The Board of Trustees

Neil Yaris became interested in The Valerie Fund in 2004 following the death of a 13-year old family friend who had received treatment for bone cancer at The Valerie Fund Children’s Center at Saint Barnabas Medical Center. Neil’s passion for continuing education is reflected in his support of scholarships to fulfill Valerie Fund patients’ secondary educational goals. After graduating from the Washington University in St. Louis, Neil worked at some of Wall Street’s biggest banks. Beginning his career as a Municipal Bond trader and then High Yield Bond trader at Goldman, Sachs & Co., Neil has served as a Managing Director at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette, Credit Suisse, Bank of America and at the Royal Bank of Canada, all in the capacity of High Yield Bond Trader and Head Trader.

JC Uva’s experience spans corporate and digital strategy, media sales, and finance. At MediaLink, JC works across many different clients, including traditional media companies, brands and ad tech. He leads the company’s work with strategic and financial investors who seek practical, actionable advice in evaluating specific assets or sectors for a potential transaction.

JC comes to MediaLink from Moelis & Company, where he was an investment banking Associate focusing on M&A and corporate restructuring. At Moelis, Uva worked on a number of complex transactions across multiple industries, including lodging, real estate, health care and power/utilities. In addition to supporting senior internal staff on various projects, he worked directly with private equity investors and company management on a wide range of financial analysis.

Prior to Moelis, Uva received his MBA from NYU Stern with specializations in finance and entertainment, media and technology. Before business school, he began his career at CNN, where he held a number of positions in advertising sales.

Brian D. Fuhro, Esq., Fuhro, Hanley & Beukas: Treasurer
Brian is a partner at Fuhro, Hanley & Beukas. Previously he worked at Bruinooge & Associates, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and KPMG. Brian is both a CPA and attorney. He is a member of the New Jersey State Society of CPA’s and the NJ State Bar Association, as well as the American Bar Association. In addition to his position as Treasurer of The Valerie Fund, he is also a member of the Investments and Endowment Committee. His other associations include Board Member of the Kinnelon Educational Foundation and Past President of the Passaic County NJ State Society of CPA’s. Mr. Fuhro and his family are residents of Kinnelon, NJ.

Barry Kirschner, Executive Director
After growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y., Barry attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a BS in Finance in 1977. He worked for CBS for three years in finance and marketing before returning to graduate school to get his MBA from the University of Chicago in 1982. From 1982 to 1990, Barry traded fixed income securities for Merrill Lynch, specializing in derivatives and zero coupon bonds. He went on to manage the zero coupon bonds area at DLJ, UBS, and Chase until 1998. Barry learned of The Valerie Fund in 1989 when he attended a dinner for a child being treated at The Valerie Fund Center at Overlook Hospital. He joined the Thanksgiving Ball Committee in 1991 and was asked to join the Board of Trustees in 1993. Barry served on the board until October 2003 when he joined the staff as Executive Director.

Merrie Bernstein, Aramark, Chairman of the Board
Merrie is currently Director of Business Development at Aramark Education. Previously, she was the Director of Business Development for First Transit University shuttle business east region. Prior to joining First Transit, Merrie was the Director of Business Development for ARAMARK Education covering the Northeastern United States. Preceding her tenure at ARAMARK Merrie worked for GE Plastics for over 20 years. She has been involved with The Valerie Fund since 1988 and has served as a member on the Board of Trustees for more than 15 years. Merrie has chaired the Annual Fashion Show and currently chairs the annual Thanksgiving Ball Gala, The Valerie Fund's signature event. Merrie and her husband, Eric, reside in Bridgewater Township, NJ.

Joe is a cancer survivor who was treated by Dr. Kam over 20 years ago. He is a partner at McKinsey & Company, co- leading the Corporate Finance & Strategy Practice and McKinsey's Activist Investor Defense Team. Since joining McKinsey in 1999, Joe has worked on a wide range of corporate finance and investment related issues. Joe and his family are deeply appreciative of the support they received from the Valerie Fund when he was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease and is excite to help support the mission of the Valerie Fund. Joe holds an undergraduate degree from Yale and received MBA from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to McKinsey, Joe worked for Morgan Stanley. He lives in Short Hills, NJ with his wife Suni and twin children, Jonathan and Saffron.

