With an unwavering commitment to social and cultural change, Alice uses innovation and creativity to expand the vision for what is possible for Western New York and beyond. As an author and strategist, Alice focuses on collaboration, mentorship and philanthropy, ensuring that our community will not just survive, but thrive.
Alice is the current Board President of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, where she continually challenges herself and others to think through new approaches to identify opportunities for innovation and growth during this historically significant period at the Museum. Reopening as the Buffalo AKG Art Museum in 2023, Alice leads many facets of the project, spearheading the incorporation of creative problem solving tools which are applied to many areas of the work of the Museum from the annual gala to strategic planning.
A founding board member and Chair Emerita of the WNY Women’s Foundation, Alice led the extensive transition to an independently operational Foundation while achieving an organizational shift from a focus solely on program support to one that includes program design and implementation and public advocacy geared towards systemic change. She is the founding Co-Chair of ALL IN WNY, a community wide women’s leadership initiative through which the Foundation is working to move the needle on gender equity in leadership. Economic empowerment through education has been a baseline for much of her work, including as a Board Member of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo.
Alice earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Colgate University and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, after which she practiced corporate and business-related immigration law at Hodgson Russ LLP. She then evolved her career to focus on family and community work, serving on numerous Boards and a variety of volunteer leadership roles. Alice holds an MS degree from SUNY Buffalo State in the field of Creativity and Change Leadership and is the Founder of the Innovation Philanthropy Initiative, which aims to realize transformative solutions by empowering the use of creative thinking processes and stewarding innovation at all levels of non-profits.
Inspired by the deep and impactful philanthropy of her family, whose compassionate investments are a powerful force for good, Alice is working to create and inspire a better community. She has been recognized by Buffalo/Niagara’s Business First with a Women of Influence Award, as well as numerous years on their Power 250 and Women’s Power 125 lists, and honored for her Leadership in the Arts by the NYS League of Women Voters. Originally from Westchester County, NY, Alice has made Western New York her home. Residing in East Aurora, with her husband and dogs, Jacobs two children have launched into the world to begin creating their own pathways of impact.
