Board Chair, Deborah Sagner
Sagner Family Foundation
Board Member since 2007
Deborah Sagner, LCSW, is the president of the Sagner Family Foundation, a social change philanthropy organization, whose mission is to support non-profits working to make structural change in order to advance social, economic, and racial justice in our society. She is also the vice president of The Sagner Companies, Inc., a residential and commercial real estate development company. Before assuming these responsibilities, Ms. Sagner practiced as a family and play therapist at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ and at the Market Street Mission in Morristown. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of Jewish Family Services of MetroWest New Jersey, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and the Democracy Alliance. She serves on the public policy committee of the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers, and was a member of New Jersey Governor John Corzine's Transition Team for Health and Human Services. Raised in New Jersey, Deborah has a BA from Brandeis University, an MA from Tufts, and an MSW from Fordham. She has four grown children.

Stuart Appelbaum
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU)
Board Member since 2008
Stuart Appelbaum became President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union on May 1, 1998. He is also an International Vice President and member of the Executive Board of the 1.4 million-member United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. He serves as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store International Union and Industry Benefit Funds. He is an officer of two global union federations: IUF (International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations) and UNI (Union Network International). He is a Vice President of the Consortium for Worker Education. Prior to the disaffiliation of the UFCW from the AFL-CIO, Appelbaum served as a Vice President of the national AFL-CIO and a member of the federation’s Executive Council from 1998 until 2005. He also currently serves as a vice president of the New York State AFL-CIO and the New York City Central Labor Council. Appelbaum previously served as Chief House Counsel of the Democratic National Committee. He also previously worked for the Michigan State AFL-CIO, and as Executive Assistant to the Secretary of the State of Connecticut. Appelbaum is a summa cum laude graduate of Brandeis University, where he was named a Louis Dembitz Brandeis Scholar and was elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated with honors from Harvard Law School. He is a member of the bar of the State of Connecticut. Appelbaum resides in New York City.

Secretary, Ken Grossinger
CrossCurrents Foundation
Board Member since 2008
Ken Grossinger is co-founder and Executive Director of the CrossCurrents Foundation, a non-profit foundation supporting social and economic justice. Grossinger worked for more than twenty years in the labor movement prior to entering the world of philanthropy. He represented public and private sector workers at Service Employees International Union for ten years, and for the next decade he directed Legislative Field Operations for the AFL-CIO. Formerly a community organizer, Grossinger launched the Human SERVE Fund, a national advocate organization that initiated and led the successful fight for passage of the National Voter Registration Act, commonly known as Motor Voter. He has also served as Director of Programs for the Proteus Fund, where he oversaw staff and program areas that managed millions of dollars in foundation grants. Grossinger’s published work analyzes labor and community organizing strategy, and he holds a Masters degree from Columbia University. In addition to managing CrossCurrents, Grossinger is a commissioner on the Washington, DC Housing Authority Board of Commissioners and serves on several boards of directors, including the Alliance for Justice and Center for Civic Participation.

Founder, William B. Wachtel
Wachtel & Masyr, LLP
Board Member since 1999
Mr. Wachtel, son of the founder of the Drum Major Foundation, Harry Wachtel, is the founding partner of Wachtel & Masyr, a law firm comprised of approximately 30 attorneys specializing in domestic and international business transactions and litigations. He is a graduate of the University of Vermont (B.A. 1975, magna cum laude) and Columbia University (J.D., 1979); Phi Beta Kappa; Harlan Fiske Scholar. Mr. Wachtel was the legislative assistant to United States Senator P.J. Leahy from 1974-75. He is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the American Bar Association. Mr. Wachtel is also founder of the Why Tuesday? Campaign. Why Tuesday? is a bipartisan effort to increase voter participation in our electoral process by moving our federal Election Day from the first Tuesday in November to the first Saturday and Sunday of the month.
Letter from the Founder

