Stephanie Panico
Board Chair
Stephanie Panico has volunteered with New Women New Yorkers since 2020. During that time, she has worked as a resume reviewer, blog writer, and mentor group leader. As the Chair of the Women’s Initiative Network at her former employer, Stephanie also helped to coordinate and participate in several Company Sessions with NWNY. Stephanie is passionate about supporting women in their career journeys and empowering them in achieving their goals and ambitions.
Stephanie is the Chief Legal Officer at Verist Inc., a managing general underwriting company in the insurance industry. She received her B.A. from Rutgers University, with honors, and her J.D. from Rutgers Law School.
In her free time, Stephanie loves spending time with friends and family, hiking with her two dogs, and eating ice cream. She volunteers on the Environmental Commission in her town and as a foster with several dog rescue organizations.
Joyce Sheena
Board Treasurer
With over 20 years of financial experience, Joyce Sheena began her career working with multinational organizations in both treasury and controlling functions, domestically and internationally. She launched the International Treasury function at Johnson Controls and eventually took on a Regional Divisional Controller position based in Germany then Singapore. Leaving large corporate behind, she went on to work with smaller businesses expanding her responsibilities to include both strategic and general management functions. She has since moved on and is currently a Licensed Real Estate Salesperson with Halstead Manhattan. Joyce earned her MBA from University of Detroit-Mercy.
A first generation American, Joyce’s parents immigrated from Iraq to Michigan where the largest community of Chaldeans in the United States settled. Having the opportunity to live and work overseas has given her a great appreciation of the various challenges it takes to integrate into a new country and culture. Joining the Board of New Women New Yorkers in the role of Board Treasurer allows Joyce to naturally blend her finance background with her personal experience of living within an immigrant community throughout her youth and her time abroad.
Joyce is a proud mother of a college-aged son and in her spare time you can find her enjoying runs in Central Park, on a nearby tennis court, at various cultural events throughout the city, or trying new recipes at home.
Alexandra Awai
Board Secretary
Alexandra Awai is the child of immigrants from Trinidad. She is connected by familial, professional and personal ties to a diverse network of women who are immigrants, or whose lives have been touched by the immigrant experience. Immigrant women face significant and complex challenges to success in the workplace, and Alexandra believes that empowering them is a powerful engine for positive societal change.
Alexandra’s work within the Global Office of General Counsel at PricewaterhouseCoopers includes advising on the use and development of technology. Before joining PwC, she was a patent attorney and member of the intellectual property group at a large New York law firm. Her litigation and transactional experience has spanned across technologies and industries, with a particular emphasis on pharmaceuticals and biological products. Alexandra has advocated for women and immigrants through pro bono legal work and professional committees. She holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering from MIT.
Alexandra lives with her young daughter in Brooklyn, New York. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, yoga, reading science fiction novels and planning her next trip to visit far flung friends and family.
Carla Perez
Board Director
Carla is a people and culture leader whose work is deeply shaped by her own lived experience. Having immigrated to the U.S. as a child and becoming a first-generation college graduate, she understands firsthand how access, guidance, and community can change the direction of a career.
Over more than a decade, Carla has built and scaled People functions from the ground up, serving as Chief People Officer at a national fintech company and now leading People and Culture for North America at a global SaaS organization. She brings deep senior-level People leadership experience and holds the SHRM-SCP credential. At the core of her work is a belief that feeling seen and supported can shift what is possible for individuals and teams.
Beyond her professional role, Carla is passionate about supporting immigrant women as they find their voice, navigate unfamiliar systems, and build careers that honor both their strengths and their stories. In her spare time, she enjoys running, traveling, and gardening, simple rituals that help her stay grounded.
JuliaPaige Joseph
Board Director
JuliaPaige currently works as a program manager at the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN). Prior to joining the GIIN, she worked as an elementary school teacher in the South Bronx. She has a BA in Education from Colgate University and an MA in teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education.
JuliaPaige comes from a line of immigrant women from Armenia and Puerto Rico. Grateful for the sacrifices these women made for the family, JuliaPaige became passionate about women’s rights and educational justice. She started to volunteer for New Women New Yorkers and through this experience, became in awe of the women she worked with alongside the programming NWNY’s has to offer. It is with great honor she sits on the Board of Directors to support the mission and success of the organization.
