Our Leadership Team

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Terry Bowman
Executive Director
Terry has dedicated his career to the service of at-risk and low-income populations. He has held leadership positions, including Vice-President, Education and Workforce, at Mentored, LLC; Executive Director, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), New York; and Senior Director, Labor Policy and Implementation, at the New York City Department of Education. 
Terry Bowman
Executive Director
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Susanne Nobles, Ph.D.
Chief Academic Officer
Susanne has spent her career working to empower educators and students with research, structures, and tools for meaningful and effective learning. She led Digital Promise’s collaborative work with developers, researchers, and educators for the Learner Variability Project (LVP). Susanne has also been an adjunct instructor with Relay Graduate School of Education and a K-12 teacher and administrator for over 20 years. Her Ph.D. research focused on creating effective digital communities of practice. 
Susanne Nobles, Ph.D.
Chief Academic Officer
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Cameron Swaim
Chief Technology Officer
Cameron has been on the ReadWorks team since 2017 and has helped bring our world-class features and tools to life. Cameron earned his B.S. in Computer Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a focus on Enabling Technology. He’s spent his career working as a software engineer in a multitude of environments including startups, agencies, and large corporate institutions.
Cameron Swaim
​Chief Technology Officer

Teaching, Learning, and Content Team

Led by our Chief Academic Officer, Susanne Nobles, our Teaching, Learning, and Content (TLC) team sits at the core of everything we do. The TLC team oversees our content development, teacher guidance creation, research, and partnerships.
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Manjula Raman
Senior Director of
​Content & Curriculum
Over the eight years she has been with ReadWorks, Manjula has built our library to be the trusted resource educators love today by developing, creating, curating, and editing many of our over 5,500 texts and their curricular supports. Before joining the ReadWorks team, Manjula worked in editorial at an academic publisher and as a Writing Fellow at Brown University, where she earned her B.A. in cognitive science.
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Anh Hua, Ph.D.​
Quantitative Researcher
Anh received her Cognitive Psychology Ph.D. with a specialization in reading comprehension from the University of Denver and has a long-standing passion to conduct rigorous research to improve children’s learning outcomes. Most recently she has been working as an Assistant Research Professor at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers. Anh has experience in assessing teachers’ instructional practices and the association between teachers’ practices and students’ academic achievement as well as experience in evaluating the project’s impact on students’ reading achievement.
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Tamika Reece
Educator Support Project Manager
Tamika Reece received her Master’s degree from Relay Graduate School of Education. She joins ReadWorks with extensive classroom teaching and nonprofit experience. In 2014, she joined Teach For America, and was an elementary school teacher for 8 years. She is passionate about fostering a love of reading amongst young readers, as well as supporting teachers in this mission. She has had the privilege of coaching and mentoring teachers, as well as developing targeted Professional Development opportunities for them. Now, as a Project Manager, Tamika is eager have a greater impact through thoughtful and intentional planning in this role.
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​Liza Ware, Ph.D.
Research Project Manager
Liza received her Ph.D. in psychology from Northwestern University, with a specialization in cognitive development. Her research has focused on the development of cognition, language, and conceptual knowledge. She has extensive experience as an educator in higher education and believes that educational technologies can be powerful tools to improve learning and accessibility of material. She is passionate about supporting teachers and students with practical and research-based guidance and resources.
Manjula Raman
Senior Director of
​Content & Curriculum, Senior DEI Coordinator​
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Nathalie Karimian, Ed.D.
Content & Curricular Supports Developer​
Nathalie Karimian received her Educational Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern California, with a concentration in Educational Psychology. She has held positions as a classroom teacher, researcher, and curriculum developer.  Her research has focused on language development, play and language, and the Armenian-American population. Nathalie is passionate about impacting the classroom through research-based approaches.
Nathalie
​​​Karimian, Ed.D.
Content & Curricular
Supports Developer
Anh Hua, ​Ph.D.
Senior Quantitative
​Researcher​
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Celestina Lee
Educator Support
Specialist
Celestina is a wholehearted believer in every child’s right to read. She was a first grade classroom teacher for over a decade and now serves as a school-based reading specialist in Washington, D.C. She earned her B.A. in educational studies from Swarthmore College and her master’s degree in literacy and language development from Harvard GSE. She is passionate about elevating instructional practices that build background knowledge while reinforcing foundational skills.
Celestina Lee
Educator Support
​Specialist
Tamika Reece
Educator Support
​Project Manager
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Caitlyn Meagher
Customer Service
Specialist
Caitlyn Meagher graduated from Middlebury College, where she studied theater and english. She began her work with ReadWorks as a freelance writer and has since entered the customer service and privacy spheres. Caitlyn is passionate about the intersection between the arts and education.
Caitlyn Meagher
Content Development
​Specialist
Liza Ware, Ph.D.
Research Project
​Manager
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Paola Yuli
Content Intern​​
Paola is a first-year English Ph.D. student at Howard University. Her research interests include enslaved childhoods in Caribbean, African American, and British slave narratives. Exploring her interest in pedagogical training, Paola is also a Writing Tutor for undergraduate and graduate students at Howard and is a Private English Tutor for K-12 students.
Paola Yuli
Content ​
​Specialist​

