Board of Directors

Neil Barsky

Neil Barsky has had a varied career in the fields of journalism, finance, film and philanthropy. He is chairman and founder of The Marshall Project, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism non-profit covering the American system of criminal justice. He has been an award-winning newspaper reporter, working for the New York Daily News and the Wall Street Journal, where he won a Loeb award for his coverage of the collapse of Donald Trump's business empire. He also had a career in finance, and served as an equity research analyst for Morgan Stanley. Neil went on to build two hedge fund businesses, Midtown Capital and Alson Capital Partners. Following his 2009 retirement from the financial world, Neil directed the critically-acclaimed documentary film Koch, and taught economics at Oberlin College. Neil has served on numerous corporate and non-profit boards, including International Game Technology and the Columbia Journalism Review, where he was founding chairman of the board of overseers. 

Dr. Stephen Blacklow

Dr. Stephen Blacklow is the Gustavus Adolphus Pfeiffer Professor and Chair of the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Department of Cancer Biology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Stephen received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College in 1983 and earned his M.D. and Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1991. He completed his residency in Clinical Pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and conducted his postdoctoral research at the Whitehead Institute with Dr. Peter S. Kim where he investigated the structure of the HIV envelope glycoprotein. Stephen then joined the faculty at Stanford before returning to Harvard Medical School in 1998 as an Assistant Professor of Pathology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He became a Professor of Pathology in 2009 and directed the MD-PhD Program in Basic and Translational Sciences at Harvard Medical School from 2007-2012 until he was appointed to his current position. His research has focused on how cells communicate with one another to transmit signals across membranes and induce responses that influence cell fate decisions in both normal and pathogenic states such as cancer. His research on the Notch pathway has stimulated development of investigational therapies for hematologic malignancies such as T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Stephen received the National Cancer Institute’s prestigious Outstanding Investigator Award in 2017 and was elected to the Association of American Physicians in 2018.

Cheryl Cohen Effron

Cheryl Cohen Effron is a real estate developer known for her re-development of under-utilized buildings including the Falchi Building and The Factory in Long Island City, and Chelsea Market in Manhattan. She has served as a trustee of dozens of non profits, and as a Mayoral appointee to the New York City Planning Commission. She currently is treasurer of the Brookings Institution and chair of Greater NY, which she co-founded. She is a member of the board of the International Rescue Committee, Friends of the High Line, the American Museum of Natural History and the Markle Foundation. She is a senior advisor to Tishman Speyer Properties.

Sharon Greenberger Secretary

Sharon Greenberger is the 10th President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater New York, a leading New York City non-profit organization serving over 500,000 children, adults and seniors annually through programs and services focused on nurturing potential, promoting healthy living and fostering a sense of social responsibility. With 24 branches throughout the five boroughs, the Y is a movement for a healthier, stronger and more connected New York City. In her 20 years of experience in urban planning, development and education, Sharon has dedicated her career to executing initiatives that seek to improve lives and strengthen communities.

Prior to joining the YMCA in July 2015, Sharon served as the Senior Vice President, Facilities and Real Estate at New York-Presbyterian Hospital where she oversaw $2 billion of active projects geared towards expanding and improving facilities to better serve the needs of patients and their families. Previously, Ms. Greenberger was chief operating officer for the New York City Department of Education, where she was responsible for coordinating all operations and programs serving the city's 1.1 million public school children. Prior to that she was president and CEO of the New York City School Construction Authority and she served as chief of staff for New York City's Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding from 2002 to 2005. She has also held positions at New York University, the Alliance for Downtown New York, the Partnership for New York City, Clinton Housing Development Company, and the San Francisco Education Fund.

Dr. Robert Kingston

Dr. Robert Kingston is Chief Academic Officer and Senior Vice President for Research and Education at Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Kingston began working on bacterial transcription mechanism as a student with Dr. Michael Chamberlin in 1977.  He received his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley in 1981 for work on understanding the regulation of rRNA synthesis.  He trained as a Jane Coffin Childs Fellow with Dr. Philip Sharp at MIT, where he switched to studying transcriptional regulatory mechanisms in humans.  Dr. Kingston joined the Department of Molecular Biology at MGH and the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School in 1985 as an Assistant Professor of Genetics.  He became a Professor of Genetics in 1995.  His work over the past twenty years has been primarily on understanding the regulation of chromatin structure and how that impacts gene regulation in mammals, with a focus on the epigenetic mechanisms that maintain gene expression states during mammalian development. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Reynold Levy

Reynold Levy is a consultant to commercial and nonprofit institutions and to benefactors seeking to expand their philanthropy. In that capacity, he was a Senior Advisor to the private equity firm, General Atlantic and now serves in that role for East Rock Capital. Reynold is also the lead director of First Republic Bank. He is the author of five books, most recently Start Now: Because That Meaningful Job Is Out There, Just Waiting For YouCivically, he is currently a trustee of the American Ballet Theater. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, on the Board of Overseers of the International Rescue Committee and on the Board of Advisors of the Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University.  

