Board of Directors

Michael Patterson, Chairman
Michael Patterson has worked at JP Morgan since 1987, serving as general counsel, chief administrative officer, a member of the board, and currently as a Vice Chairman of JP Morgan Chase & Co. Prior to his employment with JP Morgan, Mr. Patterson practiced law in New York and Paris as a partner of Debevoise & Plimpton. He is a trustee of Columbia University, the New York City Ballet, the Trust for Public Land, the French-American Foundation and the USA Cycling Development Foundation. Mr. Patterson completed his undergraduate work at Harvard and earned his Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School. Mr. Patterson's connection with The Child School dates from its origins in the early 1970's, when his daughter attended as one of the school's earliest students in its first Roosevelt Island location.

Ann Bailen Fisher
Ann Bailen Fisher is a partner in the New York law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, which she joined in 1976.  She worked in the firm’s New York and Paris offices prior to becoming a partner in 1984.  Ms. Fisher’s practice area is corporate finance. She specializes in domestic and international securities transactions, and her clients include multi-national corporations and foreign governments.  She is a member of the Committee on Women in the Profession of the Association of the Bar of The City of New York and a director of the Sherman Chamber Ensemble.  Ms. Fisher graduated from Radcliffe College and Harvard Law School.  Her son, Thomas, has been a student at The Child School/Legacy High School since 1995.  Ms. Fisher lives in New York City with Thomas and his older sister.


Joseph Giovannelli
Joseph Giovannelli is Associate Dean for Finance and Administration at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development. He has held several CFO positions with educational and health care organizations including serving as Vice President and Treasurer of Molloy College on Long Island, and as Vice President of the Medical and Health Research Association of New York City. He holds a Bachelors and a Masters degrees from Columbia University where he was Associate University Budget Director and where he held several other administrative appointments in the 1980's. Mr. Giovannelli's son attended the Child School from 1997 to 2004. He and his wife, Roberta Koenigsberg an attorney, live in Manhattan with their two sons.

James Houghton
James Houghton is the Founding Artistic Director of Signature Theatre Company, the first not-for-profit theatre company in the United States to devote each season of productions to the work of a single living playwright. Mr. Houghton has also served as the Artistic Director of the O’Neill Playwrights Conference (1999-2003), Artistic Director of the New Harmony Project (1996-1999), and is currently Artistic Advisor to the Guthrie Theater. In 2006 Mr. Houghton was named Richard Rodgers Director of the Drama Division at The Juilliard School. The Drama Division was founded in 1968 and is considered one of the finest artist training programs in the world. Mr. Houghton’s son has attended The Child School since 2000.

Gil Klein
Gil Klein first encountered Maari de Souza during her tenure as school psychologist at a Manhattan special-needs grammar school. Empathizing with her disappointment at the school’s failure to create a true learning environment for these children, Klein encouraged her to initiate her own extra-curricular program. This program ultimately evolved into The Child School. Klein, a former advertising executive and current Director of Corporate Purchasing at Estee Lauder Companies, brings decades of experience in marketing to his role on the Board. He is realistic about the challenges the School faces in its upcoming relocation but feels the move is essential for its progress and growth. Recalling his own experiences growing up in New York’s noisy, overcrowded schools, Klein affirms that education is the key and that a school that puts children first will always produce successful results.

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