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Meet the Bronxville NPC Nominees



NPC ENDORSES THREE NOMINEES FOR BRONXVILLE BOARD OF EDUCATION

The Bronxville Non-Partisan Committee (“NPC”) is pleased to announce its endorsement of three nominees, Michael Brandes, Erin Bertocci Seuffert and Alexa Pappas Zannetos, for the upcoming election of Trustees for the Bronxville School Board on May 17th, 2022 in the Blue Gym at the Bronxville school.

Meet our Candidates

To give the Bronxville Community an opportunity to meet Alexa, Erin and Michael, the NPC is hosting a reception on Wednesday, April 20, 2022, at 7PM at the Bronxville Field Club (40 Locust Lane, Mount Vernon, NY). Bronxville residents are encouraged to attend, learn more and ask the NPC-endorsed candidates questions.


The NPC Nomination Process

The nomination of Michael, Erin and Alexa was the culmination of a process that began in October 2021 that included: i) collecting feedback from the community, as well as current and former Trustees to understand the needs of the School Board, ii) a thorough vetting process of each of the candidates and iii) reviewing community feedback on all the candidates.


This year, the school board faces the challenge of replacing three very experienced Trustees, who have served the maximum term of 6 years, as well as hiring a replacement for school Superintendent, Dr. Roy Montesano, who will be retiring this year. Furthermore, our school district continues to work through challenging budget constraints, maintaining a dynamic curriculum, responding to evolving COVID challenges and upholding the Bronxville Promise.

While there are numerous desired characteristics of a school board Trustee, through the community feedback received and NPC member discussions, there were certain key attributes that were consistently articulated by all parties, which included the following:

- School Experience: Possesses familiarity with the Bronxville schools and local community

- Skillsets: Brings unique and valuable skillsets to address school board issues

- Governance: Demonstrates prior experience working in committee and board environments

- Engagement: Communicates and collaborates effectively with others

- Commitment: Makes time available to meet demands of the school board


With the NPC’s endorsement and support, Alexa, Erin and Michael will be placed on the ballot for the district-wide election on Tuesday, May 17, 2022 (polls are open 7AM – 9PM). The polling location is the Blue Gym at the Bronxville School (through the Meadow Avenue entrance). Further details about the election, including how to vote by absentee ballot, is available on the District website: https://www.bronxvilleschool.org/board-of-education

Please see below for more on each nominee:









Name

Michael Brandes

Professional Experience

Michael is the former Chief Investment Strategist and Head of Research for the Private Bank at Itaú Unibanco, Latin America’s largest corporate and investment bank. He held various senior roles in research and capital markets at Citigroup and predecessor firms (Salomon Smith Barney, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney) for nearly 25 years, most recently as Managing Director, Global Head of Fixed Income Strategy at the Citi Private Bank. He is currently Managing Principal at Brandes Capital Management.

Local Experience

Michael is a 10-year resident of Bronxville Village. Michael and his wife, Nadine, have two children who currently attend the Bronxville High School and previously attended the Elementary and Middle School.

Skillsets

Michael has 30 years of professional investment experience at various global financial institutions where he was responsible for managing global research teams and advising on billions of dollars of client assets. His role as an investment strategist balanced long-term asset allocation plans with short-term tactical needs, modeling investment scenarios reflecting a range of possible outcomes. He also has substantial experience managing budgets at large financial organizations, allocating and prioritizing resources in organizations with thousands of employees. Michael’s experience with strategic planning, budgets and management will bring valuable insights to the school board.

Governance

Michael served as a senior member of investment policy committees at the aforementioned banks for nearly two decades, where he collaborated in group decision-making among a broad range of international constituents. This required having to distill divergent opinions into effective and focused investment decisions. He was also a founding member and active contributor to Citigroup’s Diversity Committee.

Engagement

Michael has a significant background as a public keynote speaker and communicator at financial industry conferences and global client events. He was a frequent guest speaker for minority community outreach and educational events sponsored by Citigroup. He also created educational materials and taught classes for Citi’s incoming employees. Michael routinely made media appearances, authored opinion articles, contributed to research reports and wrote the book Naked Guide to Bonds, Stripped Down to the Bare Essentials (Wiley & Sons, 2003).

