board profiles

exalt Board Members

Yumari L. Martínez, Board Chair

Founding Executive Director, Catalyze Justice 

Yumari Martinez is the Founding Executive Director of Catalyze Justice. He previously co-Directed the Columbia Justice Lab’s Youth Justice Initiatives team and has consulted with the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Earlier, Yumari was the Associate Commissioner for the New York City Administration for Children’s Services - Division for Youth and Family Justice, where he helped implement Close to Home, an initiative that gave the City oversight over youth placed in custody. He also served as the Associate Director of the Vera Institute of Justice’s Center on Youth Justice, a Senior Project Director at the Center for Community Problem Solving at NYU School of Law, and represented youth as an attorney at the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Division.  

Lamson Lam, Vice Chair

Senior Executive Director, Office of Interschool Collaborative Learning at New York City Department of Education

Lamson Lam grew up in Hawaii, where he attended Punahou School (President Obama’s alma mater). He received his BA in Sociology at UC San Diego, where he also played on the Men’s Volleyball Team. After graduating from UCSD, Lamson began his career as a mental health worker in a halfway house for youth in the juvenile justice system. After working there for two years, Lamson realized that he wanted to reach kids before they ended up in the justice system, so he chose to become a teacher. After graduating from NYU with an MA in Education, Lamson taught 4th grade in East Harlem. He then worked for the Annenberg Institute for School Reform and the NYCDOE Office for Family Engagement & Advocacy before becoming a principal at a K-8 School in Brownsville, Brooklyn. For the last 2 years, Lamson has been working with the Office of Interschool Collaborative Learning (OICL), where he is the Senior Executive Director. In this capacity, he is responsible for the Department of Education’s three initiatives for interschool collaboration: Learning Partners, the Middle School Quality Initiative, and Showcase Schools. These programs currently operate in over 270 public schools throughout New York City. Lamson is passionate about issues of equity and social justice in education and society. He is excited to join the board of exalt as he believes his career has come full circle, and he is ready to better serve a vulnerable population he cares deeply about. When Lamson isn’t at work or chasing after his two boys (ages 5 and 2), he enjoys playing sports and traveling.

Dr. Lisette Nieves, Vice Chair

President of the Fund for the City of New York

Lisette Nieves is currently the President of the Fund for the City of New York (FCNY), an institution charged with developing and helping to implement innovations in policy, programs, practices and technology in order to advance the functioning of government and nonprofit organizations in New York City and beyond. Key FCNY programs include the Cash Flow Loan Program that has lent over a billion dollars in interest-free loans over the last twenty years and the Partnership Program which provides back-office support and capacity to 80 diverse nonprofit organizations. Also, FCNY hosts the Community Fellows Program and selects the annual Sloan Public Service Awards and Sloan Math and Science Teaching Awards. 

Prior to the Fund Lisette was the Director of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and a Full Clinical Professor at NYU Steinhardt where she co-led the design and implementation of a new doctoral program in Leadership and Innovation. Lisette is also a Distinguished Clinical Instructor with NYU, overseeing doctoral students and supporting research initiatives. Lisette holds a B.A. from Brooklyn College, a B.A./M.A. from the University of Oxford, an M.P.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and a doctorate with distinction in Higher Education Management at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a Truman Scholar, Rhodes Scholar, Aspen Pahara Fellow, and a Richard P. Nathan Public Policy Fellow. 

For over 25 years, Lisette has served in a variety of cross-sector leadership positions. She is an experienced social entrepreneur, public sector leader, and scholar. Lisette founded Lingo Ventures, which is focused on growth, talent recruitment/retention, and change management. Lisette served as the Belle Zeller Distinguished Visiting Professor in Public Policy at the City University of New York at Brooklyn College. Lisette has also held senior leadership positions in the municipal and federal government. She also served as an Obama appointee on the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, where she co-chaired the higher education subcommittee and supported the production of two reports and convenings. 

Lisette also served as the founding Executive Director of Year Up NY, an innovative workforce development program, wherein the span of five years she grew the organization from a $250,000 seed grant to a $6 million operation with over 20 corporate partnerships. Her interest in the workforce and education led to her dissertation on the relationship between student work and school roles, for which she received the 2016 Dissertation of the Year Award by the (NCSD – AACC). Her areas of interest include community colleges, college pathways, workforce and education partnerships which are all represented in her co-authored new book:  Working to Learn: Disrupting the Divide between College and Career Pathways for Young People.

Her board affiliations include the Edwin Gould Foundation, The Education Trust, NewSchools Venture Fund, Jobs for the Future (JFF), Propel America, AmeriCorps Board (Presidential Appointee and Senate Confirmed) and Education for Seapower Advisory Board (Naval Secretary Appointee). 

Ruth Frommer, Treasurer

Independent Financial Professional

After more than a decade of managing esteemed New York City architecture firms, Ruth is helping several small businesses grow. Ruth was born and raised in the Midwood section of Brooklyn. After raising her four children in Englewood, New Jersey, she relocated to Manhattan. Ruth earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and completed the coursework for a Certificate of Financial Planning at New York University. Over the past 30 years, Ruth has served on the boards of several organizations. Ruth swims daily and enjoys cooking, baking, and going out to hear live jazz.

