New Jersey Education Foundation Partnership Board

Eileen Collins Neri, Chair, Executive Director, Achieve Foundation of South Orange/Maplewood

Eileen Collins Neri has been the Executive Director of Achieve, the education foundation for the School District of South Orange and Maplewood, since 2018. Prior to that, she was involved with the organization for a decade, serving as a trustee and as donations manager.  Eileen believes strongly in the benefit of public education and is particularly proud to serve the district in which she, herself, was educated.  She has three daughters, who are also products of the school district, and graduates of  Columbia High School.

Eileen’s other non-profit experience includes five years working at the Senior Center of the Chathams with a variety of marketing, event planning and development responsibilities.  She began her career in marketing research, and spent five years as Marketing Research director at Fortune magazine before taking several years off to stay home with her family.  

Eileen doubled majored in Business Administration and Psychology at Muhlenberg College, and has been an active alumni.   She joined the NJEFP in December of 2019 and values the partnership that NJEFP provides with other education foundations throughout the state

Devin Desmond, Treasurer, WithumSmith+Brown

Devin Desmond is a principal at public accounting firm WithumSmith+Brown where he primarily services the not-for-profit, and insurance industries.  Devin specializes in accounting and auditing, tax and business advisory with extensive experience in auditing not-for-profit entities funded by a variety of federal, state and local sources, including those required to comply with Uniform Guidance.

As a member of the Firm’s Not-for-Profit and Education and Insurance Services Groups, Devin has presented numerous webinars and written articles on a variety of topics.

He is a member of the AICPA and NJSCPA.  Mr. Desmond resides in Tinton Falls, NJ.  Mr. Desmond graduated from Villanova University in 2010 with a Bachelors in Finance and a Bachelors in Accounting. He then obtained his Masters in Accounting and Professional Consultancy from Villanova University also in 2010.  He holds a CPA licensure in NJ.

Elissa Puzzuoli, Secretary, Florham Park Education Foundation

Elisa Puzzuoli joined the board of NJEFP in 2019.  Elisa is retired from a 30-plus-year career at Prudential Financial, a Fortune 100 financial services company, where she held a variety of positions.  At retirement she held the position of Vice President of Strategy and Competitive Intelligence for Prudential’s international insurance operations.  Elisa’s career at Prudential included several years at The Prudential Foundation as grants officer and secretary where she gained an appreciation of the world of philanthropy and best practices in nonprofit management.

Elisa is also on the board of the Florham Park Education Foundation, which was established in 2018.  Elisa found the NJEFP extremely informative and helpful as she and her fellow board members were launching their local education foundation.

Elisa’s strong commitment to quality public education has its origin in her upbringing.  As a child of immigrant parents, she was the first in her family to attain a college education when she graduated from Princeton University with a BA in romance languages. Now, as a retiree and empty-nester, she is volunteering her time to help promote educational excellence and innovation, where all students can thrive and have the opportunity to reach their highest potential.

Susan DeRise, Trustee, Hoboken Public Education Foundation

Susan DeRise joins the Board of the NJEFP and has currently been serving five years with the Hoboken Public Education Foundation. She currently serves on the Executive Board of the Hoboken Public Education Foundation as the Secretary of Sponsorships. Susan has over 20 years of marketing and sales experience and a Master’s Degree in Administrative Science.  While living overseas in India, Susan served as a charity committee member working closely with a school for the hearing impaired, as well as a home for young adults with disabilities. Susan is also a PTO Officer, a class parent, and is very actively involved in the Hoboken Public Schools and the overall community.  Susan resides in Hoboken with her husband and young son. Susan joins the NJEFP with a true desire to help other Education Foundations and their Public Schools throughout the State of New Jersey. 

 

Joelle Servais, Trustee, Executive Director, Morris Educational Foundation

Joelle Servais is the Executive Director of the Morris Educational Foundation, having joined the team in March 2022. A graduate of Morristown High School class of ‘92, Joelle returns as a District parent of four children, and brings 25 years of nonprofit experience to the team. With a focus on youth development and justice issues, she previously served as the Development and Communications Director at The Liberty Fund, NYC’s first city-wide charitable bail fund, and also was instrumental in the scaling of Exalt Youth, which provides internship programming for court-involved teens in NYC. She also served as the Director of Development at DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, NJ, and the Director of Foundation and Corporate Giving at The Boys’ Club of New York. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a Pre-med concentration from Columbia University.

 

Alexis Seubert, Trustee, Board President, Florham Park Education Foundation

Alexis Seubert currently serves as President of the Florham Park Education Foundation, and she has been involved with the FPEF since its formation in 2017.  Alexis believes in the power of public education and that each student deserves an exceptional school experience delivered by well-resourced and well-trained educators, and this reason is why she continues to be actively involved in the school community.  Additionally, her daughters, ages 10 and 13, are in the Florham Park School District.  Before moving to the FPEF, Alexis was on the Board of the PTA and has served as a class parent many times.

Alexis is service-oriented and involved in other community organizations.  She is the Fund Development Chair for the Florham Park July 4th Committee (longest running parade in NJ!) and a member of the Florham Park Jaycees. It is very important to Alexis that the community organizations in town support each other, and that there is outreach done for all residents. She wants both the schools and the Florham Park community to thrive.  Prior to having children, Alexis was the Director of Interactive Marketing for Sotheby’s International Realty.  Now, Alexis stays quite busy volunteering, holding several ongoing part-time positions, and traveling with her older daughter who is a competitive athlete.

Alexis B.A. in Theater at the University of the South, Sewanee TN, and an M.A. in Marketing from Webster University in St. Louis.  She is very excited to join the NJEFP Board of Trustees.

Chrissie Wetherbee, Trustee, Former NJEFP Co-Chair

Chrissie Wetherbee is the Executive Director of the Morris Educational Foundation (MEF). Founded in 1992, the MEF serves 5,200 pre-K through 12th-grade students in ten Morris School District Schools. Chrissie is honored to fulfill the MEF’s mission to raise funds to enhance the educational opportunities for students in the district.  With a $500,000 annual operating budget, the MEF has raised over $7 million since it’s inception.

Chrissie holds a B.A. in art history from the University of Maryland College Park and an M.A. in museum studies from Seton Hall University. She is currently a candidate to be a National School Foundation Association’s Certified Educational Leader. She managed a successful art gallery, J. Pocker & Son, in New York City, before entering the non-profit sector in museums, first at the Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, NJ, and then the Morris Museum in Morristown, NJ. Chrissie’s passion for education, her community, and its schools led her to join the Morris Educational Foundation in 2013.  As a Morristown High School alum, and current Morris School District parent, she feels lucky to work for an organization with a mission is so personally meaningful.

Chrissie and her husband Chris are proud to raise their children Anna and Ian with the exceptional opportunities offered in their community. When not working, you can find Chrissie with her puppy Lucky on a sports field in town watching her children, or in Barnegat Light watching the boats in the bay.