The Nuasin Next Generation Board of Trustees is committed to the mission and long-term success of the school.

Our Board Members

• Aaron Bothner Chair
  

  Aaron Bothner Chair

  Aaron is a proud member of Nuasin’s Board of Trustees because of his belief that every child deserves a school that is one hundred percent and energetically focused on putting students’ success and well-being first, always. Within Nuasin’s three pillars, he finds the words “rigorous” and “self-advocacy” compelling because he is deeply passionate about children experiencing success and learning through failure to become the best versions of themselves. He became a Nuasin trustee in June 2017 and has served as the Board’s chairperson since September 2019; he is currently a member of the Finance, Governance, and Education committees. He began his career as a high school social studies teacher in Philadelphia while earning his MS in Education from the University of Pennsylvania, after which he spent several years as a teacher coach for over 80 teachers from New York to Alabama. He then earned his MBA from Georgetown University while transitioning into his current role as a commercial real estate investor. As a board member, he draws from his career experience as an investor and in education, with specializations in financial markets, strategic design and implementation, and organizational development. He has five years’ of experience in education governance. He can be reached at aaron.bothner@nngcs.org.

• Shanta Pressley Treasurer
  

  Shanta Pressley Treasurer

  Shantá is a former financial consultant, with more than a decade of experience in regulation and compliance. She is now the CEO and founder of her family’s culinary collection, initially established in 2013. She holds an MA and BA in Accounting from Clark Atlanta University. Shantá joined the Nuasin Next Generation Charter School Board of Trustees in October, 2019. Since her confirmation, she has served on several ah-hoc committees, and is in her second-term as Treasurer, and Chair of the Finance Committee; she is also a member of the External Relations and Governance Committees. Shantá joined the Board of Trustees to be a part of a foundation that fosters scholars to compete on a global level, serve communities, understand and strive towards their purpose with integrity and fidelity, and have historical and cultural awareness.

• Jessica Boulet Secretary
  

  Jessica Boulet Secretary

  Jessica joined the Board of Trustees because she supports Nuasin’s community-centered approach to empowering students and families. She believes that Nuasin’s pillars of “community” and “self-advocacy” work together to help children understand that individual self-worth and success are rooted both in the pursuit of one’s own dreams, and also in the support of and for the many communities—families, friends, schools, neighborhoods, and many others—to which we all belong. Jessica has been a Board member since 2019, where she serves as the Board’s Secretary and Governance Committee Chair and contributes her expertise in good governance and law. She also sits on the Education and Community Liaison Committees. Jessica is an international human rights lawyer and consultant focused on the rights of women and socioeconomic and racial equity, and she is a passionate believer in the potential of law to create stronger, more equitable societies globally and in her home community of New York City. Previously, she worked in international research and policy advocacy in Washington, D.C., and Amman, Jordan. She holds a B.A. in English and Arabic from Georgetown University and a J.D. from New York University and speaks Arabic, French, and Spanish. In her free time, she loves to travel, learn new things, and spend time with her family and friends. She can be reached at jessica.boulet@nngcs.org.

• Ellen Chen Board Member
  

  Ellen Chen Board Member

  Ellen Chen believes in quality education and advocates for equal opportunities for our future generations. As a product of the New York City Public School system, Ellen is passionate about equity learning in public and charter schools. She proudly joined Nuasin’s Board of Trustees in 2019, and sits on the Governance, Finance, and Community Liaison Committees. Ellen started to serve as the Academic Committee Chair in 2020. Ellen believes that our three pillars: Rigor, Self-Advocacy, and Community feed into one another as a continual progression towards achieving our mission. The application of rigor through teaching and learning methodologies helps our scholars develop critical thinking and self-expressions. And through learning from each other’s success and failure, our scholars establish a sense of teamwork to help one another grow as individuals and as a community. Ellen holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from University of Virginia Darden School of Business, and is continuing her education at Columbia University’s graduate program, studying Psychology. Ellen is a strategist by trade. She has developed her business acumen and people management skills consulting for Fortune 100 companies; and she contributes her expertise in strategic planning for Nuasin.

