Brooklyn Prospect Board of Trustees: (Please Scroll Down for full Bios)

Luyen Chou (Co- Founder, Chairman)

Chief Product Officer, SchoolNet

Daniel Kikuji Rubenstein (Co-Founder, Ex-Officio)
Executive Director, BPCS

James Bernard

Founder, The Source Magazine
Member, Community Board 6

Anne Burns
Executive Director, Harlem Day Charter School

Elizabeth Varley Camp
Managing Director, HealthpointCapital

Roger Fortune
Senior Vice President, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership

Pearl Rock Kane, Ed. D.
Director, Klingenstein Institute
Teachers College, Columbia University

Candice Olson
Founder, iVillage

Eliza W. Swann, Esq
Partner, Shearman & Sterling

Special Adviser:
Janice Savin-Williams
Co-founder and Sr. Principal,The Williams Capital Group L.P.

Director of Development:
Penelope B. Marzulli

Development Associate:
Jennifer Devlin

Principal:
LaNolia Ufondu 

Academic Planning: 

Johanna Barmore
Rachael Burton
Craig Cetrulo
Cotter Donnell
Sarah Heard
Dorothy Meyer
Anita Walsh

Daniel Kikuji Rubenstein is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Brooklyn Prospect Charter School. He is an educator who has taught in public and private schools for the past 15 years. Most recently, Dan was a faculty administrator at Collegiate School in Manhattan and, previously, taught at Sidwell Friends, DC, School Year Abroad Beijing, and SEED Public Charter School, DC. Dan is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher, an associate member of the Teacher's Advisory Board to the National Academy of Science, and a 2002 recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching. He holds degrees from Hamilton College and St. John's College and is currently completing a doctorate in Education Leadership at Columbia University Teachers College. His work at SEED Public Charter School was documented on ABC's Nightline and PBS' Life 360.

Dan lives with his wife and their daughter in Park Slope.

Dan can be reached at drubenstein@brooklynprospect.org

Luyen Chou is Chair of the Board of Trustees and co-founder of Brooklyn Prospect Charter School. He is Senior Vice President of SchoolNet, Inc. Recently, Luyen was Associate Head of The School at Columbia University where he was critical in the school's design and launch (Fall 2003) as well as the Executive Director of the Center for Integrated Learning and Teaching there. Previously, Luyen was Founder, President, and CEO of Learn Technologies Interactive, Inc. (LearnTech)—a NY-based company that develops innovative educational software tools and applications—and Director of Operations at the New Laboratory for Teaching and Learning's Dalton School in Manhattan. Luyen graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College. He writes and lectures extensively on curriculum design, educational technology, and interactive design—and consults with schools around the world.  Luyen is involved in numerous additional non-profit initiatives, including: Teachers’ Network, a non-profit involved in the development and delivery of innovative curriculum; MOUSE, a non-profit dedicated to integrating technology and learning in NYC's public schools; Black Rock Forest Consortium; Appleseed Foundation taskforce (www.nycenet.edu); and the NYC Department of Education HR Advisory Board. Luyen, his wife and two children are residents of Park Slope.

James Bernard is a community activist and nationally recognized leader on issues of popular culture, race and political action, as well as a highly regarded journalist. Currently, James is a campaign coordinator for the Service Employees International Union. James founded the two leading hip-hop magazines, The Source and XXL and sits on the nominating committee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He has written about popular culture for the New York Times, the Village Voice and Entertainment Weekly and co-authored The Book of Rock and Rap Lists. In the 2004 election cycle, he founded and ran the Hip-Hop Civic Engagement Project, the third largest nonpartisan voter registration drive, as well as the National Hip-Hop Political Convention, which brought 7000 activists to Newark. He is the former executive coordinator of the Project Forum on Race and Democracy, a project of the Rockefeller Foundation, and has served on the Independent Judiciary Screening Panel, which selects nominees for the New York State Supreme Court on behalf of the Democratic Party. He was a commissioner for the National Criminal Justice Commission, whose report, The Real War on Crime, was a national bestseller.

