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ABOUT US: Senior Management
National
Elisabeth Stock,
Chief Executive Officer and Co-FounderMark Malaspina,
Chief Officer, Operations & Strategic Partnerships
Bheesham Sethi,
Chief Officer, External Relations & Field Building-
Bill Rappel,
National Director of the Affiliate Network
Krishan Patel,
Director of Product Management-
Ronald Southard,
Director of Finance and Administration -
Philip Vlahakis,
Managing Director of Development and Communications
CFY-New York City
Cindy Menz-Erb,
Managing Director
CFY-Philadelphia
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Shondell Ayala,
Executive Director
CFY-Atlanta
Jeanne Artime,
Executive DirectorRichard Hicks,
Director, Technology and Operations
CFY-San Francisco Bay Area
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Emily Simas,
Executive Director of California
CFY-Los Angeles
Michelle Hahn,
Executive Director-
Ingrid Nicole Byrd,
Managing Director
Elisabeth Stock
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
Elisabeth Stock built Computers for Youth from a nascent non-profit in 1999 to a National Leader in improving the Home Learning Environment of low-income families. CFY has been recognized by the Drucker Foundation and by the Tech Museum in San Jose, California for its innovative use of technology in education. Recognized as an expert in her field, Elisabeth has been awarded a life-long Ashoka fellowship and has served as an advisor to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the NYC Department of Education. In 2007, she was also appointed to serve on the New York City Broadband Advisory Committee. Elisabeth has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and on National Public Radio and has published a policy paper with the Benton Foundation. Prior to her work at CFY, Elisabeth served as a White House Fellow (1996-1997), where she was the principal architect of a program that enables Federal agencies to donate surplus computers directly to needy schools. She also worked at the Vera Institute of Justice and helped the Open Society Institute start the After-School Corporation. She was a high school teacher for two years while a Peace Corps volunteer and later worked for the World Bank on appropriate technology in Africa, traveling extensively and publishing numerous articles. Elisabeth served as a member of the MIT Board of Trustees (1997-2002) and is the youngest individual ever to be appointed to the MIT Executive Committee (2000-2002). She continues to serve on committees for the Institute. Elisabeth was honored by
Crain's New York Business
in 2001 as one of 40 New Yorkers under 40 shaping the city. She holds four degrees from MIT: two bachelor's degrees—one in engineering and one in writing—and two master's degrees—one in urban planning and one in technology and policy. She also holds a patent for a medical device.Mark Malaspina
Chief Officer, Operations & Strategic Partnerships
Mark joined Computers for Youth in May 2009. He is responsible for managing CFY’s city directors, deepening CFY’s relationships with school districts and software partners, and driving CFY’s program innovations and research agenda. As the former President of The Grow Network, an education company he co-founded in 2000 and sold to McGraw-Hill in 2004, Mark brings strong experience in education to this role. Under Mark's leadership, Grow served more than 20 million students in the U.S. and internationally and demonstrated its impact in differentiated instruction and parent engagement through studies by nationally recognized research organizations, such as the Consortium for Policy Research in Education and the Center for Children & Technology. At Grow, Mark helped develop a patented analytical system that infers students' strengths and needs in order to support effective instruction. Mark also has broad experience working with low-income communities. As a Skadden Fellow at the Lawyers Alliance for New York, Mark provided guidance to local organizations developing innovative economic development programs in low-income neighborhoods. Since 2000, he has served on the board of the New York City Financial Network Action Consortium, a CDFI Intermediary that supports community development credit unions. Previously, Mark has worked with public housing tenant organizations in Atlanta and New Haven and helped establish small business lending programs in Chicago. He served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Coto Brus, Costa Rica, and is fluent in Spanish. After receiving his J.D. from Yale Law School, Mark clerked for Judge Phyllis Kravitch on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He also has an M.P.A. in Economics and Public Policy from Princeton University and a B.A. from Yale College, where he received the Hadley Prize for outstanding scholarship in the Social Sciences.
Bheesham Sethi
Chief Officer, External Relations & Field Building
Bheesham joined CFY in October 2009. In this role, Bheesham is responsible for executing and improving CFY’s innovative philanthropy strategy and overseeing the national communications, media relations, marketing, and branding strategy. Before Computers for Youth, Bheesham served as the Vice President of Development at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, where he was responsible for generating over $200M in fundraising revenue. Bheesham's career spans nearly 20 years and has been devoted to working for progressive issues including the environment, social services, public broadcasting, low-income housing, LGBT and civil rights, media, and youth. He has held senior management roles in various organizations including: the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (Washington, DC), WAMU 88.5 – Washington DC’s pre-eminent public radio station, National Environmental Trust (Washington, DC), Common Sense Media (San Francisco), and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (Washington, DC), among others. He has been featured in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Current, Moneyline with Lou Dobbs, and CNN and was a regular speaker at public radio, NPR and PBS conferences. Bheesham holds a B.S. and M.S. in Cultural Anthropology from Punjab University, Chandigarh, India.
