Board of Directors

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Monica Brenner moved to Rye in 2010 with her husband and three children: Nate, Charlie and Claire.  Prior to moving to Rye, she spent 12 years working as the Manager of Legal Recruitment for a large, Wall Street law firm.  Monica has been actively involved in numerous local not-for-profits, including the Rye Free Reading Room, Midland Elementary School (where she served as the PTO President), and Community Synagogue of Rye (where she currently serves on the Board of Trustees). Monica is a graduate of Colgate University and is the director of PlaySmart Academy, a free, one-week leadership and sports camp for under-served youth in the area.  She joined the Rye Youth Council’s Board in 2019.

Erin moved to Rye in 2013 and has 2 children attending the Rye schools.  Prior to joining the Rye Youth Council Board, Erin worked as Vice President of Merchandising for various footwear brands and holds a BS from Syracuse University in Retail and Marketing.  Her initial community engagement included chairing Midland's Picture Day, the Children's Chance Room at the Midland Fair, as well as delivering food for Horizons to neighboring low-income communities.

Allison moved to Rye in 2001 and had 3 children attend the Rye schools.  She has been a Rye Youth Council Board Member since 2016 and will serve as co-president with Elyssa Gray and Laura Kovacs in 2020-2021.  During her service with RYC, she has focused on developing the Rye Youth Council Employment Services (RYCES) which, in 2020,  set record numbers for local student and employer connections. Her initial community engagement included chairing Osborn’s Scare Fair and Holiday Angels program and serving on the Board of Family Services of Westchester.  Allison holds a BA in International Relations from Hamilton College. Professionally, Allison works in Talent Acquisition for Genpact.

Stephen moved to Rye with his wife, JoAnne, and son, John Patrick, in 1996. Steve works as the Director of Strategic and Internal Communications at the Wildlife Conservation Society. Before that, Steve was a producer of independent documentaries and collaborated with the likes of Mr. Rogers, National Geographic, PBS, BBC, and Martha Stewart. Steve has served as Chair of Rye’s local Cable Committee. He holds a BS degree in filmmaking from Southern Illinois University, an MFA in film from Carnegie Mellon University, and is ABD in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh.

Elyssa moved to Rye with her husband, David, and 2 boys, Ethan and Justin, in 2014. She has been a Board member of the Rye Youth Council since 2019 and currently serves as one of three co-presidents along with Allison Chader and Laura Kovacs. Having participated in many of the RYC’s programs and experienced the benefit for her children, she was eager to jump right in and put her marketing background to work to continue to raise awareness of the many programs that RYC offers our community. Elyssa holds a BS in Consumer Studies from the University of Vermont and a Diploma in Coaching from NYU. When she isn’t in Rye, you can find her and her family in racing programs at Stratton, VT. She currently works as a brand consultant and professional coach. 

Sally Joyce and her husband Jim moved to Rye in August 2014, just in time for their daughter Caroline to start Kindergarten at Midland. Before making the move to the suburbs, Sally spent nearly 6 years in London working for a large American bank selling prime brokerage services and, then 10 years in New York City as the head of marketing and sales for Citco Fund Services. As a cancer survivor, Sally is an active volunteer with Memorial Sloan Kettering’s patient to patient program and serves on their Patient Family Council for Quality.  More locally, she works as a Wig Exchange Client Coordinator with Soul Ryeders. During her daughter’s time at Midland, Sally was very active with the PTO, including running the annual fundraiser and even acting as PTO President. Originally from the West Coast, Sally is a graduate of the University of Oregon and remains an avid Duck Football fan!! She joined the Rye Youth Council’s Board in 2021. 

Laura and her husband, Steve, moved to Rye in 1999 where they are raising their four sons.  Laura is a former elementary school teacher who holds a Masters as a Reading Specialist. She has been a Rye Youth Council Board Member since 2018 and will serve as co-president with Elyssa Gray and Allison Chader in 2020-2021.  Laura has been active with RYCES and the Career GPS Panels and will serve as a RYC liaison to the Rye City Schools.  She is a co-leader of the RHS junior class parenting group.   Additionally, she serves as the treasurer for the Rye Boys Soccer Booster club and is very active in the Rye High School lacrosse, basketball and football booster clubs.  Laura currently works part time as a real estate staging consultant

Elisabeth has been a Board member of the Rye Youth Council since 2019 and has worked with RYCES since 2017.  She currently serves on the Finance Committee on the RYC. She has previously served as a member and Co-President of the Auxiliary Board of the Rye Free Reading Room as well as on various committees for Midland School and the Rye Middle School.  Elisabeth holds a BS in Economics from Duke University and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.  She brings over 20 years of experience working in finance to the Board. Elisabeth, her husband and 2 children have lived in Rye since 2003. She currently works as the controller for AMPF, Inc. 

Jonita moved to Rye from the Netherlands in 2010 with her husband and 3 daughters.  She is a licensed social worker in the Netherlands and has been working primarily with teenagers, parents, their teachers and all the network around them. Her last position in the Netherlands was comparable to a school counselor for middle and high schools in Amsterdam.

In 2017 she became the advisor for the Rye Youth Council’s High School Grandfriend program and joined the Board of Directors in 2018.

Marnie is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker that has been counseling children, adolescents and families for over 20 years. With an emphasis on holistic counseling and building resiliency, Marnie utilizes her training in trauma focused therapies, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, collaborative problem solving, and mindfulness to help her clients achieve their personal, social, and emotional goals. Marnie counsels clients in NYC and Westchester through her practices located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and Rye, NY. Marnie also has a successful consulting business partnering with NYC DOE and Charter schools in order to strengthen their mental health programming and staff development, recently focusing her time promoting Social Emotional Learning, Mindfulness and other awareness based practices through a racial equity lens. Marnie has a Masters of Social Work from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from McGill University. Marnie is also the proud mother of 3 terrific children ranging from ages 8-11 and a committed RYC board member since 2018.

Daryl Woolsey, has lived in Rye for over 10 years with her husband, Mark, and two children, Miles and Kira. 

Daryl is an experienced fundraising and special events professional. For the past 15 years she has worked in the non-profit sector in the medical and disease-based arena and recently made the change to education. She graduated from Ithaca College and now works at the French American School of New York where she serves as the Director of Development. Daryl joined the Rye Youth Council’s Board of Directors in 2018.