Staff Members
(in alphabetical order)

Chris Fleming, Program Associate
Chris Fleming served for a decade on the Chelsea Day School Board of Directors, including eight years as president.  As co-chair of the Parent Association Literary Committee at Little Red School House Elisabeth Irwin High School, she helped organize book weeks and author visits to every classroom.  She has also worked in production for Joseph Papp at the New York Shakespeare Festival.  Ms. Fleming began working with Behind the Book in winter 2005.

Micaela Gutierrez, Director of Development
Micaela Gutierrez joined Behind the Book in July of 2009.  Before joining the staff of Behind the Book, Ms. Gutierrez managed and fundraised for the social service programs at Community League of the Heights.  Ms. Gutierrez has a BA in Economics from Wesleyan University and a Certificate in Middle Management from Columbia Business School.  While at Wesleyan, she coordinated a free child-care program at the Center for Community Partnerships, taught at a local afterschool program and co-founded Para La Familia, a student organization that attempts to bridge the language barrier and cultural divide between Spanish speaking families and the University.  She recently completed the Fellowship for Emerging Leaders in Public Service from the Wagner School of Public Service at NYU Wagner.

Barbara Korein, Art Specialist
Barbara Korein began working with Behind the Book at the beginning of 2009.  Ms. Korein has an MA in Arts Education and a teaching certification from NY State in Art Education for K-12.  She worked for more than a decade as a photographer, writer and editor of a local Westchester newspaper before beginning her career as an art teacher.  She has taught photography and studio art in three different school districts as well as at the Westchester Center for the Arts.  Ms. Korein works with Behind the Book to develop art curricula, teach art components of programs and photograph visits and events. 

Pat Levenson, Site Liason
For 32 years, Pat Levenson worked as a teacher in New York City public schools. For many of those years, she also served as an elected United Federation of Teachers representative. Since retirement in 2005, she has worked as Behind the Book’s a school liaison at PS 274 . She is also an active member of several community groups.

Sarata Toriola, Program Assistant
Sarata Toriola joined Behind the Book in February 2009. Prior to joining Behind the Book, Sarata Toriola spent a year teaching ESL to high school students in Korea as a Fulbright Teaching Fellow. She also taught English language and literature to students in Massachusetts and Turkey. Ms. Toriola received a B.A in English Literature from Wheaton College, MA. During her undergraduate career, Ms. Toriola served as an Arts Intern at the Rubin Museum of Art, chaired her college’s judicial board, and founded her college’s first and only gospel and R&B group. She has volunteered and interned at various nonprofits specializing in K-12 education throughout NYC. She currently participates in the NYU Wagner Fellowship for Emerging Leaders in Public Service.

Jo Umans, Executive Director/Founder
Jo Umans started a career in television production where she worked for more than 25 years. She was an Associate Director and Script Supervisor on shows including Good Morning America, Kate and Allie, The Chris Rock Show, and Liberty! The American Revolution. For the last five years of her tv career, she also worked part-time as a school librarian, and for two years ran the visiting-author program, where she observed that a series of classroom-based author visits linking the reading of a book to meeting the author excited students interest in reading. Determined to bring that transformative experience to public school children in New York City, she left her career in television to found Behind the Book.

Ms. Umans has participated in numerous workshops at the Support Center for Nonprofit Management in New York City in the areas of financial management, partnership building, fundraising, and board leadership. In July 2005, she studied at the Content Area Literacies Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University, to maintain her currency in literacy trends. In July 2006, she completed a professional course at New York University on small business growth management. In winter 2007, she received a scholarship for twelve sessions of executive coaching. In 2008, she was accepted to the United Way Executive Fellows program. She has been a judge for the Random House Senior Writing Competition for the last two years and served on an awards panel for the Department of Cultural Affairs.

Ms. Umans graduated with a B.S. degree from Boston University a very long time ago.