Board of Directors
Ms. Susan Bevan, Secretary
Susan is a graduate of the University of Washington, Foster School of Business and DePaul University, College of Law, where she was an editor of the DePaul Law Review. She practiced law in California, Illinois and New York with an emphasis in Commodities, Securities and Corporate Law. After working in California and Illinois, Susan moved to New York where her career continued at the Wall Street firm of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.
Upon moving to Greenwich, Susan began volunteering in various capacities for a number of organizations. She currently sits on the Advisory Board of The Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich, having served as Co-Chair for the Club’s $15 million Capital Campaign, Chair of the 1999 benefit as well as a Vice-President and Secretary of that Board. She on the boards of the Breast Cancer Alliance, based in Greenwich, Alpha Phi International Fraternity, based in Evanston, IL, and is the national Co-Chair of the Republican Majority for Choice. She sits on the Advisory Boards of the Foster School of Business, University of Washington and The Greenwich Historical Society. A former trustee of the Greenwich Library, she thrice co-chaired the biennial Peterson Dinner benefit.
Susan considers the satisfaction of raising her three children with her husband and the friendship of many friends among the most satisfying contributions she has made to her community.
Mr. Michael Carpenter, Treasurer
Michael Carpenter retired as CEO from Ally Financial Inc. in February 2015 after a long and distinguished career in the financial services industry.
Ally, formerly GMAC, was a recipient of $13 billion of government funding under the TARP program in 2009, and was experiencing significant losses when Mr. Carpenter assumed the CEO position. During his tenure, Mr. Carpenter focused Ally on selected core businesses, reduced expenses, and built Ally Bank to $50 billion in deposits. Mr. Carpenter retired from Ally after returning the company to profitability, taking the company public in April 2014, and after repaying Treasury almost $16 billion by 2014.
From 1998 to 2006 Mr. Carpenter was a member of Citigroup’s senior management group, having been the architect of the Travelers-Citi merger. From 2002 to 2006 he was Chair and CEO of Citigroup Alternative Investments, overseeing $60 billion of proprietary capital and customer funds in various alternative investment vehicles. From 1998 to 2002 Mr. Carpenter was Chair and CEO of Citigroup’s Global Corporate and Investment Bank, with responsibility for Salomon Smith Barney and Citibank’s corporate banking activities. Prior to Citigroup, beginning in 1994, he was CEO of Travelers Life and Annuity and Vice Chair of Travelers Group, Inc. Carpenter was a senior officer of GE from 1983 to 1994. Earlier in his career, Mr. Carpenter worked at the Boston Consulting Group and Imperial Chemical Industries of the United Kingdom. Mr. Carpenter currently serves on the boards of CIT (NYSE), Autobytel (NYSE), US Retirement Partners, Law Finance Group, The New York City Investment Fund and has been a board member of the New York Stock Exchange, General Signal, Loews Cineplex, and various other private and public companies.
Mr. H. Scott Higgins
Founder and CEO Veterans Advantage
Scott Higgins is the founder and CEO of Veterans Advantage, the nation’s leading advocate for greater respect, recognition and rewards for all who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. Founded in 2000, Veterans Advantage and its coalition of partner companies create new service-related benefits for current and former military members and their families. Mr. Higgins served as an officer in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. Appointed by the Mayor of the City of New York, he co-chaired the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commission.
For eighteen years, Mr. Higgins was a partner and director of Ark Asset Management, formerly Lehman Management Company, the investment management subsidiary of Lehman Brothers. Prior to Ark, he was a Senior Vice President of A.G. Becker, serving as a senior financial consultant to some of the country’s largest banks, insurance companies and investment counseling firms.
Mr. Higgins also served as a trustee and co-chair of the New York Shakespeare Festival and The Public Theatre. He currently serves on the Board of the Mako and Dowgate Funds, European hedge funds and is a Trustee Emeritus of Gettysburg College. Mr. Higgins is a distinguished graduate of Gettysburg College, an NCAA All-American wrestler and a member of the College’s Athletic Hall of Fame. He received his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. John Lyddane
Partner & the Group Head of the Medical Malpractice Defense Group at Dorf & Nelson
John L.A. Lyddane is a partner and the Group Head of the Medical Malpractice Defense Group at Dorf & Nelson. Mr. Lyddane has been a medical malpractice and personal injury defense attorney for over forty years and has tried close to 300 cases to dismissal or verdict. In addition, he has briefed and argued cases in the appellate courts including the New York Court of Appeals. He has been involved in every aspect of teaching of litigation and trial skills in university, bar association, Continuing Legal Education, and risk management programs, including six separate four-hour programs on ethics for the litigator. He is a frequent contributor to the legal literature on practical trial skills and the defense of medical malpractice cases, and has co-authored a regular column in the New York Law Journal on Medical Malpractice Defense for many years.
Mr. Lyddane lives with his family in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he has served his community as President of the Belle Haven Landowners’ Association, Commodore of the Belle Haven Club, Commissioner of the Belle Haven Tax District, District Leader of District 2 of the Greenwich Republican Town Committee, Sunday school teacher and soccer coach.
