Linda J. Wright migrated to NYC in 1970 from a small, rural town (pop. less than 1,000) in Massachusetts. Graduating from Wagner College, Staten Island, with a dual B.A. in English Literature and Religion/Philosophy, she saw a future in lifting up others while exploring the world.

Her first stop was west London, where she taught for two years in a struggling secondary girls’ school composed in equal thirds of working-class whites and recently settled immigrants from India and the Caribbean. When her visa expired, she returned to NYC to pursue an M.A. in TESOL, expecting to be back overseas soon. To pay for her studies she took a clerical position in the development office at Teachers College, Columbia University. This decision led to a professional sea change: Linda now saw the non-profit sector–focusing on institutional development, fundraising, and management–as an even more effective, inclusive way to reach people in need.

As her multi-decade career at Teachers College and Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children wound down and she looked to supplement past volunteer/board commitments, Linda embraced the LCU Fund for Women’s Education. Heartfelt testimonials from supported students reinforce how much the LCU Fund’s housing grants have contributed to their success and remind Linda that many of us share a dream: “To be the first in our families to go to college; to have a meaningful, successful career; and to remember to make giving back to others a priority.”

Lindsey Counts is a Senior Attorney with New York State Homes and Community Renewal’s Fair and Equitable Housing Office. In this role, she advises on state and federal fair housing law and assists in the development of policy and procedure to promote access to affordable housing statewide.

Prior to this position, she worked as an Associate at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and as an Analyst at Goldman Sachs. A native New Yorker, Lindsey earned a BA in History from Yale College and a JD from Yale Law School. She is a co-chair of the Prison & Re-Entry Ministry at the Church of the Heavenly Rest, where she also serves on the vestry.

Sofya Shuster is a Director of Real Estate Finance at ING in New York. In this role Sofya is responsible for underwriting, execution, and portfolio management of commercial real estate loans across the United States. She is also a Global Sustainability Champion for Real Estate Finance at ING, acting as a connector between Sustainable Finance and Real Estate Finance teams. Previously, Sofya worked in Loan Syndications at ING in Amsterdam and London, where she was responsible for underwriting, structuring, and distribution of syndicated loans in Europe. Over the course of her career she has covered a number of sectors, including infrastructure, energy, transportation, and commercial real estate.

Originally from Russia, Sofya received a BSc Cum Laude in Economics from Lomonosov Moscow State University. Thanks to her participation in a prestigious international Huygens Scholarship Programme, she had an opportunity to continue her studies in the Netherlands. She received an MSc Cum Laude in Finance and Investments from the Rotterdam School of Management (Erasmus University), which launched her career in international banking. Since 2014, Sofya holds a chartered financial analyst (CFA) designation. Given her personal experience, Sofya cannot underestimate the value of non-profit organizations supporting education and she is keen to contribute her time, energy, and resources for this cause. In her free time, Sofya enjoys visual and performing arts, reading, aerial acrobatics training, and travel.

Sandra M. Stevenson is an award-winning Assistant Editor in the photography department at The New York Times. She oversees digital photo editors on the news desk and works on visual content for Race/Related and the Gender, in addition to special projects such as "Overlooked." She’s originally from Albuquerque, NM and was raised in Cheyenne, WY. After receiving a BA in English from Syracuse University, Sandra spent four years working at NBC – first as a Page and then working on various news programs. From there, she became the program coordinator for the Black Filmmaker Foundation. During her time there, she held a deep commitment to helping people of color enter the film industry at various levels.

Sandra then returned to the news industry, by taking on a position at The Associated Press, where she spent eight years moving up from photo assistant to overseeing photo news coverage for Latin America and the Caribbean. She also took time to work on and an advanced degree in multimedia from L'Universite Toulouse in France. Sandra was a contributing writer in the book "Unseen: Unpublished Black History from The New York Times Photo Archives." Most recently, she was the picture editor and co-curator on the book "This Is 18."

She currently serves as a governor on the Overseas Press Club – America. Previously she was the board president at the Bronx Documentary Center as well as a board member of the American Montessori Society.

Carol Starmack has over twenty-five years of senior leadership experience in the nonprofit arena, ten of them at the c-suite level. Most recently she served as the Chief Operating Officer of the American Montessori Society (AMS), a 16,000+ member professional society that sets standards for Montessori schools and teacher education programs and credentials Montessori teachers. It also offers high-quality professional development to Montessori administrators, faculty, and teachers. Prior to joining AMS in 2013, in addition to consulting for nonprofit organizations, she was the Senior Vice President of The Century Foundation, a progressive, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to foster opportunity, reduce inequality, and promote security at home and abroad. She served as its Chief Operating Officer.

Carol has a strong commitment to equality and justice and views the work of LCU as making a vital contribution to creating a more just world by helping NYC women of modest means succeed and thrive.

She holds a Master of Public Administration from Baruch College’s Executive program and a Bachelor of Science from the City University of New York Baccalaureate Program. She is a native New Yorker.