August Heckscher

Founder

Genie Rice

Chairman

Genie began her professional career in the arts, working in various administrative and managerial capacities for major cultural institutions, including the Smithsonian Institution and The New York State Council on the Arts.

During the 1970s and 1980s she became heavily involved in community advocacy and preservation, culminating in the co-founding of CIVITAS Citizens, Inc. with August Heckscher in 1981.

Mark Alexander

President

Joanna Delson

Executive Vice President

Joanna Delson joined the board in June 2012. Joanna grew up in Yorkville and attended Brearley and the University of Southern California. Joanna and her husband, David Venderbush, live with their three children in a rowhouse they renovated on East 106th Street.

Joanna has a background as a high school English teacher and administrator. For the last decade she has run her business, Space Management, which specializes in design and planning for small spaces.

James T. B. Tripp

Co-Vice President

James T. B. Tripp serves as Co-Vice President and long-serving board member of CIVITAS, He has held leadership roles within CIVITAS for decades, including serving as Vice President and an early Executive Vice President. His work with the organization centers on neighborhood planning, public transit infrastructure, sustainability, and opposing overdevelopment or harmful streetscape disruptions in Manhattan. 

James was a Senior Counsel and the former long-standing General Counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) where he guided major environmental legal actions starting in 1973. He has lent his legal and environmental expertise to groups like the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, and New Partners for Community Revitalization. 

Nicholas Alexander

Co-Vice President

Kevin Simek

Co-Vice President

Conrad Foa

Co- Treasurer

• Chairman of Foa & Son Corporation, an international insurance brokerage firm that negotiates insurance coverage on behalf of businesses and consumers.

• Graduated from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

• Received a Master’s Degree in Economics from the London School of Economics.

• Member, North American Board of the London School of Economics.
  
  

Evgenia Belyavskaya

Co- Treasurer

ParEvgenia Belyavskaya has 15 years of experience working with multinational businesses and high-net-worth individuals. She provides tax compliance and advisory services on cross-border transactions, corporate international restructuring, U.S. entity formation and dissolution issues, as well as global mobility matters and expatriate tax assistance.

Eve has worked with numerous clients and PKF colleagues around the world on transfer pricing issues and U.S. nexus tax regulations. She has prepared numerous memoranda regarding U.S. tax implications for foreign clients, and she is a contributor to the Firm’s Thought Leadership series.

Currently, Eve is spearheading the Firm’s efforts to grow its client base in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Eastern European and Asian countries.

Eve is an active member of various international business organizations and chambers of commerce.

agraph

Natasha Brown

Secretary

Natasha Szarkowski Brown has been a CIVITAS board member since 2009.  She is currently the CIVITAS secretary and sits on the zoning and executive committees.As a life-long New Yorker, Natasha joined CIVITAS because of the organization’s balanced approach to preservation and development within the neighborhood and the their dedication to improving the quality of life on the Upper East Side and East Harlem.

Natasha has had a 20 year career in commercial real estate. She graduated with an BA in History of Art from Cornell University and holds a Masters in Real Estate Development from Columbia University. Natasha lives in Carnegie Hill with her husband, son and dog.