New York City Advisory Board

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New York City Advisory Board

This board consists of insightful business leaders advising Global Chamber® New York City in our efforts to support international trade and businesses in the region.  

Charles Bernard  

Advisory Board Chair, Global Chamber NYC

Founder and CEO of Criteria for Success 

Charles is an accomplished speaker that has trained thousands of CEOs, Sales Managers, and Salespeople on the art of business relationships, growing revenue, and overcoming challenges. 

With over 20 years of experience in direct sales, sales management, recruiting, and training, Charles is a subject-matter expert with a knack for troubleshooting. 

He was born in Madrid, Spain and was educated in Surrey, England. Currently, Charles resides in New York City where he is authoring his debut book, “Enabling Buying in a World of Selling".  

Susan Gitenstein Assadi

Executive Director at Global Chamber New York City & Chief Media Strategist at GAPR

Susan leads GAPR, a PR firm with an emphasis on expert and thought leadership campaigns. She is a highly respected national media strategist who helps her clients to be promoted to the national media, weaving in compelling stories that resonate with top media outlets. Her campaigns have enabled her clients to have features and recurring citations in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Reuters and Bloomberg.  As a result of her campaigns, her clients have been boosted into leaders of their respective fields. Susan has over four decades representing public and private companies in the financial services, corporate governance and the proxy industry, alternative energy, and those with an emphasis on responsible business practices such as ESG. Most recently she has been working with disruptors who are helping to build the domestic supply chain of rare earth materials.  Susan also has represented some leading non-profits. She also co-founded Safed House, a non-profit, that provides a welcoming place for refugees and recent immigrants to share their stories.

Her firm’s campaigns are fresh, creative, tech savvy, and innovative, a cocktail that engenders powerful results.

Prior to founding her own PR firm, Susan was the publicist for PBS MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.   She received a Master's Degree in Fine Arts from New York University, and obtained a Bachelor's Degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Alicia Iskhakova

Executive Director & Senior Vice President 
Commercial Banking Leader, Wells Fargo

Alicia Iskhakova is a seasoned commercial banking executive with extensive expertise in relationship management, strategic growth, and client advocacy. As Executive Director and Senior Vice President at Wells Fargo Commercial Banking, Alicia leads a high-performing team in New York City, delivering customized financial solutions to middle-market and high-growth companies across a broad range of industries.

With over two decades of experience, Alicia has earned a reputation for cultivating long-term client relationships and executing complex financial strategies. Her leadership is defined by a consultative approach, deep market insight, and a commitment to helping clients navigate transitions, acquisitions, and liquidity events. She is known for her ability to engage executive teams and deliver value beyond traditional banking.

Alicia’s career includes pivotal roles at JPMorgan Chase, where she originated and managed key client relationships before transitioning into team leadership. At Wells Fargo, she continues to champion innovation and collaboration across the commercial banking landscape.

She is actively involved in industry initiatives and serves as a board member of the Long Island City Partnership and a trusted advisor at Vistage Worldwide. Alicia is also a frequent contributor to internal leadership forums and client-focused events, including Harvard Business School’s executive education programs for women CEOs.

Based at Wells Fargo’s Manhattan headquarters, Alicia is recognized for her mentorship, cross-functional collaboration, and dedication to client success.  

Barış Aytan

Director of Client Success at CargoTrans, Inc.

Barış Aytan is a global trade and logistics executive with expertise in international transportation, customs compliance, tariff strategy, and supply chain management. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation through the dual-degree program between Istanbul Technical University and SUNY Maritime College, as well as a Master of Science in International Transportation Management from SUNY Maritime College.

His maritime education, hands-on shipboard training, and experience as a licensed deck officer provide a unique foundation for his work in global logistics. As a leader at CargoTrans, Barış helps businesses navigate the complexities of international trade, optimize supply chains, and manage transportation and regulatory challenges in a rapidly evolving global marketplace. Fluent in English, Spanish, and Turkish, Barış is recognized for his practical approach to solving complex trade challenges and his ability to connect operational realities with strategic business objectives.

Bernardita Calinao, PhD

Human Ecologist and Environmental Planner

Bernadita is passionate about urban livability, walkability, environmental impact, and sustainability. She has directed over 35 environmental and sustainable development studies for multimillion-dollar infrastructure investment projects in the United States and abroad.

