Staff Directory
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Ben Hecht
President & CEO
Washington, DC / New York, NY
Mr. Hecht 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 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… -
Juan Sebastian Arias
Program Coordinator
New York, NY
Juan Sebastian Arias joined Living Cities in March 2012 as a member of the Program Strategies team. Before joining Living Cities, he served as a Commercial Revitalization Intern with WHEDco, a community development non-profit in the South Bronx. Prior to that, he was a Harvard Fellow with the New York City office of Enterprise Community Partners.… -
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
Director of Knowledge and Impact & Chief of Staff
New York, NY
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… -
Cassandra Benjamin
Interim Director of the Integration Initiative
Washington, DC
Cassandra Benjamin is the the Interim Director of the Integration Initiative (TII) and has served as a consultant for Living Cities since TII’s inception in 2009. As the Principal of csb consulting, Cassandra has designed and managed initiatives for a range of philanthropic organizations including the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, John D.… -
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… -
Sara Draper-Zivetz
Policy Assistant
Washington, DC
Sara joined Living Cities in August 2012 as a Policy Assistant, and a member of the Leadership and Influence Cluster. Prior to joining Living Cities, Sara served as a Project Development Coordinator with HandsOn Greater DC Cares, coordinating logistics for volunteer-based initiatives and facilitating partnership development with many of Washington… -
Alison Gold
Assistant Director of Knowledge & Impact
Washington, DC
Alison Gold is the Assistant Director of Knowledge & Impact at Living Cities, a collaborative of 22 of the world’s largest financial and philanthropic organizations working to transform the lives of low-income people and the cities in which they live. In this role, Alison is responsible for developing and implementing strategies to capture and… -
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… -
Ronda Jackson
Assistant Director of Policy
Ronda Jackson joined Living Cities as the Assistant Director of Policy in August 2012. Prior to joining Living Cities, Ronda was the Project Manager for the Sacramento Safe Community Partnership Ceasefire Initiative to reduce street gang and gun violence. Prior to working for Sacramento Ceasefire, Ronda was the Senior Program Associate for the… -
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… -
Alexis King
Program Assistant
New York, NY
Alexis joined Living Cities in September 2012 as a Program Assistant. Prior to joining Living Cities, Alexis served as an Intern with the Admiral Center and before interning with the Admiral Center, Alexis served as a Volunteer Program Assistant for the Improving Montclair Achievement Network Initiative (IMANI). Additionally, she was an Intern for… -
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… -
Eileen Neely
Associate Director of Capital Formation
Washington, DC
Eileen Neely joined Living Cities in December 2012 as the Associate Director of Capital Formation. Prior to joining Living Cities, she was the Director of Strategic Planning at the District of Columbia Housing Authority since May 2011. In this position, Eileen oversaw the development, implementation and measurement of the Agency’s Strategic Plan… -
Tamir Novotny
Senior Policy Associate
New York, NY
Tamir joined Living Cities’ policy team in January of 2012. As a Senior Policy Associate, Tamir manages and supports an array of initiatives to amplify the impact of Living Cities’ programmatic work, build out and engage with Living Cities’ network of problem-solvers, and explore how Living Cities and its partners can respond to emerging macro… -
Nadia Owusu
Senior Knowledge & Organizational Development Associate
New York, NY
As a Senior Knowledge & Organizational Development Associate, Nadia works closely with the CEO and Chief of Staff on organizational development, strategic planning, and special projects. She also manages and supports a variety of activities to advance Living Cities' knowledge and communications strategy focused on fostering the spread of… -
Marc Peters
Strategic Communication and Engagement Associate
Washington, DC
Marc Peters serves as the strategic communications and engagement associate at Living Cities and is working to expand the organization’s digital footprint. Marc joined Living Cities after working on the internet marketing team at Heifer International. Marc also is the co-founder of MasculinityU and spends his off hours engaging men in a vibrant… -
John Portacio
Operations Coordinator
New York, NY
John Portacio, a native Brooklynite, joined Living Cities in March 2012, as Operations Coordinator. John works with the Director of Administration and Finance and the Chief of Staff to organize, develop, research and implement organizational operations. Prior to joining Living Cities, John was the CEO and President of an environmentally geared… -
Carmen Rojas
Acting 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 is a Program Associate on the Integration Initiative team, managing special assignments, advancing communication efforts, and disseminating findings to key stakeholders in the field. In addition, she works closely with the Director of Program Strategies on long-term strategic planning for Living Cities’ emerging initiatives. Before joining… -
Shawndele Stafford
Accounting Manager
New York, NY
As the Accounting Manager, Shawndele manages the daily and monthly financial processes of Living Cities. She possesses a wide-range of financial nonprofit knowledge serving in various roles within the sector. Prior to Living Cities she was the Finance Coordinator for WITNESS, a non-profit organization which uses video to open the eyes of the world…