Senior Staff Bios

Staff Image 1 Ben Hecht
President & CEO
Mr. Hecht is an experienced nonprofit executive, author and social entrepreneur. He was appointed President & CEO of Living Cities in July, 2007.  Since that time, the organization has adopted a broad, integrative agenda that harnesses the collective knowledge of its members and deploys a unique… READ BIO>
Staff Image 2 Robin Hacke
Director of Capital Formation
Ms. Hacke joined Living Cities as Director of Capital Formation in September of 2007. At Living Cities, Ms. Hacke is responsible for developing initiatives to aggregate and deploy investment capital in low-income and underserved urban communities. She manages the Living Cities Catalyst Fund, the… READ BIO>
Staff Image 5 Neil Kleiman
Director of Policy and Research
Neil is responsible for framing the policy agenda at Living Cities and producing a series of research reports on a broad range of community and economic development topics that affect urban areas. Prior to joining Living Cities, Neil was the Vice President… READ BIO>
Staff Image 6 David Lafleur
Director of Finance and Administration
David is responsible for managing and developing financial, administrative and other internal functions to support the growth of Living Cities. With an extensive background in finance, administration, and operations, David has worked for a variety of nonprofit organizations and associations in New… READ BIO>
Staff Image 25 Mali Locke
Admiral Center Program Strategies Director
Mali brings years of experience in impact grantmaking to her position of Program Strategies Director for the Admiral Center. For five years, she was a Senior Program Officer, Education for the Robin Hood Foundation. Prior to Robin Hood, Mali was a Special Assistant to the Regional Superintendent… READ BIO>
Staff Image 17 Sunitha Malepati
Chief of Staff
Sunitha Malepati works closely with the CEO to lead special projects.  Prior to joining Living Cities, Sunitha worked as a syndicated research analyst at The Advisory Board Company, a best practices health care research and consulting firm based in… READ BIO>
Staff Image 7 Marian Urquilla
Director, Program Strategies
Marian Urquilla helped found the Columbia Heights/Shaw Family Support Collaborative, where she served as executive director for nearly 12 years.  An innovative network of community institutions working to support families in northwest Washington, DC, the… READ BIO>