Amanda Brooke Rosenblum graduated from Dartmouth College in 2007 with a B.A. in English Literature and Women’s and Gender Studies. She has completed coursework towards a Masters in Liberal Arts, Urban Education, at the CUNY Graduate Center. Amanda is a native New Yorker who has worked in the education field for over a decade. She currently serves as the Girls’ Education Associate Director, Programs and Partnerships at Young Women’s Leadership Network, a network of all-girls 6th-12th grade district public schools. She founded the non-profit Trans Bodies, Trans Selves, Inc. and serves as Vice President of its Board of Directors. She is a co-chair of the Education from the Inside Out Coalition, a national group working to remove barriers to higher education for people in prison and with criminal justice involvement, and volunteers as an Emergency Department Advocate for the Mount Sinai SAVI program for survivors of IPV and sexual assault. Amanda is a life coach for the Ali Forney Center, a program for homeless LGBTQA young people and serves on advisory boards of The Other Side Intercultural Theatre and the Riley Sandler Memorial Foundation, which promotes kindness and empathy. She is a Board of Director of DGALA, the Dartmouth Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Alumni/ae Association, and serves on the Women of Dartmouth national committee for Community Development. She is constantly reading for her two books clubs, traveling, seeing plays, laughing, and walking around Central Park.

Anca Dragomirescu is the head of Human Resources and Employee Relations for BronxWorks, a non-profit human service organization that helps individuals and families in the Bronx improve their economic and social well-being. Anca is a seasoned human resources professional with over 15 years of progressive experience across industries from startups to large matrix organizations. She began her career in Los Angeles, CA where she graduated from California State University Long Beach with a degree in Criminal Justice. Eventually she started working in nonprofit for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, where she managed their Global Human Resources operations. She moved to New York in 2010 and worked for LVMH and Al Jazeera America before joining BronxWorks in June 2016. Passionate about social justice and equality, Anca volunteers her time to various causes.

Hailed by the SF Examiner after his San Francisco recital debut as a “virtuoso talent, offering an excellent combination of solid technique and sensitive expressiveness,” pianist Aryo Wicaksono has performed as a featured soloist and chamber musician in venues and festivals throughout the United States, Canada, Asia, and Europe – and was the first Western classical music artist to hold a visiting artist-in-residence position at the American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. He was recently invited on a panel at the World Bank (Washington DC) to speak to emerging leaders, thinkers, and diplomats about the role and relevance of arts-education in the sustainable 21st century society. As an educator, his former students have been accepted with full scholarships into prestigious institutions such as the Curtis Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, Peabody Conservatory – Johns Hopkins University, and University of British Columbia Vancouver. He is currently the Membership Manager for Chamber Music America, a national service organization serving ensemble music professionals

Aundaray Guess is currently the Director of Programs for GRIOT Circle and the Site Manager for the partnership GRIOT Circle currently have with SAGE USA. As a director, he develops wellness programs designed for the aging community to promote the betterment of their lives as they age. In addition, a large component of his work involves implementing communication strategies to funding officials and the health community at large. He recently collaborated with BRIC TV, based in Brooklyn to produce a promotional video to help increase awareness of the agency mission.

Aundaray has used his experience in public relations and communications to develop communication strategies for non-profits such as GMAD and Pride for Youth both based in New York. As the Communication Director of GMAD, he helped institute social media communication strategies which resulted in increase awareness within the non-profit industry. He is responsible for creating the agency’s HIV stigma poster marketing campaigns which are recognized locally and nationally. As a Marketing Coordinator for Pride for Youth, he helped designed marketing public service announcement and provided content for media spots which included televised commercials and radio announcements. He was also the manager for media relations and providing talking points for Pride for Youth’s management team.

Aundaray has a Bachelor of Science degree from New York University in Media Studies and a Master’s of Science in Public Relations and Corporate Communications from NYU. In addition to completing his studies, Aundaray is a contributing writer for the Huffington Post and a regular featured writer for Poz Magazine. He recently submitted an article for publication in the professional peer review journal, Generations, a magazine designed for professionals working in the aging community.

Aundaray has sat on the grant review committee for Philantro Fund and has served five terms on the board for HCCI, A Haitian HIV-focused agency located in Brooklyn, where he headed the communication committee.

Brooke Berescik-Johns is the Manager of Individual Giving and Special Events at the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./New York), the leading service and advocacy organization, which supports the city’s nonprofit theatre companies focus on their art by providing subsidized rehearsal, office and performance space, funding through loans and grants, and education and training. Brooke received a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Drew University and has worked in New York City theatre for over ten years, during which time she has also been involved with multiple nonprofit organizations, including serving on the junior board for Education Through Music, coordinating events for Ethel Walker School alumnae, and volunteering with The Friends Shelter.

