Cathedral High School Launches Principal’s Council

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Cathedral High School in Manhattan has created a Principal’s Council, the girls’ Catholic college preparatory school announced.

Serving as ambassadors and strategic advisers to the principal, Maria Spagnuolo, the alumnae and supporters are helping to further the school’s mission and enhance its visibility.  

Through their guidance, the members of the Principal’s Council will seek to expand Cathedral High School’s network and develop new relationships and collaborations. 

“The importance of a Catholic school education is needed now more than ever,” Ms. Spagnuolo said. “The Principal’s Council will help us navigate through these unprecedented times to ensure we achieve success with hybrid learning while helping our students to become productive members of society with religious and moral integrity in the pursuit of social justice.

“These impressive men and women have achieved success in their careers, and I am confident that they will serve Cathedral with the same enthusiasm and passion.”

Cathedral High School’s Principal’s Council is composed of the following:

  • Emmy-award winning Lynda Baquero, NBC 4 New York’s consumer reporter, is a 1983 alumna. Her “Better Get Baquero” segments resolve consumer complaints and provide updates on the latest consumer alerts. She also hosts the series “Visiones,” which highlights issues affecting the Hispanic community.
  • Ursula Burns, a senior advisor of Teneo Ltd., retired chair and CEO of VEON Ltd. and a retired chair and CEO of Xerox, is a 1976 alumna. President Barack Obama appointed her to help lead the White House national STEM program, 2009-2016, and she served as chair of the President’s Export Council, 2015-2016, after serving as vice chair, 2010-2015.
  • Thomas W. Crawford was a partner at KPMG in New York City, 1981-2009. During that time, he served as the area managing partner for Tax for NYC and the Northeast and other leadership positions. Since 2016 he has been the vice president of Tax at Hillspire LLC, a family office in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a CPA and served as the treasurer and a member of the board at Cathedral High School, 2008-2015.
  • Sister Margaret Egan, S.C., Ed.D., a 1956 alumna, is a member of the leadership governance of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of New York. She has served as an elementary/middle school teacher and as a professor of Teacher Education and vice president for Student Development at the College of Mount St. Vincent. She was president of the New York State Colleges for Teacher Education and received the Teacher of the Year Award from the New York State Association of Teacher Educators. She served on the Cathedral High School board of trustees for 10 years.
  • Maria Cecilia Salazar, a 1987 aluma, has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. Her career in finance began through a Junior Achievement program during her senior year at Cathedral High, which led to an internship at the IBM Metro Employees Federal Credit Union, where she remained a part-time employee for several years while continuing her education. She has worked at Standard & Poor’s as an index market analyst and during the last 17 years has been at J.P. Morgan, where she is the head of relationship management for Latin American corporate clients in the American Depositary Receipts division.  
  • Glenn Shannon is a vice chairman of Shorenstein Properties LLC, a privately owned company headquartered in San Francisco that owns office buildings and multifamily properties located in major metropolitan areas. A longtime contributor to Cathedral High and sponsor of student scholarships, he is one of five children of  the late Edna Marie Rasmussen Shannon, Class of 1944.
  • Debra De Jesus-Vizzi, a 1981 alumna, is a thought leader and changemaker for child welfare, education and poverty. Her passion and drive come from her personal experience as a foster child in New York City and the adults who changed the trajectory of her life in the same way she aims to support vulnerable youth today. She serves as executive director of Student Sponsor Partners, an organization that provided her the opportunity to attend Cathedral High School and have a supportive mentor.