About Us: Board of Trustees
Hope Harley (President) is a retiree from Verizon where she was employed for over 28 years and held a variety of positions in Sales and Marketing, Engineering and External Affairs. Her final assignment was as Director of External Affairs in New York City where she was responsible for maintaining Verizon’s relationship with key stakeholders and elected officials as well as providing support for non-profit organizations and managing employee volunteer activities. Ms. Harley is a graduate of the State University of New York, College at Old Westbury, received an MBA in Organizational Development from Pace University and has a Certificate in Corporate Community Relations from Boston College. Ms. Harley has served on numerous boards, including The Harlem School of the Arts, the Bronx Chamber of Commerce, Audubon Partnership for Economic Development and is past chairperson of Hearts and Hammers in the Bronx, an organization that renovates the homes of senior citizens and the disabled. She is also a member of the Jackie Robinson Foundation scholarship selection committee.
Eugene Adams has over 30 years of corporate, non-profit, and education leadership experience. His work in these areas is tempered by a strong history as a community activist, entrepreneur, and youth advocate. Mr. Adams is the Director of Collaborative Education Programs at Bronx Community College (BCC). In this capacity he leads BCC’s efforts in developing and strengthening Bronx-wide educational partnerships with elementary, middle, and high schools. Mr. Adams is also involved in BCC partnerships with universities and schools in Senegal and South Africa. Prior to his education experiences, Mr. Adams worked as a commercial photographer and was owner and president of Image Network Communications. He has served as a consultant for many of New York’s agencies, including The United Way of New York City and the New York City Department of Education. A fifth-degree black belt, Mr. Adams operates Smartkicks Martial Arts Academy on Staten Island where he combines martial arts and literacy to engage youth and adult students. Mr. Adams received his BS from Rochester Institute of Technology and his Master’s from Columbia University. He also studied at the University of Havana.
Sergio Bessa is Director of Programs at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, where he has been working since 2003. He also teaches a class on museum education issues at Teachers College. Previous to joining the Bronx Museum, for a period of five years, Bessa worked for the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a contractual lecturer and taught contemporary art at the undergraduate level at the School of Visual Arts. He holds a PhD from the Steinhardt School of Education, NYU; and a Master’s of Fine Arts (Minor in Art Criticism) from Pratt Institute.
April Horton is a registered lobbyist in Government and External Affairs. She leads all government affairs and legislative activity for Verizon in the Bronx. In this capacity, she is responsible for securing Verizon’s short-term objectives and advancing its long-term goals by communicating with key internal and external audiences and positioning the company’s strategic direction, progress towards targeted goals and advances in products and services. Ms. Horton is also responsible for philanthropic strategy, grant-making and initiatives in the foundation’s issues areas of education and literacy, family safety and health, and employee volunteerism. She has served as Co-Chair for the Young Professionals Advisory Group of A Better Chance, which under her leadership exceeded its targeted financial goals. Ms. Horton is also on the boards of the YMCA and Community Board 12. She was selected as one of 25 Influential Women of the Bronx. Born and raised in the Bronx, Ms. Horton holds a BA in psychology from Fordham University and a Master's degree in Industrial Organizational psychology from Columbia University. She earned a Certificate in Dispute Resolution from the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
Paul Lipson is a President of Barretto Bay Strategies LLC. From 2004-2011, he served as Chief of Staff to Congressman José E. Serrano (NY-16). Earlier in his career, Mr. Lipson founded and led The Point Community Development Corporation, a pioneering CDC based in the Hunts Point section of The Bronx. The organization launched the South Bronx Greenway, initiated the revitalization of eight acres of scatter-site brownfields, developed a creative sector incubator in the historic American Banknote Building, and led local community consensus-building around land use and waterfront issues in the Hunts Point peninsula.
Lee Llambelis is the Special Assistant District Attorney for Community Affairs at the New York County District Attorney’s Office and most recently Director of Intergovernmental and Community Affairs for the Office of the New York State Attorney General. She has also served as Litigation Director for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, and General Counsel to Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Jr. Ms. Llambelis earned her JD from the Georgetown University Law Center and holds a BS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. She has also been a Coro Foundation Fellow in Public Affairs and an exchange student at La Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota, Colombia. Ms. Llambelis was raised in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. She is a graduate of the Academy of Mount Saint Ursula and Saint Jerome’s in the Bronx.
