Founding Board of Directors
Founding Board of Directors

Standing from left: Susan Vierczhalek, Boriana Parvez, Katie Kelter
Seated from left: Roseanne Motti, Julie Bouchet-Horwitz

Our Mission

The New York Milk Bank is dedicated to improving the health and survival of infants in need by providing them with safely pasteurized donor human milk when their mothers’ own milk is unavailable or insufficient. We are dedicated to ensuring the safety and quality of donor milk and to reducing health disparities in the use and distribution of donor milk. 

Our Vision

Our vision is that all women are supported in their breastfeeding and lactation goals and that all babies have access to safely pasteurized and affordable donor milk in situations where their mothers can't or won't breastfeed. We support families and their babies throughout the life cycle by educating and supporting families on the benefits of human milk.

Our History

The New York Milk Bank opened in 2016 after two years of hard work by five dedicated women who worked behind the scenes fundraising and gathering support. We opened at Andrus on Hudson a Senior Care Facility in Hastings and quickly outgrew our space. In 2018 we moved to a larger facility in Valhalla where we can triple our production of donor milk. Now that donor milk is a covered benefit through Medicaid for inpatients, we are working hard to ensure coverage for outpatients on a case-by-case basis.

Our Staff

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Rachel Granger

Executive Director

Rachel Granger, a committed non-profit leader, has guided long-term recovery efforts following major disasters. Armed with an MBA specializing in International Development from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, she leverages her extensive experience in program and partnership development in her current role as the Executive Director of The New York Milk Bank.

Operations Manager
Roseanne Motti

Director of Community Relations

Roseanne is a founding member and former treasurer of NYMB. She came off the board in May of 2016 to run the daily operations of NYMB. She currently works with milk donors, milk depots, and oversees our volunteer and intern onboarding and community relationships. When not working at NYMB, Roseanne enjoys hiking, baking, reading, writing, and spending time with her four grandchildren.

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Genna Steinschneider

Director of Operations

Genna works with our recipient families and our hospital accounts getting donor milk to our state's littlest patients. Outside of NYMB, she loves the outside, cooking, and live music.

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Susan Ciocci

Sr. Donor Coordinator

Susan lives with her husband and 3 children in Connecticut. She enjoys being active outdoors (running, biking), photography, yoga, and live music. And chocolate.

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Blair Kaplan

Accounts and Insurance Specialist

Blair lives in Upstate New York with her husband, six-year-old daughter, and their two dogs. She works remotely for NYMB and in her free time, she likes to go for runs or bike rides with her family.

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Nikkia Green

Communications Coordinator

A graduate of LIU: Post, Nikkia lives in Queens, NY with her partner and two young children. When she is not working or spending time with her family, she is writing short stories, cooking for survival (not pleasure), and watching crime television shows. 
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Wilca Capellan

Sr. Lab Supervisor

Wilca is a Certified Lactation Counselor and spends her free time supporting mothers in their breastfeeding journeys. Wilca loves to spend time with her son, go to the gym and try new food!
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Becca DeAngelis

Executive Assistant

Becca is the resident Gal Friday.
They spend their free time reading, eating, rigging, and teaching aerial arts.
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Lizbeth Guijosa

Sr. Lab Technician

Outside of work Lizbeth likes to go on bike rides with her husband and her 2 year old daughter. She loves to dance and bake on her free time.
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Candice Rock

Donor Coordinator

Candice likes to read, play video games, and play pranks on her parents and siblings. She has her one and only "child," Benji (dog) who is very loved and spoiled.
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Joselin Guijosa

Order Fulfillment

Outside of working at the milk bank, Joselin is a NY State Licensed Medical Esthetician. She specializes in facials, massages, brows and makeup! Joselin enjoys making people feel good about themselves. When she is not working, she spends her free time with her husband trying new foods and going to the movie theater. Most importantly, Joselin loves being a mother and spending quality time with her baby girl.

Meet Our Board

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Julie Bouchet-Horwitz, FNP-BC, IBCLC

Chair

Julie Bouchet-Horwitz is the founder, former Executive Director, and the current Tissue Bank Director of The New York Milk Bank. She is a board-certified nurse practitioner and lactation consultant. She is the owner and sole proprietor of Hudson Valley Breastfeeding, a practice devoted exclusively to lactation. Julie has written articles on breastfeeding for Mothering Magazine, and the peer-review journals of Clinical Lactation, and ICAN: Infant Children and Adolescent Nutrition. She is past-president of the Westchester Putnam Rockland Lactation Consortium, the tri-county professional lactation organization. Her interest in milk banking began with the adoption of her youngest daughter who received donor milk as a supplement. Julie is also a clinical instructor with Columbia University School of Nursing and a mentor to lactation consultant candidates.

