Board of Directors

Jan Berman was the President and Chief Operating Officer of MechoShade Systems, Inc., until February 2018. He is now spending his time supporting Camphill Village via his position on the Board, as well as enjoying membership on the boards of two other organizations: The Building Energy Exchange based in NYC and the Cradle to Cradle Institute for Product Innovation based in Washington DC.

Jan literally grew up in the business founded by his father, Joel Berman, the creator of the solar shade industry as we know it today.

Jan graduated from Ithaca College in 1980 with a BS in accounting. After receiving his CPA, Jan joined MechoShade in 1982. Throughout his career, Mr. Berman has worked closely with many of the leading designers and architects in helping develop solar shading solutions to their unique building designs and projects.

Jan has worked in product development, implementing ideas resulting from his work with the design community, and helped develop new shade control systems and shade cloths that have both been honored with design awards.

Jan was promoted to President in 1999. Since that time, he has overseen the growth of MechoShade as the leading manufacturer of solar shading worldwide, overseeing increases in manufacturing capacity and expanding to international markets.

His efforts put MechoShade products at the forefront of Green Building and Sustainable Design. He spearheaded the development of various “Cradle to Cradle” products, including certification of its MechoShade products the first of its kind in the world.

Jan has been an invited speaker on daylighting and façade automation for sustainable design at such national venues as NeoCon, the Center for Architecture in New York City, the High-Performance Green Building Design Salon, LightFair both in New York and in Las Vegas, and was a member of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory’s Dynamic Façade working group.

Jan is on the board of Directors of the Cradle to Cradle Institute for Product Innovation and the Building Energy Exchange (BeeX of NYC). He is also a minority shareholder and board member in three ventures: Digital Matrix, Inc., KleenEdge Systems LLC, and STretchWall, LLC.

Jan loves skiing, fishing, tennis and hiking, and unfortunately, the Mets.

He and his wife Judy, have two children, one grandchild and live in Wilton, Ct.

John Carroll is an attorney who resides in Malden Bridge, New York.

He served for many years on the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Mental and Physical Disabilities and he has written and lectured extensively on the legal rights of people with disabilities.

He has been a member of the Board of Camphill Ghent since 2013 and served most recently as its president.

He has also served as a volunteer firefighter, EMT, treasurer and vice-president of the Tri-Village Fire Company, as president of the Rider’s Mills and Columbia County Historical Societies, the Old Chatham Hunt Club, and as vice-president of the Shaker Museum and Library in Old Chatham, NY and has served on the boards of various not-for-profit and civic organizations in Columbia County, New York.

He holds an A.B. Degree from Vassar College, a M.A. from the University of Leicester, an MBA from Albany University and a J.D. from the Albany Law School of Union University.

Originally from Germany, Roman underwent a cabinetmakers training before gathering practical work experience in the woodshops of Botton Village Camphill Community in the UK, Triform Camphill Community in Hudson, and commercial woodworking businesses in Germany. After obtaining his master carpenters qualification, Roman moved back to Botton Village to lead the woodshop there, and eventually became a house leader, husband to Emily, and father to his two children.

In 2012 the Gerhard family moved to Camphill Village USA where Roman took on the Woodshop, and together with Emily became a homemaker once more. Roman graduated as a social therapist from the Camphill Academy in 2017.

In the fall of 2017 Roman became a member of the Village’s focus group and joined the board of directors in March of 2018. He became Executive Director of Camphill Village in June 2019.

Bruce is the Board Treasurer of Camphill Village and Camphill Ghent and chairs the Camphill Village Foundation’s Investment Committee. Other charitable endeavors include Board service at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), as well as the alumni affairs of Harvard College and Yale Law School.

Bruce spent most of his legal career as a Wall Street transactional lawyer, and now has an international solo practice based in upstate New York and Manhattan. He has made professional contributions to the international law of human rights, economic analysis of financial regulation and the voting rights laws of the State of New York.

