Christiane Baker
Executive Director

Christiane Baker is dedicated to helping improve the way children eat in the U.S. through advocacy and education. As the founder and president of an organization committed to using multiplatform media concepts and research-based educational content to empower children and families to make healthy food choices, she created a national program for PBS to teach pre-school aged children about food and healthy eating. Through her work Ms. Baker has developed partnerships with HOPE NYU, a division of NYU Medical Center, Columbia University Teachers College, The Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of Columbia Presbyterian, among other leading institutions.

Ms. Baker has been a tireless advocate for school food reform. She educates parents and children about healthy eating and food systems, while advocating for better school food throughout New York City. Ms. Baker started her career as Director of New York Governor Mario M. Cuomo’s News Unit and, over the next decade, she went on to develop and implement communications programs for elected officials, nonprofit organizations and leading private sector companies.

Ms. Baker is also a trained chef and farmer who developed a 22-acre, award-winning vineyard on the North Fork of Long Island. Dedicated to organic farming and advocacy, and a member of the board of directors of the Rodale Institute, Ms. Baker envisions a world where all children have access to fresh, healthy, organically grown food.

Ms. Baker is a graduate of Barnard College and is currently completing a M.S. in Nutrition and Public Health at Columbia University. She is the proud parent of a NYC public school student and resides in Brooklyn, New York.

John Lyons
Founder and CEO

John has been the President of Production at Focus Features since 2003, overseeing all aspects of production at Focus and shepherding the making of a popular and award-winning slate of films including Gus Van Sant’s Milk, Joel & Ethan Coen’s Burn After Reading and A Serious Man, Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, Fernando Meirelles’ A Constant Gardener, Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges, Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers, David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises and Sam Mendes’ Away We Go.

John started as a Casting Director in the theater where he was the first Casting Director at Playwrights Horizons, a prominent Off-Broadway theater. After leaving Playwrights Horizons, John continued working as a Casting Director both on Broadway and at the Manhattan Theatre Club.

In addition, John worked as Casting Director for the Sundance Institute’s Director’s Lab for six years. During that time he produced Claudia Shear’s Blown Sideways Through Life, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Hard Eight (Sydney) and Boogie Nights, Jay Roach and Mike Meyers’ Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember, Myles Connell’s The Opportunists and Peter Hedges’ Pieces of April.

John served on the Board of Directors for the EOS Orchestra in NYC for six years and is currently on the Boards of Directors for the Council on the Environment of New York City and the Chez Panisse Foundation, started by Alice Waters in 1996 to promote educational programs in our schools to nurture, empower and educate youth to build a more humane and sustainable future.

He has a summa cum laude degree in History of Art from the University of Michigan and resides in New York City.


Brett Williams
President

Brett has been an active part of New York’s independent film community for almost a decade. As the Director of Production at Hart Sharp Entertainment and then at Sharp Independent, he was responsible for both the production and the marketing strategies for a number of Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated films, including Nicholas Nickleby, Proof, The Night Listener, and Evening. In addition to his production oversight, Brett was integral in the management of Hart Sharp’s True Film Fund, which financed numerous films and was an industry leader in creative financing strategies.

Most recently in his capacity as Head of Web Production at Smuggler Films and founder of Trove Media, Brett has been committed to bringing the digital media community closer to the talents and resources of the film community. Trove is a New York based video production company specializing in capturing the creative process and the people behind film productions in a radically new and different way. Prior to his years in feature production, Brett worked with Academy Award-winning documentary filmmakers Rory Kennedy and Liz Garbus at Moxie Firecracker Films.

Brett received his BA in English from Georgetown University and spent a year in Anthropology at University College London.


Celia Kaplinksy
Principal, P.S. 216 The Arturo Toscanini School

Celia Kaplinsky began her teaching career in Harlem and continued to teach a variety of elementary grade levels in the Coney Island area of Brooklyn. She also worked as a licensed, Certified Reading Teacher in both the Public Schools and ESEA Title 1, Non-Public School Programs. In 1988, she was honored to be appointed as a District 21 Staff Developer. This enabled her to provide learning support to multitudes of teachers, implement innovative literacy programs and work with principals and district personnel. Her focus was to help staff maximize learning experiences for all students.