Technology Team

Led by our Chief Technology Officer, Cameron Swaim, our Tech Team maintains and improves upon our award winning website.
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Jeffrey Fleishhacker
Senior Director of
​Product Development
Jeff is a founding member of the ReadWorks team. Working in educational technology for over twenty years, Jeff has been a part of ReadWorks (and its precursor organizations) since 2001. Born and raised as a fourth-generation San Franciscan, Jeff graduated from Columbia University and has called Brooklyn home since 2000, where he lives now with his wife, two children, and two cats.
Jeffrey Fleishhacker
Senior Director of
​Product Development
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Sandy Mak
​Senior Full Stack Engineer​ ​ 
Sandy has over five years of experience in full-stack software engineering. Prior to joining ReadWorks, she honed her skills in the mental health sector, working with both small startups and large tech corporations. Her accomplishments encompass leading, designing, and building full features that not only add value but also delight users.

With a Masters in Education, Sandy transitioned from teaching middle school English to the tech industry. Her time in the classroom instilled in her a passion for fostering empathy with audiences and creating technology that places user experience at the forefront of its focus.
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​Outside of work, Sandy enjoys indoor bouldering, taking walks with her dog Leo, and savoring a hearty bowl of noodle soup.
Sandy Mak
Senior Full
​Stack Engineer​
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Ben Nichols
Senior Back End Engineer​ ​ 
Ben is a computer engineer who went to school in Boston before starting his career in the cloud computing industry. After a crash course in the largest computing systems in the world, he moved on to working with small companies where he specializes in system automation, infrastructure design, process improvement, and all things python. In his free time he enjoys cooking, travel, reading, and stand-up comedy.​
Ben Nichols
Senior Back
​End Engineer​
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Abdul Hamid
UI Engineer
Abdul transitioned into the frontend development space shortly after obtaining his BS in Mechanical Engineering. During his career, he has used a variety of technologies to build thoughtful and accessible experiences.
Abdul Hamid
UI Engineer

Development, Marketing, and Operations Team

Led by our Executive Director, Terry Bowman, our Operations Team is responsible for marketing, fundraising, and management.
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Melissa Calder
Director of Marketing and Engagement
Melissa has led marketing and communications strategies for schools, universities and museums for more than 12 years. She has deep knowledge of education and her experience includes student and customer marketing management, digital strategy, content development, brand oversight and demand generation planning. She started her career as a graphic designer and art teacher and has always had a passion for connecting with audiences and driving results that put people at the center of a mission.
Melissa Calder
​Director of Marketing & Engagement
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Maha Kemal
Finance and Operations Executive Associate
Maha comes with over four years experience in accounting, internal audit, procurement and budget management. She previously worked for the Research Foundation of CUNY in NYC, first as the Procurement Manager and then as the Contract Manager. Her accomplishments include managing contracting and communication with over 100+ vendors and leading initiatives to improve participatory leadership.

