October 25, 2023: The Bronxville School Foundation is set to launch its fall fundraising campaign and is happy to announce the addition of six new board members, a new Finance Administrator, and a new slate of officers for the 2023-2024 school year.
Since its inception, the nonprofit organization has given more than $12.6 million in grants to the Bronxville School to enhance the quality of education in the district. The BSF has funded new curriculum, technology, faculty training, facilities projects, and special materials and equipment. Last year the Foundation provided $544,000 in support through their grant program.
The Foundation actively engages with the district to identify high priority needs that are beyond what the school’s budget is able to cover. Each year, it relies on the fall campaign to help fund these critical grants. The generous support received from alumni, Bronxville community members, school families, and matching corporate gifts through the fall fundraising campaign enables the Foundation to fund grants that fill the gap between what the school budget provides and what a transformative education demands. This year, the Foundation’s goal is to get 100% participation in the fundraising campaign from Bronxville School families.
Please consider a gift to the Foundation this year.
The Foundation is delighted to welcome our newest board members and our new Finance Administrator, Lisa Rao. “Our new board members and finance administrator are proven volunteers with a wealth of varied experience in our community,” said Nominating Chair, Rob Crystal. “We are confident that they will help us further the Foundation’s initiatives. We are thrilled to have them on the team.”
Joseph Burke
Joe grew up in Bronxville and is a proud graduate of the BHS Class of 1991. He subsequently graduated from Georgetown University (BA-Political Science) and Fordham University School of Law. After graduation from law school, Joe was an Assistant District Attorney with the Kings County District Attorney’s Office (Brooklyn) for ten years, the last four of which he was assigned to the Homicide Bureau. Joe then moved to CME Group, Inc., where he was Senior Counsel within the Market Regulation Department. He is now a Vice President with Goldman Sachs, where he leads the Futures and Commodities group within Regulatory Affairs. Joe and his wife, Megan, moved to Bronxville in 2008 and have three children in Bronxville Schools. Over the last several years, Joe has volunteered as a coach with St. Joseph’s School, BYLA, EYSA, and TYA.
Philippa Freeman
Philippa graduated from Cambridge University with a BA, MA and became a barrister at the Inns of Court School of Law in London. She moved to the U.S. in 1993 and was an associate at Morgan, Lewis and Bockius LLP and then Loeb and Loeb LLP, until moving over to the business side at HBO in 2002. She worked there as Vice President of Business Affairs until she left to be the co-founder and CEO of Juice in the City, a venture backed company based out of Palo Alto, CA. Juice was a national network of nearly 300 salespeople that worked with top local businesses in over 40 markets across the country to reach and retain customers in their local communities. Philippa commuted to the company’s main office in California every other week for several years before leaving Juice in 2013.
Since then, Philippa has run a small education-based technology newsletter and has also worked with several other internet start-ups in the New York area, advising them on customer acquisition and strategic planning. She moved to Bronxville in 2011 with her husband Rob and her three boys. Two of them are recent graduates from the high school, while her youngest son will be graduating from Bronxville in 2026. She has served in various roles in the PTA through her time in Bronxville, including Class Parent and Middle School Technology Chair as well as 10th Grade Chair for the upcoming academic year.
Miki Kapoor (Ex-officio member, School Board representative)
Miki Kapoor and his wife, Heidi, have lived in Bronxville for ten years and have three children, all of whom attend The Bronxville School, where Miki serves as a member of the Board of Education. He is a healthcare data and technology executive, having served as president or CEO of several healthcare middle-market companies, all of which have gone public or been acquired. He is currently an operating partner at Linden Capital Partners, a healthcare private equity fund. He has served on the boards of over ten healthcare non-profits and private equity or venture backed companies, and he has served as a member of the Bronxville Police Community Relations Committee. Miki holds an MBA and MPH from Yale University and a BA in Biology from Washington University in St. Louis.
Amy Krause
Amy grew up in Southeast Texas and received a BBA in Finance, with honors, from the University of Texas at Austin. After graduation, she worked in New York City in process consulting in the Financial Services and Utilities industries for Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and subsequently was a manager of operations for Arthur Andersen, a large accounting firm, in the Los Angeles and San Francisco offices. Before moving to Bronxville in 2014, Amy lived with her family in New York City for many years. She was active in the New York Junior League as head of the Transfers Committee. She served on the PTA board at The Chapin School in New York City, where she was the Treasurer and the Chair of the Elementary School. She served on the board of the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) and chaired their annual fundraising gala. She was an active parishioner and served on many committees at St. James’ Episcopal Church, in New York City. Amy recently served as a board member of The Community Fund (2018-2021) and was the Evaluations Co-Chair for grants (2019-2021), where she was honored to give away an additional, board-approved $250,000 in grants, outside of the normal cycle and service area, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. She has served in many roles in the Bronxville PTA, including class parent for many years, 10th grade chair, Staff Appreciation co-chair (since 2017), President-Elect (2021-2022), and as the current President (2022-2023). She and her husband, Steve, have three children — a ‘21 grad, a 12th grader, and an 8th grader.