Bruce’s government service includes a clerkship on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and two years as a Senior Officer of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, appointed in the wake of the 2008 Financial Crisis. He has published on the subject in the Yale Journal on Regulation and the Yale Law Journal.

Rose holds a Bachelor of Science in Nutritional Science from Colorado State University. Her interest in this field was discovered through her work as a Nutritionist at Foothills Gateway CoARC in Colorado, which is the area’s support for individuals with developmental disabilities and and their families.Rose visited Camphill Village USA in 2010, and was intrigued to find how people were flourishing in such a different way of life. She jumped at the chance to make this her home. Originally an Americorps volunteer, Rose’s experience at the Turtle Tree Biodynamic Seed Initiative morphed into a life as a house leader in Tamarack House in March of 2012.

Rose has been involved in a multitude of activities to help further the development and growth of this multifaceted community. Some of this work includes involvement within the Design Group and Master Plan Executive Committee, as well as participation as a member of the Camphill Academy’s Core Faculty over the past year. She’s also in the Village’s Admissions and Advocacy groups, and serves as Camphill’s Director of Infrastructure.

Rose has been CHV’s delegate to the North American Council for Anthroposophic Curative Education and Social Therapy, organizing a group to travel each year to an annual conference in member communities around the country. She has also been an active member of the community’s central Copake Circle for the last 6 years.

Since 2015 Bill has served as Camphill’s chief financial officer and assistant treasurer, leading a department of four dedicated finance professionals. Bill is a certified public accountant, having worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers for 10 years, managing financial statement audits for a variety of for-profit and not-for-profit clients. Bill also led finance departments for the North American operations of international manufacturing companies including the German brake company, Knorr-Bremse AG, and a Spanish power transformer & communications company, Albatros S.L.

Bill served on the board of St. Thomas the Apostle School in Delmar, NY, including four years as the president, and is the medical readiness NCO for the 109^th Air Wing in the New York Air National Guard.

Bill earned his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from SUNY Geneseo and he has an Associate degree in Health Services Management from the Community College of the Air Force.

David originally hails from Orange County, NY. He earned a bachelors in accounting in 2010 from Marist College followed by his MBA for accountants in 2011. He joined Camphill Ghent as a member of the finance office shortly after the organization’s opening in 2012, and he officially joined Camphill Village Copake in early 2014. As the longest tenured member of the finance office, his role has expanded to be the Assistant Treasurer for Camphill Ghent, Camphill Village Copake & Camphill Village Copake Foundation.

Bio coming soon.

Rose holds a Bachelor of Science in Nutritional Science from Colorado State University. Her interest in this field was discovered through her work as a Nutritionist at Foothills Gateway CoARC in Colorado, which is the area’s support for individuals with developmental disabilities and and their families.Rose visited Camphill Village USA in 2010, and was intrigued to find how people were flourishing in such a different way of life. She jumped at the chance to make this her home. Originally an Americorps volunteer, Rose’s experience at the Turtle Tree Biodynamic Seed Initiative morphed into a life as a house leader in Tamarack House in March of 2012.

Rose has been involved in a multitude of activities to help further the development and growth of this multifaceted community. Some of this work includes involvement within the Design Group and Master Plan Executive Committee, as well as participation as a member of the Camphill Academy’s Core Faculty over the past year. She’s also in the Village’s Admissions and Advocacy groups, and serves as Camphill’s Director of Infrastructure.

Rose has been CHV’s delegate to the North American Council for Anthroposophic Curative Education and Social Therapy, organizing a group to travel each year to an annual conference in member communities around the country. She has also been an active member of the community’s central Copake Circle for the last 6 years.

Jan Berman was the President and Chief Operating Officer of MechoShade Systems, Inc., until February 2018. He is now spending his time supporting Camphill Village via his position on the Board, as well as enjoying membership on the boards of two other organizations: The Building Energy Exchange based in NYC and the Cradle to Cradle Institute for Product Innovation based in Washington DC.

Jan literally grew up in the business founded by his father, Joel Berman, the creator of the solar shade industry as we know it today.

