A new fiscal year means new members for The Westport Library Board of Trustees, with Christy Charise, James Corgel, Darcy Travlos, and Ashley Zwick all joining the board for the 2025-26 term.
There is also a new face at the helm, with current Board of Trustees Senior Vice President Robert Boroujerdi succeeding Pat Wieser as the board’s president. Wieser will remain on the board as a member, and Krishna Patel will succeed Boroujerdi as senior vice president.
The other officers for the 2025-26 term are Treasurer Ben Chan, Secretary Sheri Gordon, Finance Committee Chair Scott Bennewitz, Governance and Nominations Committee Chair Martina Sze, and Development Committee Chair Mark Silverstein.
The Westport Library’s upcoming fiscal year runs July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026.
Boroujerdi is a former Partner at Goldman Sachs and later joined Third Point LLC, an institutional asset manager, as the head of markets. He is an active investor and advisor across public and private markets. He and his family live in Westport.
“We’re incredibly fortunate to have such a remarkable library at the heart of our town,” Boroujerdi said. “Alongside my fellow board members, I’m honored to help steward this shared resource — a gift we all benefit from and help shape. The Library truly stands as a reflection of our community itself: curious, welcoming, and always learning.”
Those cycling off the board are longtime contributors Andrea Berkely, Randy Herbertson, Celeste La Croix, Jay Norris, and Andrew Wilk.
“We look forward to the new ideas and energy that we know this outstanding group of new board members will bring, but we’ll of course miss seeing our longtime board members at our regular meetings,” said Westport Library Executive Director Bill Harmer. “The great news is that they’ll stay on as patrons and volunteers, and we look forward to working with everyone — new and old — for this coming term and in the many years to come.”
Here’s a closer look at the board’s newest members:
Christy Charise started her career at Goldman Sachs, leaving to pursue her MBA at Cornell, where she was selected as one of 26 Park Leadership fellows in her business school class (a fellowship recognizing professional and academic excellence). After completing her MBA, Charise joined Bain & Co. as a strategy consultant in their New York office, spending time in both the general practice and their private equity group. She subsequently joined the Connecticut-based boutique consultancy Casey Quirk, focusing on strategy work for public and private asset managers and hedge funds. In 2009, Charise and her husband co-founded Saugatuck Financial, where she led the daily operations and growth initiatives for more than a decade. She continues to lead various aspects of the practice, including business development, marketing, and strategic initiatives.
Charise holds a BS from Cornell and an MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell. She loves living in Westport with her husband, Justin, and two children, Austin and Ashley. Aside from spending time with family and friends and their two mini-goldendoodles (Pineapple and Bailey), Charise loves traveling, cooking, and a good cup of coffee.
James Corgel is an experienced business executive who has been involved with several nonprofits in leadership and team roles since his retirement. His focus has largely been education, management excellence, and career development. Corgel retired in 2013 after an extensive career at the IBM Corporation, where he served in a number of key general manager roles with global responsibility. He was appointed a member of IBM's Integration and Values team in 1997, a senior management group responsible for strategy implementation.
Corgel graduated from Notre Dame in 1973 and earned his MBA from the university in 1975. He is a member of the University of Notre Dame Advisory Councils and a board member of the Graduate Studies and Research Advisory Council. He also was named chairman of the Undergraduate Experience Advisory Council and continues to serve on the board. In addition, Corgel is a board member of Earthplace, serving as board chairman from 2020 to 2022, and was a board member of the American Management Association from 2003 to 2013. Corgel and his wife, Chris, have lived in Westport for more than 35 years.
Darcy Travlos is a capital markets specialist, investor, and entrepreneur with deep experience across technology, media, industrial, and consumer sectors. A former investment banker and equity research analyst, she has advised more than 200 companies and led more than 70 technology and consumer-related transactions. She was one of the most-read contributors to Forbes.com and has appeared on CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox Business, and national radio. Her forward-thinking work in digital media was featured in The Economist, and she is widely recognized for identifying early investment opportunities in transformational technologies.
Travlos holds an MBA in finance from The Wharton School at Penn and a BA in economics from Brown, where she received the Financial Executives Award for academic achievement and the Brown Bear Award, the university’s highest volunteer honor for outstanding personal service. She has served on Brown’s board of governors, the Brown Club of Fairfield County, the Fairfield Theater Company board, and the Greater Philadelphia Venture Group. Travlos moved to Westport in 2000 with her daughter and now lives with her black labrador, Robert. She is also a member of the Library’s Verso advisory board and enjoys travel, tennis, and long walks with Robert.
Ashley Zwick has more than 20 years of experience in the nonprofit and education sectors. She currently serves as the executive director of the Tuck Initiative on Workplace Inclusion at Dartmouth and teaches courses on social impact at NYU. As a strategist and connector, Zwick is driven by a passion for solving big problems and creating opportunities that empower as many people as possible to lead lives of abundance. In every role she holds, her focus is on building inclusive teams and people-centered organizations to create a more just world.
When Zwick moved to Westport in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, she had one non-negotiable: to live within walking distance of The Westport Library. Fortunately, she and her family of passionate readers found a home on Evergreen Avenue — and to this day, the Library remains her favorite part of living in Westport.