Anne Burns is currently the Executive Director & Head of School for the Harlem Day Charter School. According to the New York Center for Charter School Excellence, Anne is the only charter school head in New York with significant independent school experience. From 2004-2006, Anne was critical in growing The School at Columbia University where she served as Principal and Head. Anne has also served for 17 years in a variety of roles at the Brearley School, including Teacher, Lower School Head, and Assistant Head of School. Anne began her career in education at Friend's Central School of Philadelphia after completing degrees from Colgate University and Lesley College. She is a much sought after speaker and facilitator at educational and leadership conferences. Currently Anne serves as a board member of The Reading Team and Abington Friends School. 

Elizabeth Varley Camp is Managing Director of HealthpointCapital Partners II, L.P. HealthpointCapital is a private equity firm exclusively focused on the orthopedic and dental device businesses. HealthpointCapital has $650 million of institutional capital under management.

Ms. Camp has had 21 years’ experience in the private equity industry, investing over $700 million in equity capital. Previously, she was at Ewing Management Group, where she headed the Business Engagement Team. Prior to that, she was at Goldman Sachs for seven years, where she managed $11 billion as a Managing Director in the Private Equity Group. Before joining Goldman Sachs in 1997, Ms. Camp was a General Partner at Gibbons, Green, van Amerongen, one of the industry’s pioneering firms, where she worked for 11 years. Ms. Camp was previously at Morgan Stanley, in the Mergers and Acquisitions and Capital Markets departments. Ms. Camp has served on the boards of Fountain View Inc., Rival Manufacturing, Bath Iron Works, Wells Aluminum Corporation and Ladish Company, Inc., as well as on the advisory board of 22 private equity funds. She is a member of the Board of Youth, I.N.C.

Ms. Camp received a B.A. from Williams College, from which she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management.

Roger Fortune is the Senior Vice President for Real Estate at the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. He is responsible for creating and implementing a strategy for the attraction of commercial tenants to Downtown Brooklyn, while also identifying opportunities for the redevelopment of public and private sites within the area. Roger also advances local private development projects by coordinating his efforts with the NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and other City agencies. Most recently, he was Assistant Vice President in Real Estate Development at the aforementioned NYCEDC, leading the development of such large public/private projects as the 26-acre, $200 million Randall’s Island Waterpark and the 1.7 million square foot, $600 million East 125th Street retail, entertainment, media, and residential destination. Roger’s experience in commercial real estate development includes working with well-known corporations Forest City Ratner Companies and Vornado Realty Trust. He also led market analysis and site selection for the $100 million roll-out of 93 Old Navy stores in Canada, and co-authored an Inner-City Retailing Strategy Report for senior management at Gap Inc. in San Francisco. Prior to earning an MBA in Real Estate Finance and Entrepreneurship from Columbia Business School, Roger worked in feature film and television production in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. After receiving a Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University he was an Intern Architect for Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Architects. Roger is the son of an educator, and he, his wife and 2 children are residents of Brooklyn.

Pearl Rock Kane, an associate professor of education at Teachers College, Columbia University, holds the Klingenstein Family Chair for the Advancement of Independent School Education. A member of the first class of twelve Klingenstein Fellows in 1978, Professor Kane serves as the director of the Klingenstein Center, a position she has held since 1985, and advisor for the Master's degree programs. She holds a Master of Arts degree from Smith College and a doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia University. Professor Kane taught and served as an administrator in public and private schools in Michigan, Massachusetts and New York. She has been active on several national boards including Editorial Projects, which publishes Education Week and Teacher Magazine. She serves as a trustee of Rice High School, a Catholic school in Harlem and on the foundation board of North Star Academy, a charter school in Newark, New Jersey. Professor Kane is editor of The First Year of Teaching: Real World Stories by America's Teachers, Independent Schools, Independent Thinkers and The Colors of Excellence: Hiring and Keeping Teachers of Color in Independent Schools. She has published numerous articles on issues of leadership, diversity, governance, and the attraction and retention of teachers. Her current areas of research focus on privatization, charter schools, and private school organization and governance. She is in the midst of finalizing a four-year study of charter schools in New York State.