Alanna Leavell (PTA President Elect)
Alanna Leavell received a BA in English and Government from Georgetown University and a MS in Journalism from Columbia University. She has worked as a journalist for MSNBC and CBS, spending many years as a producer at the CBS newsmagazine show, Inside Edition. She has also worked in Communications at Sacred Heart Greenwich. Alanna has volunteered in various roles at the Bronxville School PTA, including Chair of the Elementary School Council. She will serve as President of the PTA for the 2024-2025 school year. She and her husband, Byrd, moved to Bronxville in 2014 and have three children attending the Bronxville School.
Emily Liggitt
Emily Liggitt and her husband, Mark, have four children, all of whom attend the Bronxville Schools. Their oldest son is in 12th grade and their older daughter is in 10th grade. Their younger son is in 8th grade. Their youngest daughter is in 4th grade. Emily is a proud member of the Bronxville High School Class of 1996. Emily returned to Bronxville in 2007 and has extensively dedicated her time to volunteering for her childrens’ schools and the Bronxville community. Emily volunteered in many school leadership roles from Chair of the Reformed Church Nursery School Board, Grade Chair and Class Parent in the Bronxville Elementary School, and Chair of the Bronxville Middle School Council. Emily is currently Chair of the High School Council. In the broader community, Emily currently serves in several capacities. She is the Chair of the Jansen Hospice & Palliative Care Board, a board member of Lawrence Community Health Service and a Greater Consistory member of the Reformed Church of Bronxville. Professionally, Emily began her career in investment banking at Lehman Brothers. She moved to the High Yield Sales desk, working with institutional and high net worth clients. Emily earned a BA from Williams College in 2000, majoring in Psychology with a concentration in Neuroscience.
Lisa Rao (Finance Administrator)
Lisa Rao is thrilled to join the Foundation as the Finance Administrator. She was formerly employed by Concordia College, where she was the Art Program Director for the OSilas Art Studio and served on their Gallery Advisory Board. In her earlier professional career, Lisa was a Company Manager for nearly two decades on various Broadway & Touring Theatrical Productions. Her roster of Bronxville community positions include chairing the Village of Bronxville’s 125th Anniversary Celebration, chairing the Party on Kraft (The Picture House) Fundraiser and co-chairing The Next Chapter Library & Memorial Day (Bronxville School PTA) Fundraisers. Lisa has served as the President of both the Junior League of Bronxville & Bronxville School PTA, and chaired the Reformed Church Nursery School Board. She is a current member of the Bronxville Historical Conservancy Board and recently completed her term as a Governor for the Bronxville Field Club. Lisa majored in Theatre/Dance at Trinity College in Hartford where she now belongs to the Trinity Women’s Leadership Council, and is her Class President and an Alumni Fund Class Agent. She and her husband Ashvin, have two children, Lauren,19, a freshman at Tulane University and Porter,15, a freshman at Bronxville High School.
The other directors and officers for 2023-2024 are Katie Shah, Chairperson; Christopher Horvers, VP Development; Amy Atkeson, VP Grants; Catherine O’Connor Williams, VP Alumni Affairs; Sam Patterson, VP Public Relations; Rob Crystal, VP Nominating; Lansing Martinelli, VP Social Events; David Lewis, VP Legal Advisory; Jen Lescott, Secretary; Anthony Civale, Treasurer. Returning board members are Alex Bici, Anabella Davis, Deirdre Doheny, Mike Dimitri, Wendy Fahy, Mary Gay, Mike Heraty, Chris Krieg, Carrie Long, Heather Miner, Mary Preusse, and Ian Putnam. Dr. Rachel L. Kelly, Superintendent of the Bronxville Schools, is an ex-officio member. Helena McSherry is the Executive Director.
For more information about the Foundation or to support our fundraising efforts, please visit https://www.bronxvilleschoolfoundation.org.
Photographed above left to right: Lisa Rao, Emily Liggitt, Joe Burke, Alanna Leavell, Philippa Freeman, and Amy Krause (Miki Kapoor not photographed).
