Joan would be the first to admit that she was no expert in philanthropy when Robert Pinkerton asked her to manage the fledgling Pinkerton Foundation back in the mid-1960s. She learned. Fast. And over the next four decades she became one of the most respected—it’s no exaggeration to say beloved—members of the New York City philanthropic community. In her gentle, thoughtful, unassuming way, she set the tone for the Foundation that we hope still exists today: an organization that listens to its grantees and learns from them. Along with longtime Chairman of the Board George J. Gillespie III, Joan also showed an extraordinary willingness to takes chances on early-stage community-based programs long before there were any “metrics” to prove their merit. Many of those early bets—on Good Shepherd Services, Getting Out and Staying Out, Experience Corps, Friends of the Children and a host of others—have paid off in programs that have had a profound effect on the young people of the city. Joan retired at the end of 2009 and remains a valued participant on the Pinkerton board.

By his own admission, Chris Bell followed a most indirect path to his current role at Pinkerton.  Tax preparer, hospital orderly, walk-on extra in the movie “Jaws” were some of the stops on the way to a bachelor’s degree from Hunter College and a master’s in public administration from the Wagner School of Public Service at NYU. Degrees in hand, Chris went to work as a budget analyst in the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Two years later, in 1991, he joined Pinkerton as a Program Associate. Among his many roles at the Foundation, Chris led Pinkerton’s work in the youth justice field. He was one of the architects of The Pinkerton Fellows Program at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a strong voice in the New York Juvenile Justice Initiative, and a good friend and mentor to a wide range of alternative-to-incarceration and prisoner reentry programs throughout the city. After twenty-two years with the Foundation, Chris retired in 2013.

Rick Smith’s first job in New York was driving a taxi while a grad student at Columbia. A few twists in the road later found him at Newsweek magazine on something called a two-to-four week writing tryout. It apparently went well. Thirty-seven years later, Rick retired from the magazine after serving as Hong Kong Bureau Chief, Asian Editor, Editor of the International Editions, and 23 years as Editor-in-Chief and 16 as Chairman and CEO as well. Along the way, Newsweek won a host of national magazine awards, recorded some of the most profitable years in its history, and introduced seven foreign-language editions. For his efforts, Rick earned the magazine industry’s highest honor, The Henry Johnson Fisher Award for Lifetime Achievement. He joined the Pinkerton board in 1995, and after a few years of site visits to programs supported by the Foundation, he pronounced the director’s job “the best job in the world.” A decade later, the board remembered his comment. He became Pinkerton’s President in 2010. Rick is also the Founding Chairman and continues on the board of the ExCo Leadership Group, a leading CEO and senior leadership mentoring firm, In addition, he’s a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and on the board of visitors of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, the international board of the Harvard AIDS Initiative, and the advisory council of the Stanford Center on Longevity.  He is married to Dr. Soon-Young Yoon, a medical anthropologist who consults with the World Health Organization and other international agencies.

Laurie Dien grew up in St. Louis with dreams first of designing toys and later entire playgrounds. She went on to earn a B.A. from Barnard and a Ph.D. in environmental psychology from the CUNY Graduate School. Only then did she realize that her true motivation was a desire to improve the lives of young people in general. That led her to the Hasbro Children’s Foundation and ultimately to The Pinkerton Foundation in 1997. More than two decades ago, Laurie was instrumental in the founding of the Career Internship Network, a source of education and professional development opportunities for organizations that offer internships to thousands of high school students each year. Her belief was that to level the playing field, all young people need access to high quality high school career internship opportunities.

Laurie continues to have a special fondness for programs that provide career exploration. She helped launch the Science Research Mentoring Consortium a decade ago. Now known as the Pinkerton Science Scholars Program, it offers intensive science training and one-on-one mentoring in an authentic laboratory research project to talented high school students from under-resourced schools. And five years ago, Laurie helped develop the Mentored Internship Program (MIP) for young people in and transitioning out of foster care.  MIP provides work readiness, career exploration, and paid internship opportunities to young adults with little or no work experience. The interns are paired with mentors from administrative staff and executives at foster care agencies. Lately she has been involved with a project where graduating high school seniors take a CUNY youth development studies class that is integrated with college orientation workshops. The students work with young people at summer camps – while being paid through SYEP and earning college credits.