Jan graduated from Ithaca College in 1980 with a BS in accounting. After receiving his CPA, Jan joined MechoShade in 1982. Throughout his career, Mr. Berman has worked closely with many of the leading designers and architects in helping develop solar shading solutions to their unique building designs and projects.

Jan has worked in product development, implementing ideas resulting from his work with the design community, and helped develop new shade control systems and shade cloths that have both been honored with design awards.

Jan was promoted to President in 1999. Since that time, he has overseen the growth of MechoShade as the leading manufacturer of solar shading worldwide, overseeing increases in manufacturing capacity and expanding to international markets.

His efforts put MechoShade products at the forefront of Green Building and Sustainable Design. He spearheaded the development of various “Cradle to Cradle” products, including certification of its MechoShade products the first of its kind in the world.

Jan has been an invited speaker on daylighting and façade automation for sustainable design at such national venues as NeoCon, the Center for Architecture in New York City, the High-Performance Green Building Design Salon, LightFair both in New York and in Las Vegas, and was a member of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory’s Dynamic Façade working group.

Jan is on the board of Directors of the Cradle to Cradle Institute for Product Innovation and the Building Energy Exchange (BeeX of NYC). He is also a minority shareholder and board member in three ventures: Digital Matrix, Inc., KleenEdge Systems LLC, and STretchWall, LLC.

Jan loves skiing, fishing, tennis and hiking, and unfortunately, the Mets.

He and his wife Judy, have two children, one grandchild and live in Wilton, Ct.

Bio coming soon.

Julie was born and grew up in the north west of England, with a childhood and youth rich in playing, hiking, dancing, rock climbing, working, and traveling. After high school, she was a volunteer teacher in a village school in the Cherang’any Hills of Kenya. In 1981 Julie graduated with an LLB from Leicester University, and in 1982 embarked on her life’s path with Camphill.“I am immensely grateful for all that I learned from students and coworkers in the Rudolf Steiner Schools in Aberdeen, and in Beannachar, a Camphill youth guidance center, also in Aberdeen, Scotland. Those first three years in Camphill Scotland became the foundation for my life’s work of combining my deep respect for the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, with helping to develop these insights in education, farming, and lifesharing in the Camphill Village communities.”

After training in Waldorf education, Julie was an enthusiastic class teacher at the pioneering Sheffield Steiner School in South Yorkshire, and then in 1991, Julie and her husband, Stephen joined the Botton Village Camphill Community, in North Yorkshire.

“Our two children were born, we were house leaders in Honey Bee Nest Farm, and became deeply immersed in a variety of tasks in the community for the next 15 years. During this time I participated in, and completed, the Kate Roth Seminar for Camphill Homemakers, which led me to deepen my understanding of the value and potential of home life. I feel committed to teaching and developing this work in Camphill Village, Copake.”

In 2006, Julie and Stephen, and their two teenagers left England to join Camphill Village, Copake. After several years as house leaders in Argo House, they are now with the Capella household, and as Julie says, “It’s a joy and a privilege to lifeshare with such socially oriented people. Our villagers exemplify the social art of expressing their needs, and also, meeting the needs of others. I learn daily; from their abilities to observe, to reflect, to express, and to be compassionate. Their social expression is the impetus for the development here at Camphill Village, Copake. I admire and respect the work of the Camphill communities in the North American region, and I strive, here in the Village, with all my many colleagues, to develop this work. I think that our model of integrated lifesharing in Camphill Village is a positive contribution to social growth in the USA. I steadfastly stand behind our community’s ethos: a world that recognizes the potential in everyone.

John Carroll is an attorney who resides in Malden Bridge, New York.

He served for many years on the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Mental and Physical Disabilities and he has written and lectured extensively on the legal rights of people with disabilities.

He has been a member of the Board of Camphill Ghent since 2013 and served most recently as its president.