Through the creative use of location intelligence to map environmental impacts and develop mitigation measures, several of her projects have received awards for engineering excellence.

In 2019, Bernardita founded Walkspan, a data-driven and location intelligence technology company with the goal of enhancing sustainability and walkability globally. Leveraging large datasets on the walking environment, her company is harnessing the power of location intelligence using AI-driven metrics.

Bernardita has consistently demonstrated her dedication to promoting sustainable development across urban, transportation, and the energy sectors. She holds master's and doctoral degrees in Environmental Studies from the State University of New York in Syracuse and is also a certified sustainable building advisor.

Douglas Wendt

Chief Growth Officer & Senior Partner at Wendt Partners

With over 20 years of experience in the technology industry, Douglas Wendt has specialized in finding innovative ways to apply new software to address increasingly complex business challenges. Throughout his career, he has also launched, marketed, and sold new products and solutions, delivering multiple innovations to the marketplace.

As Thomas Edison once said, “The reason most people don't recognize success is because it wears overalls and looks suspiciously like work.

Leon Perera 

Executive Director, Yamada Consulting Group USA Inc.

Leon Perera serves as Executive Director for Yamada Consulting Group USA Inc based out of New York City but also divides his time between the US and Singapore/Japan/Asia, concurrently serving as Board Chairman for Yamada Consulting and Spire Asia Pte Ltd.

After serving as Assistant Manager in the Singapore Economic Development Board, a government body, Leon Perera co-founded the Spire Research and Consulting Group in the year 2000, growing it to 100 employees in 10 countries with 50 Fortune 500 clients, prior to selling the company to Yamada Consulting Group (YCG) of Japan in 2016. With 1,200 employees globally, YCG is publicly listed on the First Board of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Leon’s background lies in holistic market research, business consulting and M&A advisory deal origination. Leon’s current focus is on deal origination for YCG’s cross-border, mid-market M&A advisory practice. He also continues to do business development for YCG’s market research and consulting practices in the USA and Asia.

Leon served as a Member of Parliament in Singapore from 2016 to 2023. He is currently the Treasurer and a Board Member for a Singapore registered charity, the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME), while serving as Honorary Advisor to a New York-based cultural and artistic not-for-profit organization, Singapore Unbound.

Leon obtained a Double First Honours degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University.

 Manabu Sasaki 

 VP and Deputy General Manager, Corporate Development at ITOCHU International Inc.

Manabu Sasaki is VP and Deputy General Manager, Corporate Development at ITOCHU International Inc., the North American headquarters of ITOCHU Corporation, a Fortune Global 500 Japanese multi-industry trading company. As the acting General Manager, he leads the firm’s strategic investment, M&A, new business development, and other corporate development activities across various industry sectors in North America. He rejoined ITOCHU in 2022 after a 10-plus-year stint as an investment banker in the U.S.

Prior to his current position, Manabu joined Keefe Bruyette & Woods (KBW) in 2012, which later merged with Stifel in 2013. He was a Managing Director responsible for Asia investment banking coverage at KBW and Head of Japan Coverage and Asia Financial Sponsors Coverage for Stifel’s investment banking practice. He also has experience covering aircraft finance companies globally at KBW/Stifel.

Earlier in his career, he served as Executive Vice President of ITOCHU Financial Services in New York. Manabu started his career in Japan at Bank of Tokyo (later Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, now MUFG). He has over 30 years of experience in M&A, strategic partnerships, investment banking, corporate banking, transaction banking, asset management, international finance, client relationship management, and corporate development.

Manabu has lived in the U.S. for approximately 35 years, including his formative years, and has also lived in Japan for over 20 years and Indonesia for more than 3 years. He has traveled to 30 countries and regions across the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. Manabu holds a BA in Commerce from Waseda University and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University.

Melanie Fox

Founder & Speed Coach at Speech Fox  

Melanie is an acclaimed dialect coach and accent reduction specialist who helps non-native English speakers articulate clear business English. Melanie works with executives, staff, and rising stars in entertainment/sports to overcome their difficulties and fears, as they interact, interview, network, or deliver presentations in English. She can coach clients from any world language, but has particular experience coaching speakers of Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, Italian, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese as well as accented English (regional variations of American or British English).

