Board of Trustees

Officers

Shawn V. Austin

Chairman of the Board

Shawn Austin is the North American Head of Accident & Health for the AIG. Prior to joining AIG, Shawn was SVP and Executive Director of Benefits and Special Risk Distribution for Liberty Mutual Insurance.Shawn is a graduate of Fordham University, where he earned a MBA, and of Rutgers University , where he earned a BA in mathematics. He is on the board of several nonprofits in New York City. Click to view full title.

Rebecca Alper

Vice-Chair

Rebecca Alper started volunteering with The Icla da Silva Foundation in 2013 when her Brazilian host-sister from her college semester abroad, Carol, was searching for a matching bone marrow donor. Rebecca is a Strategic Sourcing Manager at New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYP), where she leads procur ement of clinical products and services for pharmacies and laboratories across NYP's 11 hospital locations in New York City and Westchester County. Rebecca holds a Masters degree in Healthcare Administration from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and a Bachelors from Washington University in St. Louis. Click to view full title.

Andrew M. Wuertele, FACHE

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 Executive Officer of East River Medical Imaging in New York City, the leader in providing advanced diagnostic imaging services in a compassionate 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.

Board Members

Melissa Betheil

Melissa is a Partner Engagement Lead at the World Economic Forum, responsible for driving strategic and meaningful engagement for top health and healthcare companies. Prior to her current role, Melissa worked at the New York Blood Center on community outreach, partnership building, and educational e fforts to recruit more donors to the bone marrow registry. Melissa also has held roles in the Fiscal Governance program at the Open Society Foundations and the International Economics program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Melissa graduated from the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, where she concentrated her studies in International Politics and Latin America. Click to view full title.

Claudio Braz Ferro

Claudio Braz Ferro is a former executive at Anheuser-Busch Inbev, the leading global brewer, where he was the Chief Supply Officer and a member of the Executive Board of Management. Born in 1955, Claudio is a Brazilian citizen and holds a degree in Industrial Chemistry from the University Federal of Santa Maria, RS, Brazil, and has studied brewing science at the Catholic University of Leuven, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium. He is on the Boardof Touch Foundation, an organization focused on improving healthcare in Tanzania and region, and he has led the effort to create the healthcare technology management center at Bugando Medical Center, situated along the shores of Lake Victoria in Mwanza City. Claudio is also the Founder and Chairman of 7P Capital, a private investment company Click to view full title.

Dominic Fonti

Dominic Fonti is currently Senior Project Executive at Gilbane Building Company. 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 Managing Partner of RioBlanco Capital LLC, specialized in providing global wealth management services to wealthy families. Before joining RioBlanco Capital LLC, Olivier was a senior vice president at Merrill Lynch International. He also worked at Citigroup in Private Banking and Arthur Andersen Consulting (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.

Kala Maxym

Kala Maxym is the Founder and CEO of LA based events company, Five Senses Tastings. Her 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 the world (and for thr ee Presidents!), and working at a VC-backed tech startup. Kala holds a BA in Political Science and Music from Barnard College of Columbia University and a Master of Music degree in Opera Performance from The Boston Conservatory. She speaks German, French, and Spanish and is a certified Spanish-English translator. Kala herself was a bone marrow donor. Click to view full title.

Radhy Miranda, MPA

Radhy Miranda is has a proven track record of government affairs, public relations and community engagement. He currently works at the NYC Economic Development Corporation as an Assistant Vice President of Government & Community Relations. He has volunteered with the Icla da Silva Foundation and Be the Match since 2017, organizing several bone marrow drives. Radhy holds a Masters degree in Public Administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a dual Bachelor of Science in Business Marketing & Management/Leadership. 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.

David Zabell, MD, JD

David Zabell is General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of IvyRehab Physical Therapy, a network of leading outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy clinics, with over 275 sites throughout the U.S. Prior to joining IvyRehab, David was a partner in the corporate healthcare department at Garfunkel Wild, P.C., where he was the Co-Chair of the E-Health & Telehealth Practice Group. David holds a BS in Biology from the University of Michigan, a MD from New York Medical College, and a JD (cum laude) from Brooklyn Law School. Click to view full title.

Board of Trustees