Nisa Geller

Executive Director

Nisa Geller has a passion for social justice and building partnerships that enhance communities. Prior to working at WYA she served as the Board Co-chair and Advisor to the Executive Director of Generation Ubuntu, a agency that provided social and emotional support for children living with AIDS and HIV in South Africa. For over a decade, Ms. Geller was the Photography Editor of Scientific American Magazine. After that she returned to graduate school to re-tool for a digital world. She then served as a Producer for NASA –funded grants to develop online content for the American Museum of Natural History designing some of the first digital interactive exhibits and websites. She is a proud mother of three amazing humans, two WYA alums, and an active member of her community where she serves on the Advisory board of Katonah Museum of Art. She holds a BA from University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MPS from New York University Tisch School of the Arts.

Chloe Fernandez

Program Director

It is my goal to serve and enhance the lives of youth in my professional career. I have been working as the Program Coordinator of a youth - led civic engagement program, the Westchester County Youth Councils at Family Services of Westchester for four years. I am committed to creating an environment that fosters growth and am involved with supporting, engaging and mentoring these youth. During my time with the WCYC I have gained insight on how to not only plan a curriculum based around county advocacy goals but have also been sure to tailor the programming towards individual youth goals, ensuring youth engagement and committment to the program. I believe that youth engagement relies on providing both excitement and consistency and as a result the program under my guidance has increased retention and continues to grow. Additionally, my last two employers have allowed me to develop a comprehensive usage of Spanish professionally which has strengthened my ability to foster trust and growth with different youth populations and the adults in the youth’s life.

I’m certain that my strong leadership skills developed through my experience coordintating groups, and enthusiasm and comfort with new challenges will positively impact the Westchester Youth Allience’s ability to maintain an engaging and supportive environment for your youth.

Laurie Hirsch Schulz

Board President

Laurie Hirsch Schulz is the owner of LHS Coaching, a coaching and consulting practice working with individuals and small business owners to activate change and growth in their careers and organizations. Her coaching combines expertise developed through a successful 20+ year corporate career in marketing and business strategy at Kraft Foods and Visa Inc. with the tools of transformative coaching.  Laurie founded Broad River in January 2019, a women’s networking organization based in the Westchester Rivertowns that has grown to 300+ members within the first year.  She served on various committees and in executive positions on the board of Pleasantville Community Synagogue for nine years through June, 2019. 

Karin Young Shiel

Co-Founder

Karin Young Shiel - Co-Founder of Westchester Youth Alliance. Emmy Award-winning television producer and Co-President of the Board of Rehabilitation Through the Arts, an organization that brings highly immersive arts programs into prisons to unlock potential and build community.  As Executive Producer for Sesame Workshop, she created specials and home videos including the Grammy Award winning special Elmopalooza and the Emmy Award winning Elmo Saves Christmas.  Shiel Co-Chaired Westchester's Diversity Breakfast, where 400+ discuss the challenges and successes of building and sustaining communities that value and support diversity and inclusion.  She founded Wisdom 2.0 Connect NY, creating events that bring people together to explore how we can live with greater presence, purpose and wisdom in the digital age and is a certified yoga instructor and mother of three. 

Steve Skillman

Board Treasurer

Steve has been involved with WYA since the beginning. He helped author our original grant proposal for initial seed funding in 2012 and steered our early organizational framework and mission as President of the Board of the Bedford Presbyterian Church. He currently serves as Treasurer of WYA and devotes his time to our financial and operational success. Steve recently ended a 31 year Corporate Banking career, having worked in New York, Greenwich CT, and London UK. In addition to WYA, he serves on the board of directors of New Hope Community, an agency serving adults with development disabilities in Westchester County and the lower Hudson Valley. He was the founding President of Campus Bound Scholars, a Katonah based organization dedicated to mentoring first-generation college students. Steve earned a BA in Economics from Hobart College and an MBA in Finance from New York University Stern School of Business. He married his college sweetheart Pam, and they now split their time between Grantham, NH and Santa Fe, NM. They are the appreciative parents of three grown children and one absolutely amazing granddaughter.

Rev. Martha Jacobs

Rev. Dr. Martha R. Jacobs, is the Senior Minister at the First Congregational Church in Chappaqua, NY, where she has been since 2013. She worked as an interfaith chaplain in hospitals in the New York City area for over 20 years. She is the co-chair of the Chappaqua Interfaith Council and a strong advocate for interfaith work with youth and adults.

