BRC Champions

A community of individuals dedicated to supporting BRC’s mission 

Ways to Become a BRC Champion

The BRC Champions are a special group of like-minded individuals that believe so deeply in BRC's work that they have decided to raise funds, awareness, volunteer, and champion BRC's work and clients.

A few examples:

• Participating in a BRC signature of partner event, like our annual benefit or walkathon, or a third party event where BRC is a charity partner.

• Host or participate in a unique fundraiser of your own, like a bake sale, online birthday fundraiser, or DIY fundraiser.

• Create “in lieu of gift” options for guests of your major personal events like weddings or rite of passage ceremonies. 

• Join BRC groups like our Clyde Burton Society or our BRC Champions Leadership Council.

The BRCLeadership Council

The BRC Leadership Council includes dynamic young professionals that closely with BRC staff and administration on special projects, fundraisers, and volunteer events. 

The Leadership Council helps BRC by:

• Inviting existing networks to BRC fundraising events

• Raising funds and/or donating to support BRC's mission

• Providing expertise to assist on projects

• Volunteering

• Assisting in large and small-scale BRC fundraising events

Leadership Council members enjoy:

• Mentoring from BRC's Board of Directors

• Socializing and networking event for like-minded professionals who have a passion for service

• Opportunities to learn about policy and nonprofit management

• Executive-level experience

Members of the BRC Leadership Council

Ricardo Arguello, Bank of America Securities

Ivana Bouras, Oppenheimer & Co

Aki Cipriani, Crohns & Colitis Foundation

Craig Collins, WorkBoard Inc

Thomas Constabile, Upshow

Rachel Day, Barclays

Lillian Downing, Bronx Defenders

Tamar Frumkin, Boosted Commerce

Miriam Gottfried, Wall Street Journal

Jenny Guerrerio, McKinsey & Company

Charlotte Gundzik, Brightspire Capital

Brittany Gurkin, Lyft

Christine Hagen, Al-Karam North America

Kinya Harte, Lymphoma Research Foundation

Elizabeth Jaffe, BlackRock

Nicole Jagernauth, Bloomberg LP

Jai Lakhanpal, Advent

Alison Lis, nowfrog

Will Liu, OpenText

Bohdan Matkowsky, BAM Unlimited LLC

Shaun McElhenny, Axiom

Joseph B. McElligott, IV, Guggenheim Investments

Max McKenna, United Nations Global Compact

Ross Oshinsky, Crestview Partners

Toni Pringley, Real Chemistry

Esteban Reichberg, EAR Architecture

Samuel Rogers, Lung Cancer Research Foundation

Daniel Sills, Wayfair

Arvind Sohoni, NYC Housing Authority

Khephren Spigner, Away

Jose Stevenson, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Olutisefunmi Taiwo, Galt & Company

Kin Tam, RIA in a Box

John Tucker, Easy Aerial Inc.

Evelysse Vargas, Leeds Illuminate

Cynthia Veras, Morgan Stanley

Andres Villalon, National Audubon Society

David Walter, Nomura

Lawrence Yakobzon, Downtown Pharmacy Inc

The BRC Clyde Burton Society

The Clyde Burton Society is part of the BRC Champions network, and recognizes those supporters whose generous contributions have had a significant impact in BRC’s ability to continue its mission of helping those in need. 

The Society, revived from an earlier version that BRC had in the 1980s, is named after Clyde Burton, one of the founders of the Bowery Residents’ Committee and a former client and volunteer.  During the last years of his life, he received an unexpected windfall. He decided that the majority of this money go to help other men and women who, like him, struggled with homelessness in NYC.  He credited BRC with giving him the support he needed to turn his life around, and “when fate smiled on him,” he donated the money to BRC to help make sure others had the same access, support and resources that helped him reclaim his life. 

Members of the BRC Clyde Burton Society continue the spirit of the group’s namesake, by directly supporting BRC’s mission via donating, fundraising and volunteerism, while learning about BRC’s organization and its programs. Each year, the society will “sponsor” a specific BRC program and/or need where a significant impact can be made.

Members of the Clyde Burton Society are experienced and senior level professionals from a diverse set of backgrounds. Membership can also include family or partner/spouse groups, or individuals representing an organization that supports BRC. An annual minimum donation/fundraising expectation of $5,000, along with participation in regularly scheduled meetings and BRC fundraising events are part of the responsibilities of membership.

Members of the Clyde Burton Society

Joanne Wong, Chair

Executive Director, ABN AMRO

David Berg

Partner, Karmer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP

Chris Coulthrust

Cloud Solution Architect, Microsoft

Lisa Kail

Director,  New York University

Jai Lakhanpal

Associate, Advent Capital

Jennifer Marks

Director, Google

Harrison Marks

Senior Manager, Bain & Company 

Chris Sauer

BRC Volunteer