Caroline Young is a Portfolio Manager for the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI). She is responsible for facilitating partnerships that support NYSCI’s goal to improve STEM education through a set of methodologies called Design-Make-Play which promote deep engagement with content and offer many points of intersection between building, tinkering, community outreach, innovation, and STEM learning. In her role she executes an institutional giving program and gifts strategy; manages a portfolio of donors and prospects; and works collaboratively to help shape programs. She is especially interested in early childhood education and STEM for girls.

Previously, Caroline served as the Program Associate for the Public Understanding of Science and Technology program at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The Public Understanding program reaches a broad lay audience through support of books, television, theater, radio, and film. Prior to the Foundation, Caroline worked at the Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit consulting firm, where she benefited from a dynamic working experience founded in the TBG core values: Impact, Respect, Candor, Collaboration, and Passion. As a NYC Teaching Fellow at Truman High School in the Bronx she wrote and instituted a school-wide sophomore English curriculum.

Caroline has a BA in American Literature from UCLA, a Master’s of Science in Teaching from Fordham University, and a certificate in Philanthropy and Grantmaking from NYU’s School of Professional Studies. 



Christina Samuels is the New York Immigration Coalition’s Development Manager. She oversees the organization’s fundraising strategies and leads the Development team in advancing the organization’s mission and goals. Previously, Christina was a Development Associate at Facing History and Ourselves and has held positions in the corporate sector and with government contractors. Christina holds an MA in Anthropology/International Development from The George Washington University and graduated summa cum laude from the Robert E. Cook Honors College at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Anthropology.

Delsenia Glover is currently Director of Education and Organizing at Tenants & Neighbors, and Campaign Manager for the Alliance for Tenant Power, a broad coalition of housing, community, legal service, and research organizations for their ongoing NYC campaign to strengthen the New York State rent laws and tenant protections. She has been Tenants & Neighbors’ lead organizer for rent regulated tenants, and has organized tenant associations across the city, supports tenants with apartment and leasing issues, and provides information to regulated tenants about their rights, including SCRIE and DRIE support. Delsenia developed and leads Tenants & Neighbors’ Tenant Leadership Institute and Tenant Association Leadership Programs: The Tenant Leadership Institute, a 4-month program for T&N member leaders, to develop their leadership and community organizing skills, building capacity within communities where we serve, and the Tenant Association Leadership Program, a 3-session program designed to strengthen active tenant association leaders’ skills to efficiently organize and maintain their tenant associations, as well as increase their skills as building leaders and organizers.

A fearless supporter of tenants’ rights, in 2007, Delsenia formed a group called “Harlem Gang of Six” (G6), a coalition of tenant leaders from three of the largest rent stabilized apartment complexes in Harlem — Lenox Terrace, Riverton Houses and Savoy Park. As president of G6 she was instrumental in the 2011 campaign to renew and strengthen the rent laws, and had a significant impact in the process leading to the DHCR’s creation of the Tenant Protection Unit which has to date returned 50,000 apartments to rent regulation.

She has a long background in public relations and education, and is a Founder of the Bronx Career & College Preparatory High School in the Bronx, New York. Delsenia has a B.A. from Fordham University, New York.

Esmeralda oversees the Health Care Access Program (HCAP) at CFR, and provides supervisory support for day-to-day activities while CFR’s board searches for a new executive director. She leads program development and evaluation, while coordinating all enrollment and assessment activities. She leads the HCAP team in providing the most efficient enrollment services to clients at enrollment sites across the New York metropolitan area. Prior to CFR, Esmeralda provided case management and benefits screenings for food pantry customers at West Side Campaign Against Hunger. Esmeralda holds a B.A. in Urban Studies from Hunter College.

Fatima Jones Kafele is a cultural strategist, public relations consultant and dance enthusiast. She currently serves as the Director of Public Relations for the Brooklyn Museum where she leads the media relations and social media campaigns for all of its exhibitions and programs. Prior to BKM she spent almost a decade at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Her consultancy experience includes work with Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, Weeksville Heritage Center, 651 ARTS and Cumbe Dance Center. She is a former member of the Bessies and serves as a NYSCA Performing Arts Panelist. She is a proud member of the community service organization Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.

