Leadership and Service
Our board brings decades of experience in nonprofit leadership, public service, education, fundraising and community engagement to the Institute’s work.
The Breukelein Institute is guided by dedicated leaders whose varied professional backgrounds are united by a commitment to supporting smaller organizations and the communities they serve.
As President of The Breukelein Institute, the Reverend Corrado has spent most of his working years administering community-based projects within New York City. Trained in communications, he has focused the Institute’s successful fundraising work on inner-city children and small, grassroots charitable organizations, primarily in Brooklyn.
The New York Daily News identified him as one of New York’s new leaders for the 21st century.
Born in Kingston, Pennsylvania, Jim Simon holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Penn State University. A resident of Brooklyn since 1986, he began his professional career at the International Center for the Disabled in Manhattan.
He later served for 22 years as Director of Development at two private schools in New York City. Jim continues to work as a private fundraising consultant.
Mr. Marino brings many years of experience working within and alongside New York City government agencies. For more than 20 years, he successfully initiated and guided renewal and renovation projects to completion throughout the city.
Now in the private sector, he travels nationally overseeing major transportation strategies and projects.
Bonnie Barrett has held leadership positions in classical music, artist relations, artist management and concert booking throughout her career. She has served as Director of Yamaha Artist Services, Inc., strengthening relationships with classical performing artists, presenters and the broader music community while supporting pianists through Yamaha’s New York Piano Salon and its family of Yamaha and Bösendorfer instruments.
Earlier in her career, Bonnie was Vice President of Barrett Vantage Artists, where she oversaw artist management and concert booking for acclaimed classical, opera, cabaret and jazz performers. She also served as Director of Concert and Artist Activities for the Americas at Steinway & Sons and held senior marketing and public-relations positions with Sony Classical, EMI and BMG Classics, after beginning her career at Columbia Artists Management.
Cynthia Hammond is a Supervising Court Attorney-Referee at the Kings County Surrogate’s Court. While working in private law practice, she gave—and continues to give—extensive time and support to organizations including the Brooklyn Waldorf School, Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, BAM and the Downtown Oratory Church in MetroTech.
Along with her husband, Joe Samulski, she is an activist for community and quality-of-life improvements, particularly in their Boerum Hill neighborhood.
Keri has devoted her career to international education in both nonprofit and for-profit-for-good organizations. She serves as a vice president at the world’s largest privately held international education organization, providing culturally immersive educational opportunities for youth and adults from around the globe.
With more than 20 years of servant leadership in the United States and abroad, she is committed to helping organizations succeed while giving back to the communities they serve. Keri mentors students and alumni of her alma mater, Boston College, has led philanthropic initiatives for underserved children in Europe, Latin America and throughout the United States, and proudly serves her local community as a foster parent.
A native of Amsterdam, New York, Tom attended Brown University and graduated from the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, where he studied with renowned acting teacher Sanford Meisner. After a successful acting career with roles in television, film and Broadway theater, he shifted his focus to public media.
For many years, his professional life centered on Thirteen/WNET, New York’s PBS flagship station, where he served as Staff Announcer—the “Voice of Thirteen”—and an on-camera host. A longtime Brooklyn Heights resident, Tom continues to present the annual Brooklyn Heights Association Community Service Awards and is a recipient of The Breukelein Institute’s Gaudium Award.