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Teresa Marziano

Vice Chair

Teresa is a partner with Americas Capital Advisors Corp., a real estate investment and development company focused on Westchester ‘s residential markets. She is also an investment sales specialist with Houlihan Lawrence Commercial Group of Rye Brook, NY. Prior to her direct real estate investment and advisory roles, she was an investment analyst and portfolio manager with Alliance Bernstein LP (AB), leading global investment decisions across several basic resource industries and in real estate. Her real estate investment roles included developing and managing AB’s Global Real Estate equity securities investment product. Ms. Marziano has held management positions in Corporate Finance and Treasury in the US and abroad. She holds a Finance MBA from Columbia University and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Universidad Simon Bolivar (Caracas, Venezuela).

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Tim Reilly

Vice Chair

Tim is a senior talent leader and HR professional who began his career in Chicago as the Talent Acquisition Manager at Empire Today. He continued to work at other great organizations such as MedSpeed and currently at Members Cooperative Credit Union. He brings a deep expertise and understanding in talent engagement, management, performance, culture change, HR transformation, and strategic HR initiatives. Tim lives in Richfield, Minnesota with his wife, 3 kids, and their 6lb Maltese, Ginger. He graduated from Cornell University (Go Big Red!) and is currently pursuing his MBA at the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater. Tim was born and raised in Ithaca, NY and is thrilled to be a part of an organization that helps the lives of so many infants and families in the great state of New York.

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Scott Eisenberg

Secretary

Scott Eisenberg is an experienced attorney working in the New York area, currently serving as the Chief Legal Officer for DirectBooks LLC, a communications platform focusing on optimizing the primary corporate bond issuance process. Prior to joining DirectBooks in January 2021, Scott spent five years as the General Counsel of Symphony Communications, a web-based secure messaging platform, and five years at inter-dealer broker ICAP. He began his career at the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, after which he started his own company before moving to ICAP. Having two young children of his own, Scott is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to an organization that recognizes the critical importance of proper infant nutrition.

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Susan Walker

Treasurer

Susan is the owner of Walker Bookstore, which provides new and used textbooks to k-12 schools across the country. She and her husband built the company up from a side business out of their garage to a thriving business that is now the sole income for their family. Before that, Susan worked mostly with disadvantaged youth who were in the judicial system, among the urban poor, or in foster care in wilderness therapy, camping, and group home settings. One of her passions is education and the health and wellness of children, which is what led her to the New York Milk Bank. She lives in Chandler, Arizona with her husband and 4 children, along with 3 dogs, 25 chickens, 2 turkeys, and 3 horses. 

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Susan Vierczhalek, MD., FAAP, FABM, IBCLC

Medical Director

Susan is an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine and is the medical director of the Bellevue newborn nursery, and of the Bellevue Breastfeeding Program and co-director of the high-risk newborn follow-up program.  She serves as the American Academy of Pediatrics New York Chapter 3 Breastfeeding Coordinator,  Vice-chair of the New York City Breastfeeding Leadership Council.  

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Nicole Elz

Director

Nicole is a Chief Operations Officer at Virtual Assist USA. She is a highly systematic and detail-oriented executive with the initiative to lead a team, specializing in operations, expansion, and initiatives. Nicole's passion is assisting business owners in achieving success by equipping them with the skill sets and enduring operation processes necessary to maintain a flourishing, dynamic business. Nicole's educational background has provided for a highly diverse and well-rounded education with a strong emphasis on science and mathematics. Nicole is very appreciative of the opportunity to contribute to an organization that assists infants and their families. Nicole anticipates bringing continued awareness and education regarding the life-saving properties of human milk. Nicole resides with her husband, two daughters, and two Boston terriers on Long Island. 

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Thomas Gaipa

Director

Thomas is Director of Operations at the PepsiCo Global Beverage R&D Center in Valhalla, NY, responsible for operations, maintenance and construction for the site. Thomas started with PepsiCo in 1988 at the Somers corporate HQ as a Facilities Manager, including supporting the PepsiCo Customer Service Center and corporate data center in Winston-Salem NC. Thomas graduated with a BS in Resource Development from the University of Rhode Island . He lives in Connecticut with his wife Wendy, and has three children and three grandchildren.