He has also served as a volunteer firefighter, EMT, treasurer and vice-president of the Tri-Village Fire Company, as president of the Rider’s Mills and Columbia County Historical Societies, the Old Chatham Hunt Club, and as vice-president of the Shaker Museum and Library in Old Chatham, NY and has served on the boards of various not-for-profit and civic organizations in Columbia County, New York.

He holds an A.B. Degree from Vassar College, a M.A. from the University of Leicester, an MBA from Albany University and a J.D. from the Albany Law School of Union University.

Joel spent nearly forty years in the financial services industry at several firms including JPMorgan where he was a Managing Director and co-head of Private Banking. He retired from the industry in 2008. He has served on a variety of boards including those with educational, religious, and environmental orientations. He is a member of Camphill Foundation, the investment committee of the Board. He is a long-time resident of New York City, but also spends considerable time in Northwest Connecticut. He is married with three children and two grandchildren.

Louis is the brother of Camphill resident Elisabeth Cooper. He is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical Center and works clinically in NY Presbyterian’s Emergency Department as an attending physician. Professional interests include medical administration, medical education, disaster and emergency preparedness, international, wilderness and travel medicine and business opportunities in medicine.

Prior to working at NY Presbyterian Hospital, he worked as an attending at NY-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Emergency Department (2013-2015) and at Long Island College Hospital (LICH) Emergency Department (2011-2013). At LICH he served as Assistant Medical Director, Physician and Resident Scheduler, Director of Resident Education and Site Director for the SUNY Downstate Emergency Medicine Residency Program. He held an Emergency Medicine Residency at NYU/Bellevue (2007-2011), and attended ACEP’s Director’s Academy, where he was elected ACEP fellow.

Before working in the medical field, Louis held several positions in finance. He has experience running a public securities hedge fund, Anvil Capital Partners, pursuing private equity advisory and investment opportunities, and providing merger and acquisition advice.

He is a former investment banking professional at Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank with experience on the origination, execution and principal sides of the business. He practiced at building and managing new business units, and was an industry generalist with particular expertise in the basic materials, metals & mining, consumer cyclicals, electric utility and telecommunications industries, and the financial buyer community. Louis holds substantial execution experience involving a broad range of products, having closed more than forty transactions.

Louis is also a former submarine officer, U.S. Navy, aboard USS Seawolf (SSN 575) a specially configured, nuclear powered, fast-attack submarine engaged in Special Projects (covert operations) in the Western Pacific.

Education: Weill Cornell Medical College (2007), Harvard Business School (1988) and U.S. Naval Academy Graduate (1981).

Hobbies: Portrait, figurative and still-life painter in oils. Glassblower and sculptor in hot glass. Amateur chef. Active sailor, kayaker, and outdoorsman.

Louise has an extensive history of personal and professional travel, and has lived in Norway, Italy, England, and France. He is fluent in French and adept at conversational Spanish. He is married to Susan Berger-Jones, an architect and poet.

Bio coming soon.

Brooke has had many responsibilities since she moved to Camphill Village from Rochester, NY in 2007. She has been a member of the Village Writers Guild, Poetry Group, Love and Compassion Group, the Supreme 7, and is a secretary for the Village Forum. Brooke was also a trustee of the Camphill Association of North America (CANA), in which capacity she traveled to different Camphill communities (including Canada) and conveyed the information she learned there to Camphill Copake. Brooke has attended and helped organize the annual Camphill Foundation gala several times as a representative of the Village, and has also traveled to Washington D.C. for the purpose of advocating for a person’s right to choose to live in Camphill Village. Brooke has also traveled to India with Roswitha and Kumar Mal.

“I have had numerous opportunities that helped me to achieve who I am today,” she says. “In Camphill Copake I am in several important groups that help me to not only grow but to spread important information around the Village and to the public.”

She currently lives in Brookledge House, and works in the Bookbindery, the Coffee Shop, and the Village Co-op. “In the Bookbindery I like being able to be artistic, and whatever I make makes a difference in the world, and I like having people together in one place,” she says. “In the Coffee Shop I’m able to do a bit of everything. I do a lot of the library organizing and I like that. That’s one of the things I’m good at is organizing. In the past I did things with the library in Rochester.”

