Board of trustees
JAMES ELLSWORTH
James Ellsworth manages AIG Global Real Estate’s real estate funds business. Prior to AIG, James served as a portfolio manager for Trust Company for the West (TCW) where he managed emerging markets real estate funds. He also worked in the New York office of Merrill Lynch’s Mergers and Acquisitions Group and was a Senior Consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions and cross-boarder transactions. James has extensive experience in underwriting, structuring, and negotiating international real estate transactions. James received his bachelors and master’s degree from Brigham Young University and a MBA from Harvard University. He currently serves on the Policy Advisory Board of UC Berkeley Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics.
MARION C. LEYDIER
Marion Leydier is a partner in the Firm’s Insurance and Financial Services Groups. Ms. Leydier’s practice is primarily focused on domestic and cross-border M&A, private equity, restructuring and securities transactions involving insurance companies and other financial institutions, including banks, private equity funds and investment advisers, and the process of obtaining related regulatory approvals. Ms. Leydier also represents U.S. and international financial institutions in connection with a variety of matters before federal, state and international regulatory bodies. Ms. Leydier is a co-head of both the Firm’s global insurance/reinsurance practice and North America insurance practice.
SAL SIDDIQUI
Sal Siddiqui is a Senior Director at FTI Consulting, a global event-driven strategic consulting firm, where he specializes in the petroleum and chemicals industries. He is also a co-founder and principal of Philly Capital Group, a growing real estate investment firm with holdings throughout the Northeast. Mr. Siddiqui’s roots at Unity Prep reach back to 2013. Previously, he served as the Associate Board president and helped establish Unity Prep’s volunteer-based Saturday Academy tutoring program, along with several on-going annual fundraising affairs. Mr. Siddiqui graduated from the University of Delaware where he received a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering. He subsequently received his M.B.A. in Finance and Management with a concentration in Entrepreneurship from Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business.
JEANNETTE BANDER
Recognized as a “Rising Star” by Law360 and New York Super Lawyers, Jeannette Bander is a partner in Sullivan & Cromwell’s New York office and is a member of the Firm’s General Practice Group. Her practice focuses on a variety of executive compensation and corporate governance matters arising in private equity and public company mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions. She also advises a number of clients, including public and private companies and senior executives, with respect to governance, compliance and compensation matters. She received her B.S. from Lehigh University in 2008 and a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University in 2011.
LENNY SINGLETARY
Lenny is Senior Vice President of External Affairs, Strategy & Marketing at The Brooklyn Hospital Center. He was previously Chief Administrative Officer for the BNY Mellon’s Corporate Treasury Division after achieving a long and successful record of accomplishment within various departments across the franchise. In this role, Lenny was responsible for overseeing the strategic management and development of BNY Mellon’s relationships with the Federal Reserve Bank and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), as well as managing compliance and corporate policy adherence, human resources, and technology needs for Treasury.
DR MADONNA AFRIYIE-ADAMS
As the Director and Math Educational Consultant of the STEM Strategies Group since 2015, Dr. Madonna Afriyie-Adams provides instructional coaching to teachers and school leaders to improve pedagogy, school culture, and school-wide systems, including supporting teachers in the development of Common Core-aligned Curriculum. Dr. Adams is a former Adjunct Professor at the College of New Rochelle and eight years of teaching mathematics within the New York City Department of Education.
TRUDY SANDY
Trudy is the proud parent of a Unity High School alumni part of the inaugural class of 2020.