TEAK Board of Directors

Robert is a Partner at Apollo Global Management where he primarily focuses on private equity investments in the services and technology sectors. He serves on the board of directors of TD Synnex (NYSE:SNX), West Technology Group, EmployBridge and Avaya. Robert previously served on the board of directors of Alorica, Hexion, Ingenico, Momentive Performance Materials, Noranda Aluminum and Tech Data and was also involved in the firm’s investment in Evertec. Prior to joining Apollo in 2010, he was a member of the Investment Banking group at Morgan Stanley. Robert received his B.B.A. from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, where he graduated summa cum laude. In addition to co-chairing TEAK’s Board, Robert is a member of the Apollo Opportunity Foundation grants council. Robert lives in New York City with his wife and two children.

Matthew is Head of Global Investment Banking at RBC Capital Markets. He joined RBC in January 2015 as the Co-Head of Financial Sponsors and, previously, spent 20 years at UBS Investment Bank, most recently serving as its U.S. Head of Financial Sponsors. At RBC, Matthew is responsible for U.S. Investment Banking and managing RBC’s relationships with some of the largest and most active private equity firms in the world. Matthew serves on the firm’s Global Capital Markets and U.S. Regional Operating Committees and is a member of the firm’s Commitments Committee. Matthew is a member of the Board of Youth, INC., and is a David Rockefeller Fellow of the Partnership for New York City. He received a B.A from the University of Michigan and lives in New York City with his wife and two children.

Jared is a Vice Chairman at Newmark Group specializing in Tenant and Landlord representation. Prior to joining Newmark as an Executive Managing Director in 2013, he held a 12-year tenure with Cushman & Wakefield, where he was annually recognized as a top producer and received the top producing brokerage professional honor at his level in 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2011. Earlier in his career, he was named a “Rising Star” by Real Estate Weekly. Since joining Newmark nearly 10 years ago, Jared has been consistently ranked in the top 5% of all brokerage professionals nationally. Jared earned a B.S. in Marketing at Lehigh University and lives in New York City with his wife Ally and their two children.

Chris is a Managing Director and Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of General Atlantic, a global growth equity firm. He also serves on the firm’s Operating Committee. He manages General Atlantic’s global legal operations, which includes oversight of investments and dispositions, capital partnering, tax planning, risk management, and compliance. Before joining General Atlantic in 2000, Chris was a corporate lawyer associated with Hunton & Williams and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. He holds a B.A. with high distinction in History from the University of Virginia, and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. Chris joined the TEAK Board in 2012 and lives in Manhattan with his wife Shelly and their two children. 

Caryn Seidman Becker is the Chairman and CEO of CLEAR, the secure identity company. Over the past 13 years, she has grown CLEAR into a global, customer-obsessed brand serving 54 airports, over 17 million members and a growing list of B2B partners across the travel, health, sports and financial services industries. As CEO, Caryn has pursued her vision of using identity to create a more frictionless world, with an obsession on delivering an amazing customer experience. With over 4,000 full time employees across the United States, CLEAR is shaping the future of how we work, live and travel. 

Prior to CLEAR, from 2002 to 2009, Caryn started and was the Managing Partner of Arience Capital, an over $1 billion value-oriented asset management firm focused on investing in companies across a broad spectrum of industries including consumer, technology, aerospace and defense and turnarounds. Prior to Arience Capital, she served as Managing Director at Iridian Asset Management, an investment advisor firm, and Assistant Vice President at Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder, an investment bank. 

Caryn has served as a director of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD), a home improvement retailer, since March 2022. She previously served as a director of Lemonade, Inc. (NYSE: LMND), an insurance company, from 2018 to June 2022, and a director and member of the audit committee of CME Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CME), a public financial market company, from 2009 to 2012. 

In 2004, Caryn created the Happy Elephant Foundation which supports education, child wellness, and the New York City community. Caryn is an active member of the community and sits on the Board of Trustees for the Partnership for New York City and is a Board Member of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum and previously The School for Ethics and Global Leadership. 

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan.

