Board of Trustees

Board of Trustees of the Waterfront Alliance

John H. Watts, Chair - Fischer Francis Trees & Watts
Paige C. Sutherland, Vice-Chair- Consultant
Kent L. Barwick, Secretary - Municipal Art Society of New York
Jennifer Costley - Treasurer - Credit Suisse Group

John Atkins - Global Container Terminals
Margaret C. Ayers - Robert Sterling Clark Foundation
Paul Balser, IronWood Manufacturing Fund
Laurie Beckelman - Beckelman & Capalino, LLC
Capt. Andrew McGovern - New Jersey Sandy Hook Pilots Association
Rich Miller - Con Edison
John Neu - Hugo Neu Corporation
Kathy Robb - Hunton & Williams
Peggy Shepard - West Harlem Environmental Action
Christopher Ward - Former Executive Director, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Roland Lewis, President and CEO

BIOGRAPHIES

John Watts is Chairman Emeritus, and Senior Advisor, at Fischer Francis Trees & Watts. He served from 2005 to 2007 as Vice Chairman of BNP Paribas Asset Management Group, where he now is Senior Advisor.

From 1967 until founding FFTW in 1972, Mr. Watts was Deputy Manager; responsible for banking, foreign exchange and global bond advisory services at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., and later deputy to the Managing Partner. From 1964 to 1965, he was a consultant in the business and applied mathematics group at Arthur D Little Inc. in Cambridge, Mass. and in Mexico City. From 1960 through 1964, Mr. Watts was the missile division officer on the US 7th Fleet Flagship, and later served as a missile test officer at the Naval Weapons Lab.

Mr. Watts is a member of the boards of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corp., the World Policy Institute (co-chair), Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance (chair), and Sparkman and Stevens, Inc. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was co-founder of its European Program.

Mr. Watts served on the boards of Hampshire College (as Chair), National Park Foundation (as Treasurer), League of Conservation Voters (as Treasurer), Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy (now Chair Emeritus and Advisory Board), Salzburg Seminar, Synergos Institute, Florence V Burden Foundation, Packer Collegiate Institute and Governors Island Alliance (Founding Board Member, now Advisory Board) Robert College of Istanbul.

He also served as a member of the Visiting Committee to Harvard's Economics Department and has lectured at the graduate business schools of the University of Chicago, Columbia, Harvard, MIT, and Texas.

Mr. Watts received an MBA with high distinction from Harvard, where he was a Baker Scholar and completed the course work for a PhD in business economics. He holds BS and MS degrees in engineering from the University of Texas, where he served on the faculty. He is an avid sailor, environmentalist, and park advocate.
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Paige C. Sutherland is a consultant pursuing a variety of fiduciary and advisory roles in finance, investments and real estate.

She spent 10 years on Wall Street in real estate finance at Kidder, Peabody and PaineWebber. Her experience included the sale and financing of large commercial properties, portfolios and leisure properties including trophy golf and ski resorts; real estate bankruptcy, workouts and securitizations for the Resolution Trust Corporation; and investment banking services for real estate companies, primarily real estate investment trusts (REITs). Prior to Kidder, Peabody, Ms. Sutherland was with Security Pacific Realty Advisory Services where she evaluated reuse and redevelopment plans for "white elephant" real estate owned by Fortune 500 companies. She began her career working on tax-exempt bond financings in the public finance group at Warburg, Paribas, Becker.

Following the 2001 World Trade Center attacks, Ms. Sutherland served as executive director of ReSTART Central, an economic development group formed to help lower Manhattan's small businesses reopen and recover from the devastation of the events. She was awarded a Harvard Business School Class of 1985 Courage and Valor Award for this work. Previously, she had been a member of the team that founded The Franklin Report: The Insider's Guide to Home Services, a book series and website which evaluate home renovation and maintenance service providers.

Ms. Sutherland has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Politics from Princeton University. At Princeton she authored an independent research paper on the politics behind the construction of the World Trade Center by the Port of New York Authority.

Ms. Sutherland serves on the Board of Advisors of the Harvard Business School Club of New York's Community Partners program, which conducts pro bono business consulting projects for area nonprofits. She was co-leader of a team that conducted a three-year strategic study for the Municipal Art Society on the future direction of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance. Following the presentation of the final report and recommendations to the MAS Board, Ms. Sutherland and her co-leader, John Solomon, worked closely with MAS and MWA to implement the successful launch of MWA as a stand-alone nonprofit organization.

Ms. Sutherland is also on the program committee of the Association of Real Estate Women (AREW), where she was formerly a Board member, and is a member of the Urban Land Institute.

