Happiness Is Camping would not be possible without our highly skilled Board of Directors. Each and every one of them has a passion for helping people and a skill set to get it done!
Laura grew up in Wilmington, Delaware and attended the University of Pennsylvania where she received her BSN in 1990 and her MSN in 1994. She worked for 5 years as a Pediatric Staff Nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and in 1995 joined the Department of Pediatric Surgery as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner.
Throughout her years at Memorial Laura was a summer nurse volunteer at Happiness Is Camping. She left the paid working world in June, 2004 to spend more time with her family, but continued to volunteer each summer at HIC. In 2012, Laura took on the role of full time Summer Nurse for HIC and served in that capacity for 10 years. She was asked to join the Board of Trustees in 2012 and took on the role of Board President in March, 2015.
Laura and her husband Alex split their time between Madison, NJ and Londonderry, VT.
To contact Laura, please e-mail her at [email protected] or call her at (973) 214-5996.
Cody is a proud cancer survivor and alumnus of Happiness Is Camping (HIC). He attended camp from 1994 to 2002 and later returned as a volunteer counselor from 2014 to 2016. In 2018, Cody joined the HIC Board of Directors and served as Co-Chair of the Alumni Committee until 2024. Currently, he serves as Vice Chair of the Board. He is also a mentor in HIC’s Counselor and Mentorship Program, where he shares his experiences overcoming challenges and finding success in adulthood.
Professionally, Cody is a senior U.S. Government official with the Department of Energy. He has previously held various senior roles in the defense, aerospace, and U.S. National Security sectors.
Cody earned a B.A. in History from the Virginia Military Institute and an M.A. with Distinction in Human Behavior from National University. Additionally, he holds certifications in Project Management from Syracuse University and the Project Management Institute, as well as in Strategic Management from Georgetown University.
He lives in Alexandria, VA, with his wife, Jessica, and their two sons.
Beth began her career at Bear Stearns & Co. Inc. where she worked for nearly 10 years as an investment banker focusing on the insurance and asset management sectors. She also worked briefly at Oliver, Wyman & Co., which specialized in risk management and consulting within the financial services sector.
Beth retired from her Wall Street career to focus on running her household and raising her two daughters. After several years of focusing on her family, Beth began to attain leadership positions as a volunteer at her children’s schools and with other organizations in the community.
She is currently the Vice President of Finance of her synagogue’s Sisterhood,
managing the Sisterhood’s finances and overseeing membership and all
fundraising efforts; previously she served as Treasurer. She is also the Co-Chair and Treasurer of the synagogue’s Friendship Club, an organization which brings programs and speakers to the middle-aged and older members of the synagogue. Beth also rose through the ranks at her children’s school to become the Vice President of Finance of the Parents Association of the Montclair Kimberley Academy, a board position from which she supervised a team of treasurers, oversaw the association’s significant budget and interacted with the school’s administration and Board of Trustees.
Beth loves being part of the team at Happiness Is Camping, an organization that she and her husband have supported for many years.
Julie earned her BSN from the College of New Rochelle in 1988 and began her
career as a Pediatric Oncology Nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
(MSKCC) in the fall of that year. She went on to receive her MSN from Yale
University in 1995 as a Clinical Nurse Specialist, then a Post Master’s Certificate at Hunter College as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in 1997.
Julie is certified as a CPNP in Primary and Acute Care and has worked at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for the past 30+ years, working in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and now a member of the inpatient Pediatric Surgical Team. She was introduced to Happiness Is Camping back in 1989 which was the beginning of her 25+ years of service. She began as a volunteer camp nurse (functioning as a nurse/nursing director/member of the Medical Board from 1993-2010) and has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2012.
It was at camp that Julie met fellow volunteer, FDNY firefighter Bobby McMahon. They married in 1999 and had two sons. Bobby perished as a first responder to the Twin Towers on 9/11, but his spirit lives on at camp through the Giant Swing and “Bobby’s Gym” as well as through the many campers, counselors and volunteers whose lives he touched.
Julie has since remarried and resides in Fairfield, CT with her husband John and their blended family of four sons.
Dr. Alexander Chou is an assistant professor of pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine and an assistant attending pediatrician at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He specializes in the care of children with pediatric sarcomas including osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, synovial sarcoma, desmoplastic small round cell tumor, alveolar soft part sarcoma, rhabdoid tumors, epithelioid sarcomas, infantile fibrosarcomas, and other rare sarcomas of childhood, and also cares for children with other common solid tumors such as neuroblastoma, Wilm’s tumor, hepatoblastoma, germ cell tumors, and other rarer tumors of childhood..