Jared Stein is a Project Director at Advocates for Children of New York, Inc., where he manages a program funded by the Robin Hood Foundation. For over 11 years, Mr. Stein has worked on behalf of students at greatest risk for educational exclusion, failure or discrimination due to circumstances such as homelessness, disability or English Language Learner status. Mr. Stein currently represents families in administrative hearings, delivers professional development sessions on a variety of education-related topics and supports organizational partnerships with a cohort of designated Robin Hood grantees. Additionally, Mr. Stein is an adjunct lecturer at Fordham University’s Graduate School of Social Services, where he teaches Supervision and Staff Development as well as Social Policy II.

Previously, Mr. Stein held the position of Assistant Project Director at the New York State Technical and Education Assistance Center for Homeless Students, where he advised school districts, families and government entities on the application and interpretation of laws protecting students in temporary housing. In addition, he completed a several year term as the Development Chairperson at the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. Mr. Stein formerly advised final-year M.S.W. students at Columbia University School of Social Work.

Mr. Stein completed undergraduate studies at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations (B.S.). He earned graduate degrees at the University of Michigan School of Social Work (M.S.W.) and the University of Michigan Law School (J.D.).

Jyothi Natarajan is managing editor at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, a national literary arts non-profit working devoted to literature at the intersection of migration, race, and social justice. After beginning her career as an editor at The New Press and the Indian longform magazine The Caravan, she now edits The Margins, AAWW’s online arts and ideas magazine, and developed The Margins Fellowship for emerging Asian American writers, which is now in its third year running. She manages publications and fellowships for AAWW and also helps manage long-term planning and special projects for the organization. With over a decade of experience as an editor, she loves working with writers to imagine the political possibilities of ideas.

After graduating from Columbia University, Kalila joined Teach for America New York and taught 3rd grade in the South Bronx. While teaching, Kalila pursued a masters degree in Childhood Education. Since leaving the classroom, she has continued work in education by joining the Out of School Time Programming team at DREAM|Harlem RBI in 2014. Since joining DREAM|Harlem RBI she has worked on designing and overseeing the implementation of academic programming in their middle and high school programs.

Kelly Coyne first joined Safe Horizon in 2013 as the Director for Prelude House. She became Vice President of Domestic Violence Shelters in 2015 and in this role provides leadership to the largest DV Shelter Program in the Country. Kelly worked previously, a multi-service victim advocacy agency in North Carolina, where she provided leadership for a domestic violence shelter and ran a program for incarcerated women. During that time, she led the development, from the ground up, of a new shelter facility. Kelly has over 12 years of experience working with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Kelly is a trainer with the North Carolina School Health Training Center and is a Nationally Certified Trainer in the ASIST suicide intervention curriculum. She received an MBA from Queens University, a MS in Higher Education Administration and a BA in Public health from Appalachian State University.

Lara Comstock RN BSN has been the Director of Nursing at Callen-Lorde Community Health Center for just a little over one year, and at the organization for over six years. She is passionate about serving the LGBTQ community, of which she is a proud member, and about addressing health disparities. Lara has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature and Women’s Studies from Boston College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Columbia University. Having come to nursing as a second (or third or fourth) career, Lara co-founded Leftovers Catering Company, a vegan catering company that served primarily the not-for-profit sector, was a founding collective member of Bluestockings Bookstore, and is an active drummer, biker, and baker.

Margaret Tudor is a performance producer, maker, and writer based in New York City. Originally from Houston, Texas, Tudor graduated Northwestern University in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in Dance and English. After graduating she relocated to New York and began working in dance administration for several local organizations. She now serves as the Producer for Gibney Dance, where she has worked since 2014. As Producer, Tudor collaborates closely with the Director of Performance and Residencies to mount the work of some of the most exciting artists working today. She additionally manages Gibney’s residency programs and collaborates on Gibney’s professional development programming.

Outside of her work at Gibney, Tudor is a member of the Dance/NYC Junior Committee, a junior board of emerging dance leaders dedicated to addressing the most pressing issues of the dance field by leveraging collective knowledge and community organizing to incite change. She has written dance criticism for Culturebot, and presented her own choreography and performed with collaborators at various venues around New York City.

Matthew is an Associate of Financial and Impact Evaluation at Grameen America, Inc (GAI). GAI is the largest micro finance institution in the United States, with the goal of alleviating poverty through female entrepreneurship. Matthew’s role involves financial strategy, operational growth analysis, and programmatic impact evaluation.

Prior to GAI, Matthew served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana, West Africa, where he developed a micro finance program that improved access to credit for female small holder farmers. Underneath his guidance, the program grew to incorporate a farming co-operative that specialized in producing moringa oleifera, a super food with the potential to end malnutrition, the co-operative planted over 15,00 trees across 25 farms.

Matthew graduated Cum Laude from Northeastern University with a BS in Mathematics and Economics.

