August Heckscher

Founder

Genie Rice

Chairman

Genie began her professional career in the arts, working in various administrative and managerial capacities for major cultural institutions, including the Smithsonian Institution and The New York State Council on the Arts.

During the 1970s and 1980s she became heavily involved in community advocacy and preservation, culminating in the

co-founding of CIVITAS Citizens, Inc. with August Heckscher in 1981.

Mark Alexander

President

James Tripp served as General Counsel at Environmental Defense Fund with responsibilities for reviewing all of EDF’s legal action initiatives for over 25 years.

He chairs the board of New Partners for Community Revitalization and the Long Island Pine Barrens Clearinghouse Advisory Board.

He is a member of the Civitas Board, and also serves on the Boards of the the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, the Louisiana Governor’s Advisory Commission on Coastal Restoration, Conservation, and Protection, the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, and is a member of the Trade Environmental Policy Advisory Group of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

Conrad Foa

Co- Treasurer

• Chairman of Foa & Son Corporation, an international insurance brokerage firm that negotiates insurance coverage on behalf of businesses and consumers.

• Graduated from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

• Received a Master’s Degree in Economics from the London School of Economics.

• Member, North American Board of the London School of Economics.

Natasha Brown

Secretary

Natasha Szarkowski Brown has been a CIVITAS board member since 2009. She is currently the CIVITAS secretary and sits on the zoning and executive committees.As a life-long New Yorker, Natasha joined CIVITAS because of the organization’s balanced approach to preservation and development within the neighborhood and the their dedication to improving the quality of life on the Upper East Side and East Harlem.

Natasha is an asset manager at Nuveen managing their commercial tri-state office portfolio. She graduated with an BA in History of Art from Cornell University and holds a Masters in Real Estate Development from Columbia University. Natasha lives in Carnegie Hill with her husband, son and dog.