Brooke also has two siblings, four nephews, and a niece that she is close to. She frequently visits her parents in Rochester, but looks forward to her busier days at Camphill Village.

“Even though it can be a little overwhelming at times, it helps with my self worth and my ability to make a difference in the Village and outside the Village,” she says. “I like to spend the night typing up all of the minutes and notes that need to be sent out. It helps me understand how we do things in the Village. I love my life and I want to be known as a dedicated, responsible, outgoing person who will do anything to help others.”

Bio coming soon.

Laure McIlroy lives in Summit, NJ with her husband Bill. She was a stay-at-home mother for 20 years while raising their six children, and then returned to school to become a behavioral health nurse in 2007. She and Bill are now retired and enjoy traveling and spending time with their children and grandchildren. Their son, Billy, has lived in Camphill Village Copake since 2018.

Bio coming soon.

Phil Schaffer is an accomplished strategic general manager with more than 15 years of experience in sales, general management, and marketing. Having gained extensive retail experience while working with Aldi and Edeka, the largest German retailer, Phil joined Kellogg in 2014 as the Northern Europe Process Optimization Manager. He was quickly promoted to Sales Director Sweden/Central Eastern Europe, where he led change in route-to-market in Sweden and drove positive business development.

In 2016, Phil moved to Kellogg’s European Cereal Business Unit in Dublin, where he worked as the Commercial Strategy Director. During his time in Europe, Phil made a significant contribution to the evolution of the commercial strategy agenda.

In 2018, Phil and his family relocated to the US to lead the Pop-Tarts Business, where he has successfully led the brand to unprecedented sales growth, launching multiple new innovation platforms, optimizing price/pack architecture, supply chain, seasonal strategy, and revenue growth management.

In December 2020, Phil was promoted to General Manager of Frozen Foods, where he leads everything related to Eggo and (since ‘23) MorningStarFarms. He oversees all commercial functions as well as the strategy and execution behind these iconic US brands. His sales background and understanding of efficiencies have enabled Phil and his team to continuously grow the business.

Phil graduated from Reutlingen University in Germany and has an MBA from Swinburne University of Technology in Australia. He has successfully completed Executive Leadership Trainings from both Harvard Business School (Boston, USA) and Northwestern University (Chicago, USA). He is fluent in Spanish and enjoys travel and live music.

Phil has a special connection with Camphill Village and feels like he is coming home serving on the board. He was a coworker in 2001/2002 and stayed in touch with the Village over the years. Back then, he lived in Aillinn House and worked full-time in the Woodshop together with Kerst de Jong. Phil initiated Camphill’s first online sales when he set up an eBay page for wooden toys in 2001. Recently, Phil and his family visited the Village, and they loved the experience. His two-year-old daughter, Mia, fell in love with all the friendly people, animals, workspaces, and golf carts, which didn’t exist when Phil worked at Camphill more than 20 years ago.

Helen Serebin is an operations professional who has worked in the private and NGO sectors.

Currently she is the COO of ParentChild+, a national home-visiting model that works with families and family care providers in under-served communities to support school readiness in young children. ParentChild+ trains and monitors social service agencies, community-based-organizations, and local school districts to use its program and trademarked curriculum in their communities. ParentChild+ is in 16 states and 6 countries outside the U.S.

Prior to ParentChild+, Helen directed operations for one of 1199SEIU’s three benefit funds. 1199SEIU is the largest healthcare workers’ union in the U.S. and provides pension/medical, education/training, and childcare benefits to its members. Helen oversaw the Program Operations division of the Child Care Fund, overseeing distribution of benefits to over 17,000 members.

Helen has an MBA in both operations management and sustainability.