In 2000, Ms. Kaplinsky was appointed as Assistant Principal to P.S. 329 and was then appointed as Principal of P.S. 216 in 2003. Under her leadership the following programs have been implemented at P.S. 216: Columbia Teacher’s College Reading and Writing Project; instrumental music classes; an expansion of the arts programs; installation of interactive white boards in all classrooms; and laptops made available to every student. Plans for a state of the art Science Laboratory are currently underway.

Mrs. Kaplinsky has written and received numerous grants on behalf of P.S. 216, including a magnificent library from the Robin Hood Fund Library Initiative, ESL Enrichment Program through the Visual and Performing Arts, and the Studio in a School Visual Arts Blueprint Collaborative Community.

She feels fortunate to work collaboratively with staff, students, parents and community members to help each child develop his or her talents while reaching the highest of standards. She firmly believes “When you educate a child, you educate a generation.”

Celia received her BA degree from Stern College Yeshiva University and a BS degree in Reading, Special Education and TESOL Certification from Adelphi University. She received her Professional Degree in Supervision and Administration (SAS) and her School District Administration (SDA) Certificate from Brooklyn College.


Amale Andraos & Dan Wood
Principals, WORK Architecture Company

WORKac, which Amale Andraos and Dan Wood founded in 2003, is involved in projects at all scales, ranging from a 90-acre “new city” in Las Vegas to a single family villa in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China. Recent projects include the installation ‘Public Farm 1’ at PS1/MoMA, the new headquarters building for Diane von Furstenberg and new public spaces and streetscape design for the BAM Cultural District in Brooklyn.

In 2009, WORKac was honored at a ceremony at the White House as finalists for a National Design Award and received an AIA Award from New York State for Public Farm 1, their Museum of Modern Art-selected design and transformation of the PS1 Contemporary Art Center in Queens into an urban farming project. In 2008, WORKac won a series of invited competitions including the expansion of the Clark Museum at MASS MoCA, and the Children’s Museum of the Arts in New York City. Current projects include a new public library for Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, a warehouse renovation for the Department of Environmental Protection in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and offices and event spaces for the public arts group Creative Time. The Diane von Furstenberg Headquarters won a 2008 MASterwork Award and an Interior Design “Best of Year.” A retail store for Anthropologie won a 2008 AIA Merit Award. Public Farm 1 has won a number of awards including a SEAoNY Merit award and New York Construction’s Best of Year award. WORKac has twice been selected for inclusion in New York City’s Design Excellence program for city projects and is a prequalified firm for work with the School Construction Authority.

The practice is supplemented by the partners’ academic involvement. Andraos and Wood have taught at various universities including Harvard, Columbia, Parsons, the University of Pennsylvania, and Ohio State. Together they teach at Princeton University, focusing on the relationship between ecology and urbanism. This research is the subject of their book on visionary projects called ’49 cities’, published this year in conjunction with an exhibition at the Storefront for Art and Architecture.


Erica Lowry & Jane Wieder
Strategic Planning Directors and Principals, Level Strategic Advisors LLC

Erica Lowry and Jane Wieder provide consulting services to non-profit organizations, foundations, and start-up entities. Both residents of Brooklyn, they have almost two decades of experience in fundraising, strategic planning, program start-up and turn-around work, as well as writing, marketing, and construction oversight. Prior to joining Level, Erica served as a Director of the Red Cross September 11 Recovery Program, overseeing the design and issuance of financial assistance, mental health and health assistance, and a $100M grantmaking program supporting community-based services; she also consulted to the Red Cross on mental health assistance and grantmaking in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Jane is a board member, acting Treasurer and Vice President of The W. O’Neil Foundation. Her prior work experience includes non-profit administration, communications consulting and project management for commercial construction.


Project Projects
Graphic and Website Design

Project Projects is a design studio focusing on print, exhibition, and interactive work with clients in art and architecture. Founded in 2004 by Prem Krishnamurthy and Adam Michaels, the studio’s clients include Art in General, Berkeley Art Museum, Bard College Center for Curatorial Studies, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Center for Urban Pedagogy, Field Operations, The Museum of Modern Art, The New York Times Magazine, Phaidon, Princeton Architectural Press, Steven Holl Architects, Storefront for Art & Architecture, Vera List Center for Art & Politics, White Columns, and WORKac. The studio was named a Finalist in the 2009 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards and has received numerous distinctions including I.D. magazine’s 2007 Design Distinction Award, the Art Directors Club Young Guns 5 Award, several Society of Publication Designers merit awards, and the AIGA 365 Award. In addition to client-based work, the studio initiates and produces independent curatorial and publishing projects.