BlinkNow Board of Directors
BlinkNow Board of Directors
Robert Vogel
Board Chair and Finance Committee Member
David Sager
Vice Chair
Claudia Mott
Treasurer
Joke Aerts
Board Member
Bill Bartzak
Board Member
Steve Buffone
Board Member
Libby DeLana
Board Member
Jeff DiLollo
Board Member and Education Committee Chair
Andy Furlong
Board Member
Beth Holly
Board Member
Leslie Shaw
Board Member
Jagdish Upadhyay
Board Member
Robert Vogel
Board Chair and Finance Committee Member
Rob is a Senior Managing Director, Senior Portfolio Manager with Peapack Private Wealth Management. Rob had previously been with Lucas Capital Management since 2008. Prior to joining Lucas Capital, Rob was Vice President and Treasurer of Hess Corporation, where he also held a variety of other leadership positions. Rob earned a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado and was awarded a master’s degree with distinction from New York University’s Stern School of Business. Rob is an active supporter of not-for-profits. He recently retired as Trustee and Chair of the Investment Advisory Committee for the Community Foundation of New Jersey (CFNJ), after serving for nine years. He now serves as Chair of the Finance Committee at Mt. Horeb United Methodist Church in Warren, New Jersey, and as a member of the National Eagle Scout Association. He resides in Warren with his wife Carrie and their two daughters. Rob utilizes his nine years of experience at the CFNJ and leadership in other corporate and finance positions to assist BlinkNow in establishing and maintaining best practices in managing financial controls and strategic planning.
David Sager
Vice Chair
David is a partner at the law firm of DLA Piper, where his practice focuses on class action defense, franchise-related litigation, deal-related litigation, intellectual property litigation and real estate disputes. During a career of more than 25 years practicing law, David has litigated and arbitrated high-stakes business disputes, frequently on behalf of clients that he has represented and partnered with for decades. David has a BA from the University of Michigan and a JD from Duke University School of Law. He lives in his hometown of Mendham, New Jersey with his wife Megan (who is also a BlinkNow volunteer) and their four boys.
Claudia Mott
Treasurer
Claudia is the Principal at Epona Financial Solutions LLC, a fee-only financial planning and investment management firm. Prior to obtaining her Certified Financial Planner® and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst™ designations, she was a Managing Director at Prudential Securities following the small-cap segment of the stock market. Claudia earned her undergraduate degree cum laude from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and her MBA from Boston University. She has always been involved in her community; from chairing committees for the PTO to leading Girl Scout and Cub Scout troops. With her children now grown, she is actively engaged in a number of non-profit organizations. Claudia is a founding member of the Long Hill Township Library Foundation and serves on the Women United Steering Committee for the United Way of Northern New Jersey. She is also a member of the Friends of Lord Stirling Stable and Impact 100 Garden State. She lives in the Millington section of Long Hill Township, is the mother of three and is a passionate equestrienne.
Joke Aerts
Board Member
Joke has over 20 years of both field and market experience in nonprofit sustainable agriculture work and sustainability standards (Rainforest Alliance, Forest Stewardship Council, Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil, Fairtrade). She is currently the Inspire to Actress at Tony's Chocolonely in Amsterdam, networking with other chocolate and confectionary companies to collaborate on impact and join together to change the norm in the cocoa industry. When she isn’t fighting for sustainable livelihoods and land use, you can find Joke with her head in a book, in the kitchen cooking something (probably Japanese or Korean, lately), or getting some fresh air with her sketchbook in hand. She is happily married and mother to three children, all of whom adore Maggie. Joke and Maggie met in 2018 in Amsterdam, and Joke has supported Blink Now ever since, serving initially (and still) on the Science + Sustainability Advisory Committee. Joke is excited to serve on the board.
Bill Bartzak
Board Member
Bill Bartzak is an accomplished entrepreneur with over two decades of experience in healthcare technology, investing, and advising. Bill successfully founded and sold MD On-Line, a healthcare technology company, in 2014, and is currently the managing director and co-founder of Kai Equity. Kai Equity is an investing company that advises and invests in early-to-mid stage businesses helping CEOs and management teams take companies to the next levels of success. Currently sitting on the board of directors for multiple companies, Bill is also a dedicated advisor on the board of Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business Center for Entrepreneurial Studies as well as Seton Hall University’s Leadership Council. A frequent speaker at healthcare and medical technology industry conferences, Bill is the recipient of numerous business and healthcare awards and accolades. He has also the co-author of a series of books for C-level executives.
Steve Buffone
Board Member
Steve Buffone is a Partner in the New York office of Gibson Dunn. He serves as Co-Chair of the Firm's Corporate Transactions Practice Group and Energy and Infrastructure Practice Groups. He is a corporate transactional lawyer who has represented clients in mergers and acquisitions, public and private issuances of debt and equity securities, venture capital financings, corporate restructurings and bankruptcies, and general corporate counseling. Steve is a cum laude graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and the Cornell and Stanford Law Schools. He is a member of the New York and California bars and is active in firm management, having previously served as Co-Partner in Charge of the New York office and as a member of the firm's Executive Committee. Steve is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Do Something.Org, a national charity that inspires and trains teenagers to be leaders in community service. He is a member of the Board of Echoing Green, the premier not-for-profit that provides seed funding to social entrepreneurs around the world and of the National Crisis Text Line, which is making crisis counseling available to young people who prefer to text rather than call. Steve serves on the Board of Regents of Georgetown University, the Board of Visitors of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and as a member of Georgetown’s Campaign Executive Council. He is a former member of the Board of Visitors of Stanford Law School. Steve is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations. Steve was recently honored for his pro bono and community service activities by receiving the Cornerstone Award from the Lawyers Alliance of New York, the Outstanding Citizen Award from Do Something and the Point of Light Award from the Points of Light Foundation.
