Board of
Trustees Bios

Alok Agrawal is the founder and managing member of Bloom Tree Partners, an asset management firm offering different investment strategies. Alok started out at Tiger Management as an analyst, was later promoted to co-portfolio manager, and previously served as an associate at Bessemer Venture Partners. Alok began his professional career at Oracle Corporation where he led a development team, started a new product group, and oversaw a product management team. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, and earned his MS in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Alok has two daughters at Corlears. He has been an active supporter of various initiatives to improve access to early education including BreakThrough, Akaknsha, Pratham and South Asian Youth Association.

André Del Valle is an educator of great experience and even greater heart, with a bone-deep belief in the potential of every student. He built his reputation as a dynamic community builder and educational innovator as Head of School at George Jackson Academy, an independent middle school for “academically-talented boys from underserved communities.” He joined George Jackson in 2004 as a fifth-grade teacher and was named Assistant Head of School three years later. In 2015, the board asked him to become Head of School. During his time as Head he supervised a $1.6 million school building renovation and a $2 million dollar capital campaign.

In 2019 André took the opportunity to become Head of Middle School at Poly Prep Country Day, leading a large and diverse division at one of New York City’s leading independent schools. André is now the incoming Head of School of Mary McDowell Friends School in Brooklyn. Mary McDowell is a K–12 school for students with learning disabilities.

André is the father of two girls and is married to a fellow educator.

Yvonne Chung has been part of the Corlears community for the past five years. She is a mother to a second-grade boy who has been at the school since 2019. Yvonne was born in Hong Kong and raised in New York City, and her husband was born and raised in England. Corlears’ strong emphasis on diversity, inclusivity, and curiosity are very important values to her family. The school’s warm and caring community has been a huge stabilizing force for her family through recent transition.

Currently, she is a principal at a family office focused mainly on commercial real estate development, investment, and management. Previously, she was a senior portfolio manager and a trader at a hedge fund. She received her Finance MBA from Wharton and her bachelor's from Cornell.

Mike Glaser is the father of two Corlears students.Mike is married to Morgan Glaser, who is a Director in Global Relationship Management at NY Life Investments. A Corlears local, Mike has been on the board of his 150+ unit condo (The Grand Chelsea) for the past 10 years. He owns and runs several businesses. Two of his businesses are focused on environmentally friendly products. Glaser Mills is his primary business (and he’s the third generation of his family to run it here and the 8th generation overall). It supplies the fabric from which the U.S. Flag is made (amongst other things). Both of Mike’s parents were teachers. He is a Computer Engineer by education (Tufts Engineering ’00).

Darsha King is a mother of three girls, all of whom have attended Corlears school. Darsha has been a part of the Corlears community for 8 years and has thoroughly enjoyed the time spent at the school. Before becoming a trustee, Darsha volunteered as a class chaperone for trips and as a tour guide during the admissions season. Darsha has been a trustee at Corlears for little over a year and is part of the Governance Committee. Being at Corlears has been truly transformational for her family, changing the way she views education and how and what kids learn in the early years. Darsha is an Operations Analyst at Sculptor Capital Management.

Hemangi  was born and raised in Ohio. As a child, Hemangi often felt her minority voice was overlooked and ignored. Hoping to assist others who shared her minority experiences, she majored in pre-law at the University of Toledo with the intent of becoming a civil rights attorney. While at Toledo, Pai worked closely with professors to create Law and Social Thought, an interdisciplinary program centered on the relationship between law, morality and power. Based on her studies, she became interested in criminal law. After she attended Northeastern Law School focusing her attention on race and criminal law, she worked as a Staff Attorney at the Committee for Public Counsel Services, Public Defender Division, in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 2007, Hemangi moved to New York and attended the New School for Social Research, focusing her studies on race and crime. 

Hemangi returned to practicing law in 2009 when she began working as an Agency Attorney for the Administration for Children’s Services. In 2011, Hemangi returned to criminal defense and began working at Brooklyn Defender Services. She has worked as a Senior Trial Attorney in the Brooklyn Adolescent Representation Team, a Senior Trial Attorney in the Homicide/Serious Crimes Unit and is currently a Supervising Attorney in the Criminal Defense Practice. She has also worked as an Adjunct Professor at the Borough of Manhattan Community College.

