Future Leaders Institute Charter School

Head of School, Future Leaders Institute Charter School

Peter has over 16 years experience in public and private education as a teacher and administrator. Although the bulk of his teaching experience is with middle school students, Peter has taught students from every grade level from Kindergarten through college. He has also worked in schools as a coach of track and field, debate and drama. Prior to working at FLI, Peter was the Associate Head of School for six years at St. Philip's Academy, an independent K-8 school in Newark, NJ. He also served as the principal of two New Jersey parochial schools, in Tranquility and Waldwick. In addition, Peter has worked with Public/Private Ventures, a non-profit research corporation and New Jersey SEEDS, an organization that works with students from disadvantaged backgrounds and helps to place them in selective junior high and secondary schools. Peter holds an undergraduate degree from Haverford College and graduate degrees from the London School of Economics and New York University.

Vice-President for Planned Giving, North Shore Animal League

For a number of years, Barbara was in private practice, specializing in trust, estate and probate law. She has served on numerous non-profit boards, including the YWCA-NYC. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa and her J.D. from Drake University.

Partner, Ernst & Young LLP

James is an audit partner in Ernst & Young’s New York office, where he is responsible for coordinating all E&Y services and directly overseeing audit and advisory services provided to several accounts, including a number of SEC registrants. James has been with E&Y for over fifteen years, working with clients in the oil and gas, power and utilities, manufacturing, construction, not-for-profit and property and casualty insurance sectors, as well as employee benefit plans. He has served on assignments in the firm’s U.S. National Office and overseas in London, England, where he performed audits of major multinational energy clients.

James is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Business Administration from the University of Delaware and a Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia University.

Managing Director and Counsel, Credit Suisse

Andy Hutcher is a Managing Director and Counsel at Credit Suisse, a global bank, and has worked for the bank since 1989. He is the Chief Operating Officer to the Americas General Counsel and the senior lawyer advising on financing transactions for the bank's account in the capital markets around the world. In addition, Mr. Hutcher advises Credit Suisse on its financial reporting obligations in the United States and corporate governance. Prior to joining Credit Suisse, he worked as an attorney at Shearman and Sterling, a New York-based international law firm. Mr. Hutcher received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1986 and his B.S. in Commerce, with distinction, from the University of Virginia in 1983. He is a member of the New York City Bar Association and is one of the founders of a Credit Suisse Explorer Post for New York City high school students with an interest in the law and investment banking and a diversity-based summer internship program with many prominent New York law firms. He also leads pro bono service clinics with the Legal Aid Society and the Urban Justice Center.

Mrs. Broomes, a long-time resident of Harlem and a native of Barbados, has been an active member of the FLI Charter School community since 2004. Her two sons attend FLI and she is known as the foster mother of others. In addition to serving on the Board, she has completed two successful terms as the President of the Parent Involvement Council. Mrs. Broomes is an activist for Democracy Builders, an organization which empowers parents to advocate and organize in support of public school choice where she works to build a sustainable base of parent advocates, one parent at a time. Mrs. Brooms works as an Accountant for EGR International and is currently preparing to become an ordained minister. She received her degrees from the City College of New York and the Eagle Bible Training Center.

Uncommon Knowledge & Achievement Teacher U, Director of Growth and Development

Ray is responsible for executing the UKA Teacher U’s growth strategy and for developing the resources required to support the expansion efforts. Before joining Teacher U, Ray worked almost ten years at Capital Research Company, one of the nation’s three largest mutual fund companies. At Capital, he was a Vice-President with research and portfolio management responsibility for US insurance and healthcare service companies. Prior to Capital, Ray spent four years as an Associate at Morgan Stanley Asset Management and a Senior Financial Analyst at Merrill Lynch. He is former Chair of the Odyssey Charter School Governing Board, a K-8 charter school, in Pasadena, California and has been a board member of the Posse Foundation (Los Angeles). He also serves on the boards of the Albert G. Oliver Program and Teachers Network. Ray earned his B.A. in Government, cum laude, from Harvard College and his MBA from Harvard's Graduate School of Business Administration. Outside of work and his community activities, Ray enjoys politics, theatre, and college basketball.