She has both a B.S. and M.S. in Accounting from American University in Washington, D.C. and will be graduating with a MPA from the University of Texas at Austin this December 2022.
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​Outside of work, Maha likes indoor cycling, cooking her mom and grandma's recipes and road trips. She is also fluent in Urdu and Hindi and would like to become fluent in Spanish and Korean too.
Maha Kemal
Finance & Operations
​Executive Manager
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Becca Vaughn
Director of Development
Becca joined ReadWorks after graduating with her M.P.A. from Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs with concentrations in nonprofit management and public policy. Prior to ReadWorks, she worked as a supervisor at a nonprofit technology consulting clinic at Indiana University and in conservation. Becca is an AmeriCorps NCCC alumni and received her B.A. in anthropology from Southern Illinois University. 
Becca Vaughn
Director of
​Development,
​DEI Coordinator
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Margo Doolittle
Development Specialist
Margo has worked in nonprofit fundraising and development for the past 18 years. She began her work with ReadWorks in 2011 and has focused on development and partnership work during her tenure with the organization. Margo holds a B.S. from Northwestern University and an M.P.A. from Columbia University, with concentrations in nonprofit management and education policy. She lives in Weston, CT with her husband and three children.
Margo Doolittle
Chief of Staff
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LaDarrien Gillette
Development Manager
​LaDarrien Gillette is a native of South Bend, Indiana and currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Spelman College and a Master of Arts in International Law from Emory University. 

Before joining ReadWorks, LaDarrien’s love for international development and the advancement of women and girls led her to pursue a career with CARE. As Senior Program Manager, LaDarrien oversaw the Innovation Hub, a physical space at CARE that leases space to nonprofits with similar missions, hosts events, and pilot’s domestic programs focused on strengthening emergency response in the US Gulf Coast.

​LaDarrien is excited to bring her skills in community engagement, fundraising, and relationship management to ReadWorks to ensure teachers and parents have access to educational resources, and students have the ability to build their reading skills, one lesson at a time. 
LaDarrien Gillette
​Development
​Manager
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Isaias Rodriguez
Digital Content Marketing Manager
With a Bachelor's in Graphic Design, Isaias discovered a passion for impactful communication that propelled him into the dynamic world of marketing. Having dedicated years to collaborating with both local and global non-profits, he is excited to support ReadWorks' mission by bringing the unique blend of creative vision and strategic insight he has developed throughout his journey.
Isaias Rodriguez
Digital Content Marketing Manager

ReadWorks Board of Directors

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Daria L. Wallach, Chair
Lord, Abbett & Co. (Ret.)
Daria L. Wallach is the retired Managing Partner of Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC and President and Director of Lord Abbett Mutual Funds. As Managing Partner, she was responsible for setting the firm’s strategic direction and managing the day-to-day business activities of the firm, including investment management, institutional investment services, private wealth, marketing and relationship management, as well as operations, technology, human resources, finance, and legal services. She also served as a Director of Lord Abbett Passport Portfolios plc, a pooled investment fund organized in Ireland and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

​Ms. Wallach has more than 40 years of financial services industry experience, more than half of which was with Lord Abbett. She joined the firm in 1990 as Director of Fixed-Income Marketing, and was responsible for establishing the firm’s institutional investment business. In 2005, she was named the Director of Global Client Services, and led the effort to combine and integrate the retail and institutional investment services businesses. In 2006, she was elected Director and President of Lord Abbett Mutual Funds, and she was named Managing Partner of Lord Abbett in 2007.

​Prior to joining Lord Abbett, Ms. Wallach served as Vice President of Marketing for the Chemical
Investment Group. Earlier in her career, she served as Vice President and Manager for the Irving Trust Co.; Assistant Vice President of Marine Midland Bank, N.A.; and Assistant Treasurer for Chase Manhattan Bank.

Ms. Wallach is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, serves as Vice Chairman of the New York Philharmonic, and is the Chairman of ReadWorks. Ms. Wallach earned a BA from Gettysburg College and was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters from St. Bonaventure University.
Daria L. Wallach, Chair
Lord, Abbett & Co. (Ret.)
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Cameron Amstater
Reel Works
Cameron Amstater has been the Career Development Program Manager for Reel Works for two years, where she oversees training programs that prepare individuals from underrepresented communities for careers in TV and Film Production. Before working for Reel Works, she worked in TV/Film Production for over 10 years on shows like Boardwalk Empire, Mr. Robot, Pose and Succession. 

She was introduced to ReadWorks by her friend Katy Laird in 2019 and was thrilled to join the inaugural Young Professional Council. In 2021 she volunteered for the ReadWorks tutoring pilot program and was grateful for the opportunity to get to know both her tutee and the ReadWorks platform in the process. She was Co-Chair of the YPC from 2021-2023 and was excited to oversee YPC-led projects like #TheRun Writing Contest, Alien Kids Illustration Contest, two Spring Audio Drives, a virtual Drag Bingo night and more.

