Board of Directors | New York City Leadership Academy

Dr. Louise Mirrer
Board Chair, NYC Leadership Academy
President and Chief Executive Officer, New-York Historical Society

Dr. Louise Mirrer is President and Chief Executive Officer of the New-York Historical Society. Until recently, she was Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at The City University of New York. Prior to that, she served as Vice Provost for Arts, Sciences and Engineering at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, where she held joint appointments as Professor in the Departments of Spanish and Portuguese and Comparative Literature. Before her appointment at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Mirrer was a member of the faculty at Fordham University in New York and Chair of Fordham’s Division of Humanities. Dr. Mirrer has also been visiting professor at the University of California-Los Angeles.

Dr. Mirrer continues to serve on committees of the Modern Language Association and International Association of Hispanists, and on the Visiting Advisors Board of the Salzburg Seminar, the College Board, the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship, and the editorial boards of several publications in the areas of language and medieval studies. She has published widely on language, literature, medieval studies and women’s studies, both books and articles, in Spanish and English, and has delivered papers at scholarly meetings in the United States and abroad. Her most recent book is Women, Jews, and Muslims in the Texts of Reconquest Castile (University of Michigan Press, 1996), a “deconstruction” of the medieval Castilian canon using contemporary theories of gender and race.

Dr. Mirrer holds a double Ph.D. in Spanish and Humanities and an MA in Spanish from Stanford University. She holds a Diploma in Linguistics from Cambridge University (England). Her baccalaureate is from the University of Pennsylvania where she graduated magna cum laude with Honors in Spanish. She is married and has three children.

Peter A. Flaherty
Managing Director, Arcon Partners
Director, Emeritus of McKinsey & Company, Inc.

Mr. Flaherty has served as Managing Director for Arcon Partners, a private investment firm, since 2005 and is currently a Director Emeritus of McKinsey & Company, which he joined in 1975. At McKinsey, he rose through the ranks to become a Principal in 1981, and was elected a Senior Partner in 1986. In June 2001, he moved to part-time status with that company to focus increasingly on not-for-profit interests focusing on education, the environment, international affairs and issues relating to New York City, where he is a resident.

In addition to the NYC Leadership Academy, Mr. Flaherty is a member of the Boards of Rockefeller University, The Foreign Policy Association, The Kenyon Review, TechnoServe and the Board of Visitors of the Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. He serves as Chairman of the Advisory Council for the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Mr. Flaherty, a graduate of Stanford University, the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and Harvard Business School, is also a member of the Council of Foreign Relations.

Erik W. Kahn
Partner, Bryan Cave LLR

Erik Kahn counsels clients in diverse industries, including technology, telecommunications and telephony, Internet, retail, consumer brands, entertainment, publishing and fashion. His practice focuses on technology deals and intellectual property protection, transactions and litigation.

Mr. Kahn advises clients on all aspects of technology development, acquisition, licensing and transfer; global brand protection strategies and enforcement programs; content and brand licensing; intellectual property in corporate transactions; intellectual property audits; celebrity endorsements; and evaluation and vetting of entertainment properties. He litigates cases involving trademark and trade dress infringement, domain name disputes, copyright infringement, intellectual property licensing and defamation. He has also done significant pro bono work with Pilobolus Dance Company and Double O Film Production.

Mr. Kahn publishes and lectures regularly on intellectual property.

Jonathan M. Moses
Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

Jonathan M. Moses is a member of the Firm’s Litigation Department which he joined in 1998. He has represented clients in diverse industries, including banks and financial institutions, media companies, and industrial firms. His practice includes government investigative proceedings and complex commercial, insurance and securities litigation.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Moses served as an attorney for the New York Daily News, where he worked on First Amendment issues among other matters, and a law clerk to the Hon. Stephen F. Williams of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Mr. Moses is also a former journalist having served, among other positions, as a staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal. From 1990 to 1991, Mr. Moses served as a speechwriter to Gov. Jim Florio of New Jersey.

Mr. Moses received an A.B. from Harvard University in 1988 and a J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1996, where he was an editor of the Law Review and a James Kent Scholar. Following graduation from Harvard, Mr. Moses was the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship in Hong Kong.

Mr. Moses is admitted to practice in the State of New York, the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the District of New Jersey, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, where he currently serves on the Committee on the Judiciary, the Federal Bar Council and the American Bar Association. In 2007, he was among the Partnership for New York City’s David Rockefeller Fellows.

Sandra J. Stein
Chief Executive Officer, NYC Leadership Academy

Dr. Sandra J. Stein is an internationally recognized expert in school leadership development, well known for her rigorous, experiential approach to developing strong instructional leaders. As the CEO of the NYC Leadership Academy Dr. Stein’s visionary method of teaching using problem-based, real-world simulations and job-embedded learning has contributed to the development and success of hundreds of current and prospective principals in New York City. Under her guidance, the Leadership Academy identifies, prepares and supports innovative school leaders who have the instructional and leadership skills necessary to empower teachers, students and parents, and to direct efforts to improve student learning in some of the City’s most challenging schools.

Dr. Stein created the original design for the ground-breaking Aspiring Principals Program (APP), which recruits and prepares educators to become New York City public school principals, and has shaped the Leadership Academy’s coaching and training programs so that they are purpose-driven, rigorous, and grounded in the actual work of current principals.

Dr. Stein’s commitment to educational excellence has driven her entire career. Before joining the Leadership Academy, Dr. Stein was an Associate Professor at Baruch College, School of Public Affairs and founding director of its Aspiring Leaders Program (ALPs).She has written comprehensively on the issue of preparing the nation’s educational leaders. Her two books, The Culture of Education Policy (Teachers College Press 2004) and Principal Training on the Ground: Ensuring Highly Qualified Leadership (co-authored with Liz Gewirtzman, Heinemann 2003) have received wide-spread critical acclaim.

