PTA Executive Board Elections

Co-Presidents (2 open positions)

Matthew MacIntyre
Matthew has served as the co-President of the PS29 PTA since January, 2018. He currently has a daughter in 1st grade, Emily, and a 2-year-old at home, Maya. Matthew is a lawyer and currently works as an investigator for Citigroup handling high risk investigations for the bank. Matthew has enjoyed getting to know the parents in the school and helping to build a stronger community to support the children of PS 29.
  
Olivia Poor
Olivia is a mom of three: Amelia, a 7th grader at Middle School 51, and Chip, a 4th grader and Gus, a Kindergartener, both at P.S. 29. She has served as co-President of the PTA this school year, and served for three years as president of the Board at Grace Church School in Brooklyn Heights. Olivia is currently a stay at home mom, but previously worked for eleven years at a public high school in Manhattan, as an English teacher and then as an Assistant Principal. Olivia is looking forward to continuing her work alongside a wonderful team of PS 29 parent volunteers!

Co-Treasurers (2 open positions)

Liz Dank
Liz is a parent to a 1st grader and 2 year old and has lived in the neighborhood for about 8 years.  She has been an SLT member for the last two years and would love to be able to participate on the PTA as a Treasurer and continue to help our school community thrive. Professionally, she is a government attorney working in the field of domestic and gender-based violence with almost 15 years of experience.  In her current position, one of her roles is oversight of a 20+ million dollar budget, including day-to-day fiscal operations, contracting, program and staff forecasting and the development of fiscal procedures and controls.  She has spent much of her career working within systems and trying to improve access to resources, streamline the delivery of services, create efficient and effective operations and promote safety for families.  

Lucia Madueno
Lucia is a Mom to Matias (3rd grade) and Camila (1st grade).
She loves PS29 and is so excited to be part of the amazing community this school has created. She is currently a class parent and has been since Matias started Kindergarten 4 years ago. She loves to get parents - and kids - involved in the great activities and events PS29 offers. Last year Lucia also worked in the committee for the Gala + Auction fundraising, and this year she serves as co-treasurer of the PTA.
She works independently in corporate finance and is venturing into jewelry business! Lucia has a BS in Graphic Design and a Certificate in Business Management from NYU. 

Co-VP Fundraising (3 open positions)

Constance Edwards
Constance Edwards is entering her fourth year as a PS29 parent with a third grader, as well as 5-year old twins that will be Kindergarteners. Constance has served as co-VP of Fundraising for the PTA this year. She has also co-chaired the 2018 and 2019 spring gala + auction. The experience has shown her the many facets of coordination, community outreach, and continuity of vision that are the keys to successful fundraising. 
Professionally, Constance has led sales and client services teams at multiple organizations including Google and Kayak. She is not sure whether managing 5 year old twins or 24 year old account managers is the more challenging / relevant experience, but each is ample preparation for the plate-spinning that fundraising leadership requires.

Lizzie Hand
Lizzie currently has a fourth grader at PS29, Jackson, and a 1st grader, June, at PS29. She also has a 3-year-old named Clara. Lizzie has been a co-VP of fundraising for the PTA for two years, a PS29 class parent for 4 years, a member of the Grants Committee, and a frequent volunteer. She worked in fundraising for several years at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and has helped with fundraising efforts at her children’s pre-school, Casa Montessori. Lizzie owned a small business, a store, in Brooklyn Heights and most recently worked for eBay as a curator.

Liz Squadron
Liz Squadron is a mom of two boys - one in 2nd grade and one Kindergartener. Liz and her husband have lived in the neighborhood for twelve years and have loved being part of the PS 29 community.

Liz has served as co-Secretary of the PTA this year. Since starting as a parent at 29, she has baked for the hospitality committee, volunteered as a class parent and as a member of the community service committee. Last spring, Liz worked with the PTA presidents, Dr. Fagin, and all of our 4th grade teachers, helping to coordinate the STAR project that sent more than 40 boxes of clothes and other supplies to Syrian refugees living in Jordan. She has found contributing in these ways to be enormously gratifying.

Co-VP, Class Parents (2 open positions)

Kim Brooks
Kim is the mom to first grader, Poppy, and preschooler, Frankie. Kim has devoted the past few years to raising her young girls. She loves to lend a hand at both daughters' schools, and looks forward to becoming actively involved in the P.S. 29 PTA. She enjoys meeting as many families as possible in the 29community, and has built a strong network of warm, compassionate parents and their children these past few years. Prior to having children, Kim worked for the City University of New York in Student Affairs. Her background in student life makes her an excellent candidate for the VP Class Parents position. She has led many orientation and training programs throughout her career. She is an experienced speaker, and has addressed diverse groups of all sizes. Her particular skill set and leadership skills will be invaluable assets when communicating with class parents and volunteers, and engaging with other parent leaders.