Gabriella Sperry held executive positions in Warner Lambert Pharmaceutical Company, International Telephone and Telegraph, Estee Lauder, Revlon, and News Corporation for over 30 years. During her career she was Vice President of Marketing for various consumer goods and cosmetic brands and also Publisher of European Travel and Life magazines.Gabriella has a B.S. in chemistry and an MBA from the Stern School of New York University.

For 20 years, Gabriella served on the Board of the International Center in N.Y., a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching conversational English and American culture to immigrants. She also served on the Board of The Doane Stuart School in Albany for ten years.

Gabriella joined the Board of Camphill Village USA, Inc. and the Board of Camphill Ghent, Inc. in 2012.

Gabriella Sperry lives in Malden Bridge, N.Y. with her two children.

Bio coming soon.

After high school in the UK, Ted completed a two-year apprenticeship program in biodynamic agriculture in 2008. He then spent a year on a commercial farm in England, supplying the farm markets in London. In 2009, Ted moved to the US and joined Camphill Village in Copake, New York, where he currently resides with his wife Lia Babitch and their two young girls, Eleanor and Hazel.

Ted completed the Social Therapy program with a Professional Diploma as a Social Therapist and plans to complete the BA program. As of September 2018, Ted has joined the Core Faculty of the Social Therapy program as both a core faculty member and course instructor.

Ted has worked as a farmer, gardener, stained glass artist, and Camphill Village Gift Shop and Coffee Shop workmaster. Ted is currently house leading and working in the Finance Department in Village administration and is part of the Focus Group.

Roy Tau is a House Leader at Camphill Village Copake. Previously, Roy worked as a Financial Advisor for a large investments company in South Africa. He graduated from Damelin Business School, South Africa with diplomas in Human Resources Management and Payroll Administration.

Bio coming soon.

Jessy is a Senior Advisor at Purpose and Co-founder of Purpose Labs. Jessy has spent more than 20 years building people-powered movements. From climate change to voting rights to women’s leadership, she has specialized in unlocking new strategies and approaches to creating transformative and lasting change.

Jessy has consulted with some of the leading social change organizations in the U.S., having led an international effort to build electric vehicle infrastructure for several major auto companies and as a senior advisor to the Working Families Organization and the Center for Working Families. She served as Co-Executive Director of both Citizen Engagement Laboratory and Energy Action Coalition and as State Director of the New Voters Project, where she helped register more than 130,000 young voters, facilitating one of the highest youth turnout rates in the country and providing the foundation for the historic youth strategies employed in the 2008 presidential election. She also led the largest youth gathering on global warming in U.S. history – POWER SHIFT 2009, a conference of more than 12,000 youth representing all 50 states which culminated in the single largest lobby day on Capitol Hill focused on global warming. POWER SHIFT has since spread to more than 25 countries, and the first Global Power Shift has since convened in Europe.

Jessy received her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

She’s been featured in Time Magazine, Glamour Magazine, The New York Times, Hardball with Chris Matthews, and Vanity Fair Magazine. In 2008, Rolling Stone Magazine named her one of the 100 agents of change in America.

Emily moved to Camphill Village from down south in 2012. She has two older sisters, a step sister, and a step brother. She grew up helping her mother in her beautiful vegetable garden in Banner Elk, North Carolina. Emily has brought so many talents to Camphill, and has been an asset to our community in many ways.

A natural leader, she currently lives in Wildern House, where she likes to cook. Emily just started working in the Village vegetable garden in spring of 2021, and has been busy planting peas and other early crops. Emily has been a fixture of the Village Bookbindery for several years – expertly sewing pages into the binding of her handmade journals, creating one-of-a-kind greeting cards, and hand-decorating the beautiful matchboxes that adorn the dining tables in the Village.

Emily has been on several major trips since moving to the Village, including Iceland, Washington DC, and Russia. “For Russia and Iceland, it was nice to experience how other people do things,” she says. “Iceland was so beautiful and amazing, and cold and warm depending on where you are.”

Emily is pleased to join the Board of Directors. “I like to have a say and have my thoughts included in decisions about the Village.”