ROBERT P. ASTORINO
MARK BEZOS
GLENN CLOSE
RICHARD GERE
Accomplishments: Westchester County Executive, serving his second four-year term. He was founding executive producer of 1050 AM ESPN Radio in New York City and a host on the MSG Network. Local ties: Astorino lives in Mount Pleasant. Charities of choice: Catholic Youth Organization. “I am active as a parent and a coach. It’s an opportunity to be a positive influence on young people as they learn about winning, losing and how to be a good teammate in both cases.”
Accomplishments: A customer experience professional, Bezos was the founder of the Bezos Nathanson Marketing Group. Local ties: He lives in Scarsdale. Causes of choice: Bezos is a director of the Bezos Family Foundation, which works to increase early education, strengthen the public school system and encourage young leaders. He’s also a member of the Leadership Council of the Robin Hood foundation, dedicated to ending poverty in New York City; a member of the board of directors of iMentor, matching high school students with college-educated mentors; and a captain with the Scarsdale Volunteer Fire Department.
Accomplishments: Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony Award-winning star of stage (“Sunset Boulevard,” returning to Broadway Feb. 2) and screens big and small (“Fatal Attraction,” “Sarah, Plain and Tall”) Local ties: Born and raised in Greenwich, Close now lives in Bedford Hills. Causes of choice: In 2010, Close and her family founded Bring Change 2 Mind, to end the stigma associated with mental illness. She is chairman of the conservation council for Panthera, dedicated to the preservation of the world’s big cats (April WAG); a supporter of Puppies Behind Bars, which provides wounded war veterans with service dogs ( January WAG); and a member of the Bedford Playhouse’s cultural advisory council.
Accomplishments: Star of more than 40 films, including “Chicago,” for which he won a Golden Globe. Local ties: Gere is co-owner (with Russell Hernandez) of the Bedford Post Inn and a Pound Ridge resident. Causes of choice: A practicing Buddhist, Gere co-founded Tibet House in Manhattan and is board chairman of the International Campaign for Tibet, both dedicated to protecting the rights of the Tibetan people. His work on behalf of AIDS research and prevention has recently focused on the spread of the disease in India. There he has helped the Naz Foundation establish and expand the first AIDS Care Home in New Dehli.
See story on Page 22. Photograph by John Rizzo.
See story on Page 26. Photograph by John Rizzo. For more, visit bezosfamilyfoundation.org
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For more, visit bringchange2mind.org.
For more, visit gerefoundation.org.