Nicholas Smirensky, CFA
Nick Smirensky has served on the New York State Teachers Retirement System board since 2007. He is vice president of the board and chairs the Investment Committee.
He was most recently the chief investment officer of the New York Health Foundation, where he was responsible for managing the Foundation’s investment portfolio and developing its investment strategy. Prior to joining the Foundation, Smirensky was deputy chief investment officer and director of private equity with the New York State Common Retirement Fund. He previously served as director of New York’s College Savings Program. He was deputy director for tax policy analysis at the New York State Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee. Smirensky holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, a B.A. degree from Columbia College, and an M.A. degree from Columbia University. Smirensky was also an adjunct associate professor at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and was an adjunct faculty member of Columbia-Greene Community College, where he taught business classes for Hudson Link for Higher Education at Greene Correctional Facility. He has also taught at Union College’s Graduate School of Management. Smirensky is a board member of the National Health Law Program.
Board Member
Nick Smirensky has served on the New York State Teachers Retirement System board since 2007. He is vice president of the board and chairs the Investment Committee.
He was most recently the chief investment officer of the New York Health Foundation, where he was responsible for managing the Foundation’s investment portfolio and developing its investment strategy. Prior to joining the Foundation, Smirensky was deputy chief investment officer and director of private equity with the New York State Common Retirement Fund. He previously served as director of New York’s College Savings Program. He was deputy director for tax policy analysis at the New York State Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee. Smirensky holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, a B.A. degree from Columbia College, and an M.A. degree from Columbia University. Smirensky was also an adjunct associate professor at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and was an adjunct faculty member of Columbia-Greene Community College, where he taught business classes for Hudson Link for Higher Education at Greene Correctional Facility. He has also taught at Union College’s Graduate School of Management. Smirensky is a board member of the National Health Law Program.
CANY Board Members
Martha King
William Snipes
Kenneth Henderson
Arti Finn
Michelle Daniel
Wesley Caines
Jessica Charles, PhD
Stanley Richards
Caitlin Sikes
Nicholas Smirensky
Caitlin Sikes
Caitlin Sikes is Deputy General Counsel at Jain Global, an investment management firm. Caitlin previously worked for 8 years as a private criminal defense attorney. During that time, she volunteered for pro bono matters in which she represented indigent individuals charged with federal crimes, as well as contributed to impact litigation targeted at the criminal justice system.
Board Member
Deputy General Counsel at Jain Global
Caitlin Sikes is Deputy General Counsel at Jain Global, an investment management firm. Caitlin previously worked for 8 years as a private criminal defense attorney. During that time, she volunteered for pro bono matters in which she represented indigent individuals charged with federal crimes, as well as contributed to impact litigation targeted at the criminal justice system.
CANY Board Members
Martha King
William Snipes
Kenneth Henderson
Arti Finn
Michelle Daniel
Wesley Caines
Jessica Charles, PhD
Stanley Richards
Caitlin Sikes
Nicholas Smirensky
Stanley Richards
Stanley Richards is the President & Chief Executive Officer of The Fortune Society (Fortune), a service and advocacy non-profit organization established in 1967 and based in New York City whose mission is to support successful reentry from prison and promote alternatives to incarceration. A formerly incarcerated man of color with over three decades of experience in the criminal justice field, Stanley’s professional experience began in 1991 at Fortune, where he initially worked as a Counselor. Between 1997 and 2001, he served as the Deputy Director of Client Intervention at Hunter College Center on AIDS, Drugs and Community Health. As Deputy Director of Client Interventions, having managed a multimillion-dollar randomized study of jail and community-based discharge planning and community follow-up funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. After returning to Fortune and receiving a series of promotions, Stanley became the second-highest executive with responsibilities in the overall management of Fortune and oversight of all direct service programs. He also represented Fortune’s fundraising and advocacy work, having taken on a leadership role in its David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy.
