The Board of Trustees of LION Charter School is a dedicated and hard-working group which is committed to the delivery of a high-quality education for our students and their families.
Herbert B. Fixler, Board Chair
Herb Fixler is a founder of our school and has been board chair since before our school opened its doors in 2006. He is a retired trusts and estates attorney who, at retirement, was part of the Private Client Services Group of Cozen O’Connor, a national law firm. His practice concentrated in the fields of estate planning and administration and he provided legal services for almost 50 years to a wide range of clients including high net worth individuals, Fortune 500 CEOs, and family business owners.
Herb received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Villanova University and a Juris Doctor from the Washington College of Law of the American University. In law school, he served as Director of the Legal Aid Society. Upon graduation from law school, Herb served as a VISTA volunteer before entering private practice in New York. While in VISTA, he worked on the legal staff of the Scholarship, Education, and Defense Fund for Racial Equality and served as a community organizer in Harlem while attending New York University Graduate Law School. He entered private practice in New York in 1970.
Herb is a fine art photographer whose work is frequently exhibited and is included in numerous private and corporate collections. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, Susan Marber, and has two children and four grandchildren.
Deborah Dumont
Deborah Dumont is an educational consultant with a focus on progressive education, educational reform and advocacy, with a special interest in children at risk. Her 35-year career has led to leadership positions in a broad range of educational organizations, including Head of School, Co-founder of Hawkins Centers of Learning, an educational think-tank, and Videatives, a teacher education company. Deborah held executive positions at Educate and Aramark Work/Life Partnerships, both multinational education companies. She currently leads a research and consulting practice focused on early education, school reform, and systems thinking.
Deborah has published in education journals on topics ranging from professional development models and attachment theory in adolescent education to how school building design impacts learning. In October 2009, she was elected as a trustee of LION Charter School in the Bronx
Susan Engel
Susan Engel has maintained a tradition of excellence throughout her leadership roles she in various preeminent businesses. She was the CEO of Portero Luxury, an e-commerce company based in New York; the Chairperson and CEO of Lenox Group Inc., a leading company in the collectibles, gift and ornamental industries; and the President/CEO of the ‘Champion Athletic’ division of Sara Lee Corp., the world-renowned consumer goods company formerly based in Illinois.
Susan graduated from Harvard Business School, and then spent 14 years at Booz & Co. (formerly Booz, Allen, and Hamilton) as a corporate strategist and restructurer. She also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree from Cornell University, and then joined J.C. Penney Company Inc., where she worked in its Human Resources and Marketing departments.
Susan’s public board experience is quite extensive. She has served as a Director on the Boards of 10 public and private companies, including Wells Fargo, Lenox Group LLC, Portero, Inc., and Supervalu Inc. Susan currently volunteers with Adopt-a-Classroom and also volunteered on various boards including Chair/President of Guthrie Theater, a secretary/executive committee member of St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and a board member of the Volunteer Consulting Group.
Susan Fine
Susan Fine, principal of OasesRE and developer of Turnstyle retail project, has led New York City construction projects from the ground up, coordinating every step of the development process – financing, leasing, construction, and management. Additionally, she recently completed a Senior Advanced Leadership Fellowship at Harvard University where she focused on helping micro businesses thrive.
Turnstyle features 39 stores from the New York area and offers the commuter a range of dining and shopping options. The project has provided a range of technical support and capital funding so that these businesses could develop marketing and back of house skills. The New York Times complimented “the density, variety and clarity of the design” calling Turnstyle “a small-scale evocation of a busy shopping street.”
Susan began her career executing the first retail project to open at Battery Park City within the World Financial Center and is known for her leadership of the MTA’s enormously successful renovation of Grand Central. She also master planned the renovation of Rockefeller Center’s retail and public spaces. Susan’s work expands to some of New York City’s most complex projects including 1,800 affordable housing units, properties for ConEdison, and a condominium project developed within a US Post Office.
Along with being a valuable member of our board, Susan Fine also serves as Chairman of the Board of Teaching Lab.
Ruth Jarmul
Ruth Jarmul is the former Vice President of Administration of the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF), a non-profit organization that has provided nearly $200 million for stem cell research to cure the most significant diseases of our time. NYSCF scientists were instrumental in developing the Covid-19 vaccine. Her responsibilities at NYSCF included operations, development, marketing and communications, human resources, and strategic planning. She was responsible for oversight of foundation grants, accounting for more than half of NYSCF’s annual budget, as well as relationships with NYSCF’s high-impact donors and Board of Trustees. Earlier in her career, Ruth was a senior executive in the media business, including at Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal, as well as consulting for the Mitchell Madison Group and Quantum Media, one of Forbes’ top-ranked consulting firms.