Ms. Sutherland has lived in New York City for over 20 years and is inspired by the incredible improvement in the quality of life in the City over that period. As a native of Long Island's North Shore, she grew up swimming, boating and water-skiing in the Long Island Sound and later participated in other water sports including competitive swimming, water polo and crew, where she was a coxswain. She would like to see the NY/NJ waterfront have an abundance of water-related recreational activities as well as numerous opportunities to experience nature and the outdoors.
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Kent L. Barwick is a civic activist involved in urban planning, design and preservation issues in New York. He has been president of the Municipal Art Society of New York since January 1999. Mr. Barwick had previously served the Society as its president from 1983 to 1995 and as its executive director from 1970 to 1975. From 1995 to 1997, he was president of the New York State Historical Association, having previously served as its vice chairman from 1993 through 1995. In 1998, Mr. Barwick became the first director of "The Waterfront Project," a reconnaissance effort organized by a coalition of leading New York and New Jersey foundations, which was originally housed at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The Waterfront Project burgeoned into the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance under the banner of the Municipal Art Society and was launched as an independent nonprofit organization in the Spring of 2007. From 1978 to 1983, Mr. Barwick was chairman of New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission and, in 1977, was administrator of the Adopt-A-Station program to improve New York City's subways. Prior to that, he was director of the New York State Council on the Arts (1975-1976). An early organizer of the South Street Seaport, he was also co-chairman of the Architectural and Engineering Committee for the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island. From 1981 to 1987, Mr. Barwick was as an advisor to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and its north-east regional chairman from 1988 to 1990. In 2001, he served on the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Governors Island. Mr. Barwick is currently chairman of the State Council on Waterways, vice president of Riverside South Planning Corporation, and serves on the boards of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, the Clark Foundation, Historic HudsonValley, the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, New York Landmarks Preservation Foundation, North River Historic Ship Society, Otsego 2000, Parks & Trails New York, the Augustus Saint-Gaudens Memorial and the Seventh Regiment Armory Conservancy. Mr. Barwick played a leading role in establishing theTribute in Light temporary memorial to the World Trade Center victims and was actively involved in the Municipal Art Society's Imagine New York: Giving Voice to the People's Visions project. A graduate of Syracuse University, Mr. Barwick also attended Harvard University as a Loeb Fellow. A founder of the Preservation League of New York State, the New York Landmarks Conservancy and the Historic Districts Council, he is also the recipient of a number of awards for his civic works from, among others, the AIA, the Parks Council (now New Yorkers for Parks) and the American Planning Association.
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Jennifer Costley, Ph.D., Director of IT Architecture at Credit Suisse, has over 20 years of experience as a technology manager for leading financial and Internet services firms. In her role at Credit Suisse, she is responsible for developing processes for defining and optimizing information systems architecture. She is also Sponsor of the IT Americas Diversity & Inclusion Committee and was formerly co-chair of Credit Suisse’s Open Network, which focuses on the issues and concerns of the Bank’s LGBT community. Prior to Credit Suisse, Dr. Costley was Vice President for Global Networks & Infrastructure at DoubleClick where she ran their global data centers, network operations center, and network engineering function. She also held a number of positions at Bankers Trust, including managing applications development for the bank’s Defined Contributions business unit. Prior to her affiliation with MWA, Dr. Costley served on the Boards of Directors of several non-profit organizations, most recently as Treasurer and member of the Executive Committee for the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission. Dr. Costley holds a Ph.D. In Chemical Physics, an Advanced Certificate in Finance from New York University, and recently completed a Certificate in Conservation Biology from Columbia University's Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC). She is the author of several IT related articles and has been a panelist and speaker on topics ranging from web technology deployment to Green IT.
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John Atkins