Mr. DeNichilo is a Partner at Energy Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on investing in North America’s energy infrastructure. He is involved in all areas of the firm’s investment activities, with particular emphasis on fossil and renewable power generation. Prior to joining Energy Capital in 2008, Mr. DeNichilo worked at JP Morgan in the Energy Investment Banking Group where he focused on leveraged finance and M & A transactions among independent power producers.
Mr. DeNichilo received a B.S.E. in Operations, Research and Financial Engineering from Princeton University. He currently resides in New York City with his wife Rachel Cecil.

Dominic DiBari, LS Power Development, LLC.
Dominic and his family have been involved with the Valerie Fund since 2011 after his son was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and began treatment at Morristown Memorial Hospital. Since that time, Dominic has volunteered with fundraising to support the annual run/walk which included a Warren, NJ “Valerie Fund Pride Month” campaign that rallied local schools, businesses, and places of worship support for the Valerie Fund. Previous volunteer work has included fundraising for the American Cancer Society and coaching youth sports.
Dominic is currently Vice President, Asset Management at LS Power Development LLC., a power generation, transmission and investment group. Prior to this position he was a Managing Director for Black & Veatch, a global engineering firm specializing in building power, water, oil & gas, and telecommunication infrastructure. Dominic previously worked in power generation for Public Service Enterprise Group and Reliant Energy overseeing, supporting and running combined cycle natural gas and coal fired generation assets. Prior to his power generation career, Dominic served in various positions at sea and ashore for the U.S. Coast Guard supporting search and rescue, law enforcement, and environmental protection on the high seas. Dominic earned his Masters of Science in engineering from the University of Illinois, Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and is a graduate of the Naval War College. He currently resides in Warren, NJ with his wife Karen and their three children, Christian, Nathan, and Katherine.

Peter is currently the Managing Partner of Integra Advisors, a boutique advisory and executive search firm focusing on systematic trading and technology. He partners with industry leaders on business strategy, employee engagement and retention, and organizational building. Prior to founding Integra, Peter was an executive at Teza Partners, a leading quantitative trading firm. Prior to Teza, Peter founded and ran his own search firm for eleven years where he was an industry leader in the automated trading and financial technology verticals.
Peter currently serves on the board of Willa's Wish and is an Advisor to Descartes Labs. He is a graduate of Colgate University. He/Peter currently resides in Short Hills, NJ with his wife Jennifer and four children

Harriet Greenholtz, Community Volunteer
Harriet has been involved with The Valerie Fund since it was founded. In addition to being a past Chairperson of the Board, Harriet has served on the Roast Committee and worked on numerous Holiday Parties, Fashion Shows, and Thanksgiving Balls ( which was founded while she was Chair). Currently, Harriet serves on the Major Gifts Committee. A certified teacher, she taught grammar school. Harriet currently runs her own company called Tagsale Unlimited. She is a long time Short Hills, NJ resident, and is very active in the community.

Janet Keating, Community Volunteer
Janet Keating has a degree in Cytotechnology (Microscopic Cancer Diagnosis) from Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT. Her professional experience includes employment in large NJ diagnostic laboratories as well as NJ hospitals. Prior to Janet's transition from career to motherhood, she was Cytology Lab Supervisor and Teaching Supervisor at Muhlenberg Hospital, Plainfield, NJ. Along with Janet's commitment to The Valerie Fund Board of Trustees since 1990 (Chairperson 2003-2006), her volunteerism includes The Junior League of Summit, Trinity-Pawling School Board of Trustees (Pawling, NY), and the Covenant House New York Corporate Board. A New Jersey native, Janet resides in Morristown, NJ. She is the mother of three adult children, Brian, Eric (childhood cancer survivor and former patient of The Valerie Fund), and Alison.

