Our People

Funke Akinola began her career working with children in kindergarten, and Grades 1-2.. She taught for more than 30 years at the Brearley School, retiring in 2017. Her time on the Reading Team board has enabled her to give back to her beloved Harlem community. Akinola grew up in Togo and Ghana, where she received a Teacher’s Certificate from Wesley Teachers’ College. After immigrating to the United States, she earned a BA from Hunter College. She enjoys sharing her passion for education with her six grandchildren.

Mia Campbell is an experienced classroom teacher and the former Director of Admissions of Little Learning, Inc., an early childhood development program with a focus on literacy. She has also worked as an educational program manager and substitute teacher. Campbell holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford and a Master of Arts degree in Education from King’s College London. She lives in New York City with her husband.

Judith H. Dobrzynski, an award-winning journalist who has held senior editorial roles at The New York Times, Business Week and CNBC, is a freelance writer who has contributed articles and criticism spanning culture, the arts, business, philanthropy, and more to The Wall Street Journal and New York Magazine. She has also been an instructor in journalism at Columbia University and served for a decade as a program consultant to a large foundation. She is an officer of The Century Association, and she volunteers at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She is an alumna of Syracuse University.

Carolyn Ellis, a graduate of the University of Chicago and of New York University School of Law, had a long and successful career in the law, first in private practice and then in the Charities Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s office, where she honed her expertise in nonprofit governance. Ellis has also served as the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Chief of the Civil Enforcement Division. For over 15 years, she served as a board member and chairperson of a nonprofit provider of supportive housing for homeless and mentally ill people in her home borough of Brooklyn.

Monica Gallagher is Executive DIrector of Online Acceleration at the Estée Lauder Companies, where she drives key global ecommerce growth initiatives. Prior to that, as a partner at Boston Consulting Group, she led strategy and digital transformation projects for consumer goods and retail companies. Monica started her career at Teach for America, first as a classroom teacher of middle-school math and then working on the Leadership Development Team supporting math, science, and special education teachers in Oakland, California, and the Bronx. Monica has a BA from Tufts University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in New York City.

Evelyn J. Halpert of New York City served for 22 years as Head of the Brearley School, where she also taught history. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degreein History and Literature and a Master of Arts degree in History from Harvard and has served on the Overseers Visiting Committee for the Harvard History Department. A former Vice President of the Board of Groton School in Groton, MA, and a former Trustee of Maret School and of the National Child Research Center, both in Washington, DC, she is currently Vice President of the Board of the Prince Street Foundation and an Emerita Trustee of Brearley.

For 33 years, Eileen Judell was a member of the faculty of the Chapin School, where she specialized in reading and learning disabilities. She also maintained a private practice during those years, working with children who had learning issues. Judell has a BA degree from Sarah Lawrence College and an MA in Remedial Reading and an EdM in Learning Disabilities from Teachers College, Columbia University. Judell has served as President of Youth Counseling League and has been a board member of the Joffrey Ballet, the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens, and the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services.

Rachel S. Lerner is General Counsel at the Global Association of Risk Professionals, Inc., a membership association for financial risk managers. Previously, she was Global Head of Regulatory Affairs, Vice President and Associate General Counsel for S&P Global Ratings (formerly Standard & Poors). She attended Syracuse University and received her JD from Cardozo School of Law. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.

Carmita Padilla is Chief Program & Sites Officer at the nonprofit Health Leads. She has also served as its vice president of partnerships and initiatives and executive director for New York operations, among other roles. Carmita started her career at AT&T and Deloitte Consulting before shifting to the non-profit sector, working as the Executive Director of Women’s Health & Counseling Center, director of alumni relations and annual fund for Hunter College and manager of individual giving for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Carmita holds a BA from Rutgers College and an MBA from Lehigh University. She lives in New York City and is fluent in Spanish.

Helen Pennoyer, a former faculty member at Buckley School, is a kindergarten admissions associate at Birch Wathen Lenox school. She is also a certified childbirth educator. Pennoyer has served as an elder at Brick Presbyterian Church and is the former chairwoman of its school. An alumna of Smith College with an MSW from Hunter School of Social Work, she led the creation of the Smarter Parenting series of seminars for parents and grandparents at Teacher’s College, Columbia University.

Andrew Sang has more than 30 years experience as a finance professional. As a financial associate at Blackstone, he works in the strategic investment group. He is a world traveler, soccer player, avid cyclist, and volunteer, who has lived in Harlem for over 20 years. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Hunter college and is a board member and CFO of Jamaica Independence Foundation, Inc., New York.

Andy Whitehouse is the founder and managing partner of Copperfield Advisory, a marketing and communications consulting firm, and a professor of political communications and crisis management at Columbia University. Previously, Whitehouse served as the most senior communications executive at IBM, Willis Towers Watson, and McKinsey & Company; and as a UK government policymaker. He holds an MA from the University of Oxford and a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University.

Landon H. Wickham, Jr. is a technology teacher at Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, where he teaches 7th and 8th Grade computer classes and high-school electives. Wickham has worked in and served the Harlem community for over 25 years. He is the former director of “Car Seats for Kids,” a program of the Harlem Hospital Injury Prevention Program, and opened New York City's first Child Passenger Safety Seat Inspection Station. Wickham holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rochester. He lives in Harlem with his wife and their daughter.

Sean Smith is a managing director at Mizuho Bank, where he manages the Multi-Asset Sales team. He has worked there for a decade after 15 years with Goldman Sachs in both New York and Japan. Smith received a Bachelor of Sciences in Accounting from Villanova. A father of three, he lives in Westchester, NY, where he also volunteers for the JCC. In his spare time, he runs marathons to raise money for charity.