Sally Ng Briggs
Board President

Sally Ng Briggs brings over 20 years of executive experience in strategic planning, operations, sales, marketing, and finance, in both the high technology and consumer product industries. Her passion to help others has led her to many volunteer projects and her support of charitable organizations.

Laura Mackenzie
Vice President

Laura Mackenzie recently retired after almost two decades as an executive at Mastercard, serving as Senior Vice President Global Financial Inclusion. In this role she was responsible for driving product solutions to deliver Mastercard's Financial Inclusion commitment to the World Bank by reaching unbanked and underserved individuals around the globe.

Not ready to fully retire yet, she is now consulting for the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) helping the United Nations efforts to drive financial inclusion, especially to women, around the world.

Prior to her 19 years at Mastercard, Laura began her career in fashion with luxury global brands Ralph Lauren, Anne Klein and Nicole Farhi before making a move into the financial sector while living in South Africa. She has spent many years living and working overseas in Barcelona, London, and Johannesburg.

Westchester county has been home for the past 20 years where she raised her 3 children and enjoys giving back to the community. She has served previously on boards at Rye Presbyterian Church and on the Executive Board of the Westchester Putnam County Boy Scouts of America.

Michael Carter
Treasurer

Michael Carter has been a student at Clay Art Center for the past five years where his wife is an Artist. He has assisted is various facility repair and upgrade projects over the years and enjoys working with the Clay Art Center community. He was a Studio Art major in college and has a Masters in Architecture and Business Administration. Michael began his 40 year career as an Architect and later transitioned to real estate development and real estate finance where he works today. Michael volunteered and was elected to the RTM of the Town of Greenwich for 8 years and served on the Land Use Committee and Town Buildings Committee of the First Selectman.

Emma McKee
Board Secretary

Emma McKee is a People strategy leader for a national non-profit organization. Emma's passion is creating People strategies that enable individuals to feel empowered and to thrive; establishing trust and taking a holistic approach to the employee experience are key to helping people do their best work. Prior to her work in the People field, Emma spent a significant portion of her career in insurance and operations, which has helped her maintain a big-picture approach to her work in the People field. She has a bachelor's degree in finance from Michigan State University, a master's degree in Organizational Psychology from University of Hartford, and considers herself a life-long learner.

Emma took her first class at Clay Art Center in Fall of 2020 and has been a committed student ever since. Emma lives in New Rochelle, NY with her husband, daughter, and two dogs. In her free time she enjoys long walks with the family and road trips.
 

Carol Chevlowe 
Board Director

Carol has held the executive positions of President and Vice President of the Board. She currently chairs the Human Resources committee and was the past chair of the Development committee. Her involvement with Clay Art Center began in 2005 as a student. When Clay Art Center became a nonprofit organization in 2007, Carol became involved in fundraising, joining the Development Committee and working on Clay Art Center’s Strategic Plan. When she isn’t devoting her time to the work of the Clay Art Center, Carol volunteers at a local food pantry and manages a community garden where all the food grown supports neighbors who suffer food insecurity. Carol retired in 2020, after 35 years of managing a small business.

Jessica Berkowitz
Board Director

Jessica has been a radiologist in private practice for over twenty years and she worked in academic settings prior to that. While the connection between medicine and art may not be readily apparent at first glance, radiology is a very visual field that involves quite a bit of attention to detail, complex problem solving with out of the box thinking, visual investigation, and pattern recognition, all of which are important skills for an artist!  Prior to going to medical school, Jessica spent one year at FIT in Manhattan studying silversmithing and jewelry design. Now only working part-time, Jessica spends time as a maker and as a supporter of Clay Art Center. Previously, Jessica was on the Board of Congregation KTI and was involved with the Carver Center and Meals on Main Street in Port Chester.

Jessica Berkowitz is a long-time Port Chester resident who has dabbled at working in clay at the Clay Art Center over several decades. Jessica is a dedicated tennis player kayaker and knitter. While her children are now adults, Jessica brought her daughter to the Clay Art Center while she was in middle school and got her son interested in metal forging while he was still at living at home. 

Jon Cancro
Board Director

Jon Cancro has been involved with the Clay Art Center since 2024, having volunteered at several events and taken classes with his wife and two children.

 Jon studied at Bentley University near Boston and graduated with Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Accounting. Jonathan is a CPA and has worked for Apollo Global Management for over 18 years in a variety of roles and is currently the firm’s Global Head of Strategic Finance.Prior to Apollo, Jonathan was an Auditor at PwC.

Jon and his family live in Westchester and spend their summers in Cape Cod. He is an avid sports fan and enjoys working out, traveling, cooking and being surrounded by his family and friends as much as possible. He and his wife are passionate about providing back to their community through volunteerism and giving.

Claire Cohen
Board Director

Claire Cohen first came to Clay Art Center in 2011 to fulfill a lifelong dream of learning to use the potter’s wheel. She continued as a student and then worked in Clay Art Center’s Independent Study program before becoming a Clay Art Center Artist in 2018. Today she continues to pursue her passion for wheel-throwing functional pottery in porcelain. Prior to beginning her clay journey, Claire had a 23 year career at Citigroup and comes to the Board with extensive experience in strategic planning, business & organizational development and market research. She is a certified mediator with experience in community dispute resolution, custody/visitation and special education mediation. She is a founding member and has been involved in the leadership of Impact100 Westchester, a woman’s collective giving organization engaging woman in philanthropy. In addition to clay, her creative pursuits include gardening, a cappella singing and playing the violin. She is the mother of three and lives with her husband in Pleasantville, NY.