Libby DeLana
Board Member
Founder and Creative Director at Mechanica a branding firm, north of Boston. Also a mom to two very tall and spectacular boys, impatient knitter, JV beekeeper, wife of a master furniture builder, kombucha brewmaster, book nerd, tea junkie, morning walk advocate, and believer in the power of each of us to make our world a great place.
Jeff DiLollo
Board Member and Education Committee Chair
Jeff is an educator and Assistant Principal in the Wayne School District in northern New Jersey. He has served as an administrator in the Randolph School District, and taught International Baccalaureate courses in American History, Psychology and Philosophy the West Morris Regional High School District. He served as the coordinator of an at-risk program for teenagers housed within the school district and served as a member of the Intervention and Referral Services Committee that implements Individualized Education Plans. He also serves as the Director of Youth Services for St. Lawrence Church in Chester, New Jersey. Jeff received his undergraduate degree in History and Education from Seton Hall University and his master’s degree in School Administration from St. Elizabeth’s College in Madison, New Jersey. Jeff supported BlinkNow as a Teacher Trainer on his first visit to Surkhet in 2009 and served as the Principal at Kopila Valley School in 2011-2012. Jeff’s year serving as Kopila’s principal provides him with a unique perspective in advising the school on curriculum development, recruiting and training staff for the new high school, as well as advising BlinkNow on investing in the campus expansion.
Andy Furlong
Board Member
Andy has held Senior Leadership positions in the corporate world for over 35 years. His experience has led to a of vast array of global facilities management positions for companies such as Union Bank of Switzerland, Deutsche Bank AG and Compass Group. As a result, Andy managed businesses in over 50 countries. In his early career, Andy spent a great amount of time in Europe and then spent most his career operating businesses in Central and South East Asia, Middle East, Africa, The Americas, India, Turkey and China. During these years Andy obtained a unique view into so many different markets and had the opportunity to build very diverse teams. He also had the privilege to cross many cultural boundaries and gain a wealth of market knowledge within his broad and diverse base of experience. As part of his career, Andy always had a passion for Corporate Social Responsibility and alongside of his colleagues, set up many programs in third world countries which served to help alleviate the desperate plight of many youngsters in economically poor and non-industrialized regions. Andy first knew Maggie as a teenager in NJ and as such, was able to follow her bold and courageous efforts from the very beginning. After taking early retirement, Andy vowed to help Maggie and has since been a very active volunteer for the BlinkNow cause. He has made over a dozen trips to Nepal where his primary function has been to use his knowledge of facilities management to become an advisor on the construction of the new Koplia Valley school.
Beth Holly
Board Member
Beth is an attorney and has worked in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry for the last 28 years, most recently as Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. Beth received a BS from Cornell University and a JD from Fordham Law School. She is the recipient of the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers in Business (2000), the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association Luminary Award (2017), the 914Inc. Women in Business Awards (2017), and the NOW Women of Power and Influence Award (2018). An avid skier, theater lover and aspiring writer, Beth is also a mom to two adult children and two hairy dogs. Introduced to Maggie and her work in Nepal by her daughter over ten years ago, Beth has been an ardent supporter of the inspiring work of BlinkNow and is thrilled to be able to contribute as a Board Member.
Leslie Shaw
Board Member
Leslie is a Board Member and also serves on our BlinkNow Futures Committee. During the last 20 years, Leslie has had extensive non-profit board and volunteer experience with many organizations, all of which involved issues of childcare, public education and foster care. She loves kids of all ages, from one day old infants to those pesky teenagers. She describes the best job she ever had as serving as administrative staff at a girls summer camp in Northern Wisconsin. Those friendships are still active 40 years later. She grew up in Southern Illinois and has lived most of her adult life in Boonton Township, NJ. She is a National Trustee for National Jewish Hospital in Denver, Colorado. When Leslie was 14, her parents took a year off to live on a small sailboat in the Bahamas with her twin brother and the family’s two dogs. She and her husband, Jeremy, have three grown daughters. Leslie loves words and information and is a avid reader. She also love hiking, trail running, boating and being outdoors.
Jagdish Upadhyay
Board Member
Jagdish recently retired from the United Nations after serving over 22 years. A lead global voice for family planning, reproductive health commodity supply, demographic dividends and youth issues, Jagdish has played the lead role in the formation of a number of key global initiatives namely, Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC) and Family Planning 2020 (FP2020). As part of the United Nations Population Fund, Jagdish worked together with UNICEF to steer the secretariat of the UN Commission of Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children. A recipient of various awards and recognitions, Jagdish started his carrier some 40 years ago from Nepal where he headed a Social Marketing company including many other positions and affiliations. Jagdish earned a Master of Science degree in Community Health Sciences from Manitoba, Canada.