Larissa Marin
Board Director
Born and raised in Ecuador, Larissa decided to move to the US in her teenage years in search for a brighter future.
Larissa brings her unique perspective gained from her many years of experience as a leader in the banking and finance Industry. Currently, she works as Director of Retail Banking at Teachers Federal Credit Union, after working for nearly 8 years at Capital One in various capacities. She has built a reputation for her refreshingly friendly customer care and proven ability to influence and inspire others to think differently and deliver results. She believes that effective listening is an essential component of caring for others and key to creating a trustful work environment. Larissa has a proven track record of utilizing her communication and problem solving skills to lead initiatives around diversity and inclusion, community engagement, and business growth.
In addition, Larissa takes pride in giving back to the community by supporting and volunteering her time to organizations like New Women New Yorkers, Junior Achievement, Back on My Feet, God’s Love to Deliver, and New York Road Runners.
Maria Maldonado
Board Director
Maria Maldonado first worked as a Sociology lecturer at the national university of her country, San Marcos University in Lima, and as an officer at the National Institute of Planning of Peru. Her interest in international affairs led her to the United Nations where she served in various capacities on assignments covering Africa, Latin America, and Europe. Maria had an opportunity to serve in the field as Deputy Head of Mission of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala, monitoring the implementation of the peace accords that ended many years of conflict in that country. She has also directed the work of the General Assembly’s sessions working closely with the President of the General Assembly. She has traveled widely and served in official missions and international conferences for the United Nations in Africa, Latin America, South East Asia, and Europe.
Since retiring, Maria has obtained a law degree and an Advanced Certificate in Immigration Law and conducts workshops for new diplomats at the United Nations Institute for Research and Training and volunteers at the City University of New York “Citizenship Now” campaigns to assist immigrants become US citizens. Hobbies include reading and writing, drawing, painting, learning to learn to play the piano and the folk harp and ballroom dancing.
Monica Foote
Board Director
Monica Foote is the Director of Workforce Development at Project Renewal. In this role, she manages a team of job developers, trainers, and educators to help New Yorkers with significant barriers to employment obtain and keep jobs throughout the city. She has volunteered with nonprofits in both California and New York focused on empowering women, especially with access to the workforce.
Monica received her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego and her Master’s Degree in Social Work from Columbia University. She volunteered at Larkin Street Youth Services in San Francisco for five years, training volunteers and helping young homeless women find employment. She was previously a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children in the dependent court system, and spent seven years running Human Resources and Marketing for a small software company.
Monica adores her grandma. She spends her free time walking around NYC, drinking iced coffee, kickboxing, and eating cheese.
Roberta F. Brzezinski
Board Director
A partner with Control Risks, Roberta leads the firm’s business intelligence activities in the Americas, managing a 45-person team across the United States, Canada and Latin America. A longtime former client before joining Control Risks in 2024, Roberta spent 25 years as a principal private equity, infrastructure, and private debt investor, and also as CEO of a Nasdaq-listed investment vehicle. She has served both as a fund manager and as an institutional investor, and has a deep familiarity with key opportunities and risks experienced by asset owners, corporations and lenders across the cycle.
In addition to her role at Control Risks, Roberta is a non-executive Investment Committee member for a private debt vehicle managed by Darby International Capital, and has been a member of many private and public corporate boards and investment committees throughout her career.
Roberta holds an MBA with honors from Georgetown University and an AB magna cum laude from Harvard College. Based in New York, she is a volunteer firefighter on Fire Island and serves on several nonprofit boards.
Vipin Banchariya
Board Director
Vipin Banchariya is an Associate Principal at ZS, working at the intersection of healthcare, AI, and technology to help organizations design and scale high-impact, data-driven solutions. He has extensive experience leading digital, analytics, and AI-enabled initiatives – partnering with cross-functional and global teams to improve patient access, engagement, and outcomes. He brings a practical, business-first approach to AI adoption, emphasizing real-world value, strong data foundations, and thoughtful governance.
As an immigrant, Vipin understands firsthand the barriers immigrant communities can face: navigating new systems, building networks from scratch, and accessing opportunity. He is deeply committed to advancing equity and expanding pathways for immigrant women and families, and is proud to support the mission of New Women New Yorkers as a Board Member.