Dalia Concepcion
Board Director

Dalia Concepcion spent most of her professional career working as an actuary at a reinsurance company in Connecticut.

She has been involved with Clay Art Center since 2015 as a student, volunteer, co-chair of the annual fundraising gala, staff member working as development associate for 2.5 years, and a member of the board development/bylaws committee.

Dalia lives in Westchester with her husband and enjoys singing, reading, traveling, dabbling with various forms of art, and spending time with her people.

David Fisch
Board Director

David Fisch has been a student at the Clay Art Center for the past three years and has volunteered on the finance committee before joining the board.

He studied accounting at the University of Michigan and earned his CPA while working in public accounting. After transitioning to equity research, David discovered his passion for real estate. For the past 20 years, he has led a real estate valuation firm in Manhattan.

David lives in Westchester with his wife and two children. He has also served on the Mamaroneck Board of Education Selection Committee. In his free time, he enjoys exploring different cultures through travel and food.

Rose Foley
Board Director

Rose Foley has been a student at Clay Art Center since 2010. In Rose’s previous life, she worked on Wall Street. In 1993, she became a stay-at-home mom and became a very active volunteer at her children’s schools. Rose co-chaired the Parents Association and numerous fundraising events. She also worked at a non-profit international cultural education organization that offered programs to build bridges between students in the USA and their international peers through the exchange of arts and ideas. 

Melissa Gallaher-Smith
Board Director

Melissa has been learning to love clay since she first attended a Hand in Hand benefit for Clay Art Center in 2018. Wheel classes followed soon after, and she has enjoyed the comradery and commiseration found at CAC ever since. The dynamic creativity of this community inspires her to use her talent and energy on the development committee to connect CAC with others in the region who want to support community art spaces.

Melissa is a nonprofit development professional and Certified Fund-Raising Executive with a decade of experience helping individuals in Fairfield County, Connecticut achieve their philanthropic goals. She joined Connecticut Audubon Society in 2024 as the Director of Development, an opportunity that aligns with her personal passion for birds and environmental conservation. 

Melissa and her family live in Stamford, where every mug and bowl in their cupboard is off-center, clunky, and not very cleverly decorated, but everyone has a favorite, nonetheless.

Emily Gumpel
Board Director

Emily Gumpel is a marketing and operations leader at a global museum technology company that provides collections management solutions to cultural institutions worldwide. She leads strategic initiatives across marketing, business operations, and customer engagement, supporting more than 1,000 museums, archives, and libraries. Raised in Port Chester, Emily combines professional expertise in art history, museum technology, marketing, and change management with a deep commitment to strengthening her community. She is passionate about ensuring that residents, especially young students, have access to the arts and a supportive creative community through Clay Art Center.

Emily holds a Master’s degree in the history of art and architecture from Pratt Institute and an MBA in strategic business management and marketing from Hofstra University. In her free time, she enjoys hosting dinner parties for friends and family, researching regional Italian recipes, and spending time by the ocean.

Deborah Heid
Board Director

Deb Heid brings a variety of experience to Clay Art Center. Initially, Deb spent the first 10 years of her adult life as a classical musician, teaching and performing in the Philadelphia area.  Feeling the need to have more financially rewarding career, Deb went back to school, Wharton at U of Penn, and launched her career as a Human Resources professional and executive. She brings over 30 years of HR experience in industrial, technology and media companies. During the last 10 years of her HR career, she felt the need to reconnect with the more artistic side of her soul once and took up pottery with her husband.  Currently, Deb spends her time working in clay and volunteering with an animal rescue organization. 

Jeff Janowicz
Board Director

Jeff started working in clay longer ago than he cares to admit. He became a student at the Clay Art Center in 2009 shortly after moving to the area, and currently serves on the Facilities Committee.

He studied engineering at Michigan Tech and spent his career working in various roles in the automobile industry throughout the world.

Jeff now lives in Port Chester with his wife, where he spends his time in his shop building boats, and doing volunteer work.

Development Committee

Laura Mackenzie (Chair)

Peter Arnow

Michelle Avery

Melissa Gallaher-Smith

Emily Gumpel

Sheetal Mehta

Paulina Portero

Finance Committee

Michael Carter (Chair)

Valerie Calloway

Jon Cancro

Earlene Hardie Cox

David Fisch

Kristin Mailen

Sally Ng

Board Development/Bylaws Committee

Rose Foley (Chair)

Carol Chevlowe

Claire Cohen

Dalia Concepcion

Eric Hsu

Julie Leblang

Human Resources Committee

Carol Chevlowe (Chair)

Rose Foley

Deb Heid

Emma McKee

Bob Miranti

Charles Siegel

Facilities Committee

Jessica Berkowitz (Chair)

Howard Cohen

Robin Henschel

Jeff Janowicz

Robert Klein

Jackie Welsh

Executive Committee

Sally Ng, President

Laura Mackenzie, Vice President

Michael Carter, Treasurer

Emma McKee, Secretary

Carol Chevlowe, Former President (2019-2023)