Dr. Nelly Maseda was born and raised in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. She attended Aquinas High School and received her BA from Cornell University and MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. Dr. Maseda is currently a primary care pediatrician at Bronx Lebanon Hospital and she holds a teaching appointment at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Her practice covers youth from birth through age 21, with an emphasis on adolescent medicine, reproductive health, and teen pregnancy prevention. Two organizations she is involved with are Stay Strong Bronx and New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. Dr. Maseda is committed to intervening with youth to mitigate the effects of violence that characterize and permeate the lives of many children living in poverty stricken/high crime areas of the South Bronx, as are the patients she serves. She is also working on a project that will determine the stages of life where anti-obesity preventative measures will have the most impact.
Michele Morales
Lisa Alvarado Sorin is the Founder of LAS Consulting Services, Inc., which provides consulting services for non-profits and corporate entities. Previously she was the Manager of Community Relations at the Bronx-based Synagro Company where she served as company representative to government, school, and community leadership groups and coordinated company/community involvement on key environmental and community concerns. Ms. Sorin has a strong record of high achievement in assisting organizations in upgrading community relations and their images. She has served on many boards, including the Bronx YMCA, the Hunts Point Economic Development Corporation, and the Casita Maria Advisory Council. She is also the Chair of the Economic and Municipal Services Committee of Bronx Community Board 2 and the Bronx Red Cross, as well as the President of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce.
Richard Stein is currently the Online Editor of liherald.com, a group of community newspaper websites serving southern Nassau County in Long Island. For 32 years, until June 2008, he and his brother published The Riverdale Press, the community newspaper of the northwest Bronx. Mr. Stein is also an architect and graphic designer. The New York Press Association’s highest award for newspaper design has been named for him. He is Treasurer of the Riverdale Neighborhood House, where he previously served as President of the board. Mr. Stein has also served as a member of the Community Newspaper Advisory Board of the American Press Institute, as President of the Center for Community Journalism and as President of the New York Press Association. He has been a board member of Riverdale Senior Services, the Bronx Council of the Boy Scouts of America and the Friends of Riverside Park. Mr. Stein is married and has two adult children and two grandchildren.
Dr. Reid Strieby, Professor of Social Science at Bronx Community College (BCC), is the Co-Director of the Energy Services and Technology (EST) program at BCC, Senior Associate in the BCC Center for Sustainable Energy and a Core Member of the CUNY Task Force on Sustainability. He has been actively involved in community education and training outreach activities in the Bronx for over 30 years. In addition, he is a Board Member of the Community Advisory Board at Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Hispanic Community Health Study, Board of Directors and Founding Member of Health People and Senior Associate at the NOAA CREST Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing, City University of New York. Mr. Strieby works as a special assistant to the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs at BCC, where his principal responsibilities are new program development and proposal development.
Dr. George York is a founder and principal of Bronx High School of the Visual Arts (BHSVA), a dynamic public school dedicated to providing quality education in and through the arts. BHSVA works with a variety of cultural partners including Lehman College Art Gallery, the Bronx Museum and Wave Hill to provide learning experiences and additional resources for students and their families in the Bronx. Dr. York received his BA and MA from Hunter College, and his EdD from Teachers College. Prior to founding BHSVA, Dr. York had a varied professional career in the arts including teaching and administration in public and private schools, and in museum and cultural organizations including P.S. 1 Institute of Contemporary Art and the Brooklyn Museum. He has served on various boards including the Queens Council on the Arts and Elders Share the Arts, received numerous awards and grants including the Mayor’s Award for Arts and Culture in 2006 and co-authored several resource guides. Dr. York contributed to the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts, the NYC Department of Education’s comprehensive curriculum in arts education.
Ex Officio, Honorable Ruben Diaz, Jr., Bronx Borough President
