Executive Director
Bryan Powell:
Bryan has been working with the GOAL program since 2006. Before joining GOAL, Bryan worked as a teacher in the New York City public school system. Bryan has a Masters degree in Education and is currently writing his dissertation for his PhD from Boston University.
Board of Directors
Howard Clyman- Friends of the Children of New York
Joan Horton- The Horton Group
Jeffrey Kaplan- Deerfield Partners
Bryan Kievit- Accipiter Capital Management
Lisa Kelly- BTIG, LLC
Larry Litoff- City-as-School
Rob Shapiro- Morgan Stanley Assessment Management
Patti Bender- GEMS: Girls Education Mentoring Services
Patti Provance Binder
Patti Provance Binder is the Deputy Director of the National Women’s Studies Association where she coordinates the day to day operations of the national office and contributes to the development of long term strategies and sustainability of the field of women’s and gender studies. Patti has worked with girls and women for over 10 years, most recently serving as the Deputy Director of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services and the Board Chair for Girls Write Now, a New York based mentoring program for teen girls. Patti has a deep commitment to positive youth development principles and providing meaningful opportunities for youth leadership and youth-led social change. She has served as a facilitator for AED’s Positive Youth Development curriculum for front line youth workers and created and facilitated the curriculum for the International Rescue Committee’s first national youth training.
Howard Clyman:
Howard Clyman is an attorney who has practiced criminal, family and juvenile law for more than 30 years. Recognizing the necessity of early intervention with children and their families as a means to prevent the devastation that comes with intervention by the legal system, in 2000 he founded and until retiring in 2007 was the executive director of Friends of the Children of New York, a unique program based in Harlem serving highly at risk children from kindergarten through high school with paid, professional mentors called Friends. He has been a delegate to the Public Policy Council of the National Mentoring Partnership and served on its advisory committee for effective practice of mentoring programs.
Joan Horton
Currently a self-employed events and marketing consultant, Joan was for 12 years Vice President of Corporate Events with Revlon, a leader in the U.S. cosmetics business. At Revlon, she ran five to seven annual fund-raising events, such as Revlon's Fire & Ice Ball, the Revlon Run/Walk, the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund gala, plus five or six product launch events a year, as well as internal company events. Joan is an alumna of The School of Visual Arts at Boston University, and sits on the advisory board to the School of Fine and Applied Arts Dean.
Jeffrey Kaplan:
Jeff co-founded GOAL in May, 2003. Jeff is a partner at Deerfield Management, a NYC based hedge fund that specializes in healthcare investments. Jeffrey has a seat on the Deerfield Foundation Executive Committee as well as a seat as a founding board member of the Busoga Trust America. Mr. Kaplan is also a board member of All Faiths Seminary. Before joining Deerfield, Jeff spent 14 years at Merrill Lynch. Jeff sits on GOAL’s strategic advisory board and is involved in all aspects of the organization.
Bryan Kievit:
Bryan runs the trading effort for NYC based hedge fund Accipiter Capital Mgmt which specializes in healthcare investing. Bryan was part of an organization within the University of Maryland undergrad that tutored children from underserved communities and is in his last semester at Fordam for his MBA. Bryan’s wife Erika is a practicing speech pathologist in NYC.
Lisa Kelly:
Lisa co-founded GOAL in May, 2003. Lisa is Director at BTIG, LLC. She has over 15 years of Wall St. experience. Lisa sits on the GOAL advisory board and is involved in many aspects of the organization, with a specific focus on public relations and fund-raising.
Larry Litoff:
Larry is retired from the NYC Department of Education. During his time with the school system he was a member of the only in house educational research and development team. The coordinator of innovative projects at a Bronx high school, Larry is a consultant to eight high schools for the development of a high school renewal program. Mr. Litoff is a consultant to the executive director of high school and the Brooklyn high schools Superintendant for implementing that management by Objectives System. For the last 20 years he has worked as a resource coordinator at City-As-School.
Rob Shapiro:
Rob has 20 years of Wall St. experience and is presently SVP of Advanced Trading Strategies with Abel Noser Corp. Rob and his family have dedicated their lives to helping others. In addition to Rob’s early involvement with GOAL, the Shapiro family has been actively involved with the America Lung Association Childhood Asthma research to AHRC-NYC, an organization that has effectively helped create a life for people with developmental disabilities.