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Jemina Bernard, Chair

Executive Director, Teach For America

Born and raised in NYC, Jemina R. Bernard worked as an Associate Program Officer at the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation (UMEZDC) after graduating from Yale University with a B.A. in Political Science. After two years at UMEZDC, Jemina received an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and joined Deloitte Consulting where, as a Senior Consultant, she led the training development and communications planning activities as part of a year-long international assignment with the UK’s Child Support Agency. In 2003, Jemina returned to NYC’s public sector and for the last four years served as a member of the central leadership team at the New York City Department of Education. Jemina was recently appointed as the new Executive Director of Teach For America in New York City which support 1,000 corps members serving over 60,000 students in more than 300 public schools in the Bronx, Washington Heights, Harlem, the Lower East Side, and Brooklyn.

Yolonda Baker- Marshall, Vice Chair

Vice President, National Corporate Partnerhsips for Teach For America

Yolonda Baker Marshall has a sales and marketing career spanning nearly 17 years. She is currently Vice President, National Corporate Partnerships for Teach For America. Prior to joining Teach For America, Ms. Baker Marshall was a Principal in Triple Threat Films, LLC (T3), a company that specialized in the financing, production and marketing of independent films. Ms. Baker Marshall also had a 14 year career with Showtime Networks Inc., where she managed a team of marketing specialists that created and executed comprehensive marketing plans to help launch critically acclaimed and Emmy award winning programming such as Huff, Queer as Folk, The L-Word, Soul Food and more. Ms. Baker Marshall also played an important role in marketing the successful launch of the Sundance Channel and worked to secure cable distribution of the network. She received her BS degree in marketing from Tuskegee University and her MBA with a concentration in Marketing and Media Management from Columbia Business School.

Djena Graves, Treasurer

Director of Business Development, ICV Capital Partners

Djena Graves is the Director of Business Development for ICV Capital Partners, a New-York based private investment fund with over $440 million of committed capital focused on making equity investments in strong lower middle market companies across industries. At ICV, Miss Graves develops and implements marketing initiatives, cultivates investment opportunities, coordinates fundraising and investor relations, and pursues revenue enhancement opportunities for existing portfolio companies. Prior to ICV, Miss Graves was a senior associate in the Mergers and Acquisitions department at Morgan Stanley focused on energy companies. Miss Graves worked as a chemical engineer at Lyondell-Citgo in her hometown of Houston, Texas prior to attending business school. Miss Graves received a BS degree cum laude in chemical engineering from Florida A&M University, an International Management certificate from HEC Paris and a Masters in Business Administration from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

A Harlem resident, Miss Graves is very active in both professional and community organizations with Board responsibilities for Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS), Harlem Success Academy Charter School, the Association for Corporate Growth- NY Chapter and Women’s Association of Venture and Equity- NY Chapter. She is also a Founding Member of the Council of Urban Professionals.

Charlita Mays, Secretary

Partner, Spears & Imes LLP

Charlita Mays is a native of Columbus, Ohio. She graduated from Spelman College in 1994, Magna Cum Laude, with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. Following Spelman College, she attended The Yale Law School, and graduated in 1997. After law school, Ms. Mays joined Davis Polk & Wardwell as a litigation associate in their New York office. In March of 2002, Ms. Mays left Davis Polk and joined Richards Spears Kibbe & Orbe LLP as a litigation associate. In July 2006, Ms. Mays became a member of the law firm of Spears & Imes LLP.

Courtney Welsh

Executive Vice President, NYC Leadership Academy

Courtney Welsh, a graduate of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, has expertise in leadership development, organizational development and strategic planning and has led workshops in these areas for non-profits throughout New York City. Currently she is responsible for overseeing the Leadership Academy's finance, human resources and evaluation functions and manages the organization's internal capacity-building efforts. Most recently, she was responsible for overseeing the documentation and dissemination of the Leadership Academy’s programs, fundraising, and program evaluation. Prior to joining the Leadership Academy, Ms. Welsh was the Executive Director of the Harlem Educational Activities Fund (HEAF).

