Board of Trustees

Officers

Shawn V. Austin

Chairman of the Board

Shawn serves as the SVP, Strategic Marketing Officer at Liberty Mutual, a premier provider of specialty insurance products and services, distributed through the independent broker network. Shawn holds an M.B.A. from Fordham University. Click to view full title.

Anne Williams-Isom

Vice-Chair

Anne Williams-Isom is the Chief Executive Officer of the Harlem Children’s Zone® (HCZ), a pioneering leader in education, community development, and the fight against poverty. Since joining the organization in 2009, Anne has spearheaded numerous initiatives to further refine and improve program s ervices, delivery, and outcomes for HCZ’s 22,000 children and families. Prior to joining HCZ, Anne worked for 13 years at the New York City Administration for Children Services (ACS), helping protect NYC children from abuse and neglect by creating safe and permanent homes with strong family support. A lifelong advocate for children, Anne is an Annie E. Casey Fellow, a distinguished honor bestowed on professionals who dedicate their careers to large-scale efforts to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families. She also holds a J.D. from Columbia School of Law and graduated with honors from Fordham University with a B.A. in Political Science and Psychology. A native of New York City, she lives in the Harlem area with her husband and three children. Click to view full title.

Andrew M. Wuertele

Treasurer

Andrew Wuertele has been an active volunteer at the Icla da Silva Foundation for more than a decade and currently serves as the Treasurer. He is the Chief Administrative Officer of East River Medical Imaging in New York City, the leader in providing advanced diagnostic imaging services in a compassi onate and comfortable setting. Andy is an active board member or officer of several other organizations that seek to improve healthcare, civic dialog, education, and the arts. He holds a Masters degree in Healthcare Management and Policy from the Milano School, and degrees in Industrial Engineering and Philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh. Click to view full title.

Kala Maxym, MMus

Secretary

Kala Maxym is the Founder and CEO of LA-based boutique special events company, Five Senses Tastings. Kala's diverse professional background includes working as a Senior Program Analyst with the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice', singing opera roles, recitals, and concerts around t he world (and for three Presidents!), and working at a burgeoning tech start-up. Kala holds a BA in Political Science (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Barnard College, Columbia University and a Master's degree in Opera Performance from The Boston Conservatory. She speaks German, French, and Spanish and is a certified Spanish-English translator and Grant Writer. Kala herself was a bone marrow donor. Click to view full title.

Board Members

Anelise Engel, M.D.

Dr. Anelise Engel has a successful Internal Medicine and Medical Weight Loss practice in Midtown Manhattan. She is affiliated to Lenox Hill Hospital and New York Langone Medical Center in New York City, where she is a clinical instructor in Medicine and is actively involved in the teaching program f or medical students. Dr. Engel completed her residency training at Lenox Hill Hospital. She is Board certified in Obesity Medicine Board Certification in 2012 and Internal Medicine. She scored in the top 10 percentile in the country on the Medical Boards of Internal Medicine. Prior to her move to New York, Dr. Engel was a practicing physician in her native Brazil where she did her residency in Internal Medicine and became an attending physician at Clinica São Vicente. There she acted as co-director of the Genival Londres Research & Study Center. In Rio de Janeiro she established a thriving private Internal Medicine practice, and also worked within two distinct government agencies, the Regional Labor Council and the National Institute of Social Welfare until moving to New York in 1993. Click to view full title.

Dominic Fonti

Dominic Fonti is currently Director of Development and Construction at Stonehenge Partners. Over his career he has been involved in some of the major building development projects in the city. He has also been involved in projects throughout the United States, Europe and the Far East. Click to view full title.

Olivier Gillier

Olivier Gillier is a Partner of GC Group Capital LLC, specialized in providing global wealth management services to wealthy families. Before joining GC Group, Olivier was a senior vice president at Merrill Lynch International. He also worked at Citigroup in Private Banking and Arthur Andersen Consul ting (Belgium) as a Business Consultant. In parallel to his career in finance, he was also active as a Professor at VLEKHO-Business School (Belgium) where he taught “Portfolio Management and Securities Valuation” and currently holds an Adjunct Professor position at the International University of Monaco. He was nominated for “showing promise and excellence in the economic field” by IoD. Olivier and his wife, Vanessa, are active participants in the HLH Center of Excellence, an organization dedicated to funding research, creating awareness and providing family support for an often fatal childhood illness called HLH. Click to view full title.

Norton F. Hight

President, NJH Ventures, LLC President, N&H Custom Homes, Inc. Click to view full title.

Lawrence M. Itskowitch, D.D.S.

Dr. Itskowitch is a resident of Roosevelt Island, New York where he had his dental practice for thirty years. Prior to starting his practice on Roosevelt Island, Dr. Itskowitch served as captain of a dental unit in the Third Marine Division of the United States Marine Corp, at MCRD, CA, Camp Pendlet on, Ca, Camp Schwab, Okinawa, Balboa, CA. He was also stationed in Vietnam, offering dental support in combat areas. Dr. Itskowitch was founding member of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association and Roosevelt Island Health Association. He has served as the Chairman of the Board of the Icla da Silva Foundation and has served on the Board since 1995. Dr. Itskowitch has been involved with the da Silva family since Icla da Silva arrived in New York for her treatment. Click to view full title.

Renato M. Tichauer

Renato has over 40 years of experience in the mining and ferroalloys industries. He has held executive positions at the Hochschild Group in Brazil (presently Anglo American do Brazil) and at Hamanna Alloys in New York. He has been president and CEO of Tremond-Shine Group, Inc., since its founding in 1993. Renato holds a Bachelor in Economic Sciences and Business Administration from Faculdade de Ciências Economicas Alvares Penteado, São Paulo, Brazil. Click to view full title.

Board of Trustees