Kunal Das, Secretary

Director of Global Accounts at Attentive

Kunal Das is a Director of Global Accounts at Attentive the leader in conversational commerce, reinventing business-to-consumer communication. He has over 17 years of experience in digital marketing, enterprise technology, sales, and customer success. Kunal is also a member of Buena Vista Angels, an angel investment group based in Texas. Before joining Attentive and Buena Vista Angles, he worked for Bluecore, Yext, DataPop, and Microsoft as an Evangelist for their Bing division. Kunal was previously a Leadership Council member for Upwardly Global, a nonprofit whose mission is to eliminate barriers to professional workplace entry for foreign-educated immigrants and refugees in the U.S. Kunal holds a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Darnisa Amante-Jackson, Board Member

EDLD ICEO & President, Disruptive Equity Education Project and DEEP Corporate Consulting Partners

In her current capacity as founder, president, and CEO of DEEP and DCCP, Dr. Amante-Jackson collaborates with districts, district leaders, school-level leaders, institutions of higher learning, non-profits, corporations, and boards to embed organizational cultures that deepen diversity, elevate equity, bolster belonging, and increase inclusion. Whether in the classroom, boardroom, or conference room, she has helped to establish cultures built on a common foundation of respect, accountability, and value. Since earning her master’s degree in Sociocultural Anthropology from Brandeis University, and her Educational Leadership Doctorate (Ed.L.D.) – from Harvard Graduate School of Education, she has spent the last three years serving as the Tri-Chair to the RIDES Project at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, supporting systemic and school-based cultural change and coaching for districts at a national level. The influence of her equity and racial inclusion work has been felt coast to coast.

Ana M. Bermúdez, Esq, Board MEmber

Commissioner

Ana M. Bermúdez is the former Commissioner for the NYC Department of Probation (DOP). She was the first openly gay person, first Latina and second woman to be appointed Commissioner of the Department. A graduate of Brown University and Yale Law School, Ms. Bermúdez began her professional career representing children in family court cases at the Legal Aid Society. For over twenty years, she has been a tireless advocate for children and teenagers involved in the justice system through the development and implementation of strengths-based interventions, the application of restorative and youth development practices and the designing of programs that ensure successful re-integration for adjudicated juveniles. During her tenure as DOP’s Deputy Commissioner of Juvenile Operations from 2010 through 2014, she successfully led city-wide initiatives that focused on improving outcomes for court-involved youth through interdisciplinary collaborations. With her appointment to Commissioner in March 2014, she continued to lead the Department in its mission to enhance public safety through appropriate and individualized and community-based interventions in the lives of people on probation to enable them to permanently exit the justice system.  

Prior to joining the DOP in 2010, she was the Director of Juvenile Justice Programs at the Children’s Aid Society. She has also worked at CASES (The Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services) holding progressively responsible positions: Director of Training and Technical Assistance; Co-Director of Community Prep High School, a transitional school for court-involved students; and Deputy Director for Court Services and Case Management at CASES’ Court Employment Project, an alternative to incarceration program for adolescents with felony convictions.  
 
Ms. Bermúdez is now a consultant in the areas of leadership and management, restorative justice and restorative practices, juvenile justice and system reform, among others. 

Danzey Burnham, Esq, Board Member

Business Development Executive

Danzey Burnham, was previously the Chief of Global Business Development for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, one of the world’s leading law firms.  In this role, she headed the firm’s worldwide business development, marketing and communication functions, building and leading a team of administrative professionals who supported over 1,000 lawyers across 11 global offices. She was also a practicing lawyer at Simpson Thacher earlier in her career, in both the firm’s New York and London offices. 

Danzey also was formerly the Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, responsible for managing the overall operations of the state-wide non-profit organization and its education fund. She received her J.D. from Yale Law School and her B.S., magna cum laude, from Birmingham-Southern College, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. 

Currently, Danzey advises clients as a strategic business development consultant and is active in non-profit and civic organizations.

Maggie Burrows, Board Member

Director

Maggie Burrows is a theater and film director living in New York City, focusing on new works and classics. She has developed and directed work for some of the top theater companies in the country, including The Atlantic, New York Theatre Workshop, WP, Playwrights Horizons, The Geffen and Williamstown Theater Festival. She is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, the inaugural 2018-2019 BOLD Resident Director at Northern Stage and the recipient of the 2018 Boris Sagal Directing Fellowship at Williamstown Theater Festival. Film work includes her short film Condolences and a GOTV video for Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote organization. Maggie holds a BA in English from Yale University. She has served on the Board of exalt since 2019. 

Ed Carson, Board Member

Board Member at Carson Family Charitable Trust

Ed was born and raised in New York City. He serves on the board of the Carson Family Charitable Trust, which makes grants to a wide variety of charitable organizations. He received an MA from Kenyon College and an MSW from the NYU School of Social Work. He has experience in education, juvenile justice, and drug and alcohol recovery services. Ed joined the exalt board in January 2015.