• Constance Barnes-Watson Board Member
  

  Constance Barnes-Watson Board Member

  Constance Barnes-Watson, a former resident of the Highbridge community, joined the Nuasin Board after briefly serving as a substitute teacher for the school during her transition back to NY in 2018. As a former school administrator and career coach, Constance wholeheartedly supports Nuasin’s mission to prepare students to be intellectually curious as they approach their next steps. As a former special education teacher, Constance has helped her students and families acknowledge the importance of their voices and use all available resources to advocate for their rights. She firmly stands behind the pillar of self-advocacy as one of the most important tools our students can possess to help break down barriers and create their own pathways to success. Constance joined the Board in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and serves on the Education and Governance Committees. Constance brings to the Board a wealth of experience in the charter school realm, having served as a charter school administrator in NY and GA, as Charter Schools Program Director for the state of South Carolina, and she is the President of an education consulting firm providing strategic planning and coaching support to charters. Constance is currently a Doctoral candidate at the University of Pittsburgh, she has a Master’s in Education from Mercy College and Bachelor’s in Economics and holds educational licenses in multiple states along the East Coast. She is the Director of Strategic Partnerships for an educational non-profit based in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx.

• Kamaria Brisseau Board Member
  

  Kamaria Brisseau Board Member

  Kamaria joined Nuasin Next Generation Board of Trustees in 2019 with excitement, and the intention of fostering an environment that creates space for scholars to reach their full academic potential. She currently serves as Chair of the Nominating Committee and is a member of the Governance, Finance and Investment Committees. With over 15 years of nonprofit administration experience, Kamaria contributes her expertise in strategic planning, recruitment, DEI initiatives, and financial management. She is the Senior Director of Budget and Administration at CUNY K16 Initiatives and a respected Business Consultant while also serving her community as a volunteer Financial Literacy Teacher with the National Association of Black Accountants, a founding member of the Equitable Economies Coalition, and a Mentor to elementary school students through the Read Ahead program for many years. Kamaria earned her Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Brooklyn College, and holds a Masters in Public Administration from Columbia University. Kamaria is also a member of the Society for Human Resources Management and is a Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). She currently resides in Brooklyn with her two sons and pet Cockapoo.

• Khari Shabazz Vice Chair
• Michael Dorrie Board Member
  Michael Dorrie Board Member

  Michael is currently Vice President of Network for Integra Partners, spanning management of over 3,000 providers across the United States. Michael Dorrie's work at Integra began in 2019 as the Chief of Staff. Michael began playing an integral part of increasing the effectiveness of the Sales, Implementations and Executive Leadership Team with strategies to successfully onboard new partners. In 2017, prior to joining Integra, Michael managed Business and Operations for three high performing charter schools in New York City. In 2012, he held senior roles at a mortgage firm in New York, helping scale the business as it expanded into new areas. Michael spent several years in the U.S. Army as a Non-Commissioned Officer, building and leading combat teams in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Michael holds a B.A. in Business from Berkeley College, and an M.B.A. from Cornell University. Michael has a personal connection to education equality. Michael was straight-A student in the public schools in the Bronx, and moved upstate in fifth grade, only to find the curriculum much more demanding and the coursework much more advanced than his peers in the Bronx were exposed to. Understanding this gap grows each year, Michael is dedicated to Nuasin’s mission and personally tied to ensuring the rigor and academic excellence found in the nation's highest performing schools is also available in the Bronx.

• Aluta Khanyile Board Member
• Sophia Huda Board Member
  

  Sophia Huda Board Member

  Sophia works on environmental health, justice, and policy issues. She began her career in Brussels where she worked on issues such as chemicals regulation, plastics recycling, and food packaging safety. She has also worked on water justice issues in Palestine and Mexico, environmental health issues in West Africa and South Asia, and recycling and waste management in North America. She is also an Adjunct Professor at the NYU School of Global Public Health and also teaches Environmental and Sustainability classes at Fordham and Columbia Universities. Alongside her work on the Board of Nuasin, Sophia is also the Chair of the National Recycling Coalition’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee and is a Member of the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board. She holds a B.A in Political Science from the University of Toronto, a M.Sc in Public Policy from the University of Leuven, and a M.S. in Sustainability Management from Columbia University. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Sophia is fluent in French and enjoys photography as a hobby.

• Tim Bryan Board Member
  

  Tim Bryan Board Member

  Tim joined Nuasin’s Board of Trustees in July 2011 because he is passionate about helping the children of New York City and was looking for ways to give back. He currently serves on the Finance and External Relations & Governance committees, and he was previously the Treasurer. Tim is currently a Senior Sales Leader at Amazon Web Services, Inc. Prior to AWS, Tim was the Chief Revenue Officer at Custora, Inc. Before Custora, he held senior management positions at Movable Ink, Triad Retail Media, Time, Inc., and A&E Television Networks. Tim graduated with a BA in English from Syracuse University and currently lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two daughters.