Faculty
The faculty includes executives and consultants who are currently working in the private and nonprofit sectors.
Laura Bigaouette
LSMP 5027 – Fundamentals of Marketing
Laura Bigaouette has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field, including international market management, consulting and corporate marketing. She spent most of her career at Verizon. Ms. Bigaouette’s experience in global markets encompassed consulting and operations projects in the telecommunications industry. She has spent significant time overseas on project work in many countries including Indonesia, Egypt, Thailand, Ecuador and the Philippines. Ms. Bigaouette is the President of New View Coaching, Inc. Her company works with clients on marketing consulting projects, small business market development, business and individual coaching. She is a certified coach. Ms. Bigaouette received her MBA in International Business from Pace University, and has a BA in Russian language and History from the University of Rochester.
Laurie Bilik
LSMP 5001 - Organizational Leadership
Laurie Bilik is President of Global Human Resources, Inc., a consulting and training organization that works with a diverse group of clients. Ms. Bilik has many years of experience teaching leadership, business ethics and managerial skills. She received her undergraduate degree from Skidmore Colleges and holds two master’s degrees from New York University.
Nancy Bobrek
MSCI 5010 - Research Techniques, Writing, and Effective Presentations
Nancy Bobrek has accumulated more than 25 years of experience in on-line database and library research, while serving in a variety of library research and management positions in Fortune 500 companies, academia and public education. She began her corporate library career at the American Cyanamid Company, and later became Manager of Business Information at Pitney Bowes, moving from there to become a Senior Information Specialist at Kraft General Foods. Her academic library experience was gained while serving as Head of Reference & Information Services at the Mortola Library of Pace University for three years and, for an additional three years, as Assistant University Librarian for Collection Development. In addition to her current position as Manager of the Information Center at MasterCard International, Nancy has worked part-time at the Manhattanville College Library since 1995. She received a B.A. in English from Wells College and an MLS degree from the University of Michigan.
Don Crocker
LSMP 5019 - Executive Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations
Don Crocker is the Executive Director/CEO of the Support Center for Nonprofit Management. He has almost 30 years of experience in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector and is nationally recognized as a trainer and consultant for nonprofit organizations and foundations. Mr. Crocker is best known for his work in grants and funding development, board development, and in managing executive leadership transitions. He has held numerous positions in organizations the Tri-State New York Area, including roles as board member, development director and executive director. Mr. Crocker holds an M.S. in Leadership and Strategic Management from Manhattanville College and a B.A. in Psychology from Queens College of the City University of New York.
Michael Crystal, Ph.D.
MSCI 5028 - Communications & Effective Leadership
Michael Crystal is a consulting psychologist who, in the last thirty years, has been engaged in corporate human resources, organizational development consulting, and most recently, coaching, training, facilitating and presenting, all with the purpose of helping individuals achieve better performance at their work and more fulfillment from their work. Mr. Crystal earned a MBA degree from the University of Connecticut.
Robert Ferrari
LSMP 5003 - Global Economics
Mr. Ferrari earned his B.S. in Economics from Villanova University and his MBA from New York University. He teaches graduate courses at several area colleges and universities. Before becoming an academic, he was Senior Vice President-Finance of a New York City bank, worked in the Federal Reserve System, and served as a member of the Canadian Arbitrage Department of a New York Stock Exchange member firm. Mr. Ferrari has lectured on various topics in economics and financial management and co-authored two textbooks in economics.
Nona Footz
MSCI 5022 - Critical Thinking & Creativity in the Workplace
Nona Footz is a Managing Director and leads our Executive Development Practice which focuses on assignments in Human Resources, Executive Coaching & Talent Development, in addition to our Female Board Recruiting Practice. She has completed numerous assignments for companies across all industries.
