Board of Trustees

Allison is Senior Program Manager at the Philadelphia Education Fund where she administers the nonprofit’s Philadelphia Scholars and Last Dollar Scholarship programs. Prior to PEF, Allison was a communications, program development, and events consultant whose clients included nonprofit education and economic development organizations. She volunteers as a mentor to a West Chester University student through the Philadelphia Education Fund’s Philadelphia Scholars program, as a host to international professionals on learning visits to Philadelphia through Citizen Diplomacy International, and a block captain in her Graduate Hospital neighborhood. Allison has a BA from Brown University and an MS from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design.

Ms. Andreina Perez Hein is a bilingual professional with over 20 years of muti-faceted
experience spanning development, marketing, project management, and research
across nonprofit, academia and commercial real estate industries. As a first-generation
immigrant born in Caracas Venezuela, Ms. Perez Hein grew up and attended college in
Miami, Florida where her parents immigrated prior to making her way north along the
east coast. She currently lives and works in the City of Philadelphia serving as the Chief
Development & Stakeholder Relations Officer for Congreso de Latinos Unidos, one of
the largest nonprofits serving the Latino community in North Philadelphia with an
operating budget of $24 million. At Congreso, Ms. Perez Hein oversees grants,
fundraising, and external affairs teams with the aim of developing and executing
strategic initiatives to ensure the financial sustainability of the organization and to
develop, cultivate and maintain stakeholder relationships.

Prior to dedicating herself to the nonprofit sector once again, Ms. Perez Hein spent 14 years in the commercial real
estate and construction industry. She was grounded through first-hand experience in the field as a Project
Manager, but through strategic planning and implementation developed a track record of successfully developing
and executing initiatives to cultivate new relationships, secure business opportunities, and manage construction
and marketing teams to carry out projects successfully. While in the construction industry, she contributed to a
revenue increase of $55 million over 4 years and the highest grossing year in her company’s history. All the while,
she utilized her Spanish-speaking skills to aid employee relations and her research and management skills to
develop and implement employee mentoring programs regionally for an international construction company.
However, closer to the roots of her interests and personal passion, Ms. Perez Hein’s education and career began in
the education research and early childhood development fields, eventually leading to a focus on 2nd language
acquisition in Latino English Language learners (ELLs). After starting her career in large-scale education surveys
research, she moved on to manage research project teams studying Latino children and families at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also directly worked with Latino communities across Central North Carolina to
study the needs, resources, and language development of young ELLs being served by early childhood programs
and their families.

Throughout her career, she has been committed to serving on boards of community and professional
organizations. Her most recent involvements include the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), as well as
the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) of Greater Philadelphia chapter where she currently serves as
member of the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Advocacy Group and the Strategic Planning Task Force. She has been
recognized as an MVP by CREW for her contributions over the years, and twice received a Community Impact
Award for company projects. Most notably, Ms. Perez Hein served as the Board Chair of Congreso, leading a 13-member Board of Directors

through fundraising strategy development and implementation during the pandemic. Her Board tenure over
almost 6 years, was an incredibly rewarding and eye-opening experience which led her to re-commit herself full
time to the Latino community and nonprofit sector once again.

Ms. Perez Hein obtained her Master of Arts Degree in Early Childhood, Families, and Literacy from the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from the University of
Miami, where she graduated with Summa cum Laude, General, Departmental, and Phi Beta Kappa Honors. Ms.
Perez Hein also achieved the Certified Professional Services Marketer (CPSM) and LEED Accredited Professional
(AP) credentials while working in the commercial construction and real estate industry.
In her leisure time, Ms. Perez Hein pursues her passion for cycling. She is a member of various Bicycle Clubs and
Racing Teams in the Greater Philadelphia region and volunteered on the construction team of the Philly Pump
Track Project, the first family-friendly bicycle park in Philadelphia. She loves riding, whether it’s mountain biking on
the trails of the Wissahickon or commuting in the bike lanes of Center City. She carries with her every day and
exudes her passion and appreciation for the multiculturalism and bilingualism that her parents and upbringing
instilled in her.

ROLE
As Associate Partner, Gaurav leads Go-To-Market transformation
programs across pharmaceutical organizations, with an objective to
enhance organizational effectiveness and customer engagement
EXPERTISE
Gaurav has 10+ years of strategy consulting and analytics experience
across diverse industries such as Pharmaceutical and Manufacturing. At
ZS, he drove multiple strategic planning and
Go-To-Market transformation engagements for pharma companies
(across both commercial and medical). This includes field model design,
launch planning, promotional assessment, targeting and call planning,
territory alignment and personnel placement. He has also designed,
developed and implemented Incentive Compensation (IC) programs for
multiple clients across the globe (including Asia Pacific)
PRIOR EXPERIENCE
Prior to ZS, Gaurav worked with Deloitte and then Ernst & Young, to
provide risk advisory and information management services to various
global organizations in Manufacturing and Pharmaceutical sector
EDUCATION
Gaurav holds an MBA from Indian School of Business, Hyderabad (India),
with specialization in Strategy and Finance. He also holds a Bachelor of
Technology degree in Electronics and Communication, from Birla Institute
of Technology (BIT MESRA), India,
SOCIAL SECTOR EXPERIENCE
▪ Consulted an NGO (supported by IFC) working towards girl education ,
on an exit strategy for withdrawing its intervention across 2,342
schools and 250,000 children in Rajasthan, India
▪ All India Coordinator for India-Redefined (NGO with 10,000 members)
in 2012-13

Gina Toppin is a practicing attorney in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties. Her practice primarily focuses on family and immigration law. Gina represents both mothers and fathers in a wide variety of family law matters. She regularly appears in court to advocate for her clients in child custody, child support and divorce cases. As counsel to small businesses, Gina also advises the companies on developing practices and procedures which will ensure their compliance with various local, state and federal laws and regulations.

