Agency at a Glance

I was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1957 and moved to New York in 1980, where I began my career in public policy and social justice. Early work at the Village Voice and City Council led to policy roles under City Council President Carol Bellamy and later Manhattan Borough President David Dinkins, focusing on alternatives to incarceration and HIV/AIDS advocacy. I served in the Dinkins mayoral administration as Deputy Director at the Office of Management and Budget, helping to launch the Primary Care Development Corporation. Following this, I directed HIV Care Services at MHRA, managing the expanded Ryan White grant to support emerging community-based responses to the HIV/AIDS crisis. I later became Executive Director of the YWCA of Brooklyn during a time of financial crisis, leading its turnaround and preserving affordable housing. In subsequent years, I consulted nonprofit leaders at Community Resource Exchange and later returned to city government under Mayor de Blasio, where I served as Director of Food Policy and helped implement universal free school lunch and improve access to healthy food. I currently lead Equity Strategies at the Administration for Children’s Services, addressing systemic barriers faced by Black, Brown, and LGBTQIA+ youth and families. I have served on boards including Hetrick-Martin Institute and SAGE, and was a founding board member of early HIV/AIDS organizations for women and communities of color. I hold a B.A. from Goddard College and an M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary.