The Trail Blazers LANTERN Award recognizes Leaders, Advocates, and Nurturers for Transformative Experiences Rooted in Nature. We are proud to honor Jon Peris and his long-standing commitment to our mission of teaching life essential skills and values through summer camps and year-round programs with the Inaugural LANTERN Award at this year's Spring Benefit. Jon served as a Camper Mentor and a Board Member for 10 years, and now continues to serve as a Board Patron. Currently, he is a Director of Investments with Stifel Financial, where he leverages his 30 years of capital markets and wealth management experience helping his clients achieve their personal and professional goals. An advocate of making time for personal fitness and fulfillment, Jon enjoys spending time with family and friends, coaching his children’s sport teams, seeing live music, travelling, getting outside in nature, and the personal rewards of giving back. Jon lives in New Jersey with his wife, Sari, and their three children.

John is a 3x Emmy Award winning reporter for CBS 2 News and CBS News New York. For more than a decade, he has covered hard-breaking news stories, from wars to the COVID pandemic, and everything in between. John graduated magna cum laude from the University at Albany with dual majors in journalism and communication. A proud New York native who is passionate about the outdoors, John is thrilled to support the Trail Blazers and increase young people’s access to nature. He lives in Long Island with his husband and two dogs.

Marcella  Carr-Gay is the Founder of The Brooklyn Green Magnet School for Eco-Activism, a progressive middle school, committed to culturally responsive pedagogy, eco-activism, literacy, the sciences and the arts. Prior to founding The Brooklyn Green School, Marcella worked at Thurgood Marshall Academy for Learning and Social Change in Harlem, where she served as Director of Middle School and is credited for leading the Middle School from low performance in Math and ELA to exceeding standards. As the Assistant Principal of Thurgood Marshall, she successfully implemented a plan for nurturing and expanding systems and culture that promoted  students’ achievement, family engagement, staff empowerment and sustainable community partnerships. As a lifelong Brooklynite, Marcella is dedicated to changing the academic and social environment and ensuring that families in the most underserved communities have excellent options for their children. Marcella is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated and Jack and Jill of America where she is committed to service focused on nurturing future African-American leaders by strengthening children through leadership development, volunteer service, philanthropic giving and civic duty.