Dean’s Advisory Council
Ivye L. Allen, PhD, SW00
Ivye is President of the Foundation for the Mid South, a regional foundation serving Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The Foundation funds programs and initiatives that focus on community development, education, health and wellness, and wealth building. Ivye’s prior work experience includes serving as Chief Operating Officer for MDC Inc. and Director of Fellowship Programs for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Prior to her career in the nonprofit sector, Ivye held finance and marketing positions in fortune 100 corporations. She serves on numerous boards and advisory groups. Ivye holds a BA in economics from Howard University, an MBA in marketing and international business from New York University; an MS in Urban Affairs from Hunter College, and a PhD in social policy from Columbia School of Social Work.
Jennifer Bornemann, SW00
Jennifer is a Commander in the U.S. Public Health Service. She recently joined the DHHS Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response as the long-term health and social services recovery lead in Regions IV and V. She previously served as the Resilience Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, focusing on the well-being of employees on public health emergency responses. Jennifer has also served as a public health advisor in the suicide prevention branch at SAMHSA and as a program manager for the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress. She has provided clinical social work services at Walter Reed and deployed for numerous missions, including the Ebola epidemics in Liberia and DRC, as well as natural disasters and mass casualty events throughout the United States. Prior to her commission in the U.S. Public Health Service, she was a Vice President with the Credit Suisse Americas Foundation. Jennifer received her B.A. from the University of Maryland. She holds an MSSW from the Columbia School of Social Work.
Jing Chen, SW10
Jing is a Harlem-based artist who discovered her passion for oil painting and other media art works while working as a social worker in NYC. She began developing her vision as a channel for renewed understanding, using oil painting and other media to express her complex vision and thoughts. Prior to her careers as an artist and social worker, Jing worked on Wall Street for two large banks, selling financial products, and managing client relations. She holds an MSSW from the Columbia School of Social Work.
Margaret Crotty, PH16
Margaret is the executive director and CEO of Partnership with Children which provides critical mental health services for NYC students and engages families in the school community. She has served in executive leadership roles in both the not-for-profit and private sectors in the areas of education and public health. Prior to joining Partnership with Children, Margaret launched and ran Save the Children’s $2 billion initiative to reduce child mortality in the developing world. She has also served as the president and CEO of AFS-USA Intercultural Programs and as executive director of a workforce development agency serving New York City and Washington, DC. In the private sector, Margaret spent seven years at the global corporation EF Education. Margaret serves on several health and education boards, including those of Northwell Health, Lenox Hill Hospital, The Open Medical Institute, The Inner-City Scholarship Fund, Third Street Music School, and the Middlebury Center for Social Entrepreneurship. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MPH from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.
Julie Fisher Cummings, SW11
Julie has dedicated over 40 years to serving her community both locally and nationally. She is the founder of Lovelight Foundation, which focuses on domestic child sex trafficking, underserved women and girls and quality early childhood education and a trustee of the Detroit-based Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation. She has served on the boards of a wide range of nonprofits and national and community organizations, including the National Center for Family Philanthropy, the Children’s Hospital of Michigan, the Board of Advisors of Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and the Council of Michigan Foundations. Additionally, Julie is a Presidential appointee and board member of the Corporation for National and Community Service and is an assistant adjunct professor on child policy at the University of Miami. She holds an MSSW from the Columbia School of Social Work.
Georgia Levenson Keohane
Georgia has more than twenty years of leadership experience in the private and nonprofit sectors at the intersection of capital markets, responsible investing and business, philanthropy and public policy, most recently as the President of the Navab Capital Partners (NCP) Foundation and head of the firm’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practice, and before that Executive Director of the Pershing Square Foundation. She is also a professor of social enterprise at Columbia Business School. In 2020, Georgia helped to lead one of New York City’s COVID-19 emergency response and relief efforts, and has focused on the importance of stakeholder capitalism in times of crisis. Georgia serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations including The Bloomingdale Family Program, Sea Change, Commonwealth, Columbia Global Reports and TheDream.US. She is the author of Capital and the Common Good: How Innovative Finance is Tackling the World’s Most Urgent Problems (Columbia University Press, 2016) and Social Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century: Innovation Across the Nonprofit, Private and Public Sectors (McGraw Hill, 2013). Georgia holds a BA from Yale University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and an M.Sc. from London School of Economics, where she was a Fulbright Scholar.
Regina Noch, CC88, PH90, SW90
Regina is a board member of the National Domestic Violence Hotline based in Austin, Texas. The Hotline provides ongoing support, education, and resources to thousands of people every year through its phone, text, and live chat services. She holds a BA from Columbia College, an MPH in health administration from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, and an MSSW from the Columbia School of Social Work.
Nathan Smith, Sr., SW02
Nathan is Director of Student & Family Affairs at Harlem Village Academies. Prior to that, he was the founding Director of Counseling Services KIPP NYC and the founding School Social Worker at the KIPP STAR College Prep Charter School in Harlem. Nathan is an adjunct faculty member in the Schools of Social Work at Columbia University and New York University. Nathan is a board member of the Columbia School of Social Work’s Alumni Association and has served in leadership roles in a wide range of nonprofits including Groove Phi Groove Social Fellowship, Inc., S.A.F.E. in Harlem and the New York Road Runners. He earned a BA at Iona College, an MSSW at the Columbia School of Social Work, and is a graduate student (ABD) Doctor of Philosophy, social policy at Fordham University.
Ashleigh Washington, SW09
Ashleigh is currently the Senior Director of Learning and Staff Development at Safe Horizon, the nation’s leading victims’ services agency. She leads training and professional development for the agency’s 900+ employees. She is also on the adjunct faculty of the City University of New York. Ashleigh has also worked in the fields of substance abuse, public education, healthcare, and supportive housing, providing both direct practice and management in the non-profit sector. She is the founder of HumanizEd Learning, an online professional and career development company for social service professionals. Ashleigh holds a BA from Prairie View A&M University in Texas and an MSSW from the Columbia School of Social Work. She is currently a PhD student in social welfare at the City University of New York.