Christiana Huus | Chair of the Board | Joined 2013
Ms. Huus is the Executive Vice President of Public Affairs at the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. Previously, she served as Senior Vice President of Special Events and Business Partnerships at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. She received a Bachelor’s of Arts in English from the College of Staten Island. Prior to coming to the September 11 Memorial & Museum, Ms. Huus worked as the Director of Strategic Planning and Development for the NYC Mayor’s Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management. She is a resident of New Jersey, where she lives with her husband and two children.
David Sheehan | Treasurer of the Board | Joined 2013
David Sheehan is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, where he leads the work of the Finance and Information Technology departments. Before joining the Memorial, he was the Deputy Chief Operating Officer at 100 Resilient Cities, a global nonprofit, where he led their internal finance, IT, operations, and grant management functions. Sheehan served as Managing Director of Administrative Services and the Director of Fiscal Operations at the New York City Mayor’s Office for more than 10 years. He also held positions at various public and nonprofit organizations including the Guggenheim Museum, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York City Office of Management and Budget, and Metropolitan Transit Authority. He received a M.P.A degree in public and nonprofit management from NYU’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service and a B.A. from the State University of New York at Oswego. Sheehan currently lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Karen, and their two children.
Bevin Savage-Yamazaki | Secretary of the Board | Joined 2019
With a passion for all aspects of culture and the arts, Bevin leads Gensler’s Foundations, Associations, and Organizations practice. In her 20 years of experience, she has worked with a range of cultural and not-for-profit institutions including the New York Public Library, the New Museum of Contemporary Art, Dia:Beacon, the Grace Institute, and the Ford Foundation. She has published a white paper on the future of museums and continues her research by looking at the relationship between museums and their constituencies, with a focus on the visitor experience. Bevin has lectured at the New Museum, Pratt Institute, MAAM, ACSA, and SXSW and led panel discussions alongside many of the most renowned names in the arts. Born in Ireland, Bevin received her Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and her Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Kent, Canterbury in the United Kingdom.
Cyrus Gentry | Board Member | Joined 2019
Mr. Gentry is a Principal at Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, where he focuses on helping to lead their investments in the telecommunications and water sectors. He currently sits on the Board of two platform investments, Cologix and euNetworks. Prior to Stonepeak, he was a Principal at BC Partners, focusing on investments in the industrials and telecommunications sectors. He also has investing and transaction experience across a broad range of sectors while at Advent International and J.P. Morgan. Cyrus is a citizen of the United States and United Kingdom and holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University.
Benjamin “BJ” Jones | Board Member | Joined 2023
B.J. Jones has over 25 years of public sector experience. He currently serves in the New York City Mayor’s Office as the Executive Director of the “New” New York, spearheading the implementation of a wide range of initiatives to drive an equitable recovery and resurgence. His previous positions include President & CEO of the Battery Park City Authority, Deputy Director of the Mayor’s Office of Operations, Assistant Commissioner of Strategic Planning & Implementation at the Department of Buildings, and consultant in KPMG’s State and Local Government Consulting practice. He has experience in a range of projects, from business process modernization and policy development to emergency response and infrastructure improvements. B.J. has been recognized by City & State Magazine as one of the most powerful people in Manhattan, and his journal article “What Makes Government Work Great: The Characteristics of Positive Public Service” was published in Public Personnel Management in 2021. He is a certified Project Management Professional and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Service at NYU Wagner. B.J. has a BA in Management from Gettysburg College, an MPA from American University, a MAPP degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and has pursued coursework in the PhD in Public Administration program at Rutgers University.
Catherine McVay Hughes | Board Member | Joined 2017
Catherine McVay Hughes served 20 years on Manhattan Community Board One (CB1), half that time as Chair or Vice-Chair. She also chaired its World Trade Center Redevelopment Committee for seven years. She has been a leader in caring for the community by working with diverse community and labor groups, elected officials and governmental agencies at City, State and Federal levels. After Superstorm Sandy, she was appointed to the Climate Coalition of Lower Manhattan, the Waterfront Alliance Resiliency Task Force, the Co-Chair of New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program for Southern Manhattan and is a founding member of CB1’s “Manhattan Tip” Resiliency Task Force and a member of the NY/NJ Metropolitan Storm Surge Barrier Working Group. Ms. McVay Hughes also was appointed to the Financial District Neighborhood Association, CERES Presidents Council, Battery Park City Authority, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, and WTC Scientific Technical Advisory Committee. She also served on The Trust for Governors Island, Earth Institute at Columbia University Advisory Board, Downtown Alliance Board of Directors, The Battery Conservancy Board of Trustees, Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board and US EPA WTC Expert Technical Panel. Ms. McVay Hughes has a Master’s of Business Administration from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Princeton University.
Craig Page | Board Member | Joined 2019
Mr. Page has over ten years of financial and operational experience. Most recently, as the Founder of Salt and Sea Partners LLC, which imports and distributes sustainable food products. Previously, Craig provided financial services to several growing startups on a consulting basis. He has developed waterside operations as a Co-Founder of Halcyon Sailing and as a Founding Teacher at Hudson River Community Sailing. At Halcyon Sailing he ran team building for corporate executives, and in both positions Craig spearheaded waterside curriculum for high school students. He spent the first four years of his career at Frasca & Associates LLC, where he provided financial and management consulting services for major U.S. infrastructure projects. Mr. Page has a Master’s of Business Administration from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University. He also as a board member at the Morgan Memorial Park in Glen Cove, NY.
Ernest Tollerson | Board Member | Joined 2015
Mr. Tollerson serves on the Board of the Hudson River Foundation, and is also serving a three-year term on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s NPCC3 (NYC Panel on Climate Change). From 2004 through 2013, he served as a trustee of the Nathan Cummings Foundation (NCF), including a three-year term as Board chair; he also filled in as NCF’s Interim President and CEO from August 2014 until November 2015, helping to reinvigorate NCF’s focus on climate and inequality issues. Mr. Tollerson is the former Director of Environmental Sustainability and Compliance at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), where he led work on the Blue Ribbon Commission on Sustainability and the MTA. During his 7 1/12-year stint at the MTA, he co-chaired the Transportation & Land Use Technical Working Group of the New York State Climate Action Plan Interim Report. In his nearly 25 years as a reporter and editor, Mr. Tollerson worked for a number of newspapers, including the Philadelphia Inquirer; New York Newsday, where he was the editor of the editorial and op-ed pages; and The New York Times, where he was first a national correspondent and later a member of the editorial board. Mr. Tollerson is also on the Boards of the Environmental Grantmakers Association, Environmental Advocates of New York, Riverkeeper, and the New York Historical Society.