Occupation
I currently hold the title of Senior Vice President of Wedbush Securities’ Prime Services Division, a department I pioneered, where I am responsible for offering Prime Brokerage and enhancing that platform to best serve emerging and midsized money managers. My department provides custodial, trading, and lending services to institutional portfolio managers (Hedge Funds, Family Offices, and high net worth individuals), specializing in volatility arbitrage and long/short equity strategies. I act in an advisory capacity to over 100 clients with north of $1 billion in total assets under management.

Qualifications
2022 marks my 26th year as a finance professional. I have a FINOP Certification from the New York Institute of Finance and hold FINRA Series 7, 24, 25, 28, 57, and 63 licenses. Prior to joining Wedbush in 2014, I served as Managing Director at Cantor Fitzgerald. My career began as an intern on the New York Stock Exchange/AMEX at the age of 18. A few years later, I was named the youngest Member Firm CEO in New York Stock Exchange history.

I have served on the Political Action Committee on the NYSE and spent years mentoring urban youth at StreetSquash in Manhattan, whose mission is to provide consistent, long-term, and reliable support to the children, families, and schools in Harlem and Newark. More recently, I had the honor of teaching an annual class on the Auction Market to North Shore Middle Schoolers during the years my son was enrolled there. In June 2021, my wife and I co-founded a locally based 501c3 charity called Good Graces, Inc., and ran the Pars for Paul [Salinas] Golf Outing and Benefit Dinner, which yielded over $100,000 in profits to benefit the Glen Head family. I am a member of NSCSD’s Community Budget Forum and Booster Club, and my wife, Alexa Trager, serves on the board of North Shore’s Coalition Against Substant Abuse (CASA)—an organization near and dear to our hearts. 

Personal
My family and I currently reside in Glen Head. My wife is a third generation GH resident. My father-in-law is a North Shore graduate of the class of 1976, and my in-laws currently live in-district. I have two children enrolled in our public school system: my 16yo son is a sophomore at NSHS, and my 5yo daughter is a kindergartener at GH Elementary. My 3yo daughter cannot wait to walk Glen Head’s halls with her sister in 2024.

My desire to run for a Trustee position on the North Shore Board of Education stems foremost from our positive SEPTA experience, relative to my son’s IEP designation. North Shore’s dedicated educators and administrators advocated for him in ways that I have seen directly influence his ability to thrive, let alone succeed. The highlight of my life as a parent was watching the introverted version of my son disappear before my eyes as he proudly performed in NS Masquers’ presentation of Hello Dolly this March.

I am a product of the Freeport Public School System. I understand the value of tax dollars because my sister and I qualified for free lunch. I was raised by a single mother turned career educator, who served as President of the Bellmore Teachers Union and retired after her 35th year in a classroom. I have a profound respect for the field of education, and the hard work it entails. 

I do not believe our budget has been misallocated but am sympathetic to the fact that a lack transparency has led some North Shore residents to think otherwise. I am confident that my core competency in finance will allow me to analyze income and expense in ways perhaps more effectively than others. Our current Board of Education Trustees is a competent, highly intelligent, capable group of men and women. They are proficient in many fields, but particularly education and law. What I have to offer is a requisite finance background that I feel qualifies me to aid the management of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, especially given the impending LIPA crisis.

Statement
I am honored to announce my candidacy for North Shore Board of Education Trustee. My family and I owe a debt to this district that no amount of civil service could ever repay. During Pandemic, I watched individuals in various industries courageously come together, and community members with skills to share do so for the common good, rather than profit. I am confident and hopeful that my proficiency in finance will allow me to do the same.

I am not an educator, a politician, or an attorney. I am a father that has worked in the field of finance for several decades sourcing efficiencies, mitigating expense, and finding alpha when others could not. I can’t promise to rescue us from unprecedented economic distress—none of the candidates up for election can. What I can promise is my determination to help chart the most fiscally responsible path forward possible for our taxpayers, and our schools, and to capitalize on economic and social efficiencies to benefit the unified common denominator: our children. 

We are a community with myriad perspectives and ideologies. Rather than focus on what separates us, we should focus on what unites us: our desire for our children to have the best education possible. The shortfall that will result from the LIPA settlement will immediately threaten our classrooms, home values, and tax dollars. I recognize both the importance of objectively tackling the school budget, and the arduousness of that task—a task seemingly impossible sans a licensed financier seated on the Board. We must put stock in our community members with the appropriate skillsets determined to lead us through a critical economic time; it is vital in preserving the quality of education in our classrooms, our auditoriums, and on our sports fields.

On a personal note: this January, I underwent an emergency, open-heart aortic replacement surgery. I am here today because of advancements in science improved upon every day by the team of medical professionals assigned, successfully, to save my life. I chose the most qualified surgeon and cardiologist, and a hospital where the procedure was most often performed. I called upon many friends in the medical field for guidance before surgery and well into recovery. I implicitly trusted the expertise of each cog in a very large wheel.

We, as a society, seek guidance from qualified professionals when faced with problems we cannot fix. The same must apply when electing Board Trustees. My strength is in numbers, and so is ours. Please consider electing me for the North Shore Board of Education on May 17, 2022.