The Education and Research Foundation of the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan New York is a 501(c)(3) charity. Its mission is to be a leader in advancing marketplace trust by upholding and recognizing ethical business and charity standards and practices in New York. The Foundation has four primary programs:
Charity Review: Through its charity review program, the BBB Foundation provides valuable charity accountability information to individual donors, media, corporations, and government leaders. It also provides important capacity building education for charities, helping them learn how to improve their organizational performance.
Business, Charity and Consumer Education: Every year the Foundation educates consumers on hundreds of consumer protection and wise buying topics through its website, seminars, and printed material. Recent projects have focused on foreclosure prevention, debt education, financial literacy, and identity theft detection and prevention. Programs for businesses and charities have included the BBB Forum on Corporate Responsibility, BBB Charity Effectiveness Symposium, and additional workshops for these audiences.
Latino Initiative: The Foundation has undertaken outreach to the Latino consumer and business community as a primary goal. Over time, the Foundation will strive to ensure that key BBB information resources are available in both English and Spanish. The Foundation’s Hispanic Advisory Committee provides advice and guidance on development of these efforts.
Leadership: Through its Skill-Building Volunteer Intern program, the Foundation provides volunteer charity review program interns with insights into nonprofit accounting practices, an overview of the nonprofit sector in New York, and as invaluable details about the management and governance of charities. Many other volunteer interns under our Foundation’s program acquire valuable career skills by assisting with BBB dispute resolution and customer service activities. Volunteer interns are invited to participate in special career learning sessions with senior level corporate executives and community leaders. All such volunteers are given intensive formal training and are supervised and guided throughout their in-service experiences.
Board of Directors of the Education & Research Foundation
of the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan New York
Laurie J. Bilik, President, Global Human Resources
Director
Keith Darcy, Executive Director, Ethics & Compliance Officer Association
Chairman
Pamela Haas, Manager, Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs, IBM Corporation
Director
Carlos Mauricio Hernandez, Executive Vice President, Business Services, Goodwill Industries of Greater New York & Northern New Jersey
Director
Bruce D. Linger, CFP, CRPC, CCPs, Financial Planner, Lincoln Financial Advisors
Director
Frank O’Brien, Founder, Conversation, LLC
Vice Chair
David Okorn, Executive Director, Long Island Community Foundation
Director
Hilda H. Polanco, CPA, CCSA, Managing Director, Fiscal Management Associates, LLC.
Treasurer
Louise Raymond, Vice President, Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability, McGraw Hill Financial
Director
Claire Rosenzweig, CAE, President & CEO, The Better Business Bureau Serving Metropolitan New York
(ex-officio)
Victoria Sweeney, Principal - Legal, Risk & Regulatory, KPMG LLP
Director
