Board of Directors

Kamy Wicoff, Board Chair, is the founder of She Writes, a social networking site for women writers dedicated to offering the services, support, and expertise modern authors need. She is the co-founder, with Nancy K. Miller, of the New York Salon of Women Writers, and the best-selling author of I Do But I Don’t: Why The Way We Marry Matters (Da Capo Press, March 2007). She serves on the Advisory Council of Stanford University’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research, and was the first fiction/nonfiction editor of Women’s Studies Quarterly. Her work has appeared in Salon.com, and has been anthologized in Why I’m Still Married: Women Write Their Hearts Out on Love, Loss, Sex and Who Does the Dishes (Hudson Press, February 2006), and About Face: Women Write About What They See When They Look In The Mirror (Seal Press, June 2008). She has appeared on NPR, CBS Sunday Morning, and in The New York Times. Kamy lives in New York with her sons, Max and Jed.

Andrea Juncos, Vice Chair, is the Director of Communications at New York Law School, where she serves as chief writer and editor for all publications. Previously, she worked for the New York City Department of Education as the Special Assistant to the Regional Superintendent of Region 2 in the Bronx; and as Associate Editor at Catalyst, a nonprofit research and consulting organization working to advance women in business. She received her B.A. in English Literature and Education from Swarthmore College , not far from her hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania. Andrea was a mentor with Girls Write Now from 2002 to 2009 and served as Co-Chair of Enrollment on the Program Advisory Committee for the 2008–2009 season. 

Lisa Chai, Treasurer, is a Senior Vice President of Research at the investment company Palisade Capital Management, LLC.  Lisa primarily invests in Media & Internet, Consumer/ Retail and Alternative Energy industry groups.  She is passionate about Literature & Creative Writing especially poetry and British Literature and an avid reader of world history.  Since 2003, Lisa has been a member of Hakluyt Society, an organization with a goal in publishing scholarly editions of primary narratives of travel and exploration undertaken by individuals.  She is also an active member of her community as a mentor at the Covenant House, the largest privately funded agency providing shelter and mental support to homeless and runaway youth.  She is also a volunteer at Youth At Risk, and currently on the fundraising committee of AAWSA (Asian American Wall Street Association).  Lisa is a graduate of Boston University’s School of Management.

Marjorie Coismain, Secretary, is a Director of Interactive at American Express where she currently leads product development & management of a suite of corporate online products globally. She previously led program management functions spanning operations, marketing and capabilities development for a corporate loyalty program targeted at 50,000+ clients. Prior to her tenure at American Express, Marjorie held product management and marketing roles in the luxury goods, technology & media industries. Marjorie earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology at Binghamton University and a MBA in Finance & Management at Columbia Business School. In her spare time, Marjorie enjoys dabbling in arts & crafts and reading historical fiction, thrillers and anything on the latest and greatest trends in technology & science. Marjorie lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Julie Kohler is a Program Manager and Director of Evaluation at Public Interest Projects (PIP), where she makes grants to nonprofit organizations working to improve educational opportunities for disadvantaged students. Prior to joining PIP, Julie directed the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's national grant-making program, which helped to engage immigrants in civic life, improve the quality of the American voting system and increase access to high-quality early childhood education programs. She also worked for the University of Maryland’s Department of Family Studies as an instructor and researcher. Julie holds a master's and Ph.D. in family social science from the University of Minnesota and has written extensively on a variety of child and family policy topics. She lives in Brooklyn and enjoys writing personal essays. 

Nancy K. Miller is Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the Graduate Center, CUNY. She is the author of But Enough About Me: Why We Read Other People’s Lives, and the memoir, What They Saved: Pieces of a Jewish Past. She is the author of several books and many articles about women’s writing and autobiography.

Maya Nussbaum, Founder and Executive Director of Girls Write Now, has grown the organization over the last 13 years from a loose association of women writers into a dynamic, volunteer-powered community that has served more than 3,500 New York City girls; and a nonprofit afterschool program distinguished by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities as one of the top 15 in the nation. A graduate of Columbia University, a former art gallery director, and recently named one of the Top 40 Feminists under 40 by The Feminist Press, Maya is currently at work on a memoir for The Feminist Press.

Chelsea Rao is a Senior Project Manager at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, where she works on initiatives to support the growth of Life Sciences and Healthcare Technology companies in NYC. Chelsea was previously with the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, where she helped over 150 cultural organizations of all sizes apply for and receive funding through the City's competitive grantmaking process. She also launched programs such as The Art of Money: Personal Finance Resources for Artists and SPARC (Seniors Partnering with Artists Citywide) and served as the liaison to the Department of Education, channeling her passion for supporting artists in all stages of their careers. Chelsea holds a Master's in Public Administration from NYU Wagner and a B.A. from Barnard College, confirming her transformation from Northern Virginia suburban girl to dedicated New Yorker.

Linda Winston, a cutural anthropologist and a teacher, spent fifteen years doing research on social networks and mental health in the New York metropolitan area and in Haiti. She received her undergradute degree in French literature from Sarah Lawrence College, and her MA and PhD in anthropology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Heinemann has published two of her books on innovative teachers and inter-generational curriculum, and Sourcebooks published her poetry anthology, "The Tree That Time Built" co-edited with the National Children's Poet Laureate, Mary Ann Hoberman.  She hasled workshops, sponsored by PEN Children's Writers, at the Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School in New Orleans' Ninth Ward. One of her best experiences as a Writer-in-Residence for Teachers & Writers Collaborative was teaching writing to children in New York City's elementary schools. She currently serves on the Advisory Board of Teachers & Writers Collaborative and as a volunteer docent at three Manhattan museums while also working on her own nonfiction writing projects. She has three grown children and four grandchildren. She is a Girls Write Now mentor alumna.