Board and Officers
2011 Board of Directors and Officers
The New Agenda 501(c)(4)
Board Members
- Amy Siskind
- Karen Gerringer
- Cristina Espinosa
- Jennifer Kruschwitz
- Sarah Boerner
- Lara Brown
- Whitney Zahnd
The New Agenda Foundation 501(c)(3)
Board Members
- Amy Siskind
- Karen Gerringer
- Cristina Espinosa
- Jennifer Kruschwitz
- Sarah Boerner
- Lara Brown
- Alison Freidlin
- Patricia Garrison
- Nairoby Otero
- Whitney Zahnd
Officers
President– Amy Siskind
Vice President– Karen Gerringer
Secretary– Cristina Espinosa
Treasurer– Jennifer Kruschwitz
Advisory Council
See who’s on our Advisory Council ›
Young Women Leadership Council
Meet our young women leaders ›
Amy Siskind
Amy Siskind is a national spokesperson, writer and expert on helping women and girls advance and succeed. A highly successful Wall Street executive, she’s Co-founder and President of The New Agenda, a national organization working on issues including economic independence and advancement, gender representaion and bias, sexual assault and domestic violence. Some of her television and radio appearances include CNN, FOX News, CNBC, PBS and TheStreet.com. NPR, Marketplace Radio, KABC 790, WCCO 830, WOR 710, Talk New Radio, Talk Radio 1210 and American Morning News Radio. A frequent source for national press, Siskind has been quoted in The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, POLITICO, U.S. News & World Report, Guardian UK, RealClearPolitics, AOL News, CNN.com, The Boston Globe, Forbes and The Hill.
She’s a regular featured contributor at The Huffington Post and The Daily Beast. Amy speaks on college campuses and to young women about economic empowerment. She serves on Cornell University’s highly prestigious President’s Council of Cornell Women (PCCW).
A pioneer in the distressed debt trading market, she has a lifetime of experience with failure and remarkable success and knows what it takes to win. She became the first female Managing Director at Wasserstein Perella at the age of 31, and later ran trading departments at Morgan Stanley and Imperial Capital, where she was also a partner. She received a BA in Economics from Cornell University and an MBA in Finance from The NYU Stern School of Business.
Amy is currently working on her first book about her adventures as a woman on Wall Street.
Karen Gerringer
Karen Gerringer is a founding member of The New Agenda, with a particular interest in the “safety” and “leadership” aspects of the organization. She is an Executive Director in Risk Management at Morgan Stanley, where she has worked for 16 years variously in technology, investment banking, firm management, and fixed income. Karen has a BS in Marketing and Management from Wharton/UPenn and an MBA in Finance and Technology from Stern/NYU.
Cristina Espinosa
An American immigrant, from Chihuahua, Mexico, lived for 15 years in Atlanta, GA. Cristina is currently at Walden University in charge of the International Dual Degree with Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama., and previous experience includes a major university in Mexico and as a consultant with private and public sectors, and giving conferences as well as writing. She has participated in different volunteer community forums such as the Georgia Governors’ Latino Commission-Education Task Force, and Judge in the Science Fair. Cristina as been a housewife for 31years, and the mother of 3 successful University graduates. She has a diverse education as Biochemical Engineer, an MBA, and currently PhD ABD Public Policy and Administration. Proud to serve now at TNA.
Jennifer Kruschwitz
Encouraging and inspiring women to enter the physical sciences has been a crusade for Jennifer Kruschwitz for over 20 years. Jennifer has her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Optics from the University of Rochester and is currently studying for her PhD in Color Science at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY. She has been an active independent consultant in the field of optical interference coatings and is the only woman in the United States who consults in this field. She is a Senior Member of the Optical Society of America (OSA) and a member of the International Society of Optical Engineers (SPIE). Jennifer has published more than 15 journal articles in the field of optical coatings and holds two patents with two patents pending in the areas of laser cinema display and color. She is currently an adjunct assistant professor to the University of Rochester and the University of Arizona. Jennifer also is a certified 3rd Dan (black belt) in Taekwondo with Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Federation in South Korea.
