Office Staff
Kristina Wilson
Chief Executive Officer
Kristina had always dreamed of being a performer, but her love of children has been a constant throughout her life. She has volunteered her services to children as a “safety town” counselor, a D.A.R.E. role model, a band teacher, and as a Big Sister for BBBS of New York. She spent over 5 years in the financial industry before deciding to use her new found business skills mixed with love of art to start Sitters Studio. She earned her B.M. at NYU and her M.M. at OCU and now lives and performs in New York City. Visit her blog She’s Kris Crossing!
Meghan Beach
Director of Human Resources
Meghan graduated with an MA from the New School for Social Research with a focus in Neuropsychology. She worked directly with a prominent pediatric psychiatrist where she learned the complexities of childhood development and the connections it has to adult pathology. Searching to find ways to combine her love of psychology and the arts, Meghan began researching music and visual perception. Specifically, she published articles on the relaxing effects of classical music on eating behavior.
Courtney Ellis
Artisitter Liaison
Courtney Ellis has seen all sides of Sitters Studio. After being an Artisitter® for five years, Courtney has been transitioning to Sitters Studio office life! She brings a unique perspective to operations here and is a great resource to both sitters and staff alike. Courtney is an Actor/Singer from Ewing, NJ. She received her B.A. in Theory and Performance from Hampton University, and her M.F.A. in Acting from Columbia University. In addition to Courtney’s background as a childcare provider, she also has experience working with young children in a theatrical setting. She has conducted acting workshops with the Girl Scouts of America, and volunteered for the Young Hampton Players. She has a strong belief that incorporating the arts into a child’s life helps develop a healthy imagination and general everyday happiness.
Jason Jeunnette
Director of Information Systems
With a background in lighting design and the arts, Jason is proud to use his production experience as Vice President – Operations of Sitters Studio, the artistic childcare agency. Before joining Sitters Studio he toured the world with dance, theater, and opera companies, including the band Altan and the Broadway show “Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me”; worked with Jack Morton Worldwide on large corporate conferences; and designed architectural lighting for Buro Happold and Kugler Ning Lighting Design. Jason received his B.F.A. from University of North Carolina School of the Arts and his M.F.A. from Parsons The New School for Design, School of Constructed Environments.
Advisory Board
Patrick Mortimer
Finance
Patrick retired from Wall Street in June of 2011 after a 27 year career. Patrick, spent the majority of his career at Morgan Stanley in the Prime Brokerage Division. He joined Morgan Stanley in 1986 after two years at Bradford Trust Company. Pat helped establish Morgan Stanley as the leading provider of Hedge Fund Services. Pat started his career at Morgan Stanley covering clients and overseeing technology development for the most complex and demanding investors. Pat was a key driver of innovation in Prime Brokerage including an offshore administration business plan, multi asset class service platform and applying six sigma principles to scale the rapidly growing business. Pat was appointed head of the U.S. Prime Brokerage business in 2006 and became a member of the U.S. equity division operating committee and over saw all business functions including Capital Solutions and Hedge Fund Sales. Pat has published articles regarding hedge fund technology and pioneered the first Hedge Fund CFO conference.
Pat is a sarcoma and colon cancer survivor and a member of the Board of Directors of the Sarcoma Foundation of America. He resides in Bayville, NY with his two children.
Pat is a sarcoma and colon cancer survivor and a member of the Board of Directors of the Sarcoma Foundation of America. He resides in Bayville, NY with his two children.
Paul Pickett
VP of franchise Development, Wild Birds Unlimited, Inc.
With a passion for both helping people realize their dream of self-employment and promoting the importance of connecting people and nature, Paul has over 23 years experience in all aspects of Franchise Development, assisting new franchisees through our approval process, evaluating the Wild Birds Unlimited franchise opportunity, writing Business Plans, obtaining financing and the site selection process. Additionally, he assists existing Wild Birds Unlimited franchisees with exit strategies and all of their site selection and lease negotiation needs. Paul has a BS and MS in Biology, with an emphasis on Ornithology, from the University of North Dakota. Paul also is a partial owner of two coffee shops and a commercial kitchen that assists food entrepreneurs in realizing their dream of self-employment.
Matt Toback
Founder, Capacity
Having been lucky to grow up with the internet, Matt started his career as an 18 year old CFO of a global managed hosting provider, Voxel dot Net. From inception in 1999, he managed the financial operations through years of double-digit growth, lived the emotional startup sine wave, and eventually learned that some men (not him) are better suited for finance. After the first capital raise, he took the reigns as CEO of Ubersmith, a wholly owned subsidiary, specifically focusing on product design, development and revenue growth, until a successful exit to Internap (NASDAQ: INAP) in 2011. Getting closer to the things that make him happy, Matt now runs the UX team at Internap. Armed with both designers and developers, the team is creating the new look, feel and experience of customer-facing tools and interactions across the entire organization. Wish him luck.
Cynthia Young
Leadership Advisement Consultant
Cynthia spent much of her career at Southwest Airlines, where she served in a succession of leadership roles focused on labor and employee relations, communication, and the delivery of internal and external customer service. Her key responsibilities in each role included leadership and communications coaching as well as identifying and solving challenges that affected the company’s unique culture. She earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of North Texas and sits on the board for City House (Plano, TX).