Comptroller Brad Lander Appoints Six Members to Iconic NYC Cultural Institutions’ Boards

New York, NY – NYC Comptroller Brad Lander named six appointees to iconic New York City arts institutions and cultural organizations: Carnegie Hall, New York Botanical Garden, New York City Center, New York Public Library, Queens Public Library, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The Comptroller appoints ex-officio board members to cultural institutions with significant ties to the City, including public leases, grants, and other public funding. These leaders will be responsible to act as the Comptroller’s proxy in board meetings and will brief Comptroller Lander on operations, programs, and challenges these cultural institutions face.

The Comptroller’s appointments include:

• Carnegie Hall: Anthony Richardson
• New York Botanical Garden: Mohammed Mardah
• New York City Center: Jessica Lappin
• New York Public Library: Lisette Nieves
• Queens Public Library: Jimmy Van Bramer
• Wildlife Conservation Society: Annie Elisa Minguez

“Cultural institutions are woven into the social and economic fabric of New York City and will be a bedrock of a robust recovery. These appointees are champions of the arts, learning, culture, and tourism, and will bring their expertise and dedication to the work of bringing out the best of what makes these New York institutions iconic. These leaders will be a bridge to our office, so we can ensure that our museums, libraries, centers, and gardens are both accountable to public dollars and have the necessary funding to flourish for all New Yorkers and our visitors to enjoy for years to come,” said Comptroller Brad Lander.

Anthony Richardson is currently Managing Director for New York Syndications at CREA, LLC, a full-service Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Syndicator. Before, Richardson spent six years as the Executive Vice President for Development at the New York City Housing Development Corporation, and six years as the Director of Multifamily New Construction Programs at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Prior to his time in public service, he held financial advisory, fixed-income sales and brokerage positions at Ernst & Young, M.R. Beal & Company, and Cantor Fitzgerald.  He earned a Master’s degree in public administration and public policy from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, a Master’s degree in public administration and economic policy from The London School of Economics & Political Science, and a B.A. degree from Morehouse College.

Mohammed Mardah is the Executive Director of Africans Help Desk. He is also the Chairman of the African Advisory Council to the Bronx Borough President and member of the Board of Bridge Builders, non-profit organization serving the Highbridge community. In addition, Mardah is a Community Board 4 member and sits on the Youth and Education Committee. Mardah is an immigrant from Ghana and a graduate of Lehman College.

Jessica Lappin is the President of the Alliance for Downtown New York. The organization manages the country’s largest Business Improvement District and provides sanitation and public safety services downtown, serves the street homeless, runs a free bus service, and uses research and marketing to advance Lower Manhattan as a global model of a 21st century Central Business District.  A lifelong New Yorker, Lappin spent two terms in the New York City Council representing the Upper East Side, East Midtown, and Roosevelt Island. She also serves on the boards of the FDR Memorial and Four Freedoms Park, the International Downtown Association, the NYC BID Association, and the American Skin Association. She sits on the Executive Committee of NYC & Company, New York City’s tourism agency, and the Steering Committee of the Association for a Better New York (ABNY). Lappin lives in Manhattan with her husband and two sons.

Lisette Nieves is the current president of the Fund for the City of New York, developing and implementing policy, programs, practices, and technology improvements for NYC’s agencies and nonprofits. Previously, she was the director of educational leadership and policy studies, and a clinical professor at NYU Steinhardt, where she still oversees doctoral students and supports research initiatives. Throughout her over twenty-five year career, Nieves founded Lingo Ventures, served as the Belle Zeller Distinguished Visiting Professor in Public Policy at Brooklyn College, was an Obama appointee on the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, and was the founding Executive Director of Year Up NY— a workforce development program. She holds a B.A. from Brooklyn College, B.A./M.A. from the University of Oxford, M.P.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and a doctorate with distinction in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania, and is a Truman Scholar, Rhodes Scholar, Aspen Pahara Fellow, and a Richard P. Nathan Public Policy Fellow. Nieves also serves on the board of the Edwin Gould Foundation, AVID, The Education Trust, New Schools Venture Fund, Jobs for the Future, and is the Founding Chair of the Guttman Community College Foundation Board.

Jimmy Van Bramer is the Chief Growth & Strategic Partnerships Officer for Girls Scouts of Greater New York. Prior, Van Bramer was the Council Member representing Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City, and Astoria for twelve years, and chaired the Cultural Affairs and Libraries Committee as well as serving Majority and Deputy Leader. In the eleven years before being elected to the City Council, he worked as a community organizer and served as the Chief External Affairs Officer for the Queens Public Library. Born and raised in Astoria, he graduated from St. John’s University. He currently lives in Sunnyside Gardens with his husband Dan Hendrick and is the first openly-gay elected official to get married in the borough of Queens.

Annie E. Minguez is the Director of Government and Community Relations at Good Shepherd Services, a citywide youth and family development agency that supports over 30,000 children and families throughout New York City. Before, Minguez served as the Program Director for La Idea, a U.S. State Department and USAID funded initiative fostering collaboration between U.S. and Latin America entrepreneurs and as the Small Business Working Group Manager at the Clinton Global Initiative. Minguez has an extensive knowledge of government having spent time serving at the U.S. Department of Labor, the Office of the Honorable Charles B. Rangel, and the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee. Minguez is a native New Yorker and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from George Mason University.

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