Jonathan is Co-CEO of TowerBrook Capital Partners, Co-Chair of its Portfolio Committee, and a member of the Management Committee. Previously, Jonathan was a Managing Director at Soros Private Equity and a member of the Principal Investment Area and Real Estate Principal Investment Area of Goldman Sachs in New York. Jonathan earned a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan and received his M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Jason Caldwell has been in the Independent School Admissions field for 15 years, previously serving as the Director of Middle and Upper School Admissions at the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn and currently as the Director of Nursery – 12th grade Admissions at his Alma Mater, Horace Mann School which is located in Bronx, New York. Previously, before working with the TEAK Fellowship, Jason served on the Breakthrough New York Board (Formerly Summberbridge) between 2010-2019 and served on the Board of Artworks for Youth (a South African based enrichment program for students) from 2009-2012. He began his career as the Regional Admissions Dean for the Mid-Atlantic at Swarthmore College. In addition to his work in education, Jason is a screenwriter with a handful of television projects in development. Jason lives in the Riverdale section of the Bronx with his wife, Demetra and daughters, Cameron and Alexis.

Mike is a member of the Private Equity investment team at Harvest Partners, a private equity firm with over 40 years of experience investing in middle-market companies and partnering with high-quality management teams to acquire and build growing businesses. Mike joined Harvest in 2003. Previously, he was a Partner at J. H. Whitney & Co. where he completed private equity transactions in a number of sectors including general industrial, business services and healthcare. Before Whitney, Mike held positions at American Industrial Partners where he focused on acquiring middle market manufacturing businesses, and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in corporate finance. Mike has a B.S. in Economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Andrew Ferrer is a Managing Director at General Atlantic and focuses on investments in the Consumer sector. He serves on the boards of General Atlantic portfolio companies Authentic Brands Group, Grupo Axo, FORMA Brands, Open Farm and Vegamour. He also serves on the Board of the Center for Supportive Schools, a peer mentoring organization based in Princeton, NJ. Prior to joining General Atlantic in 2014, Andrew worked at Sycamore Partners, Warburg Pincus, Berkshire Partners and Goldman Sachs. He holds an AB from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Andrew lives with his wife Sophie and three children in Brooklyn. He joined the TEAK Board in 2021.

John is a Search Consultant at RG175, a leadership and governance consulting firm for independent schools all over the country, and international schools around the world. Previously, John served as TEAK’s Executive Director for six years. Under John’s Leadership, TEAK developed and funded a strategic plan to grow the Fellowship by 50% over a ten year period. 

Prior to TEAK, John worked for 32 years at independent boarding schools Fessenden School, Western Reserve Academy, St. Paul's School, and Peddie School. At Fessenden, Western Reserve, and St. Paul's, John played nearly every conceivable role in a residential school, including teacher, coach, dormitory supervisor, department head, director of college counseling, director of admissions, and dean of faculty.

In 2001, John was appointed to serve as head of school at Peddie in Hightstown, New Jersey, and retired from Peddie in 2013. During his twelve years of leadership, John conceived and executed two strategic plans that resulted in a new Science Center, History House, and Athletic Center, a 65% increase in the number of applicants as well as a 12% increase in selectivity, innovative programming including the establishment of sister-schools in Shanghai, China and New Delhi, India, and significant advancement of the financial foundation of the institution.

John served as a trustee at Choate-Rosemary Hall School, Cardinal Spellman High School, Trenton Community Charter School, American Boychoir School, Beech Hill Middle School, and New Jersey Association of Independent Schools. John earned his B.A. from Wesleyan University and his M.Ed. from Harvard University.

Jacqueline is a senior member of the investment team at Berkshire Hathaway. In addition, she sits on the executive leadership team of Geico insurance company. Before joining Berkshire Hathaway, Jacqueline was a member of Union Square Ventures' Investment Team after serving as the Latin America Desk Lead at Dataminr,Inc. and as an early member on IBM's Watson project. Jacqueline is a member of the board of directors of Special Friends Foundation, a 501 c-3 dedicated to helping adults with disabilities find permanent housing. Jacqueline graduated magna cum laude from New York University with a dual degree in Economics and African Studies.

Jared is a Senior Managing Director at Centerbridge, where he focuses on investments in the Technology, Media & Telecom sector. Prior to joining Centerbridge in 2016, Jared was an Associate at Silver Lake Partners, a private equity firm focused on investments in technology and related growth companies operating at scale. Previously, Jared was an Investment Banking Analyst within the Global Industrial and Services Group at Credit Suisse First Boston. Jared graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Jared serves on the Boards of Directors of Acoustic, L.P., Computer Services, Inc. (CSI), Netwrix Corporation, Precisely and Speedcast Holdings LLC.

