November 10, 2026
The 2026-27 School Board Nominating Committee (SBNC) election will take place on Wednesday, December 2, 2026, from 7 – 11 AM and 3 – 9 PM in the Scarsdale Middle School (SMS) Auditorium Lobby at 134 Mamaroneck Road. In the event schools are closed on Election Day, the election will be held on snow day #1 12/9/2026 and snow date #2 12/11/2026. Any Snow Date or Run-off election will be held in the SMS Auditorium Lobby at the same times given above.
A mail-in ballot is available for those who choose not to vote in person. Mail-in ballots and instructions are available to the public both online and in hard copy at the Reference Desk of the Scarsdale Public Library. Hard copies will be available by or before Friday, November 13, 2026.
Any resident of the School District who is (i) 18 years of age or older; and (ii) a resident of the School District for 30 days prior to the election (November 2, 2026) may vote in the SBNC Election.
Completed mail-in ballots must be sent to:
SBNC Administrative Chair
PO Box 116H
Scarsdale, NY 10583H
(note: be sure to add the “H” to the zip code for mailing)
and received in the SBNC PO Box no later than 4 PM on Wednesday, December 2, 2026.
Residents who are unable to access a ballot by either of these methods may contact the SBNC Administrative Committee Election Chairs, by email at SBNCElection@gmail.com for assistance. For more information, about the SBNC, please visit https://scarsdalesbnc.org/.
Listed below are the candidates from each neighborhood along with their biographies:
EDGEWOOD (1 open spot, 2 candidates)
KOREN PICARIELLO (MARANCA):
Length of Residency: 4 years
Occupation: Managing Director, Head of AI for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
Education: Bachelor’s Degree
Children’s Ages: 9 and 11
Civic Activities: PTA Edgewood Treasurer (2025–2026); PTA Art Committee Chair; PTA Library Committee Chair; PTA Pizza Committee Chair
SHAMA SAQUI M.D.:
Length of Residency: 9 years
Occupation: Psychiatrist
Education: Residency: 3 years; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship: 2 years; Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship: 1 year
Children’s ages (years): 12 and 14
Civic Activities: Physician working with underserved patient populations since 2007; Class parent in 2024; Co-chaired the Compost Committee in 2023; Volunteered at the multicultural event at SMS in 2026.
FOX MEADOW (1 open spot, 2 candidates)
YASMIN ELSAYED:
Length of Residency: 2.5 years
Occupation: Consultant, Biopharma
Education: MBA Sloan School of Management; B.S. University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Children’s ages (years): 8 and 5
Civic Activities: PTA Executive Board Secretary at Fox Meadow (2025-2027); Nonprofit NYC Youth Choir Cofounder (Present); Springboard Enterprise Advisor (2024-2025); Fox Meadow Class Parent (2024-2025)
JUSTINE SMITH:
Length of Residency: 10 years (previously 18 years)
Occupation: Managing Director, Corporate Banking
Education: Scarsdale High School, Georgetown B.S., NYU MBA
Children’s ages (years): 9 and 12
Civic Activities: Fox Meadow Class Parent; Fox Meadow Neighborhood Association; The Acceleration Project and Parent Coach for soccer
GREENACRES (3 open spots, 7 candidates)
HANS CHANG:
Length of Residency: 2.3 years
Occupation: Real Estate Agent, Houlihan Lawrence; former VP of Sales and Executive Team member at a U.S. renewable energy company (led 100+ person team); former Global Key Account Director, Philips
Education: MBA, National Chengchi University (Taiwan); Bachelor’s degree, University of Canterbury (New Zealand)
Children’s ages (years): 10 and 14
Civic Activities: PTA Member, Scarsdale High School and Greenacres Elementary School (2026–2027); Member, Greenacres Neighborhood Association; Volunteer Timer, Westchester Aquatic Club home swim meets (2024–present); Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps, member applicant (2026)
ELIZABETH DREW:
Length of Residency: 5 months
Occupation: Corporate Communications, Investment Banking
Education: Washington University in St. Louis, B.A.