Sarah Boerner
Sarah has extensive sales and marketing experience in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, spanning a broad range of industries including media and finance. Sarah is currently based in Manhattan and works in the asset management field as well as on her newly launched web show, sarahfox.tv. Her work in the for-profit world allows her to leverage her contact base to assist with philanthropic endeavors and organizations aimed at providing supportive networks, particularly to women, children and young professionals. Prior to serving as the Head of Business Development for hedge funds based in New York, Geneva and Hong Kong, Sarah worked in sales, business development, investor and media relations in Western Europe and the Middle East. Sarah graduated from McGill University where she completed an Honors B.A. degree in Political Science. She studied journalism and American foreign policy at Harvard University and French in Paris at the Alliance Française.
Lara Brown
Engaging college-age women in not only the study, but also the practice of American politics is part of what Lara enjoys about being a political science professor at Villanova University. With research interests in presidential aspirants, congressional incumbents, and scandals, her aim is educate students on the institutions and rules that structure American political parties and national elections and demystify the politics that operate in our nation’s capital. Lara’s latest book, Jockeying for the American Presidency: The Political Opportunism of Aspirants (Cambria Press, 2010) traces the paths of aspirants from 1796-2008 on their way to the presidency. Prior to completing her Ph.D. at UCLA, Lara served in President William J. Clinton’s administration at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C.
Alison Freidlin
Alison Freidlin has been an educator for over 13 years. After receiving her Master’s degree in Multicultural Education she embarked on a career teaching culturally and economically diverse children and adults. While working with a demographic of single mothers she developed a women’s history curriculum in order to foster an awareness of women’s achievements. She believes it is impossible for women and girls to know where we stand today if we do not understand our history. Later, she worked as a trainer and a director for an Adult Education program. While her professional work has been in the field of education, her undergraduate art degree has given her an awareness of advertising and the media. In her point of view, it is imperative to restructure both our educational system and the larger world of media to further include women’s history and issues that pertain to women and girls.
Patricia Garrison
Improving the lives of women and girls has been a focus of Pat’s professional life. As a senior-level communications professional, her educational campaigns have included initiatives to improve care of asthma, autoimmune disorders, heart disease, breast cancer and contraceptive health. A program with the MIND Alliance at Hunter College in New York City was designed to encourage girls and minority youth with disabilities to consider math and science careers, and her marketing communications efforts for metropolitan area museums and arts districts connected youth to the power and potential of artistic expression to transform their experience.She is currently Director of Digital Communications for a division of Columbia University’s Child and Adolescent Psychiatry department, where she creates and implements digital and social media strategies focused on teen mental health. She lives in Northern New Jersey with her husband and teenage daughter.
Nairoby Otero
Nairoby Otero is proud to be the youngest board member of The New Agenda. An actress, writer, and executive producer, she is a proud first-generation American; both parents were immigrants from Cuba. As a direct result of the sexism directed towards Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin during the 2008 presidential campaign, Nairoby began giving talks to young girls about the lack of respect and solidarity among women and the effects that it will have on all women if it is not corrected. In addition to bringing awareness to her generation about the importance of sisterhood, she has become a tireless crusader for a cure and understanding of autism due to having three cousins with this disorder. A graduate from Marymount Manhattan College, Nairoby continues to perform and write throughout New York City. Nairoby is currently working on her next two writing projects, A Middle Class Home, and Magdelene. Nairoby is the founder of YOLO! Productions, a theatrical producing company that produces published and original works of theatre that not only enhance women on stage, but also showcases subject matters that too often go unrepresented. This June marks YOLO!’s inaugural production of Sunday on the Rocks by Theresa Rebeck. Nairoby Otero is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild, Actors Equity Association, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
Whitney Zahnd
Whitney Zahnd was raised on a corn and soybean farm in Champaign, Illinois and currently works as a researcher for the Center for Clinical Research at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, Illinois. She has a B.S. in microbiology and a M.S. in community health specializing in epidemiology both from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She credits Governor Palin’s VP run in 2008 for instilling in her a passion for politics and for supporting female empowerment and leadership in politics, science, business, and beyond. She has written for websites such as Conservatives4Palin, Palin4America, and BigGovernment. Whitney currently serves as the Illinois state coordinator for Organize4Palin and administrative coordinator for the Central Illinois 9/12 project. She has been blessed with the opportunity to volunteer as the adviser to the Medical Explorers Post 998, working with high school students interested in the medical field, as a mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Illinois Capital Region. She is also active with her church in Springfield.