Hemangi lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter, who started attending Corlears in 2020. During the 2021–22 school year, Hemangi co-chaired the Parents of Students of Color Association and the Families Association. In this role, Hemangi helped to host two large events, including a graduation event for students and families. Hemangi is committed to continuing the magic of the Corlears community!

Elena has two children at Corlears. This is Elena’s fourth year as a community member of Corlears, and second year as a trustee. Prior to this, Elena was a class parent and was actively involved in the Families Association. Elena is a member of the Finance Committee, utilizing her experience in investment banking. Elena is Russian, was raised in Norway, and completed her higher education in London, before moving to New York for work. Multiculturalism is important to her and her family, and she has found Corlears to be the perfect school to celebrate and promote the diversity she seeks.

Renée Reid-Nicholson resides in Brooklyn with her husband and their three children,  all of whom have attended Corlears. They have been members of the Corlears community since their oldest son entered Kindergarten in 2014, and Renée has served on the Corlears Board of Trustees since 2017. Their son graduated in 2020, and eldest daugther graduated in 2022 Their youngest daughter continues the Corlears tradition as a happy, engaged and well-adjusted student, who loves her school! Renée currently serves as Director of Communications at the Cooke School and Institute and holds a Master’s degree in marketing and communication from Columbia University.

Mahesh Saireddy has two children who have attended Corlears, and has been a community member of Corlears School for 6 years. Mahesh is also the Treasurer of the school. Mahesh has learned a lot during the experience of serving this phenomenal community and navigating through the challenges presented during the COVID-19 crisis. Both of his kids have benefitting immensely from the close-knit community and the exceptional quality of education the school offers for young children. Mahesh is a partner at Goldman Sachs and runs their mortgage trading business.

Deepti Shenoy is the mother of a second grader, who started his first year at Corlears in September 2020. She is an enthusiastic and engaged member of the Corlears community. Over the course of the school year, she has served in the Families Association helping organize community service and fundraising initiatives for the school. Prior to this, Deepti served as the head of the Community Service Committee as part of the Parents' Association at Park Avenue Methodist Day School for two years. Deepti holds a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. For the past five years, she has practiced matrimonial and family law at a boutique firm in Manhattan, prior to which, she spent three years as in-house counsel at JPMorgan Chase.

Sarah Watson has been part of the Corlears community for the last 7 years, joined the board in 2019 and chairs the Advancement Committee. She has two daughters attending Corlears. They are both deeply benefitting from the stability of this intimate community and its clear vocation towards the education of young children. As half of a British couple raising a family far away from home, Corlears has become a true center of Sarah’s family life. Sarah has spent the last decade at BBH New York, a creative advertising agency, most recently serving as Chairman. She is now an executive coach.

Brandon Weber has twin daughters who graduated from Corlears School. Brandon joined the Corlears Board of Trustees in April 2015 and has served on the Advancement Committee and Finance Committee. He was Treasurer for a year before becoming Chair of the Board. Brandon has a passion for educational institutions and sees Corlears as an innovator in early childhood education. He serves as a Trustee of his undergraduate alma mater, Bard College. He is originally from Kansas City and his wife is from Slovenia. He is an analyst at Noble Path Asset Management.

Donna Wingate joined the Corlears community in 2020 when her son entered kindergarten after two years at Bank Street Head Start (where Donna continues to serve on their Policy Council). The Corlears School’s Core Values and its focus on social justice and diversity drew Donna and her family to the school, as these features are aligned with how they strive to live in the world. Donna has worked as an editorial and creative director in art book publishing for over two decades, collaborating with curators, art historians, institutions, and artists. She is also a member of the learning group, Anti-Racist Womxn in the Arts (ARWA).

Paige Zachs joined the Corlears community in 2021 when her son entered the Nursery program. She got her start as a class parent and later joined the Gala Committee. Paige is passionate about education and civic and social organizations, having been involved in Minds Matters NYC for many years and currently sitting on the board of non-profit, Dignity Grows. She grew up in Los Angeles, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and worked in management consulting before leading operations at various ecommerce startups. Paige, her husband Ben, and their two sons live in the Chelsea neighborhood, which has been home for over 10 years!