Children’s ages (years): 3 and 5
Civic Activities: Founder and COO, Family Community Group: Founded and lead a workplace affinity
group dedicated to providing programming, networking opportunities, and
community-building for working parents; Chair of School Bookfair at Kol Ami; Class Parent, Kol Ami Preschool (2026–2027): Serve as class parent for daughter’s preschool class
DANIEL HUNG:
Length of Residency: 9 years
Occupation: Small business lending
Education: Master of Business Administration Children’s ages (years): 7 and 9
Civic Activities: District Food Service Committee
EMMA KONG:
Length of Residency: 8 years
Occupation: Biopharmaceutical manufacturing
Education: Master of Business Administration from Boston College
Children’s ages (years): 1, 2 and 7
Civic Activities: Class parent at GA; Class parent at the Little School; Volunteer at book fair, back to school picnic, and multicultural fair
ALEXANDRA KULE:
Length of Residency: 4 months
Occupation: Regulatory Lawyer at Blackstone
Education: Emory University (BA 2008), Brooklyn Law School (JD2011)
Children’s ages (years): 4 and 7
Civic Activities: Volunteering (election protection hotline, City Harvest, God’s Love We Deliver); Former Board Member City Growers (NYC non-profit that educates youth on urban farming); Class Parent (Kol Ami, Chelsea Day School, Village Community School)
BLAIR LI-TIFIGIU:
Length of Residency: 1 year
Occupation: Finance
Education: Master of Science
Children’s ages (years): 5
Civic Activities: Volunteer for Strategic Planning for Daycare Council of New York
PENG WU:
Length of Residency: 5 years
Occupation: Finance, Risk management in hedge fund
Education: BE Nanjing University, MSE Johns Hopkins University
Children’s ages (years): 3 and 7
Civic Activities: Volunteer at Young Writers Workshop, Tinker Fair, and school play. PTA budget study committee.
QUAKER RIDGE (2 open spots, 2 candidates)
REBECCA GOLDSTEIN FALLER:
Length of Residency: 1 year, 6 months
Occupation: Attorney
Education: Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law – Juris Doctor; University of Michigan – Bachelor of Arts Children’s ages (years): 15 months and 4 years
Civic Activities: Provide pro bono service in legal profession; JNF task force member
MICHAEL LEVINSON:
Length of Residency: 10 months (previously 25 years)
Occupation: Real Estate Agent
Education: Scarsdale High School; Columbia University, B.A.; Guildhall School of Music & Drama, M.F.A. Children’s ages (years): 2
Civic Activities: Scarsdale Forum Director at Large; Secor Farms Neighborhood Association President
About the School Board Nominating Committee (SBNC)
The School Board Nominating Committee (SBNC) is a committee of residents elected from across the Village for the purpose of nominating candidates to fill vacancies on the Scarsdale Board of Education. Members are elected from each of the five elementary school districts to serve a term of three years on the Nominating Committee and two additional years on the Administrative Committee.
The Administrative Committee would like to encourage all Scarsdale residents to support the SBNC by voting in local elections, considering a candidacy, and making a contribution. The SBNC Administrative Committee runs the annual SBNC elections financed entirely by community support. Any contribution is greatly appreciated. Contributions may be made via Zelle (sbncelection@gmail.com, Administration) and checks made payable to the “Administrative Committee” and email the SBNC Administrative Committee chairperson at sbncelection@gmail.com to coordinate pick up or mail the check to:
Scarsdale SBNC
P.O. Box 116H
Scarsdale, NY 10583H
(note: be sure to add the “H” to the zip code for mailing)
For more information, please visit https://scarsdalesbnc.org/please-donate/
SBNC Continuing Members (Nominating Committee)
Terms Ending 2027 (3rd year)
Edgewood – Jason Andrus, Boning Liu
Fox Meadow – Elaine Wan, Wenchun Wu
Greenacres – N/A
Heathcote – Cynthia Xiaoyue Li, Joel Steinhaus Quaker Ridge –Jaye Weisbrod
Terms Ending 2028 (2nd year)
Edgewood – Sarah Rubenstein Polak, Amy Sofia, Doug Stone
Fox Meadow – Jennifer Kahan, Minjie (Elaine) Kang, Amanda Zaitchik
Greenacres – John Bumgarner, Hanna Robinson, Quan Zhou
Heathcote – Andrea Burinescu, Gayle Helman, Emily Shteinhauz, Yuanyuan (Tania) Yue Quaker Ridge – Erik Avni, Natasha Beg, Wendy Waxman
SBNC Administrative Committee Members
Terms Ending 2027 (2nd year)
Edgewood – N/A
Fox Meadow – Kevin Chen, David Kirshenbaum (Treasurer), Susan Lee Foley (SBNC Vice-Chair)
Greenacres – Jocelyn Gibian Zoland (Secretary)
Heathcote – Jake Adlerstein
Quaker Ridge – June Deng (Admin Committee Co-Chair / Election Co-Chair), Jenny Simon Tabak (Admin Committee Co-Chair / Election Co-Chair, Webmaster)
Terms Ending 2028 (1st year)
Edgewood – Mimi Robinson
Fox Meadow – Adam Hellegers (Resolution Co-chair)
Greenacres – Amadally Hosseinbukus, Lisa Purcell, Kristen Zakierski
Heathcote – N/A
Quaker Ridge – Alissa Baum
SBNC Chair (1-year term)
John Clapp
SNAP Representatives (2-year term)
Roger Neustadt, 1st year
Jen Goldfarb, 1st year
Cristy Eguiliz, 1st year
TVCC Representatives (2-year term)
Sarah Bell, 1st year (Resolution Co-Chair)
Jon Lemle 2nd year
Randi Culang, 2nd year
For additional information, please contact June (Xun) Deng or Jenny Simon Tabak at SBNCElection@gmail.com.
