Board member since 2006
Committee(s): Executive-Chair, Development, Nominating & Governance, Finance, Strategic Planning, COMET Board Member-Chair

Larry D. Perkins has supported Children's Institute since 2006 in a variety of capacities, currently as Board Chair. He is a management consultant with extensive experience and track record of helping leadership teams sharpen its focus on value creation, achieve winning performance, develop innovative strategies, and build management capabilities to maximize value. Larry’s functional expertise is in areas such as business strategy, operational excellence, financial performance improvement, business model innovation, and supply chain efficiency. Larry also bring prior management experience from firms such as Xerox Corporation and Procter and Gamble.

Second Vice-Chair; board member since 2016
Committee(s): Executive, Nominating & Governance-Chair, Racial and Social Equity Task Force

Amy V. Kahn holds an MBA and BA in Organizational Communication from the State University of New York at Buffalo and is Director of Human Resources at the School of the Holy Childhood in Rochester, NY. Amy was previously at Action for a Better Community, Inc. as VP of Human Resources, The College at Brockport/State University of New York as Director of Human Resources, Constellation Brands, Inc., FUSION as HR/Talent Lead, and GateHouse Media, Inc. as Director of Human Resources. She was previously a Board Member for Genesee Valley Society for Human Resources Management, Jewish Family Service, Hillel of Rochester Area Colleges, and currently serves on the Human Resources Committee at Temple B’rith Kodesh.

Board member since 2016
Committee(s): Executive

Loisa Bennetto is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology at the University of Rochester. She received her BA in Psychology from Yale University in 1988, and her Ph.D. in Clinical Child Psychology from the University of Denver in 1999. She then joined the faculty at the University of Rochester, where she has served as Director of the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program from 2007-2010, and Department Chair since 2010. Dr. Bennetto’s program of research examines the neurocognitive bases of autism spectrum disorder with a particular focus on differences in basic sensory processing and how these differences impact children’s ability to communicate and function effectively in their day-to-day lives. Dr. Bennetto also teaches and mentors students at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Board member since 2021
Committee(s): Executive, Strategic Planning-Co-Chair, COMET Board Member

Renu Bora has a Masters in Information Management and Systems (MIMS) from the University of California, Berkeley in Data Science, and an MA in English from Duke University where he studied Cultural Theory while teaching and researching specifically the topic of texture. In addition to designing and delivering data services, he designs, delivers, and integrates software, systems, and solutions, combining multidisciplinary approaches and managing cross-functional teams. He has been an entrepreneur, worked with open-source software communities, and published articles for business, technical, and academic audiences. Clients have included: TreePeople, COPE Health Solutions, RAND Corporation, Stanford University, Alzheimer's Association, New York Power Authority, Southern California Institute of Architecture, Nissan, and Women in Health Administration of Southern California.

Board member since 2025

Dr. Bowers brings extensive experience in political science, education, and community leadership. A retired Professor of Political Science & Legal Studies from St. John Fisher College (1999-2022), he served as Interim Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences and department chair. Dr. Bowers has authored multiple books on political science and constitutional law, and has deep community roots in Rochester, having served as Commissioner of Schools for Rochester City School District (2002-2005) and as a candidate for Rochester City Council. His commitment to education and governance makes him a valuable addition to our board.

Board member starting in 2017
Committee: Development Committee Chair

A CI board member starting in 2017 and currently serving on the Strategic Planning Committee, Melissa Goodwin earned her Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of Maryland. She is Associate Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Arts and Science at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, NY, where she has been on faculty since 2007. She has written journal articles and given national presentations on her original research focus of child temperament in the investigation of child socio-emotional development. Melissa has served on various committees and task forces, as well as two strategic planning committees. She also served as the Chair of the Department of Psychology and Director of Student Academic Success at the University. Upon entering Higher Education Administration, Melissa’s focus shifted to student success - specifically, what can we learn from students who do not persist through college about how we can better serve student’s needs. Her current area of interest is infusing mindfulness and contemplative practices in classroom and educational settings to help students succeed in college.

Board member since 2022
Committee(s): Audit, Executive, COMET Board Director

Christopher Homan is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Rochester Institute of Technology. A native of Jamestown, NY, Dr. Homan received his A.B. in mathematics from Cornell in 1992 and Ph.D. in computer science in 2003 from the University of Rochester, including internships at Compaq Research and Los Alamos National Laboratories. He has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Health, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and private sources. He is the author or co-author of over fifty peer-reviewed publications. His research focuses on problems of fairness, bias, and representation in a number of different settings, including theoretical computer science, complex systems, computer-mediated randomized control trials, community-based -participatory research, and machine learning. His earliest work applied complexity theory to ranked-choice voting systems and complex systems. He later collaborated with social psychologists on a system for controlling in the topology of a communication network among study participants in randomized control trials. It was used to study the impact of network topology on rumor formation. He later applied network science to study social networks, which led to new methods for recruiting study participants from hidden, underrepresented populations that are resistant to traditional survey methods, among other things. His current work, which came from a community-based participatory research group that he belonged to for five years, focuses on machine learning problems with multiple solutions, particularly where different subpopulations have distinct preferences for which solutions are best. Such problems are common in settings such as machine translation, offensive language recognition, language complexity recognition, public health surveillance, and many others.

