Our People

Funke Akinola began her career working with children in kindergarten, and Grades 1-2.. She taught for more than 30 years at the Brearley School, retiring in 2017. Her time on the Reading Team board has enabled her to give back to her beloved Harlem community. Akinola grew up in Togo and Ghana, where she received a Teacher’s Certificate from Wesley Teachers’ College. After immigrating to the United States, she earned a BA from Hunter College. She enjoys sharing her passion for education with her six grandchildren.

Mia Campbell is an experienced kindergarten teacher and former Program Development Manager at Little Learning, Inc., a New York City early childhood development program with a focus on literacy. She holds a BA in Psychology from Stanford University and an MA in Education from King's College London. She lives in New York City with her husband and their three young sons.

Judith H. Dobrzynski, an award-winning journalist who has held senior editorial roles at The New York Times, Business Week and CNBC, is a freelance writer who primarily writes art criticism for The Wall Street Journal. Over the years, she has contributed articles, criticism and op-eds spanning culture, business, philanthropy, and other topics to more than a dozen publications, including The Washington Post and Town & Country. She has also been an instructor in journalism at Columbia University and she served for more than a decade as a program consultant to a large foundation. She volunteers at St. Ignatius Loyola Church. She is an alumna of Syracuse University.

Carolyn Ellis, a graduate of the University of Chicago and of New York University School of Law, had a long and successful career in the law, first in private practice and then in the Charities Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s office, where she honed her expertise in nonprofit governance. Ellis has also served as the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Chief of the Civil Enforcement Division. For over 15 years, she served as a board member and chairperson of a nonprofit provider of supportive housing for homeless and mentally ill people in her home borough of Brooklyn.

Elizabeth Everett leads Firm Management at Integrum, a private equity firm in New York City founded by Ursula Burns, Tagar Olson, and Richard Kunzer. Elizabeth is the permanent board member of the Integrum Foundation, which is focused on improving financial inclusion in underserved communities. Elizabeth has a BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. At HBS, Elizabeth was Co-Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Student Association. Elizabeth lives in Harlem with her husband and their son.

Evelyn J. Halpert was Head of the Brearley School in New York, where she also taught History, for 22 years. As a member of the consulting firm Educators Collaborative, she later served as a consultant to independent schools in the U.S. and overseas. She holds a BA in History & Literature and MA in History from Harvard and has been a member of the Overseers Visiting Committee for the Harvard History Department and the Boards of Maret School and the National Child Research Center in Washington, DC, Groton School in Groton, MA, and the Children's Orchestra in NYC. She is an Emerita Trustee of Brearley.

For 33 years, Eileen Judell was a member of the faculty of the Chapin School, where she specialized in reading and learning disabilities. She also maintained a private practice during those years, working with children who had learning issues. Judell has a BA degree from Sarah Lawrence College and an MA in Remedial Reading and an EdM in Learning Disabilities from Teachers College, Columbia University. Judell has served as President of Youth Counseling League and has been a board member of the Joffrey Ballet, the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens, and the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services.

Rachel S. Lerner is General Counsel at the Global Association of Risk Professionals, Inc., a membership association for financial risk managers. Previously, she was Global Head of Regulatory Affairs, Vice President and Associate General Counsel for S&P Global Ratings (formerly Standard & Poors). She attended Syracuse University and received her JD from Cardozo School of Law. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.

Tyler Renée Lewis is the CFO and COO of Pinky Promise, an independent film financing and production company, where she leads all financial and operational matters including strategy and corporate functions, general partner management of two private equity funds, and investor relations. She previously held roles in brand and product marketing at YouTube, YouTube TV and Google, as well as film acquisitions at Amazon Studios. She’s a founding member of the Leadership Committee of Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization behind Sesame Street. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in English from Harvard College, and resides in Brooklyn, NY.

Helen Pennoyer, a former faculty member at Buckley School, is a kindergarten admissions associate at Birch Wathen Lenox school. She is also a certified childbirth educator. Pennoyer has served as an elder at Brick Presbyterian Church and is the former chairwoman of its school. An alumna of Smith College with an MSW from Hunter School of Social Work, she led the creation of the Smarter Parenting series of seminars for parents and grandparents at Teacher’s College, Columbia University.

Andrew Sang has more than 30 years experience as a finance professional. As a financial associate at Blackstone, he works in the strategic investment group. He is a world traveler, soccer player, avid cyclist, and volunteer, who has lived in Harlem for over 20 years. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Hunter college and is a board member and CFO of Jamaica Independence Foundation, Inc., New York.

Megan Seiboldt is a Principal in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s International Markets group, where she is responsible for building and communicating the Open Market Trading desk’s views on emerging market developments to Federal Reserve officials. She previously worked in JP Morgan’s Sovereign Advisory and Country Risk teams. A Chicago native, Megan is an associate board member at Chicago Scholars, a mentorship and leadership program for first generation college students in the city. She holds a BA and MA from Johns Hopkins, and lives in New York City with her husband and two children.

Andy Whitehouse is the Managing Partner of Penta Group and a professor of political communications and crisis management at Columbia University. Previously, Whitehouse served as the most senior communications executive at IBM, Willis Towers Watson, and McKinsey & Company; and as a UK government policymaker. He holds an MA from the University of Oxford and a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University.

Landon H. Wickham, Jr. is a technology teacher at Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, where he teaches 7th and 8th Grade computer classes and high-school electives. Wickham has worked in and served the Harlem community for over 25 years. He is the former director of “Car Seats for Kids,” a program of the Harlem Hospital Injury Prevention Program, and opened New York City's first Child Passenger Safety Seat Inspection Station. Wickham holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rochester. He lives in Harlem with his wife and their daughter.

Sean Smith is a managing director at Mizuho Bank, where he manages the Multi-Asset Sales team. He has worked there for a decade after 15 years with Goldman Sachs in both New York and Japan. Smith received a Bachelor of Sciences in Accounting from Villanova. A father of three, he lives in Westchester, NY, where he also volunteers for the JCC. In his spare time, he runs marathons to raise money for charity.