Board of Trustees

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The Board of Trustees is responsible for the long-term financial health of the School. The Board sets broad policy of the School based on the principles of progressive education and consistent with the objectives of the School and our founder, Caroline Pratt. Voting membership includes representatives from the teachers, alumni, parent body, and friends of the School. Committees reporting to the Board are listed at the bottom of this page.

Kate Bostock-Shefferman, who joined the Board in 2014, serves as the Board’s Secretary and chairs the Development Committee and the Committee on Trustees. She and her husband, Jesse Shefferman, are the Parent Chairs of the School’s Annual Fund. Kate is engaged in many community and philanthropic interests. She has a B.A. in History from Duke University and received her M.B.A. from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. She and her husband have two daughters at City and Country School (’21 and ’24).

Josh Cender joined the Board in 2016 and is the Board Chair. He also serves as the Chair of the Communications and Finance Committees, and Vice-Chair of the Development Committee. He previously served as Co-President of the Parents Association (2014–16), and has been a Group Representative and Annual Fund Representative multiple times. Josh and his wife, Laura Raicovich, have a son at C&C (’23). Josh is a family office executive experienced in finance, law, and operations, and began his career as a transactional attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He has a law degree from New York University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Nicole English and her family have been part of the City and Country School community since 2018. She and her husband Jason are parents to two C&C students (29 and 32). Since joining the school, Nicole has served as an Annual Fund parent rep and a parent volunteer for the Spring Fair, Fall Harvest Festival, and Admissions. Nicole is Head of Anti-Money Laundering Risk Assessment and Program Governance within the Global Financial Crimes Compliance department at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. She earned her J.D. at the Pace University Elisabeth Haub School of Law and a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University.

Sheelah A. Feinberg ’85, a C&C alum, grew up in Greenwich Village. She has served as Chair of the Alumni Annual Fund and as a Group Rep for two years. Sheelah and her husband, Michael Rutkoski, have a daughter at C&C (’27). She is currently the Deputy Commissioner of NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. Prior to her current position, she served as Executive Director of the Coalition for a Smoke-Free City, and conducted advocacy campaigns covering a range of policy areas including economic self-sufficiency, parks development, and public health. She holds an M.S.A. from Saint Michael’s College and a B.A. from Goddard College.

Kevin Gillespie is the father of a current C&C student (’26) and joined the Board of Trustees in 2021. He has volunteered for several events and school committees at City and Country since 2017. Kevin, a native New Yorker, has spent years working in different artistic fields. He is currently an art director at Newell Brands.

AZ Jenkins has spent her entire life in and around schools as the daughter of a math teacher, and as a student, teacher, librarian, tutor, parent, trustee, and volunteer. She has a particular interest in early childhood and literacy, and is involved in efforts to promote education in the Dominican Republic. AZ has been a part of the City and Country community since 2001 and is the mother of three graduates and one pig (who volunteers her time for the C&C auction!)

Susan Kane and her family joined the City and Country School community in 2018, and she is the parent of two daughters who attend the School (‘24 and ‘27). She has served as an Admissions guide and interviewer, a Group Parent, and an Annual Fund Representative at C&C. Susan has varied and wide-ranging board experience, and currently sits on the Board and chairs the Nominating Committee of The City, a digital non-profit newsroom for New York. She is the founder of Kane & Co. which provides strategic consulting for non-profits. Susan began her career as a commercial litigation attorney, and was most recently with Latham & Watkins. She holds a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Megan Lau joined the Board as a Teacher Representative in 2022. Megan has been a teacher at C&C for eight years, working as a student teacher, Associate Teacher, and now as a IIIs Group Teacher. Previously she taught for two years in South Korea as part of a Fulbright grant. Megan received her BA from Vassar College and her MsEd in Early Childhood General Education from Bank Street College of Education. She holds a teaching certificate in early childhood education. Megan is the parent to a current C&C student (’32).

