BOARD

Colin Lange – Chairman
Partner, Monaco Lange Marketing, Inc.
Colin is a partner with Monaco Lange, Inc, a strategic brand advertising and design firm located in New York City. Colin previously applied his talents at iXL, Cox Interactive Media, Ogilvy & Mather and was Chief Creative Officer at Iguana Studios before founding Monaco Lange. Colin has also taught at Syracuse University, NYU, and Katharine Gibbs School of Communication on the subjects of Branding, Interactive Design and Marketing. He holds a B.F.A. from Syracuse University, College of Visual and Performing Arts in Illustration with a concentration in Art History.

Michael Steib – Vice Chairman
Director, Google TV Ads
Mike helped to create and launch NBC Weather Plus, the country's first all-digital broadcast network, launched in November 2004 as a joint venture between NBC Universal and the NBC Affiliate group. He now co-leads the commercial operations, overseeing the network's rapid rollout across the United States. Before launching this breakthrough network, Steib was a member of NBC Universal's Business Development team, which closed more than $20 billion in merger and acquisition activity over the last three years. Prior to joining NBC Universal, Mike was a consultant with McKinsey & Company, and part of the management team at interactive media startup Walker Digital. Mike earned a B.A. with distinction in international relations and a B.A. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Joan Rothman – Secretary
Joan was a director of technology projects and services at Luminant, IBM and Prodigy Services Company. Joan is currently providing volunteer services to Senator Hillary Clinton’s senate operations in Westchester County. Joan is also serving on the Scarsdale Village Technology Council and the Scarsdale Synagogue – Tremont Temple Technology Committee. Over the past five years, Joan has also provided support to Dress for Success New York including, grant writing, technology services and helping to suit clients for job interviews. Joan consulted with Career Gear as a grant writer from January 2003 to June 2003. Joan was appointed to the board of Career Gear, Inc. in February, 2006. She is currently retired.

Emily Arean – Director
Senior Vice President, Director of Human Resources, National Financial Partners
Ms. Arean joined NFP in June 2005 as Senior Vice President, Director of Human Resources. Ms. Arean was previously employed by BrokerTec USA, LLC, where she served as Chief of Staff and a Managing Director from June 2003 to May 2005 and Director of Human Resources from February 2002 until May 2003. From December 2000 to February 2002, Ms. Arean was Senior Vice President of Human Resources for StarMedia Network, Inc. Ms. Arean served in a variety of capacities, each of increasing responsibility, at Popular, Inc. from January 1993 to November 2000, most recently as Senior Vice President and Director of Human Resources. She received her B.B.A. in Accounting from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, her J.D. from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, and her M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.

Lawrence Jennings – Director
Director of Human Resources, Brooklyn Public Library
Lawrence is currently Director of Human Resources for The Brooklyn Public Library. In addition to his Human Resources and Organizational Development responsibilities, he is one of the leaders responsible for the Library’s goal of becoming a process driven enterprise. Lawrence Jennings has been committed to building high performing teams, human resource strategy, human capital management and business process redesign for more than 25 years. In 2003, after completing Michael Hammer’s Process curriculum, he became the Library’s first Process Master. Lawrence has held senior management positions in a number of Fortune 500 organizations. His industry experience includes: pharmaceutical, financial services, retail, the federal government, and both not-for-profit and entrepreneurial firms. In addition to his extensive Human Resource experience, he is one of a small number of HR executives who have managed business units. Lawrence received his BA from Williams College. He has his Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) designation from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and a specialization in HR Strategy from the SHRM Academy. He also has a certification in Human Capital Management from the Human Capital Institute. In 2006, Lawrence participated in Leadership New York, through the Coro New York Leadership Center.

Phil Williams – Director
President of Sales and Marketing, KMI Inc.
As President, Sales & Marketing of KMI USA, Williams is leading the company through a major international expansion. He has the responsibility of managing the entire process from strategic development through execution. Prior to joining KMI, Inc., Williams spent five years as a VP in both brand development and corporate sales for the New Jersey Nets. Among his accomplishments, Williams was instrumental in creating newfound territory by developing the enormously popular secondary road jersey. In his pursuit to develop brand promotions, Williams also formed successful strategic partnerships with several Fortune 500 companies including Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, and Wachovia, generating over $8 million in corporate sales. Before joining the Nets in 1998, Williams spent five years in sales and marketing at General Motors. While with the Nets, he took it upon himself to involve NBA stars in the plight to aid underprivileged children with organizations such as The Jason Kidd Foundation, NSYNC's Challenge for the Children and The Promise Tree Foundation.