Most recently, he served as President of the Robin Hood Foundation following a tenure of thirteen years as the CEO of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. He has been President of the International Rescue Committee, the senior officer of AT&T in charge of government relations, President of the AT&T Foundation, Executive Director of the 92nd Street Y, and Staff Director of the Task Force on the New York City Fiscal Crisis. Reynold Levy is a graduate of Hobart College. He was granted a Master’s Degree and PhD in Government and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and a law degree from Columbia University, the latter two in 1973. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Reynold is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

Errol Louis Chair

Errol Louis is the Political Anchor of Spectrum News NY1, where he hosts "Inside City Hall,"  a nightly prime-time show about New York City politics, featuring interviews with top political and cultural leaders.

Louis has moderated more than two dozen debates between candidates for mayor, public advocate, city and state comptroller, state Attorney General, congress and U.S. Senate.  In 2016 he was a questioner in the final CNN presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

In 2019 he launched a popular weekly podcast, “You Decide with Errol Louis,” that features longer discussions with political and cultural figures.

Louis is a longtime CNN Contributor, providing on-air commentary on key events including presidential primaries and Election Night. He writes regularly for CNN.com, and writes a column on New York City affairs for New York Magazine.

David L. Resnick Treasurer

David L. Resnick is managing partner at Wood Lily Advisors LLC.  From 2013 to 2017, he served as President of Third Avenue Management, LLC. Previously, Mr. Resnick was the Chairman of Global Financing Advisory, Managing Director and Head of Restructuring at Rothschild Inc., responsible for Rothschild's global restructuring, debt advisory and equity advisory businesses. From 1996 to 2000, he was Head of Restructuring at Peter J. Solomon Company, and prior to this, was at Lazard Frères & Co., where he worked on both restructuring and mergers and acquisitions assignments. He began his career in 1985 at the investment banking division at Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., where he worked in merchant banking and restructuring as well as the mergers and acquisitions group. Mr. Resnick has served as a Director of Corporate Risk Holdings, LLC, Affinion Group, Inc. and Reichhold Holdings. He is a member of the Board of Directors of UJA-Federation of New York, The Jewish Museum, and the Rodeph Sholom Day School and recently competed his term on the Board of Wesleyan University. In 2011, he received the Harvey R. Miller Award for service to the restructuring industry. Mr. Resnick holds a M.B.A. and J.D. from The University of Chicago and a B.A., with High Honors, from Wesleyan University. 

Charles H. Revson Jr.

Charles H. Revson, Jr. has served on the Foundation’s Board of Directors since 1977. An investor and businessman, he has been a vice president of Beauty Checkers and marketing director of Revlon’s Etherea division. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

Marcia Lynn Sells

Marcia Lynn Sells, was appointed in 2021 as the Metropolitan Opera’s first Chief Diversity Officer. Her charge is to work with all areas of the Met, including but not limited to Artistic, Human Resources, Marketing & Communications, Education, and Development to address systemic issues of inequity and build an equity, diversity, and inclusion program. Prior to arriving at the Met Opera, Marcia has had senior leadership positions in higher education, as Associate Dean & Dean of Students at Harvard Law School, at Columbia University where she had the dual title of Associate Dean in the School of the Arts for Outreach & Education and Associate Vice President, Program Development & Initiatives, within the office of Government and Community Affairs and served prior to those roles as Dean of Students at Columbia’s law school.  Marcia’s varied work experiences have also included positions in the private and public sector including: Vice President of Employee and Organizational Development for Reuters America, Vice President of Organizational Development & Human Resources, and Vice President Player Education and Development for the National Basketball Association, and Assistant District Attorney trying rape and child abuse cases for the Kings County District Attorney’s Office. Long before going to college at Barnard and earning her law degree at Columbia Law School, Marcia began life in the arts as a ballerina in Dance Theatre of Harlem and Cincinnati Ballet.