Board Member
President & Chief Executive Officer at The Fortune Society (Fortune)
Stanley Richards is the President & Chief Executive Officer of The Fortune Society (Fortune), a service and advocacy non-profit organization established in 1967 and based in New York City whose mission is to support successful reentry from prison and promote alternatives to incarceration. A formerly incarcerated man of color with over three decades of experience in the criminal justice field, Stanley’s professional experience began in 1991 at Fortune, where he initially worked as a Counselor. Between 1997 and 2001, he served as the Deputy Director of Client Intervention at Hunter College Center on AIDS, Drugs and Community Health. As Deputy Director of Client Interventions, having managed a multimillion-dollar randomized study of jail and community-based discharge planning and community follow-up funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. After returning to Fortune and receiving a series of promotions, Stanley became the second-highest executive with responsibilities in the overall management of Fortune and oversight of all direct service programs. He also represented Fortune’s fundraising and advocacy work, having taken on a leadership role in its David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy.
CANY Board Members
Martha King
William Snipes
Kenneth Henderson
Arti Finn
Michelle Daniel
Wesley Caines
Jessica Charles, PhD
Stanley Richards
Caitlin Sikes
Nicholas Smirensky
Jay Wardle
Jay is a growth leader whose experience sits at the intersection of big brands, data, and technology. Currently he is President & GM of Adara, an advertising technology company that was recently acquired by RateGain, a global provider of SaaS solutions to travel and hospitality brands.
Board Member
President and General Manager of Adara
Jay is a growth leader whose experience sits at the intersection of big brands, data, and technology. Currently, he is President & GM of Adara, an advertising technology company that was recently acquired by RateGain, a global provider of SaaS solutions to travel and hospitality brands. Prior to joining Adara, Jay was President of Distillery, where he led the go-to-market team, responsible for driving ad revenue and business growth, Jay spent the nearly 17 years before Distillery with American Express and AOL through its acquisition by Verizon leading teams selling their portfolios of advertising products to categories across the globe. He is a graduate of Michigan State University and received his master’s from New York University.
CANY Board Members
Reverend Stephen H. Phelps
William Snipes
Rich Foudy
Kenneth Henderson
Wesley Caines
Martha King
Jessica Charles, PhD
Michelle Daniels
Arti Finn
Jay Wardle
Arti Finn
Arti Finn is Chief Development Officer and Co-Founder of Orjjin, which provides digital tools for correctional education contexts. Arti is a business development expert with more than 20 years' experience creating and selling marketing opportunities for such brands as The New York Times.
Secretary
Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Orjjin
Arti Finn is the Chief Development Officer and Co-Founder of Orjjin, which provides digital tools for correctional education contexts. Arti is a business development expert with more than 20 years of experience creating and selling marketing opportunities for such brands as The New York Times. Today, she is in charge of building and maintaining strategic partnerships, managing business development, and supporting all sales and marketing activities. Previously Arti worked in high-level sales and client relations roles for Time Warner, the American Museum of Natural History, The Princeton Review, and Partnership for New York City. Arti has an MBA from Northwestern/Kellogg and a BA from Kenyon College.
CANY Board Members
Martha King
William Snipes
Kenneth Henderson
Arti Finn
Michelle Daniel
Wesley Caines
Jessica Charles, PhD
Stanley Richards
Caitlin Sikes
Michelle Daniel
Michelle Daniel is a doctoral student in the American Studies program at NYU. While incarcerated, Michelle published and presented her research findings to dispel notions of about the reach and intellectual capacity of justice-involved women.
Officer-at-Large
Author and PhD Candidate
Michelle Daniel is a doctoral student in the American Studies program at NYU. While incarcerated, Michelle published and presented her research findings to dispel notions of about the reach and intellectual capacity of justice-involved women. She also presented legislative testimony on a reentry alternative she created for long-term incarcerated people that was approved by the Indiana State Interim Committee on the Criminal Code. She is chair of the board of Constructing Our Future, a reentry alternative for women created by incarcerated women in Indiana, and a 2017-18 Research Fellow at the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History at Harvard University, a 2018-19 Ford Foundation Bearing Witness Fellow with Art for Justice, a 2019 SOZE Right of Return Fellow, a 2019 Code for America Fellow and 2019-2020 Mural Arts Fellow.
