|   Sue Fine, Executive Director

Sue Fine has worked in education for over fifteen years.  She began her career as an elementary school teacher, and spent ten years split between teaching at the Hungerford Infant School in London and The Calhoun School in New York City.  Over the course of these years, Sue became a school-based leader focused on supporting inquiry and project based learning.  In 2002, Sue began her four year tenure at Pace University’s School of Education, first as the Director of the Teach For America Program, then as Director of the Alternative Certification Programs, and, finally, as Co-Chair of the School of Education in New York City.   At Pace, Sue focused primarily on the needs of new educators, and led the faculty’s efforts to authentically connect the work of full-time teachers to their graduate studies.  Most recently, Sue has worked within one of the Network Teams in the Empowerment Schools as the Deputy Network Leader for Instruction, supporting over 20 middle and high schools in implementing the initiatives of the Department of Education.  Sue received her B.S. in Elementary Education from the University of Illinois-Champagne, M.A. in Educational Psychology: Remedial Reading and a Ph.D. in Politics and Education from Teachers College-Columbia University.

|   Cynthia Carrion, Partnerships and Program Manager

Cynthia’s career has focused on improving the harsh realities that disenfranchised youth face on a local, national and international level. For the past seven years Cynthia has been involved in community and youth development as an organizer, educator, advocate, fundraiser, filmmaker, and researcher. Cynthia is the former Director of Youth Channel, the youth serving division of Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN). Prior to MNN, she was the Program Coordinator for the Caribbean Cultural Center-African Diaspora Institute and was formerly the Pre-teen Coordinator for Hour Children, an advocacy organization for children of incarcerated mothers. Additionally, as a consultant and educator, Cynthia has assisted many organizations including Human Rights Watch, the educational Video Center, and the NYPL Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. As an award-winning scholar, Cynthia studied in Madrid, Paris, San Juan, and New York. Her research and film projects have taken her to Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa. Cynthia holds a B.A. degree in Media Studies and Latin America and Caribbean Studies from Hunter College and a M.A. degree in International Relations, with a concentration in youth development from City College.

|   Patrick D. Fagan, Director of Business Services/Operations
Patrick Fagan has spent more than a decade in government and the nonprofit sector after having been awarded a prestigious New York City Urban Fellowship in 1995. Most recently he served as a regional network specialist for the Department of Education, earning a place in the department’s inaugural management training program. Patrick has acquired additional experience in operations, project management and budgeting at the Mayor’s Office of Operations, the Departments of Health and Homeless Services, and the Fund for the City of New York. He received his B.A. from Hofstra University and an M.B.A. in Finance/Management from Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business.

|   Laura Gagne, Director of Programs
Laura most recently served as Youth Programs Manager at Citizens Committee for New York City, where she managed a service learning and internship program. Laura paired teachers with community based organizations to execute youth-initiated service projects, while developing the capacity of small nonprofit and grassroots organizations to implement internship programs. Laura has extensive professional development experience and has delivered numerous workshops and trainings on topics such as literacy, conflict resolution, service learning, and engaging youth in community action. She has also mentored and trained new Teach for America corps members in classroom management and culture, instructional planning and delivery, and learning theory. Entering the field of education through the Teach for America program, Laura taught first grade in New Orleans, LA and middle school in Newark, NJ. At Newark Charter School, she collaborated with other teachers to establish school-wide academic and behavior expectations, developed a comprehensive literacy curriculum and founded a track team and service club. Laura received her BA from Colby College and has a master’s degree from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA where she completed a thesis on citizenship education in public schools.

|   Chris Gheeron, Mentor Program Manager
Chris is the newest addition to the UA mentoring team. He has worked within the field of education for the past ten years. Chris started as a global history teacher at the High School for Enterprise, Business, and Technology (EBT) in Brooklyn. For two years he taught high school history while assuming many other responsibilities at the school, including coordinator of student activities, debate coach and senior class advisor. He left to join Learning Leaders, an organization that recruits and trains NYC public school volunteers. Chris was responsible for managing the volunteer program of District 29 in Brooklyn and District 32 in Queens. A desire to again work one-on-one with students led Chris to pursue an opportunity in the South Bronx. Chris became a community coordinator and global history teacher at Banana Kelly High School, a small New Visions high school in Hunts Point. Following a short stint abroad, Chris returned to NYC and assumed his most recent role as Director of the LEAD

After School Program in the Parkchester / Castle Hill area of the Bronx. He supervised an energetic and creative staff of teaching artists and managed an after school program of over 150 teens that included a thriving dance program, internship program, poetry, and hip hop classes at the Bronx DJ Academy. Chris received his B.A. from Binghamton University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Socially Responsible Business and Sustainable Communities.

|   Yahaira Gil, Senior Mentor Program Manager
Yahaira has over five years of experience working in the non-profit sector focusing primarily on youth and family services. Most recently, she was a case manager for Big Brothers Big Sisters NYC, providing connections to mentoring for youth in the juvenile justice system. She previously worked at the Association to Benefit Children, providing families and children the connection to social services in order to prevent entry into the NYC foster care system. Yahaira earned her BA from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in

Psychology and is currently pursuing her Masters in Public Administration.