Amy is a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and is the head of Market Structure and Strategic Partnerships for the Global Markets Division. She is responsible for cross-asset strategic business development efforts and her areas of focus include market  infrastructures, systemic and operational risks and digitization. Amy was named to Fortune magazine’s 40 Under 40 list in Finance in 2020. Before joining Goldman Sachs in 2006, Amy worked in Global Credit Trading. Amy serves on the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Global Markets Advisory  Committee and Market Risk Advisory Committee, the boards of the International Swaps and  Derivatives Association (ISDA), Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE), and ICE Clear Credit, and  the risk committees of ICE Clear Credit and ICE Clear Europe on behalf of the firm. Amy earned a B.A. from Bucknell University and M.B.A. from Columbia University, and was awarded the George E. Doty Global Master’s Degree Fellowship.

Kim is chairperson of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld LLP.  Kim guides the strategic direction of Akin Gump, heads the firm’s management committee, and plays a leading role in ensuring the firm’s continued commitment to the highest levels of client service and in strengthening its dedication to diversity and inclusion, pro bono work, and attorney excellence. Kim has played a key part in the enhancement of the firm’s overall performance and has earned numerous industry recognitions and plaudits for her leadership. Among them, in 2020 she was named by the Financial Times as one of its Innovative Law Firm Leaders. Throughout her career, Kim has been a pioneer in efforts to enhance diversity and inclusion and attract the best talent to the profession. Under Kim’s leadership, in 2020, Akin Gump earned Mansfield 3.0 Certified Plus certification for its success in promoting women, lawyers of color, LGBTQ+ lawyers and lawyers with disabilities into leading roles at the firm. Kim also spearheaded Akin Gump’s efforts to join with other firms in launching the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance. Kim earned her J.D. at Fordham University School of Law and her B.A. at the University of Pennsylvania, cum laude.

Christina is Litigation Corporate Counsel at Jazz Pharmaceuticals and a member of TEAK Class 2. Previously, Christina was Counsel in Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler’s Litigation department. Christine was the Firm’s 2016 Diversity Fellow, 2022 Pathfinder for the Leadership Council of Legal Diversity, and a member of the Diversity and Cybersecurity Committees. Christina also received a New York County Lawyers Association 2023 Pro Bono Award in connection with her pro bono work at the Firm. Prior to joining PBWT, Christina clerked for Judge Nelson Roman in the Southern District of New York. From 2014 through 2016, she served as a litigation associate at Paul Weiss. Christina completed her B.A. at Trinity College and earned a J.D. from Yale Law School. At YLS, Christina was a Co-Director of the Advocacy for Children & Youth Clinic, and Vice President of the Black Law Student’s Association. 

Alex is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Garnett Station Partners, a principal investment firm with over $2 billion of Assets Under Management. Prior to GSP, Alex worked in private equity at Apollo Global Management, where he focused on transactions in the industrials, business services, gaming and real estate sectors. Prior to Apollo, Alex worked at Goldman Sachs in the firm’s Industrials Investment Banking Group. Alex is a Trustee of the Heckscher Foundation for Children and America Needs You. Alex received an M.B.A. with Honors from Harvard Business School and a A.B. with Honors in Government and Economics from Harvard College.

Ehren is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at LionTree, an independent investment and merchant banking firm, with a focus on media, technology, telecommunications and the broader digital economy. Prior to co-founding LionTree in 2012, Ehren served as Co-Head of US Mergers & Acquisitions at UBS, where his role also included overseeing the UBS Fairness Opinion Committee. In his 10 years at UBS, Ehren also served as Deputy Head of US M&A and Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications M&A. Ehren worked at Continuum Group Limited and Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette prior to UBS. Ehren is a member of the Board of Directors of Child Mind Institute. He graduated with a BS in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Ehren lives in New York City with his wife and three children.

Jud is a private investor and partner at Plough Penny Partners. Prior to joining Plough Penny, he worked from 1989 until 1998 at Japonica Partners, an investment firm run by Paul Kazarian. He received a B.A. in History from Denison University in 1989 and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School in 1994. Jud is on the board of trustees at Lang Center for Entrepreneurship at Columbia Business School, Eaglebrook School, and The Teak Fellowship.

