New York City Advisory Board
GC NEW YORK CITY ABOUT US
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.
Anthony De Filippis
Co-CEO, CargoTrans
From a young age, I was excited by other cultures and transportation making faraway places feel close or the world smaller. Our family business, CargoTrans, has long provided a backdrop for my global curiosity. Growing up, I spent countless summers, weekends, and school holidays learning by doing. I began to see our work as more than transporting things, but rather transporting the story of a place to somewhere new. In the process, we improve lives and create global connections.
When it came time for me to begin my college studies, I chose to focus on finance, accounting, and international business at NYU Stern School of Business. I never anticipated returning to our family business CargoTrans, preferring instead to find my own path out in the world. After living abroad and working in finance for several years, however, I became excited about the opportunity to apply what I had learned to our family business.
In 2009, I joined my father and brother Nunzio at CargoTrans. In the same year, I also co-founded our sister business De Fili Solutions (DFS) to drive growth into the warehousing and third-party logistics vertical. I am so proud of the way Nunzio and I have been able to grow and innovate together. I could not be more excited about the future of our business and the ways we will continue to create great experiences for our team, customers, and partners.
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.
Jeffrey Smith 
Jeffrey Smith, COO at Factum Global
Jeff Smith is COO at Factum Global. He leads business operations and communications efforts, and is involved with business development and client relations. He takes The CEO’s vision and maps it into actionable plans for our team. Jeff has more than 15 years of experience as a communications professional. He has advised C-suite executives, government officials, and startup entrepreneurs across multiple sectors, including associations and nonprofits, beauty and fashion, finance, technology, and healthcare.
Jeff is the founder and president of JVS Advisors, Inc., a New York-based communications firm focused on strategic communications and executive coaching. Previously, Jeff worked as director of communications at Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm in New York. Jeff also was a communications specialist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. He has been a university visiting lecturer and has served on the boards of nonprofit organizations, including New York Professional Advisors for Community Entrepreneurs (NYPACE) and Joy Through Art, an organization launched by legendary actor and musician Dominic Chianese. Jeff earned an MBA in international business and Master of Arts degree in political science from American University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and French from Villanova University. He also has studied at the Université Paris-Sorbonne. Jeff is an avid New York Yankees fan, three-time marathon finisher (NYC, Philadelphia, Paris), Francophile, news enthusiast, golfer, and loves eating mint chip gelato in Tuscany. He resides in New York.
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.
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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.