Krista may have joined The Valerie Fund board in 2018 but she can take credit for improving the quality of life for Valerie Fund hematology and oncology patients much earlier. Her advocacy of people living with serious chronic illnesses is the hallmark of a career in biopharmaceuticals spanning more than 30 years. Today, she leads the hemoglobinopathy research and development activities at CRISPR Therapeutics, a gene-editing company. Krista and her team are investigating the use of CRISPR Cas-9 technology – a type of “molecular scissors” – as a potentially curative therapy for β thalassemia and sickle cell disease.
Prior to joining CRISPR Therapeutics, Krista was a Franchise Global Program Head at Novartis. During her 14 year tenure at Novartis, she was instrumental in developing the first oral iron chelation therapy approved for use in the U.S. - Exjade®, and an improved formulation known as Jadenu®. These medications bind iron, and treat iron overload, a potentially life-threatening condition that is the result of frequent blood transfusions. The body has no natural way to remove this iron and prior to achieving continuous chelation just by drinking Exjade ® once daily, standard treatment was in the form of IV infusions – a pump and a needle in the stomach that could take up to 12 hours a day to administer. Compliance rates soared when Exjade® and Jadenu® became available and forever changed the lives of those with sickle cell disease, thalassemia and other blood disorders.
Krista’s career in pharmaceuticals began as a sales representative with Merrell Pharmaceuticals in Toronto. A dual citizen of Canada and the United States, she spent 14 years at the Johnson & Johnson family of companies beginning in Canada at Ortho Biotech, and continuing her career in various roles at Johnson & Johnson in the U.S., including work on the global team responsible for the anemia-fighting drug Procrit®/Eprex®. Krista also champions under-served populations in her capacity as an advisor to Hemex Health, a company developing low cost malaria and sickle cell disease diagnostics for Africa, India and other developing countries with high prevalence of these diseases. She promotes women’s entrepreneurial growth as a mentor at Springboard. She holds a BSc (HON) in Applied Health Studies from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University. In her spare time, Krista enjoys skiing, golfing, boating, cooking and learning about wine.

David Novak, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Dave first became involved with The Valerie Fund in 1992 as a leader of the team that began Morgan Stanley Rec Day. He is a partner of private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in London, England. Previously, Dave worked in the private equity and investment banking divisions of Morgan Stanley. Dave is a member of the Board of Directors of HD Supply, Rexel, and Italtel, and also serves on the Board of the NSPCC, a leading UK children's charity. He is a member of the European Private Equity Leadership Network, and Amherst College's Executive Committee of the Alumni Council. He graduated from Amherst College and received his MBA from Harvard Business School. Dave and his wife, Jane, have two boys, Ethan and Jonathan

Noemi has reached the Summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa, ran the NYC Marathon twice and completed the 108 km Cape Argus bicycle race held in Cape Town, South Africa. These recreational accomplishments can be found at the end of her Curriculum Vitae (CV), Latin for “course of life”, a fitting exclamation point to the narrative of her professional experience thus far.
Noemi’s course of life is driven by her passion for working in the Oncology field and bringing new treatments to cancer patients. Educated at The University of Connecticut, she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and soon after joined the pharmaceuticals industry as a bench scientist. After exploring discovery research as well as clinical research roles early in her career, she spent a decade at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals where she led a training and quality standards group in medical affairs for a region comprised of Japan, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America (JAALA). In this role, as Pfizer’s Director of Quality Operations, Noemi created opportunities for relationship building and parterships with key medical centers, academic institutions, and regulators throughout the entire JAALA region. While at Pfizer, she then changed careers from medical to marketing and led the development of the Pfizer Oncology global branding campaign and worked on all aspects of strategic brand development to optimize the commercial potential for two breast cancer products.
Noemi has been working in the pharmaceuticals Oncology space for over 14 years in commercial leadership roles at Eisai Corporation, Glaxo Smith Kline, and Novartis. While at GSK Oncology (transitioned to Novartis in March 2015), Noemi led the Early Commercial Development group responsible for partnering with R &D in developing the new products strategy covering a wide range of indications (in solid tumors as well as hematology) and mechanisms of action (including immuno- oncology and cellular therapy). While in this role, she also led all commercial due diligence activities for Business Development & Licensing (BD&L) in collaboration with her business partner in BD. Noemi is presently the Global Head of Medical Excellence, Oncology Global Medical Affairs at Novartis Oncology. She leads the team responsible for building medical excellence and leadership capabilities across the global medical affairs organization, including headquarters, regional and country functions.

Julie Rubinstein, Adaptive Biotechnologies, Vice Chairman of the Board
Julie has been involved with The Valerie Fund since 1993. She has been a volunteer counselor at Camp Happy Times and serves on the Marketing/Communications and Allocations Committee. She has also helped to solidify a long term strategic plan for The Valerie Fund. Julie is currently VP of Business Development at Adaptive Biotechnologies. She was a Senior Director at Pfizer, Inc. in Worldwide Commercial Development, Oncology Products. Julie previously worked at Johnson & Johnson and Collegiate Health Care. She was also a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley in the Global Health Care Group where she participated in the Morgan Stanley Rec Day Program. Julie earned her MBA from Harvard Business School and holds a dual degree BA/BSE from University of Pennsylvania and The Wharton School. She is married and the mother of three children.