Board member starting in 2016
Committee: Strategic Planning Committee Co-Chair

Serving as a CI Board Member starting in 2016, Dr. Rashid Muhammad received a BGS in Geography from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, a MA in Management from Webster University, and an Ed.D. (Executive Leadership) at St. John Fisher College. He is currently the Director of Community Partnerships at JustCause in Rochester, NY. Previously, he was the Director of Operations at the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative and a Senior Engineering Manager at Harris Corporation Space and Intelligence Systems Division. Rashid is involved in the community as a Chair and Panel Member for the Commission on Jewish-Muslim Understanding. He was previously a Board Member and Consultant at M.K.Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence. Rashid served in the United States Air Force from 1982-2003 as an Operations and Military Intelligence Officer in military field units, headquarters, and government agencies in multiple domestic and overseas locations with a distinguished record of achievement over his 20+ year military career.

Board member starting in 2018
Committee(s): Nominating & Governance, Social & Racial Justice Task Force

Serving on the CI board starting in 2018 and serving on the Nominating & Governance Committee and the Social & Racial Justice Task force, Dr. Savage is Professor of School Psychology, Department of Counseling and School Psychology, College of Education & Professional Studies, University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF). He is a first-generation college student, earning his bachelor degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota. He went on to earn master, educational specialist, and doctorate degrees in school psychology from the University of Kentucky, after having completed a pre-doctoral internship in the Omaha (NE) Public Schools. Todd taught at the University of Kentucky for two years before securing his first faculty position in school psychology at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico; he has been in his current position at UWRF since 2008. Todd has held several leadership positions in the National Association for School Psychologists (NASP), a 25,000-member strong professional organization, eventually serving as its 47th president during 2015-2016. Throughout his career, Todd has engaged in scholarly and service activities in the areas of culturally-responsive practice; school safety and crisis prevention, preparedness, and intervention; and sexual orientation and gender diversity matters in education. Outside of his career, Todd's greatest source of pride is his family, including his wonderful son.

Board member since 2020
Committee: Finance

Jim Sperry is a Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Tompkins Financial Advisors which serves families, executives, and business owners to help them protect and grow their assets, transition their businesses, and secure their legacies. He is responsible for establishing and executing the wealth management strategy for Tompkins Financial in its western New York region. Jim formerly served on the Board of Directors of The Volunteers of America, ultimately serving as its Board Chair. He earned his BA from Williams College; his Ph.D. in engineering from Duke University, and his MBA from the Simon Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester.

Board member since 2025

Paul brings over two decades of healthcare and community health expertise to CI. Currently serving as Community Clinical Projects Director at Golisano Children's Hospital, he leads innovative programs connecting healthcare with school districts and community organizations. With extensive experience in pediatric asthma care, community-based participatory research, and health equity initiatives, Paul has been instrumental in developing groundbreaking school-based health programs. His nursing background spans psychiatric care, community health, and research, making him uniquely qualified to advance CI's mission.

Board member since 2021
Committee: Development

Allison Pletzer Willems received her BA from Tulane University where she graduated with a double major in English and Gender Studies. Since 2013, Allison has served as a Senior Director of Educational Resources for ProCare Therapy. In this role, Allison partners with school districts nationwide to address critical shortages of school-based professionals. She works hand in hand with some of the largest districts in the US, providing both onsite and virtual services. Additionally, she serves as a resource and an advocate for the highly qualified school therapists she employs. Allison currently resides in Indianapolis where she enjoys spending time with her husband and their two young daughters.

Board member since 2025

Dr. Wittmeyer is a distinguished business educator and community leader with over three decades of experience. As Director of the Family Business Program and Visiting Associate Professor at St. John Fisher University, she creates transformative learning experiences for entrepreneurial families. She previously served as Interim Dean of the School of Business and has significant fundraising experience, having managed an $82 million campaign at Alfred University. Dr. Wittmeyer serves on multiple boards including the Western NY Center for Family Systems and brings valuable expertise in governance, having researched the effectiveness of governing boards' decision-making processes for her doctoral work.