Laurie’s interest also extends to education and employment opportunities for those who are out of work and out of school. She is on the executive committee of the New York City Workforce Development Fund and her grantees are primarily youth employment organizations in the five boroughs. That’s a long way from the toy box (or the sandbox, for that matter), but we see evidence every day that Laurie’s still having a lot of fun.

Since 2013, April Glad (Julie Peterson before a name change in 2019) has brought vision and commitment to Pinkerton’s portfolio focused on youth and family justice.  The array of organizations demonstrates her broad commitment to leaders of color and those with direct experience in and around the youth justice system. Educated at UCLA, Cornell (B.A.) and Harvard (law), April’s career has spanned a role managing Poor Little Rich Girl, a store in Beverly Hills where she attended high school, to monitoring conditions of confinement at Rikers Island for the federal court in1992, her first job in New York.  Since then, in between robust consulting gigs for clients in the nonprofit, philanthropic and government sectors, April has been a program officer at the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation and the Director of Public Private Initiatives at the NYC Department of Probation.  As the Rev. Dr. Alfonso Wyatt, elder statesman of youth development in NYC, says fondly, “Everyone needs an April.”  At Pinkerton, we are delighted to have the original.

Jenny has a unique perspective on the value of Pinkerton grants. In 1998, three days after graduating from New York’s high school for pregnant and parenting teens and six weeks after the birth of her son Joel, she went to work as an “Explainer” in the Science Career Ladder program at the New York Hall of Science–a longtime Pinkerton grantee. During her tenure there, she rose to lead the program while earning degrees from LaGuardia, Queens, and Baruch College. She brought her interest and expertise in youth programs and STEM education to Pinkerton in January of 2012. The first proposal she reviewed was for the NYC STEM Education Network, a coalition of organizations working to provide STEM learning opportunities for all. Jenny has been recognized as a Next Generation Getty Leadership Fellow and a Rockwood Equity in Philanthropy Fellow. She currently serves on the STEM Funders Network executive committee and the Philanthropy New York board. Joel was an Explainer himself and in Spring of 2022 graduated from Hunter College, marking that the fifth CUNY degree earned between the two of them (he also graduated from Guttman). Longtime Pinkerton-watchers will note that until exchanging vows with her beloved Anthony on September 18th, 2016, Jenny was known as Jennifer Correa. (We like her by any name.)

After graduating from Brown University with a degree in computer science and management, Danielle Pulliam began her career at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture).  While there, Danielle found that her pro-bono work was much more rewarding than projects for paying clients.  Her bosses might not have been delighted, but it fueled her interest in public service. She joined the Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center (a long-time Pinkerton grantee) and then the United Way, where she earned an MPA from Baruch College through the National Urban Fellows Program.  Later, she worked with Public/Private Ventures and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).  Before joining Pinkerton, Danielle was the director of Strategic Partnerships in the Office of Adult and Continuing Education at the New York City Department of Education. At Pinkerton, Danielle manages grants to literacy, sports, and arts programs and serves as a thought partner for the foundation’s Racial Equity Initiative to support BIPOC leaders. She is also co-chair of the New York City Youth & Education Funders Working Group and is active in Grantmakers for Education. Outside the office, she finds joy in practicing her faith and liturgical dance, traveling internationally, and enthusiastically sampling the world’s cuisines.

Erickson Blakney presented himself to the foundation with an impressive background as an award-winning writer, reporter and interviewer for Bloomberg and CBS News. Now those career skills are all important for a successful program officer, but it was his extracurricular activities that set EB–as everyone calls him–apart.  After graduating from Hobart College, he did an early career stint at the Daytop Village substance abuse treatment program and later earned a certificate in nonprofit management from CUNY’s Hostos College. While working in journalism, he joined the board of the DreamYard Project, a longtime Pinkerton grantee in the Bronx. That was 16 years ago, and he remains a thoughtful, engaged and effective board member.  EB’s philanthropic interests range far and wide. He’s on the board of the Clarksdale Animal Rescue Effort and Shelter in Clarksdale, MS, and The Center for Rural Strategies in Whitesburg, KY. In northern Ohio, where he grew up, he is a trustee of The Needmor Fund, a philanthropic organization that supports grassroots groups working to bring about social and economic justice. In his spare, spare time, EB has also produced documentary films on the Mississippi Delta’s blues tradition and fair housing policies, but that’s another story. Feel free to ask him.