Partner, Third Wave Global Investors, LLC

Doug is responsible for Marketing and Client Services. Doug previously developed and headed Columbia Management Group's Strategic Advisory Services department, providing asset allocation and other advisory services to institutional investors and high net worth families and family offices. At mPower Advisors, LLC, Doug headed the Product Development Team in charge of developing investment software. Doug also worked at J.P. Morgan in their Global Markets and Investment Management divisions. Prior to that, Doug worked at Merrill Lynch & Co. in their Investment Banking division. Doug, who is a Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst, holds a B.A. in Economics from Davidson College and an MBA in Finance from Duke University.

Director, RBC Capital Markets

Mr. Saltzman is currently Vice President at RBC Capital Markets in the firm's Alternative Assets Group, overseeing all portfolio structuring, research, and risk management of hedge fund-linked options, swaps, notes, and other derivative transactions. He also oversees risk management in the group's custody-based loan portfolio. Prior to joining RBC he was an Associate at Vista Research, with responsibility for international business development and product development efforts. Mr. Saltzman has conducted Ph.D. coursework at Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill, focusing on emerging markets and international political economy, and earned an MA from UNC. He earned his BA, magna cum laude, from Wake Forest University, where he was the top graduate in his major and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Senior Vice President, Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO)

Melody is a client servicing account manager at PIMCO, one of the world's leading fixed income investment managers. She joined PIMCO in 2000, previously having held positions in Debt Capital Markets at Salomon Brothers and Deutsche Bank. Melody is also currently the co-head of PIMCO's North America Economic Research team. She holds a bachelor's degree in international economics from Georgetown University and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, focusing on financial engineering. Outside of work, Melody is very active in the NYC community, as a mentor to high school students and as a member of the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem Board of Directors.

Principal, Coronado Consultants

Suzanne is a lifelong communications professional with extensive corporate experience. She held a series of executive positions in New York and London with Mobil Oil and Bresnan Communications, a cable company which was acquired by Charter Communications in 2000. She has also worked as a consultant on start-up ventures in the cable and telecommunications fields. In addition, she co-founded Coronado Consultants, which provides communications and strategy services to nonprofit and business clients. Suzanne, who helped to create and run two nonprofits with an environmental focus, currently serves as a Board member of Global Partnership for Afghanistan. She holds a B.A. from Southern Methodist University and has done graduate work in business administration at Baruch College.

Founder and Director, New School Incubator and High Performance Network for the New York State Charter School Association

The New School Incubator is a program developed to seed and grow strong and sustainable community based charter schools dedicated to educating underserved student populations. He is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in new school planning and also the development of internal systems of accountability to drive continuous improvement. Dirk has been the lead developer or rejuvenator for several charter schools, including the National Blue Ribbon award winning American Indian Charter School in Oakland, California. During his 15 years working with charter schools, Dirk has focused on underserved community groups, helping them develop and implement high quality and sustainable schools. Prior to his work with NYCSA, he served as COO and interim CEO for the New York City Center for Charter School Excellence, and consulted for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, post-Katrina in New Orleans. He also led the school based aspects of RAND education’s largest project; reform of the education system of the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar, and the implementation of charter-like “independent schools” there. His charter school work began in Oakland, California, where he led or developed several high achieving schools and founded a charter support organization, Oakland Charters Together. Dirk earned his B.A. from SUNY Albany and his J.D. and master’s degree in jurisprudence and social policy from UC Berkeley.

Executive Assistant to the President, Bergen Community College

Ray currently works to advance numerous college-wide initiatives in Paramus, NJ. He has a longstanding interest in education which began while attending Columbia College. He was a student teacher at JFK High School and went on to teach at Theodore Roosevelt High School in the Bronx. Since then he has worked for the NYC Department of Youth Services and after attending University at Buffalo School of Law and working in private practice, he joined the staff at Brooklyn College where he worked as an adjunct assistant professor, assistant director for legal services and labor relations associate. Ray is a renowned trainer, group facilitator and counselor.