Lance A. Clarke, Esq, Board member

Managing Partner

Lance A. Clarke is an experienced trial attorney, litigator, and negotiator. He has served as outside General Counsel, advisor, and consultant, to various CEO’s, executives, and politicians for corporate, criminal, and regulatory proceedings, as well as investigative proceedings with the FBI, SEC, Secret Service, et al.

Lance’s experience hails from his expertise in the areas of federal and state criminal defense, white-collar defense, and civil litigation. Due to his strong reputation and pattern of success, Lance is often described as "the go-to guy" for complex and delicate legal matters. He has represented more than 5,000 people in multiple states, both at the federal and state level for matters ranging from money laundering, wire fraud, racketeering, employment discrimination, and breach of contracts.

Lance has also lectured at universities, trained attorneys in trial practice, is an Adjunct Professor at Cardozo Law School for the Intensive Trial Advocacy Program, appeared as a legal analyst across various platforms both domestic and international, served on Judicial Screening Committees to vet prospective judges as well the transition committee for the New York County District Attorney, and assisted companies with promoting a work environment that supports diversity.

Lance has been recognized as a Top-Rated White-Collar Crimes and Criminal Defense Attorney by Super Lawyers, as well as one of the top 100 trial attorneys in the state of New York by the National Trial Lawyers.

Sean Gleason, Board Member

Portfolio Manager at Octagon Credit Investors

Mr. Gleason is a member of Octagon's Investment Committee and serves as a Portfolio Manager across CLOs and a Separately Managed Account. Mr. Gleason is also the Co-Chair of the Firm’s ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) Committee. Mr. Gleason joined Octagon in 2010. Prior to becoming a Portfolio Manager, Mr. Gleason was an Investment Team Principal whose coverage areas included the healthcare, retail, gaming, lodging, consumer products, building products, and leisure industries. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Babson College, where he graduated Cum Laude.

Stasha Santifort

Managing Director

Stasha Santifort is a managing director at Deloitte Global, leading purpose and social impact. In this role, Stasha designs strategies and programs for how Deloitte and its 415,000 professionals can make an impact in society. This includes Deloitte’s WorldClass initiative to support 100 million people through education opportunities, as well as initiatives to take action on the climate crisis, humanitarian and disaster relief, human rights, and developing the next generation of social impact leaders. Stasha is highly skilled at social issue research and analysis, and designing cross-sector programs and partnerships across business, nonprofit, and international organizations. Stasha lives in New York City, and she grew up in Lowell, MA, where her life-long commitment to volunteering and civic engagement began. Stasha earned her B.A. in policy studies and Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. 

Ronald Schneider, Board Member

Social Work Director at Partnership with Children 

Ronald Schneider is a licensed master social worker with 30 years of experience advocating for adolescents and people living with disabilities in a myriad of systems throughout New York City. He currently serves as the social work director at Boys Prep Middle School in The South Bronx through Partnership with Children (PWC). He leads a team of social workers that provides counseling services to boys in 5th through 8th grades.   Prior to his position at PWC, he advocated for close to twenty years for alternatives to incarceration for young people charged with crimes in Brooklyn through Brooklyn Defender Services and The Legal Aid Society. Ron received his MSW from the Silberman School of Social Work at CUNY- Hunter College, an MS in School Counseling at Long Island University – CW Post Campus, and a BS from The University of Rhode Island.  He has testified to the New York City Council on various child welfare and disability rights issues.  He has presented at national conferences including the National Organization of Forensic Social Workers and the National Commission of Correctional Health Care. Ron has also participated in various panels discussing justice-involved youth and people living with disabilities at The Kings County District Attorney’s Office, NYU and Columbia University Schools of Social Work, and The Brooklyn Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities Council.  

Prior to his work in the educational and juvenile justice systems, Ron served as a case manager and group worker for visually- and developmentally-impaired individuals at The Jewish Guild for the Blind,  an emergency room social worker at NYU Medical Center, and as a job developer and activities coordinator for developmentally-challenged young adults at AHRC. He is an active member of the Jail Advocacy Coalition, Freedom Agenda, Police Reform Organizing Project, and The National Organization of Social Workers. 

Ronald is very proud of receiving an award for his work at exalt’s Gala in 2015.  He has referred youth to exalt since its founding. 

Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Honorary Board Member

Fine Artist 

Quinn’s work was first introduced to the public in a group exhibition at Artists Space in 2002 and through The Bronx Museum of the Arts in 2004. He is the recipient of the Lorraine Hansberry Artistic, Performance, and Fine Arts Award and a two-time winner of the National Arts Club Prize. His work has been exhibited in a number of solo and group exhibitions: one-person exhibitions include Hybrids: The Windows Exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), Brooklyn, The Magic Stick at Rush Arts Gallery, New York, and most recently, Species at Bunker 259, Brooklyn. Group exhibitions include The Mythic Female and Macro-Micro at Satori Gallery, New York, American Beauty at Susan- Inglett Gallery, New York, and Corpus Americus at Driscoll Babcock Gallery, New York. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.