Cecilia Clarke
Sadie Nash Leadership Project
Board Member since 2003
Cecilia Clarke is Founding Director of the Sadie Nash Leadership Project, a grassroots organization that supports the leadership and activism of low-income young women (ages 14-18) from New York City public schools. The program works with over 150 young women annually through education programs, job training and practical leadership support. Cecilia has over 15 years experience in non-profit management. She began her career as a social worker, counseling women at Fountain House, a residential “club house” program for the mentally ill. Cecilia then became the Manager of Government Grants at The Brooklyn Museum of Art; from the Museum, she moved to The Drawing Center as Associate Director, and later was appointed Executive Director of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, a 60 year old arts organization serving young emerging artists.
Learn more about SNLP

Sandra Cuneo
Cuneo Advocates
Board Member since 2002
Ms. Cuneo is an attorney who is a native New Yorker with strong ties to Washington, D.C., and has lived and worked in both cities for most of her professional career. From September 2004 to the present, Ms. Cuneo has served as the Executive Director for Police Assessment Resource Center. She was previously the director of claimant services at Trial Lawyers Care, a nonprofit organization that referred 9-11 victims and families to pro bono attorneys who helped them file claims with the federal Victims Compensation. From 1995 until 1998, Ms. Cuneo was the Executive Director of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial in Washington, D.C. For the two years prior, she served as the Washington Counsel to the Governor of New York State. Ms. Cuneo graduated cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 1983.

Jennifer Cunningham
Knickerbocker SKD
Board Member since 2005
Jennifer Cunningham currently serves as a Senior Advisor to 1199 SEIU and a Political Consultant with Knickerbocker SKD, a leading strategic and political communications firm. Jennifer has decades of experience in issue advocacy, grass-roots mobilization and political campaigns at the local, state and national level. Before advising the 1199 SEIU, which represents 250,000 healthcare workers throughout New York State, she served as its Executive Vice President. In her capacity as EVP, Jennifer directed the Union's extensive political and communication program with a statewide staff of over 50 professionals, a 100 station telecommunications center and a member-drive political action fund with annual revenues of over $4 million. Prior to her election at 1199 SEIU, she served as the Executive Director of the SEIU New York State Council. Jennifer came to SEIU after serving in the New York State Assembly for several years as Deputy Council to Speaker Sheldon Silver. A graduate of Wesleyan University and NYU Law School, Jennifer worked for several years as a lawyer with the firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.

Rosanna M. Durruthy
Aequus Group
Board Member since 2003
Rosanna is the founder and President of Aequus Group, a human capital development consultancy focused on developing and realizing the talents of individuals in work and life. Prior to Aequus Group, Rosanna developed her skills and experiences through two decades in corporate and line human resources management. She has held executive positions in human resources at Vivendi Universal, Blockbuster, and Merrill Lynch. Her leadership responsibilities have included strategy, design and implementation in global diversity, leadership development, staffing and technology with these high performing, global industry leaders. In 2002, Rosanna was recognized by both Hispanic and Hispanic Business magazines on their annual lists of leading Hispanic Women.

Matthew Goldstein
City University of New York
Board Member since 1999
Dr. Matthew Goldstein has served as Chancellor of the City University of New York since September 1999. He is the first CUNY graduate to lead the nation's most prominent urban public university (City College, Class of 1963). Dr. Goldstein has served in senior academic and administrative positions for more than twenty years, including as President of Baruch College; President of the Research Foundation; and as Acting Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of CUNY. Prior to being named Chancellor, he was President of Adelphi University.

Robert F. Kennedy
Waterkeeper Alliance
Board Member since 2002
Robert F. Kennedy's reputation as a resolute defender of the environment stems from a litany of successful legal actions: prosecuting governments and companies for polluting the Hudson River and Long Island Sound; winning settlements for the Hudson Riverkeeper; arguing cases to expand citizen access to the shoreline, and suing sewage treatment plants to force compliance with the Clean Water Act. Mr. Kennedy serves as Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, Chief Prosecuting Attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and President of the Waterkeeper Alliance. He is also a Clinical Professor and Supervising Attorney at the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic at Pace University School of Law in New York. Earlier in his career he served as Assistant District Attorney in New York City.