Andrés Castillo Quintana

Andrés Castillo Quintana is a healthcare administrator, public servant, and nonprofit leader. In 2018, he graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Certificate in Global Health and Health Policy.

Andrés was then hired as Open Door Family Center’s very first Coordinator for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) All of Us Research Program, a nationwide project that aims to accelerate medical breakthroughs, promote personalized care and improve the health of current and future generations by gathering and studying health data from a diverse sample of a million or more U.S. participants. Andrés has also built a robust community-based program that offers free laptops, Wi-Fi connectivity and comprehensive digital literacy training for patients from low-income communities. 

In 2021, Andrés was promoted to Digital Engagement Coordinator, a role that allowed him to address significant health disparities by ensuring that patients have the full capacity to engage with the medical center and receive high-quality care. He was also elected to the Bedford Town Council, becoming the youngest and first Latino council member in the history of his hometown. 

In January 2023, Andres joined New York Medical College as a Senior Project Coordinator to empower our next generation of healthcare leaders. 

During his free time, Andrés enjoys ballroom dancing and volunteering as a board member for the Westchester Youth Alliance and the Westchester County Hispanic Advisory Board. 

Ultimately, as a policymaker, activist and aspiring social entrepreneur, Andrés dreams of creating a global movement that will enable us to advance human rights, educational equity, affordable housing, youth empowerment, comprehensive immigration and criminal justice reform, environmental protection and universal access to high-quality healthcare.

Howard Rodstein

Howard spent 43 years in public education, the bulk of these in Scarsdale. Trained as an English teacher and later as an administrator, he helped to start the interdisciplinary Civic Education Program in the 1980's.   In the early 1990’s he helped to found and served as the first director of the Senior Options Program.  In 2005 he became director of the Scarsdale Alternative School where he led that democratic community school until his retirement in 2017.  Born in Brooklyn and raised in a small town in north Georgia where he attended public school, Howard completed his undergraduate work at Brandeis University, and he holds two Masters degrees.  He and his wife live in White Plains where they raised their two sons.   An active member of Congregation Kol Ami, Howard is committed to interfaith dialogue and social activism. He has been a featured speaker, writer and workshop leader on moral education, democratic education, staff development, experiential education, and on school reform, across the country.

Kathy DiBiasi

Kathy DiBiasi has been involved with the Westchester Youth Alliance since the beginning, even serving as its Interim Program Director. A sales marketer-turned-educator Kathy became passionate about working with youth in her role as Education Director for the Bedford Presbyterian Church. Kathy specialized in working closely with local organizations to create and lead service projects for middle school and high school teens. She also led two service trips a year to Central America and West Virginia. Kathy currently works for the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is active on two other non-profit boards focusing on youth in her community. Kathy's other passion is acting. You will often find her on stage in NYC, Westchester County and Connecticut. She continues her training at HB Studio in New York City.

Jackie Kunhardt

Jackie Kunhardt has worked in development for the last 10 years, most recently as Director of Development & Communications at Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), an organization that helps people in prison develop critical life skills through the arts. While completing a Master of Divinity degree at Yale Divinity School, Jackie worked as a community organizer with churches, synagogues and mosques in New Haven, CT and helped organize a grassroots campaign to ensure undocumented students could access in-state tuition at state universities in CT. Jackie lives in Bedford, NY with her husband and two young children. She is honored to be a part of WYA’s vital mission and can’t wait to see her sons grow into WYA participants.

Julia Probber

Julia began her career in Banking Operations in Chicago and moved to New York City. She relocated to White Plains with MasterCard International. In the early 2000’s, she transitioned to a Special Education Assistant Teacher in the White Plains City School District. She facilitated the Learning Strategies Program at Eastview Middle School for over 18 years. While there, she helped to develop and advise the Eastview Humanity Project. This is a student-led group committed to fostering kindness and improving the school community through various monthly activities. Recently retired, Julia is a team leader for Westchester Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense In America. Her responsibilities include training volunteers to promote gun violence prevention at local community events and increasing membership. She also supports Westchester PFLAG, an organization dedicated to advocating for LGBTQ+ youth and their families. As a longtime member of Congregation Kol Ami, she teaches a 5th-grade Religious School class and participates in their Social Justice initiatives. Julia lives in White Plains with her husband, Jory, where they raised their two sons, Ben and Sam.