Kristin Heavy
Kristin is a parent to a 4th grader, Charlie, and a 1st grader, Fiona, and has lived in Cobble Hill for over 14 years. She is a class parent for both 1st and 4th-grade classes this year, and has previously volunteered for various school events. Additionally, she has been a public defender in Manhattan for over 13 years, where her responsibilities included managing a team of 10 employees at a busy nonprofit law office. She is hoping to serve as Co-VP of Class Parents to continue her involvement at PS 29, and to help other families connect with the PS 29 community. 

Co-VP, Communications (2 open positions)

Margo Reynolds
Margo Reynolds is mom to Stella, a Kindergartner at PS 29, and June, a preschooler at Red Hook Playgroup. A former elementary and middle school teacher, Margo now helps education nonprofits and education startups develop and execute marketing and communications strategies. Margo serves as co-president of the Red Hook Playgroup and has lived in the Carroll Gardens/Columbia Waterfront neighborhood since 2007. She is excited to become involved in the PTA for this first time this year! 

Emily Butler Smith
Emily Butler Smith is the mother of Olivia, a first grader, and Charlie, a sixth grader at MS 51 and graduate of PS 29. She has served on the PS 29 SLT and has been a class parent. Emily is a former classroom teacher and is the associate director of professional development at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. Emily also holds her Ed.D. in curriculum and teaching from Teachers College. 

Co-VP, After School (2 open positions)

Michael DeNicola
Michael is running for the position of Co-Vice President of the After School Program.  He has two children, Daniel and Cora, who are enrolled in Kids Club. Michael has been the co-VP of the After School Program this year. While Michael is trained as an attorney, he has always had a passion for education and is excited about the opportunity to get more involved. The After School position is particularly interesting to him because, as a Kids Club parent, he knows how important the program is for working parents and he has a vested interest in seeing it continue to grow and improve.  Additionally, in his previous life, he ran a Saturday school program in the Atlanta Public Schools for two years.  Through that experience, Michael got to see firsthand how quality extracurricular programming can add to a child’s overall education.  It also taught him how to collaborate with parents, educators, and community members to build a successful program that is both educational and fun.  

Sheffali Welch
Sheffali is the parent of two energetic PS 29 students, Lowell in fourth grade and Asha in second grade.  They have attended PS 29 since Kindergarten and pre-K, respectively, and have taken advantage of the wonderful after school programs that PS 29 has to offer.

Sheffali has served as Co-VP of After School this school year. As a working parent, after school programs are incredibly important for her and her family. Her children have had the opportunity to learn chess, Spanish, guitar, piano and various crafts, and they participate in Kids Club.

Professionally, Sheffali was the Chief Operating Officer of Deutsche Bank Wealth Management Americas, where she was responsible for Strategy, Finance, Business Management, Risk and driving change through the organization.  Her career experience will help identify ways to work with the parents, school administration, and the community to bring the best of Brooklyn to our children for after school enrichment.  Her ‘mom’ experience will make sure she’s always balancing enrichment with fun.

Co-Secretaries (2 open positions)

Kiersten Lyons
Kiersten is a mom of 2, with one on the way:  foster daughter Ashley, who is 23 and now living in LA, Ellison, who is a PS29 kindergartener and she and her husband, Bradley, are in the adoption process.
In addition to being a mom, Kiersten is a writer, actor, and painter. She ran for secretary of Waters Landing Elementary in 5th grade and lost, but regrouped and went after the younger school vote, winning in 6th grade. It was the greatest comeback since Rocky, and she’s excited to once again use loopy cursive to take notes.

Daniela Masciangelo
Daniela is finally biting the bullet and throwing her hat into the ring to serve as co-Secretary on this PS 29 PTA!  She has been a volunteer at the very well-loved Photo Day for several years and is currently the chair of the Photoday Committee. She has also served as a Class Parent for 3 years. She currently has  2 sons at PS29:  Sebastian, a 5th grader bound for BHS next year, and Will, who is in Kindergarten. When she is not wearing her pajamas at drop-off, she works part-time as an RN at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she has worked happily for 16 years. Daniela is very much looking forward to joining the ranks of the PS 29 PTA!