Cradles to Crayons Elects New Members to Board of Directors
Newly appointed individuals to serve on National and Boston Boards
Boston, MA – January 6, 2019 – Cradles to Crayons is proud to announce the election of three individuals to its National and Boston Boards of Directors. Peggy Koenig of Abry Partners, LLC and Jay Bhatt of Thomas H. Lee Partners join the National board while Darren Abrahamson of Bain Capital joins the Boston board. Members involved in each provide outstanding leadership, business acumen, and perspective the organization needs to continue to strengthen and improve its scope of services.
For 17 years in Boston, 13 in Philadelphia, and three in Chicago, Cradles to Crayons has been providing children and families in need with clothing, books, school supplies, and toys to help children feel safe, valued, and ready to learn. To date, more than 1.4 million children have been served with the support of 300,000 volunteers and several hundred service partners.
“We are thrilled to welcome Peggy, Jay, and Darren to our boards. We are very appreciative of their confidence in our mission and are eager to work with each of them,” said Lynn Margherio, Cradles to Crayons Founder and CEO. “While our National Board of Directors helps to advance Cradles to Crayons as a single organization with several sites, our Boston Board guides our work here in Massachusetts. Peggy, Jay, and Darren each have an impressive background, and their strategic thinking and guidance will certainly be key to advancing our overarching goal of assuring that all children have the essential items they need to thrive.”
Peggy Koenig is Chair of ABRY Partners, LLC, a top-ranked North American private equity investment firm focused solely on investing in the media, communications, information and business services industries. Headquartered in Boston, Ms. Koenig joined ABRY in 1993 as a Partner. During her tenure as Co-CEO, she was responsible for the oversight of the firm’s 80 employees and initiated a myriad of professional development activities to enhance the firm’s employee base. She co-chaired the firm’s investment committee, and she was responsible for raising nearly $7.5 billion of capital. Ms. Koenig received her MBA from the Wharton Business School and an undergraduate degree from Cornell University where she is currently a Vice Chair of the Research and Innovation Committee. She is also a member of the Board of Overseers of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts as well as a member of the Massachusetts Women’s Forum, the World Frontiers’ Forum, and the Citi Private Bank North American Advisory Board. Ms. Koenig also attended Harvard’s Advanced Leadership program as a Fellow in 2018.
Jay Bhatt is a Managing Director at Thomas H. Lee Partners, a Boston-based leading private equity firm. He joined in 2016, leading the Media, Information Services & Technology Group. Mr. Bhatt has more than 20 years of operating experience in senior leadership positions across the IT sector including software infrastructure, horizontal and vertical enterprise applications and SaaS technologies. Prior to Thomas H. Lee Partners, Mr. Bhatt was president and CEO of Blackboard Inc., the largest global education technology company, where he was responsible for significant sales and EBITDA growth as well as fundamental technology platform transformation. Mr. Bhatt holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law.
Darren Abrahamson is a Managing Director in the North American Private Equity group at Bain Capital, based in Boston. He joined Bain Capital in 2005 and is a member of the firm’s global Technology practice. Prior to joining Bain Capital, Mr. Abrahamson was a consultant at Monitor Group, where he advised in the technology, pharmaceutical, and energy industries. He has been active in the Boston community, engaging in various capacities with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, United Way, City Year, and Year Up, as well as several other non-profit institutions. He holds a bachelor of science in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Mr. Abrahamson was born in South Africa and grew up in the Boston area, now living in Newton with his wife and three sons.
About Cradles to Crayons
Cradles to Crayons launched in 2002 and has operations in Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago. The nonprofit provides children from birth through age 12 living in homeless or low-income situations with the essential items they need to thrive—at home, at school, and at play. They supply these items free of charge by engaging and connecting communities. Cradles to Crayons mobilizes communities to collect and donate new and gently used high-quality children’s items. The organization also engages thousands of youth and adults each year in tangible service activities that benefit local children in need. For more information, please visit www.cradlestocrayons.org/boston/.