Angel Gray

Angel Gray is the Program and Policy Manager at Westchester Children’s Association, a multi-issue children’s advocacy organization. Throughout her career, Angel has worked at diverse institutions including psychiatric hospitals, alternative high schools, residential treatment centers, and community- based home visiting and mental health programs, providing family support, intervention, education, and prevention services. Prior to joining WCA, Angel served as a Program Supervisor for Healthy Families Westchester County, a home visiting program that provides support and resources to new and expectant parents to promote healthy child development and positive parenting skills.

Angel holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Spelman College; Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Mercy College; and a Master’s degree in Social Work from New York University.

Angel holds a strong belief in the power of youth to drive transformative changes in our communities, not just in Westchester County but beyond. She believes that programs like WYA can provide positive and beneficial support and opportunities for young people to evolve and grow, and it’s essential that we work to ensure that as many youth as possible have access to these programs. She has joined WYA to help support distribution of appropriate resources and guidance that align with the socio-emotional, economic, developmental, and societal needs that are crucial for the success of youth.

Parul Mehra

Parul Mehra is the founder of Method Design Technology LLC, a woman-owned venture doing business in consulting services. Her firm provides services in systems training, initiation, and design in the university education field.

She is a seasoned professional with broad experience in a range of disciplines of business, systems technology, education, and the fine arts.

Having worked in the textile and fashion industry creating designs and products for Coach, Ralph Lauren, and Bloomingdales, she has detailed knowledge and skills in the field of textile technology and product development.

Parul has trained and performed for over 15 years in the Indian classical dance form Kathak. Practicing under the tutelage of renowned gurus, she has performed at several events in India and the US, including Madison Square Garden in New York City. Extending her design skills into the art and digital photography world, she has exhibited her work in various galleries and art museums like the Queens Museum of Modern Art and the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center in Brooklyn.

Parul is also a practitioner of Hatha Yoga and is a certified Yoga Wellness Instructor conferred by the Ministry of Ayush, Government of India. Parul is proficient in the classical Sanskrit texts and philosophies of Yoga and Pranayama techniques.

Over the past 22/23 programming year, Parul saw through her own children’s experience how Westchester Youth Alliance is guiding the next generation to develop community service ownership and leadership. They were able to engage in hands-on activities and work with children from their own age group, creating a shared sense of belonging and appreciating diversity. With this in mind, she sees the opportunity to work as a liaison between the Hindu community of Westchester and WYA that will help the next generation to build relationships that extend the good work taking place.

Rev. Chris Lee

The Rev. Alan Christopher Lee has served as Priest-in-Charge at the Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Chappaqua since October 2022. He and his wife Julie Bleha are the parents of two teenage boys. Before coming to Westchester he was an assistant priest at Grace Church Brooklyn Heights, where he oversaw Youth Ministry. Chris is passionate about the work of reconciliation across differences, and believes we have as much to learn from adolescents as we do to teach them. He is honored to be a part of the WYA Board.

Mary Herrnstadt

Mary has recently welcomed new opportunities to serve as an advocate for women, the underserved, and especially our most promising resource— our young people. Previously she worked on the Katonah Village Library Board and on the Town of Bedford DEI Committee. Currently she serves on the Board of the YWCA of White Plains and Central Westchester.

Mary studied government and literature at American University, holds an MA in Instructional Technology from San José State University, and a JD degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. 

In her educational career, Mary worked as a media specialist with high school students, served as a school district coordinator for library/media services, and later developed the first information literacy curriculum in Westchester County. She also facilitated one of the first high school library digital card catalogs in the country more than forty years ago. Mary found rewarding experiences at Lambda Legal Defense Fund and in the Bet Tzedek Legal Clinic before practicing law, but returned to teaching because she missed working with teens. Mary considers it to be a good day when she can go home feeling she has helped one child believe in herself that day.

Lori Benson

Lori Benson has recently retired after more than 25 years as a financial consultant. Professionally she has always been passionate about young adults and created a firmwide committee to focus on harnessing the fantastic energy and insights of this cohort. Lori volunteered for and served on the Board of the Youth Advocacy Project; its mission had been to help teens and young adults aging out of the foster care system to learn to advocate for themselves and take control of their lives. Lori has lived in Westchester for 20 years with her husband Neil and together they raised two boys in the Pocantico Hills and Briarcliff Manor school districts. She was on the board of Pocantico Hills School Foundation which raised money to fund grant requests to support teachers’ goals. She loves hiking, skiing, reading, and NYT games.