Previously, Ms. Footz was a Client Partner in Korn/Ferry International and was a member of the Firm’s Global Human Resources Practice. She was responsible for directing large, executive-level search and executive development engagements. Ms. Footz joined Korn/Ferry from a global human capital consulting firm, as the vice president of business development, based in New York City and Chicago. Her experience included selling and delivering projects in executive assessment and selection, leadership development, learning and organizational effectiveness. Ms. Footz started the New York City office as managing director, tripling its size in less than three years with a client base of Healthcare and Financial Services companies.
Ms. Footz’s previous roles were at Xerox Corporation in Sales, Marketing, and General Management in Canada, Bermuda, Latin America and in the U.S.
Ms. Footz holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Calgary and a Master of Science in Leadership and Strategic Management from Manhattanville College in New York. She is the Chair of the New York City’s Leadership Alliance Board of the Melanoma Research Foundation, and is a board member of the Executive Women’s Golf Association. Ms. Footz resides in New York City.
Rhonna Goodman
LSMP 5020 - Fundraising & Development for Nonprofit Organizations
Rhonna Goodman is Director of the Manhattanville College Library. In this capacity she has created and managed fund raising and development strategies. In addition to a Masters in Library Science, she is a graduate of the Master of Science Leadership and Strategic Management program at Manhattanville.
Lynda Hanley
MSCI 5010 - Research Techniques, Writing & Oral Presentations
Lynda Hanley is the Education and Outreach librarian acting as the liaison with the School of Education and coordinating displays and events in the Library. In addition she teaches a section in the Information Literacy program and teaches Information Literacy for Educators for the School of Education and Research Techniques in the Graduate and Professional Studies program. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Minnesota, Masters of Public Administration from Pace University, and Masters in Library and Information Science from Long Island University. In 2005 she attended the Association of College and Research Libraries Institute for Information Literacy Immersion Program. On the weekends she works as a part time librarian in her local public library where she delights is doing a drop-in story hour for preschool children.
Gene Herbster
MSCI 5023 - Leading Change
Gene Herbster, M.S., M.A., is the Founder and President of Gene A. Herbster & Associates, Inc., a management consulting firm, which for the past twenty-six years has focused on organizational and individual change processes. Other areas of expertise in which Mr. Herbster consults include executive coaching, mergers, and business strategies.
Joanne Killmeyer
LSMP 5004 - Leadership & Teams
Joanne Killmeyer brings a well-blended background of practical business experience and academic credentials to her consulting practice. She brings extensive experience in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Joanne has proven ability in: coaching leaders, increasing team effectiveness (when new teams come together, existing teams need to sharpen their direction or effectiveness to achieve high performance needed), behavioral based competency identification used in selection, development and promotion decisions for management and sales. Joanne has her doctoral degree (Ed.S.) in Executive Leadership in HRD from George Washington University (Washington, D.C.). She holds an M.B.A. from Fordham University (N.Y.C.) and a B.A. degree in Psychology (SUNY at Oneonta).
Catherine Marsh
LSMP 5019 - Executive Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations
Catherine Marsh is the Executive Director of the Westchester Community Foundation, a nonprofit community endowment of over 150 charitable funds established for the benefit of Westchester County. The Foundation provides funding to local nonprofit agencies in the areas of arts, education, community development, environment, and health. Since 2000 the Westchester Community Foundation has provided $2,750,000 to start or expand after-school programs for elementary and middle school youth. During the past 5 years the Foundation has distributed over $1,000,000 to nonprofit agencies addressing targeted environmental needs of the County. The Foundation’s Fund for Women and Girls has provided over $385,000 to fund 37 programs that address the health and development of women and girls. Catherine is the former Managing Director of Client Programs at the Gay Men’s Health Crisis and was the Mid-Hudson Director of Volunteers of America. She served for 9 years as the Director of Employment and Training for Putnam County. A resident of Croton, Catherine Marsh has a master’s degree in Leadership and Strategic Management. She is an adjunct professor at Manhattanville College where she teaches Executive Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations. She is a member of the Board of the Support Center for Non Profit Management in New York City.
