Co-founders

Richard Lombard (Executive Director) is a materials specialist with experience in art, design, and education. He has worked advising design professionals and students in fields ranging from raw materials to fashion to civil engineering for three decades. He worked for a number of years at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Communications) and Sotheby’s (editorial for sothebys.com), and later landed at Material ConneXion, the original Materials Library. In 2010 Lombard traveled to Qatar to build the first academic materials library in the region at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has taught in the graduate school for design at Politecnico di Milano, College for Creative Studies, and Pratt Institute School of Architecture.

Eva Salmerón (Artistic Director) is a journalist and public artist. Within the collective mmmm…, she has carried out interactive public art projects in several cities on three continents since 1998. Places that encourage people to enjoy each other’s company, moments and situations that bring people together. Her work has been covered by major media outlets such as the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN, BBC, and The Guardian. She has taught and lectured at international universities and institutions including the National Gallery in Washington DC, Sapienza University of Rome, School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), and Virginia Commonwealth University in Doha.

Board

Dana Harris-Trovato (President) is a fiction writer who has been professionally involved in creating and managing nonprofits for more than 25 years. She is currently a Professor of English at St. Francis College, Brooklyn, while also serving as Director of Development at CavanKerry Press, a publishing house devoted to poetry and memoir. As Leadership Council member and Ex-Chair of CityLit Project in Baltimore, she works to provide opportunities for authors who are underrepresented in literary spaces. She was longtime Associate in Education and Program Development for the Touchstones Discussion Project, which uses the discussion of literature to help build critical thinking skills for students in public schools, prisons, and community programs. 

J. David Stewart is CEO of Twenty-First Century Global, an independent consulting firm that works with both NGOs and for-profit enterprises to accelerate our transition to net zero. A finance professional with decades of experience in the international capital markets, he works to bring scaled sustainable finance solutions to fruition. Managing Director at JPMorgan, and former Chairman of Terreform ONE (currently still a Member of the Board). Before entering the world of finance, he worked within the non-profit sector in Greenpeace and the National Committee on US China Relations. He has an MA in Asian Studies from the University of Toronto and a BA (magna cum laude) from Princeton University in Art History.

Leah Braithwaite is the Director of College Guidance at Rudolf Steiner School. She holds a BA in English World Literature from Marymount Manhattan College and an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. Upon graduating from Marymount, she began her career in higher education administration at Pace University, then transitioned to a role at Parsons School of Design where she was the Assistant Director of Admission. In the spring of 2022, she joined the Steiner community to carry out the work she is passionate about: advocating for students as they prepare for college and guiding them through the college admission process from application to enrollment. 

Molly Meloy is currently the Vice President of Marketing & Communications at New York City Center –home of Encores! and the Fall for Dance Festival– having previously worked at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) as the Director of Strategic Marketing. Prior to BAM, she was the VP of Marketing for CFO Publishing, a member of The Economist Group. She has more than 20 years’ experience in brand management, marketing, fundraising, and audience development, serving as Global Brand Director for Mobil Oil where she managed the sponsorship of Masterpiece Theatre on PBS. Molly graduated from the University of Iowa.

Sarah Shannon has more than three decades of experience in both nonprofit management and fundraising. She is currently a Major Gifts Officer at Weill Cornell Medicine. Previously, she was the Chief Operating Officer at Brooklyn Community Foundation (now Brooklyn Org). As COO she was responsible for oversight of both the Foundation’s internal operations as well as its donor advised fund program. She was Deputy Director for the Heart of Brooklyn, a partnership of the borough’s leading cultural institutions. As a nonprofit fundraising and management consultant, her clients have included National Child Labor Committee, The Jewish Museum, Lutheran Medical Center, and Art2Facts, Inc. She graduated with honors from Barnard College.