Gina graduated from Georgetown University with a major in French and a minor in Spanish. To improve her language skills, she lived in several French cities as well as Quito, Ecuador. She received her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Gina has a deep commitment to participating in Pro Bono Legal Services and other community service programs. She demonstrates this commitment by regularly attending the Christian Legal Clinics of Philadelphia events where she educates the public on their rights in addition to accepting cases for low income Philadelphia residents. Lastly, Gina serves as a Committee Person in the 30^th Ward of Philadelphia.

Justin Csik is a corporate attorney at the law firm Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg LLP in Philadelphia, PA, where we has practiced law since 2014.  Mr. Csik represents corporate clients, alternative entities and not-for-profit organizations across a variety of industries and concentrations, focusing on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and a wide range of commercial and business matters. Specifically with regard to not-for-profit entities, Mr. Csik advises clients on a variety of corporate governance and operational matters unique to public charities and private foundations.  Mr. Csik also serves as the co-chair of the Not-for-Profits Entities Industry Concentration at Klehr Harrison.

Mr. Csik is a 2008 graduate of Rutgers Law School—Camden, where he served on law review.  Prior to that, he graduated from Villanova University, magna cum laude, with dual degrees in accounting and economics.  Mr. Csik is also an active volunteer with the American Cancer Society.

My name is Na’eema Thomas and my child and I have been a part of the ICS family since 2020. Independence Charter School has been very welcoming and supportive. Showing my appreciation and giving back by being of service to the school and its programs, allows me to fulfill my purpose. That purpose is to provide help and provide resources in the community as needed. In addition, my experience from the PTA as well as my experience in the Human Services field; has equipped me with great service and receptive skills that will be needed to fulfill my position.​

Sharon is a proud parent of three ICS students. She is a consultant, and marketing and customer experience expert, inspired by helping nonprofit and for-profit organizations grow by focusing on improving client, partner and customer engagement.

Most recently, Sharon was a Senior Specialist for Bain & Company, a leading management consulting firm, where her team helped schools, nonprofits, and global businesses build best practices in fostering stakeholder commitment. She managed the curriculum for executive clients to help drive successful outcomes for their businesses.  Prior to joining Bain & Company, Sharon was a Director at Wharton Executive Education at the University of Pennsylvania, where she designed innovative customized programs with blended learning methodologies.

Sharon graduated from Harvard University with an honors degree in psychology and earned an MBA in Finance and Marketing from NYU Stern School of Business. She has served on several Boards of Directors given her passion in creating meaningful experiences for students, parents, education administrators, teachers, and business executives who can contribute to their communities and build global thought leadership.

2021-2022 Parent Seat

Sylvie Gallier Howard is Founder & CEO of Equitable Cities Consulting, a practice focused on expanding the field and impact of inclusive, equitable economic development. Sylvie Gallier Howard has extensive experience leading organizations and diverse teams in the non-profit, private and public sectors. In her most recent tenure as Acting Commerce Director and as a cabinet member of Philadelphia’s City government, she spearheaded strategic planning and implementation processes for the City in areas of inclusive growth, workforce development, equitable entrepreneurship and economic recovery.  Prior to joining government, Sylvie spent her career in the non-profit sector and running her own small business, where she provided guidance to non-profits and social enterprises working in areas such as education, social justice, economic development and immigration. Sylvie has also served as the Executive Director of two community-based non-profits in Philadelphia: The Northwest Fund and The Empowerment Group. At the Empowerment Group, Sylvie started Philadelphia’s first bilingual Spanish-English entrepreneurship training program. She has a B.A. in International relations from Barnard College of Columbia University and an M.A. in Sociology from Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) in Ecuador – a graduate school started by the United Nations Development Program to promote development in Latin America. Sylvie is fluent in Spanish and French.

Vice Preisdent

Mr. Sheppard currently serves as the National School Partnership Director for City Year Incorporated, where he is responsible for developing strategies and resources that help strengthen school partnerships in the 28 City Year partner cities. Prior to serving in this role, Virgil served as the Managing Director of Impact for City Year Philadelphia where he oversaw the design, implementation, and evaluation of City Year’s Whole School Whole Child Model, as well as the partnership with the School District of Philadelphia. Mr. Sheppard came to City Year from the School District of Philadelphia, where he served in a variety of roles, including Response to Intervention Specialist and the Comprehensive Student Assistance Process/Behavioral Health Liaison. A native of Philadelphia and a product of the School District of Philadelphia, Virgil is a proud graduate of Temple and Cheyney Universities and he enjoys coaching and mentoring youth in his spare time.