Marshall Metzger
LSMP 5007 - Strategic and Global Planning for Leaders
Mr. Metzger's business experience includes engineering management in defense-aerospace, division general management responsibility with a F200 corporation, and direction of strategic planning for a UK multinational. As a management consultant he has directed teams providing training and management direction for major US corporations. Mr. Metzger has a BSE from Princeton University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Barbara Miller
MSCI 5006 - Managerial Finance (nonprofit)
Barbara S. Miller is a Partner in Management Solutions for Nonprofit Organizations, which provides consulting, training and management services in the areas of strategic planning, financial management, board development, fundraising and overall organizational development.
Ms. Miller has developed strategic plans with health and human service agencies, arts organizations, library systems, literacy groups, public health departments, early childhood learning organizations, among many other types of nonprofit organizations. She also teaches strategic planning to nonprofit leaders, and was a contributor to Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations, published by John Wiley and Sons.
As a consultant to nonprofit boards, Ms. Miller helps clarify board roles, develop structures for making the most of members’ individual time and expertise, and develop collaborative relationships between the board and the executive director. Her interest in governance can be seen by her role as a founding board member of Governance Matters, a collaborative of funders, educators, consultants, umbrella organizations, and academics committed to increasing the effectiveness of board governance in New York. Ms. Miller is co-chair of Governance Matters’ Board Leadership committee, and the author of a series of articles based on the findings from that project (www.governancematters.org), excerpts of which have been published in Board Member (BoardSource’s bi-monthly magazine) and Support Center for Nonprofit Management’s online Journal for Nonprofit Excellence.
In the area of financial management Ms. Miller trains and consults with nonprofits to help them develop and understand budgets and financial reports, and to use financial information to enhance organizational decision making. She has contributed to publications and FAQ’s in this area, and has reviewed books on the subject.
Andrew Paul
MSCI 5018 - Strategic Negotiations
Andrew Paul is currently the Deputy Director of Labor Relations at MTA Metro-North Railroad in New York. He is a graduate of George Washington University Law School in Washington, DC. He has been an Adjunct Professor at Manhattanville College for 7 years. He teaches Strategic Negotiations. Mr. Paul is also a member of the Graduate School’s Corporate Educational Advisory Board.
Laurel Peterson
MSCI 5010 - Research Techniques, Writing and Effective Presentations
MSCI 5099 - Final Project
Laurel Peterson is an Assistant Professor of English at Norwalk Community College. She received her M.A. in Writing from Manhattanville College in 1995, after 10 years of experience in advertising, sales, retail management and administration. She has written a column on local history for Gannett Suburban newspapers, edited the literary journal Inkwell, and published poems in literary journals such as The Texas Review, The Rio Grande Review and Yankee.
Fátima Policarpo
MSCI 5050 - Research Techniques, Writing & Effective Presentations
MSCI 5099 - Final Project
Fátima Policarpo is an Instructor at Manhattanville College, where she teaches writing and research with an emphasis on international studies in human rights. She received her undergraduate degree in Literature from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and her Masters degree from New York University in Humanities and Social Thought. Her professional background includes special markets in publishing as well as marketing and development in the non-profit sector in New York and in Africa. Her writing experience ranges from corporate communications to creative non-fiction, to being editor of several literary journals, including Spectrum and Anamesa.
Rick Sawyer
LSMP 5004 - Leadership and Teams
Rick Sawyer is the Director of Learning and Development for Fuji Photo Film, U.S.A., and is based at the company’s headquarters in Valhalla, New York. In this role, Rick leads the development and implementation of strategies and initiatives designed to increase Fujifilm’s capabilities in leadership and management development, organizational effectiveness, and recruiting and selection. Before joining Fujifilm, Rick held a variety of management and organizational development and HR generalist positions in The Gillette Company, Duracell, Sterling Winthrop and Deloitte & Touche. His experience includes working in line units and headquarters operation, and domestic U.S. and international business units. His work has taken him to more than forty countries, and he has had expatriate assignments in both Mexico and the United Kingdom. Rick has an MA in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University, and a BA from St. John’s University. He served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. He is a member of ASTD national and the chapter in New Jersey.