Martin Luther King, III
Realizing the Dream
Board Member since 1999
The elder son of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Martin Luther King, III has taken the torch lit by his father and continued the quest for equality and justice for all people. Since early adulthood, he has motivated audiences around the world with his poignant messages of hope and responsibility. His vision of a positive future built upon the principles taught by his father has touched thousands from Mozambique to Mississippi. A human rights advocate, community activist and political leader, Mr. King has been actively involved in significant policy initiatives to maintain the fair and equitable treatment of citizens at home and abroad.

Treasurer, Morris Pearl
BlackRock
Board Member Since 2006
Mr. Pearl is a managing director with BlackRock, one of the largest investment management firms in the world. He works on the infrastructure for managing risk in mortgage investments for both portfolios managed by BlackRock, and for portfolios managed by other managers for whom BlackRock supplies risk management services. Previously Mr. Pearl was the head of the Fixed Income Quantitative Research group at UBS, and its predecessor firms Kidder Peabody and PaineWebber, where he was elected managing director in 1997. His primary focus was on securitizing mortgages, and building the infrastructure which allowed his group to be the number one underwriter of collateralized mortgage obligations. Mr. Pearl began his Wall Street career in the financial strategies group at Prudential Bache Capital Funding in 1986. Mr. Pearl received his Bachelor of Science in Economics degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and his Bachelor of Applied Science degree from the School of Engineering and Applied Science of the University of Pennsylvania, both in 1982.

Tom Watson
Changing Our World, Inc.
Board Member since 2003
New York Internet pioneer Tom Watson is co-founder of Changing Our World Inc., a national philanthropic services company, its Chief Information Officer, and publisher of its media arm, onPhilanthropy.com. Under Tom's leadership, Changing Our World has become a national leader in the use of online fundraising and media technology on behalf of its non-profit clients, and maintains the largest email network for philanthropy professionals. Before joining Changing Our World, Tom was co-founder and co-editor of atNewYork.com, the pioneering Internet news and information service that has chronicled the rise of New York's Silicon Alley since 1995. Tom also co-founded SiliconAlleyJobs.Com, the leading online resource for new media jobs in the greater metropolitan area. He has been a columnist for The New York Times and a contributing writer to The Industry Standard. His work has also appeared in Wired, the Los Angeles Times, and many other publications. Tom is also a co-author of the recent book, Fundraising on the Internet. Tom is a Guest Contributor on the DMIBlog, and has his own Typepad blog.
tomwatson.typepad.com

Randi Weingarten
United Federation of Teachers
Board Member Since 2006
Randi Weingarten is president of the United Federation of Teachers, representing more than 140,000 active and retired educators in the New York City public school system since 1998. She is also a vice-president of the 1.2-million-member American Federation of Teachers and a board member of New York State United Teachers. Weingarten, a vice-president of the New York City Central Labor Council of the AFL-CIO, also heads the city Municipal Labor Committee, an umbrella organization for some 100 city employee unions. As a teacher of history at Clara Barton High School in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, from 1991 to 1997, Weingarten helped her students win several state and national awards. Weingarten holds degrees from Cornell University and the Cardozo School of Law. She worked as a lawyer for the New York firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan from 1983 to 1986.

Andrew Young III
Young Solutions
Board Member since 1999
Mr. Young is president of Young Solutions, a company that manufactures envelopes for Fortune 500 companies and national non- profit organizations. With an extentive client list, Young Solutions has become the company of choice for meeting the envelope and printing needs of corporations across the country. In addition to serving on the board of DMI, Mr. Young is also very active in Hank Carter's Wheelchair Charities and the Southwest Atlanta YMCA.