The Coalition is proud to announce the following persons as the Debtor Education Center’s permanent faculty:  

Mae Watson Grote

 Ms. Grote is a lawyer analyzing labor market policy with Public/Private Ventures, a national nonprofit research and policy organization. She has extensive experience in income supports and low-wage, low-skilled workers’ self-sufficiency issues, and has been asked to present on these topics at numerous conferences. Among her publications, she is the author of Unrealized Gains: How Workforce Development Organizations Can Put Money In the Pocket of Low-Wage Workers.  Ms. Grote is also a certified volunteer income tax assistant helping families prepare tax returns and claim tax credits. She received a B.A. from Rutgers University and a J.D. from the City University of New York School of Law.    

Jane Jaffe  

Ms. Jaffe is a senior attorney at the City’s Children Services agency where she is on staff at its in-house counsel unit. She counsels agency staff on various issues related to child welfare law including housing, confidentiality and freedom of information. She is a graduate of the CUNY Baccalaureate Program and the CUNY School of Law at Queens College. She volunteers as a community mediator and enjoys educating the average citizen on matters of financial literacy. Prior to becoming an attorney, she danced on Broadway and the concert stage.  

Pamela Horan

Peter Mosbacher  

Vice President – The Bank of New York, Community Development Division Mr. Mosbacher is a community development professional and an urban planner with 25 years of work experience with the public, private and non-profit sectors.  Prior to joining the Bank of New York, he was a Government and Community Relations Officer with Citibank, the Executive Director and founding board member of the New York Main Street Alliance, Inc., a Project Manager with Project for Public Spaces, Inc., and a planning intern with the Mount Vernon Department of Planning & Community Development.

Carol O’Rourke

Ms. O'Rourke has worked in sales and marketing at a major financial services firm for more than 25 years. During that time, she has coordinated a program on investing for women, chaired an education committee for the Securities Industry Association and taught "How to Invest" classes at The New School. A graduate of Emmanuel College in Boston, she holds an MA in history and and MBA from NYU. Prior to her career on Wall Street, Carol taught history at a college preparatory high school in Rhode Island. She currently serves as Treasurer of the board of Encore Community Services, an organization that serves the low income elderly population in and around Times Square

Edward Paulino  

Mr. Paulino is an Administrative Law Judge with the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, Office of Administrative Hearing.  He is a graduate of Binghamton University (SUNY) and Rutgers University School of Law.  He has taught paralegal courses in bankruptcy, criminal law, environmental law, legal research and writing, and legal terminology at Brooklyn College and Berkeley College in New York City.

Bonnie Pollack  

Bonnie Pollack is of counsel to the law firm of Angel & Frankel, P.C., a firm specializing in bankruptcy reorganization and corporate insolvency matters.  She is a graduate of New York Law School, magna cum laude, and obtained her undergraduate degree in economics at the University of Buffalo.  Bonnie is the past Chairperson of the Bankruptcy Committee for the Nassau County Bar Association and is a member of several bankruptcy law-related organizations, including the Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation and the American Bankruptcy Institute.

Kimberly Taylor

Ms. Taylor is an attorney, and volunteer with the Legal Aid Society.  

John Vavas  

John D. Vavas is an Associate at Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP in the firm's Real Estate Group.  He is a graduate of Gettysburg College and New York Law School (cum laude).  While in law school, John worked at the Legal Aid Society, Civil Division counseling and advising consumer debtors in filing bankruptcy.  Mr. Vavas was a judicial intern for Judge Conrad B. Duberstein, Chief Judge United States Bankruptcy Court Eastern District of New York.  

Sean Wright  

Mr. Wright is a 2004 graduate of Fordham Law School.  He has assisted the Coalition during the past two years on development of the updated curriculum, the Teacher Training program, and in teaching Debtor Financial Management classes.  He will also serve as a mentor to the Permanent Faculty.