Cameron lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and two kids including her son Stuart who is currently learning to read in Kindergarten! 
Cameron Amstater
Reel Works
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​Jamie Beard
​The Claremont Group LLC
Jamie is a partner at The Claremont Group focusing on international real estate development, capital fundraising and investor relations. He is also the managing principle of Bear Creek Development, Sand Dunes Real Estate and Florida Development and Consulting in Florida’s Panhandle. From 2005 to 2012 James served as the President of JMB Capital where he originated, financed and managed single as well as multi-family residential housing developments. From 2003 to 2005, he was the Director of Marketing for the Pan Funds, a multi-strategy fund of hedge funds. Prior to that, he served for six years as Vice President and Head of Venture Services at JPMorgan Securities in New York and San Francisco. Mr. Beard earned an MBA from Columbia Business School in 2006, and a BA in Political Science from the University of Vermont. He currently sits on the Boards of ReadWorks, The Tsunami Foundation, and The Green Vale School.
​Jamie Beard
​The Claremont Group LLC
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Mandy Casamassima
PBR Executive Search
Mandy has worked in and with the nonprofit sector for over 20 years having spent close to 15 years in public education as a teacher and administrator. She began her career as a corps member with Teach For America in the South Bronx and then joined KIPP NYC where she built the region’s Shared Services Team (responsible for fundraising, operations, human resources, finance, technology, and board development/engagement). She joined the PBR Executive Search in 2017 and currently runs the day to day operations in addition to leading and supporting searches; PBR Executive Search focuses exclusively in the nonprofit sector. Mandy graduated from Boston College and lives in Greenwich, CT with her husband, three boys, two dogs and a handful of chickens. She also serves on the board of Teach For America Connecticut.
Mandy Casamassima​
​PBR Executive Search
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Gina N. Cervetti
University of Michigan​
Gina Cervetti’s research focuses on the interface of literacy and content-area learning. She is interested in how inquiry experience in science can provide an authentic and engaging meaning-based context for literacy learning; she also examines the role of sustained engagement in a set of ideas for literacy development; and she is looking into ways to help students bring the tools of inquiry to bear on questions they encounter across the curriculum and outside of school.
Following her doctoral work in educational psychology at Michigan State University, Cervetti worked for several years as a postdoctoral scholar and researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, on the Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading (Seeds/Roots) program. Cervetti led the literacy team in its conceptualization and development of integrated science-literacy curriculum units for students in grades 2-5.
Cervetti is also involved in work on academic discourse and vocabulary acquisition in science and on how curriculum materials can best support teachers’ practice and teacher learning. Currently, Cervetti is a coprincipal investigator on a National Science Foundation-funded study of the efficacy of the Seeds/Roots model of science-literacy integration for English learners, and the potential of an educative curriculum design framework for advancing teacher learning about strategies for supporting linguistically diverse students in science. Cervetti joined the University of Michigan following three years as an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Gina N. Cervetti
University of Michigan​
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Willard Overlock, Jr.
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Willard Overlock, Jr (‘Mike”) joined Goldman, Sachs & Co upon graduating from Columbia Business School in New York.  At Goldman Sachs, Mike worked in the Investment Banking Division where he became head of the Mergers and Acquisitions Department, co-head of the Investment Banking Division and a member of the Management Committee of Goldman Sachs.  He also served on the International Executive Committee and became a Limited Partner and Senior Director upon his retirement.

Mr. Overlock has served and serves on several boards and board committees including Becton, Dickinson & Co, Inc, Evercore Partners, Inc, and The Breakers Hotel in Florida for FSI, Inc. He is also a Special Partner of Cue Ball Capital, a venture Capital firm. Mike serves on the board of ReadWorks.org. He is an emeritus trustee of Rockefeller University and a trustee of WNET Channel 13 in New York where he serves on its executive committee.   

Mike was a former member of the board and executive committee of the Investment Fund of the University of North Carolina.  He is a former Chair of the Board of The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation.  He also was the Chair of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.