Thomas Schwartz, Ph.D.
MSCI 5015 - Entrepreneurship
Thomas Schwartz is an operations-oriented executive and international management consultant with over thirty years of combined corporate and university training experience. Dr. Schwartz holds a Ph.D. from UCLA and is a successful entrepreneur. His corporate experience includes a wide range of operations and Human Resources positions. Most recently he was Senior Vice President of Human Resources for a multi-national London-based insurance brokerage firm. He is a frequent lecturer and speaker at universities and business conferences and he is an adjunct faculty member at Pace University and St. John’s University where he teaches courses in entrepreneurship, global business, management and business ethics.
Wendy Stahl
MSMC 5002 - Strategy & Communications
MSCI 5026 - Issues Management
Wendy Stahl has more than 20 years experience leading, advising and teaching strategy and corporate development. She is currently VP Corporate Development for CreditCards.com, a high growth Internet based business. She has led and advised growth initiatives for a broad portfolio of companies including Mead Westvaco, Comcast, Landmark Communications, The Weather Channel, NBC, Sony and Bankrate. She has taught at Baruch College, Polytechnic University and NYU, in addition to Manhattanville. She has published a case study, The Fashion Channel, with Harvard Business School Press, June 2007. Wendy holds a BA from Carleton College and MBA from Harvard Business School.
Lisa Tobin
LSMP 5017 - Management in Nonprofit Organizations
Lisa Tobin has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 20 years. She has gained broad-based experience through her work at (for example) a national health agency in transition, an international health agency targeting children, a New York City non-profit agency helping at-risk youths, and the legal office of the Mayor of Cleveland.
Lisa’s expertise crosses the lines of key nonprofit issues: operations management, resource development, advocacy, policy, finance, programs, strategy, volunteer development, market management, etc. Lisa holds a JD (Juris Doctor) degree from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary and a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College. She is a member of the Virginia Bar.
Patti Vreeland
MSCI 5009 - Information Technology Management
Patti Vreeland is the Director of IT Procurement at USI Holdings Corporation, an insurance brokerage firm in Briarcliff Manor. She has over 18 years of Information Technology (IT) experience with Fortune 500 companies including PepsiCo, Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), Sara Lee, and Avon . Her career has featured positions of increasing responsibilities in which she championed process efficiencies through automation and IT controls; spearheaded global hardware and applications standards/policies to reduce size of line and drive profitability; and leveraged global resources by establishing a follow-the-sun support model which allowed for increased availability to clients while moving transactional-based activities to more productive regions. Patti holds a dual major M.B.A in Corporate Financial Management and Information Systems from Pace University and a B.S in Finance from Ithaca College .
She is an adjunct instructor in the Graduate & Professional Studies Program at Manhattanville College , as well as with Post University and Westchester Community College.
Leigh-Anne Walker
LSMP 5008 - Ethics & Social Responsibility
Leigh-Anne Walker has over twenty years experience at Fortune 100 companies (JPMorganChase, Citigroup, American Express, Bell Laboratories) with proficiency in business leadership, CFO-level financial management, process improvement, joint venture management, and strategic planning.
With significant experience in the financial services industry, Leigh-Anne has enjoyed a number of challenging roles that caused her to wrestle with a variety of ethical dilemmas. At JPMorganChase, she was the CFO of a major retail business with $25 billion in managed assets. Later, she would manage their prestigious student loan business and develop it into the number one program in the United States in three years. Earlier in her career, she held a variety of positions in finance and strategic planning at Citigroup and American Express.
Leigh-Anne is currently a candidate for a Masters degree with a concentration in Ethics at Yale Divinity School, graduating in 2009. She is intrigued by what she believes to be a “crisis of trust” in American business today. She plans to use her business experience to help corporations and other organizations build more ethical cultures in a 21st century environment.
Leigh-Anne received her MBA in Finance from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration. She received her BA in Psychology from Dartmouth College.