Melanie also designs and implements training for corporations, colleges, and adult schools – using customized online, blended model training formats. Melanie is knowledgeable in the area of computer assisted language learning and can recommend supplemental software to complement the live classes as needed. Melanie Fox holds a Master's of Linguistics from Georgetown University and has 15+ years of experience in the language education and professional development industries. She offers private and semi-private dialect coaching (including accent reduction) for executives, performers, and other professionals. She is a native speaker of American English, fluent in Spanish, proficient in Italian, and dabbles in Cantonese, Brazilian Portuguese, and a number of other languages.

Monica Varas

CEO at Varas Insurance  

Varas Insurance Brokerage. specializes in helping business leaders protect their global interests with insurance solutions that are customized to your company’s needs. She founded Varas Insurance in 2018 and has locations in New Jersey, New York, and Lima-Peru managing Commercial and International Insurance lines, working with the U.S Commerce and Chambers of Commerce: Peru-Colombia-Mexico and India where they have a partnership with 10 Brokerages. Representing more than 27 Insurance Companies in the US, in the process of opening more partnerships in Asia.

Jean-Paul (JP) Richer

Northeast Regional Account Manager, Port Department 

Jean-Paul (JP) Richer is the Northeast Regional Account Manager for the Commercial Outreach Team in the Port Department of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.  JP has been with the agency since 2016, establishing himself as a member of the New Jersey Marine Terminals’ Port Operations Team.  During this time, he gained considerable experience facilitating day to day operations with port operators and tenants, assisting with the management of port infrastructure rehabilitation and repair projects, coordinating emergency response efforts among local and federal agencies as well as maintaining a fluid and efficient port gateway ecosystem to support regional supply chain and flow of commerce. 

The Port of NY & NJ is the largest seaport on the U.S. eastern seaboard and is made up of Port Authority Facilities that the Port Department is responsible for operating and maintaining.  JP’s role as a member of the Port Department’s Business Development and Industry Relations Group includes responsibilities such as developing and maintaining relationships with shippers and beneficial cargo owners located in the Northeastern U.S. as well as developing marketing programs, communication strategies and business initiatives to promote business in the Port of NY & NJ.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Farleigh Dickenson University and is a Retired, U.S. Coast Guard Veteran with over 20 years of honorable, military service.

Steven Nicokiris, CPA

Managing Director, CBIZ

Steven Nicokiris provides “hands on” practical business advisory, consulting, auditing and accounting services to middle-market, privately-held and family-owned companies. Steven helps clients with tax planning strategies that minimize taxes; making meaningful introductions to enhance business and profitability; and efficiently planning, managing and supervising audit engagements and other special projects for clients.

Steven shares his expertise as a lecturer at various professional organizations and financial institutions on topics related to financial statement analysis, fraud prevention, ESOPs and using benchmarking statistics to monitor business results. In addition, he frequently lectures at colleges and universities on job seeking tips and techniques and the benefits of working in a middle-market accounting firm.

As the prior co-attest practice leader and head of the Collateral Examination Services group for the New York office, Steven has provided best in class consulting services to commercial lending institutions across the country. His deep knowledge of the middle-market lending community among bank and non-bank lenders helps clients maximize their existing and potential financing arrangements, buy-sell transactions and related structuring opportunities. Steve has been a Vistage Trusted Advisor member in NYC for over 9 years. Mark Taylor is the chair of his group.
Prior to joining CBIZ in 1988, Steven was an audit manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers in NYC.

Stefanie Eimesser

New York Chapter Coordination Manager

Stefanie is a Marketing, Business Development & Event Management Professional. With over a decade of international experience in the consumer goods and travel industries, Stefanie brings a strategic and creative approach to marketing, business development, and event management. 
Originally from Germany, she moved to NYC in 2023 after winning the U.S. Green Card Lottery to pursue her dream of living in her favorite city. She holds a Master’s in Marketing Management and combines analytical thinking with innovation to build long-term brand equity, drive business growth, and enhance client experience. Passionate about global connection and meaningful experiences, Stefanie actively contributes to New York’s global community by organizing diverse networking events and fostering cross-cultural exchange.

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