Grant Perelman
Grant is a co-founder of Squire Dental. Prior to Squire Dental, Grant was an associate at PPC, a $1.3B AUM KKR spin-off, where he focused on healthcare services including dental. Prior to PPC, Grant worked at CitiBank as an investment banker. Grant graduated with honors from Northwestern University, and chose not to complete his MBA at Wharton.
Dr. Michael A. Perelman, Founder & Chairman
Email: michael@mapedfund.org
Dr. Michael A. Perelman is a Clinical Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and former Clinical Professor of Reproductive Medicine, and Urology at Weill Cornell Medicine in NYC. He has directed its Human Sexuality Program, (founded by Dr. Helen S. Kaplan) for almost 30 years. That program is the longest running sex therapy case conference in the world, providing continuing education for its graduates and guests. A National Institute of Health Fellow, in 1976 he wrote the first sex therapy dissertation in Columbia’s history. Dr. Perelman was Chief Intern at Duke University Medical Center, followed by a Post-Doctoral Fellowship studying sex therapy with Helen S. Kaplan at NY Presbyterian Hospital.
In 2012 he founded the MAP Education and Research Foundation a 501(c) (3) public charity, that emphasizes a biomedical-psychosocial and cultural approach to the diagnosis and treatment of sexual disorders, using its Sexual Tipping Point® Model. The Foundation grants STP Awards for best abstract/presentations delivered at sexual health care professional meetings.
As an international leader and member of over 25 professional associations, Dr. Perelman served on several of their boards of directors and was the President of The Society for Sex Therapy and Research (SSTAR). He was elected a Fellow to the Sexual Medicine Society of North America (SMSNA), the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex (SSSS), , and the International Society for Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH). He was appointed to the Sexual Function Advisory Council of the American Urological Association (AUA), the Standards Committee of the International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM), and both the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-V and DSM 5TR Task Force as an Advisor to the Sex/GID Work Group.
In 2015, the Society for Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (APA) presented him with their Award for Excellence in Teaching. The American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT) certifies him as a sex therapy diplomate, supervisor, sex educator, sex counselor, and honored him with their 2012 Award for Professional Standard of Excellence and their 2019, Integrative Sex Therapy Award. In 2021 the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health’s Program in Human Sexuality selected him as a “Distinguished Sexual and Gender Health Revolutionary.” In 2022, the
Honorary Member” of the International Society for Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH).
His co-edited, Management Of Sexual Dysfunction In Men And Women: An Integrated Approach, was published in 2016. From 2012-2017 Dr. Perelman served as the Editor in Chief, for Springer’s Current Sexual Health Reports, and is now its Emeritus Editor in Chief. He serves on several publications’ Board of Directors as a consulting editor, or as a reviewer. He has published over 70 peer reviewed articles, countless abstracts, posters, and over 25 chapters in sexual medicine texts, along with delivering over 300 invited presentations. He writes an invited Blog for Psychology Today called the “Sexual Tipping Point.” Dr. Perelman maintains an independent sex and couples’ therapy practice in both Greenwich, CT and Manhattan. He is certified by NYS and listed in the National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. Dr. Perelman has conducted clinical trials, served on dozens of industry advisory boards and speakers’ bureaus, as well as providing expert witness consultations. His work in sex and marital therapy is often featured in the media.
Curriculum Vita →
Biosketch →
Ms. Amy Rivers
Amy began her career on Wall Street after graduating from Louisiana State University in 1985, earning a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. Amy joined Salomon Brothers after graduation where she worked in the mortgage-backed securities department. Amy later moved to J.P. Morgan, where she worked on their Asset Liability Risk Management team.
After starting a family, Amy left the financial world to focus on the needs of her three children while also actively participating in their respective schools and other charitable organizations. With a desire to give back, Amy has served in leadership positions on many boards and councils in the community. Perhaps the closest to her heart is Amy’s work with Women of Vision (WOV) chapter of World Vision. In her 17 years of involvement, Amy has lobbied in DC to end human trafficking, lead groups of women to Rwanda, Cambodia, and India to witness WOV/World Vision supported programs to help vulnerable women, children, and families, and she has participated locally at the World Vision Bronx Storehouse which helps to support teachers and schools in need of supplies. Amy also serves or has served on the boards or committees of Stanwich Congregational Church, Belle Haven Club, PEHT (Partnership to End Human Trafficking), Inspirica, Putnam Indian Field School, Greenwich Country Day School, Westminster School, The Hotchkiss School, Wake Forest University and Tulane University.
Amy began a career in Real Estate in 2018. She is a licensed Real Estate agent in Connecticut and an exclusive buyer’s agent in NYC and Long Island. With over 30 years in New York and the surrounding suburbs, Amy brings passion and commitment to the job of finding her clients the ideal property for both their lifestyle and investment portfolio.
The Foundation wishes to express its deep appreciation for the service provided by the following members of the Board of Directors.
John Lyddane; Secretary (2014-2023)
*Daddino, Anthony; Treasurer (2020-2022)
FitzPatrick, Daniel; Treasurer (2014-2020)
*Galt, Elizabeth; Director (2014-2017)
*Deceased