Melissa & Alan – Class of 2025
Melissa Aase and Alan Gallo – Class of 2025 – came to Greater NY from different sectors, but with a shared commitment to leadership that models clarity of thought and action. Aase is CEO of University Settlement, one of New York’s oldest social service organizations, and Gallo is Executive Vice President and Chief Audit Executive at American Express, as well as a seasoned nonprofit Board leader. Their two-year Partnership focused on how to lead transparently through uncertainty.
Founded in 1886, University Settlement was the first settlement house in the United States and created this model of providing essential services while also advocating for systemic reform. Today, the organization serves more than 40,000 New Yorkers annually through early childhood education, youth development, mental health services, housing support, senior programs, the arts, and more. Based in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, with 30+ sites across the city, University Settlement plays a fundamental role in New York City’s social safety net, providing multi-generational support across diverse neighborhoods.
Aase and Gallo’s Greater NY Partnership was launched as University Settlement completed a restructuring and separation from a long-standing organizational partner. Additionally, the COVID 19 pandemic continued to haunt the agency, with staff feeling the lingering consequences of having expended energies previously kept in reserve to meet community needs during the long crisis. Aase also had her hands full addressing complex cultural and financial challenges.
From their first meeting, she understood Greater NY was a different tool in her leadership toolbox. “I have cone-of-silence relationships with select CEOs of our peer organizations,” says Aase. “But it was incredibly valuable to gain access to a sounding board like Alan, someone whose insights helped illuminate how leaders like my Board members might assess challenging topics. The Partnership was incredibly helpful.”
Aase and Gallo’s conversations covered real estate decisions, leadership transitions, audit and financial concerns common to most NYC non-profits, , and how to communicate difficult news with care. “I might start the meeting saying: ‘I’m rolling out a communications plan for a difficult decision’,” says Aase. “I always came to our meetings with a plan… but then Alan would say, ‘Have you thought about this order? This phrasing?’
“Even if the decisions don’t change,” she says, “the way I move through them does,” she says. “Our conversations confirmed some of my better instincts and added so much from Alan’s experience both at AMEX and in his non-profit board roles.”
Gallo brought not just corporate insight but nonprofit fluency — particularly around finances and Board culture. His perspective helped Aase navigate audits, restructure operations, and hire a new CFO. The experience he brought as a nonprofit Board member provided context, but Gallo experienced the Greater NY confidential sounding board model as gratifying and eye-opening. He saw how vital an outside perspective can be in moments of acute leadership challenge. “As a Board member, I know that I need to stand back and respect the CEO’s decisions,” he says. “But after being a Greater NY Partner, I find myself hoping the CEOs I work with have their own sounding board.”
Greater NY connects leaders in strategic service to the people of New York City. For Aase, that meant real-time support that sharpened her voice and vision. For Gallo, the experience reaffirmed what servant leadership requires. “The job isn’t to avoid tough decisions,” he says. “It’s to confront them— and give people hope.”