Our Journey
Founder and President of Pinnacle Performance Management, Andrew Boyarsky began his journey in emergency management in former Yugoslavia, a region that was in the middle of a brutal civil war in 1993 when he established a large-scale medical project under a US State Department grant to meet the needs of a refugee and displaced person population of over 500,000.
Many years ago in the middle of a civil war…
is where Andrew Boyarsky learned the basics of managing a large scale emergency program.
He went on to manage a diverse portfolio of programs in Bosnia-Herzegovina and then the Caucasus region, establishing local partnerships with multiple stakeholders, building logistics capabilities from the ground up, coordinating with local governments, and UN agencies, the Red Cross, and managing relationships with US and EU Government donors. Over the span of 18 years Mr. Boyarsky and his teams have established programs to support emergency logistics, mass care, crisis communications, pandemic preparedness, and business continuity for Federal, state, and local governments, the private and non-profit sectors.
The Team
Andrew Boyarsky
President
Andrew established Pinnacle Performance Management, an emergency management and business continuity consultancy based in the NY/NJ Metro area. He is also a Clinical Associate Professor in project management, business continuity, and emergency management at NYU, John Jay College (CUNY) and Yeshiva University.
During the 1990s, he worked almost exclusively overseas leading a range of programs in Eastern Europe, including such organizations as: the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and Catholic Relief Services. During the past 18 years Andrew has been a program director, leading teams in the development of large-scale emergency preparedness programs for New York City agencies and for the Regional Catastrophic Planning Team of NY-NJ-CT-PA. He has developed and produced a wide range of training curricula and online performance support systems. His most recent training programs were instrumental in the NY/NJ regional emergency responses to both Hurricanes Irene and Sandy, emergency responses in which he was actively involved.
He has a B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and a Masters in the Science of Management from the Hult International School of Business. He holds certifications as a PMP, CBCP, cABCF, and volunteers with the Community Emergency Response Team in South Orange, NJ, where he resides with his family. He also hosts a podcast series Riding the Wave-Project Management for Emergency Managers.
Additional background articles:
Trial by Fire: Communicating in a Crisis, by Bob Weinstein, ProjectManagement.com - April 17, 2006
Crisis Management in Action, by Bob Weinstein, ProjectManagement.com - Dec. 1, 2008
Celia Seigerman-Levit
Senior Risk Management Consultant
Celia Seigerman-Levit is a risk professional with over 30 years experience. Most recently Ms. Seigerman Levit was the Vice President of Risk Management & Insurance at Sotheby’s. Prior to Sotheby’s, Ms. Seigerman was Vice President of Risk Management and Insurance at the Related Companies, where she created a database of exposure for an $8 Billion portfolio and an insurance budget of over $50 Million in premium and self-insured loss funds. In addition, Ms. Seigerman-Levit previously ran the insurance consulting practice at T&H brokers now part of Alliant Insurance Services.
Ms. Seigerman-Levit is a member of the board of directors of MMCC a global non-governmental agency that supports the social development of 35,000 children; MMCC most recently provided childcare support for first responders in the COVID 19 Crisis, as well as a food pantry for families in need. In addition, Ms. Seigerman-Levit serves of the executive committee of the Temple Israel City of New York Women’s Leadership Council and each summer chairs the “Dorm Project” for Row New York a NYC based community rowing organization.
Ms. Seigerman-Levit graduated from Syracuse University with a BA in Political Science and Government.
Dr.Wilson O. Iyokho
Senior Epidemiology and Infectious Disease Specialist
Dr. Wilson Iyokho, PhD, has over 20 years of experience in public health research and management, with a primary specialization in epidemiology and drug development for infectious diseases. He has proven experience in planning and implementing infectious disease prevention such as HIV/AIDS, TB, EBOLA, and communicable disease outbreak response; including surveillance, and mitigation. Dr. Iyokho has served as the Director of Epidemiology for the West Virginia State Dept. of Health and Human Services. He also served as the Associate Director & Lead Scientist of Pharmaco-epidemiology for Sanofi Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Iyokho received his PhD in public health and epidemiology at Walden University, his M.S. Health Services Management and Urban Policy at The New School University, and a B.S. Public Health-Community Health at York College, City University of New York. He is a member of the American Public Health Association (APHA).
We’ve worked with:
American Management Association
American Red Cross of Greater New York
Baltimore City Health Department
CAI Global
City University of New York
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Hult International School of Business
Long Island University
Los Angeles Emergency Management Department
New York University
NY-NJ-CT-PA Regional Catastrophic Planning Team
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
NYC Human Resources Administration
NYC Office of Emergency Management
Westchester County Office of Emergency Management
The Risk Management Society
Stonybrook University (SUNY)
Yeshiva University
Some words from our clients
“Andrew is a true professional who has brought his classroom to the real world. Students in his programs were involved in framing our Business Continuity and Disaster Planning efforts. He's taken his students out of the classroom into the real world and helped our organization at the same time.”
— James E. Vasquez, PMP® ITIL®, Chief Information Officer, Technology Executive, Yeshiva University
“I am pleased to recommend Andrew and have worked directly with him for some 6 years now. His strengths lie in his ability to navigate the complex environments of city government to produce successful outcomes on various levels. He is an accomplished leader, project manager, and is also a mentor on many levels to many of the people he works with.”
— Fernando Miranda, Deputy Director Emergency Preparedness and Operations at the NYC Department of Homeless Services
“The workshop provided me the opportunity to work in a group to formulate the strategies…and potential challenges of rolling out a program leveraging a virtual environment.”
— Thomas Deinzer, Learning Technologist, GE Healthcare