little kids rock staff

	David Wish, Founder and Executive Director David has distinguished himself as a dynamic and visionary educational leader. In 2005, David was awarded a fellowship by the Draper Richards Foundation to support his work as social entrepreneur at Little Kids Rock. Before founding Little Kids Rock in 1996, he spent ten years as an elementary school teacher, during which time he served his peers as master teacher, clinician and trainer. He has also worked as a Spanish bilingual teacher, a school music teacher, and a professional musician. David has used his hands-on experience as a educator to develop the innovative methodology that enables Little Kids Rock programs to transform music education in public schools. David is a credentialed teacher in the state of California and holds B.A. in Sociology and History from Brandeis University.
	Jesse Cervantes , Program Director Jesse joined the staff as Program Director in September 2007. Prior to joining Little Kids Rock, he worked as a public school teacher in the Bronx where he led Little Kids Rock classes for guitar, piano, drums and bass. Among the accomplishments Jesse achieved during his tenure as a Little Kids Rock instructor was the formation of The Little Kids Rock band, "Rock 'n Thunder." This band, comprised of elementary school students, has performed at Madison Square Garden, The Ritz Carlton, Lehman College, Hostos College as well as other NYC venues. Rock ‘n Thunder has also performed for such legendary musicians as Carmine Appice and Liberty Devitto, and professional athletes, Jamal Crawford and Malik Rose. Jesse earned a BA in English Literature from Florida State University and an MA in education from Lehman College.
	Gina Sideris, Grants Director Gina Sideris joined Little Kids Rock as its Grants Director in March, 2008.  Formerly the Director of Development for The King’s Daughter’s Day School, Gina established the first development department at the 101-year-old-agency, doubling contributions from individuals and increasing grants by 29%.  Prior to the Day School, Gina was the Director of Major Gifts and Government Relations and Special Events Manger at the Paper Mill Playhouse, where she facilitated the planning of a $40 million capital campaign.  At SAGE Eldercare, Gina was the Director of Development & Public Relations, coordinating all media relations, as well as overseeing annual giving and planned giving initiatives, including a $500,000 endowment campaign and the planning of an $8 million capital campaign.  Gina holds a BA in Music Education from Montclair State University and is a soprano soloist with St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Montclair, NJ.
	Isa Greenberg, Office Manager Isa joined Little Kids Rock as the Office Manager in February 2006 and has brought years of administrative experience to the Little Kids Rock organization. Isa runs the day-to-day office management from the organization's headquarters in Montclair, New Jersey. Prior to joining Little Kids Rock, she worked as an administrative assistant for Hyman Beck & Company, Inc., a trading and investment firm, and as a paralegal for Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLC. Isa holds a Bachelor of the Arts in History from Marist College. In her spare time Isa enjoys hiking, kayaking, cooking, singing, working out, dancing, skiing and hanging out with spirited friends.
	Nicole Costanzo , Program Manager Nicole is excited to be a new member of the Little Kids Rock team.   As a Teaching Assistant at P.S. 183 in Manhattan, Nicole saw the positive effects of an arts integrated curriculum.  Toward the end of her two year assistantship, she created a music and theatre residency in which she went into various classrooms throughout the school to engage the curriculum, encourage teambuilding, and help students to work through their difficulties. She continued her work in the classroom as a Teaching Artist and Orff Instructor for the Turtle Bay Music School and Brooklyn Queens Conservatory. Nicole’s experience goes far beyond the classroom. Her administrative experience stems from her roles at Dimensional Music Publishing and the New Victory Theatre. Nicole is a classically trained singer and flutist and has a great love for reggae and jazz music. In her spare time, Nicole enjoys: singing, dancing, movies, and spending timer with family, friends and her wonderful husband Andrew. Nicole holds a B.A. from Hartwick College in Arts Management with a minor in music performance and an M.A. from NYU in Educational Theatre, where she truly learned what it means to be a dynamic teacher.
	Shennell Barnes , Program Assistant Shennell Barnes joined the team as a Program Assistant in June 2008. Prior to joining Little Kids Rock, she worked as a Junior Program Manager at Lehman Brothers where she prepared and managed cross-divisional employee development programs. Moreover, Shennell has established  New Jerseys Annual Homeless Drive that has serviced food, clothing and toys to over 1,000 people. Shennell has one more semester at Rutgers, The State University of NJ, where she will obtain a dual bachelors degree in Journalism and Women’s Studies. In her spare time Shennell enjoys writing poetry, hanging out with her friends, running and thinking about ways to change the world!
	Allison Neves, PR Director Allison Neves, has more than eleven years of public relations experience, providing strategic and tactical PR services for a wide range of clients, from actors and musicians to non-profit organizations and high-tech companies. Allison is a past recipient of! the Bulldog Reporter's Award of Excellence for Media Relations and Publicity and is an active member of the Public Relations Society of America and San Francisco's prestigious Commonwealth Club. When she's not trying to save the world one press release at a time, Allison volunteers for a variety of non-profit organizations, practices pilates, scuba dives, and spends time with best friend and husband, Travis.

little kids rock board of directors

Doug Camplejohn
Doug is the Founder and CEO of spyware security company, Mi5. He started his previous company, MyPlay, a digital music locker service, in 1999 and sold it to Bertelsmann in 2001. Doug has spent over 14 years in various Product Management and Marketing roles in Silicon Valley including Vontu, Epiphany and Apple Computer. Doug received his BSEE and MBA from Carnegie-Mellon University, and enjoys sailing, snowboarding, open water swimming, and playing guitar.