|   Ruben J. Gonzales, Director of Development
Ruben Gonzales has spent more than seven years in the non-profit sector focusing on development, volunteer management and field organizing. Most recently, Ruben served as a Major Gifts Officer for the Task Force where he focused on cultivating relationships with major donors nationally. In his six years at GLAAD, Ruben acquired significant experience in board development, event planning and corporate sponsorships. He also developed a program to bolster major gifts fundraising by training dedicated donors in peer to peer fundraising. Additionally, Ruben worked closely with students in managing the organization's highly regarded internship and fellowship programs. Ruben earned his B.S. in political science from Santa Clara University.

|   Jon Green, Senior Instructional Coach
Jon Green is the Senior Instructional Coach serving Urban Assembly principals. Jon entered education as a sixth grade earth science instructor immersed in project based learning. This formative experience guided his work teaching ELA and history to second language learners for six years at Manhattan International High School. After spending two summers leading New York City Teaching Fellows as a Field Advisor, Jon became a lecturer at Pace University. Over the past three years at Pace, he has taught methods, literacy, adolescent development, and teacher researcher classes to Teach for America and New York City Teaching Fellows graduate students. This most recent position has afforded Jon the opportunity to work with teachers as a mentor at Pace High School and to consult with other schools around the city. At the moment he is working on a book of urban education case studies with a number of professors from Pace. Jon has a B.A. in English from The University of Vermont, and a M.S. in Education from The New School University.

|   Aaron Listhaus, Director of New School Development
Aaron Listhaus has worked on behalf of the children of New York City for the past 20 years. Prior to joining the Urban Assembly, Aaron spent a year at the NYC Leadership Academy as a coach and facilitator for new principals. Aaron was Principal of Middle College High School at LaGuardia Community College for 5 years, where he helped develop and implement one of the first Early College programs in the county. Through this initiative, high school students were provided with a seamless transition from high school to college through dual enrollment and wrap-around support. Aaron has also been a teacher of English language arts and English as a second language.

|   Sara Phillips, Major Gifts and Events Manager
Sara previously served as Annual Giving Associate and then Manager of Membership Programs for The Juilliard School. She was instrumental in developing the School’s young donor program, successfully mounting the group’s first ever benefit last spring and overseeing a steering committee of fifteen members.  Sara was also responsible for managing and cultivating 1,000+ donors and producing over twenty events annually. Prior to working at Juilliard, she held special events positions at The New York Public Library and Roundabout Theater Company. Sara holds a BA in English and Music from Muhlenberg College.

|   Devoynne Prophet, Executive Assistant
Devoynne Prophet brings many years of administrative experience in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors to her role at the Urban Assembly. Most recently, she was administrative assistant to the head of school at the Abraham Joshua Heschel School. For the past three years she has volunteered as a reading and language arts teacher to elementary school students and a mentor to teens at an after-school program in Harlem. Devoynne is currently pursuing a double major in Sociology and English at Herbert H. Lehman College, CUNY, where she was invited to join the Lehman Scholars Honor Program.

|   Carla Shere, Ed.D., Director of College Planning
Carla Shere has spent 15 years college advising in public high schools and for organizations such as Riverside Church, the New York Junior Tennis League and New York City Housing Authority. She is currently the College Planning Coordinator at Learning Leaders, the largest organization that partners with the New York City Department of Education with over 15,000 volunteers. She has also worked in the admissions offices of the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Cincinnati and Vanderbilt University. Carla has received the John B. Muir Award from the National Association for College Admission Counseling for her research and articles, the Gregory D. Goldsmith Human Relations Award from the New York Association for Admission Counseling and the Award of Excellence from the College Access Consortium New York. Carla earned her doctorate from Teachers College.

|   Sharon Slate, Director of Finance and Administration
Sharon Slate has worked in the nonprofit sector for many years. During 12 years as Director of Finance and Personnel at the CityKids Foundation, she created annual budgets and accounting and cash management systems, managed payroll, grants, and contracts receivable, oversaw annual audits, and managed all financial and administrative functions, improving fiscal and operational efficiency dramatically. Sharon earned her B.A. from Columbia.

|   Duane Wardally, Achievement Advocate - Operations
After graduating with his Masters in Public Administration from Cornell University, Duane Wardally began working with the City of New York as an Urban Fellow with the Department For The Aging. He conducted special projects for the Commissioner's Office concerning its 329 senior centers, varying on a range of topics such as the demographic changes of the elderly population; he also oversaw the deliveries of home-delivered meals in the Bronx. In May 2005, he became a Budget Analyst for Region Nine. He worked with over 180 schools to expedite the placement of Paraprofessionals to students, and he also oversaw the allocations and allotments of federal, state and city monies. Starting in January 2006, Duane Wardally served as a Regional Network Specialist for 22 schools, overseeing all budget and procurement functions and expediting solutions to schools to continuously advance student achievement. As a people person, he enjoys interacting with schools to quickly find solutions, and works feverishly with all DOE departments, network and school staff, to ensure the seamless transactions of school operations.

|   Perrin Wicks, Director of Partnerships
Perrin Wicks has over a dozen years’ experience in capacity building, philanthropy, and youth development program management. Most recently, she was a senior consultant for Community Resource Exchange, providing management assistance to nonprofit and community-based organizations serving poor people with HIV/AIDS. Her previous posts include two years as the Program Associate for Youth Development at the Ford Foundation and three years delivering theater education programming to New York City public schools. Perrin holds a master’s degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Public and Nonprofit Management from NYU, and a B.A. from Yale.