Jill Bregenzer came to the foundation in 2011, fresh from her first year as the Treasurer of the PTA at  P.S. 40 in Manhattan. She had a few other relevant credentials as well. Before taking time off to be with her two young daughters, Jill served for twelve years at PricewaterhouseCoopers. At PwC, she was a Senior Audit Manager on a number of major domestic and international accounts, and a Human Resources Manager working on compensation and training matters.  (We found her undergraduate history as a toll taker for the New York State Bridge Authority intriguing, but somewhat less relevant.) Jill graduated from Union College and received an MBA from the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester. Her background is perfect for a Jill-of-all-trades role at the Foundation that includes being chief financial officer and a one-woman human resources department, but it’s her enthusiasm for the programmatic work of the foundation that makes her so special. In addition to her other responsibilities, Jill now also manages a small portfolio of grantee organizations and serves on the Board of Nonprofit New York.

Khadija Rejto is no stranger to philanthropy—on a global scale.  As Managing Director of Solutions International Advisors, she has traveled from the Kenyan countryside to the heart of India’s megacities and beyond to identify worthy projects for her philanthropically-minded clients. She is also the Chair of the U.S. Board of FXB International, a global nonprofit dedicated to combating poverty and HIV/AIDS.  That’s a pretty full plate, but as the mother of twin four-year-olds, we knew she must be an accomplished multi-tasker and just the right person to take on an additional “international” project for Pinkerton. In her adjunct role, Khadija will help the Foundation get closer to the emerging new immigrant communities in New York City and identify programs serving young people in those areas. She’s a natural for the project. Born in Morocco, she came to the U.S. to study at Northeastern University. She earned a Masters from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a Diploma in International Law from the Graduate School of International Studies in Switzerland. After stints in finance and with Harvard’s Vietnam Education Program, she joined the World Health Organization, where she was a liaison officer with the Crisis Unit and helped manage the Health as a Bridge for Peace Program.  Later, she worked with the International Medical Corps. (She’s also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.) Khadija says she’s eager to get closer to organizations that deliver grassroots services. With us she’ll get to do just that: No passport or visas, only a MetroCard required.  After her year as a Visiting Fellow, Khadija moved to the private sector in 2015 with a focus on corporate social responsibility.

Yvonne Schonborg, a Bronx native and die-hard Yankees fan, has served in the finance and management sectors for thirty-eight years. Recently, she has successfully installed the Foundation’s new grants management software, ensuring that it serves program officers, grant applications and, of course, the auditors as well. Yvonne manages the Foundation’s books, turns board decisions into documents (and grantee checks) and generally keeps the office humming. A graduate of National University in San Diego, Yvonne served for fifteen years at HomeFed Bank in California where she was an IT business and data analyst, branch manager and operations supervisor. In 1997, she returned to New York and became the business manager for the Reformed Church of Bronxville and assistant executive director for Beneath the Sea in Westchester. Yvonne joined the Foundation in 2009 and also served as the controller and human resources administrator for the Ann Pinkerton Charitable Trust.

We didn’t know we were looking for a receptionist who combined an interest in evolutionary biology with a passion for puppetry, but when Morgan Daniels came in for an interview that’s precisely what we found. (The offspring of her twin enthusiasms: a fuzzy Muppet-like amoeba named Eric.)  Perhaps slightly more relevant, Morgan is in the great tradition of past Pinkerton gatekeepers—a winning, welcoming presence to all who call or visit the foundation. The dual-citizenship daughter of a British naval officer and an American from Virginia, Morgan grew up in England and graduated with a degree in sociology from the London School of Economics. After a stint working with actors and comedians at a U.K.-based talent agency, she decided that she wanted to try life in the nonprofit, direct-service world—and that New York was the place to do it. We expect to have to work on her spelling a bit (labour, honour, centre, etc.), but we are looking forward to learning what graduating with “upper second-class honours” actually means. Above all, we are delighted that she crossed the pond to our shores.

