Michael Clinton
Founder/President
Michael Clinton has spent 40 years in the magazine publishing business, as the Publisher of GQ to Executive Vice President of Conde Nast. He spent 23 years at Hearst Magazines, as Chief Marketing Officer/Group Publisher to President/Publishing Director of the 19 Hearst Magazines, including Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar and O, the Oprah Magazine.
He is also the author of 8 books of photography and 2 books of nonfiction essays, including the Globetrotter Diaries, chronicling his travels to over 100 countries.
Clinton has served on numerous nonprofits, as Chairman of the Volunteers of America/NY, the Starlight Starbright Foundation, the Board of Trustees of the International Center of Photography and Pace University and the Ad Council. He holds a BA in Economics and Political Science, an MBA in Marketing and is studying for a Masters in Nonprofit/Philanthropy.
The establishment of Circle of Generosity has been an outgrowth of Clinton’s various philanthropic endeavors and his belief that the best giving from one person to another should be both random acts of kindness, as well as anonymous to the recipient.
Jack Kliger
Secretary/Treasurer
Jack Kliger, President & CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, was born in Florence, Italy to Polish and Hungarian Holocaust survivors before emigrating with his family to Brooklyn as a young child. He has had an accomplished career in media, beginning in the 1980s as Publisher of GQ Magazine and then Glamour magazine, followed by his roles as Executive Vice President of Condé Nast Publications and Parade Publications. In 1999, he began a decade-long tenure as President & CEO of Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., publishing 17 magazine brands in the United States that included the popular Elle, George, Woman’s Day, and Car and Driver. Kliger has served as Chairman of the industry trade association Magazine Publishers of America and as CEO of TV Guide Magazine, and has been recognized with Lifetime Achievement Awards from Magazine Publishers of America and the Anti-Defamation League. Kliger was named President & CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage in 2019 after 13 years of service on its Board of Trustees and oversaw the opening of its groundbreaking exhibition, Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.
Thomas DeVincentis DVM
Tom DeVincentis is a New York City based veterinarian with a private practice, “The Country Vet”, which he established 30 years ago on New York’s Upper East Side. He is recognized for his various efforts within the veterninarian community, including acts of kindness to those in need of pet care. He is the author of “Tails of the City”, a heartwarming, semi-autobiographical book of essays of pet stories. He is an avid horseman, riding throughout Long Island’s East End.
Valerie Fitch
Valerie Fitch is an attorney and the Senior Director of Talent Development at the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, an international law firm with 18 offices throughout the U.S. and abroad. She has been an Adjunct Professor at Brooklyn Law School for over 20 years, teaching Fundamentals of Legal Drafting to third year students. Valerie is the current President of the Alumni Association of Brooklyn Law School, is a past Co-President of the Trevor Day School Parent Association, and has served on or chaired several committees of the New York City Bar Association. Valerie’s family has been active in philanthropic causes for many years in Cincinnati, Ohio, including raising the funds for Cincinnati’s first Ronald McDonald House, and has been supportive of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the Taft Art Museum, and the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.
Donna Kalajian Lagani
Donna Kalajian Lagani joined the Hearst Foundations in February 2020 after serving nearly 25 years at Hearst Magazines. The Hearst Foundations are national philanthropic resources for organizations working in the fields of culture, education, health and social services. Since 1945, the Foundations have made over 20,000 grants totaling more than $1.1 billion.
Kalajian Lagani most recently served as senior vice president, publishing director and chief revenue officer of U.S. Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health and Seventeen, spearheading Hearst’s Young Women’s Group.
Kalajian Lagani is a graduate and active alumna of Penn State University where she earned a degree in business and finance. She is married to Joseph Lagani and they are parents of their son Joe.
Kalajian Lagani is proud of her continued involvement with Circle of Generosity.
Jaqui Lividini
One of the country’s foremost brand experts, Jaqui Lividini, is renowned for developing, repositioning, and transforming iconic retail, Lifestyle, and celebrity brands. After rising to a senior leadership position at Saks Fifth Avenue, Jaqui founded a highly successful brand strategy company, L&Co., and has established a reputation for guiding brands and businesses to marketplace success.
During her time at Saks, Jaqui created “Key to the Cure”, which benefitted Women’s Cancer Research, raising more than $15 million to support women’s health initiatives. She has been recognized internationally for this landmark initiative, which continues to set the standard for fundraising within the retail/fashion community. Lividini also served as the Board Chair for WIN, New York City’s most extensive homeless shelter system for families, where she oversaw $50 million in fundraising during her six years of Board leadership. Currently Lividini is the Vice Chair of the FIT Board of Trustees.
Keith LaScalea
Dr. Keith LaScalea has been an internist, educator, and administrator at Weill Cornell Medicine for nearly two decades. He teaches in premedical, undergraduate, and continuing medical education, and is active in his academic practice. He has also worked in clinical care, teaching, and public health efforts in Tanzania, Ghana and Zambia. Dr. LaScalea has also been actively involved with organized medicine in New York state. He is proud to be involved with the important efforts of Circle of Generosity.
Adam Richman
Adam Richman is a Partner at Double Nickel Entertainment, a New York based production studio. The Company’s extensive production history include the smash global hit GRAN TORINO starring Clint Eastwood, THE BURIAL starring Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones, THE BOOK OF HENRY starring Naomi Watts, and many others. Richman is also the CEO of Strat-O-Matic Media, the market leader in sports simulation. He led the turnaround of the Company, growing revenues more than 50%. Under Richman’s leadership, Strat-O-Matic moved to a culture of innovation, embracing change, new media and technologies while still honoring the spirit of this legendary entertainment brand.
Adam has worked at such companies as HBO, The Onion, and in the training program at UTA. He is an honors graduate of Tufts University and the Harvard University Graduate School of Business. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.
Deborah Soss
Deborah is a senior executive leader and the founder of Soss Consulting Group, LLC. SCG is a retail and wholesale fashion consulting firm that concentrates on both domestic and international brands with particular expertise in the luxury sector. It was founded after a successful career as a luxury retailer and offers highly targeted solutions to overall business needs including insight, strategy and implementation.
Previously, as the Vice-President of Handbags, Accessories, and Ready to Wear at Bergdorf Goodman, Deborah strategically developed and implemented strategies to increase revenue and market share. Prior to Bergdorf Goodman, she was a Senior Buyer at Saks Fifth Avenue and I.Magnin.
Deborah has taught as an adjunct instructor at Marymount Manhattan College in New York in the Business program and The Fashion Institute of Technology. Recently she enrolled in the graduate program at FIT and will receive her Master of Professional Studies in the Global Fashion Management program in 2022.
In addition to her devotion to Circle of Generosity, she volunteers at Weill-Cornell Hospital and was a volunteer at the Aids Hospice Center in San Francisco. In California, she has contributed to the fundraising efforts of the Peninsula Humane Society and Mission Hospice of San Mateo County.