A. Dirk Hightower, Ph.D. is currently a board advisor, as well as a consultant for Children's Institute. He was Executive Director from 1991 to 2019 and Research Director from 1982 to 1991. He has co-authored scores of research papers, chapters and a book. He has served on the editorial board of various research journals. His primary interests include social and emotional assessment, promoting healthy social and emotional development, evidenced-based prevention interventions for young children, community collaboration and the use and development of web-based decision support systems to enhance the translation and use of information (COMET). In 2007 he co-founded the COMET Informatics system and remains a consultant. He has been principal investigator on state and federal grants. He helped initiate and continues to have significant involvement with RECAP, a multiagency collaborative focused on prekindergarten outcomes and Get Ready to GROW a comprehensive screening and referral project for children 0 to age 8. In addition, he is Past President of the New York Association of School Psychologists and the Rush-Henrietta Board of Education where he served three terms. Presently, Dirk works on local collective impact efforts and serves on city, county and state advisory boards that focus on the developmental readiness and success of children. 

Barbara Purvis oversees business development and relationship management for Essex Hotel Management, LLC in Rochester, NY. She brings over 30 years of experience in real estate and finance. She joined an affiliate of Essex in 1983 and over the years previously served as CFO and COO for the company, where her responsibilities included oversight of hotel operations, asset management, finance, and structuring and securing capital for the company’s portfolio. She graduated from Northern Arizona University and earned an MBA from the University of Rochester.

She is qualified as a Receiver in New York State. Barbara previously served on the Microtel Franchise Advisory Committee, is a member of the management committee for the Greater Rochester Housing Partnership Tax Credit Funds and serves on the boards of several community agencies, including as an Advisor to CI's Finance Committee. In 2005, Barbara was inducted into Children's Institute's Coterie. The Coterie honors individuals who have offered substantial, consistent, and exceptional support to Children’s Institute.

Michael Lawhead is a Vice President and Sr. Portfolio Manager for Tompkins Financial Advisors. He has broad knowledge of the investment management industry, with experience in investment analysis, portfolio construction and asset management for both high net worth families and institutions. Prior to joining Tompkins, Mike worked for Bank of America’s Private Bank as a Sr. Portfolio Manager where he managed investment portfolios for high net worth families and institutions and advised clients on how to allocate capital across numerous asset classes. Mike holds a BA from St. Bonaventure University and currently resides in Port Bay, NY with his wife Lauren and their Golden Doodle named Henley. Mike’s current board appointments include St. Bonaventure University School of Business Advisory Board and St. Bonaventure University Students in Money Management Advisory Board. 

Richard Fischer, JD served CI as a Board Member of the initial charter board in 1970. His Honorary Board Member status recognizes his extraordinary efforts in the foundation of Children's Institute, as well as his continued support of our organization. 

New York native Dick Fischer entered Harvard College in 1955 with a Harvard Honorary Freshman Scholarship. While there, he played on the freshman ice hockey team and three years on the varsity ice hockey team. Fischer graduated with honors in 1959, earning a bachelor’s degree in English. He postponed law school for one year to participate in the pre-season training camp for the Chicago Black Hawks (one of only six major league hockey teams at the time), and try-out sessions for the 1960 US Olympic Team. He was offered a contract with the Chicago Black Hawks. 

In 1960, Dick married Malinda Berry and the couple moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. He enter Harvard Law School where he served as President of the Harvard Voluntary Defenders whose members represented indigent people accused of crime in the lower criminal courts. After graduating from law school Fischer was admitted to the New York Bar in 1963. Immediately upon graduation, Fischer served as a law clerk with the New York State Court of Appeals.

For the next 30 years of his professional life, Fischer worked for the law firm of Nixon, Hargrave, Devans & Doyle in Rochester, New York. He was a member of the firm’s task force on governance that studied, proposed and implemented a new form of governance in 1991 and was a member of the first firmwide governing policy committee from 1991 to 1995.

During his time in Rochester, Fischer served on the CI Board, as well as the Board of Highland Hospital and the Rochester Area Hospitals Board of Directors. He chaired the Board of the Harley School, the Harvard Club of Rochester, and the annual Harvard-Yale-Princeton Ball fundraiser. Dick has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, Who’s Who in the World and The Nichols School (Buffalo, New York) Athletic Hall of Fame.

Fischer retired from the 240-attorney, six-office, 120-year-old law firm as managing partner and main ethics partner to move to Stillwater, Oklahoma. There, he has been a member of the boards of the United Way, CASA, Turning Point Ranch, the OSU Friends of Music, Allied Arts, Cowboy Golf, the College of Education and Human Sciences Advisory Board, and the OSU Art Advocates. At the OSU Spears School of Business, Fischer has taught classes in personal finance and world trade. He also served on committees of the Oklahoma Bar Association.