Ruth believes that “education is the key to the future” and that LION’s distinct model of working with students holistically with a character and family-based approach is critical. Since her retirement, Ruth continues to use her wealth of experience to support the school’s development efforts and share its unique message. In addition to her work with LION, Ruth serves on the Board and Management Committee of the Alliance for Middle East Peace. Ruth received a BA from Yale College and MBA from Harvard Business School. Her husband Irvin Rosenthal and she have three daughters and sons-in-law and five grandchildren.
Herbert M. Kaplan
Herbert M. Kaplan is a former LION parent. Before retiring in 2013, he was Senior Director of Development at ORT America, where he was responsible for developing and implementing national fundraising strategies for the organization’s Annual Campaign. Prior to that, Herb had a career in marketing, with responsibilities encompassing account management, sales, product management, market research and strategic planning. He received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and MBA from Harvard Business School. He brings valuable fundraising experience to the LION Charter School board.
Nicholas Ober
Nicholas Ober is Senior Product Manager for Zeel, a health and wellness startup, where he is responsible for the company’s consumer product strategy development and execution on Web, iOS, and Android platforms. He began his career in the growth marketing space and spent time working abroad in Hong Kong and Singapore. Nicholas is also a commercial real estate developer and investor. He was Co-Chair of LION’s Associate Board for five years before joining the Board of Trustees and brings with him technology and marketing expertise.
A native New Yorker, Nicholas is a graduate of Skidmore College where he serves as an advisor and project judge for business students. He also attended Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. Nicholas is an avid skier and cyclist.
David Schatsky
David Schatsky is a managing director at Deloitte LLP, where he leads the firm’s central trend-sensing and tech-scouting programs in the U.S., focusing on technology domains such as artificial intelligence, digital assets, and climate & sustainability. The programs advise firm leaders about commercially relevant emerging trends, evaluate startup companies to expand the firm’s innovation ecosystem, and support firm-level communications about digital transformation.
He conceived the firm’s first Massive Online Open Courses, including one on AI, which have served tens of thousands of learners. Additionally, he is the author of Signals for Strategists: Sensing Emerging Trends in Business and Technology, published by RosettaBooks.
David has decades of experience in business & technology research, analysis, execution, and innovation. He has been an entrepreneur, led high-performing teams, guided a global organization through a corporate turnaround, and served clients in every industry.
He holds an M.A. in international affairs and international economics from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. in computer science from Tufts University.
Tony Stoupas
Tony Stoupas, as a LION parent, brings over 35 years of work experience working with large and small organizations. As a global technology executive, he has unique insight into the risks and opportunities together with the transformational nature of technology, including the impact of digitization on organizations and the associated risks/threats. Prior to his retirement in mid 2021, Tony was at Lionbridge Technologies, a leading translation and localization company that works with many of the world’s largest companies, where, as Chief Technology Officer, he was responsible for all aspects of the company’s global technology strategy and operations.
Prior to joining Lionbridge, Tony was Chief Information Officer at Moody’s Corporation for nearly 10 years, and he has held leadership roles with UBS, Mellon Financial Corporation, Computer Sciences Corporation, and IBM Australia. Tony is an international IT executive with many years of experience in service delivery, outsourcing, and operations, and he has a proven record of delivering large-scale business and organizational change. Tony holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from Monash University in Australia.
Tony is excited to be a part of the LION Charter School community in the South Bronx, and he looks forward to supporting the mission of the school.
Thomas Sturtevant
Thomas Sturtevant is the Head of School at The Ross School in East Hampton, NY, where he oversees the school’s educational programs, finances, operations, and advancement. He brings to LION his extensive experience in education for over 35 years, serving in myriad positions as an educator and leader. Tom is committed to developing the potential of each student through progressive education, whole-child engagement, and family partnership.
Prior to assuming his current position at The Ross School, Tom successfully led many educational institutions, including as Founding Head of School at Broadstone Academy in Shenzhen, China, Executive Director at LION Charter School, Founding Head of School at the SEED Foundation in Washington, DC, and Head of School at Northfield Mount Hermon in Mount Hermon, MA. He was also an integral member of the start-up team for Keystone Academy of Beijing, the city’s first elite independent school. He received a Master of Arts from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University.
Tom and his wife, Dianna Raedle, share an interest in reading, the arts, and sailing. Their son, Richard is entering his senior year at Yale, where he is majoring in environmental studies and economics. Their daughter Lizzie graduated from Smith College in 2018 and now works in a hospital in Augusta, Maine. Their daughter Margaret is currently studying law at the University of Pennsylvania. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Connecticut College in 2016 and a master’s degree from Hunter in 2018.
Join Our Board
LION is seeking dedicated professionals to serve on our Board of Trustees. The LION Board of Trustees is comprised of diverse, committed individuals who give back to children and families in New York City through their gifts, talents, and resources. They oversee the operations of the school at its highest level and raise funds to support the students, families, and teachers at LION Charter School.
Please contact mseverns@lioncharterschool.org for more information.