Dr. Stein received her Ph.D. in Education Administration and Policy Analysis from Stanford University and holds two M.A.degrees from Stanford in Political Science and International and Comparative Education,. She earned her BA in Sociology from Grinnell College. She has lived, worked and studied in Latin America and speaks Spanish fluently. Dr. Stein currently lives in New York City with her husband Matt Lambiase.

Sy Sternberg
Chairman and CEO, New York Life Insurance Company

Sy Sternberg is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of New York Life. He joined the company in 1989 as a Senior Vice President, became Executive Vice President in 1991, was elected Vice Chairman of the Board in February 1995 and became President and Chief Operating Officer later that year.

Mr. Sternberg serves on the board of Express Scripts, a pharmaceutical benefits manager. He is a past Chairman of the American Council of Life Insurers. He is a member of The Business Roundtable and serves on its Task Force on International Trade and Investment. He is also a board member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Partnership for New York City; Chairman of the CUNY Business Leadership Council; a member of the board of trustees, Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City; Vice Chairman of the Kennedy Center Corporate Fund and a member of the Leadership Committee of the Lincoln Center Consolidated Corporate Fund. In addition, Mr. Sternberg is a member of the Board of Governors of the United Way of Tri-State; the Board of Trustees of Hackley School in Tarrytown, NY; and the Board of Trustees of Springfield College, Springfield, MA.

In 1999, Mr. Sternberg was appointed by President Clinton and served through 2002 as one of three U.S. representatives to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council (ABAC). He is currently a member of the board of the US-China Business Council.

Mr. Sternberg received a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from City College of New York and an M.S.E.E. degree from Northeastern University.

Scott D. Widmeyer
Chairman, Widmeyer Communications

Scott Widmeyer has a 30-year record in providing strategic counsel to scores of decision-makers, from presidents to governors to chief executive officers to union leaders. From working as a newspaper reporter in the 1970s to running major media operations for national campaigns, Widmeyer knows how to get results for his clients. His track record of successes in education, health care, politics, campaign finance, technology, trade and other public policy matters illustrate his impact as a “change agent” in things that matter most to America. Clients regularly turn to Widmeyer for advice on economic development issues, marketing strategies, coalition building and crisis management. Scott Widmeyer founded Widmeyer Communications in 1988, building on a career in newspaper reporting and serving in major communications positions for five highly respected leaders — former President Jimmy Carter, former Vice President Walter Mondale, U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller, former Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro and the late Albert Shanker.

Widmeyer is active in a number of civic and philanthropic causes from his base in New York and Washington. In 2007, he was named a David Rockefeller Fellow, a highly coveted one-year program of the New York City Partnership. He also was the longest-serving board chair of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, as well as serving on the board of GLAAD. His current board memberships include the New York City Leadership Academy, the Education Writers Association (advisory board), Bizbash and Council for Unity. In addition, he is active in the Council of Public Relations Firms, Public Relations Organisation International, Friends of the High Line, the National Press Club, the Appalachian Community Fund, St. Gregory’s Church, and PENCIL.

Widmeyer is a graduate of West Virginia University (WVU) where he has established two scholarship funds to benefit African-American and first-generation West Virginians seeking a degree in journalism. To date, more than 30 students have benefited from these scholarships, and in 2005, Widmeyer and his firm established the Widmeyer Communications Professorship in Public Relations, the first of its kind in the nation. Widmeyer has served as a Visiting Professor at the P. I. Reed School of Journalism and has been a guest lecturer at Brown University, the University of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University. Continuing his commitment to his alma mater, Widmeyer chairs the Advisory Committee for the WVU School of Journalism. In 2003, he received West Virginia University’s most prestigious award in journalism – The P. I. Reed Achievement Award.

In 2005, then West Virginia Governor Bob Wise bestowed upon Widmeyer the “Distinguished West Virginian Award,” the highest honor provided by the chief executive of the state, recognizing his outstanding achievements and meritorious service to his home state of West Virginia.

Kathryn S. Wylde
President and CEO, Partnership for New York City

Kathryn Wylde is President and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, a non-profit organization of the city’s business leaders, established by David Rockefeller in 1979. The Partnership is dedicated to maintaining New York City as a center of world commerce, finance and innovation. Its public policy focus is on issues in the areas of education, infrastructure and the economy.

The Partnership’s economic development arm is the New York City Investment Fund. Ms. Wylde served as founding President and CEO of this $110 million civic fund, which was established in 1996 under the leadership of Henry R. Kravis. She continues to serve on the Fund’s Board of Directors.

Wylde was also founding President and CEO of the Housing Partnership Development Corporation, serving from 1982-1996, where she was instrumental in creation of a number of pioneering initiatives in affordable housing at the local, state and national levels. Under her leadership, more than $2 billion in private funds were invested in public-private partnerships that produced affordable housing and commercial developments in economically distressed communities across the city.

An internationally known expert in housing, economic development and urban policy, Ms. Wylde serves on a number of other boards and advisory groups, including the NYS Commission on Public Authority Reform, the NYC Economic Development Corporation, the Manhattan Institute, and the Biomedical Research Alliance of New York. She chairs the board of Lutheran Medical Center, a community hospital in Brooklyn. She has authored numerous articles and policy papers and has been recognized for leadership by dozens of educational, professional and nonprofit institutions.

She is a native of Madison, Wisconsin, and a graduate of St. Olaf College,’68. Ms. Wylde currently resides in Brooklyn and has a second home in Puerto Rico.