Our Board
GallopNYC is led by a Board of Directors dedicated to our mission. Our talented Board of Directors are professionals with accomplishments in business, government, professional services, and philanthropy.
Interested in joining our leadership?
Sol Reischer
Board Chairman, Executive Committee Member
Retired Option Specialist on the American Stock Exchange. Chairman of the Specialist Association from 1995 – 2002. Parent of a daughter with Cerebral Palsy who started Therapeutic Horseback Riding at 3 1/2 years old and today trots, canters and jumps on her own at Brown University on its equestrian team.
Board Member Since 2014.
Alicia Kershaw
Vice Board Chair, Founder, Executive Committee Member
Founder and former Executive Director of GallopNYC. Certified PATH Intl. instructor. Retired attorney. Life-long rider. Auxiliary Mounted NYC Parks Enforcement Patrol Officer.
Board Member Since 2018. Founded GallopNYC.
Gavin Case
Treasurer, Executive Committee Member
Director, Global OTC Regulatory Compliance, Macquarie Group, New York. Bachelor Business – Banking & Finance, Master Applied Finance, CPA. Originally from Melbourne, Australia, has lived and worked in Japan (6 years) and resided in the US since 2005. Gavin has a sibling with a disability, is married with two children (9 and 11) and is an animal lover with some farm experience.
Board Member Since 2017.
Esada Qazi
Secretary, Executive Committee Member
Esada Qazi is an SVP at Bank of America specializing in Cloud strategy, execution, and financials. Before performing the role of Portfolio Manager at Bofa, Esada worked at JPMorgan in Corporate Finance and AM Technology. Prior to JP, she worked with Alliance Bernstein in various roles. As a born and bred Brooklyn-er, she is passionate about bringing resources to communities in need.
Board Member Since 2019.
Damyn Kelly
Board Member
Dr. Damyn Kelly serves as the President and CEO of Lutheran Social Services of NY; a nonprofit human services
organization that has an operating budget of more than $68 million and employs more than 642 human service
professionals at over 39 sites in the city of New York. Dr. Kelly has a long and dedicated history of service
leadership, having worked as a Bronx Assistant District Attorney and a senior staffer for a member of Congress.
Presently, he serves as a member of the Board and Chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the
Coalition of Family and Child Caring Agencies and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Human Services
Council and Black Agency Executives. Damyn is also a frequent speaker, presenter and lecturer on issues
pertaining to diversity, equity and inclusion with a special emphasis on the lack of executives of color in the
nonprofit and the commercial sectors.
Board Member Since 2020.
Amanda Barshall-Cain
Board Member
Amanda Barshall Cain is a Managing Director at Societe Generale, where she leads a team of Commodity sales specialists applying her knowledge of financial risk management in the Futures and Derivatives markets. In addition to her professional accomplishments, Amanda dedicates herself to causes that she is passionate about,
including mentoring young professionals and the advancement of women in their careers, especially in the highly competitive finance industry. Ms. Cain is also on the Advisory Council for CentsAbility a non-profit organization focused on educating and empowering high school students to manage their financial resources and has most recently lead the Global Angels at 100 Women In Finance.
Board Member Since 2020.
Heather Aspegren
Board Member
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Director, Digital Risk Solutions.
15 years experience with internal audit, controls design and supporting risk management practices through the assessment of design of analytics, controls and financial processes, data governance strategy, software selection and implementation strategies. Only child of a very dedicated special ed teacher in small town Kansas, and former equestrian.
Board Member Since 2020.
Anna Laptook Goldman
Board Member
Anna Goldman was elected to the Board. She is a Director, Global Cobrand Business Development, at American Express. Anna was on the Vanderbilt equestrian team and brings marketing and fundraising experience to our Board.
Board Member Since 2019.
Paul Hinton
Board Member
Principal, The Brattle Group. Parent of Sam, a GallopNYC student. Testifying expert in finance and economics; recent testimony in white collar jury trial for DOJ. Graduate of Oxford (engineering, 1988) and Harvard (public policy 1994). Lives in Brooklyn with wife Andrea Phillips and three sons. Father of Sam, GallopNYC hippotherapy rider.
Board Member Since 2017.
Constance Hunter
Board Member
In addition to serving on the board of GallopNYC she serves on the board of the National Association for Business Economics. Constance is a passionate equestrian and she knows first-hand the healing power of horses.
Board Member Since 2016.
Carlos Lamadrid
Board Member
Carlos Lamadrid is the President and Founder of HLC Partners, a consulting firm that provides strategic and tactical advice to a wide variety of companies on branding, team building and change management. Carlos has worked in the media and marketing industry for over 25 years, much of that time at Condé Nast.
Married for over 25 years and a father of two grown children, Carlos has also been a lifelong horseman. Although riding mostly for enjoyment now, he started riding at about 8 years old, competing first in Children’s Hunters, then Jr. Working Hunters, and moving on to Jumpers and Dressage. Carlos believes horses help people connect to themselves in an unspoken language that is good for the soul.
Board Member Since 2019.
Julie Napolitano
Board Member
Cross Asset Solutions Strategist, Bunge. Accomplished self-starter in finance and risk management with B.S. from Columbia University, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and MBA from Cornell University, Johnson School. Parent of a child with apraxia who has benefitted from hippotherapy since age 2 and of another young rider.
Board Member Since 2017.
Jagdish Singh
Board Member
Jagdish is a Director at Citi Group. Seasoned executive in a global financial institution, with experience in developing strategy and execution in the areas of business management and business process re-design across various industries. Strong interest in serving those in need and is involved in volunteer activities in local community and with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross, Junior Achievement of New Jersey, NJ Chapter of PMI, etc.
Board Member Since 2019.
Lucie Claire Vincent
Board Member
Managing Director of the Andean Cluster at Philip Morris International. Prior she worked at Colgate-Palmolive internationally. She is a consumer goods global leader who has lived and worked in Asia, Latin America, North America, and the Caribbean. Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Marketing from Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Executive Education Business Program at Stanford University Graduate School of Business and Digital Marketing Certificate from Cornell University. Passionate about supporting people with disabilities and animal lover.
Board Member Since 2018.
John Genova
Board Member
John Genova is the President of NOVA Sales, Marketing and Communications, a specialized marketing consulting firm providing actionable market intelligence, brand engagement, and sales strategies to growing businesses and services firms. John has a long history of non-profit involvement, having served on the Board of Adults and Children with Learning and Developmental Disabilities for more than 14 years as Treasurer and V.P. of the ACLD Foundation.
Mr. Genova discovered GallopNYC as the Forest Hills location was the site of the stable where he grew up riding. John has been a volunteer with GallopNYC for more than two years as a lead and side walker and says that his experience working with riders and sharing in their joy of personal accomplishment is uniquely gratifying.
Board Member Since 2020.
James Wilson
Executive Director, Non-Voting
James found GallopNYC as a volunteer in October 2010, and joined our staff full-time as of January 2014, in the newly created position of Director of Operations. James has an extensive background in retail; both buying and planning, full-line department store and off-price. His love of horses goes back to his hometown in Texas, where his father taught him to ride and rope. James holds a Bachelor of Science, Agribusiness and a Master of Science, Marketing from Texas A&M. He is a PATH Intl. Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor, a Irwin Insights Horse Trainer, a CHA Certified Equine Facility Director, and an Equine Experiential Education Level 1 Certified Trainer. James enjoys photography in his spare time.