Glenn Schiffman, Guggenheim Securities
Glenn is Senior Managing Director of Guggenheim Securities, LLC. Previously a partner at The Raine Group, Glenn has 20 plus years of investment banking and investing experience having started at Lehman Brothers in 1991.In 2002 he became co-head of the U.S. Media Group and in 2004 co-head of the Global Media Group. In 2007 Glenn and his family relocated to Hong Kong to head Investment Banking Asia ex- Japan and in 2008 Glenn was given responsibility for Japan Investment Banking for Lehman Brothers. From 2009 until April 2011 Glenn was at Nomura Securities from which he retired as CEO of Nomura Securities North America, LLC in April 2011. Glenn graduated from Duke University with a degree in economics and history. Glenn has been active within The Valerie Fund for many years and is also Founder and Chairman of The Valerie Fund Endowment.

Steve Squeri, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of American Express has supported The Valerie Fund’s annual American Express Charity Golf Tournament at Baltusrol Golf Club since 2007. His commitment ensures the success of this premiere fund raising event and he is dedicated to making it a memorable day for so many avid golfers like himself. For the last 28 years, Steve has made a significant impact on credit card business operations for American Express. He was instrumental in developing and implementing the company’s point-of-sale capabilities and has spearheaded the effort to grow merchants’ businesses through e-commerce programs. He is a member of the team shaping the future of American Express, responsible for developing the company’s strategic direction and determining key policies.

Sharon Weintraub, Community Volunteer
Sharon is currently a full time Mom who spends much of her free time volunteering in the nonprofit sector. She recently completed her tenure as a board member of the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Essex County which began in 2003. While on the board, she focused primarily on fundraising. Sharon continues in the role of coordinator for Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, who is a hosting site for IHN for two weeks a year. Sharon co-chairs an annual gift drive for The Metro Regional Diagnostic Treatment Center (RDTC) with a friend for the past 5 years. This drive provides gifts for over 150 children who are all victims of of sexual, and sometimes physical and emotional abuse. Sharon is a board member of Willa’s Wish, a charity started by Greg and Leslie Hsu Besner in honor of their daughter who suffers from Type 1 Diabetes. She began volunteering weekly at The Valerie Fund Center at St. Barnabas Hospital in 2008. She then moved into fundraising for this organization with an annual wine tasting along with her husband Josh. She is a firm believer in giving back to the community and does so by being a part of the social action committee ,Tikkun Olam ,at Congregation Bnai Jeshurun. Over the past 15 years she has done several volunteer projects with this committee. Some include holiday parties for the UMDMJ AIDS clinic, Boarder Babies, Gift card and toy drives for a number of non-profit organizations. Sharon received a Bachelor of Science in Textile Science and Marketing from the University of Maryland in 1992. She began her career at the USA Knitting Corporation, a manufacturer of neckwear and hair accessories, where she was the Manager of Production. She then became the owner of What 2 Wear Accessories, a small, but successful jewelry company. She is married to her husband Josh, and has two children, Jamie and Melanie.

Howard is a partner at Weiner Law Group where he is Co-Manager of the Litigation Department. He is a past chair of the board of trustees of The Valerie Fund. Howard is currently a member of the Operations Committee. Howard has served as pro bono legal counsel for many years, and is currently Co-Chair of the Committee for Legal and Business Affairs.

Tara Favors, Morgan Stanley
Tara is Managing Director in Human Resources at Morgan Stanley in New York City. Prior to her current role, Tara held senior positions in human resources at Deutsche Bank, Revlon, and Merrill Lynch. Tara received her MS in Human Resources from the New School University and BA in Psychology from Syracuse University. Tara is a founding member of The Valerie Fund Sickle Cell Leadership Council through which she has worked to raise awareness of the effects of Sickle Cell in the African American community. She and her husband are also a proud parent to two boys; the youngest, a patient of the Valerie Fund Center at Saint Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, NJ.