Bill Rappel
National Director of the Affiliate Network
Bill is responsible for building CFY’s affiliate network and directing CFY’s legislative affairs efforts. Prior to moving to CFY’s national office, Bill served for six years as CFY-NYC’s Program Director, during which he increased CFY’s school partnerships more than six-fold; built a robust application process for selecting schools; and successfully built a strong relationship with the New York City Council, from which CFY receives significant funding each year. Prior to CFY, Bill worked at Organic, an Internet consulting firm, and was a consultant for a Rockefeller Family Fund project where he conducted site visits for the America Online Foundation’s Digital Divide Initiative. Bill has a master’s degree in urban planning from Columbia University.
Krishan Patel
Director of Product Management
Krishan brings to the team strong experience in managing large, innovative technology projects. Since joining CFY in 2009, Krishan has been primarily responsible for planning the future direction of CFY's programmatic offerings, including our online strategy. Most recently he was an Associate at Diamond Management and Technology Consultants, where he helped lead several innovative technology and strategy projects: (1) The development of a plan for the City of New York for increasing the availability and adoption of broadband in order to stimulate economic development and improve education, healthcare, quality of life, and the delivery of government services, (2) The delivery of a student information system for Chicago Public Schools to provide parents, educators and administrators with more accessible student data and analytics, (3) The development of Avon Cosmetics’ web 2.0 and mobility strategy to innovate its online presence. Krishan is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he earned a B.S. in Economics.
Ronald Southard
Director of Finance and Administration
Ron joined Computers for Youth in December of 2009. He is responsible for managing CFY’s Finance Department and administrative functions. Since moving to New York in 1994, he has worked as the finance leader in several small to medium sized non-profits as well as filling the role of Chief Financial Officer for the American Lung Association. While at the Lung Association Ron led the design and implementation of an award winning accounting system that tracked and consolidated the finances of the American Lung Association’s twenty-five independently incorporated regional offices throughout the U.S. Prior to coming to New York City, Ron worked in economic development in Western New York. He grew up in Buffalo, NY and has a liberal arts degree from the State University of New York.
Philip Vlahakis
Managing Director of Development and Communications
Phil joined Computers for Youth in June, 2010 and brings over 20 years of experience in providing valuable educational services. Prior to this role, Phil served as Vice President for Kaplan K12 Learning Services, the division of Kaplan Inc. dedicated to propelling student achievement in school districts facing the greatest challenges. At Kaplan K12, Phil was a member of the senior leadership team responsible for the rapid growth of the division from its initial start-up phase. Among his accomplishments, he oversaw the development and launch of some of the division’s most successful products and programs and established a dedicated RFP process and department to deliver winning proposals for the division’s largest opportunities. Prior to Kaplan, Phil served as Director for Executive Education programs at Columbia Business School which provided a range of professional development programs for Fortune 500 companies and their managers worldwide. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Binghamton University and an MBA from Columbia Business School. He is also proud to be a product of the New York City Public School system and dedicated to improving the quality of public education for all students.
Cindy Menz-Erb
CFY-New York City Managing Director
To oversee CFY’s major programmatic expansion in NYC beginning in fall 2010, Cindy Menz-Erb has been named the Managing Director for CFY-New York City. Previously, Cindy has served in important leadership roles for CFY-NYC, both as Director and Program Director, in which she has led key improvements in both operations and program delivery. Before coming to CFY, Cindy started up the New York City operations of the Center for Student Missions (CSM), an organization she had worked with in Washington, DC and Chicago. CSM coordinates both short-term service-learning trips for junior and senior high school students and longer-term service opportunities for college students. In her role as Director of CSM’s NYC office, she was responsible for the overall management of the site, including creating partnerships with community organizations and developing service-learning programming and curriculum. Cindy has also worked in the HIV/AIDS sector doing recruitment and event logistics for AIDS walk fundraisers in NYC and Seattle. Cindy holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications and a master’s degree in Community Development from North Park University in Chicago.