CANY Board Members
Martha King
William Snipes
Kenneth Henderson
Arti Finn
Michelle Daniel
Wesley Caines
Jessica Charles, PhD
Stanley Richards
Caitlin Sikes
Jessica Charles, PhD
Jessica joined Bank Street in 2016 and served as Director of Scholarship on Educator Practice. The practice of teaching, the development of teachers, and the research of teachers, teaching and teacher education have constituted the bulk of Jessica’s professional and scholarly interests and activities.
Board Member
Director, Teacher Education Program and Assistant Professor of Education, Marist University
Dr. Jessica Charles is a professor of education at Marist University and studies how to prepare teachers to enact equity-and justice practice in k-12 schools. As a child and adolescent, her father was incarcerated, and she experienced firsthand the unique loss and separation associated with having a parent in prison. She has been involved in issues of prison education and prison reform since she served as a volunteer instructor for the Prison University Project at San Quentin State Prison in California in 2008.
CANY Board Members
Martha King
William Snipes
Kenneth Henderson
Arti Finn
Michelle Daniel
Wesley Caines
Jessica Charles, PhD
Stanley Richards
Caitlin Sikes
Martha King
Martha W. King is a Senior Program Officer Charles H. Revson Foundation. Prior, she was the Executive Director of the New York City Board of Correction, which establishes and ensures compliance with minimum standards regulating the conditions of confinement and correctional health and mental health care in the City’s jails, including Riker's Island.
Chair
Senior Program Officer Charles H. Revson Foundation
Martha W. King is a Senior Program Officer Charles H. Revson Foundation. Prior, she was the Executive Director of the New York City Board of Correction, which establishes and ensures compliance with minimum standards regulating the conditions of confinement and correctional health and mental health care in the City’s jails, including Riker's Island. One of the oldest permanent correctional oversight agencies in the country, the Board monitors conditions in the City's jails, addresses issues related to inmate safety and health care, evaluates the performance of the Department of Correction, reviews inmate and employee grievances, and makes recommendations in areas of correctional planning. She recently reorganized the agency and doubled its staff. Prior to this role, she was a criminal justice and education policy advisor to the First Deputy Mayor of New York City. Martha began her career at the largest alternative to incarceration program in New York City, the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES) and has held policy positions at the After-School Corporation, the Vera Institute of Justice, and the New Jersey Office of Management and Budget. She has dual master’s degrees (Master of Public Affairs and Urban and Regional Planning, MPA-URP) from the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and a B.A. in African American Studies from Wesleyan University. She has completed coursework for a doctorate in sociology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
CANY Board Members
Martha King
William Snipes
Kenneth Henderson
Arti Finn
Michelle Daniel
Wesley Caines
Jessica Charles, PhD
Stanley Richards
Caitlin Sikes
Wesley Caines
As Deputy Executive Director of the Bronx Defender, Wesley Caines, a Bronx native, joins The Bronx Defenders from Brooklyn Defender Services where he was Reentry Specialist/Coordinator/Advocate.
Board Member
Deputy Executive Director, The Bronx Defenders
As Deputy Executive Director of the Bronx Defender, Wesley Caines, a Bronx native, joins The Bronx Defenders from Brooklyn Defender Services where he was Reentry Specialist/Coordinator/Advocate. A graduate of Bard College and New York Theological Seminary, Wesley has a passion for helping people help themselves. He is well suited to the dual task of educating people on issues concerning the criminal justice system as they connect with the positive impact of personal agency within a framework of structural inequality for those who have criminal justice involvement. Wesley is an active member of the American Bar Association, Criminal Justice Section, consulting on criminal justice issues. As a Board member for the Brooklyn Community Bail Fund, he lends his expertise in the furtherance of helping those who are economically disadvantaged, to improve their criminal justice outcomes through bail. Wesley’s life goal is the empowerment of underserved communities as they become creative self-advocates who challenge policymakers’ notion of the social contract.
