Veronique de Champvallier Parke is a collector and philanthropist. She has established a strong commitment to the arts through her leadership in many international arts organizations and initiatives, including Outset Contemporary Art Fund (Chair of Trustees), Fluxus Art Projects (Vice Chairman), Amis du Centre Pompidou (Trustee), and Member of the Tate International Council. In 2018, she co-founded LaunchPad LaB, an artists’ residency program in Charente, France. Having earned her law degree in France, an MBA from the Stern School, NYU, and an M.A. in Contemporary Art Studies from The University of Manchester, UK, Veronique has combined her professional skills with personal passions to develop a track record of nurturing both successful arts organizations and the thriving careers of artists, whose work she has collected and followed.

Simona Petrova-Vassileva has spent three decades in leadership positions within the United Nations, including as Director of the UN Secretary-General’s Executive Office. From 2012 to 2022 she served as Secretary of the UN Chief Executives Board, providing system-wide strategic guidance and forward-looking solutions in response to current political, economic, and cultural world challenges. Having earned an M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and certification from Harvard Business School’s Executive Education, Simona has focused on applying innovative techniques for achieving results in public sector entities and has been an avid supporter and advisor to many charities, including as co-founder of American Foundation for Bulgaria. Since 2014 she has been a Founding Patron of the Serpentine Americas Foundation and a champion of Serpentine’s (London) contemporary art programs. She is also a Patron of the International Friends of the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna) and a Donor Member of the Metropolitan Opera Guild.

Rana Baladi’s professional experience has been in the field of marketing and brand building. She holds an MBA from INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France) and worked for multinational companies (Procter&Gamble, Bacardi, Unilever) in various locations around the world. Rana is now based in New York. She lived previously in Chicago, Madrid, Sydney, Dubai, Paris, Geneva, Washington DC, San Francisco and Beirut. As an avid supporter of the arts, Rana has always been involved with local and international art institutions wherever she lived. She serves as the President of the Board of BeMA-USA, an organization that advances the mission of the Beirut Museum of Art. She also serves on the Women’s Board of the Lyric Opera of Chicago and is a member of the Chicago Arts Club. Rana serves as a Volunteer Tour Guide at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. She also supports various museums and opera houses around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and the Prado museum in Madrid. Rana is passionate about supporting the inspiring mission and projects of AWARE through the work of the AWARE-USA board, in whatever way she can.