Leadership
Board of Directors
St. Vartan Park Conservancy board members (from left) Kevin O’Keefe, Michael-Ann Rowe, Lilli Seidman Davis and Charlie Banks appear in the St. Vartan Park garden with a New York State Assembly proclamation issued to the Conservancy on April 27, 2024, by Assembly Member Harvey Epstein. The honor celebrates such Conservancy achievements as effecting “enduring and positive change” in the community, providing “a calm oasis from the hustle and bustle of our concrete jungle” and for being “a great benefit to the youth, parents and the entire community.”
On April 13, 2024, in the St. Vartan Park garden, United States Congressman Jerry Nadler (third from right) bestowed on Kevin O'Keefe (fourth from right) a U.S. Congressional proclamation. After remarks, Representative Nadler presented a 400-word statement about O'Keefe that the congressman read into the Congressional Record two days earlier.
Nadler's Congressional Record remarks begin, "Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the tremendous accomplishments of Kevin O'Keefe, a dedicated community leader in East Midtown Manhattan." The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings of the U.S. Congress. A list of O'Keefe's achievements follow in the historic statement, including his leading a campaign that opened the St. Vartan Park garden to all after it was closed to the general public for decades and for work that "has inspired many people to find a middle ground when talking with those with differing views."
Also standing for the garden presentation were (from left) Conservancy officer Michael-Ann Rowe, New York State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, New York Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, New York City Council Member Keith Powers and New York State Assembly Member Alex Bores. A video of the presentation resides here.
On April 25, 2023, at the Samuel J. Tilden Democratic Club’s 70th anniversary gala at the National Arts Club in Manhattan, Kevin O’Keefe was the recipient of the Platinum Anniversary Award for Distinguished Service to the Community.
Kevin (pictured at the gala, being introduced as the honoree alongside former United States Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney) was presented the award for his parks, sports, environment and other volunteer community service in East Midtown Manhattan.
Kevin is the award-winning founder and president of St. Vartan Park Conservancy, and the president of Manhattan East Community Association.
Before he created the Conservancy for the nonprofit to serve the park and its surrounding community, Kevin led an advocacy campaign that successfully opened the park’s city-owned garden and lawn to the general public after decades of closure. The Conservancy is now the official steward of the green oasis.
“St. Vartan Park Conservancy’s main goal, O’Keefe said, is to make the community happy . . .”
An accomplished management, technology, marketing and media production professional, Kevin has led New York Sports Tours and other companies. His clients have included many prominent brands. Also an independent writer, Kevin authored the nonfiction bestseller The Average American.
A former all-America athlete, Kevin serves as a volunteer sports coach, including as the head coach of an East Midtown school’s champion track and field program. In basketball, he runs Swish You Were Here, a community nets-replacement program he started in 2020.
Kevin has served on East Midtown’s Manhattan Community Board 6 since 2019. In the borough, he also serves as a trustee of the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association, a board member of the Stuyvesant Cove Park Association and an advisory board member of The Village Trip.
“Kevin O’Keefe is the chair of Community Board 6’s Environment and Parks Committee, and when he was appointed to the job in November of last year, he started trying to figure out the story behind the locked garden. . . . The more he learned, the more frustrated O’Keefe became . . . the garden will open . . . ”
Kevin and his wife and their three teenaged children have lived in East Midtown’s Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village since 2017, following the family’s more than 15 years in Murray Hill close to St. Vartan Park.
Michael-Ann leads St. Vartan Park Conservancy’s green team and a number of other initiatives. She is known for her effective leadership on environmental issues in the St. Vartan Park community of Murray Hill, where she lives west of the park.
A Murray Hill Neighborhood Association (MHNA) trustee, Michael-Ann has led Keep Murray Hill Green & Clean and other breakthrough community initiatives.
In 2022 and 2023 under Michael-Ann's direction, the Adopt A Tree program added many trees planted in public spaces in the community.
Michael-Ann is an Emmy Award-winning food and travel journalist.
Michael-Ann Rowe (right) works on a planting project during a youth education session in the St. Vartan Park garden on October 28, 2022
Lili Seidman Davis (right) attends the Bellevue South Park reopening on June 21, 2023, with (from right) fellow St. Vartan Park Conservancy officer Kevin O’Keefe, NYC Parks Commissioner Beth Donoghue and Conservancy intern Zoe Davis
Lilli serves as St. Vartan Park Conservancy’s treasurer and development director. An expert in derivative theoretics as an institutional risk manager and investment strategist, Lilli has earned high praise from clients for her demystification of the investment process and her dedication to partnerships with purpose.
Lilli holds extensive executive experience and achievements in the nonprofit realm, including with Student Sponsor Partners, Robin Hood, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Museum of Tolerance, The Good Dog Foundation, Geffen Playhouse, 100 Women in Finance and High Water Women Foundation.
“With its diverse elements, Murray Hill retains longtime residents like Lillian Seidman Davis, a financial adviser . . . ‘It’s such a wonderful neighborhood,’ said Ms. Davis, a pickleball enthusiast who enjoys watching games at the local St. Vartan Park . . .”
A Murray Hill resident for more than 30 years, Lilli is a trustee of the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association who has served as chair for multiple association committees.
Charlie Banks (center) is flanked by fellow St. Vartan Park Conservancy officer Kevin O’Keefe (left) and NYC Parks’ Manhattan Borough Commissioner Tricia Shimamura in the St. Vartan Park garden at St. Vartan Park Earth Celebration on April 13, 2024
Charlie is St. Vartan Park Conservancy’s sports and recreation committee chair. Now retired after a successful sales leadership career with AT&T, he holds extensive knowledge of domestic and global sales teams and matrix management of numerous internal resources.
Charlie is a long-time supporter of the Doe Fund, whose mission is to break the cycles of poverty, homelessness and recidivism through economic opportunity, housing and comprehensive supportive services.
An active St. Vartan Park pickleball player, Charlie lives east of St. Vartan Park with his wife and enjoys spending time as a new grandfather to his grandson.