Mr. Overlock received his BA in Economics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC and an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School.  He served in the United States Army as a lieutenant in Vietnam.  Mike and his spouse, Trina, live in the New York area.
Willard Overlock, Jr.
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
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Cathy James
Enterprise Asset Management
Catherine James Paglia has an extensive Wall Street background, combined with operating experience as Chief Financial Officer of two publicly held companies and investment experience as a principal in a successful buy-out firm.  Ms. Paglia currently is a director of Enterprise Asset Management, Inc., a privately held real estate and asset management company where she is responsible for investments in real estate, oil and gas, and public and private equities.  She also is responsible for the operation of the Robert and Ardis James Foundation, a family charitable foundation.  

Ms. Paglia’s Wall Street career spanned fourteen years, including eight years at Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated, where she was the first female Managing Director in the firm’s 53-year history.  She had a wide variety of transactional experience, including mergers and acquisitions, project finance and leasing, and general corporate finance.  She co-founded Morgan Stanley’s Insurance Group and built it to one of the largest in the industry. 

At Interlaken Capital, a principal investment firm located in Greenwich CT, Ms. Paglia was a Managing Director for ten years, with responsibilities including initiating transactions and strategic oversight of portfolio investments in a wide variety of service businesses.  

Ms. Paglia serves on the Board of Directors of the Columbia Funds (a large mutual fund company) as well as the Board of Directors of Valmont Industries, Inc., where she serves as lead director.  She is on the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC and the Board of Trustees of Carleton College in Northfield, MN.  She also serves as an appointee to the Investment Advisory Committee to the New York Common Retirement Fund.  She has a BA from Carleton College and an MBA from Harvard University.  She lives in Greenwich CT with her husband and two children.
Cathy James Paglia
Enterprise Asset Management
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Howard Schiller
Monroe Investment
​Partners LLC
Since July of 2017, Mr. Schiller has been a partner at Monroe Investment Partners, a real estate private equity firm. Mr. Schiller served as the Chief Financial Officer of Valeant pharmaceuticals, a global specialty Pharmaceutical company, from December 2011 to June 2015 and served on the Board of Directors of the Company until June 2016. In addition, Mr. Schiller served as interim Chief Executive Officer in January and February 2016. Schiller joined Valeant following a 24-year career at Goldman Sachs, a global investment banking firm. From 2009 to 2010, Schiller was the chief operating officer for the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs, responsible for the management and strategy of the business. From 2003 to 2009, he was responsible for the global healthcare, consumer products, retail, industrial and natural resource businesses in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs. During his 24 years at Goldman Sachs, he advised large multinational companies on strategic transactions, financings, restructuring and leveraged buyouts. Mr. Schiller graduated with a BS in economics from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 1984 and graduated with a JD from the University of Chicago Law School in 1987. Mr. Schiller has three daughters and resides in Telluride, Colorado with his wife, Debbie.
Howard Schiller
Monroe Investment
​Partners LLC
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Karim (Kam) Moolani
Silver Point Capital
Mr. Moolani joined Silver Point Capital in August 2014 and is a Managing Director. Prior to joining Silver Point, Mr. Moolani was a Vice President in the Corporate and Asset Finance Group at Macquarie Bank. Before joining Macquarie, he was an associate in the Special Situations Group at Oaktree Capital Management.

​Mr. Moolani began his career as an analyst in the Principal Investing Practice at McKinsey & Company. He graduated with honors from the University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business with a B.A. in Finance.
Karim (Kam) Moolani
Fundamental
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Drummond C. Bell, III*
DCB III Associates LLC
Drummond C. Bell III is the president of DCB III Associates LLC. He is a former partner at McFarland
Dewey & Co., an investment banking firm based in New York City. Previously, Mr. Bell served as the
managing director of Fruehauf International Limited (FIL) Partners, Inc. and President of US Steel
Realty. He is also a past director of Dynamic Metal Forming, SDC International, Tubular Corporation of
America, and General Trailers, Ltd.
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Mr. Bell has been recognized for his work with numerous organizations, including the Pittsburgh Cancer
Institute; Family House; the Arthritis Foundation of Western Pennsylvania; Fairfield Country Day School;
Workshop in Business Opportunities (WIBO) in New York City and Bridgeport, Ct.; the Taft School, where he is a board member; and Sponsors for Educational Opportunities (SEO). Mr. Bell and his wife Shelly
live in Southport, CT and have two children, Drummond Bell and Rachel Robards. Mr. Bell attended the
Taft School in Connecticut, received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill and attended the Advanced Management Program (AMP) at the Harvard Business School.