Greyston board broadens geographic, gender and racial diversity, celebrating 40 years as a force for good.
YONKERS, NY (8/11/2022) – The Greyston Board of Directors welcomed seven new members at its July 28, 2022 Annual Meeting, further building upon its diversity in geography, expertise, age and gender.
Andrew Yearley, Greyston Foundation board chairman said, “2022 is a milestone year for Greyston as we celebrate forty years of operating a business as a force for good in Westchester County. This remarkable group of individuals will only further the momentum and add to the energy behind our Open Hiring® replication efforts”.
Matthew Reich, Greyston Bakery board chairman said, “As Greyston Bakery celebrates 40 years of being in business, I look forward to working with the new and current board members to further enhance our Open Hiring® model and making sure we continue to advance our mission, invest in our people and provide the resources they need for success.”
The new members of Greyston’s board are:
Justin Arest, Managing Partner of the real estate investment firm, Arest Associates, LLC. Recently, Justin completed the rebranding of a Midtown South (New York City) boutique hotel. Current projects include a Chelsea loft building conversion, improvements to a Bronx community facility and, the adaptive reuse of a manufacturing zoned property in Hell’s Kitchen. Justin is involved in a variety of community organizations and recently completed his second term on the Village of Scarsdale’s Board of Trustees as Deputy Mayor.
Aileen Burdick was previously on Wall Street serving as vice president at Bankers Trust (later Deutschmark Bank), where she was a proprietary trader and then a business manager for a high yield bond syndicate group. As a community leader in Rye, New York, she’s held a number of leadership roles at Milton School and Rye Country Day School, co-chairing auctions, benefits, class plays, and serving on nominating committees and auxiliary boards. She was also a PREP teacher at Resurrection Church. She is on the board of Jay Heritage Center and the board of FERN, a nonprofit news organization that produces award-winning investigative reporting on food, agriculture and environmental health.
Jennifer Turner Harrigan, Symphony Talent’s Chief Legal Officer. Jennifer manages the company’s global legal department, partnering with the sales and product development teams to close technology licensing and professional services agreements. She also serves as a strategic legal advisor to the senior management team including in the areas of intellectual property, regulatory compliance, and data privacy and protection (including GDPR and CCPA), among others. Jennifer previously spent over a decade in the entertainment industry working in gaming, television and music.
Jeremy Lee, Principal and Product Strategist at Blue Owl Capital, a global private markets investment firm. He is a native Washingtonian; born in the District of Columbia (DC), but raised in Montgomery County Maryland. He has spent the last 12+ years living in the New York City Metropolitan Area with short-term career stints in Hong Kong, Singapore, and most recently London. Prior to joining Blue Owl, Jeremy was a Director in the Global Credit division at BlackRock for over 11 years where he served as the lead product strategist for the Leverage Finance Portfolio Group covering global high yield and leveraged loan portfolios. Jeremy previously served on Greyston’s Junior Board and chaired the Development Committee.
Paul Miller, Managing Director and Global Lead, Food and Ingredient, Kincannon & Reed has extensive experience as a former senior executive and entrepreneur in the food industry. He currently works as to find the right leadership for organizations in the food-agriculture value chain as.
As the former CEO and lead investor, he established Upper Crust Bakery, Inc. as an innovative and significant producer of artisan breads and frozen desserts with a national presence. Paul also serves on the Board of the Independent Bakers Association.
Benish Shah, VP of Marketing at Stardust, is an award-winning, industry-agnostic go-to-market strategist with more than 10 years of experience taking companies and products to market and growing businesses. Winner of the 2019 Amazing Women in e-Commerce Award, she’s a founding member of COVID Tech Connect, a non-profit that raised $10M+ in less than 6 months to help during the COVID 2020 crisis.
Sarah Stribling, R&D Senior Manager at Tyson Foods in Northwest Arkansas, where she continues to disrupt the market through alternative proteins development. She has worked in Fortune 100 CPGs including Cargill, Unilever, Kellogg’s, driving many facets of the innovation funnel to deliver margin accretive products to increase penetration and deliver profit for global brands. Sarah previously worked for Greyston Bakery as Director of Quality and R&D to further the development of best-in-class quality systems and build out innovation capabilities. Sarah is also a mentor and speaker at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.
“We are focused on the long-term when it comes to achieving our mission to unlock human potential, one person at a time”, said Joe Kenner, president and CEO of Greyston. “Leading with our Open Hiring® model, we want to demonstrate to all business leaders how their organizations can be a force for good and provide jobs for those on the sidelines just looking for the opportunity to deliver value and fill critically needed positions in their companies, particularly at the entry level. The breadth and depth of skills of our board members and the various perspectives they bring to the table will serve Greyston well as we execute our 2030 Vision.”
Greyston’s board also announced that Aleida Frederico will be leaving the board, as she retires from TD Bank and relocates to another state. “We thank Ale’ for her service and wish her well in this next chapter of her life,” stated Board Chair Yearley.
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About Greyston
Greyston’s mission is to unlock the power of Human Potential through inclusive employment, one person at a time. In 2020, Greyston announced its 10-year vision to provide employment opportunities through its Bakery and Open Hiring® replication partners to at least 40,000 individuals facing barriers to employment. Through the new Greyston Employment Opportunity Center (GEOC), job seekers can access training and education programs, mentoring, and transitional employment services. The GEOC also offers business services for employers interested in replicating inclusive hiring or who quickly need new skilled workers.
About Greyston Bakery
Greyston Bakery is a world-class commercial operation, producing nearly 12 million pounds of award-winning brownies annually for customers such as Ben & Jerry’s, Whole Foods Market, and other retail chains. Greyston Bakery employs individuals who faced barriers to meaningful employment. The hiring process is called Open Hiring®. That means no interviews, no background checks, and no resumes are required to get a job. Recognizing that employment is just the first step toward self-sufficiency. Founded by the late Zen Master Bernie Glassman in 1982, it is a lasting business created to take action to better the world. For the 9th year in a row Greyston Bakery was deemed “Best for the World” for 2022 by B Lab, B-Corp, recognition to the top 5% of B Corps worldwide (out of the approximately 5,000 B Corps).
Learn more at greyston.org.