Dr. Chou began volunteering at HIC starting in 2003. Dr. Chou, his wife Carol, and their twins live on Roosevelt Island, New York.
Peter has been volunteering as a camp physician at Happiness Is Camping since 1997. After receiving his medical degree at Cornell University and completing his pediatric training at The Mount Sinai Hospital, Dr. Cole completed a fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and The New York Hospital. Dr. Cole also worked at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, where his clinical practice focused on improving treatment options for children, adolescents and young adults with leukemia and lymphoma.
Dr. Cole is currently the Division Chief for Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the Rutgers Cancer Institute.
His NIH-funded laboratory research centers on reducing the toxicity of anticancer therapy.
Dr. Richard Gorlick is the H. Grant Taylor, M.D., W.W. Sutow, M.D., and Margaret P. Sullivan, M.D. Distinguished Chair in Pediatrics and Division Head, Department Chair, and Professor of Pediatrics at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson) in Houston, Texas. He is also Department Chair ad interim of Sarcoma Medical Oncology at MD Anderson.
At MD Anderson, he directs a research laboratory focused on drug resistance and mechanisms of pathogenesis in osteosarcoma. He is active in clinical trials and care for patients with bone sarcomas.
Dr. Gorlick is the Past Chair of the Bone Tumor Disease Committee of the
Children’s Oncology Group (COG), the international research organization devoted to optimizing the cure of childhood cancer through scientific discovery.
Prior to relocating to Houston, Dr. Gorlick served as the Division Head of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at the Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine from 2004 through 2016 having worked at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center before then. He first became involved with Happiness is Camping at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in 1993. He served as the Happiness Is Camping Medical Director from 1998 to 2016. Since relocating to Houston in 2016, he continues to serve as Medical Director Emeritus.
Jenna first came to camp during Summer 2013 where she was a part of the admin staff and in charge of keeping the pool up, running, and most importantly fun! Initially with a degree in neuroscience, it was her time at HIC that inspired her to go back for a second degree in nursing.
After Jenna graduated with her BSN in 2016, she has continued to volunteer at HIC annually as part of the nursing staff. Jenna began her nursing career at Memorial Sloan Kettering where she spent 5 years on their inpatient pediatric unit. In 2021 she earned her MSN as a Clinical Nurse Specialist. She then transitioned to a night shift clinical nurse specialist at MSKCC, providing assistance to nurses and patients throughout the entire hospital overnight.
It was at camp that Jenna met fellow former counselor and volunteer, Josh who she married in 2020. Her mother in law Paulette has engrained the love of camp into Jenna. Camp is a family affair and deep in all of their hearts.
Paulette is a Masters prepared advance practice Registered Nurse with board certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner. She currently functions as the Family Nurse Practitioner for the Pediatric Sarcoma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Paulette received her BSN from the City University of New York, Lehman College, in 1986. She began her career at Albert Einstein Hospital in the Bronx, NY. In August of 1988, she transitioned to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). At MSKCC, she advanced from a staff nurse to supervisory roles, and then to the role of Nurse Practitioner in the Pediatric Sarcoma practice.
After a temporary role of Nurse Manager for the inpatient pediatric unit, she assumed her present role as Nurse Leader for the MSKCC PICU. Paulette came to Happiness Is Camping in 1995 as a volunteer nurse (with her own children in tow). From 1995 through 2010, she came yearly volunteering as a camp nurse. In 2010 she assumed responsibility as Nursing Director and in 2012 joined the Board of Directors.
Paulette encourages a family commitment to HIC. Her children have followed in her footsteps. Daughter Hannah worked as an HIC counselor and now volunteers as camp nurse each summer. Her son Joshua served as a summer counselor for 5 years. Camp is a family affair and deep in all of their hearts.
Yvette joined Memorial Sloan Kettering in 2001 as a registered nurse on the pediatric inpatient unit where she cared for children undergoing bone marrow transplantation, chemotherapy, and various other cancer-related procedures.
She became a nurse practitioner in 2008, and in 2010 transferred into a position as a nurse practitioner at Memorial Sloan to the inpatient Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Service. She works collaboratively with physicians to manage the care of people undergoing autologous and allogeneic transplants, as well as people who are readmitted for post-transplant complications such as infections and severe graft-versus-host disease.