Ron Festa, New Heights Consulting
Ron holds a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational psychology and has over 20 years of experience developing and implementing practical, business-driven solutions to complex organizational issues. Ron's training in psychology, coupled with his many years of corporate experience, have provided a strong foundation for addressing a wide range of challenges related to the development of individuals and organizations. As an executive coach, Ron has had significant success helping executives achieve breakthrough performance. He has provided high quality consulting to a wide range of Fortune 500 clients that include AT&T, Binney & Smith, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Colgate-Palmolive, Wachovia, Johnson & Johnson and various J&J companies, Kraft/Nabisco, Lucent Technologies, Morgan Stanley, Pharmacia, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Roche, SONY, and The Prudential. Ron is also a former chair of The Valerie Fund Board and father of Justin, a former Valerie Fund patient.

Joe has had a long career in media sales and marketing. He was President of Sales and Marketing at Canwest Mediaworks. He has also worked as Senior Vice President at Time Warner where he was responsible for all multi-platform integrated sales and marketing relationships across the US. Prior to that, Mr. Mangione was Senior Vice President, Global Client Solutions, at Turner Broadcasting. Previous positions included Publisher, Integrated Marketing at Better Homes and Gardens where his activities spanned print and TV properties. Mr. Mangione and his family are long time residents of Cedar Grove, NJ.

Debbie Schiller, Community Volunteer
Debbie is a graduate of The University of Arizona. She was formerly president of DSI Interiors, a design firm based in Chicago and New York. Debbie has been actively involved with The Valerie Fund since 2003. She helped establish a fund to provide transportation for Valerie Fund patients and families to be able get to the centers for treatment. Debbie and her daughter, Nicole, also co-founded an endowment fund to ensure the continuation of the Saint Barnabas Valerie Fund Center holiday party. She currently resides in Short Hills NJ with her husband Howard and her three daughters.

Joe is currently the Chairman & CEO of HMG Media. Joe recently held positions as Executive Advisor for Telemundo, and Chairman, Hispanic Enterprises & Content at NBCUniversal.
Joe was President & Chief Executive Officer of Univision Communications Inc., the premier Spanish-language media company in the United States. Since he joined the Company in April 2007, Univision has achieved consistent growth through the successes of its three television networks – Univision, TeleFutura and Galavisión – and its radio and online operations. Under Mr. Uva’s leadership, the Univision Network has consistently outdelivered at least one of the other major networks in primetime among adults and Univision.com has seen double-digit traffic growth and maintained its position as the #1 Internet destination within the U.S. among Spanish-dominant and bilingual Hispanics.
Prior to Univision, Mr. Uva served as President and CEO of OMD Worldwide, an Omnicom Group Company, from January 2002 until March 2007. He oversaw all of OMD’s global operations. During his tenure, OMD was twice recognized as Global Media Agency of the Year by industry leading publications and was consistently ranked as the most awarded media agency in the world by The Gunn Report.
Before OMD, Mr. Uva was President of Turner Entertainment Group Sales and Marketing for Turner Broadcasting Sales, Inc. (TBSI). He handled all domestic sales and marketing for TBS Superstation, TNT, Cartoon Network, Turner South and Turner Sports. Additionally, he worked with corporate marketers in the area of licensing and promotion in the development of integrated marketing programs and oversaw the company’s barter/trade operations.
Mr. Uva joined TBSI in 1984 as an advertising sales account executive with CNN, later serving as Executive Vice President for CNN Sales worldwide.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of TiVo, Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO). Mr. Uva also serves on several non-profit boards including the Ad Council and the International Radio & Television Society Foundation and is a member of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer.
He has been honored by Young Audiences New York and The Valerie Fund for his commitment to children, and has received numerous awards from the media and advertising industries for his professional achievements. He was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame in October 2007.
Mr. Uva holds a bachelor’s degree in Rhetoric & Communications from the State University of New York at Albany.

Diane Young, M.D., Novartis
Diane is currently the Vice President of Clinical Development at Novartis Oncology. In this position, she leads a global group of clinical research personnel and oversees the development of a diverse pipeline of oncology and hematology products, including targeted therapies, cytotoxic chemotherapy, and iron chelation therapy. She has pursued her career in research in the pharmaceutical industry for eighteen years, with positions of increasing responsibility at Hoffman-La Roche, Sandoz, and Johnson and Johnson, prior to joining Novartis. Diane lives in Far Hills, NJ, and has two children, Shannon and Ryan.

Ryan attended his first event held by The Valerie Fund in 2012, and became more involved in the organization by joining the Junior Board in 2016. Ryan graduated from Princeton University in 2013 with a B.S.E. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He currently works as a Senior Consultant in the Life Sciences division at a strategy consulting firm called Simon-Kucher & Partners, primarily working with pharmaceutical and biotech clients.

