Meet Our Board

Ellen Cohen, President

Ellen Cohen was a professional fundraiser for many years working in the arts and education. She is a long time resident of New York City, a sometime singer/performer, and a former board member of Summer Search NYC, a youth mentoring organization. Her most important role, however, has been as the mother of two wonderful boys. She knows very well that raising children is the most demanding and significant job of all and is deeply proud of the work that Friends of NYC NFP does to support so many hardworking moms in New York. 

Colleen McQuillan, Vice President

Colleen McQuillan is an investment advisor at Goldman Sachs working with families and non-profit institutions on investment management and wealth planning. She has spent over a decade in and around financial services after receiving her M.B.A. in finance and management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and receiving her B.A. magna cum laude in finance from the University of Notre Dame. Prior to business school, Colleen spent five years in a strategy role at the University of Notre Dame Development Office. Before her time in University Relations, Colleen was an investment banker at UBS supporting industrial companies through mergers, acquisitions, and capital raises.

Colleen is an Ambassador for the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford and was previously a member of the Junior Board for the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York.  Colleen and her husband have three children and were drawn to Friends as they are firm believers in creating a supportive community around new mothers.  

Stephanie Schwartz, Treasurer

Stephanie Schwartz, MSA, CPA is leading public and private companies of varying size and age through complex change and enhanced financial operations within the technology, media & entertainment industries. Stephanie was drawn to, and inspired by Friend’s mission to help improve the lives of mothers and babies, particularly through empowering women to pursue secondary-education and a career path that will provide financial independence and means to support their families.

Rebekah Wahba, Secretary

Rebekah Wahba has spent two decades working at the intersection of financial services and technology. Rebekah brings Friends a wealth of multi-disciplinary operating experience across strategic, planning, and talent domains. She is a proven leader of global high-performing teams and has a passion for bringing out the best in people. Rebekah is passionate about Friends’ commitment to improving babies’ lives and empowering moms with the resources they need to be able to achieve their personal goals and support their families.

Henry Mascia, Immediate Past President

Henry Mascia, JD, is a civil litigator and immigration attorney at Rivkin Radler, LLP. Henry and his wife, April, have supported the Nurse-Family Partnership for many years. They were inspired by the birth of their own children and the empirical data demonstrating the program’s long-term positive effects on families.

Christine Wasserstein,

Co-Founder

Chris Wasserstein, now retired as a psychotherapist, has long been concerned about the effects of poverty on the emotional health of mothers and babies. When she read the 2006 article Swamp Nurse in the New Yorker, she understood that evidence-based Nurse-Family Partnership could transform lives. She was invited to join the Community Advisory Board of New York City Nurse-Family Partnership and also the Board of Directors of the national NFP. Chris also serves on the Board of Directors of Citizens Committee for Children of New York, a research-based advocacy organization.

Mercedes Castiel, MD

Mercedes Castiel, MD started her career as a general OBGYN dedicated to maximizing the health of women through all stages of reproductive life. She then focused on helping women navigate the cancer journey and was fortunate to join the faculty at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where she was given the opportunity to develop one of the earliest women’s cancer survivorship programs. After almost two decades, Mercedes moved to NYU and the University of Chicago to develop their programs.

Mercedes is a lifelong learner which she feels is needed to be able to best serve her patients in this complex medical landscape. She took the City of Hope intensive course in cancer risk genetics in 2019- 2020  and is now certified in cancer risk genetics. She continues to be involved in the City of Hope Community.  Additionally she is on the Education Committee of the North American Menopause Society and served a three year term on the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Health Equity and Outcomes Committee and continues on the Survivorship task force.

Julia Cherashore

Julia Cherashore, MBA, PMP, has 20 years experience at top companies in the financial services industry, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. She is a seasoned Data Professional and brings her data acumen to tackle complex problems and opportunities.  She has been involved in a leadership capacity at corporate affinity networks and non-profit organizations since 2014.  Through her own experience as a parent, she became passionate about supporting youth and family causes.  She’s a believer in education in all its forms. 

Sarah E. Hayes

Sarah E. Hayes is a social work professional dedicated to supporting individuals
impacted by trauma and systemic oppression. She brings nearly 15 years of experience in trauma-informed program management and design, specializing in the operation of effective professional development interventions for survivors of gender-based violence.

