Volunteer of the Year - 2007

Heather Perlman, founder of Design Dairy, is an integral part of the TEAK family.  She has donated her design talents to many communications projects, including three annual reports and two brochures. TEAK is especially grateful for Heather’s gift of pro bono design work for the 10th Anniversary Celebration.  Her creativity and elegant style have become hallmarks of TEAK publications and allow TEAK to showcase its program for the community with great flair and force.

Volunteers of the Year - 2005

David Isay is the founder of Sound Portraits Productions and a MacArthur Genius Award winner. StoryCorps is a nationwide initiative by Dave and Sound Portraits to inspire citizens to tell their stories in recording booths in public spaces. Dave is also the co-author of Our America, which each TEAK Fellow reads in advance of the Summer Institute. Dave has been a guest speaker at every Summer Institute since 1999, taking great time to present an educational and personal experience for the Fellows. Dave has hosted field trips to the StoryCorps booth in Grand Central and has made in-kind gifts of Our America to TEAK. Dave and his work are the center of a TEAK Summer Institute tradition.

Walter Grandberry is a celebrated musician and the Director of Education and Outreach for The Harlem School of the Arts. Walter spent seventeen years of his career at Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center, where he mentored and taught piano to DeWitt White, in whose memory TEAK is founded. Since 1999, Walter has been a guest speaker at the Summer Institute or a special performer for the DeWitt White Summer Music Series. Walter has volunteered his talents to TEAK during the school year as well, providing piano lessons for Fellows. Walter helps TEAK carry out the important initiative of integrating music into the education of its Fellows.

Volunteers of the Year - 2004

Eli Halliwell is the former General Manager of Bumble and bumble, a New York City-based hair-product company and salon, and is a graduate of Princeton University '93. Eli has been a Mentor to a Fellow since 2001 and helped establish the Morgan McKinzie Endowment to support the Public Interest Internship Program at TEAK. Bumble and bumble has provided Private Enterprise Internships for Fellows and generously hosted TEAK's Mentor Appreciation Event. Eli and Bumble and bumble have been devoted supporters of TEAK, volunteering their time, professional expertise, resources, and space.

Irene Bareau has worked as a teacher and professional tutor for thirty years and she is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College '67. She taught French, Spanish, Latin, and creative and expository writing at Riverdale Country School, Trinity, The Town School, and York Preparatory School.  Irene volunteered her time and talents to TEAK for four years as a writing and Spanish tutor to many Fellows. Irene has played an integral role in supporting the academic development of Fellows as they work to compete and succeed in rigorous high school environments.

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Volunteers of the Year - 2003

Princeton University Class of '69 Community Service Fund is committed to making a global contribution to community service and stimulating community service activity by Princeton students. ' 69 CSF has added immeasurably to TEAK's Summer Institute by recruiting and selecting outstanding interns including Will Wong, Joyce Lin, Fernando Delgado, Will Macnamara, Lydia Contreras, and Louise Lamphere. TEAK recognizes the Board of Directors, Jim Floyd, Claus Frank, Jim Gregoire, Seva Kramer, and the entire ' 69 CSF community for years of service.

Princeton Project 55 is a nonprofit organization established by members of the Class of 1955 at Princeton University to mobilize alumni and students to provide civic leadership and to develop and implement solutions to systemic problems that affect the public interest. Starting in 1999, PP55 provided invaluable resources to TEAK, matching the organization with three year-long interns through the Public Interest Program. Melissa Wu, Kathleen Jamieson, and Vicky Martinez each came to TEAK through PP55 and made significant contributions to the organization.

TEAK also extends special recognition to Chet Safian for going above and beyond his duties as PP55's New York Area Coordinator, for the many organizations that he serves. He has been an advocate for TEAK and a proud supporter of TEAK's work and accomplishments.

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Volunteers of the Year - 2002

As Special Counsel in Commercial Real Estate and an Associate in General Practice at the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, Avi Szenberg and Ralston Turbeville, respectively, provided many hours of pro bono legal services to TEAK throughout the years. In 2002, Avi and Ral negotiated TEAK's new lease at 16 West 22nd Street, spending over 100 hours working out the details and staying in constant touch with TEAK.

Jeff Gural is the Chairman of Newmark Realty. Jeff put in countless hours in 2002, finding TEAK a new and beautiful home as well as negotiating the lease and finding a contractor for renovations. TEAK would not have the wonderful space on West 22nd Street if it were not for Jeff's efforts over many months.

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Volunteers of the Year - 2001

Gillian Segal is a freelance photographer who lives and works in New York City. She received her BA from the University of Michigan and a law degree from Yeshiva University. Gillian published a book of portraits, her specialty, of New York City characters. Gillian has volunteered her time and talents since 1999, photographing every Fellow and much of the staff for use in the TEAK publications.

Seth Taras is a freelance photographer who lives and works in Los Angeles and has traveled and taken photographs around the world. Seth received his BA in journalism from the University of Wisconsin. Seth has volunteered his time and talents as a photographer since 2000 and has taken TEAK's annual photo of the Fellows in their new high school shirts as well as group photos of the Summer Institute classes, the staff, and the Board of Directors.

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Volunteers of the Year - 2000

While Deputy Art Director at Time, Inc. Custom Publishing, Chris Teoh diligently spent hours designing, formatting, and putting together editions of the teak times, the official newsletter of The TEAK Fellowship. Chris provided his design services all pro-bono.  

As Director of Financial Aid at Riverdale Country School, Lynn Sorensen was an invaluable consultant in both the admissions process and the financial aid application process since TEAK was founded in 1998. Lynn helped to organize TEAK Interview Day, ran seminars explaining the financial aid application process, and was a Mentor to a Pioneer Fellow.

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Volunteers of the Year - 1999

Joseph Strazza and six employees of WinMill Software, which Joe co-founded in 1994, devoted 800 volunteer hours to design TEAK's beautiful web site. They unveiled the site at their 1999 Christmas Party and invited all the Fellows to come. WinMill has also hosted TEAK's website since its launch in 1999. Along with site design, development, and hosting, part of WinMill's mission is to support the betterment of society and business.

Estelle Quinones and Dennis Foy hosted TEAK's first New York fund-raising event at Restaurant EQ. Dennis and Estelle owned the restaurant, which has since closed, and Dennis was the executive chef. They put together a mailing about TEAK, invited their loyal customers to a tasting on December 5th, and donated all of the proceeds to TEAK.

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Volunteers of the Year - 1998

As an associate at the law firm of Shearman & Sterling, Paul Hespel heard about TEAK's need for legal services through a firm e-mail, and provided his professional skills as an in-kind donation. He had previously done pro bono work for a wildlife rehabilitation center and volunteer work in Belgium. "What interested me about TEAK was the educational aspect," he said. "If there's one thing that's most important, it's to give people who are talented the best chance they have to exploit the talents they have."

Purandar Rao is an accountant at Ernst & Young. He grew up in Bombay and moved to England, where he began working for Ernst & Young.  Purandar heard about TEAK through a friend and volunteered his accounting services. He was inspired in part by the example of his grandmother, who has long done charitable work in India, including founding a leprosy home. She involved her grandchildren in her work from an early age.

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