Tracey Mumford is the parent of four C&C students (‘28, ‘30, ‘33, ‘35) and has been part of the C&C community since 2018. She joined the Board of Trustees in 2022 after serving on the Spring Benefit Committee and the Parent Working Group, and as a Group rep and Admissions volunteer. Following graduation from Bucknell University and starting a career in investment banking, she transitioned to a job at The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, where she served as Director of Research Partnerships. After the birth of her first child, she decided to be home full-time and became actively involved in her children’s school communities. 

Barry Munger, a photographer, is a parent of two City and Country alums (’11 and ’14). A native of Los Angeles, he attended Stanford University and worked as a newspaper and magazine writer and editor in Los Angeles before moving to NYC in 1990.

Frank Patti joins C&C as Principal from Milton Academy in Massachusetts, where he was Lower School Principal. However, his family’s move to the West Village is very much a homecoming. Frank spent many years working in Manhattan independent schools, as well as attending Bank Street School of Education, where he received a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership prior to earning his EdD from the University of Pennsylvania.

Frank’s family includes his husband TJ, daughters Havana (7) and Liliana (1), and their chocolate lab Stella.

Caterina Peters is the parent of a current C&C student (‘28) and joined the Board of Trustees in 2022. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Caterina attended New York City public schools and received her BA from Hunter College. Following a brief teaching career, she has worked in real estate for 20 years. Caterina is an advocate for her community in Jersey City, and is a founding board member of the Lincoln Park North Neighborhood Association. She also works with Hope House Women’s Shelter and Saint Lucy’s Shelter. At C&C, Caterina has served as a Group parent, co-chaired the Spring Benefit, created the C&C Community Cookbook, and helped create and facilitate the Affinity Group for Black and Latinx Parents and Parental Figures.

Sabrina Rudin and her family joined C&C in 2018. She and her husband Michael are the parents of two C&C students (‘31 and ‘34), and a younger child who will hopefully join C&C in the future. Sabrina has served as a Group rep. each year since joining the C&C community. She is also a member of the Food Committee and volunteers for Admissions as a buddy family. Sabrina is the founder of Spring Café Aspen, an organic and vegetarian restaurant concept with locations in Aspen, Co., and Greenwich Village. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from The Gallatin School at NYU, and holds a Masters degree in Critical International Affairs from The New School. Before opening Spring Café Aspen Sabrina worked closely with The International Rescue Committee in NYC to assist refugees being resettled in the tri-state area. Sabrina is also a singer-songwriter and will have her first cookbook published in the spring of 2026.

Jennifer Sage ’70, a C&C alum, was born and raised in Greenwich Village and she attended the School with her sister and five cousins, and her three children (’04, ’07, ’11) also attended C&C. After earning degrees from the High School of Music and Art, Harvard College, and the Yale School of Architecture, she pursued her architectural career with I.M. Pei. & Partners before opening her own office, Sage and Coombe Architects, with partner and fellow C&C parent Peter Coombe. As chair of the Board’s Facilities Committee, Jennifer has supported all aspects of the School’s physical plant improvements, campus expansion, and ongoing renovation.

Thanh Trần and her family joined the C&C community in 2016 and she is the parent of three daughters who attend the School (‘25, ‘27, ‘30). Thanh has volunteered at admissions events and served as Group Representative, Annual Fund Representative, and Annual Fund Co-Chair. Thanh and her family came to the United States as Vietnamese refugees in 1983. She was the first in her family to graduate college and spent 15 years building technology for education, government, financial services, and startups. She is currently focusing on non-profit consulting, with an emphasis on helping organizations scale operations and fundraising through technology. She holds a BS in Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA and a MS in Information from Boston University, where she focused on non-profit management.

Todd Triller joined the board in 2020 and is Chair of the Finance Committee and a member of the Executive Committee. He also previously served on the Audit Committee. Todd and his wife, Mimi Lee, have two daughters at the school (’24 and ’26). Todd is a partner at Vinson & Elkins LLP, where he focuses on energy and infrastructure transactions. He was previously a Managing Director at The Carlyle Group, where he was co-head of energy credit. He has a B.S in finance from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia and a J.D from the University of Virginia Law School, where he also served on the editorial board of the Virginia Law Review.

