|  Jude Alfaro, Research Associate
Jude Alfaro has worked with youth and education based non-profits for more than 10 years. She spent over five years working under different capacities at Teach For America nationally and at the New York Regional office. As Director of Operations for Certification and Placement, Jude was responsible for finding teaching placements for more than 400 teachers as well as assuring that 1,000 teachers were following city and state regulations. Much of Jude's work has centered on teacher support, having worked extensively with alternative certification teachers through Teach For America and most recently at the School of Education at Pace University. Jude earned a B.A. from Cornell University.

|   Kimberly Ciani, Receptionist & Webmaster
Kimberly came to Urban Assembly after working as an assistant to a New York art dealer for several years. Once her engagement at the gallery came to an end, she began devoting time to volunteer work. It was then that she decided to seek out a position in the non-profit sector. She is excited to be a part of the UA team.

|  Michele Cohen, Achievement Coach
Michele Cohen has been working in the New York City Public School system since 2002. After working in various accounting capacities for seven years, Michele completed her Master's in Education. She began teaching at Mott Hall II where she worked as a math teacher. While working toward her administrative degree, she returned to Mott Hall II, this time as the Director of Operations. She then took a position as Assistant Principal of Organization for the NYC Lab High School and NYC Lab Middle School of Collaborative Studies. Michele has a BBA in Accounting from Hofstra University, an M.S. in Secondary Education from Mercy College and an Ed.M. in Educational Leadership from Teachers College at Columbia University.

|   Marcus Davis, Operations Manager
Marcus Davis brings more than eight years of experience in business and project management. In his most recent position, Marcus was the Project Manager for Academy Fire Protection (AFP), where he oversaw installations for corporations on a national level. While at AFP, Marcus directly worked with large scale budgets, developed proposals, and managed sub-contractors. Prior to his project management venture, Marcus played a key role as Business Manager for the Intrepid Museum of New York City. His success as Business Manager at Intrepid found him spearheading a new museum's initiative for the Washington, D.C. Navy Yard Memorial in the summer of 2006.

|  Camielle Forbes, Operations Manager/Budget Officer
Camielle has been with the New York City Department of Education since 2004 and has served in various operation positions with responsibilities for payroll, procurement, grants and budgets.  She has a wide range of experience in serving schools and helping them to meet their budgetary and operational needs. Camielle’s educational background includes a Bachelors of Science in Liberal Arts from Regents College and in 2008 she earned a certificate for successfully completing the Department of Education’s Management Training Program. Camielle believes in the power of education and is committed to the development of young minds which has led to her participation in the Urban Assembly Mentoring Program.

|  Yahaira Gil Maestro, Student Opportunities Manager
Yahaira Gil Maestro has more than seven 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 B.A. from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Psychology and is currently pursuing a Masters in Business Management and Leadership at the CUNY School of Professional Studies.

|  Alexis Goldberg, Achievement Coach
Alexis Goldberg is a career educator and a lifelong learner. Before joining the Urban Assembly, Alexis taught high school English for five years as a member of the New York City Teaching Fellows. Most recently, Alexis worked at the Urban Assembly Academy of Government and Law, where she was the English Department Team Leader, C-PAS Coordinator and taught 11th Grade English and Advanced Placement English. Alexis received her B.S. in English and Performance Studies from Northwestern University, her MsED in Secondary English Education from Queens College, and will receive her MsEd from Bank Street in Educational Leadership in the Arts in 2011.

|  Jeremy Gough, Director of Development
Jeremy has served Title I public schools for more than 10 years.  Before joining The Urban Assembly, he was Development Director of Urban Arts Partnership. His fundraising accomplishments include significant federal grant awards, foundation support and corporate partnerships. Jeremy's marketing and communications initiatives for public education range from organizing panels on education reform, to producing webisodes featuring NYC students, to managing press events with international pop stars. He has also helped develop and sustain numerous social justice projects, including the creation of an international refugee rights program. Jeremy holds a BA from Brown University.

