New CAA Chair and Board Members for 2025

Named by the National Law Journal as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America, Lanny A. Breuer is the vice chair of the law firm Covington and one of the leading trial and white-collar defense attorneys in the United States. He specializes in helping clients navigate financial fraud, anti-corruption, money laundering, securities enforcement, congressional, environmental, and other criminal and civil investigations, presenting complex regulatory, political, and public relations risks.

Breuer is a recipient of the Columbia College 2020 John Jay Award, the Columbia Law School Distinguished Alumni Award, a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, master emeritus of the Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. 

He has been recognized by numerous national publications as one of the country's premier defense lawyers, including by Chambers Global, Chambers USA, Legal 500 and Ethisphere, and has successfully defended dozens of institutions and individuals in high-stakes criminal and civil cases.

From 2009 to 2013, Breuer served as assistant attorney general for the Criminal Division in the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was widely acknowledged as a thought leader in the area of criminal law enforcement. For his work as the longest-serving leader of the Criminal Division in recent history, Breuer received the Edmund J. Randolph Award for outstanding service, as well as numerous other accolades. 

Matt Assiff joined The Menil Foundation as Chief Financial Officer in August of 2023. The Menil Foundation was established in 1954 to foster greater public understanding and appreciation of art, architecture, culture, religion, and philosophy. The Foundation operates the Menil Collection, a collection of art buildings and green spaces in Houston, Texas. Mr. Assiff co-founded Agua Dulce Capital Partners, a merchant bank making controlling investments in companies, and Fairview Energy Capital, an oil and gas private investment fund. 

Prior to Fairview, from 2010 to 2016, Mr. Assiff served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Sheridan Production Company, a series of resource funds functioning as a North American onshore oil and gas production company, where he sat on the Investment Committee and managed the financial and administrative operations of three funds with a combined enterprise value of over $5 billion. 

Assiff holds a BA from Columbia University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is a member of the Board of Directors of PakEnergy, an oil and gas software company, the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Buffalo Bayou Partnership. 

Sam Bisbee is an Emmy Award-winning and Independent Spirit and Peabody Award-nominated producer and founding partner of Park Pictures Features, the feature film division of acclaimed commercial production company Park Pictures. In 2009, Sam produced The New Tenants, which won the 2010 Academy Award for best Live Action Short. Bisbee and Park Pictures have premiered 17 films at the Sundance Film Festival including Robot and Frank (2012 Sloan Award), Infinitely Polar Bear (2013 Golden Globe nominee), Other People (2016 Independent Spirit Award-winner), The Sentence (2018 Sundance Audience Award, 2019 Emmy), Farewell Amor (2020, Criterion Collection), and The Truffle Hunters (DGA Award).

 He executive produced Storm Lake and Not Going Quietly (both 2021, Emmy and Peabody nominations). In 2023, Earth Mama (A24) premiered at Sundance and won a BAFTA. In 2024, he produced Daughters (Oscar-shortlisted, Sundance Festival Favorite) and Grand Theft Hamlet (SXSW Jury Prize, BAFTA-shortlisted). The Perfect Neighbor premiered at Sundance in 2025. 

Sam is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, BAFTA, and the Television Academy. He actively serves on the CC Fund Development and Parents Councils, regularly attends Leaders Experience, and has participated in numerous CAA Sundance events. 

Johnny Chiu is the Executive Director & President of the Board of Columbia Alumni Taiwan. He is the founder of JC. Architecture & Design and OUT Scholarship recognized for his fresh perspective and concept-driven work.

He is the first Taiwanese designer to win the prestigious World Architecture Festival/INSIDE World Interior of the Year. His accolades span across disciplines, including iF DESIGN AWARD Gold Winner (2023), Red Dot: Best of the Best, GQ of the Year, and many more. Recognized for his provocative and unconventional approach, Johnny is a juror for top-tier design competitions such as the iF Design Award, Frame Awards, and Super Jury of the World Festival of Interiors/INSIDE. 

Columbia Alumni Taiwan has a history of more than 30 years, spanning across different generational leaders; for his second term, he and the Columbia Alumni Taiwan Board aim to connect alums internationally, cross generations, cross schools, and into the society, starting with the Columbia Forum in Taiwan, and GSAPP forum in Asia.

Stephanie Dumanian is a graduate of Barnard College and Columbia’s College of Dental Medicine. She is the owner of Park Lex 60 Dental on the upper east side of Manhattan. Her cosmetic and restorative practice focuses on full mouth rehabs and cosmetic cases with patients spanning the globe. Dr. Dumanian serves as an expert in cosmetics, speaking on podcasts, and providing comment to publications such as Vogue, Allure, Esquire and The Cut. 

She has served on the executive committee of the Columbia Dental Alumni Association and is serving her final term as President. Dr. Dumanian is also on the events committee of She Opened the Door. She resides downtown with her husband, 3 year old son and 5 month old daughter. When she’s not working, she enjoys travel, good food and great wine. Fun fact: her husband, Nick (’07SEAS ), proposed to her outside of Butler Library.

