxation from Fordham University.  

Scott D. Widmeyer is the Chairman of Widmeyer Communications, a New York and Washington-based public affairs and communications firm that he founded in 1988 whose clients include The McGraw Hill Companies, Coca Cola, the College Board, Pfizer, Channel Thirteen, Carnegie Corporation of New York and Princeton University. Mr. Widmeyer began his career as a newspaper reporter in the 1970s and went on to hold major press and communication posts with former President Carter, Vice President Mondale, U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller and former Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro. He has served on various boards and advisory committees including GLAAD, West Virginia University’s P.I. Reed School of Journalism, the Victory Fund, Channel Thirteen, PENCIL, the March of Dimes, National Press Club, the National Conference for Community and Justice, Council for Unity, the Education Writers Association, the Council of PR Firms, and the President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities Coming Up Taller program. A West Virginia native, his firm established the Widmeyer Professorship in Public Relations at WVU. Additionally, dozens of young people have received Widmeyer scholarships to study journalism at WVU. In 2005, then Governor Bob Wise bestowed on Mr. Widmeyer the “Distinguished West Virginian Award,” the highest honor given by the Governor. Mr. Widmeyer received his B.S. in journalism from WVU. 
 
Laila Worrell is a Partner at Accenture. In this capacity, she leads strategic market development for the New York metropolitan area. Ms. Worrell serves on Accenture’s New York City Council, a group of executives who help direct Accenture’s civic and community involvement and local client development. Ms. Worrell previously served as the head of strategy and corporate development for Holtzbrinck and prior to that, worked with Lou Dobbs of CNN and former astronaut Sally Ride to launch Imaginova, a company focused on science news and education. Ms. Worrell’s long-standing involvement within the civic and non-profit sectors includes assisting with the creation of America’s Promise, Retired Secretary of State Colin Powell’s initiative focused on improving outcomes for at-risk inner-city youths, and with former astronaut Sally Ride to launch Imaginary Lines and the Sally Ride Science Club. For the past six years, she has served on the Board of Advisors for the Educational Advancement Foundation at the University of Texas and was recently elected to the Board of the New York Chapter of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Ms. Worrell holds an MBA from Harvard University and a B.A. from the University of Texas, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

The Partnership for New York City (www.pfnyc.org) is a network of business leaders dedicated to enhancing the economy of the five boroughs of New York City and maintaining the city’s position as the global center of commerce, culture and innovation.