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Board Members
The Conflicts of Interest Board has five members; three appointed by the Mayor, one by the Comptroller, and one by the Public Advocate, all requiring the advice and consent of the City Council. Board Members serve staggered six-year terms and are eligible for reappointment to one additional six-year term. Under the City Charter, Board Members must be selected on the basis of their "independence, integrity, civic commitment and high ethical standards." While serving on the Board, Members may not hold any other public office or any political party office, be a lobbyist, or participate in any capacity in a campaign by a candidate for City elected office.
MILTON L. WILLIAMS JR.,
BOARD CHAIR
Milton L. Williams Jr. was appointed to the Board in September 2022. He is a partner in the New York office of Walden Macht & Haran LLP, where he specializes in white collar criminal and regulatory matters, employment law, complex commercial litigation, general litigation, and advisory work representing corporations. In the course of his distinguished career, he has tried more than 56 cases – both civil and criminal – to verdict.
Previously, Mr. Williams served as Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Time Inc., where his responsibilities included internal investigations, compliance, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and Sarbanes-Oxley, as well as intellectual property, privacy, data security, and other cutting-edge areas at Time, Inc., Mr. Williams litigated a variety of employment law matters on behalf of the company concerning race, age, disability, and gender discrimination; restrictive covenants; and independent contractor litigation.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Williams was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. His last assigned unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office was the Securities and Commodities Fraud Force. Mr. Williams also served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
WAYNE G. HAWLEY, BOARD MEMBER
Wayne G. Hawley was appointed to the Board in April 2020. Prior to his retirement in 2017, he had served for 18 years as a member of the Board’s staff, most recently as its Deputy Executive Director and General Counsel.
Before joining City service Wayne was for 12 years the Executive Director of MFY Legal Services and also worked as a staff attorney at Queens Legal Services. His legal experience before his 1979 move to New York City included a stint as staff counsel of the Cleveland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and two years in private practice in Los Angeles.
He received his B.A. from Claremont McKenna College and his J.D. from Yale Law School.
IFEOMA IKE, BOARD MEMBER
Ifeoma Ike was appointed to the Board in April 2022 as the first appointee to the Board by the Public Advocate. Ms. Ike is the Founder and CEO of Pink Cornrows, a women and person of color led consulting firm that helps leaders design strategies to advance equity through policy, social impact campaigns, and research.
With a career rooted in policy, advocacy, and organizing, Ms. Ike previously served on Capitol Hill in the office of the late Representative Donald Payne, Sr. (NJ) as well as part of the civil rights team on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee; as a Senior Policy Advocate with the Innocence Project; and as the Deputy Executive Director of the Young Men’s Initiative, where, among many things, she led the design of NYC Men Teach—one of the leading teacher diversity strategies in the nation. A first generation Nigerian-American, Ms. Ike has coordinated international human rights efforts, including creating the Haiti Cholera Summit in response to the devastating 2010 earthquake. Ms. Ike's previous community engagement work includes serving as a member of the Ferguson Legal Defense Committee and as the first Black board member of the Women's Prison Association. Trained as a public interest attorney, Ms. Ike served as mediator in the Unified Court System while in law school as well as a law clerk addressing employment and education discrimination claims. Throughout her career, Ms. Ike has drafted legislation and policies addressing criminal justice, labor rights, and voter protection. Ms. Ike has also co-facilitated the creation of several spaces for policymakers to deepen equity for marginalized communities, including the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls.
Ms. Ike received her B.A. and M.A. from West Virginia University, J.D. from CUNY School of Law, and LL.M. with highest honors from The George Washington University Law School.
AMY E. MILLARD, BOARD MEMBER
Amy E. Millard was appointed to the Board in April 2024. She is Of Counsel to the law firm Clayman Rosenberg Kirshner & Linder LLP, where she has specialized in white collar criminal defense and regulatory matters for more than 20 years. Prior to joining Clayman Rosenberg, she served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and clerked for the Honorable Whitman Knapp in the United States District Cout for the Southern District of New York.
For many years, Ms. Millard taught at the Trial Advocacy Workshop at Harvard Law School, and the Intensive Trial Advocacy Program at Cardozo Law School, and she spoke on panels at the New York City Bar Association about ethics in corporate investigations. Ms. Millard served on both the Criminal Law Committee and the Judiciary Committee of the City Bar Association, as well as on the board of the New York Council of Defense Lawyers. She co-founded and chaired the New York Chapter of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association and served on its executive board. She has been involved in charitable work for decades, serving in leadership positions at UJA-Federation of New York.
Ms. Millard received her A.B. from Barnard College of Columbia University, her M.A from New York University Graduate School of Arts & Science, and her J.D. from New York University School of Law.
GEORGIA M. PESTANA, BOARD MEMBER
Georgia M. Pestana was appointed to the Board in April 2022 as the first appointee to the Board by the Comptroller. Ms. Pestana most recently served as Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, the chief legal officer for New York City and its officials and employees. Ms. Pestana was the first woman and first Latina to be appointed to the position. Notably, she was also the first attorney to have risen through the ranks of the New York City Law Department to reach its top post.
Prior to her appointment as Corporation Counsel, Ms. Pestana served as First Assistant Corporation Counsel for six years and was responsible for overseeing litigation by and against the City and its public servants, as well as for providing legal advice to the Mayor, other elected officials, and municipal agencies. In that role, she also supervised the Law Department’s Chief Counsel for Professional Responsibility and Ethics.
From 2012 to 2015, Ms. Pestana was the Law Department’s Executive Assistant Corporation Counsel for Employment and Policy Litigation and oversaw all major employment matters and all litigation challenging municipal policies. Ms. Pestana was previously the inaugural Chief of the Labor and Employment Law Division, which she directed for 10 years. Earlier, Ms. Pestana held managerial positions in the General Litigation Division, where she started her legal career after graduating from New York University School of Law. Ms. Pestana received her undergraduate degree from Barnard College.