Staff Directory
-
Ben Hecht
President & CEO
Washington, DC / New York, NY
Mr. Hecht has been the President & CEO of Living Cities since July, 2007. Since that time, the organization has adopted a broad, integrative agenda that harnesses the collective knowledge of its 22 member foundations and financial institutions to benefit low income people and the cities where they live. Living Cities deploys a unique blend of more… -
Tonya Banks
Senior Administrative Assistant/Office Administrator
Washington, DC
Before joining Living Cities, Tonya was the office manager for the National Cooperative Business Association, the oldest and largest national membership association representing cooperatives of all types and in all industries. Before that, she was the Compliance Manager for the DC Housing Finance Agency, a quasi-government instrumentality… -
Elodie Baquerot
Chief of Staff
Washington, DC
Elodie Baquerot joined Living Cities in April 2011. As Chief of Staff, Elodie manages Living Cities' organizational development and operations, oversees cross-cutting efforts - including evaluation, knowledge management, and communications - and works closely with the CEO and senior team on special projects. Prior to joining Living Cities, Elodie… -
Daniel Bassichis
Admiral Center Special Advisor
New York, NY
Dan joined Living Cities as a Special Advisor to the Admiral Community Impact Center at Living Cities. He is the co-founder of Admiral Capital Group, a real estate private equity firm formed with David Robinson, formerly of the San Antonio Spurs. Prior to forming Admiral Capital, Bassichis spent three years in real estate investment banking at… -
Kathy Brennan
Director of Evaluation
New York, NY
Kathy Brennan joined the staff of Living Cities in September, 2011 as Director of Evaluation. She leads the overall organizational evaluation effort at Living Cities, both overseeing the evaluation, and working with the LC team to strongly embed learning and evaluation principles into our day-to-day work. Kathy has 15 years of experience managing… -
Evelyn Burnett
Associate Director, Program Strategies, The Admiral Center
New York, NY
Evelyn possesses a solid background in public relations, marketing and sales with a strong emphasis on relationship-building, data and project management, and creating strategic alliances. Prior to joining Living Cities, Evelyn served as project director in the city of Cleveland’s Office of Sustainability, and as a coordinator in the Division of… -
Arthur Burris
Director of Policy and Special Initiatives
Washington, DC
Arthur joined Living Cities as Director of Policy and Special Initiatives in December 2010.He previously worked for ten years on the staff of the Budget Committee in the House of Representatives. He was a Budget Analyst for areas including education, social services, job training and employment services, and housing credit programs. He then served… -
Amy Chung
Senior Investment Officer
New York, NY
Prior to joining Living Cities, Amy was a Vice President at Citi Community Capital, where she originated, structured and underwrote socially responsible investments with a primary focus on renewable energy and real estate tax equity transactions. Social returns from these investments include job creation and the production of green energy for… -
Sherrie Deans
Executive Director, Admiral Center
New York, NY
Sherrie Deans is Executive Director of the Admiral Center. A graduate of Columbia University, Sherrie has an extensive background in marketing, relationship management, fundraising, and strategy development. Most recently, Sherrie was Vice President, Marketing and Development for the I Have a Dream Foundation in New York City where she was… -
Alison Gold
Program Manager
Washington, DC
Alison Gold joined Living Cities in May 2011 as a Program Manager. Her work focuses on developing and implementing The Integration Initiative’s knowledge and influence strategy, including capturing ideas and innovations coming out of the on-the-ground efforts and sharing them with key stakeholders in philanthropy, finance and government. The goal… -
Robin Hacke
Director of Capital Formation
Washington, DC
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 first in our family of social investment funds. In… -
Tracey Jarmon
Program Coordinator
Washington, DC
Tracey Jarmon joined Living Cities in December 2011 as Program Coordinator for The Integration Initiative. Prior, she served as Philanthropic Advisory Services Officer at The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region where she worked with the Foundation’s donors to develop and implement strategic grantmaking initiatives on critical… -
David Lafleur
Director of Finance and Administration
New York, NY
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 England and New York. Most recently, he was Vice… -
Helen Leung
Program Associate
Washington, DC
Helen joined Living Cities in October 2011 as a member of the Program Strategies Team. Prior to joining Living Cities, Helen served as a Program Coordinator with HUD’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities and Intern at the White House Office of Political Affairs and the District of Columbia’s Office of Deputy Mayor for Planning & Economic… -
John Moon
Assistant Director of Capital Formation
Washington, DC
John Moon joined Living Cities in April of 2011 as the Assistant Director of Capital Formation. Most recently, he was at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors where he focused on policies and programs to improve the flow of investment capital to underserved and low-income communities. John has extensive experience within the community development… -
Tamir Novotny
Senior Program Associate
New York, NY
Tamir Novotny is a member of Living Cities' Program Strategies Team, staffing critical efforts in neighborhood and regional development. In this capacity, Tamir manages Living Cities' Transit-Oriented Development Working Group, a group of foundations and financial institutions working to align their grantmaking, investment, knowledge and policy… -
Nadia Owusu
Special Assistant to the President and CEO
New York, NY
Before joining Living Cities, Nadia served as the Executive Coordinator for a microfinance organization operating in Africa’s Great Lakes Region. Previously, she worked as a journalist and editorial assistant at Doubledown Media, publisher of multiple finance-oriented magazines. She has also worked and volunteered for a variety of youth service… -
Carmen Rojas
Associate Director of Program Strategies
New York, NY
Carmen Rojas is currently the Associate Director of Program Strategies at Living Cities where she plays a pivotal role in driving the work of the Program Cluster operations while ensuring cluster activities are carried out in a manner consistent with Living Cities’ mission, strategic framework, and organizational values. Prior to assuming the… -
Tracey Ross
Program Associate
Washington, DC
Tracey works as a Program Associate managing Living Cities’ Green Economy Working Group, composed of staffers from Living Cities member institutions, and works closely with cities developing energy efficiency retrofit systems at scale. She also helps coordinate the organization’s policy work at the federal level. Before joining Living Cities,… -
Laura Sanchez
Strategic Communications & Engagement Associate
Washington, DC
As Program Associate for the Knowledge and Communications team, Laura helps to refine and advance strategies around membership coordination, public relations and knowledge capture. Before joining Living Cities, Laura was an intern at the Center for Health Justice, a non-profit organization that works to decrease the disparities between prisoner… -
Marian Urquilla
Director, Program Strategies
Washington, DC
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 Collaborative has combined a strengths-based approach… -
Heather Waters
Finance and Administration Manager
New York, NY
Heather Waters has joined Living Cities as our new Finance and Administration Manager. She has a deep background in nonprofit accounting and administration and was most recently Finance Manager at the New York Open Center, a non-profit educational and cultural center. Other non-profit organizations she has worked for include the Rainforest… -
Danielle Williams
Senior Administrative Assistant
New York, NY
As senior administrative assistant, Danielle provides support to senior executives and to the members of the committees and working groups. Before joining Living Cities, Danielle was the program associate for Community Revitalization at the Surdna Foundation, an organization that fosters sustainable communities guided by principles of social… -
John Sheridan
New York, NY
gdfsgdfsg