Fatoumata Diallo

Fatoumata Diallo grew up in Guinea. She is currently a BA/MA candidate in Accounting at Long-Island University – Brooklyn Campus. Fatoumata is part of many community organizations, a group leader and role model to various women organization. She most recently interned with the Treasury Division at the New York Department of Finance.

Melissa Garcia

Melissa Mendez-Garcia, MBA, Rutgers University (2014), MPA, New York University 2003, and BA, Columbia University, 1995. Melissa currently works as the Director of the Catalyst Program, a community development program focusing on neighborhood and community revitalization in New York City.  Melissa brings a wealth of policy, advocacy, and program experience to Catalyst from her work at New York University and, prior to that, with the City of New York's Parks and Recreation agency. 

In her work with NYU’s Women of Color Policy Network, Melissa implemented and documented community initiatives, facilitated partnerships among government, community groups, and academics, and focused on developing advocacy and policy opportunities for youth.  Prior to NYU, Melissa served in a number of capacities with the City, including Chief of Finance and Administrative Services.  Melissa is a graduate of the Immigrant Civic Leadership Program with Coro NY in 2014.  She served as Commissioner for the Women's Issues Commission under Mayor Bloomberg from 2009-2013. She is also a board member with the Commission on the Public's Health System.

Christian Damiba

Christian Damiba came from Burkina Faso. He holds an MBA from Adelphi University. Christian is the Director of the NYC Business Solutions, Upper Manhattan and Washington Heights Centers, which are managed by Harlem Commonwealth Council. He brings over 15 years’ experience as a business development, project, program and portfolio management as well as technology management leadership to the role. He has held business development and program management positions at firms such as the International Institute for Learning, Educate Online, AXA, and J.P. Morgan Chase. Christian is a Project management Professional (PMP) and a Six Sigma green Belt Certified.

Ibrahim Diallo

Ibrahim Diallo, a native of Guinea, is a Trinity College graduate, with a major in International Relations and minor in Human rights. He is a co-founder and Chairman of the African Development Coalition or ADC, a student run development organization, which focuses exclusively on Africa. To date, the ADC has raised over $100,000 and carried out projects in three African countries in the areas of health, education, technology and access to clean water. Currently, Ibrahim is a Finance Analyst at JP Morgan Chase.

Garance Choko

Garance Choko is a social entrepreneur, international system builder and innovation strategist currently residing in New York City. Born and raised in Paris, France, she started her career as a concert pianist at the age of 3. Later, when she moved to the United States to continue her performance studies, she pursued her passion for political theory and design practices. She has designed organizational structures, educational programs, impact evaluations and poverty relief strategies for organizations in Europe, the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America. She earned a Master of Public Administration from Cornell University.

Garance's philosophy is rooted in challenging the notion of institutionalized expertise and its deriving power structures. She has used participatory design principles in her work with the US Congress, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Clinton Global Initiative, Purpose, The Lowline, Community Solutions and Nesta. As a speaker and educator, she has taught her unique framework for multi-stakeholder problem solving at the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University.

John Lin

John Lin is volunteering his services to assist our organization with website design and maintenance.  Furthermore, he is the administrator of the organization’s G Suite Account.  His other involvement includes creating newsletters and funding campaigns, grant and funding proposals and presentations.  John is Project Management Professional (PMP) certified and is currently working as Senior Project Lead for Metlife Inc.  He has over 20 years of experience in information technology and finance, bringing wealth of knowledge and leadership to our organization.  He speaks both English and Chinese.

Janis Rosheuvel

Janis Rosheuvel was born in Guyana, South America.  She currently serves as Executive Secretary for Racial Justice for United Methodist Women.  She also lectures on race and ethnicity and the criminalization of migrant life at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and serves on the boards of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) and the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI). Janis holds an MA in Conflict Resolution from the University of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England.

Janis has worked in the fields of international development and gender rights.  From 2007-11 she served as Executive Director/Organizer at Families for Freedom (FFF), a New York-based network of immigrants resisting mass incarceration and deportation.  Janis was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship from 2011-12 to South Africa where she  documented the work of social movements organized by migrants, shack dwellers and other working class activists

Dotse Gbegnedji

Dotse Gbegnedji was born in Togo. He has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at City College of New York. Dotse has a wealth of experience in designing and maintaining websites, and has interned with IT firms. He speaks Ewe, French, English and some German.

 Sharon Cromwell

Sharon Cromwell was born in Zimbabwe and is half Trinidadian. She was raised in Toronto, Canada and has been living in New York City for nearly five years. She has a Bachelor’s of Arts honor’s degree from McGill University in International Development, Economics and International Relations with a regional focus on Africa. Sharon is a Policy Analyst at a multi-state progressive labor union that represents and organizes low-wage workers. She is also an economic and racial justice activist.