Meet Fiver’s dedicated staff and leadership
Graduation years listed throughout this page (Name ‘xx) indicate the year of graduation from the Fiver program.
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Fabiola Benitez '19
PROGRAM ASSOCIATE
YEAR JOINED FIVER: 2020
FUN FACT: Fabiola received the trustworthy dog tag twice.
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Shane Bennett '16
PROGRAM ASSOCIATE
YEAR JOINED FIVER: 2023
FUN FACT: Coming soon!
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Elena Buchsbaum
PROGRAM & OPERATIONS ASSOCIATE
YEAR JOINED FIVER: 2023
FUN FACT: Elena loves animals; she has ridden horses competitively since she was 10 years old and has a dog named Mila who takes up 99% of her free time.
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Araceli Castillo '22
PROGRAM ASSOCIATE
YEAR JOINED FIVER: 2023
FUN FACT: Coming Soon!
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Jesus Cortes
PROGRAM ASSOCIATE
YEAR JOINED FIVER: 2021
FUN FACT: When Jesus played Little League Baseball, he broke the record for the most home runs in a season with 21 home runs. That same year, Jesus won Little League MVP.
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Mary Lee Dinski
DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
YEAR JOINED FIVER: 2003
FUN FACT: Mary, AKA Marydactyl, loves dinosaurs and doesn't like it when her fruit juices mix.
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Joe Flatley
FACILITIES & GROUNDS DIRECTOR
YER JOINED FIVER: 2019
FUN FACT: Joe considers himself an outdoor person. He likes camping, fishing, and hunting.
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Melissa Gomez
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
YEAR JOINED FIVER: 2018
FUN FACT: Melissa loves attending Broadway musicals and concerts, and has been to over 100 since the age of 13. Her favorites include Hamilton (with the original cast), Beyonce's "Formation" tour, and Prince's "Musicology" tour.
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Kaya Henderson '15
CAMP ASSOCIATE
YEAR JOINED FIVER: 2017
FUN FACT: Kaya is terrified of anything with more than two legs.
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Christie Ko
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
YEAR JOINED FIVER: 2004
FUN FACT: Christie is a mother of twins and enjoys hiking and exploring national parks.
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Mabel Munoz '15
SENIOR HR & OPERATIONS MANAGER
YEAR JOINED FIVER: 2019
FUN FACT: Mabel worked at Build-A-Bear Workshop for a short period of time and her favorite creatures are elephants and unicorns.
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Aislee Berenice Nieves '14
PROGRAM MANAGER
YEAR JOINED FIVER: 2021
FUN FACT: Aislee lived in Berlin for a month and is learning German
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Kenya Reeves
DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
YEAR JOINED FIVER: 2021
FUN DACT: Kenya crochets blankets and pillows, mostly for her dogs.
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Jessica Rivera
DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE
YEAR JOINED FIVER: 2018
FUN FACT: Jessica loves to knit and crochet.
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Anthony Silvera
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM ASSOCIATE
YEAR JOINED FIVER: 2019
FUN FACT: Anthony collects funko pops!
Leadership
Board of Directors
Founder and Chairperson Emeritus
Thomas H. Tucker, Retired, Lehman Brothers
Chairperson
James B. Roper, Pi Capital International LLC
Vice-Chairperson
Michèle Lallemand Brazil, Philanthropist
Secretary
Jonathan Jean-Pierre, Gooogle
Treasurer
John C. Cokinos, Royal Bank of Canada
Directors
Gabriela Berroa, Google
Christina Bohm, PJT Partners
Kan Devnani, Comtex News Network
Paolo Frattaroli, Neuberger Berman
Richard Golaszewski, Hunter Point Capital LP
Michael Gorelick, Mizuho
Chris Haines, Hodes, Weill and Associates
Bonni Hendrix, BNY Mellon
Aaron Isaacson, JPMorgan Chase
Daphne Leroy, Paramount
M. Justin Lubeley, JPMorgan Chase
Ryland M. McClendon, JPMorgan Chase
Jenny Perlman Robinson, Senior Lead, Innovation & Growth, Youth Impact and Nonresident Senior Fellow, Center for Universal Education, Brookings Institute
Eleine Polido, Mastercard
Darren Schluter, PJT Partners
Jessica Smith, The Innocence Project
Karen Toll, Insight Investment
Eric Weng, Brookfield Asset Management
Emeritus Members of the Board
Michael H. Barnett, Retired, Barnett, Edelstein, Gross, Kass & Lieber, P.C.
William T. Boyd, Jr., Retired, Lehman Brothers
Robert D. Cagnina, Retired, Lehman Brothers
Steven Carlson, Pi Capital
William P. Griffith, Retired, Fiver Children's Foundation
Ira D. Haspel, Architect, Camp Fiver
Max B. Haspel, The Colony Group
Marc A. Hellman, Retired, Lehman Brothers
Andrew L. Mendelson, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
John C. Ollquist, Exchange Place Advisors, LLC
Heather F. Tucker, Community Volunteer
Ovita Williams, PHD, Columbia University School of Social Work
Paul D. Williams, MaxMD
Honorary Member
Richard Adams
Central New York Steering Committee
Denise Dinski
Maggie Fitzpatrick
Len Gray
Jennifer Latreille
Darcie Loveless
Bruce Moseley
Mary Thomas
Tim Trueworthy
Frank White
Advisory Council
Tony Brown
Debra Gaisford
Nancy Hament
Jeanne Kane
David Keefe, Jr.
Mary T. Kellner
Stuart MacLelland
Merrill Miller
Sean Moran
Douglas Rachlin
David Turk
Fiver Advocates
HK Hallet
Gaby Bianchi
Rohan Mehrotra
Michael Richitelli
Daniel Smith
Marshall Widom
Taylor Butts - Class of 2010
Camilo Duque - Class of 2011
Erik Cooper, Jr. - Class of 2013
Diana Gomez - Class of 2016
Kaya Henderson - Class of 2015
Jasmine Ortiz - Class of 2018
Juan Frias - Class of 2012
Noah Vasquez - Class of 2004
Roberto Vasquez Perez - Class of 2014