Anita Ma has a unique background spanning both commercial and non-profit sectors, with experience working for renowned MNCs and charities locally and abroad. A Hong Kong native, she holds an MBA from Columbia University and a degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

A marketing professional with over 15 years of experience, Anita has led successful brand campaigns, product launches, and marketing programs. Her career includes roles at McKinsey New York and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), where she served as Head of Corporate Marketing and Customer Service and was one of the youngest members of the management team. 

Motivated by a deep passion for child development and education, Anita began her nonprofit journey as Chairlady of the Victoria Kindergarten PTA. She later served on the boards of Playright (Chair from 2019–2024) and Ivy Education Group in China. Under her leadership, Playright secured Hong Kong’s first long-term adventure playground and won the Leader of the Year 2021 award. She was honored with the AmCham Woman Champion of Disadvantaged Groups and Minorities award in 2024. 

Anita and her husband William met at CBS and have three children, including two current Columbia College students, ’27CC and ’29CC.

Yesenia Miranda is a technical product leader with deep expertise across the healthcare ecosystem, committed to disrupting the industry and reducing barriers to care. A Columbia SEAS alum with a BS in Chemical Engineering and an MS in Biomedical Engineering from Stony Brook University, her career spans biomedical research, healthcare policy, and health tech. 

Yesenia served multiple terms on the board of the Latino Alumni Association of Columbia University (LAACU), including as president, where she played a pivotal role in launching the Alumbra Scholarship for Leadership in Engineering—LAACU’s second scholarship. She now serves as an advisory board member. She is also an active member of She Opened the Door (SOTD), contributing to its communications committee to empower and connect Columbia women through educational programs and community-building events. 

Outside of her professional work, Yesenia is a podcast enthusiast with an interest in behavioral economics and social impact, continually exploring ways to bridge her expertise with community empowerment.

Amal Moussa is a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs where she leads the Single Stocks Exotic Derivatives Trading team in New York. In addition to her work in Markets, Amal is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University where she teaches graduate courses on volatility modeling in the Mathematics of Finance (MAFN) Masters program and in the Financial Engineering (MSFE) Masters program. Amal has a PhD in Statistics, obtained with distinction, from Columbia University. 

Prior to her PhD, Amal graduated with a Masters in mathematical finance from Sorbonne Université (former Paris VI) and a Grande Ecole engineering degree from Télécom Paris. Amal is an advisory board member of the Center for Artificial Intelligence in Business Analytics and Financial Technology at Columbia University. She is an active member of the Women in Trading network at Goldman Sachs and she is involved in the mentorship of young students and professionals across the financial industry.

Kate Konecny Pope spent the last 16 years in higher education development, including Director of Development for Georgia Institute of Technology, working for Columbia’s GSAS and SPS (2010-2013), and Wake Forest University. In 2022, she became a full-time mom where she could also increase her time and commitment to co-chairing Columbia’s She Opened the Door Committee of the CAA and on her independent school alumni council. 

For the Spring 2025 term she joined Columbia's Nonprofit Management Program as Associate Instructor for Nonprofit Development, Fundraising, and Financial Sustainability. She has a BA in communication from Wake Forest University and a MS in fundraising management from Columbia. Kate currently lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband Will, their daughter Charley (3) and their mini labradoodle Woolly. In her spare time, she visits British fortress castles and has been to over 40 vacationing with her Dad.

Josh Schenk graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia College with a BA in political science. At Columbia, he served as class president, a university senator, and as the undergraduate representative to the CAA Board. He continued his education at Yale Law School, where he was the co-editor-in-chief of the Yale Law & Policy Review. After law school, Josh worked for President Biden for nearly three years, starting in the Staff Secretary’s Office, preparing daily briefing materials and accompanying the President on over 30 domestic and international trips. 

More recently, Josh served as a Special Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor in the Chief of Staff’s Office. In this role, he helped to oversee the administration's domestic policy apparatus and advised President Biden, members of his Cabinet, and other senior Administration officials on a number of economic policy and artificial intelligence initiatives. Josh was part of the team of speechwriters who wrote the 2024 State of the Union Address. He is currently collaborating with President Biden on his forthcoming presidential memoir and will be joining Covington & Burling.

Olivia Vélez is a health informaticist and champion for digital transformation for the healthcare workforce. Dr. Vélez has over a decade of experience in global digital health and has made significant contributions using nursing informatics to lead global health improvements, and influence global health research and policy. She currently serves as Director of Technical Services, Center of Digital and Data Excellence at PATH, a global nonprofit dedicated to health equity.

She earned a BA in computer science/neuroscience and behavior from Mount Holyoke College, a BS from Columbia Nursing, an MS in management information systems from Eastern New England College, an MPH from Mailman School of Public Health, and a PhD from Columbia Nursing. Vélez was also a National Library of Medicine postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University, Department of Biomedical Informatics.

 In recognition of her leadership of innovative technology-based solutions that positively influence healthcare and provide high-quality efficient health care to underserved populations, Vélez was honored with the Columbia University School of Nursing’s 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award for Nursing Administration.