Candice Olson brings a wealth of corporate and educational experience to Charter School Brooklyn. In addition to holding positions at Time Warner and American Express, she is the founder of a successful media company, iVillage, which was a pioneer in online peer group communities, applied to parenting, health, and other areas of concern to busy women. She led the company from 1994- 2001. NBC purchased the company in 2006 for $600 million. In recognition of Candice’s business contributions, she was awarded an Emmy for prime-time documentary television programming, the Matrix Award, the MIT Institute Award for Entrepreneurial Leadership, and the Innovations in Women’s Health Award. Candice has taught at MIT’s program for entrepreneurial leadership. Candice is an experienced outdoor educator serving Outward Bound and the National Outdoor Leadership School from 1973-1981. Since 2001, Candice has reengaged with education. She is currently a Trustee of the Convent of the Sacred Heart School and has served on the Board of Prep for Prep. She recently started The New York Attachment Center, which is being created to support schools--both mainstream and specialized-- working with children with attachment disorder in the New York area. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Educational Leadership at the Klingenstein Center and a Masters of Theology at Union Seminary, both at Columbia University. She received a B.A. from Stanford, and an MBA from Harvard. Her first book, Chapters: Create a Life of Exhilaration and Accomplishment in the Face of Change, was published in September 2001. She has spoken on many topics at the Harvard Business School, the London School of Economics, the World Economic Forum at Davos, MIT, Stanford, and many other venues. Candice is married and lives in New York City with her husband, Peter, who is the CEO of Random House. They have seven children, three adopted from other countries.

Eliza Swann is a partner with the law firm of Shearman & Sterling LLP. A member of the Mergers & Acquisitions practice group, she has concentrated in United States and international corporate transactions and has represented a broad range of clients in acquisitions and dispositions of publicly and privately held corporations and their assets. Eliza joined S&S in 1998. Her pro bono experience includes general advice to not-for-profit corporations and charitable foundations. Prior to joining S&S, Eliza was a law clerk for the U.S. Department of Justice and The Supreme Court of the State of Delaware. She received her JD degree, cum laude, from Cornell Law School and her BA degree, cum laude, from Williams College. A resident of Park Slope, Eliza is the daughter of a middle school English and history teacher whose 27 years of experience have seasoned Eliza’s interest in education.

Special Adviser:

Janice Savin-Williams will be serving on the advisory board. She is a Co-founder and Senior Principal of The Williams Capital Group L.P. Established in 1994 by Mrs. Savin-Williams and husband Christopher, Williams Capital is a full service investment banking firm that serves institutional investors and corporations worldwide in the fixed income and equity capital markets. Over the past five years, Williams Capital has ranked among the top 20 most active underwriters of U.S. investment grade corporate debt and; has served as lead or co-manager on over 600 public debt and equity offerings with a total face amount of over $800 billion. Extremely active in the New York City civic and not-for-profit landscape, Mrs. Savin-Williams received The African American Heritage Award by The City of New York, the Partnership with Children’s 2004 Ann Vanderbilt Award and the 2004 Business Leadership Award of the New York State Supreme Court. She has served on the board of both community and professional associations, including Lenox Hill Neighborhood House and North General Hospital. She currently sits on the board of directors of several not-for-profit organizations including The Fresh Air Fund, Women In Need and NAACP-ACTSO. Additionally, she is on the advisory board of Partnership with Children and a Corporate Club member of the Roundabout Theatre Company. She also serves on the board of directors of ISI, Inc.