In 2021 she joined Newark Beth Israel, RWJBH Frederick B. Cohen, M.D. Comprehensive Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and worked with both Oncology and hematology adult patients including leukemia, lymphoma, breast, lung, hemophilia and sickle cell patients.
In June 2022 she became the lead Nurse Practitioner for the sickle cell population with adults and transitioned from pediatric patients to adult clinic. She is currently working on her Hematology Advance Practitioner Certification. Yvette is also an active member of the National Alliance for sickle cell population.
Yvette has been a volunteer at Happiness Is Camping since 2002 , an active Member of the American Society of Hematology, and oncology nursing certified since 2003.
I first started volunteering at HIC in 2013. Working in administration at MSK, it was Paulette who first introduced me to the idea of camp. It only took one week to fall in love with HIC and everything it had to offer. From ropes courses, to s’mores, and all the meaningful friendships that have been forged on walks across camp, I have truly found a second home in HIC. My hope is for all future campers to find the same joy camp has given me.
After three years volunteering as a counselor, I pursued a second bachelors degree in nursing at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. I am now back at MSK proudly working as a pediatric oncology nurse. It has been so special not only to return to camp as a nurse, but to see some of my former campers return as counselors. I am especially excited to be attending the wedding of a former camper early next year!
When I am not working, I love to spend time with my family, especially my niece and two nephews. I have also spent many camp mornings running the hills of Sunset Lake Road. I even had the opportunity to represent HIC at the NYC half marathon and am currently training for my next half- on Antarctica!
Zoe King is a pediatric oncologist who completed her undergraduate studies in biology at American University, earned a master’s in biological science at Drexel University College of Medicine, and her medical degree at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. She trained in pediatrics at Nemours Children’s Health and completed fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. She now serves on the faculty at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, NY where her clinical and research focus is on children with cancer predisposition syndromes. She started volunteering as the camp doctor at HIC during her fellowship and immediately was reminded of how special camp can be. Growing up, she spent summers at Camp Harlam in Kunkletown, PA which continues to be an important part of her life. She is a die hard Philadelphia sports fan (go Birds) and loves to play golf.
Laurie Malia is a Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physician at Columbia University Medical Center/NewYork-Presbyterian, where she serves as the Assistant Medical Director of the Emergency Department, Medical Director of Electronic Health Record Integration, and Director of Clinical Informatics. Her research focuses on advancing electronic health records and leveraging point-of-care ultrasound to improve pediatric care in everyday practice.
Laurie first joined camp in 2004 as a counselor, briefly stepping away during medical training before returning as a volunteer camp physician. Many of her closest friendships trace back to camp, and she hopes every child can experience that same sense of connection and belonging. She proudly owns a vintage shirt from 1980 — the very first year of camp.
Laurie lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her wife Kait, a pediatric oncologist, their two boys, and two cats.
Rosanna Ricafort is Vice President, Head of Cell Therapy Clinical Development at Bristol Myers Squibb. In this role, she is a core member of the Cell Therapy Leadership Team and drives the implementation of globally aligned clinical development strategies to bring transformational CAR T therapies to patients. Dr. Ricafort has been with BMS since 2015, and has held increasing leadership positions in Immuno-Oncology Research and Development. Among her roles, she led the Pediatric Oncology Development Team and helped guide the formation of the Pediatric Center of Excellence, focused on the vision and growth of BMS asset development strategies in pediatrics, including consideration for scientific, regulatory and clinical activities. In addition, she was responsible for multiple development programs across solid tumors and
hematologic malignancies, including elotuzumab in multiple myeloma and nivolumab in Hodgkin lymphoma, and led the clinical due diligence of Bristol Myers Squibb’s acquisition of Celgene, the largest acquisition in the healthcare industry to date. Prior to joining BMS, Dr. Ricafort started her industry career at Celgene, where she supported the multiple myeloma franchise leading clinical studies and delivering the successful launch for lenalidomide’s NDMM indication.
Dr. Ricafort is a pediatric hematologist/oncologist and bone marrow transplant physician. She established and directed the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program at Montefiore Medical Center, NY, where she held a faculty appointment for over 10 years. She earned her Medical Doctorate at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and completed her fellowship training in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. She was a research fellow in MSKCC-Sloan Kettering Institute’s Department of Human Genetics and Immunology working on gene transfer and adoptive cellular therapy strategies in the Sadelain lab.
Rosanna has been involved with Happiness Is Camping since 2004, served as volunteer camp physician from 2004-2015 and is a passionate advocate for HIC.