CANY Board Members
Martha King
William Snipes
Kenneth Henderson
Arti Finn
Michelle Daniel
Wesley Caines
Jessica Charles, PhD
Stanley Richards
Caitlin Sikes
Kenneth Henderson
Kenneth Henderson’s corporate and securities transactional experience is focused on mergers and acquisitions, public and private financings, and domestic and international joint ventures.
Treasurer
M&A Partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP
Kenneth Henderson’s corporate and securities transactional experience is focused on mergers and acquisitions, public and private financings, and domestic and international joint ventures. In addition to his substantial transactional practice, Mr. Henderson provides day-to-day corporate, securities, governance, and business law advice to publicly held and privately owned business clients in the United States and abroad in a variety of industries, including fund managers and family office structures and companies in the financial services, technology and services industries. Mr. Henderson is active in community and pro bono matters. He was responsible for organizing the firm’s mentor relationship with Thomas Jefferson High School in East New York, Brooklyn. He is past chairman of and counsel to the Board of Directors of PCI-Media Impact, a New York-based non-profit corporation with activities in developing countries throughout the world. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Small Business Majority, Inc., a nonprofit organization that focuses on policy solutions for small businesses.
CANY Board Members
Martha King
William Snipes
Kenneth Henderson
Arti Finn
Michelle Daniel
Wesley Caines
Jessica Charles, PhD
Stanley Richards
Caitlin Sikes
Rich Foudy
Rich Foudy spent most of his professional career in the technology consulting business, retiring as CEO of NDS, Inc in 2008. He is a graduate of Manhattan College and has a master’s degree in finance from Fordham University.
Treasurer
Retired CEO of National Decision Systems (NDS)
Rich Foudy spent most of his professional career in the technology consulting business, retiring as CEO of NDS, Inc in 2008. He is a graduate of Manhattan College and has a master’s degree in finance from Fordham University. Rich is a Bronx NY native and currently divides his time between Fairfield CT and Palm Beach Gardens FL. Rich is an advocate of fundamentally rethinking the nature and purpose of incarceration. He greatly admires CANY’s work on protecting the humanity of incarcerated people. Rich became a member of the CANY board in April of 2016 and is currently on the Finance Committee.
CANY Board Members
Reverend Stephen H. Phelps
William Snipes
Rich Foudy
Kenneth Henderson
Wesley Caines
Martha King
Jessica Charles, PhD
Michelle Daniels
Arti Finn
Jay Wardle
William Snipes
William Snipes retired as partner at Sullivan and Cromwell. Bill is one of the principal co-founders of the Pipeline Crisis/Winning Strategies Initiative—his innovative brainchild—that was launched in 2006 to marshal private sector leadership, investment, and advocacy to address the social and economic gap between young black men and their peers.
Vice Chair
Retired Partner, Sullivan and Cromwell
William Snipes retired as partner at Sullivan and Cromwell. Bill is one of the principal co-founders of the Pipeline Crisis/Winning Strategies Initiative—his innovative brainchild—that was launched in 2006 to marshal private sector leadership, investment, and advocacy to address the social and economic gap between young black men and their peers. The American Lawyer called Bill a lawyer statesman and his initiative “unprecedented,” observing that “historically Wall Street law firms and investment banks have spent little time trying to address the root causes of African American poverty.” Bill serves on the governing boards of the John Jay College Foundation, Center for Employment Opportunities, and The Marshall Project.
CANY Board Members
Martha King
William Snipes
Kenneth Henderson
Arti Finn
Michelle Daniel
Wesley Caines
Jessica Charles, PhD
Stanley Richards
Caitlin Sikes