|  Jon Green, Network Leader / Director of Instruction
Jon Green entered education as a sixth grade Earth Science teacher 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. Jon is currently 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.

|  Alecia Harrington, Achievement Coach
Alecia entered education as a NYC Teaching Fellow, teaching 8th grade math and science in the South Bronx. Among others, this experience led to work as a consultant with Wireless Generation, assisting in the roll out of several major accountability initiatives in NYC. More recently, Alecia has worked with a network of large high schools on integrating best data practices into school planning and instruction, and with the Academic Quality Team at Central. Alecia has a BS in Biology from Juniata College, and an M.S.Ed from Lehman College.

|  Vincent W. Hurst, Sr., Director of Safety and Student Suspensions
Vincent has spent more than a decade in private and nonprofit sector working as a director for the Police Athletic League and Beacon Director for the Department of Youth and Community Development. Most recently, he served as a Youth Development Specialist for the Department of Education Integrated Service Center, earning a place in the department's inaugural management training program. In 2001, Vincent received a congressional award for outstanding community service work in the Bedford Stuyvesant community. Vincent received his B.A. from Eastern Connecticut State University and is currently finishing his master's degree in public administration at Brooklyn College.

|  Cherise Jones, Bookkeeper
Cherise Jones joins the Urban Assembly, after working as Director of Administration for Man Up! in Brooklyn. Cherise also worked at KnightTime Advertising as Office Manager while she was in college. She is the 2003 recipient of the Project Reach Youth Inc. Leadership Award and was awarded a certificate of Merit from the New York State Assembly, 40th District. Cherise graduated from Baruch College with a Bachelor of Business Administration.

|  Elizabeth Kelly, Director of Research & Evaluation
Elizabeth has worked in the field of education for over 20 years and is driven by her own experience as a child growing up in New York City. After working as a classroom teacher in the 1980s, she studied cognitive development so she could understand more about how people learn and how people teach. Elizabeth has taken her knowledge and skills from developmental psychology to her work in a variety of settings to help people and organizations (like a school, a firehouse, or an office) as they learn and change all the time. Elizabeth earned her B.A. in Religion and Political Science from New York University and her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from The Graduate Center at the City University of New York. She is a member of the American Evaluation Association, the Society for Research in Child Development, and the American Educational Research Association.

|  Andrew Koncz, Director of Youth Development
Andrew has worked in New York City education for more than 10 years. Prior to joining The Urban Assembly, Andrew served as a social worker at Humanities Preparatory Academy from 2002 through 2009. In addition to his work in schools, he was a Post-Graduate Therapist Extern at the Ackerman Institute for The Family from 2003 through 2008. Before becoming a social worker, Andrew was a humanities teacher at Metropolitan Corporate Academy from 1997 to 2000. Andrew earned his B.A. in Sociology and Education from New School University and his M.S.W. from Hunter College School of Social Work.

|  Daisy Lind, Information Technology Specialist  
Daisy has worked for the New York City Department of Education for more than 15 years as an Education Administrator.   She has served and supported schools in innovative ways the area of Information Technology. In 2007, she joined The Urban Assembly where she continues to provide support services and advocacy to our schools.  Daisy earned a B.A. from The College of New Rochelle and an M.S. in Urban Studies from Queens College.

|  Jennifer Medina, Human Resources Director
Jennifer has been with the New York City of Department of Education for more than five years. Having held many positions within the Division of Human Resources, Jennifer brings a wealth of knowledge; she has worked on various teacher initiatives including the Recruitment Assistance Project in which she assisted principals in recruiting and retaining high quality teachers. Prior to joining The Urban Assembly, Jennifer worked as an HR Partner for District 75 schools. As an HR Director for Urban Assembly schools, she provides payroll, recruitment, certification, staffing, HR systems, progressive discipline, labor relations and contract support. Jennifer received her B.A. from Rutgers University.