Chris Cole
Chris Cole is a Vice President and Senior Relationship Manager of Private Banking for the Wealth Management group at Mechanics Bank in San Francisco.
For more than a century, Mechanics Bank has been helping people build prosperous communities as a trusted financial partner, building lasting relationships through teamwork, respect and integrity.
Before joining Mechanics Bank, Chris served as a Senior Private Business Banker at First Republic Bank for over 10 years. Chris has more than 18 years of banking experience specializing in Private Banking for high net worth individuals, residential lending, and business banking and wealth management. Chris has served as a consultant and advisory board member to numerous nonprofit organizations including The Treasure Island Sailing Center, ElderArts and Live Oak School.
Chris has been serving on the board of directors and finance committee for Little Kids Rock since 2005.
Chris has also worked as a Regional Training & Development Specialist for Key Bank in Seattle.  Chris is an avid music collector and enjoys cooking, traveling, modern & green design and his dogs, Lola & Stanley.

Karen Chakmakian
Karen Chakmakian is VP Marketing for Fuzz Artists, Inc., a new music company that integrates a music label, online artist platform, and music community into a unified destination for artists and fans. Before joining Fuzz, Karen was a marketing consultant for six years, bringing leadership and direction to early stage companies.

Prior to her work as a consultant, she co-founded and led corporate marketing for iPass (NASDAQ: IPAS), which delivers simple and secure enterprise connectivity services for mobile workers through a virtual network of hundreds of dial-up, wireless, and broadband providers in more than 150 countries.

Prior to iPass, Karen consulted to International Messaging Associates in Hong Kong, and held marketing and business operations roles at two startups in the semiconductor industry. Karen holds an MBA from Santa Clara University. She also plays guitar, djembe, sings, loves adventure travel, kiteboarding, skiing, and discovering amazing wine.

Leslie Crutchfield
Leslie Crutchfield i s an author, speaker, and advisor to leading nonprofits and philanthropies. She serves as managing director of the Ashoka Global Academy for Social Entrepreneurship, and is co-author of FORCES FOR GOOD: THE SIX PRACTICES OF HIGH-IMPACT NONPROFITS (Wiley 2008). Ashoka is the world’s oldest and largest organization supporting social entrepreneurs; the Global Academy program features the “global greats” of social entrepreneurship such as Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank. For the past decade, Leslie has served as a strategic consultant to a range of foundations and nonprofit organizations, and currently is a philanthropic advisor to the Goldhirsh Foundation, among others. In the 1990s, she co-founded and ran Who Cares: The Tool Kit for Social Change, a national magazine for young activists (circulation 50,000). Leslie is a frequent public speaker and university lecturer, and has been featured as one of America’s top leaders under 40 by Newsweek. She volunteered with Crossroads Africa in the Gambia, and serves on the board of the SEED Foundation. Leslie holds an MBA and an AB from Harvard University, and resides in the Washington, D.C. area with her family.

J. Michael Fernandez
Mike Fernandez is the Chairman of Little Kids Rock. Mike is a Managing Director at the BTI Group, a mergers and acquisitions firm. Previously, Mike co-founded The Coffee Review, the world's leading guide to coffee ratings, and GreatCoffee.com.
 
Mike earned a BSE from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and his MPA from Harvard University. He founded The Octopus, Harvard's graduate school satirical newspaper. He also served as a Captain in the US Army and earned a black belt in Karate. He has a passion for music and life. In his spare time, he plays guitar and practices yoga.

Zachary Fisher
Zachary Fisher is Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for LeapFrog Enterprises. LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. is the world’s leading developer, and marketer of innovative, technology-based learning toys and related content, dedicated to making learning fun, effective and engaging for children of all ages.

Before joining LeapFrog, Zac consulted for 20 years on matters of business strategy both independently and as a Vice President at Mars & Co for some of the world’s largest and most respected corporations internationally.

Zac earned his MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a BA in Economics from the University of Maryland.

In his spare time he enjoys long distance road, spending time with his family and vintage toy collecting.    Hopelessly lost in the music of the 60s and 70s,   Zac is an active player and performer on almost all woodwind instruments.

Ed Miller
Ed Miller joined the board this year, adding strength to the corporate Head Quarter of Little Kids Rock.  Ed has most recently been a management consultant to senior executives and CEOs of firms in the world of financial information and technology.   Until 2000, Ed was CEO of The MarketNet Group, a New York based technology consulting firm that served over 100 of the most pretigious banks and brokerage firms in North America.  He had been with Reuters prior to that and held a number of executive positions in Sales and Marketing.  Ed has his MBA from Boston University, his BA from the University of Connecticut and is a die hard rocker and lover of the blues, an amateur sculptor and sommelier. 

Todd Shaiman
Todd Shaiman is the Production Strategy & Finance Lead at Pixar Animation Studios, the Academy-award winning computer animation studio. Before joining Pixar, Todd worked with Linden Lab, an interactive media company and creator of the collaborative 3D online virtual environment, Second Life.  Prior to Linden Lab, Todd was Director of Product Strategy at Atomshockwave Corporation, a leading digital entertainment company, and Product Manager at Microsoft, where he led a cross-functional team in the development of its UltimateTV service.

Todd received a B.A. from Harvard College, an M.Sc. from Oxford University, an M.A. from Stanford University, School of Education and an M.B.A. from Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.