Board of Directors

Peter Benassi – Chair

Peter attended Elmhurst College and Loyola University before pursuing a career in business. He has been a successful entrepreneur in the fields of advertising, marketing, and real estate development. He has been a major contributor to many nonprofit organizations including Bailey House, Project Angel Food, God’s Love We Deliver, Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Chrysalis Foundation and Human Rights Campaign. As a close friend and lifelong confidant of Rand Harlan Skolnick, The Palette’s Fund’s founder, Peter is uniquely qualified to help implement the last wishes of Palette’s benefactor.

Terrence Meck – President and Executive Director

Terrence received his B.A. in Political Science from Princeton University in 2000. He then worked in New York City in Public Relations and Marketing in both the publishing and fashion industries, and helped launch Giving Opportunities to Others a nonprofit organization dedicated to immersing youth in art and music while encouraging philanthropic awareness and leadership among young professionals. Over the next five years he and his partner, Rand Harlan Skolnick, co-owned The Raven Resort Properties in New Hope, PA, providing a vibrant resource for the diverse LGBT community and hosting dozens of noteworthy charity events. He was a board member of Fighting AIDS Continuously Together (FACT Bucks County) and currently serves on the NY Leadership Council of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). When Rand was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in March of 2008 and passed away shortly thereafter, he made the decision to step away from the hospitality industry to start and run The Palette Fund in honor of Rand. Read Terrence’s Blog Here

Kristin Resnansky – Secretary and Treasurer

Kristin Resnansky is currently a program officer at the Robin Hood Foundation specializing in workforce development grants. Formerly, Kristin was a managing director at Chilton Investment Company, where she focused on public equity investing. She is also the founder and co-chair of the Social Investment Council for Echoing Green, a provider of seed funding to social entrepreneurs. Kristin holds an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business where she earned the Certificate in Public Management with an emphasis on social entrepreneurship, and a BA in economics and French from the University of Virginia.

Todd Sears

Todd Sears is Director and Head of Americas Diversity & Inclusion at Credit Suisse, with responsibility for the firm’s diversity strategy and implementation across investment banking, private banking, asset management, shared services and IT. Todd joined Credit Suisse from Merrill Lynch, where he worked for eight years, having most recently served as Head of Strategic Initiatives and Best Practices and a Divisional Diversity Manager for the Global Wealth Management business. As Head of Strategic Initiatives and Best Practices, he was responsible for implementing US strategies to increase both headcount and revenue from diverse financial advisors, ultimately contributing to revenue growth of 21.2% from those advisors in 2007. He also increased the net diverse financial advisor headcount by 5.6% during the same year.  In the community, Todd is a member of: the Lambda Legal National Leadership Council, and the Williams Institute Founders Council.  He is a member of the SIFMA Diversity Board as well as the Corporate Diversity Board of the Asia Society.  Most recently, he joined the Corporate Board of the National Council for Research on Women as well as serves as an advisory board member of Sylvia Hewlett’s “Hidden Brain Drain Task Force”.  He is also a co-founder and co-chair of Jeffrey FashionCares, an annual fashion event, which has raised over $3.2mm for LGBT causes over the past seven years.  Todd is a graduate of Duke University.  Todd and his partner, Chris Garvin, an architect, live in Manhattan.

Advisory Committee

Annemarie Colbin, PhD – Nutrition and Wellness
Founder, CEO – The Natural Gourmet Institute

David Holtgrave, PhD – HIV/AIDS
Professor and Chair, Department of Health, Behavior & Society - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Shanti Norris – Nutrition and Wellness & Patient Navigation
Co-Founder and Executive Director – Smith Farm Center

Regina Quattrochi – LGBT Youth & HIV/AIDS
CEO, Bailey House

Kenneth Schueler – Patient Navigation
Director, HKS Patient Advocates

Jorge Valencia – LGBT Youth
Executive Director & CEO, Point Foundation