New Paragraph
CIVITAS Officers
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
Gregory J. McCarthy
Vice President
Greg McCarthy joined the CIVITAS Board in the Spring of 2016, and was named a Vice President in 2020. He serves as Co-chair of the CIVITAS Annual Benefit-our largest fundraiser for the year.
After college, Greg began his professional career at Lowengard & Brotherhood, an Advertising and Public Relations firm in Connecticut. After moving into NYC, Greg began working in the fashion industry focused on the luxury market. Most recently Greg was Vice President of Sales at ETRO, USA.Greg and his husband Peter Bickford live in Carnegie Hill.
James T. B. Tripp
Vice President
James Tripp served as General Counsel at Environmental Defense Fund with responsibilities for reviewing all of EDF’s legal action initiatives for over 25 years.
He chairs the board of New Partners for Community Revitalization and the Long Island Pine Barrens Clearinghouse Advisory Board.
He is a member of the Civitas Board, and also serves on the Boards of the the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, the Louisiana Governor’s Advisory Commission on Coastal Restoration, Conservation, and Protection, the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, and is a member of the Trade Environmental Policy Advisory Group of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
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
Evgenia 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.
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.
CIVITAS
Board of Directors 
Nicholas Alexander
William Bateson
Evgenia Belyavskaya
Lucienne S. Bloch
Margit S. Bluestein
Jeffrey N. Bluestein

William Q. Brothers
Sari Chang
Charles Devigne
Richard Harris
Jeanne G. McAnaney
Kevin McLaughlin
Roseanne Morrison
Fran Pomerantz
T. Gorman Reilly
Diana Rice
Kevin Simek
M. Sava Thomas
CIVITAS
Advisory Board
David Beer
William Bernhard
Richard Eaddy
Elise Frick
Jamie Gibbs
Roberta Hodgson
Stephen S. Lash
Robin Rivera
R. Geoffrey Roesch
Charles Warren
John S. Winkleman
Frederic G. Withington
Anthony C. Wood
Joanne Woodward
CIVITAS
Staff
Sharon joins us as Executive Director with a wealth of experience in urban planning, inclusive civic engagement, and advocacy expertise. She will continue our work in community-based planning to improve the quality of urban life in El Barrio/East Harlem and the Upper East Side.
Sharon is not new to our CIVITAS family. She was a CIVITAS board member from 2013 until she stepped down in July 2021to become our Executive Director. As a Board member, she co-chaired CIVITAS’ Land Use and Zoning Committee. Sharon created and led CIVITAS' Community Conversations, a series of discussions about CIVITAS’ building height-limit land use and zoning proposal. Sharon is also a member of Manhattan Community Board 8, where she reviews applications affecting land use, zoning, historic preservation and development.
Prior to becoming our new Executive Director, Sharon was Director of Community Outreach and Membership Program at Bike New York and a City Planner with the New York City Department of City Planning.
“Sharon is passionate about CIVITAS’ mission.
As a former CIVITAS Board member, former city planner and member of Community Board 8, Sharon shared her invaluable urban planning and community advocacy experience with us. She advises on land use and zoning; has participated in the City’s budget process and continually raises municipal service delivery issues. She has a keen insight into the city’s land use process and deep knowledge as to how city government operates."
"We look forward to Sharon’s expertise and enthusiasm to enable CIVITAS to advance its planning mission.”
- Mark Alexander, President, CIVITAS
“It is an honor and humbling to have the confidence of the Board as we celebrate CIVITAS’ 40th anniversary. I am thrilled to continue my association with CIVITAS, in this new role to further deepen our community collaborations and advocacy initiatives especially around building heights, waterfront access and improvements, transportation, environment and historic preservation.”

- Sharon Pope-Marshall, Executive Director, CIVITAS
CIVITAS Projects
Zoning
Learn about CIVITAS environmental initiatives
