TEAM
JON GRAY, Co-Founder
Jon Gray is the Co-Founder of the Gray Foundation. He is also the President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone, one of the world’s leading investment firms. Formerly, Jon served as Blackstone’s Global Head of Real Estate. Since joining Blackstone in 1992, Jon has helped build the largest real estate platform in the world.
Jon currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Hilton Worldwide. He also serves on the board of Harlem Village Academies.
Jon received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in English from the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.
MINDY GRAY, Co-Founder
Mindy Gray is the Co-Founder of the Gray Foundation. She is the Chair of the Basser Leadership Council and serves on the boards of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and NYC Kids RISE. Mindy is actively involved at the Harlem Village Academies charter schools and sits on the Leadership Council of Peer Health Exchange, an organization dedicated to giving teens a comprehensive health education.
Previously, Mindy worked as an editor at Ziff Davis Publishing and as a marketing executive at Edwin Schlossberg, Inc.
Mindy received her Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in History from the University of Pennsylvania.
DANA ZUCKER, Chief Executive Officer
Dana Zucker is the Chief Executive Officer of the Gray Foundation. She is the Chair of the NYC Kids RISE Board and a member of the Basser Leadership Council at the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Dana serves on the Board of Peer Health Exchange and on the President’s Leadership Council and Women’s Leadership Council at Brown University. Previously, Dana was a Vice President at Teach For America and a Vice President at Lazard Freres & Co. She also worked as a consultant at Bain & Company, as well as in the Venture Capital and Investment Banking Groups at Morgan Stanley.
She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Brown University.
CHARISSA FERNÁNDEZ, President
Charissa Fernández is the President of the Gray Foundation. Charissa has dedicated the last 25 years to expanding educational opportunity for NYC youth. She served as the Executive Director of Teach For America – New York, and the Chief Operating Officer of ExpandED Schools. She also previously directed the NYC Department of Education’s Office of Strategic Partnerships, ran after-school and summer programs in the Bronx and Washington Heights, and taught English at Riverdale Country School. Charissa has served on the boards of Trust for Public Lands – New York, DREAM, and Bronx Children’s Museum.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Master’s in Education Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from Harvard University.
CHI VAN DANG, Chief Science Advisor
Chi Van Dang is the Chief Science Advisor for the Gray Foundation. He also serves as Scientific Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and professor at The Wistar Institute. Dang’s laboratory helped define the complex functions of the MYC oncogene and connected MYC to regulation of cancer metabolism.
He previously served as Director of the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He began his career at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he became Director of the Division of Hematology, the Johns Hopkins Family Professor in Oncology Research, the Vice Dean for Research and Director of the Hopkins Institute for Cell Engineering.
He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research Academy, and was a member of the Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel.
PAT MORIN, Scientific Advisor
Pat Morin is the Scientific Advisor for the Gray Foundation. He also serves as the Deputy Scientific Director of the Ludwig Cancer Research community. He previously served as the Executive Director, Strategic Alliances of the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to that, he was Senior Director of Scientific Review and Grants Administration at the American Association for Cancer Research. In 1998, Pat joined the National Institutes of Health to head a research laboratory focused on ovarian cancer. He also held an Assistant Professor position at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, from 1998 until 2012.
Pat holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in biophysics from the University of Quebec and a PhD in molecular biology from Boston University. He conducted his postdoctoral training at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center in the laboratory of Dr. Bert Vogelstein, where he studied the molecular genetics of colorectal cancer.
MARGARET McCONVILLE, Office Manager
Margaret is the Office Manager at the Gray Foundation. Most of Margaret’s career has been in an administrative capacity related to recruitment. From campus recruiting to executive search, Margaret’s previous experience includes working at Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Heidrick & Struggles, among others. Prior to joining the Foundation, Margaret worked at Geller & Company in the Human Capital Department.
Margaret received her Bachelor of Science in Accounting with a minor in History from the University of Scranton.
MIMI ZHENG, Program Associate
Mimi is the Program Associate at the Gray Foundation. Most of Mimi’s career has been focused on increasing access to higher education for students from low-income and underserved communities. Her previous experiences include working at higher education institutions and non-profit organizations where she mentored high school and college students and provided guidance on college persistence and career readiness.
Mimi holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Berea College and Master of Education in Higher Education and Student Affairs from the University of South Carolina.