|  Alan Miyakawa, Research & Evaluation Associate                            
Prior to joining The Urban Assembly, Alan worked on several research projects at a research center focused on improving the health and well-being of vulnerable populations. In addition to his research experience, Alan coordinated a financial education program for youth and later developed and managed an internship program for high school and college students interested in careers in the field of public health. Alan has a B.S. in Psychology and an M.S. in Social Work with a concentration in policy practice and family, youth, and children services.

|  Maria Mysliwy, Director of Attendance, Food and Health Services
Maria began her career in education in the 1990s as an English Teacher in Kanazawa, Japan. Her teaching experience overseas led her to join Teach For America in 2000. She has been working in the field of education in New York City ever since. Maria enjoyed the four years she spent as a third grade teacher and learning team leader in a Washington Heights elementary school. Prior to joining The Urban Assembly, Maria served as the Director of Operations and Communication for Pace University’s School of Education. She received her B.A. in Criminology & Law Studies from Marquette University, and her M.S.T in Education from Pace University.

|  Jennifer Ostrow, Director of New School Development
Jennifer Ostrow has more than 10 years experience in education. Most recently Jennifer served as the Assistant Principal of the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School for five years, supervising instruction, operations, youth development and the Governors Island transition. Prior, she served five years as an English teacher, Assistant Principal, and co-leader of the school creation team for Bushwick Community High School, a transfer school. Jennifer worked in an elementary school in the South Bronx and spent a year teaching 5th grade in rural Costa Rica. Jennifer holds an M.A. in Education from New York University, and a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from West Virginia University.

|  Jessica Reid Sliwerski, Achievement Coach
Jessica Reid Sliwerski has been involved in education in New York City since 2004. She began as a member of Teach For America, teaching fifth grade in the Bronx. After completing her commitment to TFA, Jessica worked as a consultant for Wireless Generation.  As a consultant, she designed and facilitated professional development workshops around literacy data collection and analysis for urban school districts across the country. Eventually she returned to the classroom, teaching first and fourth grades before becoming an Assistant Principal at Harlem Success Academy. Jessica participated in the documentary The Lottery and her work has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal and Steven Brill’s book Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America’s Schools. Jessica has a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA and a M.S. in Education from Pace University.

|  Laura Scheck, Co-Director of Student Opportunities
Laura Scheck 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. Entering the field of education through the Teach for America program, Laura taught in New Orleans , LA and in Newark, NJ. Laura received her B.A. from Colby College and has a M.A. from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.

|  Ritu Sen, Director of College Readiness
In her role as Director of College Readiness, Ritu Sen supports the college preparatory programs across the Urban Assembly network to ensure student success in college and beyond.  Ritu has worked in the non-profit sector serving low-income New Yorkers for the past eight years, providing direct services in the areas of college access, microfinance and youth violence prevention.   Most recently, Ritu served as Director of Adolescent Education at the Henry Street Settlement, where she oversaw teen education programs at the historic Lower East Side settlement house. Ritu received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Wesleyan University.

|   Karen Stone-Williams, Operations Analyst
Karen joined the Urban Assembly team in November 2010, she has been a NYC Department of Education employee since 1991 in various capacities which include School Aide and School Secretary. Her areas of expertise are payroll and timekeeping. She currently provides payroll support to Urban Assembly schools and provides training to new secretaries.

|  Howard Toomer, Administrative Education Analyst
Howard is the Deputy Network Leader for UA/CFN 105. In this capacity, he assist schools with issues mostly related to School Facilities, Building permits, transportation, compliance and Summer School. Howard also support principals with their budgets, procurement, registers and other issues which have significant financial impact on schools. Howard has more than 22 years experience within the DOE, having worked in Districts 29, 9 , Central Offices and ISCs.

|  Perrin Wicks, Co-Director of Student Opportunities
Perrin Wicks has more than 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 B.A. from Yale and Masters in Public Administration with a concentration in Public and Nonprofit Management from NYU.