Nicki Schiller has been involved with the Valerie Fund since 2005 when she began raising money for the annual Saint Barnabas Valerie Fund Center Holiday Party. She set up an endowment fund, with the help of her mother Debbie, to ensure the continuation of the holiday party. Nicki also volunteered at the Saint Barnabas Valerie Fund Center. Nicki recently graduated from the University of Michigan and now lives in NYC. She works at Oscar Health Insurance, which is a start-up that is trying to reform the health insurance industry.

Greg has been a proud and active supporter of The Valerie Fund Junior Board since 2013. Greg grew up in Mendham, New Jersey and is motivated to work with The Valerie Fund because of the organization’s ties to his home town area. Greg currently works at Magnitude Capital as a Vice President after starting his career at Credit Suisse. Greg was a four-year monogram winner for the University of Notre Dame baseball team. He graduated with a B.S. in finance from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame in 2011.

Dan was introduced to the Valerie Fund in 2014 by a friend Don Robinson, the director of finance at the Valerie Fund. Dan first got involved as a volunteer at the 2014 Rec Day, where volunteers usually spend an entire day with the kids in the arcade center, and upon moving to New York City he joined the Junior Board and has been actively involved in all board initiatives since. After visiting Camp Happy Times in the summer of 2016 and seeing the significant impact The Valerie Fund has on the lives of the kids it supports firsthand, Dan took up the role of the education chair within the board to spread the word of such worthy cause even further. Dan is currently an associate at Morgan Stanley Investment Management in New York, primarily working with Asia private equity funds.

Molly joined the Valerie Fund Junior Board in November 2017 after participating in a fundraising campaign for the charity in her office. After spending a day at Camp Happy Times and meeting some of the children that benefit directly from the organization, Molly was committed to continuing to work with the organization on a more regular basis. Last year during the planning process for the annual gala, Molly helped procure silent auction donations from RSM partners and engaged her alumni network to identify a designer for the gala’s promotional materials. Molly graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.S. in Accounting and Marketing in 2013, and currently works as a Supervisor in the Business Risk & Consulting Practice at RSM.

Kieran has been a member of the Valerie Fund Junior Board since 2015. He graduated from Bentley University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Finance. He currently works as a VP in Equity Research at Credit Suisse

Patrick became an active supporter of The Valerie Fund in 2015. Patrick attended the University of Tampa, where he earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in the Science of Accounting. He currently works as a Senior Auditor at Deloitte & Touche LLP, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Kathleen recently joined The Valerie Fund Junior Board in 2017 after running a fundraising campaign in her office for the charity, raising over $80,000. Kathleen was inspired to continue her work with the organization after having a chance to meet some of the individuals who have benefitted from the services and care of the Valerie Fund. Kathleen graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.S. in Finance and Marketing in 2014, and currently works as a Senior Associate in the Risk Advisory Practice at RSM.

Ian Carow is excited to contribute to the mission of The Valerie Fund Junior Board and make a meaningful impact in the lives of children with cancer and blood disorders. Ian joined the Junior Board in 2015 after being introduced to The Valerie Fund's great work by high school friends and junior board members Greg Sherry and Matt Crnkovich. He currently works at Alvarez and Marsal as a consultant in their Financial Services practice, and began his career working at Deutsche Bank in MBS and Securitized Product Strategy from 2011 to 2015. Ian graduated form Vanderbilt University in 2011 with a BA in Economics and History, and grew up in central New Jersey.

Pat Clancy currently serves as a member of the Junior Board of The Valerie Fund. He first became involved with The Valerie Fund in 2014 while working as an Analyst at Morgan Stanley in the Leveraged Finance Group and was co-chair of the Firm’s entirely analyst-run fundraising campaign in 2015, the same year he joined the Junior Board. After visiting Camp Happy Times in the summer of 2014, Pat found the impact that the Valerie fund has on the children truly remarkable and considers himself fortunate to have the opportunity to work with such a great organization (and of course the kids!). Pat graduated from The McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in 2013 with a B.S. in Finance and International Business and a minor in Economics. Today, he works as an associate at KKR & Co. in New York.

