Boris Santos is a former elementary school teacher and legislative staffer at the NYC Council and NYS Senate. He is a member of Brooklyn Community Board 5. He currently resides in Cypress Hills.

Hailing from Brownsville, Brooklyn, Chanel Halliburton is a collaborative, creative and strategic leader who currently serves as the Associate Vice President of Community Engagement at Planned Parenthood of Greater New York (PPGNY). She began her career as an Health Educator and has since worked with various organizations, both domestically and internationally, in the areas of youth development, public health, civil liberties, education and community development. She is known for her ability to incubate and scale complex projects, while building capacity and systems that center equity.

Jakob Kendall Schneider is a PhD Candidate at The Graduate Center, CUNY and an adjunct faculty member at Hunter College in the Department of Urban Policy and Planning. Prior to receiving a Master of City and Regional Planning degree from Rutgers University in 2015, he lived in Chicago and was a construction manager. He currently lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

Brianna Soleyn is a lifelong New Yorker, raised in Canarsie Brooklyn. She currently works as a tenant organizer at the Right to Counsel Coalition and before that she was a tenant organizer at IMPACCT Brooklyn. She is also currently a student in the CUNY Hunter Masters in Urban Planning program. She cares deeply about equitable, community led social housing models and community controlled urban planning solutions.

Maya Ephrem (she/her) is a California-born, New York-based urban planner. She currently works as a Senior Project Manager for Housing Development at Bowery Residents’ Committee (BRC). As the daughter of Ethiopian immigrants, Maya’s approach to planning is firmly anchored in principles of social and spatial justice, collective stewardship, and a culture of care that transcends geographies. She holds a Masters in Urban Planning from Columbia University.

Amanda Trainor has lived and worked throughout Central and East Brooklyn for the past 10 years. She is currently the Partnerships Coordinator at Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union, and holds a Masters in Urban Studies & Economic Democracy from the CUNY School of Labor & Urban Studies. With a background in grassroots organizing and cooperative management, she is passionate about community ownership as a tool to build working class power.

OUR STAFF

Hannah Anousheh is a lifelong New Yorker and Bronx Science alumna. She co-founded the ENYCLT and serves as its Campaigns Director. She has a Masters in City and Regional Planning from Pratt Institute. While at Pratt, she was a Morgan Stanley/ANHD Fellow at Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation and a NYC Environmental Justice Alliance (NYC-EJA) Fellow at Brooklyn Movement Center (BMC) where she helped BMC launch its tenant organizing work. Before planning school, she was an organizer and campaign researcher at UNITE HERE!, the international union of hotel and restaurant workers.

Debra Ack has been an East New York resident for over 14 years. She is the co-founder of a not-for-profit organization serving East New York residents. Before that, she worked as an administrative assistant. She is a Devout Christian of Greater Jerusalem Baptist Church and a mother of three. She believes in the future for youth, seniors, and entrepreneurs in East New York #ForUsByUs.

Niani L. Taylor is a life-long Brooklyn/New York native. Born at Brookdale Hospital in ’76; raised in East New York section of Brooklyn in Cypress Hills Houses (NYCHA) until 1992 when her family moved to Starrett City/Spring Creek.

Today she is a full-time entrepreneur; owner and operator of Munch Hours, Inc; a catering business based in Brownsville, certified as a Minority Woman Business Enterprise, serving meals throughout the 5-boroughs of New York City

Shantanu Dew is a born and raised New Yorker, and a graduate of Haverford College with a degree in Growth & Structure of Cities. He is deeply committed to advancing social and public housing initiatives. Shantanu’s professional work focuses on fostering democratic, tenant-led processes, and addressing the urgent need to prevent the displacement of the East New York Community.

Boris Santos

Chanel Haliburton

Jakob Kendall Schneider

Brianna Soleyn

Maya Ephrem

Amanda Trainor

OUR STAFF

Hannah Anousheh

Debra Ack

Niani L. Taylor

Shantanu Dew