Crystal Wald joined the Board in 2020. She shares time between NYC and Minneapolis, where she grew up. A Parsons School of Design graduate, it was fashion that initially brought her to the city. Ultimately, social justice initiatives, the importance of narratives from underserved communities, and the awareness of the power of entertainment led her to co-found nonprofit “2 Brass Brads,” which has evolved to become the socially-relevant production company, Level Forward. She is a current parent of two children at C&C (‘26 & ‘27), and she previously served as Co-President of the Parents Association (2018-2020), Vice President of the Parents Association (2016-2018), and a Group Parent Representative every year since her family’s entry.

Adam Winkel joined the Board in 2021 after several years in the C&C community as father to two daughters (’25 and ’28), Annual Fund Representative, and regular member of the Spring Fair barbecue pit crew. A native of southwest Michigan, Adam has lived in NYC since 2003. He holds a BA in Math with Computer Science from MIT and an MS in Computer Science from the University of Michigan. He has worked in technology at Jane Street Capital since 2004.

Trustees Emeriti

Ellen Breslow Newhouse served on the Board from 2005–2020. During her tenure, she chaired the Communications Committee, the Development Committee, co-chaired the School’s Centennial celebrations, and oversaw the rebranding of the School. She continues to serve on the Development Committee. A mother of one alumnus (’12), she received her BA from the University of Michigan and is a former writer and editor for such publications as Vogue, Self, and Harper’s Bazaar.

Stuart Gold joined C&C’s Board in 1992 and served as its Chair from 1999–2005. Stuart was a litigating partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP until his retirement in 2014. He is the parent of two City and Country alumnae (’01, ’04). He is currently an advisor to the Strategic Planning Committee.

Virginia Josephian served on the Board from 1988–2011. She received her undergraduate degree from University of California at Berkeley and did graduate work at the University of Chicago and overseas, where she received a doctorate in demography at the Australian National University. Her professional experience includes work in West Africa for the U.S. Agency for International Development in the U.S. Department of State, for the United Nations as editor of the UN Demographic Yearbook in New York, and as an economic affairs officer at the World Food Council in Rome.

Frederick J. Knecht is the father of two alumni (’07, ’11), and was Board Chair from 2006–2015. Fred is retired after a legal career in banking and the securities industry. Before his retirement in 2020, he was Deputy General Counsel of BNY Mellon. Prior to that he was a partner at the law firm Covington & Burling, and also served as a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch. He received his law degree from Stanford Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University.

D. Edward Martin, M.B.A., C.P.A., served on the Board from 1990–2021, and previously served as the Board’s Treasurer. An accountant and consultant by profession, Ed is a founder of, and current advisor to, EisnerAmper LLP’s Not-for-Profit Industry Group (currently working with a number of NYC’s prominent independent schools) and has a widely respected expertise in not-for-profit auditing and other financial services. He is also an adjunct professor at Baruch College, sits on the advisory board of the Accountants Club of America, and is the former chair of, and a present consultant with, the audit and compliance committee of the New Jewish Home. Ed’s two sons both started in the 2s and graduated from the School in 2002 and 2007.

Committees

The Ad Hoc Committee on Metrics and Enrollment compiles statistics helpful in admissions, fundraising, finance, and other areas of the School’s management.

The Archives Committee manages and ensures that the School’s archives are up to well maintained and accessible.

The Audit Committee ensures that there are adequate procedures for keeping accurate books and records, and has the School’s books examined and the accounts audited and certified annually by a certified accountant.

The Building Committee oversees the day-to-day space and facilities maintenance needs of the School.

The Committee on Trustees supervises the recruitment, education, and participation of Trustees.

The Communications Committee oversees the School’s print publications; print and electronic communications with parents; and website, press, and media relations.

The Development Committee oversees fundraising, including the Annual Fund, Benefit, Endowment, and Capital Campaigns, and publicity, mailings, and presentations related to fundraising.

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee works to support the School’s commitment to social justice, equity, and inclusion.

The Facilities Committee oversees and plans for the School’s long-term space needs.

The Finance Committee supervises the handling of the School’s finances, real estate, and property.

The Investment Committee is responsible for the management of invested funds, specifically the School’s Endowment.