Board of Directors

Sue Atkins (Chair)

Sue Atkins is a Managing Director at JPMorgan, specializing in Corporate Restructuring. She has a degree in Education from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA in Finance from the University of Minnesota. In addition to serving on LitWorld's Executive Board, she volunteers for the Big Brother Big Sister program and the Parents Advisory Committee at Kenyon College. Sue lives with her husband, Eben Shapiro, and her two children in New York City.

Sophie Belisha (Treasurer)

Sophie Belisha, CPA, has been auditing and advising Fortune 500 investment banks and other financial institutions since 2004.  Prior to her professional career with Ernst & Young, Sophie was a literacy teacher in a Sunday School program and in Westchester, New York. Sophie is a former lieutenant in the Education Division of the Israeli Defense Forces where she taught underprivileged minorities and immigrant soldiers providing them with a second opportunity to access education.  Sophie holds a B.Sc. in accounting (Cum Laude) from Lander College, New York. Sophie currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband.

Christopher Carter

Christopher Carter is a Solutions Architect at Agio Technology, specializing in financial system infrastructure design.  He has worked in the industry for over 15 years.  Christopher has earned a Bachelor of Science from Bryant University in Smithfield, RI and also is the CEO of an eco-friendly grooming supply company men.  He lives with his wife, Monica Carter, in San Francisco.

Sabrina Conyers

Sabrina Conyers is an associate at Bingham McCutchen LLP, specializing in corporate and partnership federal income tax law.  Sabrina has an L.L.M. in Taxation from NYU Law School.  She received her J.D. from Columbia Law School and her B.A. from Morgan State University.  In the nonprofit sector, Sabrina assists clients with the formation of nonprofit corporations and in securing exemption from federal income taxation. She also provides general corporate counseling to nonprofit organizations advising them on a broad range of operating issues including corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, structuring subsidiaries, grants management and other program related investments and other tax issues.  Sabrina lives with her husband, Justin Conyers and their two children in New Jersey.
 

Jeff DaPuzzo

Jeff DaPuzzo is a former advertising executive turned educator.  Jeff currently divides his time as a 6th grade math teacher at Girls Prep Middle School, parent homemaker, freelance photographer and private investor. He was accepted into the NYC Teaching Fellows program in 2003 after an 18-year corporate career in marketing and advertising.  He has a BS in Business Administration from the University of Denver, and a MS in Education from Mercy College. He has been a Big Brother mentor, served as a volunteer teacher with the New York Civil Rights Coalition, and created a Books For Children project, which generated over 700 books for the St. Aloysius School in Harlem in 1999.  He currently serves on the Vestry of his church and is chairman of his family’s private charitable foundation.  Jeff lives in New York City with his partner Rob and daughter Hadly.

Ann Erb-Leoncavallo

Ann Erb-Leoncavallo has worked in the United Nations for two decades and currently serves as speechwriter and communication adviser at UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.

Ellen Fredericks

Ellen Fredericks, MCC, is a Managing Partner for Leading Initiatives Worldwide and is on the staff at the University of Texas at Dallas for the Executive Coaching Program. Her clients include executives and leaders from start-up firms, professional practice firms and Fortune 500 companies including Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, Chanel, Cisco, Harcourt, and Prudential, among several others. She is one of several hundred coaches worldwide awarded the designation of Master Certified Coach by the International Coach Federation (ICF). Ellen holds a certificate in coaching, a B.S in Computer Science and an M.S. in Management. She attended Executive Management Training Programs at Duke University and Arizona State University. Ellen is a contributing author to the ASTD published book, “Coaching for Extraordinary Results”, the co-author of  “Executive Think Time – Thinking That Gets Results”, “Executive Foundation – 5 Essential Skills for Senior Leaders”, and “From Cross Purposes to Cooperation – The 10 Factors That Unify a Cross Functional Team.”

Nicole Nakashian

Nicole Nakashian is the Executive Director at UBS Prime Brokerage. She has been leading technology teams within the finance industry for over 10 years. Nicole earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from SUNY Albany, a MBA from Long Island University, is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), and holds Series 7 and 63 licenses. Nicole lives with her partner in New York City and is the proud mother of twin girls, Madeline and Avery.