BROOKLYN, March 19, 2021—The Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy (Conservancy) is pleased to announce the election of Dee Poku-Spalding and Jay Mann to the organization’s Board of Directors. The election took place at the Conservancy’s March 17 Board Meeting.
“We are honored to welcome Dee Poku-Spalding and Jay Mann to our Board of Directors,” said Chris Coffey, Conservancy Board Chairman. “Jay and Dee come with excitement and experience that we look forward to tapping in the days to come. Both have been dedicated supporters of Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy and their contribution will only elevate our mission to bring dynamic, vibrant programming to Brooklyn Bridge Park.”
DEE POKU-SPALDING, Founder and CEO, The Wie Suite
Dee Poku-Spalding is an entrepreneur, women’s advocate and community builder born in the UK and raised between London and Accra.
She is the Founder and CEO of The WIE Suite, a private membership community and platform for women leaders, innovators and creators. Its primary goal is to foster business alliances between women and drive action oriented support in the form of introductions, referrals, hiring, investment and more. Dee has been named one of Marie Claire Magazine’s 50 women changing the world, a CUP Catalyst Changemaker, a Harlem Fashion Week Cultural Icon and one of TRUE Africa’s 100 Top Innovators.
She is a frequent speaker on women’s workplace advancement, and culture and community building, and has shared her insights at the UN, the New York Times New Rules Summit, Forbes 30 Under 30, the Women’s March summit, the Black Girls Rock Summit, Girlboss Rally, The Female Quotient, SHE Summit, Makers, CUP Women’s Leadership Forum; Stern and Georgetown University’s Women’s Summits and BAFTA amongst others.
Dee serves on the Board of Directors of the British Academy of Film & Television (BAFTA) and was previously on the Credit Suisse New Markets Women’s Advisory Board. She is also an advisor to Girl Gaze, Paint Box, The Female Founders Collective and The Wonder. She also serves as a contributor to Forbes Women. Dee holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Math. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and son.
JAY MANN, Managing Director, Citigroup
Jay Mann is a long-time resident of New York City. Jay has spent the last eight years at Citigroup, and the twelve years prior at Goldman Sachs. He is a Managing Director at Citigroup working as the co-head of Beta Electronic and Algorithmic trading with responsibility for electronic market making strategies in the Global Spread products division. He previously co-headed the credit derivatives trading business at Citi and North American Credit Derivatives Index Trading at Goldman Sachs. He is a graduate of Connecticut College with a degree in International Relations and a minor in Chinese Studies.
Jay and his wife moved to Cobble Hill in 2013, and welcomed twins in 2018. They spend many weekends in the park enjoying the lawns, piers and pathways from Cobble Hill to Dumbo.
“Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy is an incredible organization; committed to providing residents of greater Brooklyn with educational, athletic, and social opportunities. As a fourth-generation resident of Brooklyn I couldn’t be more excited at the opportunity to join the talented staff and board members of the Conservancy in serving our community.”
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Contact: Katherine Gray, kgray@brooklynbridgepark.org, 650-380-0572