Our cheerful gatekeeper Kendra Clarke credits two strong women with shaping her young life: her grandmother who provided stability during her family’s transition from their home in Guyana and her mother whose fierce commitment to education encouraged Kendra to excel academically. (Mom went back to school and got her bachelor’s degree at 51.) Along the way, a third woman played an influential role as well. Her aunt’s love of the written word helped Kendra hone her writing and her interest in Korean television dramas led Kendra to spend two years in the country teaching English and learning Korean. After returning from Asia, the Hunter College graduate (she also has a TESOL certificate from Teachers College) served as an Afterschool Group Leader and Program Assistant at St. Nicks Alliance, a community development organization in Brooklyn that is a longtime Pinkerton grantee. Kendra’s only been with us for a short time, but we think all those women did a great job.

Lucy has always been up for a new challenge. In the 1980s she helped shape the city’s policy on drug abuse prevention which led to the creation of innovative schools (the “Beacons”) that opened their doors to the community in non-school hours. She founded and led Victim Services—now Safe Horizon–the nation’s largest assistance program for victims of crime and abuse. And in 1998, she launched The After-School Corporation (later rechristened ExpandEd Schools) to create and support new models for high-quality after-school programs in the city. Her enthusiasm for using high school students as mentors, interns and leaders in after-school work meshed perfectly with the Foundation’s commitment to supporting high-quality internship and job-training experiences for disadvantaged young people. So when Lucy announced plans to retire, we jumped at the chance to bring her in as the Foundation’s third Visiting Fellow. Her new challenge is to do a comprehensive review of the City’s Summer Young Employment Program and offer her thoughts on how to help this well-funded program reach its full potential as a true educational and job-readiness experience. The record suggests that Dr. Friedman is up to the task.

As the first voice most people hear at the foundation, we wanted to make sure that our receptionist was a cheery, welcoming presence, not a stern gatekeeper. In Olivia, we found just that. We didn’t know we needed an experienced lifeguard, but we got that, too. In fact, her enthusiasm about her work with diverse groups of young people at pools in her hometown of Phoenix—and her deep interest in the youth programs Pinkerton supports– convinced us that she would be a great fit with us. Indeed. In a little over a year, Olivia proved so helpful in so many ways that we happily promoted her to Administrative Assistant.  Olivia graduated with high honors in Women’s and Gender studies from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and spent a year abroad allegedly studying in Amsterdam.  She also won something called The Gold Axe Award at NAU, but we were a little hesitant to ask about that. (Feel free.)

Considering how much Steven talks about “raising floors and building ladders,” you might think he’s in the construction trade. In a sense, of course, he is. He has dedicated most of his professional life to building pathways to employment and productive careers for disadvantaged young people and adults. A native New Englander, he began his own career in the rural South with the National Association for the Southern Poor and went on to found the Industrial Cooperative Association, now the ICA Group, which provides legal, educational and technical assistance to employee-owned businesses in low-income communities. Steven came to Pinkerton’s attention because of his groundbreaking work in establishing PHI, the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute in the South Bronx. PHI is a nationally recognized workforce development organization, and its coop affiliate Cooperative Home Healthcare Associates provides training and quality jobs for 2,000 owner/caregivers. (Pinkerton supports PHI’s programs for disadvantaged young people.) Since stepping down as PHI’s CEO, Steven has consulted and written widely on low-wage employment issues. Among other things, he’s worked with the National Fund for Workforce Solutions and co-chaired the NYC Workforce Funders’ Re-envisioning Strategy Group. In his Visiting Fellow role with the Foundation, Steven will meet with our grantees in the career development field and write a series of brief, action-oriented “Pinkerton Papers” on job-related issues for low-income workers.

Ellis Cose was just a typical Chicago teenager.  While a student at Albert G. Lane Technical High School, he wrote a 140 page paper on the city’s 1968 riots. That brought him to the attention of the Poet Laureate of Illinois who invited him to join her writers’ group. And by the age of 19, he had his own column in the Chicago Sun-Times. He has been writing ever since: for the Detroit Free Press and USA Today, as president of the Institute for Journalism Education at UC Berkeley and editorial page editor at the New York Daily News and, for seventeen years, as a columnist for Newsweek.  Along the way, Ellis has become one of the foremost commentators on race, class, poverty and prejudice in America. He is the author of a dozen books including the best-selling “Rage of a Privileged Class.” In addition to a little personal project—writing his memoirs—Ellis is working on a historical essay for Pinkerton that looks at the foundation’s fifty years of giving in the context of changing trends in youth development.