In addition to being a Grow Society consultant, Sarah E. Hayes is currently the Senior Director of Economic Empowerment Programs (EEP) at Sanctuary for Families, which provides comprehensive workforce development programming for over 250 individuals annually. Through EEP’s programming and robust support, survivors are supported to access economic mobility and secure career-track employment that provides a pathway to self-sufficiency. Before joining Sanctuary for Families, Sarah was a counselor at Barrier Free Living’s domestic violence emergency shelter, providing crisis intervention, case management, and other supportive services to residents.

Sarah is a licensed social worker in NY State and holds a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from the Silberman School of Social Work (CUNY), as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Therapy from Molloy College.

Vanessa Hicks

Vanessa Hicks is the founder of VHH Consulting and brings over 30 years of experience in human capital strategy, organizational development, and executive coaching. She has worked across both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors—including health care, financial services, social services, and the arts—helping leaders and organizations build inclusive, mission-driven workplaces. A certified coach with a global perspective shaped by living and working in Kenya, Singapore, and across Europe, Vanessa is deeply committed to supporting women in reaching their fullest potential—as mothers, professionals, and community leaders. She divides her time between New York City and Rhode Island and is the proud parent of three adult children. 

Hazel Hunt

A native New Yorker, Hazel Hunt is currently the Head of Middle School at The Chapin School in Manhattan. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Mount Saint Vincent and worked as an administrator in the Emergency Medicine Department at Metropolitan Hospital. It was during this time that she also taught Bioethics to undergraduates and supported continuing medical education.

Hazel wanted to have a more direct impact in her community and decided to change careers. She earned her Master of Education from Metropolitan College of New York and began teaching in the New York Department of Education in her Bronx neighborhood. She then moved to independent schools, teaching at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, where she eventually joined the Board of Trustees and co-led the Progressive Teaching Institute and other leadership roles. Hazel has over 20 years of experience teaching middle school students, as well as undergraduate and graduate students. Before joining The Chapin School, Hazel was the Middle School Division Head at The Bank Street School for Children. As the single mother of two young adult daughters, Hazel is passionate about championing girls and women by supporting their education and social-emotional well-being. 

Gitika Mohta

Gitika Mohta brings 14 years of experience working at mission-driven organizations, with deep expertise in climate and sustainability. She currently serves as Senior Manager of Strategy and Impact at TED’s climate initiative, where she focuses on strategy development, fundraising, and impact reporting. Previously, she worked at the We Mean Business Coalition, building partnerships and managing grant portfolios to catalyze decarbonization efforts within companies. She holds a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts from The College of Wooster.

Born and raised in India and now based in New York City with her husband and two young children, Gitika is deeply passionate about advancing solutions that support young mothers and help families thrive.

Maria Paskowitz

Maria Paskowitz, MBA has been a volunteer with Parent Teacher Associations in New York City public and independent schools for over a decade. She has served on Executive Boards as treasurer, fundraising event planner, and middle school liaison. In these roles, she worked to improve learning environments and build community. Prior to her volunteer roles, Maria was in the enterprise software industry as a consultant and market analyst.

As a mother of two children, Maria understands the enormous task of raising children, and was drawn to Friends’ mission of supporting young families through investments in education and career readiness.

Brittany Retmanski

Brittany Retmanski, CPA, is a Director at PwC and has spent over a decade serving clients of all sizes through financial statement audits and other accounting matters. Brittany has a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Accounting from the University of Michigan and brings significant financial acumen and experience to the Friends Board.

As a mom of two young daughters, Brittany is passionate about the critical mission of providing new mothers with the resources they need to support their families and achieve success in their personal and professional lives.  

Kelly Sprotte

Kelly Sprotte is a Director in Human Resources at Tradeweb, where she leads employee engagement initiatives and manages partnerships with nonprofit organizations to expand volunteer opportunities and strengthen diverse recruitment pipelines. As a mother of two young children, she is passionate about advancing maternal health resources and ensuring every mother has access to a supportive community, making the mission of Friends of NYC NFP deeply personal and meaningful to her.

Laura Wolff

Laura Wolff is an independent consultant focusing on program and strategy
development, review, and problem-solving for funders and nonprofits. Recently,
Laura served as the Founding Director of the NYC Behavioral Design Center at
ideas42, teaching local nonprofits how to apply behavioral science insights to
enhance service delivery and civic participation. In her former positions at the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, she managed grant programs supporting efforts to improve New York City and State policies and programs in a wide array of fields, and enhance access to reproductive health care nationally.  

Ms. Wolff began her career in social science book publishing, and previously served on the Boards of Women Creating Change, The Feminist Press, and Philanthropy New York. She holds a BA degree in Psychology and Social Relations from Harvard University and an MA in Psychology
from NYU.