Meridith Maskara is Chief Executive Officer of the Girl Scouts of Greater New York. In this role, she provides leadership to the Council in achieving its vision of being the premier leadership organization for girls in New York City; creates more by girls, for girls opportunities and programs; grows membership, particularly among girls from under-resourced schools, homeless shelters, and low-income communities; and expands leader training and adult development opportunities.

Meridith, a 3rd generation Girl Scout, has served in positions across the organization – as a girl member, troop leader and parent volunteer, and employee. She is committed to help create a world where all girls can achieve their dreams and to ensuring that every girl in every corner of New York City has access to leadership development programs that will help them to secure a successful future and achieve their goals.   

Between 2015 – 2017, Meridith was Chief Operating Officer (COO) and VP of Product and Retail Sales at the Girl Scouts of Greater New York.  As COO, Meridith helped launch Troop 6000 and partnered with the city to expand the program to more family homeless shelters.  She also facilitated a data and technology upgrade.  As VP of Product and Retail Sales, she created the Cookie Executive Committee program that gives girls a deeper, richer experience and helped increase cookie sales by 19%.  She also developed the council’s first retail shop.

Prior to joining the staff at Girl Scouts of Greater New York, Meridith volunteered for the organization.  She started a troop for her daughter in Sunnyside Queens, growing its membership from 3-150 and served in multiple other volunteer positions.

Meridith joined the Abnaki Girl Scout Council in Maine at age 7, following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother (her mother has been a member for the past 65 years).  Meridith earned her Girl Scout Gold Award, the premier leadership award for girls in the country, for piloting the Girl Scout Daisy program for her council, giving 5-year-olds the opportunity to join the organization..   She also started her council’s Girl Advisory Board and then joined the Board of Directors as a girl representative.

Meridith graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City.  Her passion and love for theatre combined with her operational and business sense led her to a highly successful corporate career in theatrical/entertainment and event merchandising and branding where she spent 17 years as a Vice President in the industry’s leading company, Max Merchandising.

Meridith and her husband are the proud parents of five daughters, including three current Girl Scouts. She was honored by the Girl Scouts of Greater New York for being an Outstanding Leader and by Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer for being an Outstanding Woman of Queens.  She also received a citation from the New York City Council for her work with youth in her community.

Nikko is Race Forward’s Senior Program Associate. He works with the Director of Programs to foster the success of the organization’s Research, Leadership Action Network, and Strategic Communications and Public Engagement Teams. He coordinates these teams to ensure their effectiveness and efficiency in implementing and organizing racial justice projects. More specifically, he contributes in essential ways to Race Forward’s key projects, such as Facing Race, the country’s largest multi-racial conference, and the NYCT-sponsored Racial Equity in the Arts Innovation Lab.

At Race Forward, Nikko enjoys the challenge of creating systems that make everyone’s work easier, more successful, and more fun.

Over the years, he has worked with social justice organizations involved in education development, food and hunger justice, and disaster relief. He is a volunteer and an activist at heart.

In addition to his Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing from Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines, Nikko also completed a Master’s Degree in International Development and Economics from Fordham University to equip himself with the skills necessary to excel as a development worker. Nikko has received fellowships to study Arabic in Egypt, Program Management in the Philippines, and Emerging Markets in South Africa.

In his free time, he enjoys taking photos of people, dogs, and trees, while eating pastries and ice cream around the city. Nikko lives in the Bronx, where it’s seldom quiet and never boring.

Rashida Ladner-Seward has worked in the non-profit youth services sector for nearly 20 years. As Senior Director of Program Support for ExpandED Schools, Rashida manages a grant portfolio of nearly forty after-school programs, and provides technical assistance and professional development to various nonprofit partners in an effort to support comprehensive and high-quality programs aimed to level the playing field for low-income students.

Prior to joining ExpandED Schools, Rashida worked for New York City’s Police Athletic League (PAL) in the department of adolescent services, directing PAL’s Summer Youth Employment Program and year-round high school internship program. Later, Rashida joined PAL’s Center Operations division as a director for an elementary after-school program, which ExpandED Schools (then TASC) funded.

Rashida is very invested in advancing arts and cultural programming in under-served communities and dedicates much of her volunteer time towards arts education efforts. Rashida served three times as project review panelist for the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Cultural Development Fund initiative, and was recently appointed to serve as a member of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) Arts Education Advisory Panel for FY 18.

Rashida has a B.A. from New York University and is an alumna of the PASE-Baruch College School of Public Affairs’ Emerging Leaders in Nonprofit Management Program.