Pam Wasserstein

Pam Wasserstein is the President of Vox Media, the leading independent modern media company, where she oversees strategic initiatives, including e-commerce and consumer businesses, as well as the New York Magazine brands. Prior to the 2019 merger with Vox Media, she had been the CEO of New York Media (since May 2016), leading premium media brands New York Magazine, Vulture, The Cut, Intelligencer, Grub Street, and The Strategist. During her time as CEO, New York received seven National Magazine Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, and was named Magazine of the Year by both Adweek and Ad Age; Wasserstein received a 2018 Spirit of ABNY Award recognizing distinguished service to New York City, and was named to Crain’s New York’s 40 Under 40 class of 2017. She has spoken at SXSW, Advertising Week and the American Magazine Media Conference, and on Time's Up panels at the Tribeca Film Festival and Digitas NewFront, among other venues. Before becoming CEO, Wasserstein served as co-chair and head of strategy.

Prior to joining New York Media, Wasserstein worked at Tribeca Enterprises, most recently as vice president, corporate development. Before that she worked at Apollo Global Management, the private equity firm, where she evaluated potential investments and managed existing portfolio companies, and as a corporate lawyer at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz LLP.  She’s a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.

Ariel Zwang

Ariel Zwang, the dynamic and widely recognized American nonprofit executive, is CEO of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the global Jewish humanitarian organization operating in 70 countries worldwide. In January 2021, Ariel took the helm of JDC and its team of hundreds of professionals.

Ariel previously led Safe Horizon, one of America’s leading social service agencies, where she served with distinction as CEO for twelve years. Her mastery of complex organizational dynamics and multi-faceted operations helped transform the organization, as she doubled its size and enhanced its financial, operational, programmatic, and strategic health. Ariel led its thousand-person staff, a $100 million budget (including tens of millions in government contracts and grants), and programs impacting 250,000 vulnerable people annually.

Her distinguished career in the human and public service sectors includes her tenure as Executive Director of New York Cares, New York City’s largest volunteering organization; as a White House Fellow in the Department of Housing and Urban Development; as Vice President of the Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation in the South Bronx; and as Special Assistant to the Chancellor of the New York City Board of Education. Ariel began her career with Morgan Stanley and the Boston Consulting Group.

As a noted expert in social support for vulnerable populations and volunteerism advocate, Ariel has regularly appeared in media discussing these trends. She was a board member of the Human Services Council of New York, and the Points of Light Foundation, and was ranked the “2nd most powerful nonprofit leader in New York State” on City and State’s Annual Power List.

A passionate Jewish leader hailing from a family of rabbis and Jewish educators, Ariel has held numerous community leadership positions, underscoring her commitment to Jewish practice, pluralism, and the diversity of Jewish life. She is a Vice President of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in Manhattan, and has served in a variety lay roles at UJA-Federation of New York, as a Board Member of Jewish Coalition for Service, and with the New York Committee for Harvard Hillel.

Ariel received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Applied Mathematics from Harvard College. She and her husband, Gordon Mehler, are the parents of two young-adult daughters and reside in Manhattan.

Directors Emeriti

Victor Barnett

Helaine Barnett

Red Burns*

Benjamin J. Buttenwieser*

Alice Chandler

Robert Curvin*

Adrian DeWind* Chairman, 1987-1992

Stacy Dick

Henry Gates

Suzanne Gluck

Jeffrey Goldberg

Beatrix Hamburg

Henry Hampton*

Matina Horner Chairman, 1992-1997

Dr. Steven Hyman

Philip Leder Chairman, 2003-2007

Joshua Lederberg*

Arthur Levitt

Ruth Mandel

Paul Marks

Robert McKay*

Harry Meresman* Secretary and Treasurer, 1977-1990

Martha Minow Chairman, 2007-2012

Matthew Nimetz

Louis Perlmutter

John Revson

Robert Rifkind Chairman, 1997-2003

Simon Rifkind* Chairman, 1977-1987
Honorary Chairman, 1987-1990

Gerald Rosenfeld Treasurer, 2011-2018

Dr. Clifford Tabin

Harold Tanner

Staff

Jacob Boehm Grants Management and Program Associate

Jacob Boehm joined the Revson Foundation in September of 2021 as an Office and Program Assistant and became the Grants Management and Program Associate in 2023. Jacob is responsible for tracking all grants through the Foundation’s online grant management system, Foundant, and managing the Charles H. Revson Senior Fellowship in Biomedical Science. Jacob holds a B.A. in Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought from Amherst College.