Director of Development and Communications:

Penelope B. Marzulli joins the BPCS team with a wealth of fundraising and program administration experience. Following a career in law firm recruitment, Penny is raising three children in NYC where she has chaired a number of fundraising initiatives. For the past six years she has also managed a summer program for youth aged 5-16 years. Concurrently Penny is a crisis counselor for St. Vincent’s and New York Downtown hospitals. She received her BA degree from the University of Richmond where she earned her Collegiate Professional Certification in secondary education.

 
Development Associate:

Jennifer Devlin earned a BA in history from University of Wisconsin-Madison and went on to spend her early career teaching and working for education related non-profits in Madison, WI and San Francisco, CA. After moving to Brooklyn in 1997, Jennifer's career switched focus and she began a 10-year stint in the media industry, working for The New York Times, CBS News and other media organizations with a focus on digital media, technology and operations.  Currently living in Brooklyn, Jennifer is raising two children and running a small business. She brings her experience in communications, digital media, and education—as well as her love for Brooklyn and commitment to its public schools—to BPCS.

Principal:

LaNolia Ufondu is the Principal of Brooklyn Prospect Charter School.  She earned her M.A. in Education Leadership Studies from Columbia University’s Teachers College and her B.S. in Secondary Science Education from Oral Roberts University.  During her teaching career, LaNolia has been awarded the prestigious title of Ida S. Baker Distinguished Minority Educator of the Year and has been given the Principal’s Award for Outstanding Leadership.  LaNolia also has a record of community involvement in the Youth With A Vision after-school program—a delinquency prevention program for at-risk youths aimed at changing students’ overall perception of life, family, academics and community involvement, as well as the College Reach Out Program (CROP) – a Saturday program dedicated to strengthening the educational motivation and preparation of low-income and educationally-disadvantaged students.  A lifelong educator, LaNolia is currently serving an administrative residency alongside the Principal of the Frederick Douglass Academy. Her extensive work with the International Baccalaureate program and her role as coordinator of student affairs at Williams Middle Magnet School for International Studies in Florida is helping to lay the groundwork for use of the IB program at Brooklyn Prospect.

LaNolia is an avid basketball player and three year undefeated coach for both basketball and volleyball.

Academic Planning Team:

Johanna Barmore is currently studying at Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she will earn her Ed. M. in School Leadership. Most recently Johanna spent eight years as a mathematics teacher and Dean of Students at Collegiate School in New York City. In addition to her teaching and administrative responsibilities, she has been a frequent participant and leader of Lesson Study, a Japanese form of professional development. Johanna earned her undergraduate degree in mathematics from Tufts University and a master's degree in secondary mathematics education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Johanna began her career in education while still a student herself: in high school, she spent her summers teaching mathematics at Summerbridge Programs and while in college she worked at the start-up, Not-for-Profit Peace Games, teaching conflict resolution skills to Boston area elementary and middle school students. Johanna also spent one year teaching mathematics at Escuela Camp Alegre, an international school in Caracas, Venezuela.

Johanna resides in Cobble Hill.

Rachael Burton, a teacher and faculty administrator since 2000, joins our team with extensive special education training and experience in New York City public and private schools.  Most recently Rachael was the Director of Gifted Education at NYU’s Child Study Center, Asperger Institute.  At the Child Study Center, Rachel developed social studies and English curriculum for middle and high school students in need of differentiated instruction.  She worked with therapists, including speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, social workers and psychologists to embed elements of therapeutic best practices into the academic curriculum. Prior to NYU, Rachael developed her expertise in classroom management techniques through imaginative teaching strategies at several New York City public schools, including PS 124 and PS 101. Much of Rachael’s focus has been in working with subject area teachers to differentiate curriculum to meet the academic needs and goals of students with uneven academic profiles.   She earned her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College and her M.A. from Georgetown University and has done graduate study in teaching at Johns Hopkins University. 

Rachael is a Brooklyn parent whose son attends a New York City public school.