Jacob has spent 3 years working with the Valerie Fund since he moved to NYC in 2014. While working at Morgan Stanley, Jacob served as a senior chairperson of the Morgan Stanley - Valerie Fund Partnership, which is an entirely analyst run program that supports, educates and fundraises for The Valerie Fund across the United States. In his two years there, he helped to raise over $350,000 for the Fund. Jacob currently works as an associate at Lindsay Goldberg and continues to be involved with the Fund and its junior board. Jacob received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina.

Natalie Hojnacki recently joined The Valerie Fund Junior Board in 2017 after attending the Spring Junior Board Gala in 2016 and volunteering at the Taste of Giving in February. Natalie became inspired to help after talking to patients and survivors that have had life altering experiences from the services and care that the Valerie Fund provides. She is a Vice President of Strategy, focusing specifically on M&A and external strategy at Annaly Capital Management, a mortgage real estate investment trust. Natalie attended Lehigh University, where she was a member and captain of the women’s soccer team. She graduated with a B.S. in Finance in 2010 and a M.S. in Economics in 2011.

Spencer has been a member of the Junior Board and Young Associate of The Valerie Fund since 2014. Spencer graduated Babson College in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management. He currently works as a Senior Associate at RFE Investment Partners.

Richard became involved with The Valerie Fund in 2013 when his grandmother passed away from cancer. His grandparents were lifelong summer camp owners, which Richard attended for over ten years. As a former camper he appreciates the value that Camp Happy Times provides children struggling with cancer, even if only for a week. Richard graduated from the Kelley School of business at Indiana University and holds a B.S. in Business Administration with concentrations in Accounting and Finance. He is currently an investment professional at Thomas Weisel Global Growth Partners and is a non-practicing CPA.

Gabe has been a Junior Board member and Young Associate of The Valerie Fund since 2013. After helping plan two successful and meaningful annual Mardi Gras Galas, Gabe is excited to become a Valerie Fund educational liaison. Gabe graduated from Cornell University in 2011 with a B.A. in Economics and is currently an associate in the Debt Capital Markets group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Veronica Lopez joined The Valerie Fund Junior Board in 2015 through a high school friend on the board and after attending the Spring Junior Board Gala. Veronica is motivated to help raise funds for The Valerie Fund to help children with cancer and blood disorders receive the support they need to enjoy their childhood. Veronica is the strategic associate at MK&A, a consulting firm that specializes in patient advocacy, including previous strategic planning work with The Valerie Fund. Veronica has an MPH in Health Policy Analysis from Columbia University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.

Bobby became involved with The Valerie Fund in 2014 after attending his first Junior Board Gala that year and witnessing the tremendous support for the organization. Bobby looks forward to increasing his involvement and contributing to this meaningful cause. Bobby graduated from Georgetown University in 2013 with a B.A. in Government and minor in Economics. Today, Bobby works as an analyst at The Blackstone Group in New York.

Jeff has been actively involved with The Valerie Fund since joining Morgan Stanley as an Investment Banking analyst in 2011. After co-leading the 21st annual Morgan Stanley fundraising campaign, he had the opportunity to spend a day with some of the children of TVF at Camp Happy Times and was immediately motivated to continue to work for and support both this organization and all of the wonderful programs it hosts. He joined the Junior Board in June of 2013 and became a Co-Chair at the end of that summer. Jeff graduated from Northwestern University in 2011 with a B.A. in Economics and currently works as an investment associate at Vestar Capital.

Sean began working with the Valerie Fund as a Junior Board member in 2013 when he moved to NYC from Chicago. In his capacity as a Junior Board member, Sean helped plan and organize the annual Mardi Gras Gala and other fundraising events that support The Valerie Fund. After being exposed to the organization's mission and leadership team, Sean broadened his involvement with The Valerie Fund by working as a Young Associate, a capacity in which he continues to be involved today. After graduating from Northwestern University, Sean worked for several years at McKinsey & Company before joining Compass, a real estate technology firm, where he leads their expansion efforts.

Dustin Zhang joined the Junior Board in 2016 after being introduced by friends and fellow board members Greg Sherry and Matt Crnkovich. Dustin is proud to contribute to the Valerie Fund and its mission of helping children with cancer and blood disorders. Dustin grew up in Calgary, Alberta and attended the University of Notre Dame on a golf scholarship. He graduated with a B.S. in Finance from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business in 2011. Dustin currently works on the investment team at Water Island Capital, a New York based mutual fund.