Kiryat Hance Office and Program Assistant

Kiryat Hance joined the Revson Foundation in July of 2023 as the Office and Program Assistant. She is responsible for managing logistical support, overseeing IT needs, and handling day-to-day administrative tasks. A recent graduate of Skidmore College, Class of 2023, Kiryat earned her BA in Business Administration and Management with a minor in Sociology. Before joining the Revson team, Kiryat served as an intern in a program assistant role at the Heckscher Foundation for Children and volunteered at the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, gaining valuable experience in the nonprofit sector.

Martha King Senior Program Officer

Martha W. King joined the Charles H. Revson Foundation in July 2020. She was formerly the executive director of the New York City Board of Correction, the City’s jail watchdog and independent oversight agency.  Prior to that, Martha was a policy advisor to the first deputy mayor of New York City where she advised on priorities and policies related to criminal justice and education, managed the Mayor’s Task Force on Behavioral Health and the Criminal Justice System, and co-chaired the Public Safety Committee of OneNYC. She has also consulted with more than a dozen New York City based, mission driven organizations to plan and fund new initiatives and build capacity through strategic planning and partnerships with government. Martha began her career planning and evaluating initiatives at CASES, the largest alternative to incarceration program in New York City and was an Oscar S. Straus II fellow in Criminal Justice at the Vera Institute of Justice.

Martha is a fellow in the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation Network and serves on the Board of Directors of the Correctional Association of New York. She has dual master’s degrees in public affairs and urban planning from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at and a B.A. in African American Studies from Wesleyan University.

Meredith Korn Chief Financial and Administrative Officer

Meredith Korn joined the staff of the Charles H. Revson Foundation in July 2020 as the chief financial and administrative officer.  She is responsible for all operations of the Foundation, including finance and accounting, human resources, information technology, contracts and administrative services.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Meredith was a Partner at Owen J. Flanagan & Company, CPAs. She began her career with the firm upon graduating with a BA in accounting from the Hagan School of Business at Iona College in 2002 and is a Certified Public Accountant.  In 2009, Meredith was made a partner of Owen J. Flanagan & Company.  She spent 18 years with the firm specializing in audit, accounting and tax preparation in the not-for-profit sector and has vast experience working with various non-profits in the New York area. She is a member of the New York State Society of CPAs, serving on the not-for-profit and exempt organizations committee's. She also serves as Treasurer of the Croton Harmon Education Foundation and the Croton Little League.

Elizabeth Leiman Kraiem Senior Program Officer

Elizabeth Leiman Kraiem oversees the North America grants in the foundation’s Jewish Life Program. Prior to joining the Revson Foundation in January 2020, Elizabeth Leiman Kraiem served as Executive Director of the Jewish Foundation for Education of Women and as founder of the Jewish Ethical Wills Project, an initiative of the Marlene Meyerson JCC of Manhattan and the Center for Pastoral Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary. A graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, she serves on the board of the Stella and Charles Guttman Foundation and is a student of liturgy.

Julie Sandorf President

Julie Sandorf has served as president of the Charles H. Revson Foundation since January 2008. Before joining Revson, she was a co-founder and executive director of Nextbook, a national organization dedicated to the creation and promotion of Jewish literature, culture, and the arts. From 1991 through 1999, she was president of the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), an organization she founded that worked to deliver permanent solutions to chronic homelessness in partnership with philanthropic foundations, nonprofit organizations, and government at the local, state, and national levels.

Previously, she was a program director at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), where she forged a groundbreaking public-private partnership to revitalize distressed neighborhoods throughout New York City. She has served as a senior program consultant to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, directing the Foundation’s After School Project, and has been a consultant to the Rockefeller Foundation, the Oak Foundation, and the Pew Charitable Trusts.

She currently serves as an adviser to the Oak Foundation, serves on the JCRC Bridges-NY Advisory Council, is Vice-Chair of the board of directors of the Center for Urban Community Services, is a member of the INN Communications Strategy Advisory Board, and is a member of the board of directors of the Rebuild Local News Coalition, the A.M. and Ruth Z. Fleishman Foundation, and the Carolina Beacon. She had previously served on the Board of Leading Edge: Alliance for Excellence in Jewish Leadership, the advisory board of the Brookings Institution Center for Urban and Metropolitan Policy, and on the boards of the National Mental Health Association, Goddard Riverside Community Center, and the Project for Psychiatric Outreach for the Homeless.

Karen Yu Controller

Karen Yu joined Revson as an accountant in 2005 and became controller in 2010. Her responsibilities include accounting operations, financial reporting, and human-resources administration. Karen is a certified public accountant with experience in audit, nonprofit, and SEC accounting. She holds a BS in accounting and international business from NYU’s Stern School of Business.