Mary Jane Marchisotto Named FAI Executive Director
We are pleased to announce that Mary Jane Marchisotto, an executive with extensive experience in the financial services industry, has joined FAI as executive director.
Prior to joining FAI, Ms. Marchisotto was an independent financial services consultant. She previously worked for Blackrock, where she served as director, concentrating on financial management issues and on the development of internal best practices policies. Before BlackRock, she worked for nine years as an executive director at Morgan Stanley, where she held senior positions in its Global High Yield business and in firm management; and for nine years as chief of staff of Citibank’s Fixed Income Research, Investment Grade, and Leveraged Finance businesses. As a volunteer, Ms. Marchisotto has brought her expertise to a wide range of educational, recreational, and health care initiatives for children, including corporate fundraising campaigns for high school scholarship programs and the expansion of services at a major medical center. Most recently, she has been involved with StreetSquash, a Harlem, New York-based urban youth enrichment program.
“We are confident that Mary Jane will provide the proactive leadership that will enable us to close in on a cure for life-threatening food allergies,” said Todd Slotkin, FAI chairman. “Eleven years ago, when FAI was founded, there was little financial support for food allergy research. Today, researchers worldwide are answering crucial questions and conducting trials of promising new therapies.”
Ms. Marchisotto’s key goals include increasing private and government funding for food allergy research, while continuing to build educational programs and advocacy initiatives that help protect more than 12 million Americans who suffer from food allergies. “This is an exciting time to join FAI,” she said. “I am impressed by the progress the organization has made, and by the passion and commitment of its leadership. I’m looking forward to working with food-allergic families across the country to solve this important national health problem.”
Ms. Marchisotto is a graduate of Wells College (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) and holds an MBA (Honors) from Columbia Business School. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and two college-age children.