Adam is a Partner at Sidley Austin LP, representing large-cap and middle-market private equity funds and their portfolio companies in leveraged acquisitions, mergers, strategic investments, growth financings and similar transactions. For the last 20-plus years, Adam has served as a trusted adviser to a mega-cap private equity fund and its affiliates and portfolio companies in many of its complex, global leveraged buyout/carve-out transactions and public company acquisitions. Adam is recommended in The Legal 500 U.S. 2017–2018 for M&A: Middle-Market. Adam earned a J.D. at Fordham University School of Law and a B.S. in Economics at Cornell University.

Susan is a Managing Director at Blackstone. Previously, she was Director in the Financial Sponsors Group within the Investment Banking Division at Credit Suisse. Prior to joining Credit Suisse in 2013, Susan was in the Leveraged Finance Group at BMO Capital Markets. Susan started her career at Goldman Sachs in the Financing Group and graduated from Wellesley College in 2006 with a double major in Economics and Chinese Language and Literature. Susan joined TEAK's Next Generation Board in 2018 and served as Co-Chair from 2020 to 2023.

Marc Becker is Senior Partner at Apollo Global Management and served as Chair of the TEAK Board of Directors from 2017-2022. Marc is a 25-year veteran of Apollo, Co-lead of Apollo Impact, and has overseen the Firm’s private equity efforts in the business services, transportation and; logistics, financial services, payments, real estate services, homebuilders, and building products industry verticals. Marc also sits on the investment committee for Apollo’s private equity division and chairs the investment committee for Apollo’s US and Asia real estate private equity division. He is a member of the firm's Citizenship steering committee. Marc has served on several boards of directors of companies backed by Apollo-managed funds, including his current position as Chair of the board of ADT Corporation. He has previously served on the board of directors of Sun Country Airlines, Realogy Corporation, Affinion Group Holdings, Inc., CEVA Holdings, LLC, Evertec Group, LLC, National Financial Partners, Novitex Holdings, Inc., Quality Distribution, Inc., Pacer International, Apollo Residential Mortgage, Inc., and SourceHOV Holdings Inc. 

Marc chaired the board of Park Avenue Synagogue, and is a member of the University of Pennsylvania’s undergraduate financial aid leadership council. Before joining Apollo, Marc worked in the investment banking division of Smith Barney Inc. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, where he is a frequent guest lecturer.

Robert served as president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank from 2015-2021. He was previously the Martin Marshall Professor of Management Practice in Business Administration and Harvard Business School Senior Associate Dean for External Resources. A Senior Director of Goldman, Sachs & Co., Rob joined the company’s Corporate Finance Department as an Associate in 1983 and became a Managing Director in 1990. Rob is the Co-Chairman of the Board of Project A.L.S., Co-Chair of the Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center Council, and a member of the Board of the Harvard Medical School, The Jewish Museum, and The Jewish Theological Seminary. Rob is the author of What To Ask The Person In The Mirror (Harvard Business Review Press, 2011) and is also a graduate of the University of Kansas (1979) and Harvard Business School (1983). He joined the TEAK Board in 1998.

Justine Stamen Arrillaga is the Founder of The TEAK Fellowship. Justine served as Executive Director of The TEAK Fellowship from 1998 until 2006 and then as Board Co-Chair from 2006 until 2013, when she was appointed Chair Emeritus. She is a fourth generation Californian, raised in Los Angeles. In 1992, Justine graduated from Brown University and moved to New York City, where she began her work in nonprofit and was deeply moved by the life-changing potential of academic and personal enrichment programs for low-income youth. After serving as Assistant Director of the Tiger Foundation in Manhattan and Director of Summerbridge at Riverdale, an academic enrichment program in the Bronx, she founded The TEAK Fellowship in 1998. The tragic murders of both her childhood best friend, Teak Dyer, and one of her beloved students from the Bronx, DeWitt White, inspired her to create The TEAK Fellowship in their memory. Justine and her husband John Arrillaga, Jr. live in Northern California and Hawaii with their three sons. Justine is a trustee of StoryCorps and an active supporter of the Cambodian Children’s Fund and The Sean Parker Center for Allergy Research at Stanford University, where she is a member of the Community Council Advisory. Justine was a weekly volunteer at Fisher House at the Palo Alto VA for ten years and is a lifelong painter, represented by Art Dimensions Gallery in Los Angeles. She enjoys tennis, travel and watching the TEAK Alums’ lives unfold in countless beautiful ways.