My name is Ariel Young and I am youth advocate. I am a Crisis Housing Director for the Ali Forney Center. We are the biggest organization in America serving the LGBTQ+ homeless youth. I strive to ensure that LGBTQ+ youth all over the world are provided a safe haven to thrive and grow into independence. Providing guidance to our youth has always been my passion. As a leader I provide professional development and growth to my team. I enjoy being a leader and ensuring that my team is always supported. I also love exploring, cooking and being a mom.

Azra (she/her) is a seasoned nonprofit leader with a 16-year commitment to advancing economic mobility. Currently serving as Senior Director of Small Business Programs at Hot Bread Kitchen in New York City, Azra is a champion for underrepresented groups, driving initiatives that empower women, gender-expansive people, immigrants, and people of color through food entrepreneurship. Since joining Hot Bread Kitchen, she has significantly expanded community engagement and small business initiatives, achieving record program applications and enrollment. Azra’s leadership has been pivotal in fostering a robust ecosystem of support and mentorship for over 100 entrepreneurs annually. Before her role at Hot Bread Kitchen, Azra held critical positions in financial counseling, affordable housing, and community outreach across California, Florida, and New York. Azra holds a BA from San Francisco State University and an MS in Nonprofit Management from the New School.

Cathleen McGuire is the Senior Director of Vision Rehabilitation and Outreach at VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired. She is also a Certified Vision Rehabilitation Therapist. She supervises 12 vision rehabilitation therapists as well as orientation and mobility instructors. The outreach part of her role focuses on community and government relations. She serves as co-chair for a committee developing a national five year strategic plan for policy and funding for vision rehabilitation instruction. She has taught as an adjunct instructor for rehabilitation skills at CUNY/Hunter College as well as presented on the same and related topics at state and national conferences. Together with two prominent agencies she worked at prior to VISIONS, she has over 25 years of experience in serving the blind and visually impaired community. She has a B.S. in Human Services from St. Johns University as well as a Masters in Special Education from CUNY/Hunter College.

César Ventura Tapia is the Program Manager at Fund for the City of New York. He oversees the NYC Community Planning Fellows and as well as the Sloan Public Service Awards and the Sloan Awards for Excellence in Teaching High School Science and Mathematics programs. Prior to his role at the Fund, César worked as the Assistant Director of the Leadership and Innovation Office at New York University in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. He was responsible for leading innovative projects such as university grant competitions, supporting the Leadership and Innovation doctoral program, and organizing leadership development summits for C-Suite level leaders.

César earned his bachelor’s from CUNY Brooklyn College where he double majored in Puerto Rican and Latinx/e Studies, and Political Science. His passion for giving back to his community led him to be an active organizer that supported initiatives for underrepresented and immigrant communities. As an advocate for higher education, his interests and research has been focused on educational equity, primarily on community responsive pedagogy to better educational outcomes for court-involved youth. César obtained his master’s in Education Leadership, Politics, Advocacy (ELPA) from New York University. He is invested and committed to engaging students in the pursuance of their post-graduate experience. As a first-generation college graduate, Cesar Ventura Tapia deeply understands the value of education. He credits his resourceful style from working over 13 years in the hospitality industry. This experience, coupled with years of cross-sectional experience in operations and management in the nonprofit sector and higher education has allowed him to thrive.

Devan Cronshaw currently serves as the Director of Special Projects at South Bronx Unite, managing large-scale community-driven projects, such as the transformation of an abandoned facility into a health, education, and arts center, and a waterfront development plan serving over 60,000 residents. Previously, Devan was a Senior Project Manager at Hester Street Collaborative, overseeing community facility projects across New York City and developing technical assistance for Community Land Trusts. He also managed affordable housing developments in British Columbia, Canada as part of an Indigenous-led development services consultancy. Devan holds a Master of Community Planning from Vancouver Island University and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Manitoba. He is a certified member of both the American and Canadian Institutes of Planners.Devan is actively involved in community leadership in his neighborhood of El Barrio. He serves on the Board for The Peoples Church, FSUMC, supporting property stewardship and fundraising. As a board member of the East Harlem El Barrio Community Land Trust, he aids in the development of affordable housing and cultural spaces in the neighborhood. Additionally, until May 2024, he was a member of Community Board 11 of Manhattan, advising on land use and housing issues and opportunities in East Harlem. His work reflects a commitment to community empowerment and sustainable development.

Frankie J. Alicea (he/they) is a theatre maker, educator & producer. Since receiving his BFA from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in 2012, they’ve worked throughout the US and abroad and has extensive training in devised theater techniques, arts integration and trauma-informed theater & educational practices. They have created and spearheaded a wide range of theater education programs throughout Connecticut, New York, southern California, creating & facilitating curriculum to support students K-12, adults & neurodiverse folks. Frankie most recently served as the Associate Artistic Director of Diversionary Theatre and a Senior Teaching Artist with La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, CA and currently works as the Director of Programs for CO/LAB Theater Group.

For the past 24 years, I have had the privilege of holding leadership roles at diverse institutions, seeing first-hand how non-profits have the power to change lives through inclusive collaborations, programs, research, and outreach. I center my life’s work on creating accessible opportunities that align institutional goals and vision with staff, volunteers’ and audiences’ needs; my aim is to support, engage, and activate all to be life-long learners who can empower themselves and their community. Representing an organization through a lens that is true to its mission but engages stakeholders is paramount in my work. Some of my proudest accomplishments have included my involvement in the completion of a ten-year capital campaign to revitalize the Museum of the City of New York, recovery efforts from the devastation of Superstorm Sandy at the South Street Seaport Museum, the creation of the Jackie Robinson Museum, and revitalizing programs for the 66 branches of the Queens Public Library.

I currently serve as Bideawee’s Director of Volunteers. This is a no kill animal shelter in Manhattan, Nassau and Suffolk County that has over 300 volunteers. I have been responsible for nationally recognized program strategy, implementation, and ground-breaking evaluation throughout my career. My formula for successful sustainable programs is to evaluate participants’ needs, identify human and financial resources, set intentional goals and assessment tools, and create buy-in and a feedback loop from the team that will execute the program.

I believe it is my responsibility as a leader to uplift staff, volunteers, and constituents to respectfully learn with and from one another. Understanding our differences and the intersections of our challenges and successes strengthens our global society and my leadership style embraces a willingness to learn and listen so that these goals can be achieved in theory as well as practice.

NYPACE’s Executive Director, Ibrahima Souare was formerly Senior Community Development Officer at LISC NY, where he spearheaded initiatives in economic development, affordable housing, health equity, and financial opportunities. Notably, Ibrahima successfully launched a COVID-19 relief fund, allocating nearly $4 million to support over 300 BIPOC and women-owned businesses. As a passionate advocate for small businesses, he secured funding and managed a network of community-based organizations across the NYC metro area, championing the growth of small and women- and BIPOC-owned businesses. Recognized as a rising star in City & State’s New York City 40 Under 40 in 2021, Ibrahima holds a Bachelor’s in Political Science from CUNY Lehman College and a Master’s in Public Administration from CUNY Baruch College’s Marxe School as a National Urban Fellow. Currently, he strategically leads and implements growth strategies for NYPACE.