Date
March 8, 2022
New York, NY (March 9, 2022) - The Opportunity Network, a national nonprofit headquartered in New York City aimed at closing the opportunity gap that exists for underrepresented students, today announced that it has appointed Joy Booker to Board Secretary and added Molly Stern and Caron Veazey to its Board of Directors effective January 26. They join a robust board of executives focused on equipping high school and college students with the skills and experiences to harness their power and passions to thrive through college and build sustainable careers.
“We’re thrilled to elevate Joy to Board Secretary and to welcome Molly and Caron, two brilliant minds who also share our passion for uplifting underserved communities, as our newest board members,” said AiLun Ku, President and CEO of The Opportunity Network. “Joy has demonstrated a keen understanding of The Opportunity Network's goals and her insight will prove invaluable to us as we continue to grow our impact. And I’m confident Molly and Caron’s wealth of relevant leadership experience and marketing prowess will undoubtedly help us further our mission of building equitable structures of access, and increasing professional mobility for underrepresented students across the country. ”
Booker has served on the Board of Directors of The Opportunity Network since 2019. She is the Managing Director, Head of U.S. Public Client Relations at PineBridge Investments, a multi-asset class investment management firm with over $100 billion in assets. Prior to PineBridge, she served as a Principal at Mercer, a Vice President at Madison Square Investors and an Assistant Vice President at The New York Life Insurance Company. Booker previously served terms as Board Member, President and Vice-President of the Executive Leadership Council’s affiliate group, CALIBR, reached finalist status in the Acumen Fund’s Global Fellows Program and is a Network Journal “40 Under Forty” career achievement honoree.
Stern is a seasoned book publisher with more than 25 years of publishing experience and Founder and CEO of Zando, one of today’s most disruptive book publishing ventures. Stern has a proven track record leading editorial and publishing teams, launching imprints and developing their identities through the acquisition and publishing of a wide breadth of individual titles. Prior to launching Zando, Stern served as SVP of The Crown Publishing Group where she released Michelle Obama’s memoir, “Becoming,” which sold more than two million copies in its first two weeks and helped actress Sarah Jessica Parker start her own literary fiction imprint.
Veazey is the Founder and CEO of Something In Common, a boutique management and consulting company focusing in the music, film, art, and culture spaces. Prior to launching Something in Common, Veazey managed Grammy Award winning artist, Pharrell Williams, with whom she Co-founded creative collective ‘i am OTHER.’ Under her leadership as general manager of i am OTHER, the collective amassed five Cannes Lions awards for creative and innovative excellence. Veazey has previously held executive roles at Sony Music and Universal Music and currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Black Music Action Coalition.
About The Opportunity Network
The Opportunity Network (OppNet) is led by social impact leader AiLun Ku with the intention of creating access and opportunities for historically underrepresented students on their paths to and through college and into thriving careers. Through robust college counseling, intentional engagement with leaders and professionals across industries, intensive training in networking, and professional experiential learning, OppNet students are able to harness their agency to achieve their academic and career goals. In the past year alone, OppNet reached more than 10,000 students through our commitment to closing the opportunity gap. For more information, visit https://opportunitynetwork.org/.
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