Meet the Candidates
Amy Murphy Carroll
First Selectman
Amy and her family have been a part of the New Canaan Community for 27 years. She is a proud parent of four NCPS students, a active community volunteer, a ten year veteran of town government and an overall a New Canaan Fan!
With extensive experience on the Board of Finance since 2014, she brings in-depth knowledge of the town's budgeting process and all departments. She has liaised with BOE, Public Works, Parks and Recreations, served on committees, including Saxe, Police Building, Retirement Plans Advisory, and Debt Guidelines.
Amy is a graduate of Cornell University, and earned her MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She has a 30+ year career on Wall Street specializing in Municipal Finance.
Janet Leung Fonss
Janet Leung Fonss is a lifetime resident of Connecticut, born and raised in Stamford, and a 24 year resident of New Canaan. Janet and her husband, Jack have raised two children in New Canaan who attended the New Canaan public schools - a 2023 graduate of William & Mary and a rising freshman at Princeton University. She graduated from the Boston College Carroll School of Management with a B.S. in Business Management and Marketing.
Professionally, Janet has worked as a financial analyst and credit risk officer at Chase Manhattan Bank, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank. She received her formal credit training at Chase Manhattan Bank where she held positions in both the consumer and investment bank. At Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, she specialized as a Vice President in counterparty credit risk, covering institutional banks, fortune 500 companies and hedge funds.
While raising her children in New Canaan, Janet has been an active volunteer in the New Canaan public schools and in the community. Her volunteer work at NCPS has included classroom coordinator, fundraising chair, special events coordinator and board member. From 2013-2015 she served as West Elementary School’s Co-PTC president.
Janet has served as a Grade Level Advisor for the National Charity League and as a board member of New England Dance Theater/New England Dance Academy. She currently serves as a Board member of the New Canaan Beautification League and the Organization of Chinese Americans - Fairfield County (OCAFC).
TOWN COUNCIL
Jennifer Zonis
Jennifer Zonis grew up in New Canaan. She is a member of NCHS class of ’85 and a cum laude graduate of Harvard College class of ’89. After college she moved to New York to pursue a career in media and entertainment, doing a brief stint at CBS News as an assistant producer. She then moved into film publicity for Buena Vista Pictures, a division of the Walt Disney company. In 2000 Jen and her husband Jon moved overseas with their daughters Charlotte and Maia and had an adventurous five years living in Hong Kong. Jen returned with her family to New Canaan in 2005.
For the past 18 years Jen has served on several non-profit boards, including Horizons at NCCS and the Squash Haven Student Enrichment program in New Haven. Jen has been president of New Canaan’s Interfaith Council for nearly 5 years and now shares responsibilities as co-president. For the past 15 years Jen served as the vice-president of Schools and Scholarships for the Harvard Club of Fairfield County where she coordinated outreach, speaker series, and served as the liaison for Harvard admissions in the region. She has enjoyed her work doing grant reviews for the New Canaan Community Foundation and serves as Justice of the Peace. She has worked on several political campaigns for state and regional Democratic candidates including the 2018 campaign for State Senate 36th district.
In her spare time Jen is an avid tennis player and sings with Acabella, a woman’s a cappella group that performs locally. Jen is a member of the CCNC and the New Canaan Y.
Jen’s family will be supporting her on the campaign trail along with Daisy and Shuggie, their two golden retrievers.
TOWN COUNCIL
Lauren Connolly Nussbaum
Lauren Connolly Nussbaum and her husband Matt Nussbaum have lived in New Canaan since 2013. They have three daughters who currently attend South Elementary and Saxe Middle Schools. Lauren grew up in Boston, MA and earned a bachelor's degree in English Literature with a minor in Hispanic Studies from the College of William & Mary where she played on the nationally ranked women's lacrosse team. Lauren’s professional career has included work in NYC, Boston, Chicago and Toronto in the legal, non profit, and education sectors. Lauren recently finished a two year term as the South School PTC Board of Education Liaison and served as the 2022-2023 Celebrate Saxe Annual Campaign Co-Chair. Lauren is an active volunteer, coach and board member of many organizations in New Canaan including New Canaan Softball, New Canaan Football Club, New Canaan Y-Ball, National Charity League, Renovate the Dome, and St. Aloysius Religious Education & Special Needs Ministry. Lauren proudly served in past leadership roles on the Young Women's League, Newcomers Club and served as Board President & Board Vice President of New Canaan Community Preschool.
BOARD OF ED
Josh Kaye
Josh Kaye grew up in Wilton, where he attended the public schools K-12, and moved with his family to New Canaan in 2020. Josh and his wife, Megan, have two kids, a son (7) who attends East School and a daughter (4) in Pre-K at New Canaan Community Preschool.
After graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree from Wesleyan University and Masters and Law Degrees from Duke University, Josh spent more than a dozen years living in Manhattan and practicing law litigating cases across the country. In addition to representing major corporations and individuals in high stakes commercial litigation and government investigations, he maintained an active pro bono practice. A few years ago, Josh transitioned to an in-house role, in large part so that he could spend more time closer to home with his young kids. He is now Chief Counsel for Global Contingent & Litigation Risk at a specialty insurer.
In New Canaan, Josh currently serves as a member of the town Ethics Board.
BOARD OF ED
Brendan Hayes
Brendan Hayes has been a member of the Board of Education for 8 years (2 consecutive terms), including serving as Chairman and as Vice Chairman. He is a 15-year resident of New Canaan and, alongside his wife Ainsley, is raising three sons (19, 16, 12), all of whom have attended or are attending New Canaan Public Schools. Brendan is the son of educators and currently serves on the Newcomb Tulane College Dean’s Advisory Council at Tulane University. Professionally, he is a senior managing director at an investment banking firm and has worked in finance for over 20 years. He graduated from New York University’s Stern School of Business with an MBA and holds a BS degree in Mathematics and History from Tulane University.
BOARD OF ED
John Matz
John Matz, a New Canaan resident since 2006, is running for a seat on the town’s Board of Assessment Appeals. Already a member of the town’s Tourism and Economic Development Committee, Matz intends to bring his understanding and empathy for individuals who are seeking fair and equitable assessments of their properties’ value when they file an appeal with the Board.
With a professional career of more than 25 years in high level positions within the tourism industry, Matz has forged a reputation in relating to customers on behalf of his company, Tauck Inc. The position requires someone who can consider the property being appealed so that it accurately and fairly represents its assessed valuation, not just to the property owner, but to the residents throughout the town, Matz said in announcing his candidacy.
At Tauck, Matz served as director of Partner Relationships, working with more than 2,000 suppliers across the globe, to provide high-end travel experiences in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, Asia and the Middle East. In the position, he demonstrated strong business and product development skills, the ability to optimize revenue, mitigate risk and deliver results.
Aside from substantive contact with destination contacts worldwide to create exciting and memorable experiences for Tauck guests, Matz had significant relations with customers and clients to support their needs during travel.
As a visionary manager in his career, Matz intends to extend that acumen, interest and integrity to his position as a member of the New Canaan Board of Assessment Appeals. He notes that his mother, an award-winning preservationist, has instilled in him a respect and appreciation for the importance of preserving a town’s character, qualities supported by having tax assessments that are fairly and equally applied.
Matz and his partner of 17 years, Cynthia Dul, live in New Canaan. Dul is a well-known realtor with Berkshire Hathaway in its Westport office.
BOARD OF ASSESSMENT & APPEALS