Longtime board officer, philanthropist and attorney takes helm of nonprofit following Andrew Bettwy's seven years of service as President through momentous change
NEW YORK, Oct. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Partnership with Children (PWC), the 116-year-old nonprofit supporting the mental health and wellness of schoolchildren across New York, has named Helena Willner to the position of Board President. An attorney and philanthropist, Willner has served on the Board for eight years, including as Secretary and Treasurer. She is a partner at Holliswood Development LLC, a woman-owned real estate development and investment company in New York.
Willner succeeds Andrew Bettwy, the PWC Board President who steered the organization through seven years of significant events that included the challenges of COVID, the innovative growth of PWC's merger with the Center for Arts Education (CAE), and the visionary selection of and successful transition to CEO Wesner Pierre in 2022, the first leader of color in the organization's history. Bettwy also helped orchestrate PWC's transformational move to its new headquarters, which is optimally located to serve PWC communities for years to come.
"Partnership with Children is immensely proud to welcome Helena Willner as our next President," Bettwy said. "She embodies the values of our organization and her profound contributions leading the Development Committee not only provide a lifeblood of financial resources, but also the engagement of a broad, diverse and passionate community of support for PWC's mission." A partner at Proskauer, Bettwy co-chairs the Corporate Department and co-heads the Finance Group. He will continue to serve on the PWC Board.
Willner, a lover of art and avid collector, also supports the PWC-CAE partnership, which brings the healing effect of teaching artists together with PWC's certified social workers in schools across the city. For example, she served on the committee that brought global artist Jeppe Hein to PWC in 2023 when he taught an interactive art session with students at Riverdale Avenue Community School in Brownsville, Brooklyn. He then hosted an immersive art experience event and was later honored by the organization with the Inspiration Award.
"Partnership with Children is extraordinarily fortunate to have lions of leadership in Andy Bettwy and Helena Willner. We are deeply grateful to Andy for his steadfast support and expert guidance. At the same time, Helena is a remarkable change agent who has quietly and diligently forged the relationships, trust and excitement of a strong culture. This reflects Partnership with Children's spirit of connectedness from whence true collaboration, innovation and growth can spring," said Pierre.
PWC provides trauma-informed counseling in schools, community-based programming and gifted teaching artists to help children find their voices through the arts. It serves K-12 age students in 47 public schools.
About PWC: Since 1908, Partnership with Children (PWC) has strengthened the emotional, social, and cognitive skills of children in New York City to succeed in school, society, and life. PWC embeds full-time, licensed clinical social workers, youth development specialists, and teaching artists in schools to provide young people growing up in poverty with trauma-informed mental health counseling, family outreach, community-based programming, and healing-based arts education. Through this targeted approach, PWC addresses the unique mental health challenges of our communities and empowers our students to build the skills necessary to break cycles of poverty and become advocates for their communities. Last year, PWC's work impacted over 27,000 children and families across 48 NYC public schools. http://www.partnershipwithchildren.org
Media Contact
Lynthia Romney, Partnership with Children, 9145892140, [email protected], www.partnershipwithchildren.org
SOURCE Partnership with Children
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