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Rachel Granger

Director

Rachel Granger is a non-profit leader who has devoted her career to the public health and emergency response and recovery sectors. Rachel directed long-term recovery programs including those following the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.  Rachel has also overseen medical aid deliveries and health programming, including maternal and child health initiatives, with partners in 30+ countries. Rachel has a Master of Business Administration degree with a focus on International Development from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and is excited to bring her years of experience in program and partnership development to her new role as the executive director of The New York Milk Bank.

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Katharine Kelter, MD, MPH, FAAP, IBCLC

Director

Katie is a general pediatrician and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant.  She attended the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and completed her residency training in pediatrics at The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx.  Since 2007 she has worked at the Comprehensive Family Care Center of Montefiore Medical Group, a community based health center in the Bronx.  After receiving her IBCLC certification in 2011, she started a breastfeeding program where she provides in depth consultations to mothers and infants with breastfeeding difficulties, runs a breastfeeding group clinic, and provides breastfeeding education and support to faculty, residents and staff.

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Michael Kelter

Director

Michael is a Senior Managing Director at First Manhattan, an asset management firm founded in 1964.  Prior to joining First Manhattan, Michael spent six years in Goldman Sachs’ Global Investment Research division. Previously, Michael held operating roles within the consumer product industry, primarily at Reckitt Benckiser. Michael has an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Richmond. He lives in New York with his wife and three children.

©Matt Greenslade/photo-nyc.com

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Thomas McCarthy

Director

Tom is a CEO of a NY State certified SDVOB and MBE IT services company and a New Jersey-based mechanical engineering company.  Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, he held leadership roles in the manufacturing, telecom, and technology sectors with specializations in large-scale innovative change, formidable technology projects. His most notable success is bringing Wi-Fi and cellular coverage to the New York subway underground system.  Tom is a graduate of Stevens Institute of Technology’s Executive master’s in technology management program and a veteran of the United States Air Force. After living in 7 countries and 19 states, Tom has settled down for the time being in New Jersey with his fiancé and daughter.

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Boriana Parvez, MD, FAAP, FRCPC, IBCLC

Director

Boriana is a Neonatologist at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital, WMC, in the Regional Perinatal Center (RPC), one of the 17 designated by NYSDOH RPCs. She cares for some of the smallest and sickest preterm and full term infants in the state. She trained in Bulgaria, Canada and the U.S. and has practiced as Neonatologist for over 20 years in Canada and the U.S. She has a long standing interest in preterm infants’ nutrition and prevention of hospital acquired infection. She has been funded to develop a NICU based preterm donor milk program at her hospital. She is the Director of Development with The New York Milk Bank.

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Kara Venus

Director

Kara Venus is a small business owner and author who lives in New England. She owns Stella’s Way Marketing, a full service small business consulting firm born from her 13 years of corporate marketing experience. She specializes in helping small businesses launch and scale.

She also published her first children’s book, dedicated to her one year old daughter and two rescue dogs, named Harper and her Dogs.

She volunteers with Literacy Volunteers and the CT Humane society. Her recent experience becoming a new mom inspired her to join to board for The New York Milk Bank.

Susan Vierczhalek, MD, FAAP, IBCLC
Chair
Medical Director, The New York Milk Bank, Inc.
Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics
NYU Grossman School of Medicine


Samantha Alessi, MSN, RNC-NIC, CLC, AACNS-N
Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital
NYU Langone Health


Julie Bouchet-Horwitz, MSN, FNP-BC, IBCLC
Tissue Bank Director, The New York Milk Bank, Inc.
Hudson Valley Family Health


Katie Golden Kelter, MD, IBCLC
Attending Pediatrician
Montefiore Medical Group, Comprehensive Family Care Center


Karen Hylton-McGuire, PhD, RNC-NIC, IBCLC
Lactation Educator
NYU Winthrop Hospital


Courtney Juliano, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai


Jennifer Kangas, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Newborn Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Sarah Milburn, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Newborn Medicine

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Boriana Parvez, MD, FAAP, FRCPC, IBCLC
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Associate Director of the Neonatal Perinatal Fellowship Program
New York Medical College


Christine Scheinman, RNC-NIC, IBCLC
NICU Lactation Consultant
New York-Presbyterian Hospital


Arnold - Design - Print - Make
DiMarco Family Fund of The Columbus Foundation
Lilah Hilliard Fisher Foundation
Ron and Cheryl Howard Family Foundation
Sirens Women's Motorcycle Club of New York City
The Golden Family Foundation
The Hyde and Watson Foundation
The Thomas & Agnes Carvel Foundation
She Angels Foundation