Shondell Ayala
CFY-Philadelphia Executive Director
Shondell Ayala is the Executive Director of CFY-Philadelphia and is responsible for fundraising, public relations, volunteer management, and school and government relations. Prior to this role, Shondell served as a CFY Family Trainer for two years. Shondell began her career as an elementary school teacher and subsequently worked in the non-profit sector in the areas of fundraising and program development. For example, while at To Our Children's Future with Health, Shondell created the Development Department and lead team of grantwriters. While at the award-winning Please Touch Museum, Shondell provided oversight for the museum's outreach programs for low-income families. Shondell holds an Associates degree in Elementary Education from the Community College of Philadelphia, a Certificate in Non-Profit Management from LaSalle University, and a Bachelors of Arts in Applied Communications for Professional Educators from Temple University.
Jeanne Artime
CFY-Atlanta Executive Director
Jeanne Artime is the Executive Director of CFY-Atlanta. Jeanne oversees operations, development activities, and CFY's Take IT Home-Atlanta program, while strengthening relationships with community partners, school districts, and political leaders. Jeanne joined CFY as the Program Director of CFY-Atlanta in 2007, successfully establishing the Take IT Home program in the Atlanta community. Before joining CFY, Jeanne was Program Director for the non-profit Children’s Literature Outreach Program, which provides weekly literature lessons and access to a specialized book library for low-income elementary school students. Jeanne began her career as a systems analyst with Interleaf, Inc. and has held various senior account management, marketing and product management positions with Interleaf, Inc., MapInfo Corporation, and Lotus Development Corporation. Jeanne holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Arts in Art Design from Duke University.
Richard Hicks
CFY-Atlanta Director, Technology & Operations
Richard Hicks is the Director, Technology & Operations at CFY-Atlanta and is responsible for the vision and management of Information Technology resources for CFY-Atlanta. Richard oversees CFY-Atlanta’s refurbishing operations, and develops strategic relationships with local businesses to provide in-kind technology and services. Previously, Richard was a Director of Information Technology at Georgia Military College in Milledgeville, Georgia where he was responsible for many initiatives to bring the campuses to the forefront of technological advancement, including providing insight for the technology design of Georgia Military College’s new and existing facilities. Richard holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Information Systems from Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville and an Associates of Arts in Criminal Justice from Georgia Military College in Milledgeville.
Emily Simas
Executive Director of California
Emily Simas is the Executive Director of California and is responsible for creating visibility and garnering resources for CFY statewide by building and overseeing relationships with funders, operational partners, school districts, and political leaders. She began her career as an elementary school teacher in Oakland, California. Subsequently, she worked in both the for-profit and non-profits sectors, managing fundraising campaigns and strategic marketing initiatives for organizations such as San Francisco School Volunteers, Breakthrough Collaborative, and BabyCenter.com. Emily is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and oversees CFY's operations in Los Angeles as well. Emily holds a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University and a Multiple Subjects Teaching Credential from CSU, Hayward. Emily received the James W. Lyons Award for Service while at Stanford.
Michelle Hahn
CFY-Los Angeles, Executive Director
Michelle Hahn is the Executive Director of CFY-Los Angeles. Michelle has deep political roots within the Los Angeles community as well as extensive knowledge on how things work throughout the city. Most recently, she was the Executive Director of Students Run LA (SRLA), where she galvanized the board and executed the largest fundraising event in the organization’s history. Prior to SRLA, Michelle worked for the Mayor of Los Angeles and with the Los Angeles City Council, and she also held the position of Vice President of Programs for the Los Angeles Police Foundation, the largest private funding source to the Los Angeles Police Department. Michelle holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from Pepperdine University and has also completed the Wells Fargo New Executive Directors Institute program.
Ingrid Nicole Byrd
CFY-Los Angeles, Managing Director
Ingrid Nicole Byrd is the Managing Director of CFY-Los Angeles. Ingrid has over 14 years of non-profit and for-profit education management and education reform experience. Prior to joining the CFY team, Ingrid served as the Deputy Director at the Broad Center for the Management of School Systems, running the Broad Superintendents Academy, an executive management program that recruits, trains, and places non-traditional superintendent candidates and stand-out career educators into superintendent positions in the nation’s underserved urban districts. Also in the education reform space, Ingrid managed Teach For America’s second largest corps of teachers as Senior Managing Director of Programs in Los Angeles, placing teachers in low-income communities and helping to create a pipeline of leaders committed to educational equity and excellence. Prior to this non-profit work, Ingrid ran vocational colleges along the West Coast for Kaplan Higher Education Corporation and managed a territory of afterschool K-12 tutoring centers spanning northern and southern California for SCORE! Educational Centers (now known as Kaplan Tutoring). Ingrid holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Biology from Stanford University and a Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management.