Lisa Kurbiel

Programme Manager, UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations

Lisa Kurbiel is an attorney who has worked for the development of human rights policies, programming strategies and advocacy campaigns within the United Nations system over the last twelve years. She has served as the Focal Point for Human Trafficking within the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and UNICEF and has developed and implemented policy and communications initiatives to combat sexual abuse, exploitation and human trafficking affecting women and children in conflict around the world.

Prior to her work on human trafficking, Ms. Kurbiel was based in eastern and southern Africa as UNICEF’s child labour coordinator. She developed policy guidelines, including a legislative guide for Members of Parliament, provided technical support to UNICEF’s regional and country offices, and represented UNICEF at the international level on the issue of child labour. Ms. Kurbiel has served the United Nations since 1992 in Mongolia, Somalia, southern Sudan, Kenya, Albania and New York and was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1992. She and her husband are the proud parents of their daughter, Sofia, and son, Roman.

Ellen Fried

Ellen R. Fried joined the GEMS board in 2006, bringing a lifelong passion and commitment to fighting for the rights and protections of children. She is a seasoned attorney, teacher, mentor and administrator with extensive background in legal education, clinical instruction, and development of courses and programs in the field of juvenile rights. From 1993-2007, Ms. Fried taught as an adjunct professor at CUNY Law School where she created and taught in its first Juvenile Defender Clinic.Prior to CUNY Law, Ms. Fried served as the Director of Training for the Juvenile Rights Division of The Legal Aid Society of NY for several years, where she developed training programs for all incoming attorneys, supervised new attorneys in all 5 boroughs, developed and implemented continuing education programs and produced the state-wide JRD Newsletter.

During Ms. Fried’s 30 year career as a public interest attorney, she also taught at Hofstra School of Law, was Assistant Director of the Fund for Modern Courts, an administrative law judge for the E.C.B., a consultant for the Fifth Avenue Committee, and a trial attorney with the Criminal Defence Division of The NY Legal Aid Society. She is a graduate of Northwestern University (B.A., Phi Beta Kappa) and Columbia University School of Law (J.D., Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar).

Brendon Riley

Director, Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC

Mr. Riley is a Director in the Consumer and Retail Group of Wachovia Securities, focusing on advisory and capital raising assignments for Food and Beverage clients. Previously, he was an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board, responsible for litigating issues related to federal labor laws. Mr. Riley earned a bachelor of arts degree in economics from the University of Michigan, received a Juris Doctorate from the Washington University School of Law and has a master of business administration degree with honors from Columbia University, where he was elected to Beta Gamma Sigma.

Kalpana Bhandarkar

Manager, Manatt Health Solutions

Kalpana Bhandarkar has been a GEMS Board member since June 2007. Kalpana is currently a Manager at Manatt Health Solutions, an interdisciplinary policy and business advisory and consulting unit with the law firm of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips. There, she provides strategic and business advice, policy analysis, project implementation support, and coalition building and advocacy services to clients in the areas of healthcare access, healthcare financing and health information technology. Prior to joining Manatt, Ms. Bhandarkar worked for the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center in New York City and the Health Division of the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. Kalpana holds a Masters in Public Health and Masters in Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University.

Kelly Hoey

Manager of Alumni Programme,s White & Case LLP

Kelly Hoey is the Manager of Alumni Programmes at White & Case LLP, a global law firm headquartered in New York City. Prior to assuming her current role, Kelly was Manager of Professional Development, Americas at White & Case and responsible for associate career advancement and development initiatives, including the Firm's Women's Network. Kelly has a law degree from the University of British Columbia.

David Schisgall

Film Maker

David Schisgall has been producing and directing long-form nonfiction for the past fifteen years. David has worked for ABC News, PBS, and Oscar-winner Errol Morris. In 2004 he won the Edward R. Murrow Award for the Best News Documentary of the year for his work in Iraq. Last year, David premiered Very Young Girls, about GEMS, at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival. It screened in New York this summer and airs on Showtime in December, 2008.

Girls Educational & Mentoring Services

(212) 926-8089 · info@gems-girls.org · www.gems-girls.org

Board of Directors