STAFF

Gary Field, LCSW
Founder
Ten years ago, Gary fit the profile of many of Career Gear's clients - unemployed, recovering substance abuser, having just completed a job readiness program. He scraped together $50, bought a used suit for his interviews, and successfully landed a job. Within five years, he completed his undergraduate studies, received a Master's degree in social work and set about the business of helping men in similar positions get and keep satisfying jobs. Prior to founding Career Gear, Gary worked as the Director of Services at the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, NYC, with formerly homeless mentally ill adults, and as a psychiatric social worker. Gary earned a B.A. with distinction and an M.S.W. from New York University and an L.C.S.W. from the state of New York.

John Sanful
Executive Director
John previously managed the New York Community Voice Mail program at The Coalition for the Homeless. Community Voice Mail provides free voice mail numbers to homeless and phoneless individuals. John also ran the Job Connections program at The Morningside Area Alliance. Job Connections worked with Upper Manhattan community based organizations and Morningside Heights institutions to place Harlem residents in jobs. He was the Senior Manager of Corporate Partnerships at Common Ground Community. Recently, he was an employment consultant with Bowery Residents’ Committee. Born in the Bronx, raised in Brooklyn, educated in Queens, and a current resident of Harlem, John is a lifelong New York resident. He was a member of the Coro Foundation Leadership New York program in 2005, and currently a fellow with the Milano School Tenenbaum Leadership Initiative.

Leta Malloy
Director of Strategic Initiatives

Leta has worked in event management, planning conferences and anniversary celebrations for academic institutions, the arts and a labor union. Leta has been improving communication between Career Gear national and our current affiliates, as well as, introducing potential affiliates to Career Gear’s mission and programs. Leta is also a professional dancer who spends her spare time implementing dance programs, teaching youth and adjudicating dance competitions for both public and private schools. Leta has spent many years advocating self-esteem, confidence and the power of presentation to young performers. Leta is a proud graduate of Brown University with a BA in History with Honors.

Michael Obertacz

Director of Retention Services

Michael Obertacz is a recent addition to the Career Gear staff. Mike has been educating at-risk students throughout New York City on conflict management, goal setting, leadership and violence prevention skills. Working closely with Job Retention program members, Mike believes that we can strengthen the individual, the family and the community with valuable workplace and life skills offered through our many workshops. Career Gear’s Alumni Job Retention Program not only provides resources for all our clients, but instills a level of confidence for one to move boldly toward a new start. 

Alison Nager
Development Officer
Alison started her Career at Amnesty International where she worked on fundraising and media coordination for the Human Rights Now! World tour. She later went to NBC and worked as a Production Coordinator in the news division. Alison was Director of Development for a small LA based film company which developed projects specifically for women and ran the management company Ellin Management with a client roster of twenty five performers including the actress Alyssa Milano. She is certified as a substitute teacher for the NY public school system and worked at the School of the Future teaching history, math and science. Prior to joining Career Gear, Alison was working as a professional actress and is a member of both the Screen Actors Guild and Actors Equity. Alison holds a BA in American Studies from Brandeis University and a Masters Degree in Fine Arts from the Actors Studio at the New School University.

Bill Minary
Assistant Manager
Bill was a self-employed handyman for many years and then worked for the NY/NJ Port Authority from 1999 to 2001. Bill has worked for Career Gear since 2002.

Anthony Gardiner
Assistant Manager
Anthony was a former office manager for Lawrence Personnel Agency, where he worked for ten years. Anthony has worked for Career Gear since 2003.

William Simms
Direct Service Coordinator
A military veteran, William has worked for Career Gear since early 2007.

"Career Gear is an extraordinary place to work. On a daily basis we are witness to men taking steps towards repairing and strengthening their lives."

-John Sanful, Executive Director