Margaret C. Ayers is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation where she has served since 1979. Under her leadership, the Foundation has awarded more than $100 million to organizations that promote reproductive rights nationally, government accountability and child welfare reform in New York State, and improved management of cultural organizations in New York City. Margaret Ayers also serves on the Board of the New York Foundation for the Arts where, in the past, she served as President. Past board affiliations include the Alliance of Resident Theaters/NY (ART/NY), and the New York Council for the Humanities. Following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Ms. Ayers worked with the New York Foundation for the Arts to create the New York Arts Recovery Fund through which some $5 million was made available to individual artists and small arts organizations located in Lower Manhattan. Ms. Ayers is a graduate of Douglass College, Rutgers University, where she majored in political science. She has been recognized by the University for her various contributions and has been inducted into the Douglass Society and the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni.
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Paul Balser is a founding partner of Ironwood Manufacturing Fund, Ironwood Management Fund II, and Ironwood Partners, private equity firms in New York, N.Y. since 2001. In 1996, Mr. Balser co-founded Generation Partners, a $325 million private equity firm with offices in Austin, Greenwich, CT and San Francisco. Prior to co-founding Generation Partners, Mr. Balser was a founding Partner of Centre Partners, L.P., the managing general partner of Centre Capital Investors L.P., a $150 million investment fund affiliated with Lazard Freres & Co. LLC. Mr. Balser is a graduate of Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and attended New York University Graduate Business School. He has served on over 25 boards and currently serves on the Boards of Janus Capital Group Inc. (NYSE: JNS) and Tweedy, Browne Funds, Inc., as well as other private companies. Mr. Balser is Chairman of the Board of the Hudson Guild. He is a board member of United Neighborhood Houses, a Director of the Hale Foundation, and a trustee of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance. He serves as a class agent for The Lawrenceville School, and is a member of Business Executives for National Security.
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Captain Andrew McGovern is President of the New Jersey Sandyhook Pilots Association. He is a member of the Area Maritime Security Committee and Chair of the Infrastructure Protection Sub-Committee; a member and chairman of the Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee; and is on the Board of Directors of the Surface Navy Association of Greater NY, The Maritime Industry Museum at Fort Schuyler, and Nation’s Port, in addition the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance. He has been awarded the U.S.C.G. Civil Service Commendation (1993), the U.S.C.G. Distinguished Public Service Award (2001), and the National Harbor Safety Committee of the Year (2001)
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Rich Miller directs Con Edison's Energy Markets Policy Group. As such he is responsible for developing Company policy on a wide range of important federal, state and municipal energy policy issues, including climate change and renewable power. Prior to that position, he served as Con Ed's assistant general counsel, where he was company's principal regulatory attorney for its steam system and renewable power and energy efficiency matters. Rich came to Con Ed after five years of working in the city as Senior Vice President of Energy at the Economic Development Corporation, where he was the City's chief advisor on energy policy issues. He has a long history of public service, having worked also worked as a community organizer, housing advocate, and Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa. He is also an avid cyclist who has bicycled most of the City's 580 miles of coastline and who swims whenever he can after he gets to the water. top of page

John Neu is Chairman of the Board and CEO (since 1985) of Hugo Neu Corporation (“HNC”), a privately owned firm headquartered in New York and founded in 1947 by his father, the late Hugo Neu. The company is principally active in the recycling business and industrial and commercial real estate development. Mr. Neu has been active in the business for 40 years. His wife, Wendy K. Neu, is Vice President in charge of environmental and public affairs. Mr. Neu is also actively involved in a number of nonprofit organizations with strong commitments to local communities, the environment, and social welfare. Mr. and Ms. Neu are active members of the NY/NJ Baykeeper, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and E-2, which promotes entrepreneurial activity in “green” businesses. In line with this commitment, they are helping to fund a major effort to clean up the Passaic River. For more than ten years, Mr. Neu was a Board member and Chairman of the Program Committee for Catholic Community Services in Newark, the largest nonprofit in the northern NJ counties, he serves on the Board of the Liberty Humane Society. He and Ms. Neu are major funders of several animal rescue organizations.
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Kathy Robb is a partner at the law firm of Hunton & Williams. Her practice focuses on energy and environmental litigation, regulation, and counseling before federal, state, and administrative courts, involving water, solid, and hazardous waste, nuclear materials, wetlands, endangered species, sustainability, and environmental transaction issues, especially in the energy and manufacturing sectors. She is the founder and director of the firm's Water Policy Institute, which seeks innovative solutions to water supply and quality issues. She serves on the boards of the Environmental Law Institute, the advisory board of BNA's Environmental Due Diligence Guide, and the Women's Network for a Sustainable Future, which she co-founded and chairs. top of page

Peggy Shepard is executive director and co-founder of WE ACT for Environmental Justice. Founded in 1988, WE ACT was New York’s first environmental justice organization created to improve environmental health and quality of life in communities of color. A recipient of the 10th Annual Heinz Award For the Environment and the 2008 Jane Jacobs Medal for Lifetime Achievement, she is a former Democratic District Leader, who represented West Harlem from 1985 to April 1993, and served as President of the National Women’s Political Caucus-Manhattan from 1993-1997.
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Christopher Ward recently stepped down as the Executive Director of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (and President of the Port Authority’s wholly owned entities: Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation, the Newark Legal and Communications Center Urban Renewal Corporation, and the New York and New Jersey Railroad Corporation).  He was appointed on May 22, 2008.  He previously served at the Port Authority as Chief of Planning and External Affairs, as well as Director of Port Redevelopment from 1997 to 2002.  Prior to his service at the Port Authority, Mr. Ward spent much of his professional career in service to the City of New York in various capacities, such as Senior Vice President for Transportation and Commerce at the Economic Development Corporation, Assistant Commissioner at the Department of Telecommunications and Energy and as Director of Research at the Department of Consumer Affairs.
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