WATER MILL, NY.- The Parrish Art Museum has appointed five new trustees to its Board: Ejim Achi, Catherine Carmody, Andrea Pemberton, Charlotte Lucas Pilaro, and Donville Reid all recently joined the growing board of thought leaders and creative professionals. The trustees have committed to supporting leadership at the Parrish in a transformative era with a focus on celebrating the artistic legacy of Long Island’s East End and providing diverse audiences with access to excellence in the arts, architecture, and creativity.
“As we wrap up an exciting year at the Parrish, celebrating our 125th Anniversary, we are thrilled to have this dynamic group—each with a passion for art and the Museum—join the Board as true partners on our journey toward excellence and engagement,” said Executive Director Mónica Ramírez-Montagut. “It’s a transformative time for the museum; we are embarking on a new strategic plan, and we will rely on all our trustees to move the Parrish forward into the next exciting chapter. We must connect with big thinkers, art-lovers, art-makers, and the community at large to bring our vision to life.”
A New York corporate lawyer who was born in Nigeria and immigrated to the United States as an early teenager, Ejim Achi is Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig’s Private Equity Practice, Co-Managing Shareholder of the firm’s New York office, and serves on the firm’s Executive Committee. He represents private equity sponsors in connection with mergers and acquisitions spanning a wide range of industries and sectors. Ejim holds an M.B.A. from Yale School of Management, a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and a B.A., from the University of Pennsylvania. He currently serves on the boards of the Center for Urban Community Services and The Caedmon School. He is also a member of the Economic Club of New York. Ejim is married to Andrea Achi, the Mary and Michael Jaharis Associate Curator for Byzantine Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. They reside in New York City and maintain a home in Weston, Connecticut.
A screenwriter and former trial lawyer who was raised in the rural west Texas town of San Angelo, Catherine Gillis Carmody worked in the International Division of Ted Bates Advertising in New York City before pursuing a law degree from the University of Tulsa. Fluent in Spanish, she received her B.B.A. from The University of Texas and M.L.A. from Southern Methodist University. Her trial practice began with the Texas Attorney General, but she migrated to private practice focusing on commercial and products liability litigation. After retiring from law, she embraced her passion for storytelling through screenplay writing. A proponent of social justice and devoted to the arts, Catherine has supported numerous organizations including The Sunflower Freedom Project; The Texas Civil Rights Project; Auburn Theological Seminary and Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. She currently serves on the boards of Interfaith Alliance in Washington D.C. and Harvard Divinity School Film Festival, is a past NYC Opera Board member and has supported Playwrights Horizons and the Public Theater. Catherine is married to Bill Carmody, the senior partner in the New York law office of Susman Godfrey. Having recently moved from New York City to Miami Beach, they still maintain a home in Water Mill, NY, just up the road from the Parrish.
Andrea Pemberton brings 13 years of experience in the contemporary art world to the Parrish. Andrea began her career at Gagosian Gallery assisting and then leading special projects for Larry Gagosian in the U.S. and abroad. Andrea’s experience in art business and high net worth sales enabled her to begin her own consultancy in Los Angeles in 2016. In 2017, she was appointed Director of the Los Angeles based online art platform, Tappan Collective. While in Los Angeles, Andrea was also a founding member of the Hammer Museum's young collector group, The Hammer Collective. Now based in New York, with husband CJ Follini and their two sons, Andrea continues to run her own art consultancy. In addition to building the couple’s diversity-focused and primarily female contemporary art collection, she holds a Board of Directors seat at the Noyack Financial Education Club. Andrea graduated from Duke University and studied design at Central Saint Martins School of Design in London, fine art at Parsons School of Design in Paris, and art history at New York University. A lifelong member of the East End community, Andrea will bring her art world experience and creative insight to the Parrish.
Charlotte Lucas Pilaro began her career in finance specifically M&A at a French bank, Credit Lyonnais, and then moved into sports sponsorship specializing in Formula One racing. She enjoyed a long career as a worldwide sponsorship director. She worked in contractual negotiations and implementation of sponsorship strategies for F1 sponsors and teams. During her ten years in Paris, Charlotte became fascinated by arts and design and went on to study Modern and Contemporary Art at Christie’s, preparing her for the next step in founding an art advisory partnership specializing in contemporary art acquisition. She recently married and has a home in London but is now based in Southampton, NY. Charlotte is also an active Board member and Ambassador of FairPlay, a non-profit organization devoted to the protection of children in the online world. She has four stepsons and is passionate about raising awareness of the effects of social media on young and developing minds. Charlotte has also previously served on boards helping underprivileged children. Charlotte has a B.A. in Classics from Durham University, England.
Donville ("Donny") Reid, is a Managing Director at UBS Securities LLC in New York, where he serves as a trusted senior investment grade credit sales professional in UBS Group’s Investment Bank. Covering large institutional clients for investment grade corporate credit, Donny has spent the past 14 years of his career at UBS in this capacity. Prior to joining UBS, Donny spent 11 years at Deutsche Bank Securities, LLC in a similar capacity from 1998 to 2009. Donny graduated from Washington University in Saint Louis, with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) degree in 1998. He is married to Rashaan “Rash” Reid, a Managing Director and Global Head of Senior Relationship Management at Bank of America Securities. Donny and Rash are the proud parents of their daughter Saige Reid, a student at The Spence School in New York.