Roxanne Delaney is the Associate Director for Policy and Evaluation for Phipps Neighborhoods, a 44 year-old multi-service nonprofit organization that provides a comprehensive network of programs to over 10,000 children, adolescents and adults annually in targeted communities in the Bronx. Roxanne has spearheaded an organization-wide effort to facilitate Phipps Neighborhoods’ growth into a data-driven environment, amassing and tracking data over time to fully assess the organization’s impact in the communities it serves. She has led a team of content experts in transitioning the organization to an agency-wide system and was key in developing and executing a comprehensive quarterly assessment of Phipps’ programs to proactively evaluate performance and effectiveness. Roxanne also works with senior leadership to define the organization’s policy priorities and implement an internal and external framework to create change on the local, state, and federal levels.

Originally hailing from the Bronx, Roxanne has a Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and a BA from New York University.

Sabine LaFortune serves as the Director of Operations and Administration for The Center for Arts & Culture (CAC) at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (Restoration), the nation’s first community development organization. Restoration partners with area residents and businesses to improve the quality of life of Central Brooklyn. In addition, she oversees the logistical coordination for CAC’s activities and events, which includes working intradepartmental staff to manage finances and assets, event space and scheduling, and technical support.

Sabine has been with CAC for 13 years. Starting as a parent volunteer for the Youth Arts Academy (a CAC subsidiary referred to as YAA), she was eventually offered a full-time position as the Program Manager, where she managed the day-to-day activities with a staff of 25 teaching artists onsite and in New York City public and charter schools. Her field experiences range from backstage management of YAA productions and collaborating with the Brooklyn Academy of Music for the annual DanceAfrica celebrations

Sabine also has a background in arts and media, including skills in animation, design layouts, film, dance, and communications.

As the Development & Communications Director, Satjeet is responsible for implementing the day-to-day and long-term vision for securing the financial resources required for the Sikh Coalition to be successful, while strengthening the organizational brand with the audiences that matter most for our sustained success.

Working with the Sikh Coalition board and senior staff over the past three years, Satjeet has helped the Sikh Coalition continue to grow into the largest Sikh civil rights organization in the United States. Through her innovative fundraising plans, partnerships and trusted relationships, Satjeet has helped to double the resources that the Sikh Coalition now provides to the community. She has simultaneously upgraded the processes and content for how we effectively communicate our work across all of our organizational channels.

As a graphic design expert, when Satjeet is not working on fund development initiatives, she expertly drives our website, develops our fundraising and program brochures, and oversees video content. Additionally, Satjeet has been the driving force behind the social media plan that has averaged 20,000 new social media followers for the organization every year.

Prior to joining the Sikh Coalition, Satjeet was a marketing, communications and donor recruitment specialist for SAMAR – a South Asian focused marrow donor recruitment organization.

Fluent in Punjabi, Satjeet is a graduate of New York University with degrees in Religious Studies and Psychology. When not spending time with her family , Satjeet can be found working on other Sikh community initiatives. As a board member for Lahir, she also spends time raising awareness about the Sikh community through the arts.

Victoria is the College Success Director for the Mid-Atlantic region of Let’s Get Ready. In this role, Victoria oversees the execution and delivery of LGR’s Success and Transition Programs. She plays a key role in the continued refinement of Let’s Get Ready’s success strategy and curriculum design in order to effectively support students during their senior year of HS and through to college graduation. Victoria is also a member of the leadership team for the College Success Network, a consortium of persistence professionals in NYC and is leading the “Access to Affordable Education for All” workgroup for #DegreesNYC, a project of Goddard Riverside Options Center, Graduate NYC, and Young Invincibles to close postsecondary attainment gaps in New York City. Additionally, Victoria serves on the Steering Committee of the Coming Together Conference, which supports goals around the issues of diversity, equity, and access.

Prior to joining Let’s Get Ready, Victoria worked at Bottom Line, supporting first-generation and low-income students to and through college, with the goal of helping them go far in life. During her time at Bottom Line, Victoria held roles as both an Access and a Success Counselor before becoming a College Success Team Manager. Victoria has also served as a Teach for America corps member, teaching secondary math in Indianapolis, IN. Victoria holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Colgate University as well as a Master of Arts in Teaching from Marian University.

Zeina Abi Assy is a Lebanese writer and media artist based in Brooklyn. She has an MFA in Creative Writing Nonfiction from The New School, and a BFA in Graphic Design from The American University of Beirut. In her work, she explores the complex intersection of the personal and the global manifestation of culture, art, and politics. She works in the Interactive Programs at Tribeca Film Institute. And she is the Digital Media Editor and one of the founders of a literary and arts organization called The Seventh Wave, which focuses on the role of the arts in the space of social issues.