Craig M. Cetrulo comes to the Brooklyn Prospect team from The Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA where he serves as the Literacy Curriculum Coordinator. Craig holds an M.Ed. in Organization and Leadership from the Klingenstein Center at Columbia University Teachers College, an M.A. in English from The University of Virginia, and a B.A. from Duke University. Working in conjunction with the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, he has recently researched and written on curriculum design and instructional strategies targeting adolescents who struggle with the challenges of literacy development.  Craig serves as the Director of the Episcopal High School Young Writers Workshop, a residential summer program for middle-school students, and he manages the Randolph Scholarship program, which enrolls talented writers from the NYC public school system in the Young Writers Workshop.  As a classroom teacher, Craig has taught advanced placement and standard level English to all levels of secondary students, from freshmen to seniors, and has taught upper-level elective courses such as Creative Writing and Film and Literature. As part of his work at the Klingenstein Center, Craig interned at Frederick Douglass Academy III in the Bronx, NY, where he developed curriculum for a college counseling course and mentored teachers in writing college recommendations.  

When not teaching, Craig is an avid reader and can often be found skateboarding in Prospect Park.

Cotter Donnell, an intern at Brooklyn Prospect, is pursuing his M.A. in Education Leadership at the Klingenstein Center at Columbia University Teachers College.  Cotter recently moved to New York from Southern California, where he spent four years teaching English and American history at Chadwick School.  Prior to moving to Chadwick, he taught at Lakeside School in Seattle.  Cotter graduated from Boston College, where he majored in English and American History; he is currently pursuing a masters degree in English from the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College. 

Sarah Heard teaches at Collegiate School in New York City. She holds a BA degree from Barnard College and both an MA and M.Ed from Teachers College, Columbia University in the Teaching of Social Studies and in Educational Leadership, respectively. She is the recipient of the prestigious Klingenstein Fellowship at Teachers College, where her research focused on world history curriculum and global studies. A student of pedagogy in world education, she has taught abroad for five years at the American School of The Hague and the International School of Tanganyika in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Additionally, Sarah served as Academic Director to the Glimpses of China program in Shanghai, China. She has taught International Baccalaureate courses in world history and Theory of Knowledge. Sarah has been awarded three NEH Summer Seminar for School Teachers grants. She has also been a faculty member at the Trinity School, New York City. Sarah is an athlete and currently coaches cross country and basketball.

Dorothy S. Meyer is currently a history teacher at Columbia Prep, an independent school in New York City. Prior to joining the Columbia Prep community, Dorothy taught middle school history and high school Latin at Friends Seminary, also in New York. A New York native, she attended both public and private schools growing up. Dorothy holds a B.A. in Classical Languages and Literature from Yale University, and an M.A. in History from the Warburg Institute at the University of London. She is currently a candidate for an M.A. in Private School Leadership at the Klingenstein Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Anita Walsh has devoted over 15 years to the arts and education.  She has worked with students of all ages in the DC area: elementary, middle, high schools, and adults. Additionally she spent one year in Caracas, Venezuela teaching art at Escuela Camp Alegre, an international school. An Adjunct Teacher at Corcoran College of Art and Design, D.C., where she works with young teens in the Young People's Program, Anita also works as a trainer, designer, and curriculum developer for Whole Foods Market. Working collaboratively, she creates curriculum and training materials to reach people of all learning styles. Inside and out of the classroom, Anita always incorporates both interactive and interdisciplinary teaching and learning strategies. Anita received an M.Ed., with an emphasis on urban education, from George Washington University and a B.F.A. from Parsons School of Design.

Anita’s artworks are in a variety of media and include her investigation of wrappers-protecting the creative spirit, and her yearlong project of 53 drawings that document and honor the handwork of farmers. A favorite was her work with local children and adults on a large bio-degradable sculpture raising both awareness and understanding of landfill issues. Ultimately rain took the sculpture to the ground along with thousands of wild flower seeds which grew wherever they landed. While the materials change, her themes are consistent: collaboration, handwork, beauty, everyday materials, and change over time.