Commitment

Michael previously served as a New York City Public School 87 William T. Sherman Parents Association Board Liaison. His current professional obligations allow him to commit a substantial amount of his time to the school board’s efforts.









Name

Erin Bertocci Seuffert

Professional Experience

Erin is the Global Sales Campaign Management Lead at Accenture, a global professional services company, and Adjunct Professor at New York University’s School of Professional Studies.

Local Experience

Erin is a ~20 -year resident of Bronxville village. Erin and her husband, Andreas, have three children, with a child in each of the Bronxville Elementary, Middle and High Schools, providing a current perspective on all three schools. Her family moved to Bronxville in 1988; her brother graduated from The Bronxville School in 2001.

Skillsets

In her 26+ year career at Accenture, Erin has focused on successfully managing change at large organizations through organization design, talent management, training and communication. Additionally, she has experience managing multi-million dollar project budgets. Her work as a university professor for 16+ years has provided her experience shaping course curriculum balancing between consistent standards of excellence and flexibility for each classroom’s unique characteristics. Erin’s experience with budgets, change management, communications and organizational design will bring valuable insights to the school board.

Governance

Erin’s career at Accenture has given her substantial experience advising private and public company clients and boards of directors on a variety of organizational issues. Her career has been focused on understanding business challenges, developing solutions and working through the process and people-oriented issues to address or resolve those challenges. She has worked in unionized client environments, partnering successfully with people of diverse opinions to find solutions that all parties could advance together by improving communications and developing trust among stakeholders.

Engagement

Erin volunteers her time to The Community Fund (“TCF”) where for the last three years she has served as a Fund Evaluator, working with local organizations to understand their mission and funding needs, analyzing their request considering past performance, and then providing a funding/grant recommendation to the TCF Board to make fund distribution commitments.

Commitment

In addition to her commitments at Accenture, NYU and The Community Fund, Erin has continuously served the community in a variety of other roles including Class Parent and Treasurer for her children’s classes, volunteering in support of school theater productions and supporting The Bronxville School’s New Family Committee as a ‘parent connection’ for new Bronxville families.











Name

Alexa Pappas Zannetos


Professional Experience

Alexa is the Global Head of Employment Law for Morgan Stanley, a global investment bank, with responsibility for all employee related litigation and advisory matters for Morgan Stanley’s 80,000+ employees in 37 countries


Local Experience

Alexa has been a resident of Bronxville Village since 2016. Alexa and her husband, Stephen, have two children and have experience with all of Bronxville’s schools. Her eldest child graduated from Bronxville High School and her youngest child is currently in the Middle school after previously attending the Elementary school.


Skillsets

Alexa’s responsibilities at Morgan Stanley include advising management on the full range of personnel matters from recruiting and onboarding to performance management and termination in addition to legal issues involving employee benefits and compensation. She also advises the firm on matters related to diversity and inclusion and workplace health and safety (including COVID). Alexa’s extensive experience with respect to recruiting executives and developing health and diversity policies will bring valuable insights to the school board.


Governance

Alexa has significant experience working in board and committee environments. In the professional context, she serves in numerous committees and advises the Morgan Stanley Board on personnel related matters. She is a member of the Villanova University, Charles Widger School of Law Board of Consultors, is a co-chair of American University's Women's Network and has served on the American University Alumni Board.


Engagement

Alexa has successfully worked with a variety of local organizations. She was very involved in all aspects of the Chapel School Parent Teacher Organization and she co-chaired both the Chapel School’s annual Gathering of Friends Gala Fundraiser and the 75th Anniversary Gala for the Village Church. She has also volunteered on behalf of the Concordia Conservatory.


Commitment

Alexa has consistently been engaged in her children’s schools, serving in a variety of leadership roles at the Chapel School and has volunteered at the Bronxville School in numerous capacities including as a Class Parent, 9/11 Speaker, and Senior Shadowing volunteer



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